[For Eden]

[stolen_pride]

[Backdated liek whoa.]There was a certain degree of finesse that was required to pull of this date with Eden and be convincing in it. Not that Sylar was concerned about fooling her, but the situation was delicate -- He had never dated much in his life, yet had been studying the art of the subtle manipulation of women, but the perfect spot laid

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[wishesandsmoke]

For all her experience, this was something Eden had never done before; a date with anyone was a novelty, let alone one with - well, it wasn't the way she'd imagined, back in high school, her first date would have gone. Her imagination had supplied less of a jungle, for one thing.

It was quite a walk from her hut to the Compound. The distance had given her time for nerves and doubt to take over again, and to battle it out with the same lines of logic and defiance she had applied, however mangled, when explaining herself to Penny. It was Penny's dress she was wearing, though, a simple black one Penny had arrived in. As Eden approached the Compound, she tugged uncertainly at the side of the skirt, forcing herself to stop biting her lip. If nothing else and if only for herself, she refused to look the way she felt.

She smiled as she walked up to him. "Hello."

[stolen_pride]

He'd seen her coming, of course, but acted surprised anyway. "Eden!" he said, as if he'd not expected her, and then smiled, just a little nervous around the edges. "Wow, you look great," he awed, and supposed that much was true. She cleaned up well, as the saying went.

There was a deliberate pause wherein Sylar beamed at her, still clutching the flowers, counting the seconds in his head to ensure that things had become just awkward enough to seem endearing. "Oh!" he blurted, and then held the flowers her way. "These are for you. Sorry it's not nicer, I don't really know much about flower arranging."

[wishesandsmoke]

They were the kind of words she supposed people had to say by rote on such occasions, but that didn't make it any less strange to hear them said in that voice -

No. She cut herself off and smiled. She couldn't do that. That was the point, or part of it. She wasn't going to think about what had become of her tonight or any of that; she wasn't going to let the ghosts of her fears ruin her fun. "Thank you," she said, accepting the flowers, her smile becoming more genuine. "They're... lovely just as they are. You look good yourself." She had to admit, however grudgingly, that it was true - just another thing not to think about.

[stolen_pride]

"Oh, thanks," Sylar replied and looked somewhat self-consciously down at his outfit. Just a button up shirt and a pair of khaki shorts that weren't frayed along the hem, but he'd made an effort. Looking back up to Eden again, he smiled. So genuine, so very pleased to see her.

"I have to admit, I wasn't really sure what to do tonight," he confessed, ducking his head. "It's not like we can go out to a movie or something. So, I thought maybe we could walk to the beach and watch the sunset, if that's okay with you?"

[wishesandsmoke]

For a brief, flickering second, Eden almost felt guilty. She'd mainly been thinking of this date as practice for both of them - just a test run for Drew and a more pleasant form of therapy for herself - but it occurred to her now there was a chance he genuinely liked her. She pushed the feeling aside, telling herself she'd deal with the possibility if it came to that, though she didn't know how.

"That sounds really nice," she agreed honestly. "I'd like that." Angling the flowers to cradle them in the crook of one arm, she canted her head toward the path. "Shall we?"