First Date

[skybluejeep]

Characters: Stiles and Rapunzel | Closed
Date: October 1
Location: Wood, and then Earth Sector
Situation: Stiles has asked Rapunzel out on something resembling a date. Asti and the rest of Keelai is about to keel over from shock.
Warnings/Rating: Probably none. Rapunzel's a Disney princess, after all. I think there are laws against that kind of thing.

***

Stiles knocks on the door to Rapunzel's suite for the second time in as many weeks. Only this time, he's there to ostensibly take her out to dinner. This is honestly the first time he's asked a girl out for dinner and had her say "YES" so it's a huge, world-shaking deal for him.

He's wearing his jeans, and a Keelai-style shirt in green, with a Mandarin collar. It doesn't suit him, but it's better than the same plaid shirt he's been wearing since he got here, right?

Oh god, please let this go well...

Comments

[watcheslanterns]

She follows his motion and commits the direction to memory. She might need to know how to get there for one reason or another.

"Are your friends ones that you made here? Or are they friends from your home?"

[skybluejeep]

"Friends from home, actually."

He's envisioning this introduction, where he introduces her to Scott, and the thought makes him smile.

"Scott's my best friend, and you'll love him. Isaac...is a good guy, when he wants to be. And Erica's a good girl. You have similar hair, now that I think about it, even if yours is longer. But yeah, we're all from the same town. It's honestly super comforting."

[watcheslanterns]

"It must be," Rapunzel agreed. She knew that she would feel a million times better if she had Pascal there with her. He'd been her friend for so long that it was strange being without him. Even her mother would be a welcomed sight, despite the fact that she was sure that she was very, very angry with her now.

"They sound nice. I'd like to meet them sometime."

[skybluejeep]

Please. Please please. Never let your mother be here on the turtle. Please. Stiles would prefer to keep his internal organs intact, thanks.

"I'll introduce you guys sometime. I think they'd like you."

The background was shifting subtly, from the forests of Wood to the crackling, magical Fire. They had to pass through Fire to get to Earth, after all, and it was a nice walk. Just the right length to chat about things.

"So...um. What's your home like? I mean, back home, not here on the turtle?"

[watcheslanterns]

To be fair, Rapunzel is completely oblivious to any stabbing tendencies her mother may or may not have.

With her free hand Rapunzel played with the tail of her braid. Talking about home was...complicated. Letting people know about her unusual upbringing already seemed to get her enough odd looks and pitied expressions.

"Home was...beautiful. There was a forest all around where I lived. In the summer it was so green and bright and the flowers were all sorts of colors. I'd plant some by my window every year so that I could see them blooming up close."

[skybluejeep]

"You lived in the forest? Cool."

He can't let on that of course he knew the story, because that's just how his life is now. Besides, he'd been coming to some rather earth-shaking conclusions about his own life as a result of meeting the people he had on the Turtle. That was for a later discussion though.

"So you cook, you garden, you sew. Is there anything you can't do?"

He grinned at her and tipped her a wink, to show he was being playful.

[watcheslanterns]

She laughed, her cheeks turning pink again. They hadn't even touched upon the painting, guitar playing, candle making, singing, and her countless other hobbies.

"Well, I had a lot of free time back home." She rolled her shoulders and tilted her head. "I had to do something to keep me busy."

[skybluejeep]

"Sounds nice. I wish I had that kind of free time."

When I'm not being chased by werewolves, anyway.

"I mean, between school, homework and lacrosse I barely had any time for video games or anything. Where'd you go to school? Do you play any sports?"

[watcheslanterns]

Wow, okay. There were a lot of things she didn't recognize in those questions. She looked at Stiles, kind of baffled.

"Um, well, I didn't go to any sort of school. I learned from books and from my mother."

[skybluejeep]

"...Oh."

He knew that, of course. Not only for her story, but most girls weren't educated in medieval Europe for the most part. But he's trying to at least keep up the conversation, so it's not just awkward and weird.

"Home-schooled, huh? I know a few people back home who did that. I almost did that. Is your mom, like, super religious or something?"

[watcheslanterns]

Rapunzel shook her head and looked upward.

"No, not really," she told him. "I read about religions, but mother never really talked about them much, or told me that she believed one thing over another."

She paused and looked back at him. "Why? Is yours?"

[skybluejeep]

That caught him flat-footed. For some reason he honestly hadn't expected her to turn that question back on him just yet. Oh, he knew at some point he'd have to tell her but...ten minutes into the date? Yipes.

"Oh! Uh. No, no, she wasn't. She just, um. When she got sick? I missed a lot of school that year, and um, it was getting hard to catch up."

[watcheslanterns]

"Sick?"

Rapunzel's expression darkens as she realizes that she's stumbled upon a difficult topic. Not quite realizing the depth of the problem, she pushed to keep the conversation going.

"Oh. Oh, I'm so sorry. She's...um, she's better now I hope?"

[skybluejeep]

There was a little bit of a pause, and a small, sad smile moved Stiles' lips slightly sideways. It never got any easier to talk about...

"She died when I was nine," he said quietly, bluntly. Because there's no easy way to deliver that news.

Some first date huh?

[watcheslanterns]

Rapunzel's heart sank. Death was a stranger to Rapunzel. It was something she had never in her entire life worried about. With her hair the way it was, life and youth were the only things she really knew. Knowing that other people; people like Stiles had to suffer death was heartbreaking.

She moved her free hand to where the right was holding Stiles'. She looked at him with wide, and by then, tear-rimmed eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said, trying to put all the emphasis she could into it. "So sorry. I didn't mean to bring up something so sad for you."

[skybluejeep]

When he looked back up at her, and saw the devastation on her face, he immediately felt the need to do damage control. Because she didn't know! It's not her fault. Oh, god, Stilinski, you couldn't have just said you didn't want to talk about it right now? Dumbass.

"No, no!" he immediately countered, gripping both her hands in both of his now. "Not your fault. It's okay, you couldn't have known. Aw, don't cry! I'm fine. I really am! Wow, what a downer I am, I'm sorry. Don't worry about it, please?"

[watcheslanterns]

Rapunzel figured that the death of a loved one had a lasting affect, so it was hard to believe Stiles might be "fine". Then again, he had said it had been years ago, hadn't he.

She nodded, though there were still tears in her eyes. "Really?" she asked. "Are you sure? I don't really know about these things, so if I say something rude, or stupid..."

She winced, suddenly looking bashful. "Just tell me, alright?"

[skybluejeep]

He smirked a little at that, and wanted to make her smile again. That's what he did, after all. He hated seeing other people sad. So the self-deprecating jokes started.

"Funny, that's usually my line. About apologizing for the ridiculous things that come out of my piehole. It wasn't rude or stupid, Rapunzel. You really didn't know. Unless you're secretly a mind reader? No?"

He lifted one hand up and tucked a strand of her hair behind one ear, since it had escaped her braid. Not surprising, considering just how much hair she had.

"I still have my dad. And my dad is awesome. So I'm okay."

[watcheslanterns]

She squeezed his hands and nodded. It took a bit of work, but she even managed to smile.

"Okay," she said. "If you're sure. But really, if I say something bad or strange just tell me. I'm still getting used to...well, everything!"

[skybluejeep]

"I know. And honestly? You're doing a great job. I'm super impressed."

He gave her hand another squeeze, and started to lead her onward again. Hiding away the ache in his heart like he always did. See? He's fine. He's always fine.

"I mean, you've been transported into another world, and another time. That's huge. You're taking everything really, really well. Tell you what, if anything you say or do is weird, I'll give you a signal. I'll caw like a crow at you. Caw CAW."

[watcheslanterns]

She laughed at that, wiping away the remains of tears. "Maybe something a little more subtle? I don't want to draw too much attention to it."

She swung their linked hands forward and back. "Thank you, though. It's kind of difficult to tell just how well or not so well I'm doing."

[skybluejeep]

"I coooooould...tug on my ear? Or no! I'll tug on your ear! That'll definitely get your attention."

And just to tease, he reaches up and gently, playfully gives her earlobe a little tug.

[watcheslanterns]

"Oh!" She gasped and leaned in towards Stiles thanks to the tug. She then burst into a fit of giggles. "Consider my attention gotten."

[skybluejeep]

He giggled along with her, because she was just too damn cute for words sometimes. See? That's much better. Let's keep the first date light and happy and giggling.

Soon the Fire Sector was giving way to the Earth sector, and the buildings became lower, rounder, made of adobe and stucco and sandstone. Stiles actually felt himself relax, because he felt more at home in this sector. The architecture reminded him of California.

"Okay. So seriously. You spent a lot of free time reading books and enjoying your hobbies. What's your favorite thing to do? Or your favorite subject?"

[watcheslanterns]

Rapunzel was so caught up in the sights and sounds of the sector that she almost didn't hear Stiles' question.

"Hm? Oh! I really like painting. I'd painting almost my whole tower before I came here. And books about adventures. Traveling to unknown place. I like those, too. What about you? What do you like to do?"