#goldfinchfreehold

He groans "I so did"

She frowns. "You're lucky she didn't slap you."

"Slap? that seems a bit extreme' He says

"Maybe. But it was a date. Your attention was supposed to be on her. Like, you were supposed to be fascinated with her. That's the expectation. It's a real insult to talk about another girl at a time like that."

"Yeah" He winces "I know. And Zane ealready told me I botched it"

A pause before she says, "You should text her. Apologize. Maybe..." she trails off.

"I did apologize I.." A pause "Okay. Are you trying to hook me up now?"

A breath. "I want you to give dating a chance, when I'm not part of the date. Even as a conversational topic."

"I know, and I'm trying" he nods "Honest. And.. it's good that you're seeing others. I knew there would be a line forming of hopeful guys. No surprise. I just.. I seem to have forgotten my leanhaun training when it came to smooth"

A dubious look. "Yeah, you might not want to go back to Leanhaun-'smooth' style." Then she pauses and shrugs

"Zane could probably give you some good tips."

"He's tried. Guess he knows what he's doing. Kelby is on him like white on rice"

That makes her grin. "Rock on, Kelby!"

Amused at this "What, no credit for Zane? '

"Okay, rock on, both of them! Which I'm sure they're already doing."

"I would surmise" He nods "Zane has other lovers, I suspect. Satyr? But.. he's never brought one to the hold"

"Well, he might, he might not." She shrugs. "As long as he's honest with Kelby and they're both good with whatever their situation is, it's all good."

"Yeah, honesty is key" he nods "Hard though"

"It can be. You also don't need to be run-at-the-mouth honest. Like, if you have a thought about me, doesn't mean you need to mention it. Tell me something...did you try to get her to talk about herself?"

"I asked her if she needed make up tips, because you had this channel and could help ANYONE" he explains

She can't help it; she facepalms.

"Yup. She should've slapped you."

"I'm tempted to do it for her."

"Oh come onnnn" He moans "isn't blowing a date punishment enough?"

"Seriously? It's like you were trying to screw it up!" A suspicious look. "Were you?"

"Not consciously" He says after considering it "Maybe subconsciously?"

She folds her arms and glares at him.

"Okay, that I don't miss so much. Sylvi, most folks our age make mistakes socially. We don't all have your charm and skill"

"It's not that. I'm pissed that you're still holding a place for me instead of giving this a real shot! I mean, it's flattering, I'm not going to deny that. But you're still just killing time instead of actually trying."

He winces