Meet me halfway

...Even though he said it was alright, she was still a little embarassed about confessing about that. "'Afraid I wouldn't like you??'" She sounded like it was the stupidest thing she had ever heard. Immediately afterwards, she clapped a hand over her mouth, her face burning red. That...was...a little...uncouth...just a little... "...W-why wouldn't I not like you? You're a nice person...you're not rude, you're courteous and polite...and you interest me," she kept getting quieter and quieter the more she listed things until the last one was a whisper. Not to mention he was easy on the eyes ((Am I using that right?)), literally, not to mention. She'd already revealed more of her thoughts than she was used to.

England frowned slightly, in thought, "Well, I'm sure I can tell you plenty of reasons. There are many people who don't like me you know. I'm a little too blunt for many a person's taste and I'm rather obnoxious and stubborn at times. I tend to yell when I'm mad or worried or scared or embarrassed. I'm not good at showing my feelings. I'm not good at showing happiness whether I'm feeling the emotion or not..." The Brit scratched at his head sheepishly, blushing lightly, "I'm not.. ugly, but it's not as though I've ever been complimented on my looks either. I have unmanageable hair and freckles all over me..." He shrugged finally, stopping abruptly; he'd never meant to say that much.

...He didn't like her response to that. So she listened to what he had to say. "Well..." she tilted her head. "It's good to be honest and...It's good to be confident in your decisions, no one could go through what we do day to day if we weren't." She clasped a hand on his shoulder. "You might not think of this as a compliment, but...all those things you said about yourself, there are advantages, too." she shook her head. "And you're not ugly either. Well--" she cut herself off. She couldn't just outright say he was easy on the eyes. "I can look at you right now and it doesn't bother me, at least," she smiled a little at him, trying to be reassuring. "You're not the only one with these problems," she let go of his shoulder and turned away. "Should we continue on?" She tried not to look back at him, and swung her hands, trying to distract herself.
But really...that man...for a flawed man, he did pretty well.

[[what kind of an end is that/shot]]

England blushed slightly, "Yes, let's get going..." They passed some shops and he asked, "Is there anything you like that you can see? We can go in if you want to..." He gave a wry smile and held out a hand to her, taking her smaller one in his own and kissing her knuckles before letting it go again. He idled in that one spot for a bit, giving Beijing time to either veto or accept the invitation to investigate the shops further.

She felt her skin jump when he kissed her hand. But she didn't hate it...and she didn't let go of his hand, but she loosened her grip. She wasn't sure how what to make of that. But one thing did surprise her. "Are you usually this friendly?" she asked, holding up their hands. "And...I thought I was taking you around," she tilted her head the other way. "I should be asking YOU that, England--" she twitched. One level less formal. "After all...I wanted to take you around to see everything."

The Brit tilted his head, "I am when I'm on a date Miss Beijing." He said teasingly, "And I do try to be kind to at least most people." Arthur gave a dry chuckle, "Well, I suppose it's true I'm the guest, however, I also have no qualms about buying you the gift. I don't know about your traditions here, but Westerners usually have the men buying the lady a gift." He gave a soft smile, "I'm sorry if that offends you..."

"..." she was speecheless for a second. "Wait, did I hear you correctly sir? Forgive me if I sound selfish...but did you just say you were going to buy me a gift?" she didn't know how to respond to that. Usually, people didn't buy her things...well, maybe. And she had meant to buy him something instead...she blushed. "Well...err...it doesn't offend me at all, no...quite the opposite..." she bowed her head. "But-ah, I can't ask you to do that for me. And I'm breaking tradition sort of...but ah...I was meaning to buy you something instead."

Arthur laughed, "How about we both break tradition and buy each other a gift. You can pick something out and I'll pick something out and we'll buy them for each other. Does that sound fair? That way I'm breaking the Western tradition of not letting a lady pay for anything on a date and you're breaking your tradition for not letting a guest pay for anything. Okay?" The Brit gave a soft laugh and tilted his head, waiting for her answer.

"..." she thought about it, raising an eyebrow. It was not a bad idea, actually. "Sure, that sounds good. An eye for an eye, I suppose." She laughed a little, until she realized how bad that sounded. Xiahou Dun and then his pirates...maybe an eye for an eye wasn't such a good idea. "Err, never mind. That sounds like a good idea. Where did you want to look...or did you want me to surprise you?"

England gave a gentle laugh and said, "You can surprise me love..." The Brit closed his eyes and breathed in the cool evening air, "You must be tired after a day like this... Is there anything you see that you want love?" He opened his emerald eyes to meet hers, "I mean, it's lady's choice after all." He bowed his head slightly and dipped his torso down as though it were still old times.

[that sounds like a weird pose, i know what you mean but i'm trying to think]

"Alright, a lobster then," she grinned. "I'm kidding. I don't know what you're going to do with a lobster but..." she watched him enjoy the air for a second. "..." the corners of her lips dropped a little watching him. Better not say anything now, she thought sadly. "I'm not very tired," she replied, blinking, shifting her eyes to his. "In fact, I'm still excited about this. But ah," she curtsied back at him after his gesture, the one with the skirt and the crossed legs. "My good sir, that should be my question to you. I am taking you around, after all..." She felt a littl flattered actually, with the gesture and how he acted towards her. Though...at the same time, what should she do?