My head is still reeling after what happened at the Gala. I... Okay, you know how I'm always coming to terms with the fact that I don't know how to talk to girls, and how every time I get emotionally involved, I either take it out of proportion, or else the girl I'm dating is driven insane or attacked? Well, it happened again- a girl flirted with me. I... Why do they talk to me? I mean, I was excited that the Kingdom would be full of visitors that wouldn't judge me on behalf of my mother's history, but... I wasn't expecting a girl to approach me with those motives. There's a reason why I'm not the poster boy for our band. I'm scrawny, I'm cold, I have an abrasive voice... and it makes even less sense that this princess in question is from the Tropic Kingdom, on the Southwestern Continent. Princess Venus, she's called. She's a plant princess with little white flowers growing all over her green head-vines. She's humanoid, sort of... about as close to human-looking as I am, maybe a little less. Except she doesn't have arms. Instead, she has these prehensile vines, which can extend from anywhere on her torso, or so she says. And like I said, she's from the tropics, so I don't know why she took a fancy to me. I mean, maybe I'm taking this out of proportion; maybe she just likes to flirt. Girls are really hard to understand.

Let me explain with a little more detail. You see, the band I'm a part of, called "Fangs, Fire, and Ice," had just finished performing a short segment as a part of the "Music of Aaa" presentation that Prince Gumball had come up with as part of the opening ceremonies. We were heading offstage, and I braced myself for the inevitable throngs of girls that always appears post-concert to mob our lead guitarist, Matthew Abadeer (who, from what I can discern from his fanbase, is one of the most charismatic guys in all of Aaa.) Sure enough, the flock closed in, and as usual, I moved to the side, to avoid succumbing to claustrophobia. I have a few fans myself (Matt says that I probably attract the sensitive, meek girls because I'm "pathetic and unassuming," which I call out as total duck-doody), and sometimes they come over to say hello and ask questions. After a few minutes, however, Matt disentagled himself from his squeeing flock and float over to me, nudging me playfully in the ribs.

"Hey," he said cooly, lounging in midair, "I think you've got an admirer, Nerdrew. There's a girl over there that's been staring at you ever since you sat down." He nodded in one direction, and I noticed a figure standing a short distance off, staring right at me with lamplike, yellow eyes. I approached her, Matt going back to his own business (at this point the girls were chanting "kiss, kiss, kiss!" and I could only figure that Matt had coerced Pyris into engaging in a little fanservice), until I was just a couple meters away. At that point I hesitated, unsure of what to do. I'm not good at starting conversations with girls; I can engage in a lengthy conversation under normal circumstances, but as soon as it becomes "a conversation with a girl," my ability to complete basic sentences deserts me. I mean, I can talk with girls, I just can't... well, you know. And that's how my mind goes after a concert, because as I said, we're always swarmed by Matt's fangirls. Still, the girl didn't look like she was going to say anything, either, so we were sort of stuck. I couldn't read her. Her lily-white skin showed no trace of any blood tinge, so there was no checking to see if she was blushing. Her eyes were blank, sort of similar to mine, and anyone that's ever had a chat with me will tell you how greatly that throws off trying to read a person's expression; the motion of the eyes and the dilation of the pupils are especially telling. She didn't even seem to need to blink. Had her vine-hair not stirred in the wind at that instant, I might have mistaken her for a wax sculpture, she was so still.

We stood there in silence for several moments, sizing one another up. Then, she took another few steps towards me. Or at least, she moved towards me across a distance akin to a few steps; her movement was a little too graceful and smooth to be the result of a jerky form of locomotion like walking, and her ground-length, white dress made it impossible to see how she was actually moving herself forward. I sort of suspected roots.

Once she had moved close enough that we were standing almost nose to nose (which, you must note, is not all that close when at least one individual involved is an ice wizard), a vine reached out from a frilled, floral protrusion around her neck, and it touched my face, running tenderly down my cheek. I... I really wasn't sure what to think of this, but it gave me goosebumps, and as much as I feel shy in admiting to it, I was sort of turned on by this incredible stranger.

Finally, she spoke.

"Are you a god?"

This question threw me off. Had... had she seriously just asked if I was...?

"Erm, no," I answered, muttering, "I'm just a wizard. An ice wizard."

"An ice wizard," she repeated, curiously. Her voice was mild and breathy, almost as if she were dreaming on her feet. "Are those not gods?"

"N-no. I'm just... I'm just me, milady. Not a god. Just... just... um..."

"Are you certain of what you are?" The vine rose up and down, stroking my hollow cheek. I was starting to feel dizzy.

"No... milady... um... I'd hate to be rude, but... that thing you're doing... it's sort of..."

"Are you uncomfortable?" She leaned in closer. I was already dizzy from nerves, and I nearly fainted as a sleepy aroma fell over me, obviously being exuded by this plant-girl. I apparently made by Will Save, though, so I continued stammering ineffectually.

"I'm not uncomfotable... I... It's just... I don't know if things are different where you come from, but... um... well... what you're doing is... err... a bit ero... um... erotic..."

And she smiled then, if only slightly. A small laugh escaped her.

"You're only a child inside, aren't you?" I couldn't tell if her tone was affectionate or mocking, but either way, it made me feel even weaker in the knees.

And then, in a flash, several vines appeared out of nowhere, wrapped around me, and pushed me towards her. I found myself lip-locked with her, and I must admit, if she was hoping for a romantic experience, I failed her utterly. It wasn't that she wasn't pretty or anything, but that sudden action threw me into a panic, and since I was already lightheaded, I had to put all my focus into not throwing up (I've thrown up on girls before, when I try talking to them. It's really embarassing). I didn't throw up, though, so at the very least, I held out in the kiss until the vines let go and I stumbled back.

"My name is Princess Venus. Remember that, Ice Wizard. We'll meet again." And with that, she strode (or glided) off, leaving me completely out of breath.

I was still utterly senseless when Matt drifted back over and coyly asked, "So... how'd it go, Nerdrew?"

"I wish Prince Gumball considered girls a useful topic of study. I need to know about them a lot more than science, that's for sure."