A Shared Experience (Tag Duchess)

Puck nodded and gave a fake shiver. "Boring. The most feared word in the entire English language. That and phobia." He said with a slight chuckle. It was a weak joke and a bad one but even a bad, weak joke had to count for something.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. I have lots of practice getting people out of trouble so your nine live are quite safe my dear lady. Nevermind the fact that I may or may not have gotten them into trouble in the first place." He said with an extremely mischevious grin. "Cone. Especially waffle cones. It might be messy but it's absolutely delicious." Puck said with a slight sigh of anticipation. After paying and being served their ice cream, Puck turned and walked back to Duchess and handed her a fair sized bowl of delicious ice cream. After taking a bite of his own, he asked, "I don't mean to pry but are you a shifter by any chance? I'm guessing from the cat and 9 lives comment that you are probably a cat shifter?"

Puck grinned wider as he heard Duchess laugh at his weak joke. So it did count for something after all. 'Then again, anything that can make Duchess laugh is worth something.' He thought as he snuck a quick look at the beautiful, young woman beside him.

The tricky red-head nodded and gave a slight bow when Duchess thanked him. "Your welcome. It's my pleasure to treat you and it's no trouble for me." And it really wasn't, as Puck came from a fairly well off family and he did quite well on his own with his recording studio and radio station. He wasn't ridiculously wealthy or even close to it, but he had more than enough to live and to live comfortably.

Puck shrugged as they sat down on the bench and took another bite of his ice cream. "I thought so. Although, the little comments made it easier to deduce." He said with a grin. The generally confident and charming trickster blushed slightly when Duchess mentioned his vibrant red hair. It was the first time in their conversation that he showed any true form of embarrassment or uncertainty. "Heh, yeah. I'm a fox shifter, the only one in my family." He said with a wry grin as he ran his fingers through his hair. "What about you? Any other shifters in your family?"

Puck gave Duchess a mischevious look when she told him that he should stick around. "Oh, I plan to." He said. "Besides, I'm not in the habit of denying people who are young and beautiful." He said with a cheeky grin.

His embarrassment faded a bit when Duchess complimented his red hair and gave her an open and honest smile. It wasn't so much his red hair that embarrassed him as much as it was the fact that he was the only shifter in his family. It had always made him feel a little out of place and uncertain. Growing up, there were times where being a shifter had made him feel lonely until he met Sunny, his best friend.

Puck nodded thoughtfully as he ate his ice cream and listened to Duchess tell him about her family. He wondered what it was like to be an only child, what it sounded like when Duchess' mother played her music, what the hesitation about her father meant but mostly, Puck found himself wondering about Duchess. 'Steady on and back up, Puck. You barely know this girl and she barely knows you.' He thought. But even as Puck silently scolded himself, he knew that he probably wouldn't stop unless Duchess herself specifically told him too.

"That's really cool that you come from a family of shifters. For the longest time the only shifter I knew was my best friend, besides myself that is. It changed when I graduated university and got into the music business though. You meet all types there." He said with a grin. "So where did your mom play? Does she still keep up with it? Any chance you inherited her musical gift as well as her lovely hands?" He said cheekily as he took Duchess's free hand in his.