#second date

[byghostface]

Exchanged hair clips♥️

[rat-at-heart]

When Marcus agreed to spooning on the second date, this was not what he could have ever imagined

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

[the-ultimate-pie-family]

Vanity actual second date with blood part 6

"Vanity weared a dress not know what to actually wear." i hope he likes this dress. Very sexy my dear vanity, almost good enough to for something bad hahe. "Vanity blushed, hiding her face with her claws." Stop, you meanie. What I'm not allowed to tease you, my lady? You can, but wait till after the second date, I'll have a plan for later. ooooo hot, Miss Vanity very hot. shut up! fine for now hahaha

you gonna get it blood mark, my words. Ooooo, if you do choke me, "then blood grabbed vanity, turning on slow dance music" wh-wha? I never danced before blood either have it but let the music guide my sweet. "Blood gently placed his magic hand on her waist." Ready? Uh, I mean, yes, "vanity was lost for words. When they started slow dancing, she gazed into blood blind eyes she hugged him, following his steps. " You're good, Miss Vanity. Shut up and kiss me, "Blood kissed vanity she felt happy being close to blood"

Mod pie: awwww, this is so adorable. I love his weird odd ship

Tag: @vanitythevantropist

[andithiel]

I wrote a thing for the first prompt of @hdcandyheartsfest "Second Date"! This got away from me a little, it's 1,3k so I'm putting it under a cut. Rated T I guess for mentions of sexy stuff having happened and going to happen again. Thank you as always to the bestest of betas, my lovely @crazybutgood 💖💕

When Draco wakes up, he’s in an unfamiliar bed. Unfamiliar, but not unpleasant. The mattress is a little softer than he’d like, and the sheets are way too rumpled to be comfortable, but there’s also a pleasant ache in his muscles that’s probably the reason why he’s put up with—

He snaps his eyes open, wide awake now. Shit. Shit shit shit. It all comes back to him, how Harry kissed him when they were saying goodbye and how that kiss led Draco to forget all about grace and decorum, and how he foolishly went back to Harry’s.

This was a bad idea. He needs to find a way to get out of this.

He rolls out of bed and starts Summoning his clothes. His shirt comes flying from a chair by the door where Harry carelessly tossed it after he’d struggled with the buttons, and Draco hadn’t even objected. His trousers, pants and socks fly up in a bundled heap from closer to the bed, because Harry had stripped him off them in one motion before sitting him down on the bed and going down on him. Draco’s heart rate speeds up at the memory of Harry wrapping his lips around him while his green eyes looked up at Draco under heavy lids.

There are soft clinking noises coming from the kitchen, shaking Draco from his mental image, and he notices a delicious smell wafting through the half-ajar door. He quickly pulls his clothes on, trying his best to ignore how they’re all wrinkled beyond recognition and comfort (really, it’s not like him to get so carried away that he forgets about these things), and sneaks towards the kitchen.

Harry’s standing by the stove, scooping bacon on a platter. His hair is rumpled, his t-shirt ill-fitting after many washes, but looking so soft that Draco wants to feel it under his fingertips. The grey joggers are equally soft-looking, and the elastics have gone lax so that they’re sitting obscenely on his hips, making a gap between the shirt and the hem of the trousers where one could easily slide a hand in and—

“Aw, shit, you’re already up!” Draco snaps out of his ogling and fantasising and looks up at Harry, who’s smiling bashfully. “I was hoping to wake you up myself.”

“Oh. No worries. I, uh…” Draco starts, but doesn’t have time to say that he really must be going before Harry’s grabbed him by the hand and dragged him through the kitchen into the dining room, plate of bacon in his other hand.

“Sit down, I’ll just get the orange juice. Tea’s already here.”

Harry dashes off, and Draco blinks as he takes in the amount of food before him: the table is crammed with a lavish breakfast that looks like it could feed at least one of the house tables at Hogwarts. He doesn’t have time to digest it all before Harry has returned and plopped down beside him.

“Please, help yourself!” When Draco doesn’t move, he continues, “I didn’t know what you like so I made some of everything. I, er… I hope it’s not too much.”

He rubs at his neck, a shy smile on his face, and Draco shouldn’t find it as endearing as he does. He knew that agreeing to a date with Harry Potter would be dangerous territory, and now here he is, stupidly infatuated with the man.

Draco tentatively reaches for the kettle and pours himself a mug of steaming Darjeeling, first flush, if his nose isn’t deceiving him. But he doesn’t dare to eat anything, too afraid he won’t get anything down for fear of it rising back up.

“What’s wrong?” Harry asks, and it’s more than annoying how adorable he looks when he’s worried.

Draco clears his throat, deciding that he’ll need to just spit it out. “I’m sorry, I— I never sleep with anyone on the first date.”

Harry perks up, a pleased, almost boyish smile on his face. “Really?” 

“Yes, really,” Draco says, and before he has time to regret it he blurts, “because when I do, there have never been any more dates after that.” It’s a difficult thing to admit, and on top of that, he doesn’t want to examine how disappointed he is with himself that he couldn’t control himself enough to refrain from going home with Harry. He’d had big hopes for this date, and now, there’s not going to be any more of them.

“So, when do you usually sleep with someone?”

Draco’s not sure he heard right. He knows Harry lacks a few filters that Draco himself has had firmly installed by his parents, but even by those standards, that’s kind of an invasive question. 

“Second date? Third?” Harry continues.

“I’m… Fourth, I guess,” Draco says, giving up on decorum. Merlin knows he lost it with Harry ages ago.

“Hmmm.” Harry scratches his head, messing his hair up even more (Draco does his best to ignore how it still looks like he’s newly fucked), then fishes out his wand from his pocket. He Summons a pair of candles from the other side of the room and lights them with his wand. Then, with another swish of his wand, he dims the lights. “Okay!” he says finally, looking at Draco with glittering eyes. “We’ve got candles, we’ve got flowers,” he indicates the bouquet haphazardly thrown into a vase standing in the middle on the table, “and I cooked you a meal. The most important meal of the day, might I add. By any standards, this definitely counts as a date.”

Draco swallows while he finally dares to see all the things that Harry has done for him this morning, but he doesn’t have the courage to believe that Harry is going where Draco hopes he’s going. 

“And I was thinking of asking you to go with me to the cinema tonight, because I assume you’ve never been to a Muggle cinema before and I think you’d really like it,” Harry continues, and even leans forward, taking Draco’s hand and brushing it with his thumb.

For the first time in his life, Draco is speechless. Not out of fear or embarrassment, but because there’s a tiny bubble of hope rising in his chest, through his throat, threatening to burst out in hysterical laughter.

“I don’t sleep with anyone on the first date, either,” Harry says, and his expression is so open and earnest, more than usual. “Not unless I’m really into them.” 

Draco inhales shakily; he’d no idea he’d been holding his breath. “So, you’re into me?”

Harry lets out a soft laugh, but Draco also notices his shoulders dropping. Was he also unsure about Draco’s intention? 

“What do you think?” Harry murmurs and leans in for a kiss, lips gentle and exploring against Draco’s, even though they had plenty of practice yesterday. 

Draco’s a little light-headed when they break apart, but he manages to find his words. “I think I could be persuaded to sleep with you on the second date.”

Harry laughs again, a little louder this time, relieved. “Then we’d better get this date started, because I have some things I’d like to do that we didn’t have time for last night.”

“Oh,” Draco says, fishing out a scone from the bread basket in front of him. “Would that involve the handcuffs I saw next to the bottle of lube in your bedside drawer?”

“Nah, that’s for the ninth date, at the earliest,” Harry says, almost causing Draco to choke on his scone. 

But by now, Draco has found his footing, and he’s not willing to be outdone by Harry. “So, if we go at the same rate as planned, dating wise, I could have you tied up and have my way with you by…” he counts on his fingers, “Monday.” 

He turns to Harry, whose eyes have become darker and breathing heavier.

“I can make an exception,” he says, grabbing Draco’s hand. “I think this date is nearing the end.”

[femmefatalevibe]

Your opinion on walking dates? Should women accept it if they are also interested in the man? Or is it too low effort?

I think the only issue with walking dates is they can be distracting if you're really trying to get to know the person. I personally prefer a coffee date because it's relaxed and makes steady, focused conversation a lot easier.

Personally, I believe first dates should be fairly low-key and on the more casual side (coffee, park date, drink, ice cream, etc.). It's best ot make it low-stakes and easy to leave vs. something like a full meal or movie (2 hours you will never get back). If this meeting goes well, I would think with the "right" person, your dates will naturally progress into "higher effort" dates (dinner, lunch, etc.) because the person wants to spend more time with you and actually knows/likes you, so they're glad to put more investment into learning more about you. It's no different than friendship dates really – except the kissing, sex, romance, and all the fun bits in between.

Hope this helps xx

[sjsmith56]

Second Date

Summary: Bucky and Holly double date with Steve and her sister, Ivy. They go to Coney Island then Steve drives them through Brooklyn before stopping at a place special to him.

Length: 4.6K

Characters: Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, named OFC sisters, douchebag co-worker

Warnings: discussion of a bad date, discussion of PTSD triggers, some fun is made of the OFC names which is promptly dealt with, sad memory for Steve.

Author notes: Wasn’t sure I was going to write a sequel but enough people asked for one. No smut, pure fluff, with some sad sweetness near the end.

First Date Third Date

🎡 🎢

Holly

The morning after my first date with Bucky Barnes I made myself a coffee then I phoned my sister, Ivy.

“Well, how did it go?” she asked.

“First of all, he’s drop dead gorgeous,” I replied. “Secondly, he kisses very well and thirdly, he’s a gentleman. It was one of the best dates I’ve ever been on.”

There was a little sound of wistfulness in her voice.

“I’m jealous,” she sighed. “I had to listen to my roommate calling her latest boyfriend Daddy all night, and I mean all night.”

“Well, we may have discussed the possibility of a double date with you and Steve Rogers.”

“You didn’t,” said Ivy. She waited for me to say I was joking. “You really did? Oh my God! You’re my favourite sister.”

“I’m your only sister,” I reminded her. My phone vibrated indicating a text message. “Hold on, I got a text.”

Him: Good morning pretty girl. I brought up a double date with Steve. He’s game, if your sister is.

Me: I’m just on the phone with her. I’ll call you back.

“Well, guess what?” I asked my sister. “That was Bucky. Steve Rogers is up for a double date with you, me and him.”

I had to put the phone away from my ear as Ivy literally screamed. It was obvious she thought a double date with Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes was a good idea. After several moments of me not saying anything while she calmed down her voice finally came back.

“When is the date?” she asked, her voice sounding a little scratchy, no doubt due to the fangirl screaming she just did. “Where will we go?”

“Didn’t get that far in the text conversation,” I replied. “I’m guessing as soon as possible, and we could go anywhere that doesn’t involve heights.” I could feel her disappointment through the phone. “What?”

“I’ve always wanted to go on a date to Coney Island,” she said. “You know, the rides, the lights, the sounds, the gorgeous man on my arm that wins me a prize at the shooting gallery.”

“What are you, 14?” I asked, surprised that Ivy would suggest an amusement park. “It might be too intense for Bucky. He said himself he doesn’t do too well in crowded spaces.”

“Forget I said it,” she huffed, her breath so loud I could hear it over the phone. “I have to go to work. Just make sure that wherever we go is fun. You know how I feel about going somewhere fancy.”

I did know. It was something that still bothered her.

“Alright, I’ll talk to Bucky, and we’ll figure something out, I promise. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

We ended the call and I sat for a moment then dialled Bucky. As soon as I heard his voice I wanted to melt. If honey could be transformed into a sound, I’m sure it would sound just like him. Quickly I told him that she wanted the date and that she wanted to go to Coney Island. There was no response for a moment, and I was sure that I had just thrown the biggest bucket of ice water at someone who was trying to be nice. If it was only that simple.

〰️〰️〰️〰️

Bucky

“Coney Island?” Shit. I hadn’t been there since 1943. “Why Coney Island?”

“It all boils down to a date that Ivy had with a guy,” she said.

“Hold on, your sister’s name is Ivy? You’re Holly and Ivy, like the Christmas song?”

There was silence on the other end of the line, and I figured I had just put the kibosh on the whole thing. Then I heard a sigh and Holly’s voice.

“Yes, we were named after the Christmas song because we were born a year apart during Christmas week,” she replied, obviously tired of having to repeat her spiel. “Our parents thought it was cute to name me Holly, so that I would always have a song that was just about me. Then Ivy was born almost exactly a year later, and they thought it would be even cuter to name her that. That way, no one would ever forget our names and we would be linked forever as besties.”

I could feel the irritation through the phone as she obviously had to explain this many times over. “I like your name,” I offered. “Ivy is a pretty name, too. I’ll fill Steve in, so he doesn’t bring it up when he meets her. Now tell me about this date that Ivy had. He didn’t try anything did he?”

Holly sighed. “No, quite the opposite. It was a guy she worked with, Jeff. They flirted back and forth, and she thought he really liked her. He asked her out, told her to get dressed up really nice as he was going to take her to a fancy place. They show up at the restaurant and there’s another couple already at the table. A beautiful woman and her brother, her socially inept brother. Ivy wasn’t Jeff’s date … she was brought to be the brother’s date. He had no idea how to behave around people and it turned into the date from hell. The worst part was that Jeff and the sister ditched them both, leaving them to pay for the meal. The brother didn’t have enough money and Ivy had to pay for it on her credit card. Jeff never did pay her back and she felt so humiliated that she quit that job.”

Talk about being floored. That dumbass of a co-worker totally set up Ivy to be with the brother, then he left her to foot the bill.

“Where did she work?” I asked, ready to go over there right away and set this Jeff guy right.

“You offering to go over and kick his ass?” asked Holly.

“Well, yeah,” I answered. “I hate guys like that. So does Steve.” She told me. “Alright, we’ll take care of Jeff and we’ll set up the date. I can’t promise it will be Coney Island, but we’ll try to make it happen, okay?”

After hanging up I went to the common area in the Tower. Steve looked at me from where he was going over some papers.

“Well, are we going out?” he asked, his excitement barely contained. “What’s she like?”

“I haven’t met her,” I said. “But she wants to go somewhere specific, and you might not like it.” By this time several of the others there were listening in and watching us. “Coney Island.”

To say that his eyes almost rolled off of his face and onto the floor wouldn’t be too much of an exaggeration. Neither one of us had any real objection to Coney Island. Hell, we’d been there enough times when we were kids and had a ball, except for when Steve threw up on the roller coaster. It was more than that. The sounds, the crowds, the pure chaos that an amusement park could be was a bit much for us to handle. If we were on a mission, we could tune that sort of stuff out and deal with the task at hand but in a non-mission setting it was something else entirely.

“Why Coney Island?” he asked, almost afraid of the answer.

I told him about Jeff and the fancy restaurant date. His eyes grew darker as I explained how that fancy date had traumatized her. The others had been listening in and I could tell they weren’t impressed with Jeff, the lying asshole co-worker, either. It was then that Sam had to open his big mouth.

“Wait a second,” said our supposed friend. “Your girlfriend’s name is Holly, and her sister is Ivy?” He literally giggled. “That’s hilarious.”

I explained about them being born a year apart during Christmas week and how their parents thought it would be cute.

“You, of all people, shouldn’t be making fun of their names … Uncle Sam,” glowered Steve.

“I wasn’t ….”

The place erupted with everyone arguing over making fun of names until we were all surprised when Tony jolted all of us with an ear-blasting whistle. It was impressive.

“No more making fun of people’s names,” he said, then waved his hands at us. “I know, I’m not much better with the nicknames I give people, but Holly and Ivy are pretty names, and they had no choice in being given them. We get the giggles about them over and done with this moment. Now, about Coney Island.” He looked seriously at me and Steve. “It’s the PTSD part, isn’t it? The noise, the lights, the crowds?” We both nodded. “Good thing I’m a billionaire and a genius inventor. I can make Coney Island open only to us, the Avengers and the support staff. It’s about time we had a fun night out at an amusement park. For you two, I can come up with an earpiece that filters out the frequency of sounds that might trigger you. I can also come up with a filter in either glasses or contact lenses that will block the lights from seeming too bright. We can have it all ready to go by say Friday?”

“Yes Mr. Stark?”

The AI replied to Tony saying her name even though he meant the day (I know it’s an it but with her voice it was just easier to think of it as her). We all roared as he shook his head then a gleam hit his eye. He asked the AI to confirm if Jeff still worked at the same location. Then he asked her to book all of Coney Island for a private party on Friday, cost no object. Finally, he asked her to begin designing earpieces for Steve and me (he used the nicknames Capsicle and Manchurian Candidate but that was Tony) that blocked a certain frequency of sound, and contact lenses for both of us, that would mute the effects of flashing lights. He also asked Steve and me to wait on dealing with Jeff.

〰️〰️〰️〰️

Wednesday

Bucky

“Mr. Barnes, Mr. Rogers,” said Friday. “Mr. Stark would like to see you in the boardroom. He has a visitor who is applying for a position and would like your assistance with the interview. He said to drop what you were doing and come immediately.”

We were sparring in the gym and looked at each other, a visible smile on Steve’s face that was likely matched by the smile on mine. Together we went to the boardroom and could see through the glass wall that Tony was chatting amiably with a guy dressed up in a suit. In we walked, wearing our workout clothes, still dripping with sweat. Nervously, the guy stood up, holding his hand out to each of us. We shook it, both of us squeezing it a little harder than we should, but hell, he shouldn’t have been a douchebag (that is the term that Sam used) to Ivy.

“Wow, Captain America and the Winter … Bucky Barnes,” he said, realizing his mistake as I glared at him. “It’s an honour.”

“Gentlemen, this is Jeff Leeman,” said Tony. “The recruitment firm brought him to my attention, and I thought you would both like the opportunity to join the interview before I make a decision on his position. Perhaps you have a question about how he would handle certain situations.”

“Sure,” said Steve, playing Mr. Nice Guy. “We do have a lot of female staff, plus several different ethnicities including aliens. How are your interpersonal skills in dealing with a diverse and inclusive workforce?”

“Oh, top notch. I’m all for shattering the glass ceiling, being supportive of women in the workplace as well as those with disabilities or disadvantages, either physically or otherwise.”

“That’s good to hear,” I interjected. “We’ve been burned in the past by people who claimed the same qualities then a deeper search of their work history or social media posts uncovered a pattern of subtle abuse that if we had caught sooner would have definitely negated them being offered a position. You have nothing like that in your past, do you, Mr. Leeman?”

“N-no, nothing like that,” he answered slowly, then he looked left towards the exit before grimacing subtly, all signs of lying that I was very aware of. “I’m a very supportive coworker, honest without being cruel, um, understanding, professional in all of my dealings.”

Tony nodded his head sagely, briefly making eye contact with me. I almost laughed because I could read Tony as well. He was just about at his limit with this guy.

“I would like to give you a scenario,” said Tony. “Seeing as how you would be in our Human Resources department. Say you had a man at an interview, and he claimed that he was honest, trustworthy, honourable, considerate … you get my drift, right?” Jeff nodded nervously. “Then while you were doing your due diligence, being the good HR employee that I, and the rest of the Avengers would expect, you learned something disturbing about that man. What would you do?”

Jeff was really looking nervous now and I could see and smell, a sheen of fine sweat on his forehead. I decided to turn up the heat.

“Say for example, you learned he asked a coworker at his current position out, after spending time flirting, being courteous, and building an expectation of a relationship.” Jeff was beginning to look green. “Then he took her to a fancy restaurant where they met another couple, a brother and sister, say. Only then did he make it clear to his coworker that she wasn’t his date, she was meant for the slob currently sitting with the woman.”

“It was a joke,” he stammered.

Steve slammed his hand down on the table, surprising both me and Tony.

“It wasn’t a joke to her,” he growled. “Then you had the audacity to ditch her, leaving her with a strange man, without paying the bill.” He got up out of his seat and leaned towards Jeff. “Guys like you make me sick. Do that again to anyone and I hear about it will make me angry. In the words of my friend, the Hulk, you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry. Get out now before I change my mind about letting you go.”

I don’t think I ever saw a normal human run as fast as Jeff did to the elevators, pounding away on the button for it in a panic, even though it should have opened automatically. I think Tony just wanted to watch Jeff lose it. Tony brought up the security camera link inside the elevator car on a visual display and we watched Jeff cowering in the corner, then making a beeline for the doors to the street when he left the elevator. As soon as Jeff was out on the street Tony turned to both of us with his smirk.

“That was a lot of fun,” he said. “Now, for Friday night. The park is ours from 7 pm to 11 pm, ending with a big fireworks display, which I’m guessing you will both want to skip. The people enjoying the park with us will be fellow Avengers and support staff with their families. They’ve all been warned to pretend they don’t know you.” He shrugged. “Whether they listen to me is another matter. The earpieces and contact lenses will be ready tomorrow. You can borrow the Lexus SUV to pick up and drive your dates. Whether you bring them back here or whatever is up to you. Personally, I’m looking forward to taking my two best girls to the amusement park. Should be fun.”

〰️〰️〰️

Friday

Holly

The knock on my door was right on time. I opened it to see Bucky wearing a dark green leather jacket, black T-shirt and jeans. He must have got a haircut as well as it was definitely shorter, but he still looked amazing. As I picked up my jacket, he just kind of smiled at me in a different way.

“What?” I asked, looking down at what I was wearing. “Do I have some food stains on me?”

“No,” he grinned. “You look incredible. I’ll have the prettiest girl on my arm at Coney Island.”

I could feel my cheeks heat up at the compliment as I wasn’t used to it. Holding my jacket just right he helped me on with it then placed his hands on my shoulder and leaned close to my ear.

“You look good all the time.”

His voice was so soft that I almost turned into a puddle right then and there. I don’t know if it was because he was from the 1940s when dating was something different, but I didn’t care. I really liked how he made me feel. After locking up and taking the elevator down we stepped out to where a Lexus SUV was double parked. Opening the back door, he helped me in then sat next to me in the back seat.

“Holly, this is Steve,” he said, nodding his head to the driver, clad in a black leather jacket and T-shirt.

With a voice that was silky smooth the big man at the wheel turned around and flashed me an incredible smile.

“Pleased to meet you,” he said, then gestured to a display on the vehicle. “Just say your sister’s address and Friday will plot the directions.”

“Friday?” I asked.

A female voice greeted me and asked for Ivy’s address. I gave it to her … it … and suddenly a course was shown on the display on the dashboard. Putting the car into gear Steve began driving, asking me generic questions while looking at me through the rear-view mirror. I had seen him on TV and in newspaper articles but seeing him in person was something else. Ivy was definitely not going to believe how good looking he really was. When we got to her building, I started to unbuckle my seatbelt, but Bucky stopped me as Steve got out of the car.

“Steve will get her,” he said, then he put his arm around me and kissed me. “I’m looking forward to this. Haven’t been to Coney Island since 1943. There’s something you should know first.” He took a deep breath and for a moment I thought he was going to say something like he just wanted to be friends. “Steve and I both have PTSD, and it’s triggered by different things but also some similar things. The noises, lights, and crowds there are triggers. Tony invented some earpieces for us that filter out the noise, as well as contact lenses that mute the effect of the flashing lights. Both of us have issues with fireworks and the filters aren’t enough to keep us comfortable so we’ll have to leave before 11:00 when they start. I hope that’s okay.”

I didn’t really know what to say. These two big burly men, who took on some of the worst villains in the world, had fears that could be triggered by an amusement park. Instead of doing something else, they made an effort to find a way to go, just to make Ivy happy. How sweet was that?

“There’s also something else.” His voice rumbled then he took a breath. “We kind of had an encounter with Jeff. We didn’t hurt him or even touch him other than a handshake. Just had a talk with him about playing with women’s hearts and humiliating them for fun. Tony was there and well; it was pretty damn satisfying to see Jeff almost pee his pants trying to get out of the Tower.”

“You did that for Ivy?” I asked. “You haven’t even met her! For all you know she could be a complete b….”

Bucky squeezed my hand to interrupt me as the passenger side door opened and Ivy got in, her face all aglow. Steve closed the door and got behind the wheel.

“Ivy, this is Bucky Barnes,” he said. “You already know Holly very well.”

She smirked then put her hand towards us and shook Bucky’s hand. “I’m pleased to meet you,” she said. “Steve told me what you and Tony Stark did to Jeff. I wish I could have seen it.”

“Actually, you probably can,” smiled Steve, with a definite twinkle in his eye. “Friday records everything.”

“I definitely want to see it,” she exclaimed, snapping her seatbelt into place. “Let’s go to Coney Island.”

Even though I made fun of Ivy for choosing the location of the date I have to admit we had a blast. It became very obvious to us that everyone else at the park had a connection to the Avengers, especially when Tony Stark himself stopped us on the boardwalk to ask if we were having a good time. It didn’t matter as we both figured if the general public were there that we would be stopped every minute for selfies or autographs. The guys themselves were attentive, making us feel like we were the centre of their world. They were also competitive, especially at the shooting gallery as they both did their best to outdo each other in winning the biggest stuffed animal. Bucky came out on top, claiming his WWII sniper experience as the winning factor.

We met up with several other Avengers at Nathan’s Hot Dogs and watched with amazement as both Steve and Bucky easily downed half a dozen hotdogs each plus several beers. Apparently, alcohol had little to no effect on them because of their metabolism. Then Bucky asked Steve if he wanted to go on the Cyclone and I thought that Captain America would fall off the seat laughing. They shared a story from their childhood of Steve throwing up while on the famous rollercoaster because he had too many hot dogs. The obvious affection the pair shared with each other was quite heartwarming to witness and I found myself making eye contact with Ivy often as it reminded us of our own relationship. I didn’t think the date alone with Bucky could be topped but this one was a lot of fun.

At 10:30 Bucky felt his phone vibrate and he gave Steve a look. With some regret they said their goodbyes to the others, and we walked out to the parking lot. By the time the fireworks started we were far enough away that we couldn’t hear or see them. As we drove the two men looked at each other via the rear-view mirror and Steve smiled.

“What do you think?” he asked. “Should we take a little trip down memory lane even though it’s changed a lot since 1943?”

Bucky nodded and held my hand as Steve drove through Brooklyn. We stopped the car a few times as they found a place that was still standing from the 1940s and told us a little story about it. Then just after midnight Steve stopped at an alleyway and turned off the car. He looked into the dark space then back at Bucky.

“It still looks the same, even in the dark,” he said, then turned to Ivy. “You’ll be safe with us, but I want to find something.”

“It won’t be there,” said Bucky. “Not after all this time.”

Steve shrugged and opened the driver’s door. He opened Ivy’s door and took her by the hand, walking into the dark alleyway. I looked at Bucky ominously.

“It’s safe, really,” he said. “I know what he’s looking for. Come on. You can put the flashlight of your phone on. The punk is probably trying to find it in the dark.”

He got out and came around to help me out the car. Fishing my phone out of my purse I turned the flashlight on then he took me by the hand, and we entered the dark space. Immediately I caught Steve and Ivy kissing, and Bucky laughed out loud. Sheepishly, Steve pulled away from Ivy then offered his hand to her. We kept walking down the dark pathway until we came to a dead end. Aiming my phone’s flashlight at the walls Steve told me to keep going up then he saw it, a glint of something metallic like a chain hanging over the edge. I couldn’t really tell what object the chain was attached to but they both knew.

“I’ll be damned,” whispered Bucky. “It’s still there. You going to get it, or am I?”

Without answering Steve stepped back a couple of spaces then leaped up to the ledge, grasping whatever it was up there and dropping back lightly on his feet. It was an impressive leap, and I know that Ivy and I were definitely intrigued. Steve opened his hand revealing a locket, covered in dirt. Using his thumb, he rubbed off what dirt he could then he gently opened it. A single tear ran down his cheek as he saw the pictures inside were still there. Bucky looked and placed his hand on Steve’s shoulder.

“All these years,” he said gently. He swallowed then looked at me. “This was his Ma’s locket. The hospital gave it to him on the day she died. As he was walking home a bunch of guys who had bullied him before chased him into this alleyway. He knew they would take it so he threw it as high as he could to keep it away from them. They beat him up and stole his wallet. I was working so I wasn’t there for him, but we tried to find a way to get to it later, coming up short every time. Eventually, we gave up, but we hoped that it would be safe there.”

“That’s incredible,” said Ivy, looking at the small pictures of his mother and father. “She’s beautiful and is that your dad?” Steve nodded. “He was a handsome man. I can see where you get your looks from.”

“I didn’t always look like this,” he smiled. “I was pretty scrawny then but thank you. I’m … I’m just happy I found it again and I only found it because I was out on a date with you.” She put her hand on his shoulder, beaming at him. With a cleansing breath he closed the locket and placed it in his pocket. “Let’s get out of here and go for a drink or something. I know I could use one.”

We found a nice quiet little bar and stayed there for a couple of more hours as Steve and Bucky shared stories of growing up in Brooklyn. Ivy and I shared some stories of our childhood and youth as well, proving that some things, like growing up with your best friend, were universal. When the bartender announced last call, we reluctantly left and headed for the car. Steve dropped me off at my place where Bucky looked at me with a question in his eyes. I smiled back, leaving it up to him if he was coming up or not.

“I’ll see you later, Steve,” he said. “Ivy, it was fun.”

We didn’t do anything, other than kiss, but I did fall asleep in his arms and woke up in his arms several hours later. A text from Steve to Bucky said that he and Ivy were going out to a familiar diner for breakfast, so we cleaned up and waited for them to come get us. It was the longest second date I ever had but was also now officially the best date ever. Even better, I think I was falling in love.

If you liked this one shot please like, comment, and reblog.

[atths--twice]

Chapter Three

Sailing 101: A Study in Dynamics

It's time for a second date. And what could be better than an afternoon spent out on the water?

Monday afternoon 

Mulder stood waiting for Scully beside the sailboat he had reserved. He kept running through his checklist of what he needed to do once on the boat and also what he had brought with him to ensure everything was perfect. 

They had spoken after she came home from church and lunch on Sunday, her calling him nearly the instant she had arrived. He had smiled, listening to her discuss who she had seen and what she’d had to eat. 

“I make it a point to eat really well on Sunday, especially since my parents are paying for it,” she had said and he had laughed. “I mean they always say to get whatever I want, so I do. I used to hold back though, not wanting to seem rude, but now… well… I don’t.” 

“Makes sense,” he had said, picturing her ordering plate after plate, her napkin tucked into her dress to keep it clean. 

“I’m glad you agree,” she had said and he smiled again. 

“How do you feel about sailing?” he had blurted out as she had begun to speak but had then fallen silent. 

“In general or…?” she had asked and he had chuckled. 

“How do you feel about going sailing tomorrow?” 

“You… you own a sailboat?” she had asked incredulously. 

“No. I don’t personally. My parents have a boat, though it’s not what I had in mind as it’s far too large for an afternoon excursion.” 

“I…” 

“The yacht club has sailing classes of which I’ve taken my fair share over the years. I can borrow a smaller sailboat from there and we could sail around for a bit. Then maybe lunch at the clubhouse?” he had asked with a shrug, mentally reviewing his sailing lessons in his head. 

“The yacht club?” she had asked in a small voice. “And the country club too? Who are you, Fox Mulder?” 

He had frozen in place, suddenly worried she would think him snobby or pretentious. 

“We could do something else. It doesn’t have to be… I just thought that… Your dad being in the Navy, I thought maybe you might have a love the water too, but we don’t-”

“No. I do love it,” she had assured him softly. “I just… You usually picture someone different when you hear they belong to yacht clubs or country clubs. Someone…” 

“Older and snobby?” he had suggested and she had laughed nervously. “Well, I would tend to agree with you about that, though, that’s not how I would describe everyone.”

“I’m sorry if that sounded rude or if you took offense. That wasn’t my intention,” she had said, almost in a whisper. 

“Not one bit,” he had said quickly, shaking his head. 

“You know how to sail? You won’t sink us?” she had asked and he had heard the smile in her voice. 

“I do. And I won’t. Yachtsman’s honor,” he had said and she had laughed before agreeing to sail with him. 

She had insisted she would get a ride to the yacht club, not wanting to put him out, and now he was pacing, feeling nervous as he waited for her to arrive. 

A car pulled up and he halted in his pacing. Music was playing loudly as the door opened and Scully stepped out, looking around and shaking her head. 

“You’ll get a ride back or do you want me to pick you up later?” a man called above the music. 

“I’ll get a ride. See you next week, Charlie. Thanks for dropping me off.” 

“No problem, Dane. Have fun.” 

She grabbed her backpack and closed the door, waving at him as he drove away. 

“Hey,” Mulder called out and she jumped slightly. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.” 

“Didn’t scare me. I just didn’t see you there.” She smiled and walked over to him, slipping her backpack on as she did. 

“Hi,” he said, smiling at her as she stopped in front of him. 

“Hi,” she replied, her smile growing, her hands holding onto the straps of her backpack. “I missed you.” 

“Since last night when we spoke?” he teased and she shook her head. 

“Since you drove away on Saturday night,” she whispered and he hummed as he leaned forward, a hand reaching to hold her hip. 

He kissed her softly, her hands moving from her backpack to his chest and then wrapping around his neck. He pulled her closer and she moaned into his mouth. 

Breaking apart, they drew in deep breaths, their foreheads pressed together. 

“I think,” she whispered. “I think we should head to the boat. I don’t want to get in trouble at the yacht club. Find myself thrown out before I’ve even stepped a foot inside.” 

He chuckled and leaned back, looking into her eyes. She smiled and he nodded, stepping back as he reached for her hand to lead her toward the sailboat. She squeezed his hand and he grinned as he opened the door to the boat ramp. 

“It’s the perfect day for sailing,” she said and he nodded as they walked toward the boat. “I hope I’m dressed warm enough though, I know that it can get cooler on the water.” 

“I have extra clothes and blankets, if you do. No need to worry.” 

“Just thought of everything, have you?” she teased, squeezing his hand again as they stopped in front of the boat. “Oh, it’s nicer than I expected. I like it.” 

“They’re good little boats. Definitely better for the plans today than something bigger.” 

“Oh, that’s right,” she said, taking off her backpack and passing it to him as he held her hand to help her into the boat. “Is your parents' boat docked here?” 

“Mmhmm, it’s just there,” he said, pointing as he handed her backpack to her. She looked and her eyes widened. 

“That’s their boat? It’s…” She stared at it as she sat down and he untied the boat, carefully stepping in beside her. 

“No, that’s the Youngs boat,” he said, smiling at her as he pushed away from the dock and began to prepare the sail. “Ours is much bigger.” 

“Bigger than that?” she asked, pointing as they began to pass the boat. 

“No. I’m just kidding,” he said with a chuckle. “Gotcha.” 

“So funny,” she said, setting her bag down and shaking her head. 

“I know,” he agreed. “The life jackets are underneath your seat. Could you pass me one and then put yours on as well? Safety first, you know.” 

“Of course,” she said, taking out the life jackets and handing him one. He slipped it on and then turned his attention to getting them out into the open water. 

He watched her, the wind blowing her hair gently as she smiled and closed her eyes. It felt like his dream and he could not help but smile in return. A larger boat honked at them and they both turned to wave as it passed by, children running along the side and calling out hello. 

“Hello!” Scully called back and the children laughed and screamed excitedly. “Aww. Aren’t they so cute?” 

You are, he wanted to say, but he only smiled as he adjusted the sail to catch more wind. 

“Mmm,” she said, leaning back and tilting her face to the sun. “This was a perfect idea. Thank you for thinking of it.” 

“Sailing always impresses the ladies,” he said, watching to see her reaction. 

“This is where the debauchery happens, isn’t it?” she asked, turning her head to look at him. He laughed and shook his head as she shook her own, a smile tugging at her lips. “I knew it had to be somewhere.” 

“Imagine attempting anything like that as an awkward teenager. We’d both have ended up in the water. That would put a damper on things for sure,” he said with a laugh, guiding them past some larger wakes. 

“So you haven’t won the ladies over with your sailing abilities?” she asked and he shook his head as he looked at her. 

“Only woman I’ve been sailing with is my sister. And she usually takes over as she is, in fact, the better sailor.” 

“I’m liking her more and more,” Scully said, opening her backpack and taking out a floppy, wide brimmed hat and a pair of sunglasses. He smiled as she put them on and then leaned back, her face once more tilted toward the sun. 

They sailed around the harbor, not talking much as they absorbed the view and the weather. She had taken her hat off and braided her hair into two long braids, the wind causing it to tangle and cover her eyes too often. The hat was then replaced and he could not help but find her even more adorable. 

“Do you want a blanket or anything? It’s in that large bag there,” he offered and she shook her head. 

“Not just yet. But I’m sure I will soon.” 

Five more minutes and she was reaching for the bag, taking out one of his sweatshirts and a blanket. She put them on and smiled at him. 

“Much better,” she said and he nodded. 

“There is a spot about ten minutes from here. It’s a little cove with a dock. Do you want to stop there for a bit?” 

“If you want to, I’m game.” 

“Radical,” he said and she laughed, shaking her head and pulling the blanket further around her. 

“That sounds weird coming from you.” 

“Is bitchin’ better?” 

“No. Definitely not,” she laughed and he nodded in agreement. 

“Far out?” 

“No,” she said, laughing again and he smiled. 

“To the cove we go,” he said and she nodded. 

When they arrived, she was ready to help pull them in. She grabbed the buoys and tied them to the side as the dock came into view. Without even asking, she then took hold of the ropes and stood carefully to her feet, ready to jump out and tie the boat to the cleats. 

He was more than impressed as he watched her, doing his portion to secure the boat was properly docked. She smiled at him as he handed her her backpack and then the backpack he had brought, taking her life jacket and placing it into the boat. Taking off his own, he stepped out of the boat and stared at her. 

“We had a boat, a small one, but my dad sold it when we had to relocate. Aside from knowing about ships of all sizes, I also have basic boat knowledge,” she said, shrugging as she slipped on her backpack. 

“I figured you would. But still, that was pretty smooth-”

“Sailing?” she interrupted, her eyes shining. “Imagine that.” She slid her arm through his and he laughed as he picked up his own backpack. 

“You got me,” he said quietly and she nodded happily. 

“I certainly did,” she said as they began to walk up the small dock, her hand finding his and squeezing. 

“There isn’t really much to do here,” he said, walking into the grassy area that held two picnic tables and a community barbecue. “I just thought you might like to walk around a bit before we start heading back.” 

“You’ve been here before, obviously. What do you usually do?” 

“Well,” he said, stopping for a second and looking around. “We had a badminton set that we put up and played over there.” He pointed to the area away from the tables. “My sister and I would play and then my parents would join us after we’d eaten. Or if we were with other families, we would play with their children and the adults would drink and talk, getting louder as the drinks became stronger.” 

“Sounds familiar,” Scully said with a laugh. 

“We’d play horseshoes too sometimes, but that was when the pits for it were here. They took them out a couple years back. I think too many drunk college kids got hurt acting like idiots.” 

“Well, that’ll do it,” Scully said, laughing again. “Having seen the idiotic things our fellow classmates do, I can understand the need to remove them.” 

“Yeah,” he said, squeezing her hand before letting it go. “I brought some snacks. Just drinks and chips. Do you want to look around the area and have something to eat?” He smiled at her and she smiled back. 

“Look around, yes,” she said, adjusting her backpack. “Eat… no. You mentioned lunch at the yacht club. I’ll wait for that.” 

“Okay then,” he said, adjusting his own backpack. “Let’s explore the wooded area here.” 

“I’ll try not to touch any unknown plants this time,” she said with a smile. 

“If you do, don’t worry. I have the Super Salve,” he said and she chuckled softly as she reached to take his hand again. 

“Always prepared,” she said and he nodded. 

“Gotta be, with you around,” he said, squeezing her fingers and pulling her closer. 

“I’d be mad at that comment,” she said, sniffing with her head turned away from him. “Buuut… I know how well that salve works, so you’re forgiven.” 

“Thank you,” he said with a chuckle and she nodded curtly before looking at him with a smile. He laughed again, guiding her to the small copse of trees. 

When they walked back to the boat twenty minutes later, she held two large pine cones in her hands and in her backpack there were numerous rocks to which she had taken a liking. 

“What will you do with them?” he asked as they pushed away from the dock and he glanced at her, adjusting the sail. 

“Hmm, I’m not sure exactly. Well, about the pine cones anyway. I think I’ll paint the rocks and then put them on my desk. I like doing that. Gives the room a bit of color and…” She shrugged and smiled at him as she situated the pine cones. “I don’t know, I just like it.” 

“What do you paint on them?” he asked and she shrugged again. 

“Different things,” she said, twisting a braid and looking out at the water. “I’ve made ones of beach scenes, campfires, city lights… just different things.” 

“So they’re detailed, not just colored rocks,” he said and she looked at him with a smile and furrowed brow. 

“No! Not just colored! Like they’re Easter eggs or something?” she asked with a laugh and he shrugged, his hands raised with the palms up. 

“I don’t know! I didn’t see any on your desk the other night.” 

“Because I don’t have any there,” she laughed, giving her backpack a nudge with her foot. “Hence the reason I collected so many.” 

“Hence,” he repeated, laughing as he steered the boat back towards the yacht club. 

“Yeah, hence,” she said again, tugging at her life jacket and then leaning back, crossing one leg over the other. He stared at her foot, watching it move up and down and he smiled. 

“Well, I’ll enjoy seeing them when you’re done.” 

“Would you like to paint them with me?” she asked and he lifted his head to look at her. “Not today, of course. But maybe this weekend?” 

“I’d like that,” he said, grinning at her. “Although I’m not much of a painter.” 

“Psh,” she said, waving her hand in a dismissive way. “It’s rocks… Fox.” She grinned and he laughed at the rhyme. “You can’t really mess up a rock.” 

“I suppose that’s true,” he agreed with a nod. 

“We could go to that park close to Toni's,” she suggested. “The park for artistic inspiration and then Toni’s for dinner? Or late lunch depending on the time?” 

“I’d like that,” he said, grinning as he nodded again. 

“Good,” she said, twisting her braid again as she looked down, almost shyly. “It’s a date.” 

“Totally,” he said and she shook her head as she raised it to look up at him with a smile. 

“Radical,” she said, echoing his word from earlier and he laughed loudly, the wind picking up and carrying his laughter across the water. 

The ride back seemed to take less time, the wind pushing them on. They were quiet, comfortable in the silence, as they watched other boats and Scully ran her fingers through the water, smiling as she watched it drip down as she raised her hand. He smiled as he stared at her in her big hat and sunglasses. 

So cute, he thought. Really wished I would have spoken to her sooner. 

“Does it ever make you stop and think?” she asked. 

“What?” he asked, feeling for a second that she was reading his mind. 

“Just how big the world is, how amazing. That this water is here, that it stays here, hundreds, if not thousands, of feet deep, and it’s just here. And that there are places in the world that we will never see, yet they are there, simply existing.” She stared at the water dripping from her fingers. “I’m touching something that someone might be wishing they could touch. In a place where someone might yearn to be. And yet I might wish to be where they are, exploring what their homeland may offer.” She looked at him, smiling slowly. “It’s wild isn’t it?” 

“Whoa… getting all profound on me,” he said and she exhaled a laugh. “But yes, I understand what you mean.” 

“This is big,” she said, waving her other hand to emphasize the area around them. “But it’s also small. It’s just… I don’t know. It just struck me and I couldn’t stop thinking about it.” 

“Puts things into perspective,” he agreed with a nod. “I was just thinking, I wished I’d spoken to you sooner. Maybe this wouldn’t have been the first time we’ve gone sailing. Maybe it would have been a weekly occurrence, something we did every Monday.” 

She tilted her head, staring at him through her sunglasses, and shook her head slightly. 

“I wasn’t in a place then to spend my Monday’s sailing with anyone. I was… I was going through some things last year- my own personal things and I…” She shook her head again and leaned forward, holding her hand out to him. He took it and she squeezed gently. “I think… I think I would have broken your heart. And my own in the process.” She smiled sadly and he squeezed her hand a little tighter. “Because like I told you already, I really like you, Fox Mulder.” 

“Well,” he said, smiling softly. “Then we met exactly when we were supposed to.” She nodded, squeezing his hand again. “Because I really like you too, Dana Scully.” 

“Good,” she whispered and he nodded as they squeezed at the same time, smiling as she let go and leaned back, picking up the blanket beside her and wrapping it around her legs. 

When the docks began to come into sight, she took off his sweatshirt, packing it and the blankets back inside of his backpack. Into her own, went her floppy hat. 

Jumping out again as they reached the dock, she securely tied the rope to the cleat, smiling at him proudly. 

He took her life jacket and placed them both back in their correct space, then he furled the sail and continued securing the boat. He set their backpacks on the dock before stepping out and standing beside her. She smiled as they picked their things up and walked to his car to drop it off. 

“Are you sure I’m dressed okay for lunch here?” she asked, loosening her braids and letting her hair flow freely. “I do have a different shirt, but I don’t-”

“You look fine,” he said, taking in her attire of a black sweater and jeans. 

“You’re sure?” she asked again, quickly braiding her hair into one long braid that lay over her left shoulder. She twisted the end, biting her lip as she looked at the building nervously. 

“Hey,” he said softly, covering her hand and bringing it down to hold her fingers loosely in his own. “If it was a fancy place and there was a strict code, especially at this time of day, I would’ve told you. I wouldn’t want you to feel uncomfortable anywhere.” 

She stared at him, her sunglasses now off, allowing him to look into her beautiful blue eyes. She squeezed his hand, placing her other on his cheek as she rose up to kiss him softly. He put his hand on her hip to hold steady and kissed her back just as gently. 

“You,” she breathed as they broke apart. “You are something else. You know that, right?” 

“Hmm,” he hummed, squeezing her hip and stepping back. “I might.” 

She laughed quietly and he tugged at her hand, pulling her toward the building. She held his upper arm with her other hand and he smiled as they walked. 

“I promise that you don’t need to feel nervous,” he assured her as they neared the doors. “My parents are going to love you.” 

“Oh my God! Your parents are here?! Right now?!”! she asked, stopping in her steps and staring at him, her eyes wide. He smiled and shook his head, stepping close and squeezing her hand. 

“Gotcha,” he whispered. 

[lifewithaview]

Aubrey Plaza in Parks and Recreation (2009) Beauty Pageant

S2E3

Leslie serves as a judge in the Miss Pawnee Beauty Pageant but is disappointed with the results, and Ann finds out that her ex-boyfriend Andy is living in the pit.

*After the pageant Dave stops by to talk to Leslie. Trish can be seen behind them wearing her costume for the talent portion of the pageant. Also, Dave walks into her on his way out, when she would not have been able to get over to that spot in time.

[jujutsuaiko-ka]

do tell plz we need to know or at least i do tell me about your first three dates

Okay, this WILL be a long post, be forewarned. (And SORRY, it took longer than expected to answer!)

Before the first date, something happened previously...

ℍ𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕨𝕖 𝕘𝕠.

Well, to be short, Kusakabe took Kiyo-kun drinking once, then he teased him about me. This made him come over drunk, and after helping him lay down (and cleaning the puke on the floor), I stayed by Kiyo-kun's side all night. He muttered that Kusakabe was right, that 'someone like me would never be interested in a loser like him'...

𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝔸𝕥𝕤𝕦𝕙𝕒 𝕥𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕂𝕦𝕤𝕒𝕜𝕒𝕓𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒 𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕜 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥, 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕡𝕦𝕟𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕟𝕒𝕞𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕕𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕙 𝕘𝕝𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 (𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℍ𝕒𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕜𝕦𝕛𝕚 𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕕, 𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕤.)

I couldn't just hit his face, even though I really wanted to. But Kiyo-kun eventually intervened alongside Yuuji-sensei and Junpei, and we talked; Kusakabe did apologise for the situation, even admitted he was a bit jealous of Kiyo-kun (though Junpei think it might've been some excuse). We're now in friendlier terms.

Anyway, now the dates!

The first one happened in a weekend; he waited for me with a cute as heck Fly Head plushie. We spent the day on Akihabara; had to choose between Maidreamin and Owl Cafe Akiba Fukurou to eat, I turned lots of Gachapons, we checked some rarities in Mandarake, and took pictures with cosplayers! Not gonna lie, I did said I wanted to check it out once, but never thought he'd actually do it for our first date. Kiyo-kun also caught a Fly Head that was trapped inside a Taito Station claw machine (He not only won the prize plushie it was trapped in, but figured the trick to get the plushie out, it was amazing!)

𝕊𝕙𝕖 𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕒 𝕡𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕖 𝕕𝕒𝕪'𝕤 𝕖𝕩𝕔𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣. 𝔾𝕠𝕥 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕕 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕙𝕚𝕞 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠𝕠 𝕞𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕠𝕟 𝕙𝕖𝕣.

Hey, it's a fair concern! And it kinda pushed me to go somewhere different in our second date. Just a cat cafe... on Shibuya.

Yeah, only later I found out it was there. Obviously, I was worried; Yuuji-sensei barely visits this place after the 2018 incident, him and many others in Tokyo Jujutsu High in fact. Kiyo-kun however didn't seemed bothered. The place was pretty neat, lots of adorable kittens, a peaceful atmosphere... but I was famished while there, that place sadly only served treats to the cats. I was often checking my phone, verifying costs, looking over the window, thinking where we were located in... also didn't help that I had no sleep the previous night.

Kiyo-kun soon noticed everything, and so did the cats. I was so embarrassed for seemingly ruining the date that I made my way to the nearest bathroom to calm down. He talked to me through texts, that's how I found he noticed my concerns (he's so perceptive...), and soothed me on the money and location subject; he said he'd told me if something was too much to afford, and even if Shibuya did scar everyone in many ways, he was glad to be alive.

After a short while, I came out of the bathroom, one of the staff ladies was concerned, but I just told her I haven't slept well. And for bonus cuteness, one of the kittens was VERY attached to me, it followed me and waited me outside. We couldn't take him, of course, but we did took a picture. On our drive back, we passed by the Miyashita Daiichi Pedestrian Bridge... where he was stabbed by a curse user. He did admit he barely remembered what happened, just the pain and the lights out... Perceptive as always, he stopped nearby, and we made our way to the exact place he was on the day. I hugged him from behind as he looked over the spot he was back then... he lifted one of my hands and kissed it.

𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕒𝕚𝕕 𝕒 𝕝𝕠𝕥 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕤𝕥. 𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕤𝕒𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘. 𝕎𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕒𝕥, 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕨𝕒𝕪?

FamilyMart. I went DOWN on the dorayaki and taiyaki. Best dorayaki I ever ate, btw.

Third date, however, surpassed both of these two.

He sort of mixed the two previous dates' ideas, took me to Gyosen Park, where there's a natural zoo with a petting zoo and the Heisei Garden with calm, beautiful sceneries and a teahouse.

I'm not usually someone who visit zoos, but I love petting animals just as much as shikigamis. I really thought to myself one moment that I could cuddle with bunnies all day, but then-

𝕃𝕖𝕥 𝕞𝕖 𝕘𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕤. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕗𝕖𝕝𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕕 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕂𝕚𝕪𝕠-𝕜𝕦𝕟 𝕛𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕦𝕤.

...Yeah. It wasn't the case though; he was enjoying it just as much. We not only pet all the animals in the petting zoo, but also helped feeding them. There were lots of animals in their natural exhibits I had only seen on TV, like prairie dogs. Guess he also wanted to visit this place for the longest time.

As we made our way through the Ukita Park afterwards, I wondered if I should say something, despite my obvious excitement showing all the time.

He told me he failed to get a reservation at the teahouse on Heisei Garden, that it'd be a perfect place for a picnic. Since we still had time, I wondered if we could check the place anyway.

And he agreed. We made our way back to actually see the place. I WAS feeling a little tired (again, we DID walk all the way back), so we stopped a few times to take pictures of the beautiful flowers. We finally sit down nearby the pond, taking in the scenery and the calm around us.

And... that's when we kissed for the first time. We felt comfortable and warm nearby each other, and it just happened naturally.

𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕔.

When we finally left, I admit, it was HARD to say bye. I knew we would see each other again the next day, but...

Anyway, there it is. My first dates with Kiyo-kun... and even if not as extravagant as they were, we still go on them when we can.

[quillkiller]

going on a second date tomorrow .

[h3iduch]

lipstick on the straw as always 😅

[sillyboyyears]

Apr 2023

Feb 2023

@shutuppoetbitch

[inbabylontheywept]

the house i grew up in was a little bit of a fixer upper. for the first 19 years, my dad just sort of slowly fixed it, but pretty early on in college, he came into a large amount of cash and decided to just do the whole thing at once. so he rented a different house for like, 2 months that was just a block down from us, and then got a bunch of contractors to fix original house ASAP. it was kind of crazy, but it compressed many years of work into like, three months.

the sitting in a new house for three months was actually pretty fun. and i shouldnt really complain at all (staying at home while in college is a sweet deal)

but.

but. my parents are fairly hard of hearing, and their bedroom in the old house was in the furthest possible annex from everyone else. wheras in the rental it was just in the middle of the house. so without going into details, i was extremely aware that my parents were having sex like, eight times a day. my dad had just retired and i guess they were celebrating, which is great i guess, having parents that really like each other is way better than the alternative, but also, it did make me envy their deafness. i kept headphones on for so long that year i got literal ear calluses.

at the same time, the house my buddy from the shoe incident grew up in flooded. turbo flooded. they burst like, two pipes at once and the damage was so severe they had to redo all the flooring and all the drywall. his family actually had homeowners insurance, which is either incredible or suspicious for a family that used the drained pool in their backyard to store rusty scrap metal. so insurance was handling the work, but in the meantime, they were crammed into a very small hotel room space. we did the math on it then, it averaged about 80 square feet a person.

so one day i got home, and i was chilling, and then six rolled around, and apparently six o'clock was sex o'clock because my parents decided to flex their cardio. i grabbed my headphones and prayed that god would do for me what he did for beethoven, but that failed to work, and then seven rolled around and my parents were still at it, which again, very impressive, but was pushing me to swap out judas for mozart in those prayers. there's a definitive point where you stop praying to be deaf and instead pray that god could take you to a nice field and pop you like a gore-balloon.

i was about five minutes away from that point when my friend called me and basically said i have been stuck in a 500 square foot space with 6 people and i didn't have many marbles to start but what few i had are gone. please. if we are friends, if we were ever friends, take me out of here just for a moment.

and i was still pretty mad at him, but i had pity on the poor guy. also helped that i was desperate to leave the house. so i drove the chickenshitmobile to the hotel and i picked him up, and then we did our normal hangout activity, which was go to food city and buy produce. his normal house was, on a good day, nasty, and his backyard was, as i stated before, mostly used to store mosquito larvae and rusty metal, so what we'd always done before was just walk to the grocery store a half block away and leer at vegetables.

so we did that and it was like old times again. they had some radishes that were expired, so i could buy like, literally an entire grocery bag of them for about $5. so i did. i really like radishes. he got a coconut because he liked fruit and beating things with hammers.

which probably would've been great except we didn't have a hammer, so instead we spent about 30 minutes stomping itike it owed us money. when it finally cracked we cheered like we just got the winning touchball at the superdome and then he ate some of the flesh, and i ate some of the radishes, and we admired the black, starless sky of the city before i took him back to his hotel room.

and then we got pulled over.

i forgot to turn my lights on because the street all around the food city was ludicrously well lit. so it went from being pretty bright, to pretty bright and flashy, then i pulled into a parking lot and a cop came to ask us for IDs which is where everything went to shit:

i’d forgotten my license at home. 

the cop was was actually kind of chill about it - he said he could get by with just an address. except i did not know my address. i hadn't memorized the new one yet. so i told the cop, my house is getting remodeled, i don't know my address right now. and then he went to my friend, and my friend said the exact same thing. house getting remodeled, staying somewhere else, no address, sowwwwwwy.

now the cop genuinely didn't know what to do. he went back to his car, and i was stressed that i was about to get into HUGE trouble so i started eating the radishes and my buddy started eating more of his coconut, and we actually managed to eat like a quarter of both before the cop came back. we ate enough produce that he could smell something weird in the air, and he asked what the smell was, and i said radishes, and my buddy said coconut, and the cop said which, and then we produced a large bag of droopy radishes and an absolutely brutalized coconut, and the cop was just like

so my buddy tried explaining how he was sharing a 500 square foot apartment with 6 people and wanted a fruit he could fight with power tools, and i tried explaining how i'd actually tried buying my parents like, board games and puzzles and stuff but nothing worked - the only thing my parents seemed to like doing right now was each other, and we both went on long enough and pathetically enough that the cop eventually went:

ok. stop.

and we stopped.

and he said do you know why i pulled you over?

and i said, because of my headlights, and my friend (who is hispanic) and the cop both looked at me like like i was the dumbest person in the entire world. and then the cop said no. that's why i'm allowed to pull you over. i checked your car because this neighborhood has a terrible sex trafficking problem, and i pull over every car i can to make sure no one is buying or selling sex. and you two are obviously doing neither. now i could give you, like, four tickets right now, but that would do nothing to make this area safer, so just turn your lights on, go home, drive safe, and try to be less stupid in the future.

and i said okay but i was thinking, you know, damn, this is just how i live man, i don't have a hidden third gear i can shift into. people can't just get smarter because it would be convenient. it's always convenient to be smart. i am literally trying my best.

but i didn't say anything because i was, slowly, learning how to filter what i said. instead i nodded and the cop left then i dropped my buddy off, and the last thing he said was said he owed me for responding to his SOS. I said he owed me for a lot of things, and he agreed that was true. then i drove home with my lights on, 5 under the speed limit, and arrived to a peaceful quiet home. I could’ve wept with relief but instead I went to bed.

the relief was short lived. i was woken up at 6 am by my parents. i swore, and then i prayed, and when i did not explode, i swore again. then i got up to make breakfast before my first class.

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

Viago, when playing as Rook De Riva: you IDIOT you were my favorite fledgling why did you have to make a mess of this now I have to jump through all these convoluted hoops to keep you safe. Teia stop telling Rook how much I missed them it's not funny they could have DIED. also your room is exactly the way you left it please come home

Strife, when playing as Rook Aldwir: Why hasn't this weird bug i kicked out of our camp ages ago died yet :|

[mygoofylittlepoetry]

What Did I Do Wrong This Time

What did I do wrong this time? I thought I did pretty well keeping it inside suppressing my mind

Did I really come off wrong, a crazy axe murderer? I thought it was fine Did I miss the signs?

If I think about it, though, maybe I was too bland or too excited that she would engage with me

Was it really bad enough for her to drop me like that? Did I seem needy? Was my heart bleeding?

I didn't know. The past is far but the change is farther I slipped up again; gave in, imagined

Things like this make me wonder if I would really be worth it: a second date with anyone great