Blind Date Resturant

Karin nodded quickly. "Yes, yes of course!" She hurried off to the line of girls. She checked her list of people. It would probably be best to go down the line of tables, from 1 to 4. That way, she wouldn't accidentally miss anyone. "Rena-san?" she asked with a sweet smile. She stepped aside and gestured for the girl to follow. "Rena-san, your table is ready."

Alice looked around the restaraunt curiously. There was no sign of violence being encouraged in this place. No guns, no swords, no weapons of any kind. Perfect. And no sign of any bunny-eared stalkers. She was ready to have a good time that didn't end in someone getting shot.

Taelisin was leaning against a wall. His harp was out, and he was plucking the strings playing a calm little tune. Mostly for his pet dragon, which sat next to him trying to sing along. He figured that she was allowed in, since the place was run by a hamster. They couldn't exactly deny a wellbehaved pet like his dragon.

"You're at table one, Rena-san," Karin said, leading her to the table in question. "Your date will be here shortly." She then went back to the line. "Alice-san? This way, please." She led the blue-clad girl as well. She was surprisingly good at this, but when she thought about it, she'd always worked in the restaraunt biz, so she had to be good by now.

She returned. "Yuffie-san? Um, Yuffie-san, you sit here," she said, guiding her to table three.

Alice sat patiently at her table, sipping the water that was out for her. This was certainly different, sitting and enjoying herself at a restaraunt. She never got a chance to relax between the twins and Peter.

Taliesin smiled as he watched the man led away and saw the lovely ladies being sat at the tables. "It'll be our turn any second now," he informed the dragon.

The dragon, meanwhile, wasn't too keen on the idea of sharing her spoony bard. So she went, "Gao," and glomped him.

"My, my, you're being more affectionate than usual," he said, gently pushing the dragon off him. "I wish you could talk, though, so I knew what you want me to." Ogam had said it could take years for a baby dragon to learn human speech, and he was counting down the time until then.

"I think I will," Taliesin said, smiling his best bard smile at Rena.

"My name is Taliesin. Who might you be, my lady?" He knew how to sweet talk. Much of his money depended on being able to butter up a crowd as much as his ability to play a harp.

Karin went back to the last of the girls. "Winry-san, please follow me to your blind date," she said brightly.

"Hello," Alice replied, grinning. "I'm Alice Liddel. And you are?" She wasn't quite sure what else to say at the moment. Really there was nothing to say until introductions were through.

Karin led the way to the table and set down a menu like with all the other couples. "Enjoy your date," she said before walking away. "We'll take orders in a few minutes," she said to Bijou, "when they're all settled."

Karin picked up her pen and pad of paper. "We should probably start taking drink orders," she told Bijou. She headed to table four first. "Hello. Have you decided on anything to drink?"

Alice almost said "the Country of Hearts," but stopped herself. She wasn't from that asylum! "Well, I'm originally from Britain, but after a rather bizarre series of events involving a white rabbit in a waistcoat, I seem to live in the clock tower in the Country of Hearts."

The dragon puffed up rather indignantly and opened her mouth. "Gao!" she growled before spitting fire down on Rena.

Taliesin reacted quickly enough to haul the dragon away before Rena got hurt. "Now now, don't do that. We wouldn't want this lovely lady getting hurt," he informed his dragon.

The dragon puffed its cheeks out irritably and glared at Rena, daring her to come back for more. Taliesin was hers. She wasn't about to let some bratty little girl take her property.

The situation defused somewhat, the bard smiled at Rena. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't do that again. This little one can be a little bad tempered sometimes."

Karin quickly wrote down the drink order on their receipt. "All right. I'll get those right for you." She left and returned with the drink orders before moving on to the next table, this one with Yuffie and Lloyd.

"What can I get for you two to drink?" she asked them with a smile.

The dragon puffed her chest out proudly, as if to say, "Of course I'm cute!" In some ways, the dragon was just like her servant, Taliesin.

"Mmm, Apple Tea sounds divine," Taliesin agreed. "I believe I'll have some of that as well. Oh, and could you bring a bowl of..." He looked at his dragon for what she wanted. She replied in her growly way, and he continued, "A bowl of meatballs in gravy for the lovely dragon here?"

Karin coughed lightly to get Lloyd and Yuffie's attention. They seemed so wrapped up in their conversation that they hadn't heard her at first. "Excuse me, Lloyd, Yuffie, what can I get for you both to drink?"

"I'm glad to have traveled a ways to get here," Alice replied. She leaned in and whispered. "That way none of the people can find me." She glanced around quickly, as if speaking of them could make them pop up out of nowhere. When no one appeared, Alice breathed a sigh of relief. "The Country of Heart is small, so I've met everyone there. The problem is they like to get into each other's business. Especially mine. Are you from a place like that, Zack?"

"I'm afraid she doesn't have a name. Not one I know, anyway," Taliesin replied, picking up his drink from the hamsters. "Dragons are mysteriour creatures that understand the human tongue, but this little one's too young to speak our language yet. As soon as she can, I'm sure she'll tell me her name, though."

He then put on a big smile. "Do you have any pets?"