Gerard breathed in the cool air as he stood outside of his house. It was a modest cottage with acres of grapevines and apple trees that blended in with the rolling hills surrounding it. Home at last. However the familiar settings didn't change the churning knot in the pit of his stomach since he left Feeorin. 'Don't be late' Talise's brother said. He'd have to see if he had enough wine from the Ignius Food and Wine Festival to fill at least one bottle. "Well…under normal circumstances I'd say make yourself at home, but since we're going to yours I don't think there's any time to sit down." He grumbled to Talise. Opening the seasoned oak wood door, he let her come in if she so desired while he went down to his storeroom to find what he needed. There were two casks left from the wine-tasting competition, one of hard apple cider and the other of a sweet red wine. Retrieving two clean, pristine glass bottles he meticulously filled them using the taps embedded into the barrels. 

They were then corked, sealed with hot wax, and set to cool while he entered his house to find a colored ribbon. After rifling through his drawers and closets, he managed to find a strip of lime green satin which had held a wrapped gift from a friend. Pulling it free he went to find a measuring stick and a pair of scissors. The circumference of the bottle's necks were averaged, the satin ribbon cut into equal length pieces, and then he began to tie them around the corked wine bottles. It was then that disaster struck. He had been careful and his movements steady, but something very wrong had happened. 

The ends of the bows were uneven. They were off by half a centimeter. This was a serious, terrible problem and had to be rectified immediately. These were being sent to a goddess, not to some stranger on the road. Such an affront to perfection was unacceptable. He untied them and redid them again. And again, and again. Each time he knotted the bows they would turn out unbalanced in some other way, until finally he shouted in frustration. "IT'S NOT SYMMETRICAL!!!!"

While he had begun his panic she was hating her existence. She had summoned a deep blue cloud and was laying on it face down. There was panic written all over the two of them. “I don’t know what to wear.”

Her eyes looked up at him. “I can’t wear this, I was running and got all sweaty…” She groaned a bit as she thought about it. “What is your favorite color? That would give Mom the wrong idea…” It was all she had to go on as she tried to talk to Gerard while he panicked. The cloud floated over by him and she reached out to one of the wine bottles.

“Bows are a pain in the ass. When I was a girl my mother would do them over and over again in my hair until they were right.” She undid the bow and redid it. Her fingers were quick and if one wasn’t paying attention they wouldn’t have been what she did it. She tugged on each of side of the bow and straightened it out. “There one is done… is that good enough?”

She summoned some of the dresses in her collection and went up and down them as she groaned. “I can’t pick one. Gerard pick one.” She flailed softly on her cloud. “This isn’t fair.” Her mother would say that life wasn’t fair and how ironic that she was life now. A hand was softly over her face as she face palmed.

While he was still in his fit over the ribbons' lack of symmetry, he responded to her question about his favorite color. "IT'S BLACK!! DON'T YOU MOCK ME YOU INANE, STUPID PIECE OF WOVEN FABRIC!!!" He was about ready to set a torch on them when Talise came over and fixed a bow. Seeing the sides perfectly even quelled his outburst in an instant. "Oh… Yes that's fine." Now calmer, he was presented with several dresses, of varying patterns, styles and colors.

"I can't pick one. Gerard pick one." This…was unexpected. His entire wardrobe consisted of two singular colors: black and white. He spent extensive time making sure that the dark clothes were dark and the whites were white, as he did with everything. At this moment he was doubting his qualifications for choosing what someone else should wear. Right, he shouldn't overthink things. Often women when asking these questions would eventually figure what they wanted themselves after a few tries, so it wasn't a big deal. Still, he wasn't one to give suggestions flippantly. He studied the clothes, and considered the occasion. Something too formal didn't suit her, but it wasn't exactly a simple meet-and-greet. He checked each one, testing the feel and weight of the fabric while visualizing how it would look on Talise. Finally he settled on one. It had more of an Ataiyan style, with a deep rich orchid purple to match her eyes and silver floral design that contrasted the dark color and complemented her hair. 

"…How's this one? It matches you…and your hair." He held the dress up so she could see it in full length.

Talise chuckled a bit at how erratic he was. She was calm as she began to help him. Her demeanor was much more like a still lake as her fingers were nimble and swift. Her panic had ceased if only for the time being so she could perfectly tie the bow. “I’m glad…” She offered him a smile before moving onto her own dilemma.

Out of all the dresses he showed her, he managed to stay in tune with her favorite style. Talise loved the oriental nature of Ataiyo and Karith. They were her favorite places to purchase dresses and she had been pleasantly surprised when he picked out the dress.

The long sleeves weren’t a problem as most of her dresses were made so she could fly in them. She tilted her head and snapped her figures. The dress she was wearing was now in his hands while the one he had was now on her body. She tugged at a few places and unlike most oriental dresses hers were low dipped in the back and made for her wings. “What do you think?” She spun around in it and as she did the flowers in her hair changed to the colors of the gown.

Her eyes were slightly curious what he thought about his own choice as she moved to start pinning her hair up in certain spots. The flowers were most certainly focal points in her hair as she used them to decorate. “It should almost be time for dinner there…” There was panic in her eyes but she tried to stay cool. “I just hope she realizes we’re not a couple before I have to tell her myself.”

He blinked in surprise when she swapped dresses with a snap of her fingers. "What do you think?" Talise twirled as the flowers in her hair changed color to match the dress. "It's perfect." What a relief. It seemed his sense wasn't too off at all. And her wings added another dimension to the fabrics' colors and texture. It was then that they both remembered the dinner would be starting soon. Talise did her best to stay calm, but he knew that they were feeling the same thing: absolute terror. He certainly hoped that her mother wouldn't get the wrong idea, though it would be difficult to prove otherwise. That brother of hers probably already spread the word with the entire city by now.

With the bows on the wine bottles done, he went in to change his clothes. Five minutes later he came back wearing a more formal overcoat with the back split into two coattails embroidered faintly in silver thread. He had his best dress shirt beneath his black waistcoat, perfectly starched and ironed. Around his neck was a white ascot tie to match. Aside from those two things, every other part of his outfit was black. In those five minutes he also attempted to try to style his hair, or at least make it more presentable.

Stepping outside he looked at Talise and then back at himself and mused dryly. "Look at us…all dressed up like lambs to the slaughter. Well…we should probably get going." With the wines in hand and hearts full of reluctance, it was time.