It's a date

There was always that fine line of balancing a new friendship, or at least one that could very well bloom in to something. It was about nourishing it, watering it like a delicate flower, yet being careful not to drown it before it had a chance to reach for the sunlight. She had kept her writing with Xalvador to a minimum, or at least as little as she could handle when she was this thrilled to soon see him. They had managed to set up a time of the day that fit them both, being just after midday. Today the sun was shining warmly above them, but it was clear that it wasn't summer anymore. Autumn was arriving soon enough and with it the leaves would start to change. However summer seemed to linger a bit on this day, and she had decided on a floral dress flowing down to just underneath her knees. Her shoes were simple, just some laced up sandals and her hair she had pulled away from her face in a bit of a messy ponytail. Make up wise she wasn't wearing much more than mascara, as she didn't feel like she should go above and beyond and potentially scare him away.
She was standing outside the entrance, a couple of tickets in her hand that she had bought beforehand - there was no reason to discuss who would pay because she had asked and suggested the place. Looking at the clock above the entrance to the museum, she felt her heart beat increase a bit. She had seen Gerard during the week, but Xalvador hadn't been around. Not that it mattered, or well it did, but she tried telling herself that she shouldn't try and put too much in to this meeting. But she was also too aware of how excited she was to get to know someone new.

The day came for their date and it had felt a little weird to actually prepare himself for a date. He had found some clothes that looked alright, it was a little casual, but he wasnt really sure what else he was supposed to wear? What did regular people wear for dates? The thought made him roll his eyes, because when had he ever cared what regular people did. And yet he corrected his collar in the mirror as he passed it, pulling a few wrinkles out of his shirt. He wasnt sure if Gerard was working or busy, but he still stuck his head in the studio to big him farewell before he left.
He arrived at the museum not long after, looking around before he spotted her among the mass. Even if people werent going into the museum, it seemed that the outside was well liked by the public. Lots of young people who sat on the stairs and just talked while they seemed to enjoy the warmth. "Heyy... I like the dress," he greeted her with a small smile on his lips, unsure if he was supposed to hug her or shake hands or whatever but the compliment had come to stay. "This place looks huge," he remarked, looking up at the building as he whistled in amazement.

Gerard had teased him a bit for his seemingly nervousness, but truth was that the nephilim was quite happy for his friend. The hybrid needed a bigger support system, he needed people he could trust, and he put a lot of faith in the young human. "Behave, kid," he yelled after his friend. "Don't do anything I wouldn't."

Eliza felt herself get a bit more nervous, perhaps because she had been stood up before, leaving her with a hurting stomach and a bit of a kick to her confidence. However seeing him approach made her blink a few times, as if she couldn't believe her eyes. He came closer, greeting her and in her excitement she wrapped her arms around him in a quick hug, one where she let go relatively short after. "Hi," she chuckled, looking down herself as he complimented the dress. "Oh, thanks, I like your shirt," she said, feeling that rush of happiness once more. Looking at the tall building she nodded at his words. "Yeah, but it feels even bigger on the inside," she said, moving to stand beside him and look at the building.
"Shall we?" she asked, and if he agreed she would lead the way to the entrance, handing over the pre-paid tickets to let them in. Walking over to an overview of the entire museum she hummed as she looked at the different floors and what they were exhibiting. "Is there any place you'd like to start?" she asked, looking at Xalvador with a bright smile. It was clear she felt at ease in here, like she had been there many times already, however for her she always found something new she hadn't seen before.

Hugs werent really his thing, especially not when it came to people he had just met, but he hugged her close for the short amount it lasted. She returned the compliment and he chuckled as he shook his head humbly. "It's from some thrift store somewhere," he shrugged it off. Looking at the building, he was unsure if they could see everything in one day? He nodded at her question and followed her to the entrance. He widened his eyes as they got inside, looking around before he made a deep sigh, looking at the overview while he considered her question. "Uhhhhh. Geez, there is so much to choose between," he remarked, before he scratched his neck and just pointing at something random, luckily it was on the floor they were on, "Here?" he suggested, before he looked at her with a small smile on his lips.

"What's wrong with thrift stores?" she asked with a light chuckle. Eliza might've been from a rather well off family, but it had never been beneath her to go in to a second hand store.
Of course anyone would be a bit taken aback by the large scale of the museum, but it was a great place. He pointed at something on the map, making her squint her eyes to read the small font under his finger. "Ancient Egypt," she said with an approving nod, taking his hand carefully if he let her before guiding him in the right way. If he didn't take her hand it would be fine, she would just walk beside him. Right before the exhibition there was a small area with headsets and small radios attached. "Here," she said, handing a set to him while she took one for herself as well. It was just a free guided tour, but there was something about hearing another person guide you through something extraordinary like that.
Walking beside him, or holding his hand, they walked from spot to spot, seeing the ancient artifacts. Her eyes lighting up as she pointed at what looked like a feather, taking one of her headphones off to speak to him. "They say it's the feather of one of the first seraphs that landed in Egypt," she said, clearly this was exciting for her. "After it fell off, the pharaohs used the feather as a sort of quill for when their book of the dead was being written," she said, chuckling as she found it a little silly to go a little above and beyond about a feather.

Ancient egypt it was. He didnt know much about it, he had been through primary and middle school but he wasnt really paying attention most of the time. He had been far to busy wondering how he was going to scrape up money for Gerard and him to not have to live off the bad food of the orphanage that most definitely wasnt healthy in the long run. He usually just bought a bag of cheap blood for himself and then made sure to get some fruits for Gerard to eat.
He let her hold his hand as they walked through the exhibition, looking around with curious eyes. He lifted one earphone off his ear as she spoke, shifting between looking at the things she spoke about and her. "What about the next quill? Did the start plucking them so they could keep writing?" he chuckled but he then leaned in to inspect the feather. It didnt seem like it was something from ancient times, but he had heard that the seraphim feathers could only disappear once they were burned. Other than that, they would stay pretty and white forever. "I'm kinda freaking out about how new it looks," he admitted, pulling her hand to go to something else. He stopped at a mummy, wrinkling his nose as he looked at it. "Well hello there...." he leaned down to read the nameplate. ".... Mr Name-I-Cant-Pronounce," he said as he looked up at the preserved remains. "This is how I imagined the feather to look like," he explained.

"Well, a seraphim feather does not fray like the feather of a bird," she explained, chuckling as he seemed to ask all the right questions. Nodding she followed him as he pulled her, giggling as he stopped suddenly, making her step into him. She apologized in a low murmur, turning her head to look at the mummy behind the glass. In a way it was like facing ones mortality, standing in front of a human from so many years ago that had tried to achieve immortality after death. There was something beautiful about it. Bowing forward to read the name listed she frowned. "A-se-nath," she said, trying to get the pronunciation correct. "It's a female," she chuckled as he mentioned the feather once more.
"Well it seems like she was human, and she would decompose like any human would ... While the feather is more of an object at this point," she pointed out, pulling him with her to some statues of gods and goddesses. It was so strange that they generally believed the same as they did now, only every god had a different name. "I don't know why, but thinking of gods always makes my head dizzy," she chuckled as she read a few of the names out loud. "I don't really like to visit the temples either, it just seems strange to me," she went on to explain looking at the male statue in front of her. It was delicately carved out of limestone, giving it a light flesh color, but she knew their skin tone would've been way darker than the pale stone itself. "Think of how much time it must've taken ... I feel like I could hardly carve anything remotely out of clay if I had all the time in the world," she sighed.
Reaching the end of the Egyptian exhibition, they hung up their headphones and small radios at the proper station before moving in to an area with roman history.

He definitely found the feather weird, but alas their tour had to continue. Onto the mummy whose name he didnt know what meant. He looked at Eliza as she tried to pronounce the name, nodding a few times as it didnt sound completely wrong to him. "Kinda weird that they stored her up in a box like that. A grave would have been better," he thought out loud as she pulled him with her to some statues. He looked at them all with a frown, thankful that they were only creations of followers, otherwise he wouldnt have been able to stand next to them. "I can relate to that," he said as he eyed one of the statues. Caemille was of course the one that seemed to be cut out to be the most beautiful than them all, her teeth so prominently sharp, you couldnt unsee the vampyre in her. "I'm not very good with all the holy stuff either," he said, looking up at the male statue with a raised eyebrow. "My best work has been a small pot that collapsed while drying. I wanted to throw it out, but Gerard wouldnt let me, so instead of placing it somewhere where I can throw it out, it's safely in his studio," he chuckled, looking at her for a moment with a small smile before he looked back at the statue. "I doubt that the person who did this was paid much for their work," he remarked as he couldnt see a name on the creator of the statue.
Leaving the egyptian section, he seemed to notice something that made him widen his eyes, before he pulled her with him once they had hung the headphones back. He stopped at the era and smiled brightly. "Dinosaurs!" he said in a happy tone, looking at her, because obviously he wasnt going to drag her through it if it wasnt something she wanted to see, even if he was dying to see it. He realized he was letting his inner child out and cleared his throat as he tried to play it off, "Of course only if you'd want to see them too," he said in a more manly tone than the happy one he had used before.

"Well, she was in a grave, but they dug her out because ... History and archeology I guess?" she pondered, but he did have a point, even if it wasn't what he had meant to say. She liked how he seemed to genuinely take everything in, even if people found it boring, Eliza found comfort in this. People wishing to live forever, rise again with the sun god Ra and sail across the sky for eternity. She didn't know if she could put much faith in to the gods that were worshipped now, not from her short life experience, but she hoped that they brought comfort for some.
The mention of a mishap with clay made her chuckle, smiling warmly as it definitely sounded like something Gerard would do. He collected memories in some way, or at least that was what the human suspected. "Sometimes payment isn't in money or goods, sometimes the artists would be drawn on the walls of the tombs to make them be a part of that person's afterlife," she said. She found the gesture very big, perhaps because the afterlife was viewed as something very pristine and only reserved for the highest in society. "It's a beautiful gesture; The gift of immortality in return for hard work and art," she said in a pondering tone before they moved on. Hanging up their headsets she watched as he stopped, his face lighting up like nothing else and part of her wished to see that again. However as soon as it showed, as soon it was gone, and he put on his more adult facade. Frowning at his question she hummed as she thought about it. "Only if you race me," she said, sticking her tongue out as she gathered her long dress in her hands, lifting the fabric up as she sat off running, giggling as if she was a child, showing him that she didn't care what other's thought.