[Speed Dating, Round Two]

[callofkaren]

With the first round done without any hiccups, Karen spent half an hour straightening things up, checking names off as the second group of half uncomfortable, half vaguely excited looking potential daters showed up, and soon it was much like the first. The spiel was the same, drinks were handed out, and luckily getting everyone in order came easily

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[patration]

The temptation to switch the blue and white windflowers he's collected for Camilla for the brighter plumeria, touched with a golden hue in the center, is great, but Zhuge refrains. To adjust one's gift based on the spur of the moment will always be something he considers, being the type of person to act and respond immediately, but he's put a great deal of thought into the choices he's made for the women here today. He'd like to see, at least, if his choices are at all accurate. If he's still capable of reading the little signs in people like he did back home; if that intuition lasts and spans across all people and all times.

With a faint smile, Zhuge slides easily into the seat, holding out the small bouquet for the young lady. After his first conversation, he's finding that if nothing else, he enjoys learning about the diverse group of women here, each strong and beautiful in her own right. He's almost tempted to have the men pause after as well, to see if they're as fond of this casual type of courtship as he is.

(One of them has been drinking constantly, Zhuge's noted. Probably not enjoying himself half as much, then. Might need an escort home, which Zhuge is prepared to provide, if desired.)

His gaze skirts over her hair, having long since grown fond of the way so many women have sunshine practically woven into their strands.

"Hello," he nods, amiable. "I am Liang. And you are miss Camilla, I believe? These are for you."

[artemiodes]

Camilla's mouth makes a small 'o' of genuine surprise as this new man offers her the flowers. Of all the things she might have expected to find on this night, actual charm is not one of them, and this second conversation is already looking to be a welcome - perhaps even joyful - diversion. "And I thought everyone said that there were no gentleman left," she murmurs with a playful smile. "Yes, Camilla. It's a pleasure to meet you."

[patration]

Although he's done his best not to observe the other men present too closely, afraid of picking up ideas and mannerisms that aren't his own, at Camilla's surprise, Zhuge finds his gaze skirting over the room regardless. His eyebrows raise a touch when he realizes that he's the only one who's come with presents at all- practically unheard of in his world to show up without something in hand. He berates himself mentally, just a touch, for not having noticed this earlier.

Not that, he tells himself with a smile, he would have done anything differently had he this information from this start.

"Ah, I do not know if I am gentle man," his smile broadens. "But I grew up on farm, and flowers make my mother and sisters happy. This island has so many kind, I try to pick different one for everybody."

Tilting his head, he folds his hands neatly on his lap, shoulders pulled back. "This is my first, what you call... speed date. I do not know how to start," he laughs, self-deprecatingly.

[artemiodes]

Not even Camilla can quite tell if the man's sheepish charm was manufactured or genuine, but she couldn't bring herself to care. He was entertaining. He'd brought her flowers. That was enough for her to happily offer over the necessary five minutes. She laughs lightly, cheerfully. "It's not my usual modus operandi, either," she confesses, "so I suppose we will just have to struggle through together. Where are you from, Liang?"

[patration]

"It is the country now call China," Zhuge smiles easily, all too pleased by the sound of her laugh, easy and light, freer than he's accustomed to seeing women be. Certainly around grown men, at least. Not for the first time, he finds himself frustrated that the learnings of the future can't be pulled back to his time, frustrated that all of the women he's met over the years can't similarly enjoy this level of choice for themselves. But everything takes time, and everything is realized in its due course, he reminds himself. The lessons themselves cannot be skipped over just at a simple word of mouth. Although his gaze drops for a moment, it picks up soon again, his words fond. "Many, many year ago. Two thousand year before the island time. This is why my dress is a little strange, but it is... part of me, I do not want to throw away."

He gestures at his robes, allowing his thumb to briefly brush over the smooth surface.

"What about miss Camilla? I have read few history books, I hope I know something about your home."

[artemiodes]

"What was it called when you lived there?" Camilla asks, for all the world rapt. Chinese, she muses thoughtfully. It's a language too far east for even Henry, and though not dead, certainly ancient enough, and full of majestic tonal secrets. "I was born in Virginia," she says, though in truth, she has never felt much affinity with her home state. No single place has ever quite represented home for her, in the way she understands they do for most people. "In the United States. Have you read much about it?"

[patration]

"Shu Han," he replies easily, pleased at the attention he's receiving, not as a man who ever needs that much attention and care directed to his own person, but instead as a man who is, ultimately, proud of his land. Proud of his roots. "Shu is the name of the state, and Han is the name of the people my emperor come from. There are three kingdom back then that come together to make... Chinese people. The other two are Cao Wei and Dong Wu. Much fighting between these three." He nods to himself, remembering that he knows how history progresses now. That he knows the fate of all of the people in these regions, that they are to come together as one again, but surely without a great deal of loss first.

If nothing else, it means he's bound to be busy when he returns.

"But your question, yes, I read many things about the United States," he nods with a grin. "Fifty states, but one leader, keep there from being too much fighting between states. Many, many tall buildings. There is more I have read, but I think the history book says it better than I do, and I am afraid to try and repeat all of it."

[artemiodes]

Camilla nods, feeling a surprising glow of pleasure at the thoughtful but removed way in which he speaks of America, as though it was only something out of a story. When she has considered the outside world at all, in those rare times when she chooses to move beyond the thoughts inside her own mind, she has always been drawn to faraway places, to the abstract and the exotic. Perhaps it is the fact that Liang probably sees her home in precisely this way that gives her a sense of pride. "We haven't always been free of fighting," she confesses with a small laugh - she might not know her modern history very well, but she is still a born-and-bred Virginian, after all. "But that was a long time ago."

[patration]

"Yes, I read about this too," Zhuge smiles, broad, not quite proud of being able to repeat all of what he's learned at will, but still more than happy to share, to have his misconceptions corrected if needed, or to be given more insight. Not everyone would spend this kind of time detailing history from centuries ago, he's sure, and the chance to do so now with Camilla is one that he finds remarkably fortuitous, even as he still remains hesitant, hoping that he doesn't overstep her generosity and dip to the point where she no longer finds the conversation interesting at all.

Fortunately, the bar isn't too high. Five minutes should be nothing.

"Start as... people who are very far away from king. The king does not listen to what people want, so fight to make own laws. And hundred years later, there is a civil war. China has many of those, too. Not just one," he tilts his head, as though to remark that it's just a part of everyday life.

[artemiodes]

"My hometown was the rebel capitol during that civil war. Corinth of America," Camilla says with a certain amount of irony and an amused twinkle in her eye. So many people in Richmond take history dreadfully seriously; out of spite, Camilla has learned to do the exact opposite.

She is genuinely disappointed when she hears the bell sound to signal that they must move on. "Well, sir," she says with a smile that is a touch foxlike, holding out a hand to him. "We shall have to trade more stories another time."

[patration]

The rebel capitol. The thought strikes Zhuge with sudden interest, though as Camilla's noted, the time that they have together has all too quickly come to a close. Having her hand held out, Zhuge tilts his head, before his lips curve in an amused smile. It's fortunate, he thinks, that he spends a great deal of time trying to research prior to events like these, allowing him the chance to take her hand, pressing his lips to the back, like the films that so many people claim to be 'classics.'

(Thousands of years after his time.)

"Another time," he agrees with a nod, before he slowly stands from his spot. "I hope to see you again soon, Miss Camilla. And this is not only to hear more stories." With one last nod, he turns to meet his next date.