Evelyn
Syrena watched attentively as Cullen spoke to her, her eager eyes carefully scanning him and his features- careful to miss a single hint of emotion on his lavender visage. Her mouth seemed to be frozen in a permanent toothy smile, her perfectly straight ivory teeth gleaming between her soft lips.

Her smile faded to one of gentle empathy as she watched him pause in thought, instinctively leaning a smidge closer to get a better look at his expression. His face painted a picture of emotion she had only ever seen on Sylvar's face when they spoke of the wretched scourge of the seas they both hated so much. An expression of pensive thought, of complex emotion- Syrena desperately wanted to understand Cullen's thoughts in that moment, her eyes frantically scanning his face in hopes of understanding him a bit better. She regained her smile once he spoke once more, snapping out of her hyper empathetic trance and leaning back into a more natural position. 

"It's a... Date!"

Syrena had no idea what a date was, she had heard humans use the word when talking about the beautiful chase the sun and moon played with each other. Too embarrassed to ask for clarity the clueless mermaid simply smiled and nodded to his proposal, if it entailed more chips and seeing her new friend again she was all in. Her gleeful expression shattering into one of gentle disappointment as he spoke of the academy. 

"I'm not familiar with the ah-cad-emi. Will you not be with the ocean anymore while you are there? The sea's will miss you dearly." 

Her words seemed to bounce off her tongue like a solemn ballad, each syllable a somber note as they passed through her lips. She knew not of the place he spoke of, but by the tone of her voice she gathered it was nowhere near her- near her beloved goddess.
David
A date with a beautiful mermaid was not something he could pass up. So, he smiled the biggest smile, and raised his eyes to hers. Then he reached his hands up and cupped her cheeks, pulling her in and kissing her cheek long and sweet. Then he pulled away with her soft face still in his suprisingly strong hands and said, "Lets worry about our date for now! We have the sun to see, chips to eat and smiles to share." Two days and one night- thats what he could have with her. Letting go of her face, her twined his fingers with hers and looked around them. 

"Show me your favorite thing about the ocean, and then we can go to the surface together. They say the Maiden can walk on land to-" He stopped before saying 'steal the souls of men', "To sing to the fish in the ponds. So I am guessing you can walk!" It was a hunch, but she didn't seem to shy from the idea of going above land. He wanted to keep her distracted, never to hear that somber and beautiful sound again. "Dates are very special, Syrena. They mean..." He thought about it hard, noticing the absent look she had about dates, "Well, having a date with someone means you will always be very close." He said finally, squeezing her hand. He liked the way it felt in his, delicate and soft and yet... There was something else there too. 

The young man looked alive, a dark shadow with a radiant sunset within. Velaris, the Academy, his mother, Atlas, Aranea- all of it could wait for a day. Just one last summer moment before the world fell into chaos. One last wonderful memory of youth before he really had to grow up and be the leader he needed to be for his people. "Show me the way."
Evelyn
Syrena's icy blue eyes seemed to glitter when Cullen gently kissed her cheek, her pale cheeks flushing into a bright pink as he pulled his head away from hers. Her oceanic orbs and his golden ones gazing into each other as he pulled his hands away from her cheeks. She simply stared at Cullen for a few moments until he spoke once again, seemingly broken out of her girlish trance with the first syllable of his sentence. 

"HAHA" *Ahem* "Yes! The date!"

Syrena was dumbfounded by his actions, she had seen people kiss- remembered her parents, they kissed. She always thought kissing was for sharing the gift of breathing the brine, but her entire perception of the practice shattered after Cullen pecked her cheek- *It was like a hug!*. Her mouth couldn't help but water at the mention of his delicious seaweed chips, she would definitely see to it he holds up that part of his deal. 

Syrena smiled when Cullen mentioned her very own legend, she always found it so fascinating that the humans told stories about her. In her beautifully naive mind she was cherished as the champion of Oceania on land, that her story of devotion was told to children as a warning to love the seas- thankfully Cullen didn't shatter this innocent fantasy with the unfortunate truth. 

"Oh I do feel so bad for the fish in the ponds! They must be awfully lonely don't you think?"

Syrena then looked away in embarrassment, her cheeks once again flushing pink but now for an entirely different reason. 

"I'm not too good at walking, you guys make it look much easier than it really is you know."

Syrena puffed her cheeks out in frustration, she was jealous of how easy Sylvar and Cullen made walking seem. She recalled how agile Sylvar was on their excursion together, how nimble was. She wallowed for a moment before it all clicked for her, she simply needed more practice. While scary, an adventure onto land would be an opportunity squandered- and a net loss of kelp chips...

"If it means we will be close forever than I'd love to go on a date!" 

Syrena stumbled over the word *Date* It still felt unfamiliar gliding over her tongue. Syrena then smiled before tapping her bottom lip in deep thought... She wanted to show him her beloved city, but it was quite the swim away- far too far for somebody with no fins. Syrena's face then lit up as she got an idea. 

Syrena then cleared her throat before singing a heavenly melody of the ocean, her cheery notes echoing through the water as the ocean itself seemed to sway with her rhythm. A faint cry could be heard in the distance, an elegant horn like sound that oozed regality. A large blue seahorse like creature the size of a normal land steed approached the two at an impressive speed as if the ocean carried it to them itself. 

"This is bubbles! We can take him to Tiaris."

Syrena gently stroked the animals long sleek nose as it let out a neigh of satisfaction before bowing its head, beckoning the unlikely pair to mount its back.