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It was impossible for Naia to comfort herself in these sort of situations, anxiety only built upon itself and with every thought born from the previous one they stacked upon each other. This along side her hyper awareness of her surroundings is what caused her to notice him looking around almost as he was searching for something. It was his smile that would throw her off at first, and before another toxic thought would bubble up--

[break][break]"Our mothers? I don't see them here. And, after all, isn't the point of a date to enjoy ourselves as we see fit?"

[break][break]He wasn't wrong. Still even ask she'd scan the area herself, she couldn't shake the feeling, the feeling of a constant eye watching her back for every little mistake. Whist anxiety was the far most prominent feeling thus far, there was this strange painful sensation in her chest from his words.

[break][break]"Well, I could really go for a nice hot dog right about now..."

[break][break]The moment he emphasized himself, did Naia's head shoot up. Part of her really thought they should stay and suck up the experience for their mother's efforts, however she distinctly remembered needing to give him an enjoyable experience. The plot hole in her mother's plan was starting to unfold before her and she couldn't help but be flustered by it all.

[break][break]"I-I mean.. if.."

[break][break]"And I'm certain our mothers wouldn't want the date to end here, would they?"

[break][break]"Not at all..!"

[break][break]She forgot to breath as her heart dropped. Was he giving her an ultimatum? She knew she was never good at dealing with people however things like this was common where she grew up. Yet in the most twisted kind of fashion it did bring her come sort of comfort, it's far easier to deal with people if you are familiar with some of their tactics.

[break][break]"So shall we?"

[break][break]Naia hesitated, her eyes locked onto his extended hand. Unless it was someone she really trusted she didn't like to physically touch people without some form of barrier, it's why she always wore gloves, however today wasn't one of those days by her mother's design. Nervously her hands would come together, a quick brush of her thumb against the back of one of her hands.

[break][break]Naia made sure to gathered her nerves to pull herself out from her seat, brushing her palm against her dress to clean it off or dry it off before she'd reach out for his hand and give it a firm shake. If anything this made more sense to Naia seeing how technically she made a deal.

[break][break]"Y-You don't think we'll get weird looks?"


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Everything happened in a flash, barely a moment after she had finished shooting did she hear two others followed by his body collapsing onto the floor. Before she could even register the discomforting rush of adrenaline trying to settle itself back down did Zev address her.

[break][break]"Incapacitate."

[break][break]She was still in her work mode mindset, quick short answers were the norm whenever she needed to communicate with her father during operations, however as the adrenaline settled and she could slowly real herself back in, so did her insecurities.

[break][break]Was her decision the wrong one?

[break][break]Instantly she felt like she did something wrong, no, deep down she knew you should go for the kill every time. All of this was a matter of life and death, Dorian, and Ashley taught her that. Swirling anxiety fed by the diminishing adrenaline, fed the nagging voice in the back of her head to explain herself.

[break][break]"I wasn't- uh, confident in my shot."

[break][break]But even though it was the truth to Naia, it just felt like excuses now.

[break][break]"I'm sorry.. I'll do better."


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“You can just call me Cyg. Like cigarette.”

[break][break]Naia pulled her head back, an eyebrow raised and drunken sway next as she'd tilt her head and place her hand on her chin like she was the thinker. ana fell was both confused and perplexed by how she messed it up so bad and then how someone as beautiful as her could compare herself to a cigarette. It was that disconnection Naia's brain that made her hard to accept, but it's what Cyg wanted.

[break][break]"It's nice to meet you Cyg~"

[break][break]It felt like one fumble after another and the biggest one thus far was when she just casually thrown out the fiancée card. While in the moment it made sense for her to do so for Elise Calcifet to not be weirded out, now that she genuinely thought about it... did it?

[break][break]"Naia, you have a fiancé? Congratulations! When will be both be walking down the isle?"

[break][break]Before she could finally catch the error of her ways, Mirabella Fontaine 's voice pull her away from it. The drunken lady placing a finger on her chin as she took a mili-second to think it over and laughed.

[break][break]"Oh I hope not! But if my mom has any say in that we'd be down the aisle tomorrow."

[break][break]Then her next big blunder. One that poor Naia will probably never understand why it was such a blunder in the first place.

[break][break]"What do you mean? We already have, like, five,"

[break][break]Though even still Isaac Merlo seemed to have answered her what she initially thought was honestly. The absolute shock and horror on Naia's face as she'd do a double take between him and Cyg, her poor drunken brain trying it's best to understand where and how they would have time for money for anything before his laugh called off the ruse.

[break][break]"Psh. As if. Nah, nah. No sense rushing things along, yeah? Hell, we're not even married."

[break][break]"Oh! I thought you were married.."

[break][break]After all they were so affectionate with one another.

[break][break]“Oh, christ, I don’t look pregnant in this… do I?”

[break][break]Panic. Shock, far worse than when Isaac mentioned their five fake children.

[break][break]"No no no no no no! Not at all!"

[break][break]"You kidding? You look gorgeous. I'd say glowing, but. Not the best phrase, considering."

[break][break]Isaac had this covered, if anything Naia was sure she was going to say something to make it worse and instead decided to just stick to herself --especially after she got her phone back. The dinner went as well as anyone expected, food they served was great, there may have been a couple times where Naia thankfully knocked over empty water glasses that were being forced upon her, but other than that the table was filled with conversations and laughter.

[break][break]There was just a small issue as the night progressed further and dinner came to a close. Naia was sobering up.

[break][break]To most this wouldn't be an issue, however as she was sobering up, she was stuck between this state of feeling nauseous and sick and worse her crippling anxiety was silently approaching. Like a ghost ready to wrap it's grip around her throat and choke out any little of enjoyment she could get out of this place.

[break][break]It may have been childish, but if these people were trying to sober up then she needed to split off from them.. Plus from the looks of it, the majority of them wanted to just enjoy the dances and have with their partners. At least from the way Amor Rose clung onto his lovely, he seemed like in the mood for dancing. So, after carefully planning her escape, Naia would excuse herself saying she needed to go to the washroom and after getting some distance escape off to the bar again. Surely after her drinks she'll gladly enjoy herself some desserts and check out those fireworks!

[break][break]"An Old Fashioned cocktail"

[break][break]Despite being a party pooper, at least Remiel Calcifet did offer her a better alternative~


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It was quite a spectacle if anyone were to listen in onto their conversation, the level of ignorance that both of them had towards what real, healthy parental relationships spoke more volumes than the actual topic of their conversation. And as he laced in his comments in between her words it wasn't like she was ignoring them but more she couldn't help herself in her train of thought.

[break][break]Perhaps it was the anxiety and nervousness that was keeping her brain running, but one of his comments stuck to her.

[break][break]"...I didn't realize it was that bad."

[break][break]Was this considered bad? To Naia this was her entire life, the norm her mother set out for her. It would make sense if he misunderstood her anxiety earlier as her being very uncomfortable with this whole ordeal instead of being scared her infidelity to Rocket was about to be exposed. And then came the question that would completely shut her brain off.

[break][break]"You even like them? Your fiancée, that is."

[break][break]Now it was Naia's turn to stare back at Ashley, a bit wide eyed and confused. It was almost as if gears were struggling to turn for a short moment before her eyebrows would furrow deeply. What did she think of Remiel Calcifet ? This entire time she had been placing the thoughts and opinions of other people about him above her own, and she never really considered how she felt.

[break][break]"Uhm.. W-Well.."

[break][break]Tilting her head to the side, while closing her eyes she tried her best to picture what he looked like on their date.

[break][break]"I mean.. he's attractive..."

[break][break]She'd finally open her eyes, an eyebrow raising as if she was question her own thoughts on the matter and after another second of thinking it over she'd nod. No, yeah, he was attractive.

[break][break]"I think I spent most of the date.. to nervous and scared to really think about it before, but he was really nice.. a-and accommodating. I-I mean it speaks volumes that.. he was willing to do this with me.. I highly doubt we'll get married though.."

[break][break]That last bit was Naia muttered under her voice, her face tensing up when she realized that she said it out loud.

[break][break]"Ca-can we keep it between us though..."



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Even though he had offered her a hand, Naia's first and main priority was to scoop up her Espurr into her arms and just for a short moment pull him into a tender yet tight hug. She needed at least a moment to gather herself, or more importantly a moment to ground herself still. Isaac would know when Naia had overcome her dizziness and nausea when she finally took his out stretched hand.

[break][break]"Don't worry. Just five minutes. Your Espurr's got a real good count of it by now, it looks like."

[break][break]At his words Naia would look down at her Espurr, and with a soft voice and a light brush of her thumb against her his cheek she'd praise his hard word.

[break][break]"You did good, Jude."

[break][break]He wouldn't have said anything, instead letting it's head bob around with her petting and when it finally took notice of Isaac's expression it would lean into Naia. Taking a moment to just enjoy the rest and focus all of his own attention into himself.

[break][break]"We should be through soon, at least. Who knows? Maybe you can treat yourself to a real nap after."

[break][break]"You.. didn't get attacked, right?"

[break][break]Naia's main concern was at Isaac, taking a step closer to him and dipping her head down to check him out. For her it was hard to believe that in five minutes everything hadn't completely flipped on its head, but after doing a quick body scan she'd see that he looked to be fine and let out a small sigh of relief.

[break][break]"Maybe.."

[break][break]Now that her worried were sated she could focus on the rest of his suggestion, she could still feel the weight of exhaustion but at least this was far more manageable. Adrenaline was after all doing a lot of heavy lifting again.

[break][break]"I was just thinking of grabbing some coffee after this.. I have.. some paper work left.."

[break][break]and due.


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