The Cloyster - Late Afternoon - Overcast
Nevena Solomon
Nevena Solomon was nervous. She'd actually matched with someone on Fletchinder, and didn't have the slightest clue as to what to do. She'd never been on a date before, and was as excited as she was nervous about it. She'd invited Cyrilla, Mel, and Ana over to her apartment today, mostly to get ideas from them. She knew Cyrilla went out on casual dates, but Mel and Ana seemed like they had some knowledge on it, too.
And she wanted to pick their brains.
Making sure everything was in order, she glanced towards Basil who was giving her a flat look. It almost looked as if she was disapproving of something, but Nev couldn't be too sure what it was. The date? The other girls coming over? It had to be the former, because Nev knew Basil was quite fond of everyone, especially Aidan. She huffed lightly as Basil turned towards the door as soon as there was a knock at it.
“Coming!" she shouted, making her way towards the door. As usual, though, Basil beat her to it, and opened the door to allow the others inside. “Hi!" Nev greeted.
“Afternoon, Nev," Cyrilla stated, giving Basil's head a once over with her hand before stepping inside the apartment.
Mel rubbed at the base of her leaf, too, stepping in and toeing out of her shoes at the entrance. Ana followed suit, and the group naturally moved in towards the living room. They were all familiar with the layout by now, from the watch party if nothing else.
"So um..." Ana looked a bit unsure, taking a seat in one of the chairs and pulling her legs up underneath her. "Cyrilla said something about... Fletchinder?" She seemed only vaguely familiar with what it was in the first place.
Nev nodded her head. “She and Kasimir set up a Fletchinder profile for me," she stated, taking a seat in one of the other available spots. “I matched with someone a couple of days ago and he wants to go on a date," she continued, furrowing her brows. “The only problem is I've never been on a date, before, and I don't know exactly what I'm supposed to do, or what a date even consists of. That's why... I asked all of you here, today."
From what she'd been able to see of other people's dates, it usually consisted of a movie, dinner, or some other form of activity together. It wasn't like when they went to the Camellia Festival; they were there as a group, even if they'd ended up splitting at the end.
“Well, first off, you're not expected to do anything, Nev," Cyrilla started, pouring herself a glass of lemonade that Nev had set out. There was water and soda, as well, if Mel and Ana were thirsty, too. “You're also getting a little ahead of yourself. You just matched with him, right?" Nev nodded her head as Cyrilla took a drink.
“Well that just means this date of yours is supposed to be more of a let's get together and learn about each other kind of thing."
Mel nodded, looking somewhat sage despite being technically a teenager. "Who's the guy though? If you matched that means you thought he was at least kind of interesting, right? Dating apps have different features so I might be wrong about that." She shrugged.
“His name is Béliam Arnaud," Nev replied. “According to his profile and from what he's said, he's from the Kalos region. He's an aspiring pokémon gym leader who plans on taking over his mother's gym in Laverre City," she explained, causing Cyrilla to arch a brow.
“You matched with Valerie's kid?" she asked, causing Nev to nod her head. She pursed her lips together before she grinned lightly.
"You would end up with someone who's practically a celebrity," Mel said with a snort. "Most people's first match on a dating app is like Joe from down the street who works in sales or something and wants to get people in on his pyramid scheme." She rolled her eyes, but it seemed to be a fond expression. "But not you, obviously. I swear, Mirmir was right. You guys really do inhabit this whole other world for classy rich people, right Ana?"
"Um." Ana clearly didn't know what the correct answer to that question was.
Mel laughed a little, and shook her head. "He's probably super good looking too, right? Or at least sharply dressed?"
“Oh, a little of both, I suppose. He has his mother's beautiful lavender colored eyes, though," she stated, feeling herself smile a little. He did have Valerie's eyes, and her hair, which was a deep black color. “I honestly wouldn't be able to tell you how he dresses. The only image he has, he's wearing a casual white shirt. I suppose he didn't want people to know right away that he was that Arnaud?"
“Still, the fact of the matter is you matched," Cyrilla stated, huffing a short laugh as she tilted her head in Nev's direction. “Good looking or not, you're not in it for that, right?" she asked, smirking just a bit as Nev flushed a bit.
“Of course not! I mean, I've always heard that first impressions are always the most crucial when it comes to meeting someone," she replied as Cyrilla's smirk faded a bit.
“It's not first impressions you should be looking out for, Nev. It's the first instinct you get when you meet someone. You should always follow your first gut instinct when it comes to meeting people, especially if it's meeting someone you intend on dating. First impressions can always be feigned to be good."
"Aren't those two things basically the same?" Ana asked, puzzled. "An impression is the reaction something gives you, right?"
Mel shrugged. "Whatever it's called, go with it," she said simply. "But also watch out for later red flags. Some people can fool your instincts. But anyway let's not talk about bad stuff; this is a good thing!" She flopped back onto the couch she was on, scrutinizing Nev through narrowed eyes. "I swear you've lucked out though. Assuming his personality's good, anyway. I was serious about the Joe from down the street thing. That's who I'd get if I signed up for this stuff. More importantly: have you guys talked and set up an actual date, or are we at the pre-setup phase? Cause how we help is gonna be way different depending on that, obviously."
“We have, actually," Nev answered. “It's for the sixteenth, which is a few days away." She hadn't told Aidan about it, though, but he'd said that it really didn't concern him. She wasn't going to bother him about it, either way. “We're supposed to meet at one of the more upscale restaurants. It's called the Delphox, and specializes in Kalosian foods," she added. It wasn't exactly a five-star restaurant, but it was pretty formal as far as the places she'd been to.
“The Delphox? You're going there for a first date? Nev, are you insane? I know you're reasonably well-off, but that place is far above a gym leader's pay grade. Are you sure that's where you're going?" Cyrilla asked, pursing her lips together. Nev nodded her head, though.
“It is."
"Okay," Mel said, sitting up abruptly. "I'm sorry, and I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade or anything, but is anyone else just a tiny bit suspicious of this? Like... if this dude is mega rich and famous, what the hell is he doing on Fletchinder?" Her brows were furrowed; there was an expression of genuine concern on her face.
"M-maybe he's just uncomfortable with people?" Ana asked.
Mel grimaced. "Ana, you're uncomfortable with people. If you decided you wanted to date, would you use an app to do it?"
She seemed to deliberate this for a moment. "Um... probably not, but there are different reasons for that."
"I just—never mind. I'm just paranoid." She shook her head vigorously and cleared her throat. "Anyway, if you're going somewhere like that, you probably need new clothes for it, unless you have a nice dress somewhere in your wardrobe already. Which you might I guess." She shrugged a little.
Cyrilla didn't seem especially happy about what was being said, but she shook her head at Mel's statement. “Are you kidding? The only dress Nev has is the one she wore to Ana's birthday party. She's going to need a new outfit for this date, something nice if you're going to that restaurant," Cyrilla stated, her brows furrowing lightly.
“Does it have to be a nice dress? Can't it be a nice pair of pants and a blouse?" Nev asked. She didn't really feel too comfortable in dresses. The one she'd worn for Ana's birthday party had been the first dress she'd worn in a long time, and that was because it was for Ana's party. Cyrilla, however, gave Nev a flat look.
“No. You can't wear a pair of nice pants and a blouse. The Delphox isn't a casual place to dine. You have to understand something, Nev, when it comes to top notch places like that. It's made for people with money and they expect a certain kind of look from those people. They expect a sort of elegance and refinement. That means you have to dress pretty formal to even walk through the door. If the four of us showed up there, now, dressed as we are, we'd be turned away."
Mel nodded. "It's super classist bullshit but it's true. I'm literally not traveling with anything nice enough to get me into a place like that. But dress codes are one way places make sure they keep up their image and get the clientele they want. After that, stuff tends to be divided by level of like... privacy. Private rooms are way more expensive than seats on the restaurant floor, for instance. At a certain point, what you're paying for is the staff's discretion—meaning regardless of what they see or hear, they won't talk. That's why people use private rooms for business meetings and such. If that trust were ever broken, the bigwig clientele could spread the word and suddenly no one would be going there anymore."
She shrugged. "That's usually what it's like, when there's a super fancy restaurant but it's not renowned for the food itself. I mean I'm sure it'll be good, but not good enough to justify the prices by itself." She rolled her eyes. "It could be that he's just really trying to impress you without knowing how."
Ana, brows furrowed, glanced between the others. "Does this mean we should head to the shops? It'll be a few hours before things close, at least. We could find you something to wear?"
“That's not a bad idea, actually. You will need something to wear if you're going to be at that restaurant," Cyrilla stated, seemingly agreeing with Ana's statement. “Besides, there's this really nice shop that just opened up next to the Vermilion place. I've been meaning to check it out to see if I could find a tie and shirt for Eryk. He needs to look his best for the qualifying tournament, after all," she added in a nonchalant fashion.
“Oh, well, should we go, now?" Nev asked. If they had a few hours left before everything closed, it would at least give her ideas of what to get or look for. She could always go buy something tomorrow, after all. They still had at least four days before her date was scheduled.
"Sure!" Mel said, offering her first really genuine grin of the evening. "I don't get to dress blondes very often; this'll be fun!"
Ana shook her head good-naturedly. "I don't think I'll be all that much help with this part, but I'm happy to go along."
Nev smiled brightly. “Thank you all for helping me with this, regardless. It really means a lot to me," she stated, feeling the nervousness seep out of her.
“Not a problem, Nev. It's what friends are for."
Nev couldn't help the way the statement warmed her heart a little. Friends. They really were nice to have.
And she wanted to pick their brains.
Making sure everything was in order, she glanced towards Basil who was giving her a flat look. It almost looked as if she was disapproving of something, but Nev couldn't be too sure what it was. The date? The other girls coming over? It had to be the former, because Nev knew Basil was quite fond of everyone, especially Aidan. She huffed lightly as Basil turned towards the door as soon as there was a knock at it.
“Coming!" she shouted, making her way towards the door. As usual, though, Basil beat her to it, and opened the door to allow the others inside. “Hi!" Nev greeted.
“Afternoon, Nev," Cyrilla stated, giving Basil's head a once over with her hand before stepping inside the apartment.
Mel rubbed at the base of her leaf, too, stepping in and toeing out of her shoes at the entrance. Ana followed suit, and the group naturally moved in towards the living room. They were all familiar with the layout by now, from the watch party if nothing else.
"So um..." Ana looked a bit unsure, taking a seat in one of the chairs and pulling her legs up underneath her. "Cyrilla said something about... Fletchinder?" She seemed only vaguely familiar with what it was in the first place.
Nev nodded her head. “She and Kasimir set up a Fletchinder profile for me," she stated, taking a seat in one of the other available spots. “I matched with someone a couple of days ago and he wants to go on a date," she continued, furrowing her brows. “The only problem is I've never been on a date, before, and I don't know exactly what I'm supposed to do, or what a date even consists of. That's why... I asked all of you here, today."
From what she'd been able to see of other people's dates, it usually consisted of a movie, dinner, or some other form of activity together. It wasn't like when they went to the Camellia Festival; they were there as a group, even if they'd ended up splitting at the end.
“Well, first off, you're not expected to do anything, Nev," Cyrilla started, pouring herself a glass of lemonade that Nev had set out. There was water and soda, as well, if Mel and Ana were thirsty, too. “You're also getting a little ahead of yourself. You just matched with him, right?" Nev nodded her head as Cyrilla took a drink.
“Well that just means this date of yours is supposed to be more of a let's get together and learn about each other kind of thing."
Mel nodded, looking somewhat sage despite being technically a teenager. "Who's the guy though? If you matched that means you thought he was at least kind of interesting, right? Dating apps have different features so I might be wrong about that." She shrugged.
“His name is Béliam Arnaud," Nev replied. “According to his profile and from what he's said, he's from the Kalos region. He's an aspiring pokémon gym leader who plans on taking over his mother's gym in Laverre City," she explained, causing Cyrilla to arch a brow.
“You matched with Valerie's kid?" she asked, causing Nev to nod her head. She pursed her lips together before she grinned lightly.
"You would end up with someone who's practically a celebrity," Mel said with a snort. "Most people's first match on a dating app is like Joe from down the street who works in sales or something and wants to get people in on his pyramid scheme." She rolled her eyes, but it seemed to be a fond expression. "But not you, obviously. I swear, Mirmir was right. You guys really do inhabit this whole other world for classy rich people, right Ana?"
"Um." Ana clearly didn't know what the correct answer to that question was.
Mel laughed a little, and shook her head. "He's probably super good looking too, right? Or at least sharply dressed?"
“Oh, a little of both, I suppose. He has his mother's beautiful lavender colored eyes, though," she stated, feeling herself smile a little. He did have Valerie's eyes, and her hair, which was a deep black color. “I honestly wouldn't be able to tell you how he dresses. The only image he has, he's wearing a casual white shirt. I suppose he didn't want people to know right away that he was that Arnaud?"
“Still, the fact of the matter is you matched," Cyrilla stated, huffing a short laugh as she tilted her head in Nev's direction. “Good looking or not, you're not in it for that, right?" she asked, smirking just a bit as Nev flushed a bit.
“Of course not! I mean, I've always heard that first impressions are always the most crucial when it comes to meeting someone," she replied as Cyrilla's smirk faded a bit.
“It's not first impressions you should be looking out for, Nev. It's the first instinct you get when you meet someone. You should always follow your first gut instinct when it comes to meeting people, especially if it's meeting someone you intend on dating. First impressions can always be feigned to be good."
"Aren't those two things basically the same?" Ana asked, puzzled. "An impression is the reaction something gives you, right?"
Mel shrugged. "Whatever it's called, go with it," she said simply. "But also watch out for later red flags. Some people can fool your instincts. But anyway let's not talk about bad stuff; this is a good thing!" She flopped back onto the couch she was on, scrutinizing Nev through narrowed eyes. "I swear you've lucked out though. Assuming his personality's good, anyway. I was serious about the Joe from down the street thing. That's who I'd get if I signed up for this stuff. More importantly: have you guys talked and set up an actual date, or are we at the pre-setup phase? Cause how we help is gonna be way different depending on that, obviously."
“We have, actually," Nev answered. “It's for the sixteenth, which is a few days away." She hadn't told Aidan about it, though, but he'd said that it really didn't concern him. She wasn't going to bother him about it, either way. “We're supposed to meet at one of the more upscale restaurants. It's called the Delphox, and specializes in Kalosian foods," she added. It wasn't exactly a five-star restaurant, but it was pretty formal as far as the places she'd been to.
“The Delphox? You're going there for a first date? Nev, are you insane? I know you're reasonably well-off, but that place is far above a gym leader's pay grade. Are you sure that's where you're going?" Cyrilla asked, pursing her lips together. Nev nodded her head, though.
“It is."
"Okay," Mel said, sitting up abruptly. "I'm sorry, and I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade or anything, but is anyone else just a tiny bit suspicious of this? Like... if this dude is mega rich and famous, what the hell is he doing on Fletchinder?" Her brows were furrowed; there was an expression of genuine concern on her face.
"M-maybe he's just uncomfortable with people?" Ana asked.
Mel grimaced. "Ana, you're uncomfortable with people. If you decided you wanted to date, would you use an app to do it?"
She seemed to deliberate this for a moment. "Um... probably not, but there are different reasons for that."
"I just—never mind. I'm just paranoid." She shook her head vigorously and cleared her throat. "Anyway, if you're going somewhere like that, you probably need new clothes for it, unless you have a nice dress somewhere in your wardrobe already. Which you might I guess." She shrugged a little.
Cyrilla didn't seem especially happy about what was being said, but she shook her head at Mel's statement. “Are you kidding? The only dress Nev has is the one she wore to Ana's birthday party. She's going to need a new outfit for this date, something nice if you're going to that restaurant," Cyrilla stated, her brows furrowing lightly.
“Does it have to be a nice dress? Can't it be a nice pair of pants and a blouse?" Nev asked. She didn't really feel too comfortable in dresses. The one she'd worn for Ana's birthday party had been the first dress she'd worn in a long time, and that was because it was for Ana's party. Cyrilla, however, gave Nev a flat look.
“No. You can't wear a pair of nice pants and a blouse. The Delphox isn't a casual place to dine. You have to understand something, Nev, when it comes to top notch places like that. It's made for people with money and they expect a certain kind of look from those people. They expect a sort of elegance and refinement. That means you have to dress pretty formal to even walk through the door. If the four of us showed up there, now, dressed as we are, we'd be turned away."
Mel nodded. "It's super classist bullshit but it's true. I'm literally not traveling with anything nice enough to get me into a place like that. But dress codes are one way places make sure they keep up their image and get the clientele they want. After that, stuff tends to be divided by level of like... privacy. Private rooms are way more expensive than seats on the restaurant floor, for instance. At a certain point, what you're paying for is the staff's discretion—meaning regardless of what they see or hear, they won't talk. That's why people use private rooms for business meetings and such. If that trust were ever broken, the bigwig clientele could spread the word and suddenly no one would be going there anymore."
She shrugged. "That's usually what it's like, when there's a super fancy restaurant but it's not renowned for the food itself. I mean I'm sure it'll be good, but not good enough to justify the prices by itself." She rolled her eyes. "It could be that he's just really trying to impress you without knowing how."
Ana, brows furrowed, glanced between the others. "Does this mean we should head to the shops? It'll be a few hours before things close, at least. We could find you something to wear?"
“That's not a bad idea, actually. You will need something to wear if you're going to be at that restaurant," Cyrilla stated, seemingly agreeing with Ana's statement. “Besides, there's this really nice shop that just opened up next to the Vermilion place. I've been meaning to check it out to see if I could find a tie and shirt for Eryk. He needs to look his best for the qualifying tournament, after all," she added in a nonchalant fashion.
“Oh, well, should we go, now?" Nev asked. If they had a few hours left before everything closed, it would at least give her ideas of what to get or look for. She could always go buy something tomorrow, after all. They still had at least four days before her date was scheduled.
"Sure!" Mel said, offering her first really genuine grin of the evening. "I don't get to dress blondes very often; this'll be fun!"
Ana shook her head good-naturedly. "I don't think I'll be all that much help with this part, but I'm happy to go along."
Nev smiled brightly. “Thank you all for helping me with this, regardless. It really means a lot to me," she stated, feeling the nervousness seep out of her.
“Not a problem, Nev. It's what friends are for."
Nev couldn't help the way the statement warmed her heart a little. Friends. They really were nice to have.