Mia slowly started to regret saying yes to going on a date with a complete stranger. What was she thinking! Was it the intoxicating smell of freshly printed books or the fact that his eyes were like smoldering coal?  Rubbing her hands against the rough fabric of her jeans she tried to focus back on the task at hand. That's right, they were shopping for an outfit for her date tonight and, like always, Skyler was over doing it. Mia wasn't the type of girl who enjoyed low cut tops and heels that defied gravity. She preferred loose and soft fabric that didn't make her skin crawl and her feet sore.

"Earth to Mia, we need to find the perfect outfit for tonight! This guy sounds like a hunk on wheels. Maybe you can get one of his brother's numbers for me. The last date I went on, the guy didn't even want to pay for my burger. Like ew, first of all, who takes someone to Five Guys and can't afford to pay for a single patty burger. I actually wanted a double!" she mumbled the last part and flipped through another rack of clothes. They were at a small shop not too far from her apartment. She usually became overwhelmed in big outlet stores. To many people with germy fingers touching everything.

Mia sighed, torn between the mounting regret over her impulsive decision and Skyler's relentless pursuit of the perfect outfit. The mention of the stranger being a "hunk on wheels" did little to ease her apprehension. As Skyler prattled on about potential brothers and the pitfalls of her own recent dating misadventures, Mia couldn't help but roll her eyes. The contrast between their dating preferences was stark – Mia, seeking comfort and authenticity, while Skyler chased after the glitz and glamor of a picture-perfect date.

Lost in her thoughts, Mia absentmindedly continued to rub her hands against the rough fabric of her jeans. The sensory reminder grounded her momentarily, making her focus on the present task – finding an outfit that wouldn't compromise her sense of self. Skyler's enthusiastic quest for the ideal attire, however, threatened to derail Mia's attempt at maintaining control over the situation.

Mia blinked a few times, coming back to Skyler. "Right, rude. But I don't even know where we're going for the date. He just said to wear something nice," she shrugged. She flipped through the clothes on the rack, looking for anything comfortable yet nice. With the way he had dressed when they first met, she was sure they would be going somewhere a bit fancier than what Mia usually dressed for. Hence the main reason for Skyler coming along. A few things did catch her eye but none of them were as nice as she thought they needed to be. Who wears a dress shirt and pants to a bookstore? The same guy who wears a three piece suit to dinner, most likely. And though Mia wasn't comfortable dressing to the nines for one night only, she knew she would have to make an exception for Cyrus. Which didn't entirely annoy her.

"Maybe we can even go and get your nails done at the shop on Fifth? I heard they can finish a set in less than three minutes." Skylar said while picking up a sleek black dress a small hint of sparkle lining it.

Mia scoffed, "Then they must have some crappy reviews. It's impossible to do your feet and nails in less than three minutes." Grabbing the dress from Skylar she held it up to the light and nodded, "I like this one."

"Well, yeah, it is humanly impossible..." She trailed off hoping that Mia would finally try to adapt to their ever changing world. Skyler just wanted her friend to understand that magic wasn't so scary, especially when seen in use. She also didn't want to admit that their options of non-magic locations were becoming sparse.

Mia stopped and raised an eyebrow, "Look, I'm trying okay, and this date is proof of that, so don't try to push it further," she said while turning away in aggravation and heading towards the changing room. Going inside she slammed the door behind her and threw the dress against the small bench. Pushing her hands against her face, she tried to calm down. Why was she always becoming so easily emotional over things? Especially since she knew realistically she was the issue.

Quickly removing her clothing, she slid the cool black fabric up her hips and was relieved when she saw that the zipper was on the side of the dress rather than the back. She couldn't help but appreciate the simplicity of the side zipper that spared her the awkward dance of trying to zip up a dress on her own. Most of the time glitter was off limits; she enjoyed the sparkly and shiny appearance but her brain couldn't handle the texture, it made her skin itch.  Standing to her full height she looked at her figure and smiled. As a plus-size woman, Mia felt a surge of confidence knowing that the dress complemented her figure without awkwardly bunching up at her stomach or creating an uneven silhouette for her chest. The satisfaction she felt was palpable, and she couldn't help but revel in the rare joy of finding a piece that felt tailor-made for her.

"Mia, how is it?" Skyler's voice echoed from outside the dressing room.

"I think it's perfect," Mia replied, punctuating her words with another delighted spin. Opening the door, she welcomed Skyler into the room.

"Wow, it looks absolutely amazing, Mia! I think this is the one," Skyler exclaimed, a genuine smile lighting up her face. She then revealed a pair of small kitten heels, attempting to bridge the gap from their earlier fashion disagreements. "I think these will go with it just fine," Skyler added, extending the peace offering.

Mia considered the heels, appreciating Skyler's effort to find common ground. As they continued to prepare for the date, Mia couldn't help but feel a true sense of understanding, realizing that, in the end, compromise and understanding were essential ingredients in their enduring friendship.

"Alright, let's go pay for this and then let's give that shop on Fifth a chance," she smiled.

Skyler smiled back and nodded in agreement, she was proud that her best friend was growing and it was truly for the better.

***

Smoothing  her hands along the sides of her dress she made sure everything was in place. Her hair which she usually kept in a tight bun was now free and loosely curled to her shoulder. The makeup she applied was understated, with just a touch of gloss and mascara. Despite her fiery nerves, there was a genuine excitement bubbling within her.

Cyrus, the alluring stranger she had agreed to go on a date with, had maintained a steady stream of communication since their encounter at the bookstore a week ago. He would send thoughtful texts, checking in on her day or inquiring whether she had reached a specific point in the novel he had recommended. The simplicity of their interactions placed her at ease and she found his humor charming.

With her bag in hand, Mia made her way to the door, ready to embark on the short walk to the bookstore. The decision to meet there rather than sharing permanent addresses had been a mutual agreement between her and Cyrus. Opting for safety and a sense of control, they planned to take an Uber from the bookstore to their chosen location for the date.

This  simple safety measure provided a layer of comfort for Mia, ensuring that she wouldn't find herself in a situation where she felt trapped or uncomfortable. The bustling streets offered a familiar backdrop as she strolled towards the designated meeting spot. The city's energy seemed to match her own mix of nervous excitement and anticipation.

As she turned the corner she was surprised that Cryus was already standing in front of the store. His thick arms enclosed in an expensive tailored burgundy suit that hugged his frame perfectly. It was like he stepped out of a GQ magazine. The burgundy jacket and pants went well with the black undershirt and shoes. Mia's assumption of them going somewhere a bit more high class was accurate. As she approached him, she could see the hidden detail on his matching burgundy tie when it hit the light just right. His cologne was the same that he wore when they first met, and she appreciated that.

"Good evening, Mia. Might I say that you look absolutely breathtaking," he greeted her. His smile was charming as ever. His cropped hair was done nicely and only now did she notice his strong nose. Though all of his features complimented him in a very attractive way. His eyes looked her up and down as he took in her appearance. The sparkle to her dress was subtle but eye catching. Her hair looked cute as some stray pieces framed her face.

Mia couldn't hide the color that blossomed on her cheeks and the small smile that graced her lips. "Thank you... Um you look nice as well, the color of your suit goes nice with your complexation. Did you know that warm toned skin looks 'better' in bold colors like red, yellow, and oranges. But I think any color... I'm rambling, sorry," Mia apologized and wiped the sweat from her hands along the side of her dress.

Cyrus smiled with a small chuckle at her apology for her rambling. "No, no. It's okay. Your dress is gorgeous, I just noticed the sparkle." The chemistry between them was evident, any passerby could notice it. It was like tension you could cut with a knife, but a tension with the spark of romance. One little light could make it or break it.

The man pulled out his phone from his back pocket and tapped away at it. "I'm glad you agreed to the communication and meeting. I hope it made you feel comfortable. And as I said before, if you ever feel uncomfortable you're welcome to call a friend or tell me and I'll order you a ride home." As he spoke, he ordered them an Uber.

"Oh, yes, I will definitely tell you if I am uncomfortable." She said while looking in the other direction. Mia chewed on her bottom lip and regretted not taking something to fidget with. The way she kept rubbing at the side of her dress would definitely give away that she was nervous. Luckily for her the Uber only took three minutes to arrive. Cyrus stepped forward and opened the door for her. Grabbing the sides of the door she slid into the large SUV and scooted over until her hips hit the other door.

Cyrus slid in besides her, his large thigh gently brushing against her. "Good evening, we're going to Caves tonight." Cyrus greeted. The driver nodded,"Got it," and hit the gas. The drive was silent besides the soft music on the radio. Mia looked out the window, not sure what to say.

Eventually, though, the driver pulled into the parking lot of Caves. Cyrus had tipped the driver and got out. He held the door open for Mia and closed it behind her. He had done the same thing at the restaurant's door. The gestures didn't go unnoticed by Mia and she rather appreciated him touching all of the possibly germ-y door handles. Mia patiently waited for him to enter the restaurant as well before walking with him to the host stand. "Two for Cyrus," he told the employee. Mia looked around at the establishment in wonder. The ceiling and some of the walls were covered in glowing multicolored crystals. The dark walls and specially pointed lights only accentuated the rainbowed glow of the crystals. It gave the restaurant a more intimate feeling.

"Cyrus, party of two, right this way!"

Her mind wandered as she followed Cyrus and the host to their table. The restaurant wasn't packed, but it wasn't empty either. It made her a tad nervous and the lights from the crystal were beautiful albeit distracting.

"Here we are, I hope there's seats are to your liking?" The young man asked.

"It's perfect, you may go now" Cyrus said through gritted teeth.

Mia was startled out of her thoughts by his tone and quickly focused back to the present. Was something wrong with the table? To Mia the table was just fine– it wasn't wobbly or sticky, the chairs weren't off balance. Maybe he just preferred a booth like she did, but a table was all that was available.

"I hope this isn't too fancy for you. I just figured I'd treat you tonight. It's a large menu with plenty of options and is spacey so we're not crowded in," he briefly explained to her.

Before she could answer a waitress— an elf —came by with waters and menus. "I'll be back for your drink order," she quickly told them before rushing off to deal with another table.

Cyrus picked up his menu as Mia took a few sips of her water to calm herself. There were humans and creatures? Just by looking around there were too many fairy tale creatures, but there were enough to slightly unnerve Mia. To block her vision she picked up her menu, eyes reading it intently. Looking over every inch of the menu she tried to figure out the dishes. "Umm, have you eaten here before, any recommendations?" She asked while placing the menu down.

"Yes, I've been here for business. My favorite dish is the flame grilled streak with extra spicy seasonings and what ever sides they have on the menu."

"Well I guess I'll try that then, but less spice." She laughed awkwardly. She liked spicy but she preferred mild then overly hot foods.

Soon enough the waitress came back. "What can I get you two to drink?"

Cyrus nodded and just order himself a beer. While Mia just stuck with her water. She was too anxious to order a drink in somewhere so new and different.

"And do you know what you'd like to order?" The waitress asked after writing down Cyrus's beer to remember it.

Mia felt a gaze on her, not only the waitress's but also Cyrus's, allowing her to order first. After looking back at the menu briefly, she spoke up. "I'll just do.. the flame grilled steak but can you make it more mild, please?"

The waitress smiled and nodded and she wrote down the order. Cyrus spoke up afterward. "I'll do the same thing but how it comes normally is fine. And we'll both do a side of fries," he tells her.

The waitress read back their order and with confirmation that it was correct left the table to ring it in to the kitchen. "Fries are fine, I hope. They're pretty good here and you can never go wrong with fries," he commented once the waitress was gone. Mia just nodded and hoped the food was to her liking. Most people found it strange when an adult woman picked at her food. But it was once again one of her quirks.

"So what do you do for work?" She questioned, hoping the question wasn't to forward.

Cyrus leaned forward his hands pulled together as he answered, "I own a joint company with my brothers. We dabble in a lot of different areas but my area is in entertainment. What about yourself?"

"Oh, I'm a decorator, I enjoy creating people's dream homes," Mia said, taking a sip of her water. The waitress brought over Cyrus's beer before he could react to Mia's profession. She assured them the food would be coming as quick as possible.

Cyrus spoke up when she left. "Oh really? Maybe you could help me decorate on of my new clubs. My last decorator was a mess."

He briefly explained how bad his last decorator was. Mia then asked questions about the space and from there the conversation stared to flow smoothly. She didn't even notice that thirty minutes had past.

A large orc came through the crowd, two steaming plates in his arms. Mia visibly tensed at the large orc approaching their table. When the orc had set the food down he gave Cyrus a nod, the two clearly had a connection. Mia didn't care to ask about it whatsoever. Ignorance was bliss as they said.

The steaming food had looked amazing. Despite the steak having some fat on it, it looked edible and delicious. The two had started to dig into their meals. The conversation about Cyrus's club and decorating it had ended. Before Mia could compliment the food, Cyrus spoke up.

"Do you not like orcs?"

His question was sudden, catching her off guard. "Oh, well.. it's not.." she tried to explain but stopped. Taking a sip of her water, she tried to find the right wording as to not offend anyone who could hear them.

"I don't like fairy tale creatures at all," she told him, going back and forth between looking at him and down at her plate. "They just cause issues in my life. I had a routine and then the Merge happened. Everything, all of my comfort, my bit of confidence, my friends, disappeared. The Merge made my life awful." A pause. "I'm sure some of them are nice but I've only had bad experiences." She sighed and looked up at her date. His expression was unreadable, not that she could read expressions well anyway. "Cyrus..?"

She watched him blink a couple times then come back to reality. "Oh, yeah. That's.. that's fine. I understand. But it's been a few months now, you haven't gotten used to it?" His tone came across as slightly irritated to her. It made her nervous.

"I..I'm.." Mia  never told people about her disability if she didn't have to. But it seemed like if she her unrealistic standards and habits wouldn't make sense. Setting down her fork and knife, she took a deep breath.

"I have Asperger's and it's very difficult to go through normal social standards. Before the Merge I barely left my house and worked from home. Then I decided to that I had to try for myself and my best friends and, for a minute, I actually thought I could be normal." She laughed but it was one of self hate and shame. "But then everything just changed so suddenly, so, no, I haven't gotten used to it," she said while looking away. She would not cry here. She would cry at home. She wanted to go home.

The deep breath Cyrus took was audible and made Mia cringe. She was nervous about what he would say. This was her first date with the guy, and she actually found him tolerable. She didn't want drama with him.

"I.. understand. I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I'm sure it took.. so much for you to get that courage only for it to be destroyed." A pause. "Surely your friends could help you?"

His question felt like it was actually Skyler asking about a support system at the Mexican restaurant all over again. Mia shakes her head. "No, I only have one friend who.. tries.. to understand." The scoff that came from Cyrus made Mia feel hot with embarrassment. Was it because she only had one friend? Or was it because that friend doesn't try more?

"I'm sure other friends could help you, Mia. Fairy tale creatures aren't all bad despite your allegedly bad experiences. I've seen plenty at my club, and they're all respectful and as human as you or me." The fact he defends fairy tale creatures and his almost pissed off tone made Mia incredibly uncomfortable. The comments about her old friends didn't help either. She forced down another few bites of food— too delicious to pass up completely —before speaking. "I'm uncomfortable." She took a breath, her face flushed. "I think I'd like to go home." Her voice was louder than she wanted but she didn't want to repeat herself.

A slow simmer of anger was starting to swell up in her body while they sat in brief silence. Who did this guy think he was? He had been nothing but nice to her and now he was calling her experiences "alleged?" She understood that her feelings towards supernatural creatures were biased. She was really trying to work on it, but it was hard to do whenever one just expected you to get over it so easily.

Opening her wallet, she paid for her meal and left a twenty dollar tip. Gathering her belongings she didn't bother saying anything else as she left the table. Walking towards the door she opened her phone looking for the Uber app.

"Mia, please wait," Cyrus called while throwing some bills on the table and picking up the money she had left.

Quickly following her out of the doors he caught up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder only to remove it when he felt her tense up. "Please, just wait, the night was going so well! I.. I didn't mean to come off as insensitive. Dammit, I'm messing this up, please, whatever I said wrong, ignore it. I will admit it's upsetting to hear that you're against the Merge, and I reacted without considering your perspective. Change is scary and we all adapt to it at our own time. Look..." he trailed off, running a hand through his hair. He made eye contact as he spoke up again. " I really like you, and I want to get to know you better. I know tonight wasn't perfect, but I think we still have a great connection, so please let me call you an Uber?" He pleaded.

Mia had stood tensely as she listened to him. While Mia wasn't really for second chances, she actually debated it for a moment. In the end, she took a few steps back from him. "Cyrus... I don't know. I think I like you. I can't feel a connection. I mean you're still practically a stranger to me." Her mouth felt dry as she spoke. A part of her felt bad for this, part of her felt like she screwed up. "I'd like to get to know you better, you seem.. nice. But I'd like to go home now."

Her hands fidgeted and rubbed against her dress. She was clammy and tense and nervous. He seemed so intimidating yet not in a handsome way like when they first met but in a scary way. Like she didn't know his next move and neither did he, he would just act.

"Maybe we can talk some other time. I like that we have similar interests... besides the Merge. I just am uncomfortable with how you feel about the Merge right now and how you reacted to my feelings about it." Her words felt like they were spilling out and couldn't stop. When she accidentally caught his eye she turned away. "Just call me an Uber. Please."

Without another word, Cyrus called an Uber for her while soaking in her words. It was tense while he called her a ride home. They stood in silence until the Uber arrived.

Mia turned and waved good bye, "Thanks again. It was nice for a little while."

"Of course. Oh, here's your money back, you didn't need to pay for your meal. I asked you out on the date, it's only fair," he told her while holding the money out for her to take. Mia hesitated but decided that he was right and took the crumbled up bills. She gasped at how hot his skin felt. It was strange since the night air was so chilled.

"Okay, goodnight then, get home safely," she responded politely. She got into the car and shut the door behind her. Once the car started to move, she took a deep breath and relaxed.

Mia gave her returned money to the driver  and walked to the front door of her apartment. Taking the steps she made it to her blue door that read 2A and opened the door. Once inside she removed  her shoes  and rubbed the soles of her feet once she reached the sofa. Collapsing into the cushion, she took a deep breath and replayed the events of the night over in her mind. Critically, she could see that the date had been going well; even though there had been some awkward moments. But that was normal during a first date and she expected that. However, there were also moments when she was comfortable and having a wonderful time. He was funny and charming yet a bit abrasive and insensitive at times. Did she want to see a man who didn't seem like they had much patience? No, she did not. Mia needed and wanted a partner who would understand that she was stubborn and mostly afraid of things that people saw as everyday situations and incidents.

Mia didn't dislike fairy tale creatures because they were fairy tail creatures, she disliked the change they brought with them. Mia was an avid reader of fairy tales and fantasy novels as she quite enjoyed reading the many different stories. Reading about far away lands and flying dragons was a safety net for her and had helped her get away from the bullying and name calling she received throughout her childhood. Not only by peers but by adults who also found her strange. So when it was ripped away from her she struggled to get past it.

Magic wasn't so magical when a burst of energy could fry your eyebrows off if you were too close. Magic wasn't so great when it allowed people to literally lift a car off the ground. Magic wasn't magical when it could drain the energy from your body or reanimate the dead. And magic definitely wasn't so magical when it killed the last person who had understood her. 

Not bothering to get up and go to her own bed, Mia lied down on the couch and dragged the decorative throw blanket over her body and fell into a restless sleep.