All roads lead to Rome

"I'm going to teach you an important lesson. No matter how many times someone says yes you better listen when she says no! I wasn't being sarcastic." Ida scolded him, feeling really important and productive, trying to hammer some information in the boys head. "Gee, you're the funny one here." she said in a straight face.

"Oh"I mumbled with a pout. "I'm sorry, I thought you did that thing that all the girls do when they try to act like they don't want something in order to intrigue the other and make them want to do said thing even more or whatever that's called. I'll make sure first the next time, I promise!"

"Yeah I know a few people like that. Pretending is not really effective though." The hypocrite stroke again, even though Ida was the one that was mostly pretending on this date. "Pinky promise?" she said in a serious voice weighing every word, and lifted her left pinky, as the left handed girl she was.

"Pinky promise!"I nodded and quickly grabbed her pinky with my right one. "Wait, was that allowed? I didn't think to ask first, I'm sorry. Unless it was allowed which makes everything okay. But was it allowed though? Cause I'm really confused right now."

Ida tied her pinky with his before looking at him confused. "That was an exception." she said slowly, like she was talking to a toddler. "What am I going to do with you?" Ida flashed a smile closemouthed smile and then reverted back to her non expressing face.

"I don't know, what do you wanna do with me? I'm up for anything, unless it's something I really can't stand. But I'll still try for you"I offered with a small frown, in a hurry to appease her apparent fury.

"Come on, take charge." Ida almost said 'man up' until she realized how offensive and stupid that was. She did enjoy this, even though it didn't really look like it. She was happy that she had a friend that was that dense to like her.

"Huh? No, I want you to tell me what you want. This is all about you after all, remember? Dates are supposed to be the guy trying to woo the girl by doing whatever she wishes"I explained with a proud grin and started nervously rolling back and forth on the balls of my feet. "So?"

"Guy trying to woo the girl? I thought it was two people or more trying to get to know each other better, but I guess that's just me then." Ida averted her eyes from his. But I do want gelato a lot.. she smiled at her thoughts. "Gelato it is then. No one is able to hate that" she said standing her ground.

"Ice cream, yay!"I squealed and clapped in excitement. "And if you want it can be your way, I don't mind! I just want to get ice cream! In Italy, oh my, it's going to be so incredible! All the different flavors and combinations and... oh my!"

Ida watched Cas go all bubbly and exited about something so simple. She didn't dare to say anything to switch his mood so she just stared at him. She was kind of surprised someone from the underworld liked ice cream that much. "What's your favorite flavor?" the girl was curious. "Favorite ice cream flavors tell a lot about the person." Ida said.

"I like many flavors. I like salted caramel. And chocolate with chocolate chips. And plain vanilla is fine. And stracciatella, ugh."I exclaimed, counting off my favorite flavors. "What are yours? Do you have a different favorite sweet? Cause I think ice cream is my favorite! What is your favorite meal anyways?"

"Who even likes plain vanilla." Ida shook her head in disagreement. "I like blueberry ice cream, mint, coffee and pistachios." she said quietly and grabbed the back of his shirt like a child clinging to his mother. "My favorite meal.. smoked salmon." she thought about it for a moment before she came to a conclusion.

"Ohhh, salmon, it's great!"I nodded excitedly, smiling softly as I felt her hands on my back, grabbing my shirt. "Is something wrong, princess?"I asked confused, looking down at her with a puzzled expression. "Can I do help, beautiful?"

"I know that it's great. That's why I like it." Ida blinked twice in confusion before looking up to him. "Nothing is wrong." she said loosening her grip. "Just don't call me with weird pet names." she started pushing him towards the smell of gelato. "You're a dork." she said with light pink color rising on her cheeks.

"Is it bad to be a dork? And I'm not calling you 'weird pet names'. To me, you are a beautiful princess, so it doesn't count as a pet name!"I explained with a grin, allowing her to lead the way. "You know, I get that you're not good with human contact or anything like that, but you have to give me a chance. I respect your rules and I like that you told me about them instead of hiding it and suffering but you have to compromise too"

"I didn't say being a dork is a bad thing." Ida explained continuing to push him forward. If he would lean forward, she would probably fall on her face. She trusted him enough not to do that. Ida's blushing turned really obvious when he continued to flatter her. "Stop, it's embarrassing!" she closed her eyes and violently shook her head. "I know, you told me many times." Ida squealed.

"It's not my fault I'm dating the most beautiful and precious girl at camp, I can't help it!"I laughed and turned my head to look at her, cooing at her blushing face. "You look adorable when you blush, by the way. But you shouldn't be embarrassed. It is the truth, after all"

Ida opened her mouth probably to scream at him but didn't get anything out. "I'm not blushing!" she covered her face with her hands, her hair falling over them. "Stop laughing!" she continued to command him. It wasn't funny for her, but probably funny for him. After calming down she grabbed him from the shoulders trying to turn him around to face the man selling ice cream.

"You are and it's pretty"I insisted and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek before turning towards the ice cream stand. "Hello sir! I'd like a chocolate ice cream cone. What do you want, Ida?"

"I'm paying for my own, but I want coffee." Ida ignored the fact that he tried to kiss her again. She was still kind of shy about being on a date with him.

"No you're not. I took you out on a date so I'm paying, no discussion there"I insisted before handing the guy the money and taking back our ice creams. "Thank you, sir, have a nice night!"I nodded with a small smile before handing Ida her cone and walking away. "Do you like it? Cause I like mine"

"Apparently, gender roles apply in the underworld too. I'll pay you back!" Ida said harshly before nodding as 'thank you'. She took the cone and tasted a bit of the sweetness. "It's coffee and I like anything that has coffee." she smiled shortly. "Screw sleeping, coffee always wins." Ida exclaimed.

"No, you won't, it's not about gender roles, it's about respect"I insisted and turned my head to look at her with a worried expression. "You know, I think you might be a tad bit too hyper for coffee right now, Ida. Maybe we should get you some other flavor, mint or blueberry"

"Fine then, I'm still going to pay. I don't want to owe you anything, it's uncomfortable." Ida said lowering her voice. "What do you mean 'too hyper'. I just like coffee, that's all." she shrugged. She was like an espresso herself. Small and bitter as always.