tushanshu_logs | First Date

Entry tags:

First Date

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...

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Pouring out the drinks, he wonders how to answer that question. Because...well, she'd probably be horrified if he was learning how to deliberately fight.

"Self-defense," he answers after a moment of fizz. "Making sure I can take of myself and other people if somebody bad comes along. Balance, meditation, mental and physical health. Good stuff."

She walked over to the drinks and took a glass for herself.

"Oh, I see." She doesn't look all that upset by the concept, either. Instead she shrugs. "I wonder if I should learn something like that. Until now I've just used my hair. And a frying pan."

"And I bet you're wicked with a frying pan at fifteen paces," he agrees with a grin, taking the other glass for himself.

"One of those cast-iron deals? Ow. Remind me to never piss you off. Although I'm now seriously curious as to how you use your hair as a weapon."

Before even taking a sip of her drink she places the glass back down. She picks up a portion of her hair and loops loosely around her arm. When she has a decent amount hanging there she prepares, and whips it towards one of the kitchen chairs. It falls to the floor with a loud clatter between the two of them.

"Mostly some variations on that."

His eyes pop wide, and he almost spits out his ginger ale.

"Holy crap that was so cool."

Grinning at her, he goes and rights the chair, careful not to step on her hair as he moves.

"Again. Remind me to never piss you off, or I might be found hanging in a tree, by my feet, bound up by your hair. What a way to go, though."

She smiled broadly as she collected her hair back and neatly put it behind her. "I don't think you have to worry about."

Just be thankful you weren't the first guy she met.

She picked up her glass again and took a sip. She let out a surprised giggle as the bubbles tickled at her lips. "Oh! Wow! That's so strange." She looked closely and examine the glass.

Damn it, Rapunzel. Stop being so perfectly adorable. He grins at her reaction, completely charmed by her again.

"I figured you'd never had a carbonated drink. You like it?"

She takes another sip. "It tastes good, but the bubbles take some getting used to! Is this something you have at home, too?"

"Yeah. All different flavors. This isn't even all that heavily carbonated, honestly. There's a natural spring somewhere nearby, one of the restaurants makes it."

He takes a sip of his own. It's way more gingery than sugary, and it took some getting used to. But there's no Mountain Dew here, so he has to make do.

"Mhm." Rapunzel takes a few more sips until she had about half finished her drink.

"I should probably get the pie started now," she told him. "If we want to eat it by the time we're done with dinner."

Ooh. Pie. The way to a boy's heart is through his stomach, after all.

"There's gonna be pie?" he asks eagerly, his face lighting up. "What kind of pie?"

"Apple."

Smiling, Rapunzel carried a bushel of apples and begins peeling them. "I hope that's alright?"

"That's fantastic."

He immediately crosses to her, taking that bushel of apples out of her hands. He's really trying to be a gentleman for her.

"Want me to help peel them too?"

"If you want to, of course."

She slides some apples and a new knife in his direction because what are peelers?

God, Rapunzel. What is it with you handing Stiles knives?

Nervously and carefully, he starts peeling, careful at all times of his delicate fingers and thumbs. It's very slow going again, and his tongue is sticking out of the corner of his mouth in concentration. Focus, Stilinski, or you might just bleed all over your girlfriend's kitchen. Not that she's your girlfriend yet, or maybe she is, but she doesn't know what FOCUS come on!

She peeks at Stiles and watches as he concentrates so hard on the apple he's peeling. She smiles warmly and then goes back to her own apple. It was nice - having someone to be there in the kitchen with her. Mother would cook, of course, but often it was a solo act for her. She didn't like a crowded kitchen, she had told her, but Rapunzel loved it. It just made cooking...more fun. More meaningful.

Again, she thought to bring up what Korra had told her, but held back. Maybe it wouldn't be the best idea to spring the topic on Stiles when he had a knife in his hand. Especially when it seemed a true effort on his part.

There's finally a mostly-naked apple in his hand, and he beams at her proudly.

But before he begins the next one, he grins up at her.

"Hey, I just want you to know. I'm really enjoying these dates of ours. A lot. I like hanging out with you."

Rapunzel nearly dropped the apple in her hands. There it was again. That word - date. She recovered and held the apple firmly before setting it down with the other peeled ones. She attempted a smile, which came out a little crooked as she looked back at Stiles.

"Um...that word," she said. "Korra told me what it means in her world. Does it mean the same in yours?" Her words were rushed, and words crashed into each other, but hopefully the meaning got out.

"I'd...assume so? I mean, if it means two people who like each other spending time together and getting to know one another, then yes?"

Innocuous enough definition. Because he's still not sure if he's ready to take it anywhere physical. She's scary with that frying pan, after all.

Rapunzel gently bit her lip and rocked on her feet. "But you mean...you like them," she said, placing a heavy emphasis on "like". "It's like...courting?"

Her voice diminished as her confidence dropped. Maybe she had it all wrong. Maybe she was assuming too much. She shrunk back, awaiting what she was sure would be a laugh or a confirmation of just how wrong she was.

"...Yeah. Pretty much."

He smiles shyly and hopefully at her, hoping that he hasn't just frightened her off with that. Because she is a complete and genuine innocent, good all the way through. She shouldn't have to deal with a teenage boy, honestly. (Although that sends his mind down the track that all Disney princes are usually older than their princesses...and he's younger than her, so huh. Focus, Stilinski.) He starts up again, seeing her confidence dropping, so the rest of his words come out in something of a rush.

"I mean, I meant it when I said I'm really enjoying spending time with you. If you're not comfortable with that, I totally understand, I'd be bummed out, but I'd get it. I mean, god knows pretty much every girl I've ever met has gotten uncomfortable around me if dates somehow get on the table so I'm totally used to it."

"I don't..."

She stopped, unsure of what to say next. She knew she didn't want to reject Stiles. She'd enjoyed her time with him, and was actually excited at the prospect of seeing more of him. She was just too confused about her current feelings with Stiles, and the feelings she'd thought might have been there with Eugene. She had thought he might like her, and she...well, she had started to like him, too.

"Well, I mean...I don't really know?" Her voice actually squeaked a bit. "I don't not like you. So I guess...we could try?"

She winced. "I'm sorry. That must sound awful, right?"

"Hey, I'll take that double negative," he said, feeling the restrictive band ease a little off his heart. "The last girl I tried asking out on dates ignored me outright. For almost ten years, actually."

He looks very thoughtful at that, as if just realizing precisely how long Lydia Martin had been rejecting him.

"So...you don't not like me. I don't not like you, too. I mean, it doesn't have to be anything serious or rushed or anything. I just...really like spending time with you. You're talented, and you're smart, I mean jeez you've picked up on nearly five hundred years of technological advances in three months. That takes brains. Lots of brains. I like smart girls, they're really cool.

"And, you know, you're absolutely beautiful."

Rapunzel blushed deeply and laughed nervously at the sudden compliment. "Thank you," she replied.

"For everything." His willingness to be patient was more than Rapunzel could have asked for. There was just so much she didn't know about, well, everything that jumping into a serious relationship didn't seem like the best idea at the moment. That didn't mean she wanted to stop spending time with Stiles.

"I'd like it if we could still do things together." She paused. "Date."

Ugh, he made her blush. He feels the heat rising in his own face, too, because she's just the cutest thing he's ever seen in his life.

"I'm totally fine with taking it slow," he says. But this time he gets a little bold, and reaches forward to pat the back of her hand with the tips of his fingers. "Mainly because you could easily kick my butt into next month if you wanted to. But yeah. I'd like to keep this up. Even if we don't call it dating. I just like being around you."

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