About 30 minutes later, Lucia and I made it to the teahouse.

And luckily, we didn’t end up meeting some sort of abominable snowman on our way there.

Though, considering who’s right next to me, I can’t say that I was ever really worried about something like that interfering with our trip.

“Hey, why are you looking at me like that?”

Lucia asked, quizzically.

“No reason in particular, just kinda felt like it.”

“If you say so.”

Lucia said, unconvinced before leading me into the teahouse.

The interior was well furnished and had a scent that resembled that of cherrywood. 

“So, have you been to a teahouse before, Otto?”

“Nope, never even seen one until today.”

“Looks like I get to enjoy taking another one of your firsts today then, huh.”

Lucia said happily before taking my hand and walking the both of us to the line at the front of the store.

“Alright, so basically this place just operates like how a coffee shop does except you purchase tea instead of coffee.”

“Is there anything else that’s different other than the beverages?’

“Not really, no.”

“I see, then could you help me pick out a drink?”

“Mhmm. Just leave everything to me.”

Lucia remarked before quickly squinting at the wooden menu above the countertop.

A couple of minutes later, Lucia and I made it to the front of the line without too much trouble, and Lucia ordered what appeared to be two green teas with some slices of peppermint floating on top.

Then, the two of us walked over to the seating area in the store and just started to talk about random topics in an attempt to pass the time.

“So, this is the first time that we’re going on an actual date, huh?”

“Technically we’ve been on a ton of them back on campus, but this is the first time that we’re going on one of these while off campus.”

I said with a smile on my face before leaning back on my chair a little.

“For some reason, I expected our date to get interrupted by some weird event but the only annoying thing that has happened today is the fact that we have to wait for our orders.”

“Yeah, I get what you mean. I guess, it’s just kind of weird to see something go right after we read all of those romance novels the other day.”

“Even you thought that those 2 novels were terrible, huh?”

“I wouldn’t say that I thought that they were awful. Sure, most of them seemed to just be stalling for time, but at least none of them had a bad ending.”

“So basically, as long as a love story has a good ending, you’re alright with the rest of it being shit?”

“Not necessarily, I’d settle for just good chemistry between the two leads.”

“But weren’t the leads in most of those stories poorly paired up though?”

“Hmm… I’d say that’s a matter of perspective.”

“The lifestyles of the main leads in the second story were literally the complete opposite of each other.”

“I don’t see why that would make those two poorly matched. And just to make sure, this is the story about the farmer and the royal guard captain, right?”

“Mhmm, that’s the one.”

“Then yeah, I’d have to say personally the interests or profession of the two leads don’t really matter to me when it comes to determining whether or not they are compatible with each other.”

“Then to you, what determines compatibility?”

Lucia asked, slightly curious before leaning a bit closer to me.

“Personally, I break it down into 2 separate factors, emotional compatibility, and compatibility when it comes to power dynamics.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“Firstly, what I mean when I say emotional compatibility is how understanding each lead is when it comes to each other’s feelings.” 

“Wouldn’t that mean that all of these novels’ leads fail in that regard? It took each of them until the very last chapter to confess to each other.”

“While that might be the case, I found that they made up for it in other ways. Sure, they didn’t confess immediately upon realizing how they felt for each other, but they definitely figured out each other’s likes and dislikes fairly quickly, and more importantly, they didn’t use what they learned to take advantage of each other.”

“…How come you’re always so knowledgeable about this type of stuff?”

Lucia asked, slightly baffled.

“You would not believe the amount of free time that I have on my hands.”

“Don’t get too used to it, after all, you’re gonna be taking some classes on stars with me next quarter, right?” 

“I suppose, I’ll just have to slack off a bit more now then, in order to make up for that.”

“Try not to do anything too drastic… wouldn’t want to flunk your class by accident, right?”

“And redo the whole thing? Yeah no, I had fun and all but there’s no way I’m sitting through that ordeal again.”

“Good. Anyway, what do you mean when you’re talking about power dynamics?”

“Oh, what I mean is that the relationship isn’t one built on coercion.” 

“Huh, that's it? Based on the explanation that you gave earlier, I was expecting something far more complicated.”

Lucia said, mildly perplexed.

“That’s because it really is that simple. There’s nothing really more to it.”

“Fair enough.”

Lucia remarked before quietly sighing a little.

“Is something wrong?” 

I asked, simply.

“Nah, just thinking about how it’s our first date off campus and we’re just doing what we’ve always been doing, arguing about fictional romances.”

“Would you like for us to do something else?” 

I asked, inquisitively.

“How about… we hold hands under the table?” 

Lucia asked after thinking for a couple of seconds.

“After all the other things that we’ve done? Sure, why not.” 

I said before holding out both of my hands under the table.

And as expected, they were immediately grabbed by Lucia.

“Now this, this is what I’m fuckin talking about.”

Lucia said, with a very satisfied look on her face.