It's probably not a date? {Amy}

[CHARLEMAGNE FLETCHER]

Was this a date? This might be a date. It was highly possible that this encounter would qualify as a date. Did he go on dates? Had he ever even been on a date? No. Probably not. He could never even imagine the idea of him on a date with anyone, be it man or woman. He wasn't the sort. He didn't HAVE significant others, it just wasn't something that he did! Right? Yes. Of course, of course.

So what was this?

He and...he and Amy were going to the skating rink. Together. As in they were meeting there, to spend time together. And it wasn't like Charlemagne had never been on an outing with friends, or even just a friend, it was just that none of those friends (few as they had been) had ever been as pretty or fascinating or wonderful as Amy. So he wasn't really sure what to do.

Should he bring flowers? Chocolates? No. He had to stop being so concerned about it, he didn't even do concerned. He was never concerned about anything! In fact, he made a point of taking everything rather lightly, so why was he so worried about this?

Well, the answer was simple. Because he wasn't worried. He was just overreacting because the situation was a bit abnormal, and--

No, but, it wasn't even abnormal! Normal men went out to do stuff with women all the time! It wasn't weird. Not in normal society.

But it was weird for him.

And so, completely terrified and trying not to show it, Charlemagne had walked all the way to the skating rink to meet Amy for what may or may not have been a date.

It was exceptionally cold in the city that evening, and Charlemagne found that his extremities were beginning to numb as he trekked across Central Park towards Wollman Rink. He liked the cold sometimes, though. It made the air very crisp and nice to breathe. Not when you were running, of course, because then it rather hurt, but when you were just walking, it was...refreshing. He smiled a bit and licked his lips.

However, as the rink grew closer, his smile faded. What if she wasn't there? What if she hadn't wanted to come? Didn't she maybe have a boyfriend? Maybe he had told her not to come. Oh, God. Oh, this was not cool. He was absolutely losing his mind about something that should have been simple. Simple! Painfully so, even!

Sighing angrily at himself, he ran a hand through his hair, toying with the streak of sky blue he'd recently put in it just for fun. This was going to go fine, he assured himself, wrapping his eccentrically knit scarf more firmly around his neck. He approached the bench where he said he would meet Amy and sat down, fidgeting with his earmuffs like a teenager on a first date.

[AMY WINSTON]

On the opposite side of the spectrum, Amy was cool as a cucumber.

LOLNOPE.

She had picked this day to spend with Charlemagne very carefully. Conditions were perfect. She had the day off of both jobs, but Jon had to work. Jamie and Liam had gone off to spend time with Liam's Gramma Jen. Conditions were perfect. Not that she minded spending time with Liam and Jamie that is; in fact, she would have loved to invite them to come with her, but she was absolutely terrified that they would...embarrass her? in front of Charlemagne. Besides, she did want to spend some alone time with her oddball friend, as the time they could spend together was very few and far between. The reason behind this of course being that Jon might not have been a jealous man, but he didn't like when Amy hung made friends with guys. It was the reason why Jamie and Liam were Lianna and Jamia in her phone. No need to worry Jon.

But all this secrecy made her wonder. Why couldn't she just tell Jon about Charlemagne? It's not like she went and had sleepovers with him or anything (an idea which brought a very perplexing blush to her face). Then again, she quite liked the idea of keeping Charlemagne to herself for a while. She hadn't even really told her two best friends that much about him, simply his name, and the circumstances of their meeting. They didn't even know she was going Ice Skating. The idea that she was sneaking around with someone, especially Charlemagne was very...exciting to her, and it was with this sense of thrill that she hopped out of bed and got ready.

She showered and dressed quickly, realizing that she was running late when she checked the time in the kitchen, deciding to forgo eating something to regain some of the time she had lost. Ice Skates in hand, Amy rushed out the door, climbed into her battered (but reliable) car, and drove to Central Park. They had decided to meet in the evening, because the ice rink was far too bright during the day, and that was totally the only reason, what else were you thinking?

After mercifully finding parking relatively close, she jammed enough money in the meter to pay for 6 hours of parking. Not that she was planning on being with him for that long, but still, better safe than sorry, right? She tied her scarf around her neck, Sherlock Holmes style, and clambered out of the car, walking a little faster than necessary to make sure that he wasn't going to be waiting for her for very long.

And that's when the paranoia kicked in. What if he wasn't there? What if he had only agreed to come along because he felt sorry for her? What if this was some cruel test of Jon's, and it was going to be him waiting for her, angry as all get out? Worse yet, what if Charlemagne was there, but Jon had a GPS tracker on her phone? Or could hack into her camera and spy on her? Not that he would, because he trusted her, right? Right. She was just being silly. She needed to calm down. She needed to stop panicking. Besides all that, even if her fears were grounded in truth, it wasn't like she was doing anything wrong. She was just hanging out with a friend. Who was rather charming. And really cute. And made her smile a whole lot. And Oh God, again with the panicking.

Luckily, the bench they had agreed to meet on finally came into view, and that paranoid worry immediately dissipated from her system. A wide grin split across her face, and suddenly her legs couldn't move fast enough. Not that she was running, as she didn't want to look stupid. But she did pick up the pace, noticing him ruffle his hair, a flash of blue catching her curious eye.

Finally catching up to the bench, she sat down, scooting up next to him, huddling a bit closer than might have been proper, but she was starting to regret her lack of layers. "Hey! Sorry I'm late, I uh...I tend to fight with clocks pretty often." 'What? That was stupid, Amy. What are you even talking about?' She chided herself, and though she was hyper aware of everything she was saying and doing, she couldn't keep the smile off her face. He looked well, but seemed a little nervous as he played with his earmuffs. In truth, she was pretty nervous herself, but she couldn't exactly put her finger on why. Instead, she began awkwardly twiddling her fingers. "So, did you want to get straight to skating then? Or maybe some food? You've got me all night, so I'm down for whatever."[/color] she asked, trying to distract herself from paying too much attention to the way he looked, hoping that she could calm down some. This was odd. She shouldn't have been this nervous. Even though she had suggested getting food, she wasn't entirely sure she could eat anything. Her stomach was doing that weird fluttery thing when she was worried on making a good impression.

However, with luck, she'd feel better when she started to skate. See, Amy had suggested this dat-er...outing[/b], because she actually loved ice skating, even if she wasn't all that good at it. Her mother had been from Canada, so whenever they would make the pilgrimage from the Keys to Miami, for things like school shopping, or concerts, they would stop to go ice skating. She wasn't good enough to show off, but she hoped she was good enough to keep from falling.

Then again, she had faith that if she were to fall, Charlemagne would catch her.

OOC: Geez Amy, for this TOTALLY NOT BEING A DATE, JUST A FRIENDLY OUTING BETWEEN TWO FRIENDS, you sure do look like you took some effort in getting pretty!

[CHARLEMAGNE FLETCHER]

There was a brief period of time in which he thought she wouldn’t come.

Of course, she wouldn’t. You don’t have friends; you’ve always known that. You just don’t do friends very well, so the fact that she was entirely weirded out by your asking her to come – and her consequent failure to do so – should not take you by surprise.

Most of the time, someone not showing up to meet him would not cause Charlemagne a great deal of distress. His schedule was flexible, and besides, he rarely asked anyone to go anywhere with him (because, as mentioned above, he didn’t “do friends very well”); therefore, in the event that he was “stood up,” he’d brush it off and go find a tree to climb. It was as simple as that, to him.

But this was different. Much, much different, indeed.

It was like some sort of riddle that he couldn’t solve, and that frustrated him to absolutely no end. How he felt about Amy was some sort of unhappy mess of feelings he didn’t care to sort, though among them he might have found an ensnaringly large quantity of jealousy. After all, if she didn’t come, it could be Jon’s fault.

Charlemagne didn’t often get angry, but that thought made him mad.

But then, there she was, and oh, mother of God, she was so underdressed, she had to be cold. He could offer her his jacket...but he didn’t like the cold much, either, and besides, his coat was...the kind of thing that clashed with everything. But he simply could not allow her to be cold!

Still, despite his preoccupation with her body temperature, a wide grin split his face the moment she came into his field of view, and though he stiffened slightly in alarm as she huddled so close to him, he soon relaxed. It was shocking how comfortable he was around her sometimes.

"Hey! Sorry I'm late, I uh...I tend to fight with clocks pretty often."

Charlemagne chuckled one of his cryptic little chuckles and leaned back, his fidgeting calming itself. “I would love to fight a clock. Don’t you think the arms could make fantastically dangerous swords? Imagine it. But then, if time could fight, I suppose it could be running away, too, and that would be no good for any of us.” His grin grew slightly larger and just a pinch more playful.

"So, did you want to get straight to skating then? Or maybe some food? You've got me all night, so I'm down for whatever."

You’ve got me all night.

That phrase seemed to stick in his head, and he couldn’t figure out why. His grin faltered just for a moment with his confusion before he found his ground again, crossing his legs and tilting his head back as he gazed at her.

“I haven’t eaten all day, but it doesn’t make much of a difference to me either way—oh, that rhymed!”[/b] The realization seemed to delight him in a fashion almost childish, and he sat up straight. “I suppose I’ll speak in rhymes all night. I hope it won’t give you a fright. And since I have you all evening long, whatever we choose, it won’t be wrong.”[/b] He winked at her jokingly, an expression that suggested she join in if she so desired, but in no way expecting it of her.

As if in afterthought, he tilted his head to the side and said, "Oh! Milady, you must be cold. Take my jacket, it isn't too old." And he quickly shrugged it off his shoulders and offered it to her. Of course, now he would be cold, but he somehow felt that it was worth it, seeing as the recipient of the jacket was Amy.