It seemed as though she was spending a ton of time at Hikawa Jinja. Sophia sends a text to Valdis on the way over: Got school dance tickets for you and David. Actually, I need help convincing David to go probably. Also, I need help convincing him to wear something that isn't black. It's really dreary.

Sophia is dressed in a blue-ish gray coat over her school uniform. It's a little cold on the steps, and she wraps the teal scarf closer around her. Her backpack is laid down next to her. She sits around waiting for Valdis to show up with those two tickets to the school dance. Getting the former to come along would probably be a much easier endeavor than convincing the latter. Still, it needed to be done. If she was lucky, maybe Val knew where David was or would see him later.

'Bzzzz' God she hated that phone...She sighed it could be important...after all ; that phone was really only used when a youma popped up. She unwrapped it from its container and flipped it open. Her eye twitched when she realized that she was using this cursed device only to read a text about a dance??? Why couldn't this just be emailed to her or something like that??? Valdis rubbed the bridge of her nose; why did teenagers use this as a mode of communication? She sucked up the fact she disliked using the devise to at least respond to the other teen....after all that was what was socially required..right?

"I thank you for picking up the ticket for myself, I will pay you back. As for him what I saw at the sundome he can't turn you away easily. Just go at him with a puppy dog face and armed with pretty please will you go with me! That or mention Kenny will be there with you...He saw his antics the reaction could be amusing. As for the cloths I am unsure of how to help you there...short of chloroforming him then stripping and sticking him into something else...which I would do if you want"

Valdis yawned; she had gotten stuck at the shrine the prior night, so she was still decked out in her miko outfit. But she did have her chloroform in her backpack along with her unfinished doll of Nazo she was working on completing. So her offer to the young senshi was completely possible, except she didn't have anything to put him into. But since Sophia had the tickets it might be a good idea to find out where she was.

"I'm at the shrine, got stuck here over night; where are you?"

“I wasn’t going to ask him to go out with me… I just wanted to go as the group of us. I’m also here though. I figured I could give them to Rei to pass to you guys if you couldn’t come down here.” Sophia walks around the shrine a ways before seeing the other girl.

She smiles and hands over Val’s ticket. “I just need to get David his ticket. It’s just everyone seems to be going, and we’re all going as a group. And I don’t really like the idea of him sitting at home by himself. Maybe if he goes out, he'll smile again. I’ve only seen it happen once before. It's like seeing an endangered animal in the wild, I think. Once in a lifetime event.”

She drops down and removes her backpack. From the backpack, she removes two long sleeved shirts, one in blue and the other in white, along with another ticket. “I don’t think getting him to go to the dance will be so easy. He was all unhappy about the beach thing before. You wouldn’t happen to see David later today or know when he’ll come by? He looked about the same size as one of my brothers, so I got him these. Anyways, I didn’t want to chloroform and strip him. I just wanted to give them to him.”

She blushes, “Can I go at least week without seeing him stripped again, please? Maybe longer if possible.”

Valdis thanked her when the ticket was handed over and pulled out her wallet from her sleeve and took out a couple of bills and handed it to Sophia. It was her share of the money spent on the tickets.

"I think you should ask him to go with you if you want him to come; I don't think he'd be able to turn you down...even if you mean it as a group just ask him to come with you. You're like a hamster to cute to say no to."

She pat the girl on the head with a small smile.

"Everyone has their inner demons little mouse; it's just harder for some to see a reason to smile. Just keep doing what you're doing and you'll see it again."

Valdis laughed at Sophia's permanent scaring of a pantless David.

"Oh come on he had nice legs did he not? I wouldn't mind stripping Nazo down myself, he's got a nice body to pretty face as well. As for David I think he's living in the guest room; so let's go raid his drawers and find out what he has yes? We'll leave the shirts in there as well; he'll probably feel less awkward if he just finds them in then having you give them to him."

Sophia takes the money and puts in in her already open backpack. “Thanks. Anyways, you don’t think that gives them impression of a date, do you? I mean, I think that would freak him out. Besides, sometimes, I get the feeling that he just sort of tolerates me. I actually don’t know if he has anyone in his life he cares about, which strikes me as sad, and sometimes, I fear I’m the only one who considers him a friend. Maybe I’m overthinking this a bit.”

She shakes her head as Valdis tells her that she’d have some chance of success in the future. “I think if I gave him bullets for his gun, I’d have more success than attempting to get him to have fun and meet new people,” she states.

At the question of his legs, she turns a bit of a brighter shade of red, “He was wearing trunks, so I could have assessed that without him losing those. But yeah, sure, I guess he doesn’t have bad legs. Just don’t ask about everything else.” Wait, did that sound insulting? She backtracks, “Not that everything else looked bad… not that I was really looking.” She hangs her head, “Let’s not repeat that, and just drop these off.”

As they walk towards the guest room, she asks, “So… what’s Nazo’s face look like? And how did you find yourself gazing upon it?” She grins at her. “Did he take off his mask and steal a kiss?” she teases.

The talk with Priestess Hino went... well, for the most part. The ritual garb he was to wear while training under the priestess was folded neatly, held out in his forearms. As he rounded the deck of the shrine, David paused. What was Sophia doing there?

Starting towards Val and Sophia, he stopped just short of them, trying to break into the conversation.

"Hello," he stated simply.

"Not if you word it right Sophia; give it some thought I'm sure you'll figure it out"

Her eyes lit up at the idea of her giving him bullets for his gun; she nodded. That would actually be a great idea.

"That may be an easier first step then diving right in. I suggest you do exactly that"

It probably would have more of an effect then she would realize. She laughed when she began to turn a bright red. When Sophia asked not to inquire about anything else Valdis gave her a sly look while waggling her eyebrows. She knew that look would be more than enough to bring back such memories.

"I say you liked everything else but are to embarrassed to admit it."

She smiled fondly when she remembered the circumstances.

"I figured his wife should at least see his face"

Before she could explain further, the other topic of their conversation appeared, leaving the Nazo subject on a mind blowing cliff hanger.

"Good morning; sleep well after our little chat session last night?"

Sophia shakes her head, “Easier, but I don’t think I can if I wanted to. I don’t even know where and how to obtain rounds for that thing.” Honestly, what kind of place what give a 16 year old girl bullets for a large rifle like that. She also gets the sense rounds for it wouldn’t be commonplace.

As she’s being teased, she keeps her eyes down on the floor. “I admit to nothing. Besides, I hardly looked at all.”

She really wants to know what Nazo’s face looks like, but it seems it will forever remain a mystery to her as David runs into them both. One day, maybe she’ll get a hint.

She smiles at David, “Hey, so what are you doing Friday night? Because you have plans to go with me to a dance now. It’ll be fun, and everyone else is showing up.” She hands him his ticket first.

Then, spreading out one of the shirts, she asks, “Also, are these about your size? They look like it. You didn’t seem like you had a variety of things to wear, so here are two.” Blue and white. Not black. It would be a definite improvement to his wardrobe.

"Umm," David started, stammering. His cheeks burned a slight red, and as his eyebrows twisted in deep thought, he looked at Sophia, then to Val, then back to Sophia. This was going to be an awkward situation, no matter how he answered. If he said no, well, it would crush the brunette, and Val would chew him out. If he said yes, though... a guy his age and Sophia, together, at a dance? Oh God, he was going to jail!

"Y-yes," he finally answered, taking the ticket. He could fight his way out of a high school auditorium if he had to, right? I mean, he was Yinko, after all.

"And yes," he answered again. "Yes, those shirts are about my size... Thank you." His face burned brighter. Was this girl actually buying him stuff now? Clothes, no less? He thought about his buddies back at college before the war, and one of them making a bullwhip sound, their hand gesturing in an exaggerated motion.

Great, she was the pants in a relationship he didn't know existed. He was so screwed.

Valdis looked back and forth between the blushing pair; they almost matched with the same red. Which caused a pure idiotic grin to spread across her features.

"David you look like a dear in a shooting range"

She nodded in approval when he accepted both the shirt and the invitation.

"Hope you know how to dance"

She turned back to Sophia.

"So is this dance thing formal or casual? Personally I have never been to a school dance, and for some odd reason it is an experiance my father seemed keen on my experiencing. Also when are we getting the girls together to raid my closet. I think I have something that would suit you wonderfully."

She looked back over at David.

"Question; do you have any other clothes? Or is your style just normally black?"

For a second, Sophia thinks David is going to back out of it as he stammers. However, it turns out Valdis is right; he said yes. It was sort of sad to imagine the guy sit by himself on a Friday night since she’s fairly sure he wasn’t going to go out have fun unless she forced him to do so. Group senshi and knight outing success!

“Great. It starts at 7pm.”

He does seem a bit awkward about the clothes though. She wonders if she said or did the wrong thing here. Still, him having a less dreary wardrobe would be good for him, she feels.

She waves her hand as Valdis mentions dancing, “It’s not that hard, and I can always teach.”

“I think the dance is casual though. So cocktail dresses, not evening gowns. Formal dances are normal held a lot later in the year, I think. I’ll make sure to get you a ticket for that one too. Thanks again for letting us raid your closet by the way.” Even in the company of people who didn’t care much, she’s obviously excited about this whole thing.

She looks David as Valdis about his clothes. “I mean, I’ve never seen you wear something that isn’t black. I kind of suspect that your socks are black right now.”

"And if my socks were black?" David answered, raising an eyebrow. The blush had faded as the conversation shifted. "Maybe black is suitable for me." He thought back to the Death Valley campaign, and remembered the dusty yellows, drab browns, and stale greens of the men and women as they moved downrange into the Covenant killing fields. No... black was definitely an improvement.

"Maybe I'll try something different before the dance," he sighed, shaking his head.

Of course, hearing Val remark about his dancing ability, David sighed, rolling his eyes. He had learned for the NROTC formal dances, though no one had bothered to join him. Being one of the few Marine candidates at the university, and one of the most military-minded, he was out of place.

He paused, thinking it over. Somewhere, in that duffelbag of his, he kept the uniform. Maybe... just maybe...

"Great I got more cocktail dresses then you can shake a stick at. Also no problem I'm always one for lending a hand as long as the end results in something amusing."

Valdis looked on in pure amusement when Sophia accused David of even wearing black socks. His response made her burst out with laughter. She patted him on the shoulder and shook her head.

"I enjoy black to but as my stylist says that is a depressing color pallet to always use."

She stepped back and looked him up and down.

"However due to your personality, I would suggest clothing in the darker pallet range. Dark greens, dark blues, dark reds. I think those would look nice on you without making you break out from your comfort zone to much. Change might do you a little good."

Valdis checked the time on her watch and frowned.

"Since I spent the night here I should probably start heading home before Daddy sends the secret service to come collect me again. Ever since I showed him the Nyx form he's kinda shortened my leash a bit more."

Sophia frowns as he states his preference for black. “But it’s so depressing. And wearing all black makes you look so unapproachable. Come on, you must like some color. Any color.” Surely, he couldn't hate every color and wanted to look more friendly.

With Valdis’ suggestion, Sophia seems to consider the recommended colors for David. “Dark green, blue, red… yeah, those wouldn’t look bad on you.” Her smile returns, “Dark blue is better than dark green though. It seems more dignified.” Greens seemed so causal in comparison to her.

Suddenly, Valdis reminds her of time. “Oh yeah, I still need to go to class. Maybe we can get everyone together later tonight or Wednesday evening for the dresses? And David, I guess I’ll see you on Friday if we don’t meet up earlier.”

"Right," David sighed, nodding. "Okay, I'll put something together." Rolling his eyes, he knew his best option was his only option. He'd find it, iron it out again, and dust it off before Friday. Maybe Sophia would like that. Of course, thinking about that, thinking Sophia could appreciate what he was before the war, that caused a flurry of other concerns.