Maybe Squall had been misinformed, but weren't dates supposed to be… fun? Or at least interesting?
So far, his first date with Rinoa had been neither.
Am I doing something wrong? He thought to himself.
He'd asked Irvine, Zell, and even Seifer what a standard 'first date' could consist of. Some of the suggestions (especially Irvine's) were… a little much. Still, some of the feedback from his comrades had been helpful, and he eventually settled on taking her out for dinner, followed by a walk along Balamb's beach. He knew which parts of the beach to stick to if they wanted to avoid monsters, so it should have turned out to be a peaceful strole.
So far, it had remained peaceful, which was good. But… Rinoa looked bored.
And that wasn't good.
Maybe he should hold her hand? People on dates held hands, usually, didn't they? But it seemed so tacky… Was there even a point to holding hands?
He could talk to her, but what would they talk about? What were girls interested in these days? Now that he thought about it, what was he interested in these days?
He actually couldn't remember ever being interested in much that wasn't related to Garden, SeeD, and battle tactics. He highly doubted that any of that would be an appropriate topic to discuss on a supposed 'romantic walk'.
Okay, think, Squall, he thought, There has to be something we can talk about.
"So…" He tried, "How about those clouds?"
Well, there was a reason he wasn't usually the one to start conversations.
To his horror, Rinoa started laughing. It was definitely not a good sign when your date laughed at you.
"Sorry," He mumbled, "I'm boring you, aren't I?"
"No, no! Not at all!" Rinoa quickly exclaimed, "It's just that… Well… You keep things to yourself so much, and I was trying to figure out what you were thinking about… I just didn't expect a comment on the weather from you."
"Ah," Was all that Squall could think to reply.
"So, the clouds, ne?"
"Well, what did you think I was thinking about?"
Rinoa got a pensive look on her face, "Well, I was hoping maybe something along the lines of 'Wow, that dress looks really cute on her', or 'I should hold her hand'…"
"I did think of all that," Squall admitted, "I just didn't see the need to say it out loud."
She giggled and clutched his hand, "You need to stop keeping things like that to yourself. You know, most girls like to hear it when her boyfriend thinks she's pretty or cute."
"Hn," He pondered, "I'll work on that, then."
"Don't try too hard," Rinoa teased, "You might explode."
Without another word, they continued their walk along the beach. They held hands, now, and admired the way the setting sun reflected on the clouds.
"By the way," Squall said softly, turning to Rinoa, "You look pretty in that dress."
"Thanks," She replied, giving his hand a squeeze.