Mermaid Heel's New Flare (Chapter 7)
Flare was looking over herself in the mirror, making sure every hair was neatly brushed, the makeup covered the remaining bags underneath her eyes (which had gotten better since she arrived at Mermaid Heel), and that her new dress fit well. Flare normally never really cared how she looked aside from her hair, thinking that there was no real need to make herself look good since she was mostly considered to be Ivan's lackey. However, with her date for Risley tonight, Flare wanted to make a good first impression as potential girlfriend material.
"Hey Flare are you—wow! You're looking great!" Arana complimented as she opened the door to her room and walked in.
"Thanks, Arana, but…I'm still really nervous about this date." Arana chuckled to herself as she sat on Flare's bed before patting the space next to her. Flare looked at her curiously, but she did as she was told, and Arana grabbed both of Flare's hands once she did sit down.
"Listen Flare, I get being nervous. I remember when Beth was sweating and shaking when we went on our date. But, you just have to remember; Risley wants to go out with you. She wouldn't have agreed to the date if she didn't want to go out with you, or even like you," Arana explained as Flare blushed, thinking of Risley actually liking her as a girlfriend.
"I…guess you're right, but I'm still a bit scared."
"I know, but I have faith in you. I better see you and Risley holding hands and kissing by the time you get back," Arana joked, which Flare jumping away from Arana showing she didn't quite see the humor.
"What're you going to do to me!?"
"Flare, I was just joking!" Arana exclaimed, with Flare taking a few deep breaths to get herself to calm down. Flare then heard that her door squeaking open, and when she looked up to see who was at the door, her face turned the same color as her hair with an intense blush as she looked at Risley. Risley was wearing the same blue dress she was wearing during the Grand Banquet, except without the long gloves and her hair was in its normal style and not the bun style she had at the Grand Banquet.
"Hey Flare! Woah…you look amazing!" Risley exclaimed as she walked up to Flare, who was still staring at Risley with her mouth wide agape in amazement. Arana snapped her fingers a couple of times in front of Flare's face, causing her to shake her head and look back up at Risley.
"Oh…thanks Risley, you look really great too," Flare said, not even able to look at Risley in the eyes. Risley didn't seem to mind and patted Flare on the back before helping her back up to her feet.
"Why thank you Flare. Now, as much as I would love to look at you in that nice dress, we have reservations to meet, so we have to get going," Risley said as she picked up Flare's purse and gave it to her.
"Oh…right! I'm ready, let's go!" Flare exclaimed as she nearly jumped in nervousness. Arana looked over at Flare's sweating and stammering figure and looked on with worry as it looked like Flare was going to pass out.
"Maybe we should've waited until having Flare ask Risley out," Arana mumbled to herself. However, some of Arana's doubts were assuaged as Risley ran a hand through Flare's red locks, which helped Flare calm down. Flare looked up at Risley, who smiled and put her hand in Flare's before leading her out the door.
"Or…maybe this'll work out,' Arana smiled, still sitting on Flare's bed and hoping that Flare and Risley's date would go well.
Fifteen Minutes Later at the Restaurant…
"Oh! Here's our table, Flare," Risley pointed out as she pulled the chair out, allowing Flare to sit down next to the wall. However, rather than sit across from Flare, Risley sat in the chair next to her's, and put an arm around the back of Flare's neck. Right now, Flare was going through a range of emotions while Risley was looking at the menu. On the one hand, Flare was right next to Risley, could smell the perfume that she was wearing, and it was putting her in a state of ecstasy.
On the other hand, Flare was also nervous that she was already messing up. When Risley pulled the chair out so that she could sit, Flare realized that she forgot to do the same thing for Risley. Flare also didn't have any topics for potential conversation either, and she could feel her heart beating as fast as a Gatling Gun. However, while Flare was in the middle of her ocean of frightening thoughts, Risley poked her on the shoulder a couple of times, bringing her back to reality.
"Flare…what do you want to order?"
"Oh…Oh! Uh…I'll have some spaghetti with the red sauce, please," Flare said in a mumble, before going back to her frightened and sad thoughts before Risley repeated the order, and the waitress left. However, Flare didn't stay in her thoughts for long as Risley turned to face her and patted her hand.
"So…tell me about yourself," Risley stated as Flare looked at Risley with a blush, thinking of what to say.
"I mean…what do you want to know?"
"I want to know how you were raised. You know, before you met that Master Ivan guy," Risley responded as Flare nodded and began talking, not being able to look at Risley while she thought of the words to say.
"Well…I was raised in the Sun Village. I was scared of the giants at first, but…they were friendly with me. They treated me like their own daughter and raised me. I…still feel awful about leaving them the way I did," Flare said, hanging her head in shame as the waitress came back to give the couple their drinks.
"I've never actually been to the Sun Village, but if the giants are as nice as you say, I'm sure that they welcomed you back with open arms."
"That is true, but that doesn't mean I still don't feel bad," Flare countered, taking a sip of the ice tea that she had been given.
"I can't imagine how your parents must've felt with you leaving," Risley mumbled loudly enough for Flare to hear, causing her to almost drop her ice tea. Flare put her tea back on the table and balled up her fists as Risley noticed how stressed Flare was becoming and started patting her on the back. "Did I say something wrong?"
"I…actually don't know my parents."
"What? Really? What happened to them?
"I…I can't remember. I really can't remember anything before being taken to the Sun Village by some passing giants while I was walking in the forest. I don't know their names, what they look like, where I was originally from…nothing," Flare confessed, as tears started to form out of the corner of her eyes. Risley noticed this, grabbed one of the napkins on their table, and started wiping Flare's tears out of her eyes.
"Oh don't cry Flare, it's OK. At least you had people who cared about you before Mermaid Heel."
"Yeah, Master Iris told me about your unstable home life, and how your biological parents died in a house fire."
"…"
"…"
"…I hate it when Iris just tells random people our secrets."
"What, Master Iris does that?"
"Yeah, Iris has a real problem with keeping things to herself. I remember when Iris was trying to help Beth ask Arana out on a date, and just out of nowhere told Arana about the time Beth wet herself after seeing a spider," Risley recounted, causing Flare to chuckle, giving Risley the pleasant sight of the first genuine smile on Flare's face since this date started. Risley knew that Flare was stressing about this date, putting undue pressure on herself to make sure she did well on this date.
"Flare…you don't need to worry about impressing me," Risley stated as she continued to wipe away the last of Flare's tears before she started gently rubbing her back. Flare looked at Risley in surprise as she tried to once again look away from Risley, but Risley wouldn't let that happen as she grabbed Flare's cheek with her free hand, and turned her head so that she was looking at Risley.
"Flare listen, I know you're scared, but trust me, I also know how you're feeling. It's hard to try and make yourself look good for someone, and it's scary because you don't know if it'll work or not. But Flare, I want to get to know the real you, even if you're a stammering shy mess because I don't want you to feel like the real you is bad," Risley soliloquized as Flare looked at her with a warm smile growing on her face, but before she could say anything, the waitress came back with their orders.
"Here are your orders," the waitress said, causing Flare to jump back and look away from her before Risley thanked her, and handed Flare her spaghetti before the waitress left. Flare turned back around, saw that the waitress had left, and quickly kissed an unsuspecting Risley on the cheek. It was Risley's turn to blush as Flare quickly grabbed her fork, and got a forkful of spaghetti. However, when Flare put the spaghetti in her mouth, Risley discreetly grabbed one of the noodles and put it in her mouth, so when Flare slurped on the noodle, Risley pretended to be pulled in so that she could kiss Flare on the cheek.
"Tastes good?" Risley asked with a smile on her face as Flare put a couple of her fingers over the lips that Risley kissed. The two smiled warmly at each other before eating their food in comforting silence, with Flare moving her chair closer to Risley to the point where their shoulders were touching.