Memories Of Six [Closed]

Logan was asleep. Are you serious? Asleep? Right now? An hour before they were supposed to go out!? Natalie was glad she came over, otherwise the guy probably would have left this poor girl worried he forgot about her or didn't care enough to remember. Logan sat on the couch, his head leaning upwards over the back of it. He was snoring like a damn pig and had no idea his lavender haired friend was standing right there with her hands on her hips. She tapped her foot a bit, but he didn't wake up. "Logan." she said his name and another snore was his reply, "LOGAN!" His eyes snapped open and he shot up from the couch as if ready for a fight. The next thing he knew, he was grabbed by the shirt, tossed out of his apartment, and had a bag tossed at him, "We'll meet you there, wear that and I suggest not being late."

There were a couple of things that Natalie was able to learn about Olivia during their hour spent together. First of, Olivia really was one of the cutest little ladies Natalie had seen in a long time. She kept switching back and forth between the languages that she spoke. It was the funniest little quirk. Secondly, this little girl drank a lot of tea. Not only that, but the tear she drank sort of came out of nowhere. It didn't take long for Natalie to realize she was creating it. And the final thing she learned was that Olivia did not let anyone touch her hair, but seemed to be more protective over that headband of hers. When Natalie asked about it, Olivia seemed to distance the thoughts. They were going out to have fun tonight, so talking about that wasn't what she wanted. Natalie agreed; another time.

Once the hour was over, the girls made their way across Varedia by carriage. There was a huge fair going on and fireworks were supposed to be done some time around nine as well. It was only getting close to seven, so the group would have time to have their dinner and then go to the fair as well. In the carriage, Natalie was as little quieter for a little bit. "I'm nervous..." she said with a sigh, clenching her skirt tightly between her fingers, "I've never been nervous to go on a date before, but I am this time. I have a feeling Logan was right..." Natalie was mumbling to herself a bit, but then looked up to Olivia with a soft and worried smile, "S-So... Are you nervous at all? I mean... to be out on an actual date with Logan?" After getting Olivia's answer, Natalie would notice they were pulling up to the pier.

"We're here..." she said and took in a very deep breath to try and calm herself down. She got out of the carriage first and as she got to the final step, she saw Izumo standing there. He helped her the rest of the way down, causing the lightest of blushes to show on her face. Not only that, but she was actually nervous to look him straight in the eye. Once Olivia came out, Logan went to help her and do the gentlemanly thing, but the woman jumped. Out of instinct, Logan took a large step forward, so she practically jumped straight into his arms. She was light again and he noticed it. Either that or he was a lot fucking stronger than he realized. He set her down on her feet and pulled a small white flower from his pocket. Saying nothing about it, he placed it in her hair and turned toward the restaurant.

"Huh?" Natalie was pulled from her thoughts by a compliment, but it registered quickly. She smiled and nodded. "O-Oh, thank you." she said and glanced him up and down, "You look quite nice as well, though I don't ever remember seeing you look anything less." Natalie realized that she really didn't remember Izumo ever not looking great. He took pretty good care of himself and took pride in his appearance; she liked that. Logan was taken slightly be surprise when Olivia hurried him along. His arm was suddenly pulled on. He made sure that he wouldn't make her fall by hurrying along with her. Seeing her so excited actually made the man smile too. "Yeah, she's pretty excited to be out with Logan from what I can tell." Natalie said and giggled a little as her hand was taken. She just nodded shyly in response to Izumo.

In the restaurant, Logan was fine with the location and Natalie didn't seem to care one way or another. She was lost in thought for most of this. Her brain kept wondering things along the lines of what if she messed up, what if he didn't like her, did she even like him that way, why was she feeling so nervous, why was she being shy, and anything else along those lines. When they went to sit, Natalie wasn't sure where she should sit. It was a date, right? Or was it just friends? When Logan seemed to hurry to grab the seat next to Olivia, her choice was made for her. Yes, date. She needed to remember that. Natalie sat down closer to where the ocean was. She dazed out a bit until Olivia asked Izumo a question and then turned her attention back to them.

"Uh... Hm..." Logan tilted his head back to answer, thinking really hard on that day, "Oh. You know Varedia is a damn vacation place for people, so tourists are here all the fuckin' time, right? I was lookin' for a good place to have a drink without all that bullshit, so I ended up findin' Izumo's bar. The place was nice, quiet. I brought a bit of business in... and we became friends from there. I believe I racked up a bad tab for a while and did some repairs to pay him back. Since then, we just been close. Right?" Logan looked to Izumo to see if he had remembered it right. He wasn't exactly sure, but he felt he was close. "You don't remember exactly?" Natalie asked with an eyebrow raised. Logan glared at her; when she did that, she was about to start a fight with him.

"I'm not gonna bug..." Natalie said with a sigh, "I was actually curious." Logan raised an eyebrow in suspicion at Natalie. He glanced from Olivia to Natalie, to Izumo, to Natalie again, and then back to Izumo. "Is she okay? Sick or something?" he asked and Natalie reached across the table to flick his nose. "I'm fine. I try to be nice and get accused of being sick? This is why we don't get along." Natalie said, pouting and looking away from him. "Ack!" Logan rubbed his nose and pointed at her, "We don't get along because you're always messin' with me! It's your fault, not mine!" Natalie glared back toward him. In her mind, that wasn't true. He treated her badly and she didn't like it. She didn't even know what she had done to make him hate her. "Look, let's call a truce for tonight. It's time to have fun."

"I can do that." Logan smirked and crossed his arms along his chest, "Yeah. You don't mess with me. I don't mess with you. Awesome night." Well, he thought it was going to be an awesome night when someone caught his eye. He tilted his head when he saw it. "Alain?" he thought. No way, right? Alain wouldn't be down here. With a second glimpse through a few of the restaurants columns, Logan stood up and just walked off. When he looked around a wall, he confirmed it. Smirking, he snuck up behind Alain as they were talking to a waitress and got really close to his ear. "What are you doing here, bro?" he spoke in a really low tone, trying to startle Alain. It worked before, so he hoped it would again. "You!" Serenity pointed up to Logan, poking at the tip of his nose, "What are you doing here?"

Logan stared for a moment and then went to bite at her finger, "For your information, I actually live in this city." Serenity blinked a couple times and said a long, "Ohhhhhh. Well, hi!" Logan raised an eyebrow at her, "You're a lot nicer than the last time I saw ya." That caused Serenity's cheeks to puff up. Yeah, that was something she was going to have to apologize for one of these days. Just not here and not now. "Come on, join us at our table." Logan said and then lead Alain and Serenity off. Serenity looped her arm with Alain's and smiled widely, tugging him in that direction to show she wanted to go. "Look who I found?" Logan said, pointing back toward Alain and Serenity as they came over. After that, Logan sat down and Serenity stopped in her tracks, a little more than shocked that Olivia was here.

Serenity didn't want to stop looking at the lobsters. She liked the lobsters. They were cute. What was so wrong with liking the cute lobsters? Finally, she was pulled away from her new friends and soon joined others. Serenity was feeling guilty still, over how she treated Olivia before. And when Olivia hurried to hug Alain, she casually stepped in between the two and stole the hug. With a soft whisper, not trying to be mean again, she told Olivia to not touch Alain. He was hers. She didn't want to have to share, nope. Olivia surprisingly agreed and Serenity ended up immediately returning the hug with extra tightness!

At the table, Serenity was a little shy. She half-hid behind Alain as introductions were going out and didn't say anything else. Natalie noticed this and waved toward her. Serenity waved back, but Natalie's expression suddenly changed. Natalie stared at Serenity, her hand stuck in a frozen wave. "You... look familiar." Natalie stared at her in suspicion. Serenity blinked a few times, just glancing to Alain in nervousness. "Have we met before? I'm Natalie Bonvalet." Natalie asked and held out her hand. Serenity just shook her head, "I'm Serenity Ver-..." "Verdant! I knew I had seen you before. I read about you in the newspaper a long while back. Heard you moved out of Aria to get away from all of those obnoxious fans." Natalie said with a laugh following.

With the way the tables were already set up and how people were seated, Serenity and Alain had to separate, which irritated her. It was either that, or someone had to sit in the lane that people walked on, and that was just uncomfortable. Alain asked the group about this being a double date, so Serenity spoke up quickly, "Triple now." She giggled and began swinging her feet, making sure not to hit Alain. It was then that Alain called Logan out on something, which caused the man to slide his hands into his pockets and look away. "This is a date... I asked her out, she said yes, and now we're here... So..." Logan shrugged a bit, not sure exactly how to answer that. In his mind, it really was up to the lady to decide whether she wanted to call it that or not. He wasn't the one to make such a decision.

Awkward silences. Natalie didn't like them and it pretty much just put more pressure on Logan to answer right. Natalie set an elbow on the table and her chin on her hand. It was coming. Even Izumo couldn't stop it, unless he read her mind. "So, Serenity, Olivia... How's your guys' sex-lives going?" she spouted out, but it wasn't like everyone other than their group could hear. Logan's head immediately hit the table. It wasn't too hard, but it wasn't soft either. "Izumo... control... your woman... please." Logan said, his voice slightly mumbled since he was speaking into the table. Serenity had frozen. Natalie was watching her especially to see the reaction she'd give. Serenity slowly became a human tomato and then stood up. "E-E-E-Exc-cuse me..." she said and covered her face with both hands before running out. Natalie, on the other hand, was trying her best not to burst out laughing.

She yelled. Why did she yell?! It wasn't intentional, but those two words did catch a few people's attention. A couple tables turned their attention toward this group, which caused Natalie to giggle even harder. Logan slouched even more into his chair, crossing his arms along his chest, and making sure his hood covered as much of his face as possible. Within moments, poor Serenity was gone and who knows where. What came next was even more hilarious for Natalie. Olivia was a very honest girl, almost too honest. Some things should just be kept between her and Logan, but damn.

Logan looked down to Olivia in shock, "Wh-What the hell!? Come on, Olivia. Not here. They don't need to know what I have and haven't done!" Natalie was having to hold her stomach at this point. This was too funny and she was trying not to laugh to loud. She was able to calm down and leaned in to whisper into Izumo's ear, "I'm so sorry, but I had to. Their reactions were perfect."

"Alright guys, I'm sorr-..." Well she was going to apologize, but after that scene ended another chance came. Serenity returned with a newspaper and sat down to read it, as if it wasn't obvious. Natalie glanced to Izumo as if to apologize and put both her elbows on the table. She laced her fingers together and set her chin on the bridge they created. "You know, Olivia, Serenity... I have no problem giving a little advice if the need every arises. Something tells me the two of you are a little new to the subject, so I have a lot of things I can show you." Natalie said with an almost seductive tone, but it was obviously just to mess with everyone at the table and even gave a wink to compliment it. Behind the newspaper, Serenity was tense as hell and doing her best to read, but the shaking showed that she was not exactly ignoring everyone else. If one were to see behind the paper, they'd see that she were biting her bottom lip out of nervousness and her skin was still contrasting her natural hair color. Logan on the other hand was jaw dropped and stuck in thought on what exactly Natalie could teach Olivia. What kinds of shit did this woman know? Too much! He did not want Olivia corrupted. Her cuteness was never allowed to fade!

"Okay, okay, okay..." Natalie sighed and looked out over the ocean, "I was just trying to lighten the mood a bit." Logan scoffed at that, "Lighten the mood, my ass. You were trying to ma-..." Natalie looked toward Logan with an expression that he was not used to. It was like she was begging him to stop right there. He sighed and rolled his eyes, "Yeah, whatever. Never mind." Natalie then continued staring off to the ocean before she realized something. "I'll be right back." Natalie said and stood up from the table, walking off into the restaurant without much of another word.

When Alain spoke up, Serenity of course had her attention caught. She peeked over the newspaper and watched the two as they talked. When Alain looked over to her, Serenity puffed out her cheeks. She didn't do it in a pouting manner, but just playful and even with a smile. Her blush had faded, so she felt alot better. "I'll go if you want to." Serenity said when Alain replied to Izumo. A moment later, her attention was caught by Olivia's whisperings and then a poke. "Huh?" Serenity tiled her head toward Olivia. "Oh... Well thank you." Serenity's semi-turtled by bringing her shoulders up a bit, blushing a little at what Olivia had said, "H-He does? How can you tell? I don't know how to tell these things..."

When Alain looked to Logan, he shrugged, "I planned on headin' over there with Olivia after this anyways, but I was thinkin' about that fair that we passed on the way here... It's down there near one of the piers. They're supposed to have a fireworks show some time later. Games, competitions... whatever the hell else they've got. Thought maybe I could win one of those big giant stuffed animal things and give it to..." Logan pointed to Olivia, assuming she wouldn't hear since she and Serenity were currently talking. "So that might be cool." It was then that Natalie came back with a waitress following. Natalie sat down and flipped her hair behind her back, "Didn't come here to sit and wait for an hour before even having our orders taken, now did we?" From there, the waitress took orders and apologized for the wait quite a lot.

Natalie ordered a salad, Izumo ordered steak, Alain ordered crab, Logan copied him, Olivia copied Logan, and Serenity ordered stew after realizing she couldn't copy Alain, or would have to die while trying. When everyone got their dinner, the table fell silent until Olivia wasn't entirely happy about her meal. "Can I try?" Serenity asked and Olivia said it was alright. As Serenity went to take that bite, Alain shouted "No!" and snatched the fork form her hand. Logan and Natalie looked over to the two in surprise. "Allergies!" Alain reminded her and Serenity mouthed a long "Ohhhhh, sorry. Here, try this anyways."

Serenity handed Olivia a small pack of seasoning. "Why do you keep doing that?" Alain asked as Olivia took the seasoning. "What do you expect? I forget about all of my troubles when I'm with you." Serenity said this so casually that it seemed like second nature, like she had said or thought it a thousand times before and then went back to eating. Hearing this, Natalie's jaw slightly dropped and she fought sounding out the "Awwwwwww" that ran through her mind. Logan really just looked to Olivia and wondered if he could be that way for her, a small smile growing when he thought about it.

Dinner was interesting. Serenity had a few questions about this 'tale' that Olivia started. As the story went on, she believed it more, but it was still surprising that Logan actually risked his life. Of course, Serenity had to realize that she actually didn't know much about him and their first meeting was pretty bad. As dinner ended, Serenity was stuffed. Natalie was actually pretty full, though she didn't eat much. And Logan was leaning back with his hand on his stomach and a toothpick in his mouth. Alain was the first to speak up and ask about the fair. When he turned to Serenity and asked about it, she had to calm herself down before answering, "Yeah, I wanna go. Please!" Logan looked to Olivia who was giving him these big googoo eyes, so he poked her nose, "It was my idea; Of course I'm taking you there." When Izumo asked Natalie, she looked to him and then away, as if she had to actually think about it. After a moment of contemplation, she shyly nodded back to him.

"I'LL PAY!" Serenity said as the bill was set down on the table. She snatched it up and began pulling out her wallet, but it was quickly taken away from her. She looked up to Alain and puffed up her cheeks. "Heeeyyy..." she whined in a cute, pouting tone. "Not this time." Alain said and winked at her, causing her to shyly smile and hide behind two hands. Izumo chimed in saying he'll pay for part of it and Alain accepted. Logan felt immediately that all eyes were on him because that was when he realized he spent every ounce of coin he had on Olivia's clothes the other day. He glanced over to Alain in a panic when Alain just nodded. Logan nodded back in one hell of a relieved thank you, hoping no one else would notice. Natalie did, so she smiled at him, causing him to look away embarrassed.

"Logan, can I talk to you?" Natalie stepped up to him outside of the restaurant while everyone was getting ready to go, "Here." Natalie quickly slid a platinum and twenty gold into his pocket. "And don't worry about it, alright? I've got a little left over for just in case reasons and I'd rather you be able to show that little lady a good time." Logan looked at her like she had gone nuts. She never did anything nice for him, especially like this. He glanced over to Izumo to see if he had anything to do with this and a knowing wink. Logan sighed, nodded, and smiled, "Thanks. I'll pay you back." "Why exactly are you broke anyway?" "She needed clothes... You know that hotel fire a while back?" "Yeah...?" "Yeah, her shit was caught in it..." Natalie just giggled and ran back over to tell Izumo what Logan did.

"He spent all of his money to make sure she had clothes..." she whispered into his ear, "That part is sweet; I just can't imagine Logan going to all the girly shops, carrying bags full of clothes, and paying for it all... It's so cute. I knew you said he was a nice guy, but I wasn't expecting that." And with that final comment, the group was ready and began making their way down the street toward the fair that the pier was on. From where they already were, you could see the lights, so it wasn't too far. It was about a ten minute walk, but as they got there, Logan was the first one to speak up, putting an arm around Olivia's shoulder, "So, what would you like to do first?"

There was no moon tonight, perfect. It was hidden behind whatever clouds there were in the sky. It was dark out on the water, the lights having been left behind as they moved father onto the water. Natalie was nervous this entire time. She slightly curled in on herself, fiddling with her fingers a bit as she watched Izumo. She was trying not to giggle him; he wasn't very good with the oars. He seemed to finally give up, but they were far enough out that they'd get a wonderful view of the fireworks and  that was the point of them being out here. She took in a deep breath of that fresh open air and relaxed to the best of her ability. That moment of relaxation was thwarted by Izumo speaking up again. It wasn't bad. She had just never been this nervous before, especially with Izumo, and being out here alone was making her even more nervous.

"Yeah, it was definitely a nice night." she said a little low in tone, "And Logan did surprise me... I guess I never really thought of him as a lonely guy; he always seemed to enjoy being that way, I guess... And yeah, they'll be great... together." Natalie glanced off for a moment, her mind wandering in many different directions. Izumo spoke up again and Natalie looked to him with slightly widened eyes, rather curious about what he wanted to talk about. "Yeah?" she replied to his 'hey'. Natalie raised an eyebrow at him and then looked left and right. "Um... Izumo, no one is going to hear you out here, you can say whatever you want... What's wrong?" Izumo cleared his throat and Natalie looked at him a bit more suspiciously. "Ahm... Well, it's more like I'd like to get my words together. Nothing's really wrong, just... I want to make sure everything's right, yanno?"

That made Natalie's heart race. There were quite a few things that she hoped he wanted to say, but she sort of made herself sad by thinking low of herself. "There's no way... Not him... Even if..." Natalie let out a saddened sigh and shook her head as the two fell into a silence. "Sorry... Even though it's something I'd like to talk to you about as soon as possible... I don't want to say the wrong thing." Natalie looked back to him and shook her head again, speaking in a pleading tone, "You've never worded anything wrong toward me, I doubt you'd start now. Are you sure you can't just say it?" With her heart beating as fast as it was, she didn't know if she could handle waiting for days. Her mind began to wander, making her wonder whether he was mad at her, or if it was about the exact opposite.

"It's a matter of national security." He smiled, trying to lightened the mood. "It's... Not like anything I've ever talked to you about before. It's a lot more... personal. Not something I have exactly done before, so it's more... me erring on the side of caution for me. You're a closer friend than even Logan is, and I have to word this right or it'll mess with that." "God damn it, Izumo! PLEASE.... Just say it." Natalie's eyes were wide and full of fear, begging him to say what he needed to say. "Fine, alright." He sighed, crossed his arms and points at her. "You don't get to get mad if I fuck this up though. You brought this on yourself." He closed his eyes, and tilted his head back. Okay, so here it comes. Natalie was expecting to be criticized in some form, so she tensed herself up and braced for the worst.

"So... You know, you're a really important person to me. And you're really pretty too. I mean that. You're also pretty nice to me, and I'm going on a tangent. Oh how do I put this... I... have always felt something special about you, Natalie. You've got a certain something that... gives me pizzazz. You know what I mean? And well, I was wondering if I gave you pizzazz too." Natalie was stuck with her mouth half-open. She blinked rapidly a few times, almost as if she hadn't heard him correctly, but she knew she had. "So... Logan was right?" Natalie smiled softly, a deep blush moving onto her cheeks. "Yes, Logan was right... And I know how hard that was for you to admit." he said and. She hook her head and scooted over to sit by his side, "It wasn't as hard as you'd think, not about that."

"To answer your question... Yes, you do... give me that pizzazz." Natalie brought her hands up and made the firework hands, giggling a bit. "Don't make me tip you out of this boat." he said. Natalie just puffed up her cheeks and kissed his cheek real quick. "How long have you felt that way...?" she asked, tilting her head out of curiosity. "How long have we known each other?" That took Natalie by surprise. She glanced around, her heart racing very fast. "Izumo... I..." she bit her bottom lip and shook her head, angry at herself, "I'm sorry... If I had known, I wouldn't have put you through all of this bullshit over the years. I would have just said what I needed to say and admitted how I felt. I wouldn't have kept telling Logan to stop calling me your girl, especially when I know that's what I've wanted to be."

Natalie was speaking very quickly and speaking honestly. "I would have stopped going on dates, bringing morons around your bar, partying so much!" Natalie said and this torrent of guilt just washed over her, showing both in her tone and the fact that she was starting to cry, "I have been so stupid, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Could you ever forgive me for all of that? Any of it at all? I know, I know I don't deserve it, but I swear that I'll work my ass off to prove it to you. I'll stop all of my stupid behavior, I will, for just one chance to be your woman..." Izumo wiped a tear from her eye. "You brought me customers, so you're forgiven." Natalie reached up and grabbed his hand as the tear was wiped. Holding onto it, she glared semi-playfully at him, laying her cheek into his hand, "I can accept that."

There was one more thing that Natalie wanted to do, but there was no way that she would treat Izumo like any other man. He was special. He was the one she really wanted. He would be treated like the man she wanted him to be: her number one. She smiled and leaned in toward him, seeming as if she was going in for the kiss. When she did this though, she moved off to the side just a bit and kissed his cheek again. Running her cheek over his a bit with her eyes closed and her heart and mind finally relaxed, she whispered sweetly into his ear, "Only when you're ready..." It was a gesture no other man was worth. Natalie brought her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder. She took a deep breath when a echoed pop fired off from the pier and soon different colored lights filled the sky.

"Come on, let's go to the end of the pier." Alain said as he guided her through the crowd. "Don't walk me off nothing!" she said in a playful way, smiling sweetly up at him. "You can swim." he replied and Serenity's smile dropped. Would he really do that? Serenity felt a small poke on her cheek and looked back up to him. Yeah, he wouldn't do that. He was just joking. Serenity giggled and stuffed her face back into the giant teddy bears back again. Alain put his hand on her shoulder and lead her through turns, people, and to the end of the pier for when the fireworks were going to start. Once they got to the end of the pier, Alain offered to take it and she handed him to hold under one arm. She stepped up onto some raised wood to look out over the ocean as the fireworks show was about to start.

All of the lights began to turn off, making the area a lot darker so everyone could see the fireworks. A soft song started playing and the first firework went off. Serenity's eyes lit up as colors of blue, white, green, pink, purple, red, yellow, and orange lit up the sky. She looked back to Alain and saw him smiling at her. Serenity stared back at him curiously for a moment and then reached out for him. Once he got close enough, she stepped off of the raised wood and pulled him in close. She wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head onto his chest, nuzzling her cheek into him as she looked up and watched the fireworks. Serenity tightened her arms around him as she felt his arms wrap back around her, but then she decided to do something. "You're not eating or brushing your teeth."

As Serenity said that, she hopped up onto the second level on the metal railing that kept people from falling off. "I don't want permission this time." she sad as she sat down on the top railing to not fall, grabbed onto his shirt, and pulled him in for a kiss. Truth be told, kisses aren't that special on their own. It's the feeling that one puts behind their kiss that gives it meaning. Whether it's love for a family member or romantic love for your partner—a kiss varies depending on the feeling. And Alain could feel the strength of the feeling behind Serenity's kiss. It had a force she never used before. This was her taking the initiative—and what do you know, she rolled the twenty. Alain didn't stop the kiss until she wanted to, because... well, it was her thing. When she wanted to pull away, that's when it'd stop.

After the kiss, he patted her head and smiled, turning her and Captain Kilconnel back around to see the fireworks. But this time, his arms were around her waist in a half-hug. For Serenity, kissing Alain was her way of showing him how much she wanted him, but not only that. It was her way of showing him how much she wanted him to want her right back. It was her way of giving him something no other man in this world could or would ever have. It was that special part of her heart and soul that she was placing in his care, hoping that he would never hurt or take advantage of her. For Serenity, a kiss meant everything, so when their lips connected and that bond between them was strengthened, there was nothing in this world that could have made her feel happier, more whole, or safer than with him.

"Hey, Olivia... The fireworks are gonna start... Wanna head down to the end of the pier?" Logan put a hand on her shoulder as her final game came to an end. Olivia looked up to him, and nodded excitedly. But she didn't take the lead this time. She wanted him to! Logan noticed her waiting and motioned for her to follow as he began walking. As the two walked, Logan kept glancing down toward her over and over again. He wanted to put an arm around her shoulder and hold her close to him, but was nervous about whether she'd even like that. Before they got to the pier, he gave in and decided to do it. He placed his hand on her shoulder and gently guided her into walking closer to him. When he did this, Logan was pleasantly surprised to feel Olivia snuggle into him, making the squid hat more worth it.

By the time the two of them made it to the end of the pier, it was very crowded. Logan could see Serenity's green hair off in one direction, had no idea where Izumo was, but was more worried about finding spot for the little cutie next to him. Since a lot of the people around here were taller than her, she wasn't going to get the best view. He thought of putting her on his shoulders, but not in this crowd. Instead, he guided her through a group of people until he semi-pushed his way through. So they didn't take up much room, he picked her up and set her on the top bar of the railing that surrounded the edge of the pier. "There we go. Hold on to your prize, alright?" Logan said as he stood behind her, speaking in a semi-shy tone as he continued, "I'll hold onto you... so you don't fall. So none of your squirming."

Logan just smiled at her at that last comment, teasing her a bit. Olivia leaned back into him, using him as backrest. He'd save her if she fell. She knew that. She felt safe, even dangling off the edge of a pier. The only squirming she did was her getting comfortable as she had the best view of the night. And as she leaned back into him, Logan's eyes widened for a moment in surprise, but his face softened into a kind and gentle smile. He wrapped both of his arms around her and held her firmly so she'd not worry about falling. Yes, he would jump off the pier to save her if he needed to. As that first pop of the fireworks was heard, Logan placed his chin on her shoulder and lightly nuzzled against her. And instead of watching those beautiful lights in the sky, he watched the ones that lit up in her eyes.

Peonies and comets, bees and stars, willows and brocades... All sorts of fireworks exploded in the air. Colors that Olivia had never even thought of shone in the sky. Her mouth was agape in almost-constant "oohs" and "aahs." But her lips were curled into a smile. She was enjoying the night. Fireworks, a new giant squid, but most of all... Olivia bumped her head to the side a little to get Logan's attention. Feeling that light tap against his cheek, Logan's attention was brought fully back to her. "Hm? You alright?" he asked with a smile, bumping his cheek back against her. "Thank you... f-for tonight I mean. I've had a lot of fun with you... I hope we can do it again sometime soon." She didn't look at him, but her face was as red as the next firework explosion and Logan's embrace tightened a bit...