A/N: Let it be known that I am bad at updating things in a timely manner.

"Okay, just... just keep cool, Wander." The nomad muttered as he braided the wig. "It's just one date. It's... it's not even really a date! You're just doing a favor for the people on this planet! Even... even though they don't really realize it's a favor... and you explicitly called it a date... to Hater's face, no less..."

Wander groaned, covering his face with his hands. "Oh, gob, it's totally a date. What have I done?"

He sighed, turning around and walking over to his hat. "Well, I'll just have to make sure that Hater has a horrible time!" He said as he pulled a red dress out of his hat. "That way, he won't want to go out with me- er, with Hope- again!"

Wander frowned. "Oh, but goodness, that's just so mean!" He moaned as he pulled on the dress and pulled a pair of black Mary-Janes out of his hat. "I don't think that even Hater deserves to have his heart broken like that!"

Wander sighed, putting on the shoes and walking over to the wig. "Okay, then maybe I shouldn't show up at all!" He frowned again as he finished braiding the wig. "Oh, no, that's even worse! And I can't even begin to imagine how he'd react to being stood up!"

He sighed once more as he put the wig on, adjusting it. "I guess... I guess I'll just have to go along with it, just for now. I'll just have to leave the date without agreeing to anything or giving Hater any way to contact me." He mumbled to himself as he put the necklace on. Wander sighed, looking at himself in the mirror.

"Well, here goes nothing."

She was late.

Or maybe Hater was just early.

Was he early? Was that a bad thing? Should he have waited longer before leaving the ship?

Was she even coming?

Hater groaned quietly as he pulled at his tie, gripping the bouquet tightly. Gob, he was nervous. Not only was this his first date with Hope, it was his first date in...

Well, it was his first date.

Ever.

And right now, he was so nervous that he thought he might pass out.

"Hater!"

The conqueror nearly jumped a foot in the air, whipping his head around to look at 'Hope'.

"U-Uh..."

'She' smiled at him. "Hi. Wow, you look nice!"

"I-I, um, uh, that is, uh..." He swallowed hard, his face burning. "Um, th-thank... thank you. You, um, you look... you look... wow." Hater was very glad he didn't actually have a heart, because if he did, it would have been hammering so loudly that everyone in a thirty-mile radius would have gone deaf.

'Hope' giggled, and the conqueror thought he might die right there and then. "Aw, thanks! You're sweet." 'She' glanced at the flowers in his hand. "Oh, are those... are those for me?"

Hater looked at the bouquet, then cleared his throat. "Um, well, um..." He swallowed, handing them to 'her'. "Well, yes."

'Hope' blushed, taking the bouquet from him and smelling it. "Oh, well, thank you. Thank very mu... mu... ah... ah-CHOO!"

"Uh... are you okay?"

'She' waved at him, blinking hard. "M'fine. Thank you, Hater- ah-CHOO!"

'Hope' sneezed several times, and Hater sighed. "You're allergic to pollen, aren't you?"

"Only... only-" 'She' sneezed again. "Only certain kinds." She admitted, handing him the bouquet. "S... Sorry."

Hater sighed, tossing the bouquet into a trash can nearby. "It's fine, don't worry about it-"

'Hope' sneezed again, interrupting Hater. "Sorry." 'She' cleared her throat. "U-Um... so, where do you want to go first?"

"A-Ah, well, I thought we might get some dinner before we look around..."

"... And I didn't have any idea who Tuesday was talking about, because I'd honestly thought that her name was Nanny!"

Wander laughed. "So you had no clue that her name was Annette, even after she took care of you for almost eighteen years?"

Hater grinned sheepishly. "Well, in my defense, Mother and the other staff members all called her 'Annie' when I was a kid!"

He laughed again, covering his mouth with his hand as the waiter took his empty plate away.

"So, what about you? Got any stories about your family?"

Wander's smile slowly dropped. "... Yes, but... they aren't exactly fun stories. At least, most of them aren't."

Hater frowned. "O-Oh, um... sorry."

"No, it's... it's fine, you didn't know." Wander replied quietly, looking down. "My... my biological mom didn't like her husband. I... I'm fairly sure that me and my twin- her name's Meander- aren't his, and I think he knew it." He shifted awkwardly. "They died about twenty years ago... I don't really like talking about what happened to them. My sisters and I- My older sister is named Corsair- got adopted by our moms, and I left home when I was about eighteen." He took a deep breath. "And that's about it." He smiled weakly at Hater. "Not exactly as exciting as being a King, huh?"

Hater cleared his throats. "It... it wasn't all great."

"What do you mean?"

"When I was younger, I... I didn't really have a ton of control over, y'know," He held up his hand, letting off a spark. "The whole electricity powers thing. My sister- though, at the time, she was my brother-" He paused, eyeing Wander warily, as if he was waiting for a negative reaction. The nomad just smiled, nodding as if to say, 'Go on'. "Well, she liked the light shows I could make, and one time, when I was eight and she was four..." Hater swallowed. "It... It was an accident, but I... I hurt her pretty badly. So, I started wearing the gloves. I... I lied to my parents and Tuesday, told them that I'd lost my powers." He snorted. "I'm still not sure why they believed me, but they did, and for about ten years everything was okay, but... on the night of my coronation, Tuesday- who was a girl at this point-, she..." He sighed. "We had a fight. She... She wanted to get married to this guy, who, by the way, she had literally just met, and... she pulled the gloves off, and..." He took a deep breath. "I lost control. No one got hurt, but... I was scared, so I ran away." He snorted. "I actually managed to restore Castle Lumiere- the castle my grandpa lived in when he was king- and so I stayed there, thinking that I could keep people safe if I wasn't around."

"... What happened after that?"

"Well, eventually I had to go back. Apparently I accidently set off some sort of apocalyptic event, and the planet nearly was destroyed by some ancient beast my ancestors had sealed off. I was able to fix it, but..." He gestured to himself. "I ended up like this."

Wander was silent for a moment, then gestured for the waiter to come over, whispering something in his ear.

"What are you up to?" Hater asked warily.

Wander smiled at him. "You'll see."

About a minute later, the waiter returned, a bottle of champagne in his hand.

"Uh, we didn't order-"

"I did." Wander interrupted gently, smiling at the waiter as he opened the bottle and filled two glasses.

"... Why?"

Wander smiled, holding up his glass. "I think that we should have a toast."

"To what?"

"To miserable childhoods and hopefully better adulthoods."

Hater stared at him for a moment, then smiled, holding up his own glass and softly tapping it against Wander's.

"Let's hope so."

"I still can't believe you knew that guy was scamming everyone!"

Wander grinned up at Hater as they walked along the path near the lake. "Hey, when you travel as often as I have, you can recognize the difference between an Arnomian milkfish and a Terranian goldguppy."

Hater chuckled, turning to face 'her'. "... I... I had a great time tonight, Hope."

Wander smiled up at him. "I... I did too." To his surprise, that was the truth.

Hater blushed a bit, rubbing the back of his skull awkwardly. "W-Well, um..." He stuck out his hand. "Thanks."

Wander stared at his hand for a moment, then swallowed nervously. "Could... Could you crouch down for a sec?"

Hater frowned, staring at 'Hope'. "Why?"

"Please? For me?"

The conqueror sighed, but did as 'she' asked. Wander took a deep breath, hesitating for only a second before taking a step forward, leaning over and pecking Hater on the cheekbone.

The skeleton's eyes opened wide as his date took a step back, flushing awkwardly and twirling a strand of blond hair as 'she' stared at 'her' feet.

"U-Um..."

"... Thank you." Wander said, glancing up at the skeleton briefly.

Hater stared, then nodded, standing up shakily. "Er... n... no problem." He stammered. "G... Goodnight, Hope."

"... Goodnight, Hater."

He nodded at 'her' again, then turned around, starting to walk away.

"... Hater!" Wander called suddenly.

The conqueror paused, turning back to face 'her'.

"I heard that there's supposed to be some sort of dance tomorrow!" Wander called. He hesitated for a second. "Would... Would you like to come with me?"

Hater's eyes widened, and it was a moment before he was able to respond. "I... I'd love to go! W-With you, I mean!"

Wander grinned. "It's a date, then! I'll meet you here at eight, okay?"

The skeleton nodded. "Okay!" He paused. "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight!"

Wander smiled as his date walked out of sight, turning and walking back towards the festival.

"Wise men say, 'only fools rush in'..." A street performer sang as Wander walked past. The nomad's smile slowly dropped, replaced by a horrified look of realization.

"Oh, no."

"But I can't help falling in love with you..."

"No, no, no." He whispered.

"Shall I stay? Would it be a sin?"

Wander ran a hand through the wig, walking away quickly.

"If I can't help falling in love with you..."

This wasn't good.

In fact, it was awful.

Wander could try to deny it, but he knew in his heart of hearts the awful, terrible truth:

He was falling in love with Hater.