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Movies were an absolute no-go, not unless I tear my heart out and fling it far in the deepest corner of the ocean floor, ’cause that’s probably the only way I’d be able to bear putting her through an hour and a half of surround sound, visual overload of a blockbuster torture.

Can also rule out arcade-y escapades for similar reasons. Amusement parks struck down in the same vein, window-shopping avoided for its crowds, morning stroll for its morning sun.

Hell, even the delight of a hearty breakfast fell victim to a host of caveats which I didn’t foresee. I knew a local joint that wouldn’t be reached by the bustle of traffic, usually empty, and served good food.

Before, when I didn’t have the motivation, or when I straight-up did not have the ingredients for it, I’d frequent the place for a modest meal or two, to get away from it all and be at peace. Considering my current predicament, it sounded like the perfect spot.

So I took the turns, sped down a few, short blocks, and before long, I found myself once more seated on my favorite secluded corner, only this time, with even quieter company in tow.

A foreigner to the customer experience, Adalia simply went and replicated my every move, sat when I sat, drank when I drank, and when it came time to order, the waiter disappeared into the kitchen and returned a while later, balancing a lofty stack of pancakes in both hands.

But while my honey-coated tower gradually shrunk down by the layer, I noticed that Adalia was slower than usual to topple hers, with every bite and every portion she took getting smaller than the last.

With Ash, her favorite cereal. Irene, its coffee. And with Adalia, pancakes are the go-to.

.....

So, seeing her behavior now was… unusual.

“Keep at that pace, Adalia, Christmas will be over before we know it,” I said, plucking a layer from hers and adding it to mine. “Is something wrong?”

“Nothing…” She shook her head, peeing down at her plate at the cascade of melting butter. “Food just… makes me…”

“Sleepy?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

Wasn’t a shocker seeing her nod, just a bit of a downer wishing I knew earlier.

“Why didn’t you say something before we got here?”

“You wanted… to come here…” She said. “So I… wanted too…”

“Actually, I just wanted to do something that we both can do. I thought having breakfast could be one of those.”

“It… is…”

“Is it?.”

“I’m… eating…” She lifted her fork, a fluffy bite-sized piece disappearing in a clamp of fangs. “I’m… enjoying…”

“At your own expense though,” I pointed out. “You don’t have to eat if you don’t think it’s the best for you.”

“You’d… feel bad…”

“Maybe.”

“Not… maybe…” She said. “You… would…”

“Yeah, but now I just feel even worse.”

“I am… fine…” Adalia muttered, and through her murky stare, her vacant tone, I did my best to believe her words. “So be… fine too…”

All in all, it wasn’t much of a big deal in the grand scheme of things. When she eventually had had her fill, I just swooped in to finish the rest of her plate, and before long, after leaving a generous tip, we were out onto the streets again.

It’s just… while I do appreciate and absolutely gush over all the little things she tries and do for me… at the same time, I didn’t want her to be always having to do these things all the time. I wanted to accommodate her too.

But every time it’s as if we’re constantly trying to just one-up each other. I say one thing, she says another. She builds a boat for me, and I’d cry the entire river that’d send it floating.

Really, the both of us were just an endless back-and-forth of unconditional altruism in which neither of us had the intention of giving in to the kindness of the other. Which was stupid, I know.

Love is stupid.

“Have you… thought of anything… yet…?” Adalia asked, slithering her hands around my arm and keeping pace in the shade of my shadow as we headed back to my bike. “...your Christmas… present…”

“How about something we both can do that won’t make the other person feel guilty?” I suggested, holding my head higher trying to eclipse the sun for her. “That’d be like the gift of the year, honestly.”

“Mmm…”

“How about you?” I asked. Thought of something yet?”

“Not… yet…”

Ah well, the day’s only just started. In the meantime, it’s back to square one on aligning common, accommodating interests.

I stopped us just beside my bike, slipping my hand in my pocket for my keys, but when I tried to pull out, and raise my hand free, Adalia kept her arms locked, restricting me from doing any more.

Seems someone was thinking of something.

“I want… to walk…” Adalia proclaimed.

Slowly, I pocketed my keys back, my gaze shifting to the top of her head. “Walk?”

“To… the park…” She continued. “It is… close from here…”

She wasn’t wrong. Relatively speaking, it was just a ten-minute hop, skip, and jump away. On my own, long ago, I have frequented that ten-minute expedition to meet up with Black and White and usually it was not something I’d think heavily about.

But now with Adalia though. Yep, there it goes… altruism striking again.

That being said, I decided to keep my concerns to myself for the time being, and just went with it.

“If you want to, then I want to,” I said, echoing her sentiments. “But why, though? What do you wanna do there anyway?”

But she was already tugging me towards the direction of the park, firm yet gentle, spurring me along with her pace as she answered with a whisper, “Walk…”

As we crossed the streets, rounded bends, and continued to get closer to our destination, every once in a while, I’d get some affirmation that I was right to be concerned. Honking horns and crowded, congested spaces does not a happy vampire make.

She’d wince, and she’d heave, suppressing her discomfort as best as she could yet while also simultaneously bringing more attention to it by inching closer and closer to me until my body was just practically an extension of herself.

“Adalia…”

“No…” She interjected, suspecting already what I was about to say. “I am… with you… I am… alright…”

A girl like her, especially a girl like her, if she wanted to, in a blink of an eye, faster than I could drive, could so easily go to where she wanted to go minus all this baggage of mortal limitations. Like, all of this was completely unnecessary.

Yet she’s still walking.

“I want… to have… a normal date… with you…” Adalia softly muttered, as if reading my mind. “I want you… to treat me… normal…”

“Normal, how?”

“Like… everyone else… like… Ash… treat me… like her…” She said. “So please… do not… worry about me…” then she let out another heavy breath, as if her body was speaking against her mind. “Just… treat me… normally…”

There it was, irrefutable proof if doubted, a good example if wanted. Love, once again, making us act so stupidly. Like, how exactly does she expect me to treat her normally when she’s so special to me?

Nevertheless, for her, for love, I’ll guess I’ll just have to do my best.

“Fine, fine, I’ll stop coddling you,” I said, relenting. “If that’s what you want.”

“No…” Adalia immediately said, and I felt my brows shoot up in bemusement. “You can… coddle me… keep… coddling me… I like it…” She clarified. “But… coddle me… normally…”

How does one coddle normally? That’s what I wanna know.

A few minutes later and the park was finally peeking over the horizon, its shrubbery, its wintry greenery, and its… numerous festivities visible even from afar. The lights flashing bright and many, stalls and tents aligned in a rife avenue of activity, and a steady flow of park-goers flowing inwards toward the entrance.

That’s right, I completely forgot. There was going to be a Christmas event held at the park today. Is this why she wanted to come here? Then is this where she’s been every time she’s gone off ‘somewhere’?

She was staring forward, eyeing the swarm of people, hearing the clamorous noises erupting, unfazed, expecting. Yep, seems like it. I should be ashamed. This girl plans better dates than me.

That many people, that much noise, I should be raising a brow, but… I promised.

“Just walk, huh?” I remarked. “Alrighty, then.”

Adalia made a noise suddenly, faintly… and whirling around toward her, I saw her blink, confused… and it was then I only noticed the tip of her claws lightly grazing my palm.

She looked down, and as the light turned green for our side of the zebra-crossing, we remained in place, her head sinking even lower.

“Something wrong?”

“Ring…” Adalia whispered, and I felt the lightest pressure at the skin of my fingers. “You are… wearing… a ring…”

And at her words, I raised my hand in the air, her bleary gaze closely following along, its shimmering silver luster almost perfectly matching the misty gray of her eyes.

“Frederika’s… ring…”

“My Dad gave it to me,” I explained, hearing the many inquiries in her voice. “He said I’m free to use it however I see fit.”

Adalia quickly read between the lines, her intuition speaking aloud once more. “The ring was made… to hold magic… and act as a symbol… of love…”

“Yep.”

“You want to… give it… to someone…”

“Yep.”

“Some…one… you love…”

“Oh, wow,” I smiled at her. “How’d you figure?”

Curiosity was the only thing that stared back at me, in the barrenness of her expression, in a desert of nothing, that was the only oasis lurking beneath her gaze, as pondered, as she asked the question, “Who…?”

And I just kept my smile, tugging her by the arm before the pedestrian light flashed back to an eternal red.

.....

“Someone specially normal,” I said.