Titania leaned in close to the mirror, her nose almost touching the surface, while she carefully applied her make-up. "Mustardseed," she said, pulling away from the mirror. "I have decided to forgive you for your unacceptable behavior last night while meeting Daffodil. Thankfully, she also is willing to give you a second chance and will dine with us tonight. I hope that will give you enough time to think things over."
Mustardseed glanced up at his mother from over his book. He slid a bookmark in the pages and slowly closed it, getting up from the recliner he had just gotten comfortable in.
"I suppose so, Mother," he said carefully. "I agree that I need to reflect upon my attitude last night, and will be more open to Daffodil." Though he felt the exact opposite, agreeing with his mother would be the best option. She was still, although she tried to hide it, mourning the death of her husband. Whoever would call her a widow would get quite an earful.
Titania straightened. "Thank you for seeing it my way. Now, run along. I have preparations for tonight's dinner." Mustardseed did not need to be told twice. He shuffled back to his room, slipping quietly through the door. He walked over to his dresser and rummaged through the drawers to find his pair of swimming trunks. As he pulled out a wrinkled blue pair, his eyes drifted toward the large bay window and out at the ocean. I wonder if she was real... He shook his head back into reality and quickly changed into his swim trunks. Only one way to find out. He pulled a t-shirt on over his head and headed out to the hall and out the back door.
The sun was hot over his head, but the cool breeze made it perfect weather. He walked onto the crowded beach, breathing in the smell of salt and sun-tan lotion. Careful not to trip over anyone's legs, he made his way to the less crowed portion of the beach, where only a few people lay sun bathing. He looked out at the ocean. It was very calm today, the waves gently lapping up onto the beach. As Mustardseed began to walk toward it, he caught two teenage girls out of the corner his eye loping over to him with flirty smiles on their lips. He internally groaned. I didn't want to have to do this...
"CRAP!" He screamed, stopping abruptly. "I forgot my Pokemon cards! Now how am I supposed to have my major epic battle between Charmander and Squirtle?" He threw his arms in the air and kicked at the sand, screaming the whole while like a little toddler without his toys. "Arrgg!"
During this whole scene, the two girls started backing away slowly, a We were actually gonna flirt with him? look written all over their faces.
Mustardseed, satisfied with his work, continued to the water while taking off his shirt and folding it neatly on the shore. He waded out a couple yards, clenching his fists at the cold that hit his legs. He dropped to his hands and knees and plunged into the water.
The water was foggy from all the pollutants and he had a hard time seeing. He went back the surface for a gulp of air and then went back under, traveling to the ocean floor. As his hands hit the sandy floor, he started digging with his fingers, searching. One's gotta be here somewhere...
"Yes!" he said, bubbles escaping his mouth and heading to the surface. In his hands he held a bright orange starfish, its stubby arms waving slightly. He slapped it on his head and took a huge breath of air. Water didn't enter his mouth, but air did. He smirked. "Let the search begin," he mumbled as he swam into the deep depths of the ocean.
After hours of searching, the waters began to darken, forcing Mustardseed to head back to the shore, defeat in his heart. Where the heck could she be? He pulled the starfish off his head as he broke the surface, the starfish making a wet sucking sound as it lost its bond with him. He threw his shirt around his shoulders and headed back up the now barely populated beach to his vacation house. What a waste of a day! he thought. And now I have to sit through a dinner with Daffodil. Oh the torture! I can see it now. 'Oh Musty (her sad little attempt of a pet name) you're so dreamy! And you have a good reputation! Double points!' Sigh.
He went into the house and walked through the living room and into the extravagantly decorated dining room, where Titania was screaming at the servants.
"Oh, hello Mustardseed. Go get ready for dinner," she said, fixing a flower arrangement of daffodils.
He shuffled back to his room and took a quick shower. He opened his closet. Pressed suit, pressed suit, flannel shirt, pressed suit. This is not how a teenager's closet is supposed to look like. He pulled out a simple black tux and slowly put it on, careful to the wrinkle it. Combing his damp hair neatly, he put on a pair of his shiny polished dress shoes, and stepped out into the hall and down the stairs.
"MUSTY! Oh honey I knew you would want me to come back 'cause you know I'm beautiful and you're beautiful and we're so perfect together and I can't wait 'til we get to live a life of luxury together with lots of diamonds!" Daffodil babbled in a nasal voice, tackling Mustardseed in a bear tackle. He returned a forced smile and led her to the dining room.
The dinner consisted of Titania and Daffodil talking about meaningless things and Mustardseed occasionally smiling and complimenting "Daffy" as she insisted he call her. As the courses ended and the sky grew darker, she announced that it was getting dark and she better head home, but would be thinking of "Musty" the whole time. He would have liked to say, "And maybe then in that distracted mood you will get hit by a semi!" but politely said "As I will of you." She practically skipped out of the doorway when he said that and squealed something incomprehensible. (It sounded a lot like "Diamonds!")
Titania leaved to go to bed and instructed Mustardseed to do the same. He wished his mother a good night's sleep, and turned out all the lights in the house. But instead of heading to his room, he slipped of the back door, his dress shoes squeaking slightly.
He walked along the beach, taking in the beautiful night. It had cooled down considerably since that afternoon, but the cold air felt good against his skin. It sharpened his senses and made his thoughts clearer.
"Looking for someone?"
He whipped his head toward the ocean and scanned the waters. His eyes stopped at the bobbing figure of a dark haired girl, a shimmering fish tail just barely showing. Giana.
"Of course I am! After you left me like that yesterday, what was I supposed to do? Sit around and count daisies? I looked all over for you today, and I couldn't find you! First you can't leave me alone and then you don't show up any where and then you show again! Talk about mood swings!" His face turned red with rage. Why am I so mad at her? I have never talked to a girl like this before.
Her face became angry too. "Well, unlike you, I'm not on vacation! I have a life, ya know! So don't tell me how I should spend it! And I wasn't all over you! I was merely curious about you! Gosh, you have a swelled head." She crossed her arms and her mouth became a hard line.
He sighed. "You're right. I don't know why I got so mad at you."
The corners of her mouth began to turn up. "I suppose I can forgive you," she said.
A smile of relief shone on his face. "Good. I was really excited to see you again."
"So was I. You're so interesting. And nothing like the magazines say."
He raised his eyebrows. "In what way?"
She looked thoughtfully into the sky. "Well, they say you're super nice to people, and so far, you've yelled at me twice." She laughed as a fake-hurt expression came to his face. "Oh, poop. I just noticed you can't swim tonight, Mr. Spiffy Suit."
"Sorry. Just came from a dinner with Daffodil, another girl my mother decided to set me up with," he said shuddering.
Giana swam closer to the shore. "Oh, lovely. How is she?"
"Absolutely revolting," he replied.
She laughed again.
He stuck his tonuge out at her. "And what did you do today?"
"Oh, stuff."
"What kind of stuff?"
"Well–" she started, but then was suddenly pulled under the water, her words cut off by the sound of gurgling water.
"Giana!" Mustardseed shouted as he ran out into the water. The only reply was the sound of the waves. "If this is a joke, its not funny! Come on, Giana! Cut it ou–" Two burly mermen jumped out of the water and grabbed him, dragging him under water while one of them slapped a starfish on his head. Mustardseed's futile attempts to escape were no match compared to their huge muscles, and he was dragged into the deep depths of the ocean.
A/N: 'Ello chaps! Tell me what you think, and if you didn't like it, tell me why! Thanks for all the people who reviewed the first chapter!