Nothing was working. Patrick had tried outfit after outfit, and yet, nothing worked. It wasn't like he could just not wear something, though. It was a date. The outfit needed to be nice and presentable, and yet, Patrick was having no luck finding something. 

The date was in twenty minutes, and he had been fussing over what to wear for at least thirty. Nothing looked right on him, and he was growing frustrated. And cold. Standing in his underwear and pairing different pants and different shirts together on his bed left him feeling a little cold. 

Patrick had brought all of these clothes with him, and yet nothing seemed date worthy. He was supposed to impress the High Fae of Winter. Okay. Did he try to wear wintery colors? Or do something that would represent his Summer roots? Or just wear what he wanted? He couldn't decide, and that was the problem. 

He glanced at the clock that was on the wall, groaning when he saw that he only had fifteen minutes to get dressed, do his hair, get down there, and set up the blanket he had found at a good spot. This was already going horribly. There was a chance he could just be ghosted at the date, too. Maybe he just shouldn't go. No no, he had to go. This was his one chance. 

Patrick gathered up all the clothes he had thrown across the room in frustration, sitting them all on the bed in a pile. He needed to start from the beginning. After digging through everything, he pulled out a pair of black skinny jeans, then a nice yellow, wool sweater. Did he do that combination before? He didn't remember, but it looked good, so Patrick frantically changed into it, then slipped on a pair of black boots. 

Quickly rushing over to the vanity, Patrick grabbed a comb and started to style his messy hair. It didn't take very long, since he let the fringe fall over his right eye like it usually wanted to. Patrick still didn't exactly like the outfit; the pants hugged his hips and thighs just a little too tightly, but the sweater was fine. It hid his slight chubbiness, just like he wanted. If there was a way to avoid getting potentially called fat by the High Fae, he'd take it. 

After grabbing the blanket he had found earlier, the fae rushed out of the room, practically sprinting down the halls and down the stairs, nearly tripping and face planting on the last step. He hoped no one saw him, he probably looked like an idiot. 

Patrick made it outside, the cool night air hitting his face like a slap as he ran out into the gardens. It was oddly refreshing though, compared to the heat that always filled the Summer Court. He was always especially warm, due to his warm way of dressing. It was his choice though, and he'd rather dress the way he did than show off the body that no one wanted to see. 

He stopped in the middle of the gardens, standing in the grass as he looked around for a good spot. Well, where he was standing was actually pretty good. It was open, and there was a tree nearby. Patrick laid the blanket out, then plopped down on it, stretching his legs out as he sat and waited for his High Fae to show up. He didn't know the time, but he knew it could probably be any minute. 

The minutes started ticking by, and Patrick started to grow antsy. His fingers toyed with themselves in his lap as he anxiously waited, glancing continuously towards the entrance to the gardens. Was he coming? Or was he really getting stood up?

And then, Patrick spotted him.

At first, he was a far away figure, but as he got closer, Patrick could spot features. The white hair, the pale skin, the sharp features. And once he got close enough, the piercing, sharp eyes, that looked like they were staring into his soul as soon as their eyes locked.

Oh gods.

"I'm going to assume that you're Patrick, otherwise this is about to get super weird." 

Patrick forgot how to breathe for a second. He wasn't sure why. Maybe it was from the nerves all hitting him at once, disbelief that this was actually happening. He suddenly realized Evan had sat down next to him, and was staring at him, waiting for an answer. Patrick swallowed hard, managing to find his voice.

"I-I am. I-I'm guessing you're Evan, then. It's nice to meet you," he managed to say, trying to shove down the intense nervousness he suddenly felt. It wasn't this bad  before, but now that Evan was actually here, it hit him like a pile of bricks. Patrick quickly decided to say something else, knowing that it was up to him to make the impression. "I hope you don't mind the date. I-I didn't get much of a choice."

"It's fine. Personally, I would have liked it better if there were no dates at all, but here we are," Evan responded. Patrick could hear the sharp, cold edge to his tone, and it scared him. His maid definitely wasn't wrong when she mentioned him being different. Evan seemed. . . cold. In more ways than one. 

Patrick opened his mouth to reply, but Evan quickly interrupted him. "I also don't do touching. Just thought I'd get that out of the way so there isn't confusion later. Now, how about you tell me about yourself, then I'll tell you about myself. That's how these dates work, right?"

Patrick was knocked back into silence. Okay, Evan was surely blunt. He could handle that, right? As long as he didn't say anything insulting. He gulped, choosing his next words rather carefully.

"That's okay. I-I wasn't really planning on touching you anyway, since it's our first time meeting," he said slowly, watching Evan's face carefully, looking for signs of annoyance or something in his facial expression. When he didn't see any, he moved onto the things about himself. "W-Well, um. . . my favorite color is red. I like music, I-I'm basically a vegetarian. . . is there anything else you wanna know?"

This was horrible. Patrick was scared, scared that Evan was gonna snap at him or make some passive aggressive comment. Scared that this would become even worse and he would just have to leave right away. What if that did happen? His parents would be so disappointed. The thought of facing that was something he didn't want to think about.

Patrick glanced back over at Evan, noticing that he was now staring up at the sky. It made him feel a little relieved that he seemed to not be focusing on how he looked. It made him feel just a little bit better. 

"Well, that's good then. Also, just anything you think I should know, I suppose. Hobbies, likes, dislikes, pet peeves. Things of that nature," Evan responded curtly. He sounded a little less cold this time, but Patrick knew he needed to tread carefully. 

"Oh, well, I-I have an allergy to nuts, I should probably mention that," Patrick started slowly, feeling a spike of nerves as he tried to think of something else. He was so bad with these kinds of things. "Um, I just graduated college, and I'm more than likely going to try to get into medical school. I want to be a doctor." Maybe he could tell Evan about his fears? Though, they were a little irrational. "I'm... I-I'm scared of things that are sharp, and thunderstorms. I know it's pretty childish, but I figured I-I should mention them."

The silence that followed was awkward. Patrick was scared that Evan would judge him for what he told him; call him childish, maybe pick on him for his career choice. Evan seemed like the type to do that. The other fae still wasn't looking at him, but he watched as he opened his mouth to speak. "Well, I'm scared of being touched outside of sex, so there's that. I'm also afraid of failure."

Patrick was surprised that Evan opened up like that. He didn't seem like the type to do that, and yet, he did. His voice had been softer than it had before. Patrick didn't exactly know what to say, so he tried to be sort of sympathetic.

"Those are all understandable," he started softly. Maybe Evan wasn't as bad as he thought? But he shouldn't start jumping at conclusions. He laid down on the blanket, staring up at the sky. "I guess I'm afraid of failure in a way too. Like I'm not enough for some p-people. A-Almost like I'm the acknowledgements page in the back of a-a book that no one reads. B-But that's okay, half of it is just in my mind, but-" Patrick stopped himself, realizing he was rambling. "S-Sorry. I'm rambling. I tend to do that. I-If I'm ever doing it and you don't like it, please tell me to shut up."

Why had he suddenly opened up so much to Evan? Those were things that he didn't even tell his parents. It was easier to open up to a near stranger than it was to those kinds of people, though. Still, Patrick didn't know why he had done it. It was probably a dumb move on his part. Evan probably didn't even care. He sighed, putting his hands behind his head as a sort of pillow.

"Oh, trust me, if you ever do something I don't like, you'll know," Evan said. Patrick could hear the smirk in his voice, and it made fear spark through him. He glanced over at the High Lord, seeing the smirk on his lips. "You're fine, don't worry about it. The more you talk about yourself, the less I have to talk, so it works out for everyone in the end."

Patrick watched as Evan laid down as well, seeing the tiny glance the other fae gave him. At least Evan told him it was fine, and if he messed up, he would be told. Maybe it would hurt if Evan told him to shut up, but at least he would know not to do something if he did do that. 

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind," Patrick said softly. He felt a little calmer now, knowing that this seemed to be going better than it had at the beginning. "What's the Winter Court like?" 

"It's beautiful. I may be biased since it's my court, but it is quite glorious. We have snow and ice everywhere, and it glistens in the sun. I'm assuming Summer Court is quite different than that."

Patrick was a little shocked when Evan knew his court without him even having to say. Was it really that obvious? He wasn't extremely tan, but his hair was a bright blond, his eyes a beautiful, clear blue, that looked sea green from a distance. So maybe it was a little obvious. Evan didn't seem upset by their difference in courts, which was probably a good thing. Though, their courts were still enemies.

"Y-Yeah, it's much different. It's really warm, there's always flowers in bloom, a nice breeze, and everything is green and lovely. It gets hot at times, but I've grown used to it," he said.

"I don't know if I could survive in a warm climate like that. Spring is pushing it for me, and having to go there was difficult enough, but at least I got a good time out of it. I'm not going to kill you just because you're from Summer, although I do color myself curious as to why you wanted a date with me instead of your princess," Evan responded. Patrick saw him look over at him, and felt panic rise inside his chest. 

Patrick knew that question would come up eventually, and he knew it would be a simple answer, but that didn't mean he wanted to outright say why. Though, he more than likely didn't need to worry about Evan judging him, right? He was obviously okay with it if he was going on a date with him. "Oh, I-I'm gay. So there were really only two options, s-so I chose you. Kilorn seemed. . . oddly popular, from what I could tell. I-I didn't want to fight over him with a bunch of girls, quite literally."

"Wise choice, the people from Night Court are scary," Evan said, and Patrick saw him shudder teasingly, then look over at him and chuckle a little. Patrick hadn't heard the High Fae chuckle yet during this, and it made him feel a little proud that he seemed to be warming up a bit. "No, I was mostly curious because most people seem to flock to Kimber. I like everyone, though I did pick a girl at the Fire Night for the rite."

Ah yes, the rite. Calanmai. Patrick had heard all about that, about the scandal of how Kilorn and Kimber had hooked up together for the rite. Hearing Evan tell him straight out that he hooked up with probably another one of his selected made his heart hurt a little. He shoved off the feeling though, hoping silently to himself that it wouldn't matter in the long run. 

"O-Oh yeah, the rite. I wasn't there for that," Patrick said, mumbling over his words just a little to show his slight disappointment. He decided to continue talking about Kilorn, as he needed something to keep this conversation going. "Kilorn just doesn't really seem like much of my type. Sure, he's good-looking, but I honestly don't see the craze."

"I think it's the brooding. It's not my thing, but girls like a bad boy, so there is that," Evan said. Patrick noticed him squint at him a little, before his face returned to a neutral expression. "And no, I have no designs on anyone yet. The rite is. . . complicated. Magic just sort of leads you to someone. It takes us back to our baser instincts. Kilorn did it with his worst enemy, which was entertaining, but it wasn't a love match by any means."

Patrick could hear a slight annoyance in Evan's voice, and it made all his worry rush back to him in a matter of seconds. Great, he was annoying him. This was great. Maybe he was actually doing a bad job at this. He decided to move on, just giving a little nod.

"D-Do you want to tell me more about yourself? You don't have to if you don't want to, I get it if you're not comfortable. I'm a stranger." Though, the whole point of this date was to not be strangers to each other anymore. But he supposed he would have to roll with whatever Evan wanted. 

He glanced over at Evan, seeing that the other fae was looking back at the sky. At first, he thought he wasn't going to answer, but then he finally spoke.

"I don't really talk about myself. If you want to ask me questions though, I may answer," Evan said, not even sparing him a glance this time. Patrick felt nervous again, trying to decide what questions would be good to ask.

"Well, um, what's your favorite of things? Like, favorite food, favorite color, that kind of stuff." Patrick looked away from the handsome fae, instead looking back up at the sky. The stars were so beautiful here, though they were quite beautiful in Adriata too. "You can ask me more about myself too, if you'd like. I don't mind."

"I like iced coffee, and I like doing riddles and puzzles. I'm not really a big conversationalist, but if you want to tell me your favorites, please feel free to do so. I'll do my best to remember them."

Patrick made sure to commit both of those things to memory, as they might be useful later on, if they ever got closer. He also made sure to note that Evan seemed to not be big on conversations. He thought for a second about just shutting up and having them stargaze in silence, but knew that probably wasn't the best idea. He wanted to get to know Evan. 

"I like hot chocolate and tea, I offer prefer that over coffee in the mornings. I really like ice cream. Um, my favorite flower is a rose. That seems sort of cliche, but they're really pretty. Especially white ones," he said. "I think I mentioned this earlier, but I love music. I like to sing, play guitar, and the piano." 

"Well, I like coffee above all things, so I guess we have a bit of a difference there. We have white roses in Winter, though. They have a touch of frost on them that glistens in the sunlight. It's quite beautiful, I think you would like it," Evan said. Patrick caught the tiny smile that Evan flashed at him out of the corner of his eye, and he forced himself to ignore the little flutter in his heart. 

"Those sound really pretty," he stated softly, imagining the thought of that. Winter Court sounded pretty, to be honest, with all the snow and frost. "What's snow like? I've always wondered about that."

"It's pretty wet and slimy actually, not nearly as beautiful as most people believe it is. You would need a very heavy coat to survive there, most likely."

"That makes sense, I'm used to one hundred degree weather most of the time," Patrick chuckled softly. Though, he couldn't help but think that Evan's tone seemed a little judging, to be honest. It wasn't his fault that he would freeze if he went to a colder climate.

Patrick decided to move the conversation away from that. But what did he talk about? He decided to bring up a slightly awkward topic, but he wanted to share his feelings about the date. Maybe then, Evan would share how he felt about it a little. Though, he thought that would probably be unlikely.

"You know, I thought this was going to be an utter disaster. Either I was going to do something stupid, or you weren't going to show up or something." An awkward laugh escaped his lips, hoping Evan wouldn't be too harsh on him for saying that. Sure, the date definitely wasn't as smooth as it could have been, but it was definitely going much better than Patrick had originally thought it would. 

He heard a little huff come out from Evan. "I had considered it for a time, but this is important to my parents, so here I am. It has been a nice time though, which was a pleasant surprise," he said. Patrick smiled a little to himself, taking that as a win in his book. At least Evan had decided to show up.

"It has been nice, it feels nice to talk to someone other than my parents," he said. What was the harm in being honest with Evan? Lying and not saying stuff to make things more awkward would get him nowhere, and Patrick knew this. Might as well open up a little, and maybe then, Evan would do the same. "Do the reporters and stuff bother you? It kinda bothers me, but that's probably because I'm not used to it." He hadn't seen many yet so far, but he had seen a few. One had even snapped a picture of him.

"You just learn to ignore it after a while. The papers do what they want to do, regardless of what we have to say about it. Mostly I just stay out of it. They've mostly been interested in Kilorn and Kimber anyway. Myself and the rest of the High Fae aren't as interesting as those two, I suppose." Evan shrugged, and Patrick frowned a little. For some reason, that made him a little upset. Shouldn't all the High Fae get equal time? He supposed that most of the drama had surrounded around Kilorn and Kimber, though.

"I think you're interesting." The words were out before Patrick could stop them. Dammit, why did he say that? That was so dumb. He knew better than to try to flirt, even though that was barely flirting, it was still. . . complimenting. A small blush appeared on Patrick's pale cheeks, and he frantically tore his gaze away from Evan. "I-I mean, I barely know you, b-but I can tell you're an interesting person. A-As I said earlier, I don't get the whole craze behind Kilorn. I-I don't get why he's better than everyone else. Y-You're honestly better in my eyes."

He really needed to shut up.

"S-Sorry, I-I- That was really forward," he quickly said, not daring to look over at Evan. Patrick knew for a fact he just made a giant embarrassment out of himself, and he wasn't sure how to come back from it. This was bad. Very bad. 

"No no, it's fine. I enjoy a good amount of flirting here and there. If you want to tell me why you think I'm better than Kilorn, please do go on. I enjoy hearing compliments about myself." Patrick could hear the teasing tone to Evan's voice, and it made him feel slightly relieved. He still should have stopped, but for some dumb reason, he went on, his blush deepening. This was a bad idea.

"Well, u-uh, I think y-you're more attractive than him. H-He just seems overrated. You said he was a kind of bad boy, a-and I don't like that. I-I don't want some sort of homewrecker with a 'heart of gold'." Patrick made the air quotes around the words. He looked over at Evan, finding that he was already looking at him, looking into his eyes. "I-I may be bad at flirting, but I can tell what I think of someone. A-And I think you're much better than Kilorn. A-And pretty attractive. M-Much more attractive than him. Now, I-I'm going to shut up because I suck at this."

Patrick's face was beet red as he turned his face away from Evan, more embarrassed than he could describe. Why was he saying all of this stuff? He hadn't known Evan for more than two hours, and yet he was basically calling him hot and slandering another High Fae in the process. What the hell was he doing?

He heard a chuckle come out of Evan's lips, but he refused the urge to look over at him. "Oh no, please continue. I'm very much enjoying hearing how much of a better and more attractive High Lord I am. This is making my century, I promise you. Maybe even a millennia if I end up living that long. I could listen to you telling me I'm better than him all day long."

Patrick decided to continue, though he wasn't sure if he was making a mistake. He barely knew what he was doing, but Evan seemed to be enjoying it, so why not continue? He was supposed to be getting on the High Lord's good side.

"I-I guess I just don't like him all that much. He's not my type. I-I've never actually talked to the guy, b-but from what you've said, he sounds like someone I wouldn't get along with. I-I get along with you so far. S-Sure, you're blunt, but I sort of like that." Blunt meant that he knew what to say and do and what not to do. It left less room for overthinking. "Y-You're. . . you're not making fun of me, right?" Patrick asked slowly. 

"No, not at all. Besides Kimber, no one really says anything bad about Kilorn, or if they do, it's not in my presence. So this is very entertaining. I never laugh or show joyful emotions, so please take this in the true spirit it is being given. I like being better than other people, so this is honestly completely fabulous," Evan reassured him. 

Patrick was shocked for a few seconds, before a smile grew across his face. He was making Evan happy. Evan, the cold High Fae of the Winter Court, happy. He made him laugh. Patrick giggled, a legitimate giggle. "Okay, t-thank you."

He wasn't quite sure what to say next, but luckily, Evan filled in the gap. "I believe it's getting late, we should probably head inside. Would you like me to walk you to your room?"

Patrick bit his lip gently, knowing it would probably be rude to decline, so he nodded. Evan gave a little nod back. Patrick watched as the other fae stood, then he quickly followed suit. He gathered up the blanket, then followed Evan towards the palace.

They walked in a comfortable silence through the halls and up the stairs, Patrick's eyes still being caught by the beautiful decorations on the walls of the palace. He still made sure to keep pace with Evan, realizing how much taller Evan was than him now that they were standing side by side. It was the pain of being short, he supposed.

Upon reaching his room, they stopped in front of the door, Patrick turned to face Evan. He looked up at the Winter fae, noticing how much softer his features seemed after the date. His eyes were still piercing, his face still held a natural coldness, but he could tell there was a softness behind his eyes. Just barely, but it was there.

"This date turned out to be much better than I expected. Thank you so much," Evan said softly, giving him a soft smile. Patrick couldn't help but smile back, hugging the blanket close to his chest.

"Of course. I'll see you around?" 

Evan gave a little nod, taking a step back to leave. "Have a good night, Patrick." With those words, Patrick watched as he turned around, and disappeared down the hall.

Patrick wanted to squeal as he walked into his room, a giant smile on his face. He noticed how his mess of clothes had been tidied up, and he also noticed a cup of tea that had been left on his nightstand, still steaming. He smiled even more, if that was possible. That was nice of his maid.

He didn't grab the cup at first, instead of falling onto the bed on his back, a giggle escaping his lips as he hugged the blanket to his chest. He was happy. That date had gone so much better than he thought, and he felt like he was on top of the moon right now.

But he couldn't get ahead of himself. Patrick knew that would only get him ending up with a broken heart. So in that moment, he made a promise to himself.

He could not let himself feel feelings for anyone, unless he knew for sure that they were the one.