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

[skybluejeep]

He continued to watch her eat for a moment, finding her enthusiasm for new things to be so endearing.

Then he finally moved back to his side of the table, still grinning like a total dork.

"Cool. Would you want to eat here again?"

[watcheslanterns]

Rapunzel nodded as she set her chopsticks down for a moment. "I would! There must be so many different places to try, too." Suddenly she was inspired to try as much new cuisine as she possibly could.

She leaned forward slightly and lowered her voice. "Do you think it would be possible to thank the cook. It seems a little rude not to, especially when it tastes so good."

[skybluejeep]

"We can spend the next however long discovering whatever food you want."

He starts working on his food once again, and nods at her last question.

"Yeahf," he says before swallowing. "I'm sure he'd love it. It's a husband-wife team. At least, I think they're married? It's kinda hard to tell with Kedan sometimes."

[watcheslanterns]

"I haven't really talked with many of the Kedan," she admitted. "At least not since I was first brought here." She'd heard about them from others, but she was still trying to figure out how to interact with other human beings, let alone anyone else.

"Do you know many of them?"

[skybluejeep]

"Not...really?"

He feels a little guilty about it, honestly. These are people they're living with, or at least sharing a turtle with.

"It's hard, sometimes. I mean, they're not exactly thrilled we're here, most of 'em. These two, they're polite to me, they feed me, I've never had a single problem. But...you know how you can tell when somebody's forcing a smile? Or that somebody isn't quite sincere? It's kinda like that."

[watcheslanterns]

Oh, so you've met her mother then? Rapunzel can't helping thinking of her as Stiles describes it. She shakes her head of the thought before glancing towards the kitchen.

"I think I can picture it. Still, I think thanking them would be a good thing to do."

[skybluejeep]

"Oh! I thank 'em all the time, I'm not saying you shouldn't. Just brace yourself for a polite smile and not much else."

As we've established, please let's never have Stiles meet Gothel. It would end very badly for the poor kid, and then the werewolves would have to get involved, and people might end up buried under spirals of wolfsbane and we're just not going there.

"Here, do you want anything to drink? They make a very nice green tea."

[watcheslanterns]

She turned back and looked at him curiously. "Green tea? Is it actually green?"

[skybluejeep]

"It refers to the leaves, not the color. Well, it's sorta green. You'll see, hold on."

So. Damn. Cute. Stop being so cute Rapunzel.

He slipped out of his seat, and went to fetch two cups of steaming hot tea from the earthen kettle near the cooking area. Apparently it was free along with the meal. And when he returned, he slid the little cup across to her. It had no handle, and was a deep, rich red clay, obviously spun on a wheel.

"Sip slowly, it's hot."

[watcheslanterns]

Rapunzel was incredibly grateful to have met someone like Stiles who was willing to teach her about the apparently enormous amount of things she didn't know. She was surprised, and happy that he hadn't grown impatient with her questions or lack of knowledge.

When he set the cup in front of her she first admired the craftsmanship of it. Having made a few cups of her own, it was nice to see one made by someone else. She then leaned over the cup, tucking any loose hair behind her ears. She looked at the steaming liquid and breathed in the scent. It was unlike anyone she'd smelled before, but was soothing just the same.

Slowly she lifted the cup in her hands and took a sip. She sighed contently as the single sip began to warm her.

"It's lovely."

[skybluejeep]

Well, to be absolutely fair, Stiles is best friends with Scott McCall. Who is, while not exactly a stupid guy, definitely has his ditz moments. So he's kinda used to being a font of information.

"Best food on the turtle, I'm telling ya. At least until somebody opens a pizza place."

[watcheslanterns]

That was the second time he's mentioned this pizza thing...

"Pizza is a kind of food?"

[skybluejeep]

"Pizza is the food of the gods. You poor thing, living a life without pizza!"

A resolution formed in his mind; figure out how to bake a pizza for her. Somehow. There's got to be something about how it's done somewhere in Keelai.

"Okay basically? Big circle of dough. Tomato sauce. Cheese. Various meat toppings, vegetables on occasion, never fruit. Fruit on a pizza is an abomination. Bake it in an oven till the dough is cooked and the cheese melts. Slice it into wedges. Love life."

[watcheslanterns]

Well, Rapunzel liked pizza. She loved cheese, and the right vegetables were always good in her book. Color her intrigued.

"That sounds good!" She paused. "But no one here makes it...?"

[skybluejeep]

"Not that I've found yet. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right places."

He shrugged a bit, and made a little face.

"Hell, I can't find anybody to make me my plaid shirts that I like. Mandarin collars aren't my thing, I feel like they're only worn by guys who have 'majordomo' on their business cards."

[watcheslanterns]

She giggled softly, hiding it behind her hand.

"If you want, maybe I could make you some shirts? I'm pretty new to making any men's clothing, but I know the basics well enough. If you describe what you're looking for I could do my best to replicate it."

She looked thoughtful for a minute. "I could probably even try making this pizza stuff if you told me how it looks."

[skybluejeep]

He blinked, and then flinched a little bit, twitching his head in disbelief, as a grin lit up his face.

"Are you serious? Wow! Okay, tell you what. We'll have a pizza-making party. The shirts can wait. Pizza is the priority."

[watcheslanterns]

"Okay!" She nodded enthusiastically. A party. She'd never been to a party before, unless you counted the simple celebrations she and her mother would have on her birthday.

Thinking of that caused Rapunzel to drift off in thought, even looking sad for a moment. Her birthday had already come and gone, technically. She was eighteen now, and she still hadn't seen her lanterns.

She stopped and smiled once again, putting her attention back on Stiles. "Maybe you could invite your friends? Do they like pizza, too?"

[skybluejeep]

"They do, and it'd be a great way to introduce them to you."

He saw that look on her face, and his heart skipped a beat.

"...Hey. What's the matter? You looked so sad for a second there. Is it my pad thai breath?"

[watcheslanterns]

"Oh, no," she said and shook her head. "It's not you at all!"

She pulled her braid over her shoulder and began absently playing with it. "I was just thinking about home."

[skybluejeep]

He gave her a knowing nod, understanding more than he could show her.

"I get homesick too, sometimes," he murmured. "I really miss my dad. But...I also know he's okay back there, since time is kind of not passing? Sort of? It's confusing and I don't really get it, but.

"Do you just live with your mom?"

[watcheslanterns]

"There was my friend Pascal, too," she told him. "He's a chameleon but he's been there for me for years."

Being so far away from home, Rapunzel was beginning to realize how strange that might seem to others. She wasn't ashamed though. Pascal was family, plain and simple.

[skybluejeep]

"You have a pet chameleon? Oh, that's awesome."

He's never kept lizards or snakes himself, although one year he had a tiny pac-man frog that turned into a not-so-tiny pac-man frog, which his mom then took to the vet to be re-homed. She never had liked feeding it goldfish...

"So you, your mom, and Pascal in a giant seventy-foot tall tower in the middle of a forest. Sounds, uh. Idyllic?"

[watcheslanterns]

Rapunzel thought to protest the idea that Pascal was a pet, but was moved along by Stiles' train of thought. She knew her upbringing wasn't normal, and that only became more obvious the more she met and talked with new people. She knew her mother's intentions had been good, but Rapunzel couldn't help but feel that maybe things weren't as bad as her mother seemed to think.

She laughed nervously, her cheeks turning pink. "It was safe. Comfortable."

[skybluejeep]

"Safe from what? Bears?"

He's trying so hard to keep this light. Hah hah, everything's fine, let's just pretend that this beautiful girl wasn't kept prisoner all her life. He wants to save her, protect her. And he hardly even knows her.

"I don't know, up that high, you run the risk of eagles and hawks flying in, roosting in the ceiling, swooping down on you. Doesn't sound safe to me."