The Parade ((Open to all))

[Berwald Oxenstierna]

Berwald's stony expression hardly even wavered when he was informed that his shoe was on fire. Part of him sort of saw it coming. 'Foot's start'ng ta hurt a l'ttle now... M'shoe's compl'tely ruined,' Berwald thought, sighing internally. His only good pair of shoes were now unfit to wear. The tall blond knew he couldn't afford to buy new ones – not this month at least. The cost of a good quality pair would throw off the budget he had made specifically for the entire month. 'Now's n't the time ta be think'ng 'bout the budg't, though,' Berwald thought gravely. The burning sensation in his foot had grown slightly worse, making the tall blond realize he was foolishly ignoring the problem at hand. He was about to do what Kiku suggested but before he was able to take one step towards the nearby fountain, he felt water being poured over his shoe.

“Ah,” Berwald said quietly, turning his head to whoever was helping him. His turquoise eyes fell upon a bespectacled brunet. He was planning on mumbling his thanks to the shorter man but, for some reason, the words died in his throat. Berwald figured it was because he was still mildly surprised that someone actually bothered to aid him.

“You're welcome,” the brunet said as he screwed the lid of the container he was holding back on. After a very short pause, he added, “Should be careful stamping out flames, really only works well for a small one on dusty ground. You'd have been better off using a jacket or letting it burn out where it couldn't catch anything else on fire.” Berwald found that he still wasn't able to respond to the brunet but was inwardly grateful for the man's advice. He admitted to himself that his earlier actions weren't that thought out. He killed the flame, sure, but acting on mere impulse proved to be disastrous in the end – if the blond's burned shoe was anything to go by.

Berwald looked over to where the brunet pointed. He grunted softly in understanding, vaguely noting that his foot hurt. The pain wasn't anything he couldn't handle but he decided it would be for the best to get his foot looked at anyway. “Excuse me, I've got to go,” the brunet said, nodding at him and Kiku. “Th'nks f'r yer help, by the way,” Berwald mumbled, finally finding his voice, just as the man turned around to leave.

((That turned out much longer than I expected, LOL. Thanks for saving Berwald's foot from possible amputation, Roderich!))

[Kiku Honda]

Water suddenly came onto Berwald's shoe and killed the fire with a sizzle. Kiku looked up to where the water came from and found himself blankly looking at a brunet haired man, a pair of glasses resting upon his, also, blank face.

Kiku blinked. "Oh," Kiku said inaudibly. Kiku thought about what to say. 'That certainly was helpful. Now I'm not so sure whether to thank this man or apologize to Berwald first. It most definitely is my fault his shoe caught fire in the first place. I will certainly buy him a new pair of shoes to express my apologies. It'll have to be a surprise of some sort. Berwald doesn't seem the type to accept presents. I wonder what his shoe size is...' He thought, somewhat forgetting about the brunet altogether.

The man's voice brought back Kiku's attention. "Are you burned? If so the first aid station is just over there. See the red and white banner? My father's over there and and can fix you up." the man said.

He then grimaced at the empty container that was once filled with water and said, "Excuse me, I've got to go.", gave a nod to Kiku and Berwald and ran off. Berwald quickly gave a quick mumbled thank you. Kiku did the same, realizing he still hadn't thanked the man. "T-thank you." Kiku said, hoping the man could still catch it with him running off.

Kiku then looked at Berwald's burnt shoe. It didn't look like his foot suffered something like third degree burns. Still it seemed like the best idea to go get it treated. "Berwald, your foot is definitely in need of some first aid. Let us go to where the man advised us and get you treated." Kiku said, pointing to the red and white banner the brunet had pointed out.

((No prob, Roddy! Come baaaaack))

[Arthur Kirkland]

It wasn't hard to imagine that Antonio was more of a warm weather person. He just looked like it to Arthur. He suspected that he had Mediterranean or maybe Latin American blood from the old world. Arthur himself didn't mind the rain so much, preferring cool weather, though he'd rather not be stuck out in it. "Drinks?" Arthur asked with a little frown, a little confused as to what Antonio was talking about. He could imagine that people would have wanted a hot drink - or even something stronger - after being stuck out in the rain all night, but wasn't quite sure why that was important. Maybe Antonio owned a bar or something? Arthur had had a couple of drinks himself that night, mostly from a hip flask, though.

...Speaking of which. Arthur reached into his back pocket and withdrew his flask, taking a deep swig. Just to ward off the night chill. He was about to recap it when he realised that was a little rude and he offered it to Antonio. It was full, or at least mostly full, of good quality rum, which he'd just knocked back as though it were water. Arthur spared no expense when it came to his drinking habit.

[france]

(pruuuuusssiia )

Francis pauses as he attempts to balance his lantern and looks up at the man. His first thought was of a mime, but he had rarely seen a mime with red eyes. He stood up, pushes the lantern aside so they other can see the sweets.

"Two for a sol, and 7 for three sols." he said smiling over at the new man. "But I am giving out free samples to help you choose. " He pushes the colored candies around, showing him the cookies, the small toffees and Rock candies.

[beilschmidt]

Gilbert could feel his mouth begin to water. They all looked rather delicious. His eyes wandered before he picked up a thin, white cookie. He took a bite and smiled. It was a vanilla cookie with a hint of almond and honey. It was amazing -- all those flavors in one little cookie.

"This is delicious!" He gushed, grinning. "How many more of these do you have?" He inquired, eyeing the toffees and the colored candies. All of them made his head swim -- there were far too many to pick from. But he knew he wanted more of the cookies he had just taken a bite of.

[Berwald Oxenstierna]

“Berwald, your foot is definitely in need of some first aid. Let us go to where the man advised us and get you treated,” Kiku said in his usual calm tone. Berwald, a little surprised that the small man still wanted to hang around him, just grunted and nodded a little. He took an experimental step forward with his burned foot and found that it ached uncomfortably when he put all of his weight on it. He sighed softly and settled for walking with a light limp. The parade had completely left the two of them behind at this point. Berwald frowned as he glanced at his two lanterns. A singed foot was hardly enough to stop him from catching up with the parade later on but he had a bad feeling that it would prove to make things a heck of a lot harder.

“'m s'rry 'bout all th's, K'ku... I should'a been m're caref'l, should'a thought of a bett'r way ta put the fire out... S'yer f'rst time ta join the p'rade and...” Berwald trailed off with a soft sigh as he avoided the smaller man's gaze, feeling extremely guilty.

[Kiku Honda]

"Hm?" Kiku looked at Berwald as he spoke. "'m s'rry 'bout all th's, K'ku... I should'a been m're caref'l, should'a thought of a bett'r way ta put the fire out... S'yer f'rst time ta join the p'rade and.." Berwald trailed off and looked away. Kiku's expression softened. 'Berwald truly is a nice person. I should spend a little more on his new shoes...' Kiku shook his head. This wasn't the time to think about that. He widened the strides in his steps and walked in front of Berwald, forcing him to meet his eyes.

Kiku bowed lowly to Berwald. "Do not apologize, Berwald. It was my own foolishness that set the lantern on fire in the first place. You did what you thought was correct at the time, that is no reason to blame yourself. I sincerely apologize for being the cause of your singed foot. I would feel awful if I were to be the cause of you not being able to finish the parade." Kiku said, slowly raising his head.

[france]

Francis blinked, surprised at the enthusiastic response of the young man. The Almond cookies? Well that made sense in a way but was not quiet what he was expecting. He smiled his biggest smile though and imedeitly pulled out 20 or so small bags made from muslin and tied with golden ribbons. "Here, and since you are my first customer you get them half off. "

He looked over the man, letting him take in the others appearance. The man was shorter than him, very pale, his eyes a stark contrast to his skin. He was lean but compare to Francis. Good looking indeed, and someone that seemed a man after his own heart. The blonde put on a winning smile.

"And of course if you come to my shop there are plenty more where that comes from. " he said as he plops the whole thing on the tray in front of the other. he knew it was Tempting but to be honest anything made by him was. Like creator like creations he guessed.

[Roderich Edelstein]

As Roderich hurried off, he gave a distracted wave in response to the two men's goodbyes called out behind him. As he headed back to get more water he wondered if he would end up seeing them again when he got back to the aid station. As he came upon a knot in the crowd, he amended that thought to 'if' he ever got back as he stood to the side looking for a way around.

*******************************************************

10 minutes later Roderich had finally refilled the flask and was on his way back towards where his father waited. Unfortunately now he was going against the flow of parade-goers.

He slipped in between two families. The young sons, daughters, grandchildren, cousins, nieces, and nephews all marched excitedly out in front and along side their elders. He smiled at the littlest ones who were trying to be all grown-up and marching in their best serious manner. Unfortunately, they tended to forget to watch where they were placing their little feet on the sometimes rough and littered roadway.

He caught one very young girl as she snagged the edge of her too-long skirt with the toe of her tiny shoe and started to tumble towards him as he walked by.

'Probably a hand-me down of her elder sister or cousin's' he thought as he righted the little girl. She looked startled and just stared at him.

The mother came to the rescue a few seconds behind. Thanking him and handing him her lantern, she turned and focused her attention on her daughter. Determining the little girl was okay, she gave her a quick peck on her forehead and reached down and picked her up. Settling the girl on her right hip, she grabbed the small lantern back from him and thanking him again, the two of them set off to catch up with the rest of the family.

Roderich couldn't help but remember his own mother as he watched the little girl hug her mom tight as they both disappeared into the crowd. With a wistful smile as he continued to watch the people ahead of him, he started to turn back around to begin his journey against the parade foot traffic again and nearly ran smack headfirst into one of the larger parade carts* and it's entourage.

He quickly danced out of the way, sliding sideways and nearly knocking over one of the lit crates standing near the wall of a shop along the parade route. Steadying the crate, he continued to hug the wall shuffling crab-like along it. A few steps later he felt the wall fall away from his back signaling him that he could step backwards around the corner into the recess between buildings and await a break in the crowds there before continuing on his task.

Not even getting a moment's pause, the widest part of the cart group now came passing down the street crowding Roderich out even more. He moved a little farther back into the alley. As he took a second step back, he felt his foot step onto something. He tried to instantly shift his foot away and at the same time look down to see what was behind him. Unfortunately that was a mistake, as the act of doing both suddenly shifted his center of gravity too much and he felt himself starting to stumble and fall.

[Alright, so...what/who did I step on? Anyone not have a chance for their character to jump in yet that wanted to? (You could have been doing the same thing as Roddy, waiting for a break to join the parade. He'd like everyone to think he's really graceful, but truth is he's kind of klutzy and wouldn't have checked to see if the opening to the alley was already occupied.)][/i]

((*So I originally misread Arthur's entry and thought he said carts not crates, but I liked the idea, so I imagined the parade might have either small handcarts filled with flowers and lanterns pulled by 1-2 people rickshaw style or if the island still has some sort of draft animal, then it could be a larger gated or flatbed wagon for the elderly or disabled to ride in. Take your pick.))

[Alfred Jones]

Alfred had actually spotted Arthur, but not wanting to ruin his night or the festivities he had hid himself deeper within the alleyway. That didn't mean that he stayed there though. He moved, relocating to another alley a bit ahead so he could see the various things that he had missed when he had noticed Arthur. Well, he was glad that Arthur seemed to be making a friend, he could tell that Arthur needed more of those. Then he might not be as lonely or bothered with him.

What he wasn't expecting that moment though, as he was in a quite thoughtful mood, was for his foot to be stepped on. It didn't really hurt, but he did know it was a person and instinctively his hands moved out, catching the..Girl? He had only had a glance at their face, it did look somewhat feminine. However, as a quite bright float passed by, he got a better look at their face.

"Ah, you alright?" He'd seen the man moving through the parade, helping people out, though it was in glimpses. Righting him, he gave a small smile to the man. Mentally he was glad he had his bath a bit earlier--His hair was a bit damp still. However, the man looked quite refined, so he was just pleased that he didn't stink or something...Not that he'd usually let himself get that way anyway.

[Roderich Edelstein]

Roderich hadn't expected anyone to be there in the alley. So he was shocked to find his fall suddenly stopped by th advent of strong arms and hands reaching out to catch him. In the brief moment before he was set upright on his feet again, he glance up to see who had caught him. He just prayed the person wasn't some gorilla of a man irate at Roderich for stepping on his foot and falling into him.

He squinted up in the dim light trying to see the face above him. In the light of a passing cart of lanterns he saw crystalline blue eyes, golden hair, and cherubic features.

'Huh', he thought, 'Hello Mr. Bright Eyes.' Maybe Nana had something with that belief in guardian angels.

As he was set back on his feet he realized that it was a man about the same height as him and a few years younger, or maybe not. He'd never been a good judge of age. The younger man gave him a causal smile, his lax demanor that of some old-fashioned rough and tumble hero. All he needed was a fedora and trench coat.

Though it was a higher more youthful voice that drawled out the question to him. As he tried to collect himself and regain a little of his dignity, he only half heard the "Ah, you alright?"

"Yes, because of you, tha. . . " He was suddenly interrupted by two loud 'kathunks'. Right at that moment two of the three flasks he was carrying in the little bag over his shoulder decided to finish their slow slide out of the bag from when he had nearly fallen and go thumping and rolling down the alleyway. He had tried to make a wild grab for them, but his movements only succeeded in tipping the last one out too.

His face flushed in embarrassment. He looked about to make a move to run after them. But then he stopped and stood still; staring after them dejectedly for a moment. Pausing to close his eyes, he then took a deep breath. Mentally collected, he turned back to the other man and held out his hand. "Thank you for your assistance. I hope I didn't injure you. I apologize for stepping back into you like that."

He nods, acknowledging the other man's response. Formalities done, he turna and movea to collect the scattered metal containers of water.

As he picks up the nearest container he finds that he's still unnerved a little from the situation. So he turns back with a small smile and starts to chat politely to fill the silence.

"Never expected anyone to be back here watching the parade. Wouldn't be my first choice. It's not a very good angle from which to view it." He pauses, "Oh, but maybe you live in the area and were waiting for someone? Will you light a lantern with them?"

[Belle Johansson]

Ah the parade, it was so beautiful! Holding her own lantern tightly at her chest she held it protectively curling her skinny arms around the paper keeping it safe, before finally Belle fixed it onto the pole and stepped out onto the crowded street her emerald eyes searching for a break in the crowd somewhere she could fit in quite easily without causing too much fuss. Smiling brightly Belle shifted brushing down the smooth fabric of her dress smoothing out the crinkly creases. She’d caved into buying last week, it was such pretty dress, a light blue in colour and cut just above her knee’s it had a summer style to it and Belle had fallen in love with the dress as soon as she’d laid eyes on it.

She did however feel slightly guilty about buying it, she remembered coming home and glaring at the expensive dress in the shopping bag asking herself why she’d spend money so frivolously. She sighed, and shot the memory out of her mind, she was glad she’d worn it now, it wasn’t too formal yet it was pretty enough to be considered more than casual, not to mention the colours were beautiful. She stepped out off of the pavement and finally joined the oncoming crowd.
Almost lost in a daydream she pulled herself out of her thoughts as she felt herself crash into someone

“O-oh I’m so sorry!” she apologised but her apology was cut short as she quickly lost her balance and fell with a tiny crash onto the floor.

[Berwald Oxenstierna]

Berwald's turquoise eyes widened quite noticeably as Kiku stepped in front of him, basically forcing him to look the small man directly in the eyes. Before he was able to awkwardly avert his gaze from Kiku's serious stare, the younger man bowed humbly. 'Th-th's guy's jus' full of surpr'ses...' the blond thought, shocked for what felt like the umpteenth time that night. “S'not yer fault, K'ku... M'foot'll be fine,” Berwald mumbled, looking to the side out of embarrassment. The two of them continued walking until they finally reached the first aid station.

((LOL, I am just gonna skip this first aid station part 'cause I have no idea what Roderich's dad or the place itself is like. ;;)

---

“Thank you again,” Berwald mumbled gratefully as he bowed his head a little. “Let's go, K'ku,” he said, turning to the small man as he stood up to leave. The tall blond considered himself lucky. A second degree burn but nothing too serious. The whole treatment had gone over rather well, too. The burn on his foot, now covered with gauze, was feeling a lot better now. But whenever Berwald looked down at his burned shoe and saw some gauze through the hole in it, he was reminded that he would have spend money on a new pair and that didn't make the tall blond feel too great.

[Kiku Honda]

The pair was silent through the treatment. Once Berwald was all patched up Kiku bowed deeply to the man, the father of the man who had saved Berwald's foot. "Thank you for treating my..." Kiku paused for just a moment. He wasn't exactly sure what to call Berwald at this point. He chose what he thought was proper. "...friend. Please give our thanks to your son. If not for him Berwald's foot might have probably been in worse condition." Kiku said.

After they left the first aid station Kiku noticed Berwald take a test step to check his condition. Kiku's eyes shifted to Berwald's face. 'He doesn't seem to be in pain. Or at least, he's rather good at hiding pain.' Kiku thought. His eyes went back to Berwald's burned shoe. He could see some of the gauze on his foot even from his angle. The shoe truly was ruined. At the very least it could still function as a shoe but there's no way it looked decent enough for someone to wear.

Kiku started to think about what kind of shoes he was to buy Berwald, the brand, shoe size, how to give it to Berwald. Kiku examined Berwald's foot during the treatment. He was able to deduce that Berwald's shoe size was more or less 11. This whole incident was Kiku's fault in the first place. Money was to be no object here. If anything, Berwald deserved the best brand Kiku could buy with his life savings.

The real problem was how to give it to Berwald. After their time together, however brief, Kiku was sure now that Berwald would outright refuse a gift like that. The option of giving to Berwald in person and convincing him to accept the gift seemed unreliable. Leaving the gift in front of his door and ringing the doorbell seemed feasible. But Kiku didn't even know where Berwald lived. He could probably make his way to Berwald's workshop by simply asking around.

In any case, Kiku was concerned if Berwald felt like finishing the parade at all with his foot burned and his shoe ruined. He'd feel horrible if he was the cause of Berwald retiring from the parade.

"B-Berwald, do you still wish to continue on with the parade?" He asked, afraid that Berwald's response would indeed be what he feared.

[spain]

Antonio nodded enthusiastically at Arthur. He did love his alcohol. "A good, strong drink is perfect for wet weather, isn't it? I usually open up right after the parade. Lots of people come by for drinks. I'm usually pretty far gone by the time people come, though, so..." He laughed good-naturedly and accepted Arthur's flask.

The rum was good, Antonio thought vaguely. It did warm him up a bit. He handed the flask back to Arthur and grinned. "You should come by later, too! I've got some of that on the shelf, I'll fill that back up for you if you'd like."

[Alfred Jones]

Nodding, obviously pleased that the other man was alright despite the tripping, the young man just paused and then arched a brow at the flasks suddenly falling from the bag. Staring for a moment as the other flailed a bit wildly, he just ended up grinning good-naturedly. That was pretty funny. However, to save him some dignity, he managed to mask a laugh with a faint cough.

Watching curiously as the other collected himself, his head cocked not unlike that of a puppy, and just nodded as he finally turned back, accepting the hand with a firm shake. “Oh it's no problem. I deal with worse on a daily basis.” Smiling once again, he watched as the brunette started picking up the flasks, and moved, grabbing the one that had rolled furthest away for him and returning it to him.

“Hmn...Not really, but from here you do get to see everything as it goes by, I guess...Nah, I don't really have anyone waitin' for me. I just wanted to come see the parade this year.” Last year he had missed out because he was stranded somewhere in the wilderness...At least he had gotten to see as the lanterns floated away.

“What about you though? Too busy to light a lantern? Or are you gonna do it at the end?” Well he could tell the other was a bit uncomfortable, so as he grabbed another one that was hiding and returned it to him, he just gave another friendly smile. “..My name's Alfred, by the way.”

[Roderich Edelstein]

Roderich wondered what kind of hardships the other person dealt with as he stated "on a daily basis." But it wasn't any of his business honestly.

He picked up the first container and placed it in his bag. Shrugging he replied, "Yes, that's true. If I had a choice though, I like being able to see the parade from a higher vantage point. A small surprised smile lit his face when he saw the second container held out and waiting for him to pack it back up.

"Oh!? Thanks," he grabbed the container and set it in the bag next to the other one. "I hope to still light one for Mom and Nana with my dad. Though I don't know if we'll be able to follow the parade up to the Highlands. It depends on when he can finish up." He shook his head suddenly and frowned as if rejecting what he'd just said.

He sighed. "I don't know why I said that. Or why I keep hoping for things to be different every year." He paused debating whether to continue, but something about the other man made him easy to talk to, maybe he just seemed non-judgmental.

"Edelherz,our family's clinic, sponsors the first aid stand for the Lowland end of the parade. Maybe you've seen it ? It's about a block down from here." He pointed forward in the opposite direction of the parade traffic. "One wouldn't think a parade should need it, but mix lots of people, little children, and fire. Well...." He gave a defeated shrug and a sad fading smile. "It would be nice to follow it up this year. I hardly even remember what it's like to follow that sea of lights anymore. The last time was so long ago, before Mom died."

Roderich's eyes took on a distant gaze as his mind was lost momentarily to the image spun from the threads of old memories and dreams. His voice was a soft whisper as he spoke," I bet it's beautiful to be in the Highlands and watch it slowly wind itself up towards you. But..." he let out a wistful sigh, " to see them floating away from a boat on the sea. That would beat them all. The sailors probably have a good laugh at all of us land-bound people. They've got the best seats out of all us to the festival. Don't you agree?"

Roderich gave a small chuckle, "But I don't really like being out on the sea. So I think I'd watch it island-side."

The other man gave him a friendly and reassuring smile as he walked over to where Roderich stood to hand him the object he had just retrieved from where it rolled behind a trash bin.

"Mhm, thanks. Almost missed that one." [/b]Roderich took the last container held out to him. "Alfred was it? Mine's Roderich. Roderich Edelstein."

Roderich realized that the parade traffic had thinned enough he could continue on, and there was no reason to dawdle any longer, but something about the young man nagged at him. He couldn't shake the thought that something about his face seemed vaguely familiar. So he made a rash decision and the words tumbled out before he could re-think things.

"Ah, if you're not waiting for anyone and since the parade has nearly passed by this area, would you like to walk with me over to the first aid stand while I drop these off?" He held up the flask still in his hand. "If Father's still busy maybe you would join me in lighting a lantern? We've got two. One for my family and one could be for yours. Mom and Nana won't mind. The festival's all about a meeting of the spirits. Living and dead, new and familiar. Right?"

As Roderich waited for the answer, he hoped he would remember in the meantime why he looked familiar. Unfortunately for Roderich, he never forgot a face, but the information most people would find useful like a name or the relationship of their meeting never seemed to stick for him.

((Roddy thinks Al's familiar only because he's run into Matthew-unless you want it to be for different reason- I'm game either way. Anyhow, I don't plan on Roddy actually ever remembering why in this thread. For now, poor guy's just too forgetful. Feel free to reject Roddy's offer and run after someone else to light a lantern with you, if you want. But I don't know that Antonio will give him up. ;3 ))

[beilschmidt]

Gilbert's eyes widened some. Discounts? More sweets? An actual shop? "You had me at here." He answered, fishing through his wallet and depositing his money. It would be so very worth it, he decided. These cookies were amazing.

"So where is your shop?" He asked, attempting to make small talk. Or any kind of talk, for that matter. He was never any good at it, but hell, who was he to pass up the opportunity for a friend? "I'll definitely come visit sometime." He grinned, his cheeks turning red and warm.

[france]

Francis smiles and shifts the money smoothly into the box so as not to allow the other to even think more on his buy, his smiles returning as he to talk. He made sure to put on his best voice for meeting a new friend. It was light and welcoming but a bit mischievous as if asking him to hear a secret that was only for him.

"Its in the west of Highlands. Its brand new, you can't miss it. " he shifts the sweets lightly to cover the hole that the new purchase made. "Its called à toutes les sauces, I can't wait to see you there."

He tosses his hair back and began to walk, inviting the other to follow with a move of his hand. He is slow so as to let others pass him and see his wares. "My name is Francis. Whats yours? "

[Alfred Jones]

Continuing to listen, Alfred glanced around as he handed the last one to Roderich, making sure he hadn't missed any as well. However, he could understand the other mans desire to see them until the end...Well, he was a hero.

Still, he nodded as he talked. "Ah yeah, I remember seeing the stand every year. I thought you looked a bit familiar." It wasn't every year that he came to the parade, but he still had a tendency for remembering some details about things he liked. A small chuckle escaped as he mentioned the sailors, and he nodded, knowing exactly how they felt about the parade.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to help you out with keeping things safe. It bothers me that they actually let small children handle the lanterns to be honest." Giving a small sheepish grin, he stuffed a hand in his pocket, a gesture of familiarity to himself.

"Ah..? Really? I haven't lit one of those in years...If you don't really mind..." He smiled softly. There had been many years he wished that he was able to honor his parents and sister, but of course money and his own paranoia kept him.

"That'd be...Nice..If you don't really mind..."