maskormenacelogs | we can learn how to chill

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we can learn how to chill

WHO: REGGIE MANTLE and SASHA BLOUSE
WHERE: A restaurant, then who knows!!
WHEN: Valentine's Day
WHAT: It's a ~ date night ~
WARNINGS: Mentions/references to violence/death/PTSD possible, though not definite! These crazy kids are capable of anything.

[ Reggie is not exactly what one might consider a natural at romance. A natural charmer, sure -- to a certain extent, when he's after something in specific, but when it comes to something like a girlfriend... the fact is, he knows how to manipulate his way into getting what he wants or getting out of trouble, but knowing how to make friends -- let alone maintain a relationship -- is an entirely different skill set.

But at least he does have a little extra money to throw at these things, as well as a basic understanding of social conventions -- even if he often deliberately opposes them -- in lieu of having a better personality or simply being a competent boyfriend (time may tell, sure, but... historically speaking, it's not like he's that experienced); he hasn't over-planned for the day but still did make some plans, since everyone knows you can't make Valentine's plans the day of and expect them to work out. Dinner reservations at a decent restaurant with a view of the ocean, and then he figures they can figure out what they want to do after that. Walk around, see a movie, Netflix and Chill™... who knows, he's never actually had a girlfriend for Valentine's Day.

Dressed in a leather jacket and a blue button-down with black jeans and boots and sporting his new haircut, he walks the distance between his place and Sasha's to pick her up -- his legs have never looked so good, he's gotten so used to walking these days -- and texts her once he's at the door.

To himself, he mutters idly: ]

She better not still need another hour or two to get ready...

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[ She laughs aloud, snorting in between her giggling at that comment. Her eyes trail down to Reggie's legs, giving them a once-over before she shrugs. ]

I guess. Maybe I've seen better.

No you haven't -- not better than mine.

[ He scoffs in such a way it's unclear just how serious he's being, which with Reggie isn't entirely unusual anyway; half the things he says that sound like jokes or hyperbole usually aren't expressly intended to be. ]

Maybe you just haven't seem 'em often enough to commit that to memory yet.

You haven't seen Mikasa's legs.

[ And for whatever reason, she thinks about Jinseok Jin and what his legs might look like. They're probably toned... someone as attractive as him must keep in shape. Hell, maybe they're nicer than Reggie's, who is she to say?

She nudges Reggie's hips with her own and takes a wider step forward, flashing her ankle for a moment. ]

Mine are totally better, too.

I don't even know who that is, but I don't gotta. Not even most chicks are a match for what I got.

[ Almost indignantly he pops his hip out to show off, because it's easier to do that than try to hike a pant leg up by the cuffs considering how skinny these jeans are. For precisely this reason!! ]

But yours ain't bad. I mean, anyone who dates me is gonna need to be at least comparably attractive.

[ Although she's pressed close to him, Reggie still has a few inches on her that makes her reaching up and biting his cheek (yes) hard to do, so she opts to pinch his butt instead in minor annoyance. ]

I'm way cuter!

[ Her stomach growls then. Reaching for it, she pats it gently and heaves an exaggerated sigh. ]

Is it far? I can teleport, you know! I'm so hungry...

Ack--!

[ That pinch makes Reggie jerk slightly, his face reddening in surprise -- Sasha's not exactly the most gentle touch -- and he gives her a look that's some combination of competitive and coy.

Smirking, he waggles his fingers dismissively. ]

Uh huh. I think bein' in my company's really starting to go to your head. [ Then he blinks, and gestures with his whole wrist. ] So then what are you waiting for?

[ She makes another childish face at him, but drops it quickly as she clears her mind so she can focus on what she needs to do next. She takes Reggie's hand in hers, holding onto it firmly and looks him in the eye. ]

Well... I won't be able to teleport us directly there. [ She doesn't know what it looks like and as much as she wants to eat, it's risky for her to teleport herself and others without a clear picture of where she's headed. ] What's the closest landmark? I'll probably know it.

I don't know exactly, I've never been there before 'cause it's new.

[ His eyebrow quirks, but then he takes a moment to think about it since teleporting would definitely beat walking all the way there, even if it's not that far. ]

Well, you can see the ocean. I think it's right next to that mini-mall that's got a theatre, gym, and that one great nail place. Does that help?

[ It takes her a moment, but once she's able to clearly picture the mini-mall she knows she's solid. With a bright smile, she nods and clasps Reggie's hands in hers. ]

Got it! Alright, hold onto my hand and don't let go. It can be dizzying the first time, so don't puke on me either.

[ Then she falls silent, squeezing her eyes shut to focus on transporting them from one location to another. It's like a tug on the entire body, forcing it in one direction and the ground isn't as stable as it should be. But it only lasts a couple of seconds; Sasha and Reggie will reappear on the sidewalk just a few feet away from the mini-mall's entrance, startling locals coming out or going in.

The teleporting leaves a disorienting sensation, though it won't last long. Sasha has long gotten used to it herself. ]

Ta-da!

[ Rather than just hold onto her hand, by the time they reappear Reggie has practically jumped into her arms for how close he's holding on. Convenient though a power like teleportation might be, damn if Reggie can get used to how it feels. Deep breaths, Reggie; inhale, exhale.

He holds on for another moment or so, waiting for his legs to steady and stop shaking, and then steps away quickly under the guise of fixing his hair in a near-by car mirror. Then he clears his throat and gestures in the appropriate direction, toward a retro diner-looking place with blinking neon and loud music across the parking lot. ]

G-great. Anyway, the place is right over here -- ta-da.

[ There's no holding back her laughter. When she finds Reggie practically clutching her she starts laughing aloud and eventually it fades into some giggling as she watches him compose himself before her attention is drawn to the diner they're attending tonight.

She pats his chest lightly, grinning at him slyly. ]

You'll get used to it. [ She looks back at the diner and starts wandering in its direction. ] Let's go, let's go!

Edited 2016-03-17 02:33 (UTC)

[ Wrinkling his nose, Reggie gives his hair one more sweep from his comb, swallows down one more threatening dry-heave, then follows Sasha huffily to the restaurant with wide, confident strides.

The dizzy, motion-sick feeling does pass soon enough, luckily well in time for Reggie to be feeling normal again (at least, what counts as normal for him nowadays) by the time he pulls the restaurant door open; music, heat, and the smells of frying food accost them almost immediately, beating the hostess to them, though she skates over a minute or so later to escort them to their waiting table.

Reggie pops a painkiller surreptitiously, a preemptive counter to the loud music, neon lights, and/or any other stress that may try to catch him by surprise that evening -- never hurts to play it safe. ]

So, you impressed yet?

[ With all the imagery and noise they're bombarded with as soon as they enter, Sasha's gaze ends up flicking everywhere possible to take it all in with very visible excitement.

And though her eyes wander around, never lingering for too long on something, she does catch out of the corner of it Reggie popping what seems to be some kind of pill. It looks purely medicinal; mints are more or less reserved for long make-out sessions and anyway, they're about to shove actual food down their throats.

She says nothing, however, and instead focuses on the diner as she slides into her seat. ]

It has to be one of the coolest diners in this world! [ Of course, Sasha is easily impressed, but the set-up is quite wonderful. ] Can we eat now?

[ Popping another pill as casually as possible, Reggie smirks as he crushes it between his back teeth; it's actually nice seeing her happy -- of course, maybe part of that is being the one responsible for it -- but it helps that he also digs the vibe of this place. Call him old-fashioned, there's something nice and low-stress about diners like this, and low-stress is, of course, always welcome as far as Reggie's concerned.

He sits, too, in one of the car-shaped booths and takes a lazy look over one of the menus placed helpfully in front of them; inside, there's a rose-colored insert with holiday specials. ]

Sweetheart-potato fries? O-lover platter? Man, who do they think they're kiddin' with some of these? [ Reading over it a bit more, he adds: ] They're all double-sized, though. Like we're supposed to share or something? Yeah right.

[ She sets her bag in the empty space next to her and pulls up her menu so she can begin making her decision on what to eat, but she once again catches Reggie popping another one of those pills and she stares this time a bit puzzled. That's definitely not a breath mint. ]

What are you doing?

[ She's distracted for a moment though when he mentions the holiday specials. Tracing her finger down the menu, her jaw drops when it mentions the servings are all double-sized. She can see there's quite a number of couples in the diner sharing these bigger dishes and sipping milkshakes from the same glass, but all Sasha really sees is more food for herself.

She wouldn't be opposed to sharing, but she's really hungry! ]

Food is food, who cares? It smells so good in here! I want the platter with extra fries and chocolate milkshake!

What?

[ The habit is so ingrained that Reggie almost doesn't know what Sasha means, but then the biter taste of the painkiller fills his mouth again as his teeth crunch down and he swallows hard, shoving the pill bottle deep into his pockets and making a mental note to himself to be more careful. The addiction must be getting slightly out of hand if now he's partaking without even really noticing sometimes.

Thankfully, as always, Reggie can count on food to distract Sasha, which may normally be an annoyance but this time works in his favor. ]

Sure, get whatever you want -- special occasion and all that. [ He's having a harder time deciding, mostly because the menu keeps making his eyes glaze over. ] I guess I'll do the nachos and a soda. Appetizer size, though -- don't wanna eat too much this early in the date.

You eat like a bird, Reggie.

[ It seems he's stopped chewing on whatever those pills were. She's certain she heard the rattling of a bottle on his end, but she's in too much of a good mood and hyper-focused on food to ask if he's sick. One normally takes medication with food, right?

She rises in her seat slightly, peering up and down for one of the waitresses. She can't help but admire the way they move on their skates and how cute those uniforms are on them. ]

I'm getting so hungry waiting... do we have to call them over? Do they know when we're ready?

[ She seats herself again, fidgeting in anticipation. ]

I want meat...

Better a bird than a pig, right? It's Valentine's Day, last thing I wanna do is feel gross and weighted down by a ton of food.

[ Never mind the fact he also just doesn't have as much of an appetite these days. It's not great -- his reflexes, speed, and muscle definition have suffered a little -- but not really to a point of concern, either. ]

They'll-- [ But before he finishes, a waiter skates over to them with a carefully balanced tray with water glasses and offers to take their order. ] Well, she wants meat.

[ Reggie indicates Sasha with a lazily pointed finger, smirking. ]

[ There's an impressed sound from Sasha as the waiter skates over and she stops fidgeting long enough to glance back at her menu. Not that it really matters since she knows what she wants... and meat it is. It's crucial she finds out just how well done their burgers are as it will determine if she ever comes back to this place. So far, she is leaning towards a second visit sometime. The vibe in here is nice. Noisy and bright, but once you settle in it's not so bad. ]

The O-lover platter, please! And a chocolate milkshake and — oh, extra fries. [ A beat. ] Wait, two extra fries!

[ It's somehow never occurred to her that she should be paying closer attention to what's in her food, especially when she hails from a world where greasy, fast food and other foods that are pumped full of all kinds of hormones and other things don't exist. She's filled out a little more in the past few months, though she's attributed most of that to growing pains. ]

Thank you!

[ The noise and brightness is honestly not Reggie's favorite thing about this place, but only because he's become increasingly sound-and-light sensitive the more time passes and his habits change. The atmosphere he does like, though; it's trendy, interesting, and familiar without being overly so.

Reggie takes a few generous gulps from his water glass, since he can't take another pill to address the growing buzz of discomfort at his temples, then passes his menu to the waiter. ]

Nachos, root beer. [ He pauses to take another gulp of water. ] And we don't need any more fries, so don't even ask.

[ If he needs any he'll grab some of Sasha's, no big. ]

Edited 2016-04-13 08:48 (UTC)

I hope they don't take long.

[ She watches the waiter skate away with their order before drawing her attention back on Reggie. Really, though... if she has to wait too long she may sneak into the kitchen and steal something to eat if she thinks it's taking too long.

The food doesn't go forgotten, but it does become a second priority for a fleeting moment the longer she surveys Reggie. She leans her elbows onto the table and rests her chin against her palms, staring at him curiously. Her leg stretches out from underneath their table to gently rub against his ankle. ]

Are you okay?

[ Sasha feels like she's missing something here. ]

Relax, it's a diner, not 5-star cuisine. I mean, it's a holiday so they'll probably be pretty busy, but... my guess is thirty minutes tops.

[ He sips down some more water, leg jostling restlessly under the table until her ankle touches his, then he looks at her with a raised eyebrow as if startled by the question. ]

What? [ For a moment all he does is stare blankly. ] What kinda question is that? I'm always okay. Don't you know that by now?

Thirty minutes?

[ Her shoulders sag and she sinks against the table, pouting like she's a small child rather than a young woman just a few months shy of turning nineteen. ]

Ughhh, so long!

[ She groans aloud before turning her head to the side so she can look at Reggie again. ]

You've taken medicine twice now since we got in here. It hasn't been even fifteen minutes.

[ Is he sick? That kind of puts her off from wanting to do anything else later if he is... ]

Pfft. It's not-- don't worry about that, Sasha. I just gotta take this stuff with food, y'know? Only reason it's so many is 'cause if it was one it'd be like, this big, and I got a real bad gag reflex.

[ He holds his fingers apart, about the distance of a half-dollar. ]

They're vitamins. Anyway, let's drop it. [ He leans over the table, putting pressure on his elbows. ] What do you wanna do after we eat?

So sensitive...

[ But she concedes with a half-shrug, even if something nags at her in the back of her head until he asks what's on the agenda after dinner. She sits up properly, keeping her elbows on the table and starts counting off on her fingers all the things they could do. ]

Hmmm! Well, there's a beach nearby, right? We could throw crabs back into the water or see who can skip rocks the farthest, or bury someone in the sand, go to the arcade, or the movies... um, I'm not very good at dancing, but if you wanted to do that it'd be okay.

[ It's difficult deciding when all those options she listed are fairly tempting to her. ]

I'm not sensitive, but you asked -- it just isn't worth talking about, that's all. Sheesh.

[ Anyway, he gladly welcomes the subject change and will continue to run with it, because sometimes Reggie just can't stand being talked about. Let him marinate in his issues on his own time, thank you very much. ]

The beach could be okay. Not so sure about those ideas, but there's plenty of crap to do down there. Maybe there'll be fireworks after the sun goes down. [ Idly, he chews his lower lip. ] You know it's gonna be cold, though.

[ Fireworks? She cringes slightly, luckily just barely noticeable before she forces a smile. She doesn't want to shoot down the idea since Reggie's taken her to dinner at this fancy diner and gifted her a cute bracelet, but the loud noises have a tendency to remind her of gun and cannon fire so she's not overly enthusiastic over the idea. ]

That sounds nice... [ Haha... ] Uh, if it's cold we don't have to. What do you want to do?

I dunno. We could go to an amusement park or something, I guess -- probably won't be too crowded on Valentine's Day, most people'll be at restaurants, hotels and probably the beach also.

[ Ferris wheels were romantic though, right? Eerily normal to think about, yes, but that went for pretty much the entire life Reggie had managed to cultivate in the year and a half he'd been here. ]

Or we could always just go back to my place. Or yours. Why overthink it?

Wait, wait — the parks are open already?

[ She rests her chin into her hands again, beaming at Reggie and giving his ankle an excited nudge. ]

We can play bowling or bumper cars... I'm really good at those mini-games where you have to hit the target. They rig a lot of them, so the trick is to throw real hard. [ The pros of being raised a bow-wielding hunter and a soldier.

At the mention of returning to their places, she blushes a bit. ] Ah, we can always do that after, can't we?

Sure, why shouldn't they be? I mean, it's not like it's cold enough right now to snow.

[ Not this far south in Florida... barring any freak weather incidents, of course. Reggie crunches a piece of ice from his water glass carefully between his teeth and raises his eyebrow. ]

You don't do crap like bumper cars on Valentine's Day -- has to at least be something where you sit together, like a ferris wheel or roller coaster. [ Because then they could hold on to each other if it was scary. ] Bowling's all right, though... we could do that, if you want.

[ Then, smirking: ]

Come on, you even gotta ask?

Who says it has to be?

[ It would have been fun to hit people in non-lethal ways playing bumper cars, but she's fond enough of heights that ferris wheels and roller coasters aren't something off putting to her. ]

Ferris wheel might be fun... I thought you didn't like heights. [ She pauses, unsure where that suggestion had even come from. A part of her is convinced she once snatched him up into a tree with her 3DMG, but the other half is trying to remind her it had been in a nightmare brought on by Lucifer. ] ... maybe I dreamed that.

[ Her smile widens, but she lowers her voice so others don't overhear them talking about that. ]

Later! Pervert...

Everyone says -- that the whole point of the stupid holiday! It's s'pposed to be at least a little romantic, not just stuff you'd do on any old day.

[ He clicks his tongue idly, semi-impatiently, but then gives her an odd look over his water glass as he empties it. What does Sasha mean by that? As always, when Reggie feels like he's missing a step somewhere, he feels a vague sense of nervousness settle over and cling to his chest. ]

Yeah, you must've. Heights are a stupid thing to be-- [ A vague memory, probably tied to this exact thing, stirs, but Reggie can't quite grab hold to it. ] Well, sure. I'm not saying right here on the table, am I?

That doesn't sound real...

[ She stretches across the table bored now, leaning the side of her face against the table and trying to keep her feet from twitching. However, she's already getting tired of sitting down and waiting so she sits up and glances around the room as if she's sizing the place up. ]

Hungry...

[ That's all she mutters before she vanishes from her chair without warning. It takes another couple of minutes before she reemerges in the exact same spot, holding close what appears to be grilled chicken bits that would normally go into a salad. She's stuffing the pieces into her mouth quickly, before any of the waitresses notice what she has in her hand. ]

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we can learn how to chill

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