"I'm not sure. He's going to pick me up, and he's supposed to surprise me." Sera smiled a little, pleased. "What about you and Damien?"

Rose blushed a little.

"He asked me out to a movie," she said. "We agreed no chick flicks or horror movies."

Sera grinned. "Yeah, that sounds about right. Too bad you don't like horror movies. I could expand your world so much..."

"No, Sera," Rose replied firmly. "I don't like horror and probably never will." She grinned a bit and blushed. "Damien said he would look at the listings and find something that looked good."

Sera merely chuckled and shook her head. "Sounds like you guys are going to have a good night." She smiled, pleased.

Rose blushed a bit more.

"What makes you say that?" she asked, trying to fight back the blush.

"Well, you're going to go see a movie that you're both going to agree on, he's a nice guy." Sera shrugged. "I don't see why you wouldn't."

"True..." Chances were, she'd only really pay attention to about half the movie. The other half, she'd probably be trying to steal glances at Damien while he wasn't looking.

Sera merely smiled and shook her head a little, finishing up her ice cream. "Come on, let's head back so we're somewhat sentient for work tomorrow."

"Right," Rose agreed, standing up once she was finished. "Sentience sounds good." Not that she'd be able to sleep right away, not with her mind stuck on her date on Saturday.

Sera got up and drove them back home.

Saturday afternoon she was at home taking care of all the animals, and then carrying the snake around the kitchen with her. Her little scaled friend had curled himself around her neck loosely.

Damien parked in the parking lot of a certain library and got out, stretching with a little grin. He'd decided to surprise Rose by picking her up early and going to see an earlier showing of the movie, and then dinner.

Rose was at the library the moment it opened, going through some of the rare books collection before she had to sort through the new arrivals. It was obvious she was in her element amongst the books, as if the volumes were old friends.

She was at the front desk patching up a worn-through spine when the door opened. She glanced up and did a double-take when she saw Damien.

She wasn't expecting that.

Taylor spent the first half of Saturday lounging about his apartment, relaxing. He loved his days off, although he typically found a woman to spend the day with. Saturday, though, he didn't. He was more looking forward to dinner with Sera.

Damien looked around as he entered, taking in the atmosphere of the bookstore. Then he started looking around for Rose, unsure where she'd be.

Rose was practically hiding behind the counter, trying to gather her wits.

"Oh my," she heard one of her coworkers say. "Look at him. He is one fantastic specimen."

"LaRhonda!" Rose whispered, embarassed. "Don't say that, I know him!"

"Girl, where do you know him from?" Her coworker looked impressed.

"My other job," Rose replied. "I didn't think he'd show up here..."

"Well, go talk to him, then!" LaRhonda said, giving Rose a bit of a push.

"What?" Rose squeaked as she was pushed forward.

Damien looked over when he heard the squeaks and the teasing, and he headed over in that direction with a little smile. He'd had the feeling that surprising her would be interesting.

Rose managed to slip back behind the counter, and her other coworker for the day came out to see what was going on.

"Oh my," he said.

"Richard, not you too..." Rose whispered.

"Apparently Rosie works with him at her 'other job,'" LaRhonda explained. Richard grinned.

"Oh honey, you've hit the jackpot with him," he said. Obviously, Richard was very much into men rather than women. "They don't make men who look like that anymore."

Rose just turned bright red.

Damien overheard them and had to stifle his laughter, taking his time walking over to the front desk area, still looking around as he did.

Rose saw him walking over, and her coworkers both nudged her forward.

"I hate you both," she whispered to them.

"Hello, Rose," Damien said pleasantly, smiling at her. "I thought I'd surprise you, come get you early so we can see an earlier showing and get dinner afterwards. As long as you don't mind?"

Rose couldn't fight back the blush completely.

"Well, I still have things to do here..." she started.

"Honey, we can take care of everything around here," Richard said from behind the counter. "You go on."

Damien smiled and offered her his hand. "Come on. We have some time yet, in case you wanted to get a snack, or change or anything."

Rose took his hand, though she was still a little hesitant.

"I should probably get back and change first..." she said. She didn't want to be wearing black slacks and a lilac sweater on a date, she would be much more comfortable in her jeans.

"Okay. I can drop you off or I can follow you back to your place, if you have a car here." Damien smiled a little at her.

"I do have a car," Rose replied. "It's not as nice as Sera's, though, so I really only use it when I go to work."

Damien nodded. "Well would you like me to follow you back to your house, then?" he asked quietly. "I can pick you up there, if you'd like."