All's Fair In Love And War

The First Date

I fidgeted uncomfortably in the shirt I was wearing, trying to make it sit more comfortably on my shoulders and itch less.

"Well you look great." A familiar voice commented.

I turned to smile at Percy and blushed as he handed me a small bouquet of roses. "Thanks. The same to you. If only this gods' forsaken shirt wasn't so itchy, I'd be golden."

He laughed. "If it itches, why didn't you change?"

I shrugged. "I don't have the key to my dressing room and no clue where Juniper is."

He nodded. "Makes sense. Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah. Where are we going?"

"Just out to dinner." Percy smiled and took my hand, leading me out the door and to a car parked at the curb.

"Is this yours?" I asked him.

"Nah, Venus provided it."

I scowled a little at the mention of the irritating love goddess and Percy laughed at my expression. "Come on, just pretend it's my car, not hers."

That was rather easy. The car was, thankfully, plain and normal, as far as I could see. Percy opened the passenger seat door and I got in, then he closed the door and rounded the car.

Revving the engine, he pulled away from the curb and we started down the street, on the way to wherever we were going.

"Where are we going?" I asked again.

"A little restaurant on the other side of the city."

"Sounds good." I admitted. "But are you going to tell me the name of the restaurant?"

"No, but I promise you'll like it." He smiled at me. I rolled my eyes at him.

Turning to look out the window, I watched the scenery go by. Houses, some new, some old, and painted all colors of the rainbow. Some had gardens and plants near them, but as we got farther into the city and taller buildings started to appear, the greenery disappeared.

I made a face at the dark bricks and dirty streets.

"Don't like the city?" Percy asked, seeming to read my mind.

"No, I don't. Where I lived there were always bright colors and plants everywhere."

It was true. Back home in Puerto Rico, there were bright flowers everywhere. Our gardener had kept a magnificent garden behind our house. Hylla and I used to run around in between the petals, trying to find the one that had bloomed the best and showed the most color. Then Circe's Island was a paradise, full of the strangest and most mesmerising plants I'd ever seen. Whenever I needed a break, I would go sit in one of her gardens by myself and examine the nature I saw so much beauty in.

"We're almost there." Percy told me after we had ridden in silence for a while.

"Are we?" I looked forward, wondering where he was going to pull in.

"Yep." He turned right, driving into a parking lot and killing the car's engine.

I looked at the little restaurant. It looked quaint, but I had no problem with that. The sign in the window proclaimed it to have the best pies in the entire city. Above that sign was the familiar 'open' sign, flashing brightly.

Percy opened his door and I followed his lead, stepping into the cool afternoon air.

"This is nice." I commented as we started towards the door.

"I thought so." We passed under the sign above the door, proclaiming the small place to be Katie's Kitchen.

"Table for two?" The girl at the door asked, snapping her gum in a bored way.

"That would be wonderful, thank you." Percy said with a smile.

She grabbed two menus. "Follow me."

We weaved through the building to the back, where the girl dropped the menus on a table and pulled a matchbox out of her apron. She lit the match with ease and laid it on top of each of the candles, one after another.

Percy tipped his head in a nod of thanks and she walked away.

"Have you been here before?" I asked.

"Once or twice." He shrugged.

A waiter came over, flashing us a too white smile. "Hello lovelies, what can I getcha tonight? Let's start with drinks, shall we?"

"I'll have a lemonade." I told him.

"Sure thing doll. And you, kid?"

Percy shrugged. "I'll take a coke."

"Be right back then. Stay groovy." The waiter grinned and left the table.

"Well he's friendly." I commented.

"Yeah. Seems like a nice guy." Percy perused the menu. "What should we start with?"

"Something light." I said, also looking down at the laminated card. "What about the homemade mozzarella sticks?"

"Sounds like a plan." Percy smiled at me.

"One lemonade and one coke, for the lovely couple." The waiter had returned.

I felt my cheeks go red, and a glance at Percy revealed his were too.

"Anything to start out with?" The guy asked. I could see his name tag now, it read Cosmo.

Matched well with the eccentric personality I'd seen so far.

"Uh, we'll have the mozzarella sticks." Percy said, sounding slightly awkward.

"You got it, buckaroo."

I bit back a laugh as Percy watched Cosmo sweep off.

"Well then..."

[A/N sorry this took so long, I was doing a lot of stuff this weekend]