While it was a chilly night out, it still felt good to be outside. Travis had only been back on the island a few days so he really hadn't had much time to get reacquainted with some of the new faces. As a result, signing up for this blind date event seemed like a good idea...at the time at least. Now, Travis was barely able to stay in one place. He was rocking back and forth on his feet, fidgeting with his hands in his pockets and basically looked like he wanted to bolt at any moment. Travis felt like this entire experience was going to be horrible for the girl that had been unfortunately been paired up with him.

After receiving his match, Travis had remembered his bad experiences with woman while on tour. What if she was a crazy fan? What is she was some serial murder? What is she was a criminal hiding out on the island? What if she...there were so many factors. He thought forcing himself to go on a blind date with someone would help him get over these stupid, well fears, but now it appeared this Millicent girl was in for one long and horrible date with Travis Bennett, former pop star.

Milli wasn't sure why she had signed up for the blind date event thing. Sure, she had figured that it would be a good way to meet more people on the island, but so was attending the holiday party at the inn, which she had missed. A blind date meant... well, a date. Milli wasn't prepared for that. She didn't know what people were supposed to do on dates. She didn't know how to act on dates. And (something she had never worried about before), she didn't know what to wear] on dates. Of course, none of that had been on her mind when she'd happily put her name down for it. Milli had thought she'd be killing two birds with one stone. One; socializing more and two; sending a report back to her mother that yes, she may still have grandchildren yet.

She was second guessing and doubting everything now though. Her thoughts were all a jumble... she was a bundle of nervous energy, unsure of how to proceed with this. Milli felt sympathy for whoever was stuck as her blind date match. She was sure that this 'Travis' was expecting someone... more. Someone wildly beautiful and confident. Not... a simple, plain ranch hand like Milli. On her way to the arranged meeting place at Paracress Falls, Milli chewed on her bottom lip, wishing she could banish such thoughts. Wishing, for that matter, that this horrible knot in her stomach would go away.

She wondered, for a split second, if she could just go back home. Turn around and leave and pretend she had never signed up for anything. But... that wouldn't be fair to this Travis guy if he was waiting there. And the commitment had already been made on her part. She sighed and gripped the straps of her shoulder bag tightly. No... might as well suck it up and get it over with. The thought had barely crossed her mind when she spotted a blond man waiting there with his hands in his pockets. Milli swallowed nervously and approached him. That had to be her date... right? He didn't look too bad. "Hi. I'm, um, Milli. You're Travis, right?"

She wondered if she should hold out her hand for him to shake. No. Too weird. Her hands didn't leave the strap of her bag. "So... we're matched together for this blind date thing." she said, then winced a little. Way to state the obvious. Looking at Travis, Milli forced a smile.

Upon hearing a feminine voice address him, Travis spun around resembling a deer caught in headlights. "y-YES! he said, a little too loudly for the setting at hand. The boy felt a slight blush run on his cheeks as he coughed and said yet again,"Y-yes, I am." at the appropriate volume this time though. Goddess, why was he so nervous? It was probably because he knew so little about the girl standing in front of him, and here he was forced into what is usually considered a rather romantic and intimate setting. Travis also wanted Milli to have a good time. Plus...he kind of wanted to impress her now that he saw her.

She was definitely cute. He let out a little sigh, grateful she wasn't some high-maintenance girl who would demand they go to some fancy restaurant and make him pay for everything. Or some crazy fan girl who freaked once she saw who he was, now that would have been a million times worse. "I-I...guess we are." Travis paused a moment and then rubbing the back of his neck looking rather embarrassed, "Um...what exactly are we supposed to do on this d-date?"

Milli found herself having some trouble breathing. It was stupid. Silly. But she couldn't get her mind off the fact this was her first official date. She might have had one or two back home- but no one had ever used the word with her before. She wasn't feminine in the slightest. She never obsessed about things like this. Oh goddess. This had been a very bad idea. She took a deep breath as Travis spun around. He looked vaguely familiar... she was sure she had seen his face somewhere before, she just couldn't remember where. And w-why was he yelling at her? Milli flinched slightly at the volume of his voice, then blushed when she realized that it might have come across as rude. "It's nice to, er, meet you." She was making a horrible first impression here.

He was kind of cute though, Milli noted. Good looking in a young, boy-band sort of way. If possible, that made her even more uneasy. Although... it was a small consolation that he seemed to be about as nervous as she was. Milli looked down at her feet, her hands twisted the strap of her bag. She didn't know what else to say to him. She supposed this was the time for small talk and all... but Milli had never really mastered the art of it. Her head only came up when Travis asked her what they were supposed to do on the date. A small frown appeared on her face as she pondered it.

"I honestly don't know" she said apologetically, after a few moments had passed. "I think we just... spend time in each other's company." No, wait. That sounded really stupid. "Or something" she tacked on hastily.

Oh, Goddess. He'd ruined the whole thing already hadn't he? Their date hadn't even started yet and Travis had managed to ruin the entire thing...wonderful. Why was he so awkward? Was it really that hard to act normal around women? Sadly, the answer for Travis was yes. However, the boy was able to feel a little more at ease as they went on into the conversation, Milli didn't appear to recognize him. Or at least she held off on screaming for now.

As she ventured a guess at what the couple was actually supposed to do on this date, Travis couldn't help but give a little nervous laugh of relief. "I'm glad I'm not the only one who is clueless then." His eyes widened in horror at what he had just said, his hands moved rapidly as if trying to erase what had just left his mouth. "O-Oh my gosh! I d-didn't mean it like! I'm s-sorry, Milli!" After a few more moments of fumbling and blushing, he finally shut up and couldn't even look at her. He bit his lip, trying to think of anything that might salvage the night. Finally, he directed his gaze to the sky and asked softly, "D-do you like stars?"

Alright, maybe Milli was clueless... but no one had ever been so blunt about it before. And... he laughed at her. Milli couldn't tell whether it was a nervous sort of laugh, or if Travis was just being cruel. She didn't like to think the worst of people but... It was just this date. It was wreaking havoc on her nerves. That was all. She was sure Travis didn't mean much by it. As it turned out, she was right. Milli's tense muscles relaxed at the blond man's apology, a small smile coming to her lips as she looked at his moving hands. Reaching out, she attempted to grab his hands and bring them to a stop. "It's alright Travis. I'm not offended." she said lightly. Well, not anymore.

At his fumbling and blushing, she felt her own face heat up. This was... awkward. She brought her hands back to her sides and looked at her feet. Right. Maybe she had been a bit too forceful there. Maybe she was supposed to simper and giggle there. She closed her eyes for a minute. Dating was so hard Why would any mother wish this upon her child? Her eyes snapped open as Travis asked her a question about the stars. Looking up at the night sky, Milli spotted a few constellations, their stars twinkling happily. "Yeah" she said. "I love stars."

"So, um, Travis..." she began, still looking up at the night sky. "How long have you been here on Saffron?" Polite questions were good, right?

He felt his face heat up quiet a bit more as Milli suddenly grabbed his hands in an effort to stop them from moving around so much. Travis literally stood frozen for the few moments she held them, not sure how to react at all. Luckily, she let go a few moments later looking just as confused as he was. Was the awkwardness of this all simply karma? What had he ever done to have a blind date be so awkward? Although Travis didn't know Milli that well, the little time he had already spent with her made him pretty sure the universe wasn't punishing her for something that she did. The woman didn't strike Travis as that kind of person. His relief was obvious though as she told him she wasn't offended, well that was one bullet dodged.

"T-that's good." he said to her response to his own lame question. "I've heard p-people say that winter is the best time to watch for them here." Travis was extremely thankful when she took control of the conversation. "I just got here a few weeks ago, s-so not that long. But I grew up here, so it's n-nice to be home after so long." he turned his gaze towards her as he asked, "What about you?"

So touching people out of the blue like that was bad. Right. Milli had known that, but what she'd done... was simply a knee-jerk reaction. She acted on impulse often, and especially when she was nervous. Her hands went into the pockets of her coat this time, her shoulders hunching forward slightly in an attempt to make herself smaller. A part of her wanted to disappear. What if she'd just ruined that date? What if Travis wanted to leave now? Maybe she was over-thinking it... she bit her lip in worry. "Listen Travis... I'm sorry about-" she paused, reddening even further. "-grabbing you like that."

But luckily, they were able to move on with the conversation. She did notice Travis' stuttering. It could just be something he did... But what if it was because of her. No, stop it Milli, she scolded herself. There was no point in freaking out about every little thing. She should just relax and try to enjoy herself. She found herself nodding at Travis' statement. "They're right... I've never seen the stars shine so brightly" Milli exclaimed, letting out a small 'oh' of awe after. Her gaze shifted from the stars to Travis as he talked about himself.

Despite her nervousness, Milli smiled to herself. Now that was a familiar story. "Must be great seeing people you knew before, seeing how much they've grown and all" she said. As he turned to look at her, Milli once again felt like she'd seen before. Not in person... but in a photograph or something...? She shook it off. "Huh? Oh, I moved here more than a year ago to start up my own ranch." She looked back at the sky, her smile tinged with some sadness. It had been the best decision she had ever made... but sometimes... she wondered.

"It's fine, Milli. Really." he said with a small smile, "I've...I've had worse." Oh Goddess, he had had worse. Being tackled, glomped, groped, poked, chased after, and even once has a bit of a stalker. Thus was the life of pop star. And at least Milli was apologizing for the sudden touching, she looked like she felt just as awkward as he did. As she talked about the stars he looked back up at the clear sky for a moment as he agreed, "Yeah, the view and scenery is part of the reason I came back. You can't get a view like this in the city."

As she took her turn he was very impressed, "Wow, you have your own ranch? That's amazing." and Travis was being perfectly sincere about the whole thing. Someone around his age had their own ranch for a year already, he felt like he hadn't accomplished much of anything compared to that.

She felt like Travis meant something really personal and terrible by that statement. It was horrible of her, but Milli's curiosity was piqued. What did buy he had worse? maybe Travis had grown up in a tough home environment. Although... Saffron didn't seem like the kind of place for that to happen. Maybe something had happened to him while he'd been away, and that was why he had come back. Milli felt a rush of sympathy for the blond man. Poor guy... She was relieved he hadn't taken offense though. Still... "I'm sorry" she said again. "My mom always tells me I need better self control." She forced a small laugh, which trailed off awkwardly.

Glad for the subject change, Milli looked back up at the sky, letting out a sigh. "I wish I had a camera or something. Taking a picture of the stars would be great..." Pausing in her musing about their beauty, Milli looked over at Travis. "You can't? What can you see in the city?" she asked. She had never thought the city would be much different than her own Pepper Town... She knew it was bigger, of course. And Travis had lived there, she assumed. That was so cool. It must have been tough, but Travis seemed like he did just fine. Maybe he didn't want to talk about it though. She didn't broach the subject.

Milli blushed, looking down at the ground. Travis said it like it was some big accomplishment, but it wasn't really... Yeah it was a lot of work, but other people did it too. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked up. "It's not a big ranch or anything..." she said uncomfortably. "But yeah. I love it there."

He gave her a small smile as she apologized once again, "It's okay. But from my experience, moms are usually in their right mind. Or at least they think they are." Travis took a moment as she thought about her question. "Well, the stars that you see are people usually. And it's just a lot more...busy. Everyone is always moving and going at a fast pace, nothing like the island." He blushed a little, "S-sorry...I'm rambling."

Milli looked a little uncomfortable at his astonishment, but it was genuine. "Still, I don't think I could even do something like run a ranch or a farm, and I've been living around them for as long as I can remember. "

Moms... she felt awkward talking about them. Her and her mother didn't get along as much as others. They had next to nothing in common. But after her mother had fallen sick last year... Well, Milli felt like she should be more sympathetic when it came to her. She had a hard time time whenever she thought something negative about her. "Yeah, you're right" she said, in response to Travis' statement. She wondered idly how Travis got along with his mom. But... they had just met. Personal questions like that would be creepy so soon.

The stars you saw were people? Milli had never met any celebrities, nor did she follow the careers of any, like her younger sister did. It must have been pretty cool though, to meet someone famous. "Did you ever meet a star, Travis?" she asked. The fast paced part sounded uncomfortable. Milli preferred the slow, quiet atmosphere of the island. It was better suited to her, personally. She started a little as Travis blushed. "Oh no, I like hearing about it. I don't think I'm ever going to go somewhere like that by myself, so I love hearing stories."

The praise was making her feel really weird. If anything, the butterflies in her stomach had returned. She shrugged. "I grew up on a farm, so I guess it's not that much of a different lifestyle for me" she said. It was so uncomfortable talking about yourself. Milli had never known. "But, um, Travis. Where do you work?"

Travis smiled at her, while a part of him was glad they didn't really go any further on the subject of moms, he felt as thought Milli was a little more relieved than him. While he was a little curious, he wasn't the type to pry into other people's personal business. It was their business after all. As they moved onto the topic of stars, Travis became visibly uncomfortable. The boy began fidgeting once again and shifting his weight from from one foot to the other. "Uhm...you could say that." he replied, not making eye contact with her. "No one really important or popular though..." he trailed off, directing his gaze towards the night sky once again. Travis silently hoped that his added remark would deter her from asking who he had met.

Once they moved off the topic of stars and mothers, he looked back at Milli and relaxed a little bit. Stopping the rhythmic shuffle of his feet he listened as she talked more about her farm. "I suppose that's true." Travis said in agreement. "Well..." What exactly was his job right now? It was pretty evident right now that Milli either didn't know who he was or she didn't recognize him. "I'm...uh....between jobs at the moment. I've been here a few weeks so I haven't really been looking yet met, I've been reconnecting with my best friend mostly."

Uh oh, had she said something bad here? Milli wracked her brain nervously, trying to think of what might have made Travis so uncomfortable. His fidgeting really threw her off there. Was it having something to do with... seeing a star? Milli thought that might be it. She couldn't see why that would make Travis so nervous. Maybe he had a bad experience with one or something. She had never been in his shoes, so she couldn't really say. "I-I'm sorry" she felt compelled to say. She smiled a little sympathetically at Travis when he said he didn't see anyone important. "Well... At least you saw some?" she offered. Maybe that was what he had been upset about.

Well, it seemed like this topic was more comfortable for Travis, although Milli would rather keep the focus off herself. She merely nodded when he commented on her statement. She found herself listening intently as Travis told her he was... between jobs. So unemployed. While Milli didn't really have a lot of respect for people who didn't work... Travis seemed really nice. She felt she shouldn't judge him so quickly. "Your best friend?" she questioned. Maybe it was someone she knew. Still that must be nice. Spending time with your friends with not a worry or a care...

"Oh, and I'm sure you'll find somewhere you like to work at soon enough" Milli offered as an afterthought.

"Oh! There's nothing to apologize for Milli, really." It seemed that all these two were apologizing, that was never a good sign, but at least it was both of them and not just one. "Nothing....horrible happened." Well, he was only fudging the truth a bit...right? As she questioned about his best friend he replied with a smile. "Yeah, we grew up together and he was always getting me into trouble. Even after I moved away we kept in contact, so I was really glad when I was able to come back home and see him again." As Milli commented about his job situation once again, he could only nod and say, "I'm hoping to start looking in a few days. I wanted to get settled in before I got looking, and I'm sure I'll be able to find something. You aren't in need of any help on the ranch, are you?" Travis added the last part as more of a joke than anything. Milli probably didn't want him and his lack of muscles or knowledge to help out on the farm.

She almost told Travis that she tended to apologize a lot when she got nervous, but she assumed he could already guess that from... the number of times she had said sorry here. Travis had been apologizing too, so at least it wasn't like she was the only one doing it. She smiled sheepishly though, and put a hand on her neck. "I'm so-" she managed to catch herself just in time. "I just... yeah, I don't know why I keep saying that." she said. She was glad that nothing horrible had happened to Travis though. He seemed like such a sweet guy. She wouldn't wish that on him.

She smiled widely as he spoke about his best friend. He sounded like a riot, and Milli could tell Travis really cared about him. "I'm sure he was really happy to see you again too" she said. Although she didn't know much about these things.... it just seemed like it. It wasn't that she was being insincere her... she was just a little clueless. Milli laughed a little when Travis asked her if she needed help on the ranch. "Well, it's a one person ranch. I'm always needing help." she said. "Working at a ranch isn't very glamorous though." Even being a waiter or something was miles better than cleaning up animal poop.

Travis couldn't help but let out a little chuckle, but immediately caught himself and started to say,"Oh! I'm so-" but he caught himself and laughed a little more. It seemed as though they were caught up in a vicious cycle due to their personalities. "M-me either." he replied a little nervously as he smiled at her, weirdly enough their shared little quirk made him relax a bit more. "Yeah, it's been nice reconnecting." Eager to take the focus of him though he asked, "It must be hard to be away from your family here though."

As she mentioned always needing help at the ranch, his eyes widened a bit, it would seriously be better than nothing. And working for Milli would be better than working for some big scary boss or some intimidating woman. Travis had had his share of glamor as well, and it certainly wasn't all it was cracked up to be. "Well...I'd be more than willing to...lend a hand if you needed it."

It seemed like Travis had almost made the same flub she had. For some reason, the fact that they were both such awkward turtles relaxed Milli a little. At least Travis couldn't really judge her for her actions! She still fidgeted with her hands though. It was more of a result of the whole date thing that the man himself. Maybe she just needed to think of this as two people hanging out, getting to know each other. Yeah, that worked! There was nothing remotely romantic about this anyway... aside from the location... and the stars... and the- No. Nothing romantic. Reconnecting.. Hmmm. Milli wondered what that felt like. Must've been a little awkward... Maybe not. Maybe it was different with childhood friends.

Her family though... Not a topic she was too interested in. "Not really. I mean, it's just a trip on the ferry to see them." she said. It was more a blessing getting away than anything, but Travis didn't need to hear that. "What about your family? Are they here on Saffron?" she asked. He did say he grew up here... unless they moved at some point? What would a grown man be doing living with his family though, Milli told herself. Silly question. When Travis mentioned he'd be willing to lend a hand, Milli turned red (well, redder). Oh goddess, had she said something to make him feel like that? "Y-You don't have to!" she said quickly.

Or maybe he was just looking for a job. "Although if you really want... I wouldn't say no..."

"Well, at least you can can go see them anytime you want." He didn't know the story behind her family or even what she had, be Travis felt strongly that family was important no matter what you had for it. While his own mother certainly had her quirks, he loved her just the same and couldn't imagine his life without her. "I just have my mom and she moved to the city when I did, so it's not like it's not that far to go see her either."

He immediately felt horrible at his offer to help when he saw how flustered Milli became, maybe she really didn't want the extra help...or didn't really nee it. Maybe she was just trying to be polite. He really shouldn't have pushed her on it and he felt bad now, "Oh! W-well...you if really need the help, Milli. I don't want to impose or anything..."

That was certainly true. Milli had the freedom to visit whenever she wanted... although she didn't do it often. the whole point of her running a ranch of Saffron was for a little independence. What kind of independence would she have if she kept coming back to the nest every few weeks? Of course, Milli had become more lenient with that after her mother had fallen sick. "I guess that's a luxury not everyone has" she said conversationally. Milli immediately felt bad for wanting to get away from her family when Travis told her about his. He just had his mom? And she lived in the city too... "You must still miss her..." Milli said quietly. She really didn't want to pry but now... she felt kind of bad.

It seemed like, just with the apologizing, the two would be stuck in this circle of uneasy politeness with this issue for a while. Milli so badly wanted to break it, but she was hesitant. She didn't want to seem forceful or anything. While she did need the help, she was reluctant to come out and say it. Milli wasn't exactly her most glamorous self at the ranch either. Did she really want Travis to see her like that? In the end, she just smiled awkwardly and said, "My ranch's in Bergamont Fields. You can come check it out sometime, if you really want... to help out..."

"Yeah." he said in simple agreement, it had always been hard once his mother had left the tour without him. She wasn't just a few rooms down or backstage, all he was able to was write and occasionally call her. It was nice being home where he could easily go and visit her for the weekend if he wanted to. Travis couldn't help but laugh a bit, "Yeah, I do. We've always been pretty close, it was actually her who made my hair this color." Sheepishly he pointed to the head of orange hair he had as he spoke, as it it wasn't pretty obvious anyway. Most people were pretty surprised to hear this, but he had gotten used to it to be honest.

"I-if you really don't need the help Milli...don't worry about it." he was desperate to get out of this awkward cycle of conversation they were in. It was getting late, and it seemed like ending this date would be the only way to end the cycle. "It is getting later and I don't want to force you to walk back in the complete dark...but do you want me to walk back with you?"

Oh, that wasn't Travis' natural hair color? That bit of news surprised Milli a little, since the concept of dying your hair was foreign to her. She understand why people would do it, to be honest. Although she supposed it made sense if his mother wanted that color on him. "You must be a good son," Milli said, thinking back to own brother. He wasn't good in any sense of the word. At least, not for their mother. She shook thoughts of home out of her head.

It was getting dark. And a little cold too. Milli shivered in her thin jacket and puffed her cheeks up as Travis volunteered to walk her home. That was like, what people were supposed to do on dates right? She remembered reading it somewhere... But Milli was never one to accept other's help so willingly, if at all. She was an independent woman, right? "It's okay Travis, I can walk myself. I'm a big girl." she said, smiling. "It was really nice meeting you and..."

She trailed off, not knowing what else to say. This was awkward? The truth, but she didn't think that was the sort of thing you should close with. She opted for a wave instead and began making her way home. It occurred to her then that maybe Travis needed to be walked home more than her. Huh. He'd be fine though.