Promise 7.5
Added 2019-07-17 08:15:04 +0000 UTCLater than I wanted by several days, but both Battery's voice and the date with Dennis gave me a bit of trouble. Thankfully, not as much trouble as arc 6 did, but they both delayed this chapter from the deadline I was trying to reach. I'm sorry about that.
This also hasn't gone through the final check with my editing team, since they're all in bed, so this is the raw version. It'll be updated with the refined version once that's been handled.
As for the chapter itself, it's...not really filler, so much as it is some much needed decompression after all the stress and tension of the last several chapters. Which is not to say that nothing heavy or important happens, only that this is really more about giving both the characters and the readers a moment to relax.
EDIT: Let me please make it clear, this is in no way a cementing of the finalized pairing for the story. Taylor and Dennis are going on a first date. That's it. They're not proclaiming undying love. They're teenagers. Most people in the developed world don't get married to their first boyfriend/girlfriend, and especially not after the first date. Those that do? They often wind up unhappily married as they get older.
There may not, in fact, be an official pairing until the epilogue. Interpersonal relationships are a large part of Essence, but romance is not.
