smash_logs | It's a date~

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It's a date~

Who: Brock and Erika
What: The most socially awkward bee is taking the flower princess on a date. It is an awkwardly good time.
When: The evening of September 15th.
Where: A restaurant! Downtown! ~Whoa~
Rated: `````````````````` (That was what my cat rated it, but I would rate it G for gay.)

Erika was not entirely sure what to do with herself. Was she nervous? Of course. Not enough to make posts about to the network (which she didn't know about), but it had been a while since she had been on a real date. At least one without any misunderstandings or false assumptions. This time it was with someone that she truly liked and they liked her back and….

…And she got a little red in the face every time she thought about it. Now that they weren't actually baiting their time until death closed in on them, she could afford to feel a bit embarrassed. Just a little. She mostly felt dim for having not said anything sooner, but they had fixed that rather effectively.

It did not take her very long to get ready. The hardest part had been determining whether or not to change into something less… over done. In the end she decided against it. It was what was most normal for the both of them after all. So instead there was a little makeup, some time on her hair…

Mostly a lot of distracted waiting for eight o'clock.

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To say Brock was nervous would have been an understatement. Brock was beyond nervous. Thinking they were all dying had given him a burst of courage that was all but gone now, and he'd spent the entire afternoon freaking out and convincing himself that he was probably going to botch the evening. He did not go on dates very often.

That is to say not very often at all.

Bob had been kind enough to provide him with an outfit, a pair of khakis that were certainly better than he old, worn cargo pants. It was a bit too warm for a sweater, BUT NOT FOR A SWEATERVEST, so he'd pulled that over a button-down and went on his way.

He knew he shouldn't have been so jittery, but at this point it was just something he couldn't help. Even with Misty and Raiden's advice bouncing around in his head, it was hard to shake the feeling that somehow he'd do or say the wrong thing and that would be it.

But Brock wouldn't know that for sure until the night got underway. He reached Erika's door and knocked.

He didn't have very long to wait. The door opened and... Well okay that wasn't Erika, that was a Pokemon in a hula skirt. Bellossom stared up at him in a way that indicated that she knew exactly where his Pokemon slept and et cetera and so forth. The look did not have long enough to really register because Erika was quick behind her.

"Thank you," she told the little plant, who took her cue to ride off into the room on the back of the Vileplume she was sitting on. (Alas, her flower was too heavy to give Brock the proper threatening looks.)

Now her attention was on him. "...Hello." She was smiling at him. He looked quite nice, actually. Out of habit, Erika briefly wondered if those pants were new or if he had just been saving them or... that wasn't important. "Are you ready to go?"

The door opened and...no one was there!

Or so he thought, before his gaze traveled downward about a foot or so. Brock barely had time to wonder if Bellossom and Vileplume always answered the door like that, because there was Erika.

"Hey." He returned her smile and straightened, fidgeting with the hem of the sweater. "I'm ready." They might as well have been stepping into the great unknown.

"You look nice."

"Lovely."

She just had to slip her sandals on and she was good to go. Erika shut the door behind her as she stepped in to the hallway. The compliment caught her a little off guard and she brushed some of her hair back in a bit of nervous cheerfulness. Something that simple seemed to mean so much more now. Her smile broadened. "Thank you... That looks nice on you."

Was she picking at his sleeve YES SHE WAS. It was sticking up funny okay.

"What did you have in mind for tonight?"

"Thanks." He said, feeling heat rise to his face as they made their way down the hall and outside. Erika's playing with his shirt sleeve did nothing to quell the butterflies in his stomach, but before he knew it, they were on their way downtown.

"Um, I thought we could grab a bite to eat and maybe catch a movie. If that's okay with you."

Satisfied that she had tamed the wrinkles of his shirt sleeve, she had kept her hands to herself once they had left the hallway. They were walking into the bold, new world of mystery dates.

Mystery dates that were not very mysterious for long as he answered the question. "That sounds like a perfectly enjoyable evening," she replied with a nod. This was exciting! She kept near his side as they walked, following him to their destination. Erika had never made a habit of going downtown, so she honestly had no idea where he was leading her.

The part about keeping her hands to herself might have been a lie, because that was her hand taking his right there. Yep.

She said it was a good idea! Brock allowed himself a tiny sigh of relief. Granted, dinner and a movie was Misty's idea (or maybe it was Bob's...being bombarded with advice all afternoon had left him a little jumbled), but it was going over well! He'd managed to not mess things up in the first five minutes, which was always a good thing. Or he assumed it was a good thing. Brock didn't date often.

"It's just a little place downtown. I haven't been there yet, but I've heard it's good." Heard from a panicked 4 PM internet search, but Erika didn't need to know that.

He almost jumped when he felt her hand on his before he remembered that yes, this was a date, and yes, it was okay for him to entwine his fingers with hers. "How was your trip to Kanto?"

"It was..." The words started before she thought out the entirety of her response. Normally they were all good trips. This one, too, would have been considered a good trip. "It was strange," she finished quietly.

Erika lifted her eyes to look at the stars that had started to come out, but they were hidden beyond the light of the city and she frowned a bit. "Everything was just as it should have been. The gym was just as it should have been. The girls were all just fine... They didn't know about any of it, of course. It felt as though I were not actually there." Erika sighed, dropping her gaze back ahead of them. "I ended up sending them all back home after just a few hours." That part had been said as if it was some huge, embarrassing secret. As far as Erika was concerned, it probably was.

For Brock's ears only: Do Not Tell.

By contrast, Brock hadn't even told his gym or his family what had happened that weekend--he couldn't bring himself to, opting to write notes instead. Of course, they were promptly shredded once they realized no one had ever been in any danger.

It surprised him a little that Erika seemed ever-so-slightly distressed by her trip back home. Going back to Kanto was something she liked. Brock understood that a gym was the leader's pride and joy. Seeing Erika so disconcerted was...well...disconcerting.

"You shut down the gym for the day? Is everything all right?"

"Everything's fine." Now. She was a little flustered, but she meant it. "It was... just a little too soon, I think."

A little too soon to watch things progress as they always had as if nothing at all had happened. It had just been a whirlwind of strong emotions that just hadn't stopped even when she had stepped down in Kanto. She held his hand a little tighter for just a moment. Lingering fears and doubts were hard to shake, but she was keeping her chin up now.

She glanced at him with a rueful smile. "I'm glad I went. I don't think I've ever seen my mother cry before... It was very surreal... but I think I needed or I would have just thought it was all a dream."

"If you're sure."

Brock had admittedly been shaken. He didn't think he could have told his family because he didn't think he could stand their reactions. It was terrible of him to withhold the event from his parents and brothers and sisters, but Brock figured ignorance would be bliss--especially now that all the panic had turned out to be for nothing. It just didn't seem worth it.

"It's over now, that's what matters."

She nodded. "Yes. We can only move forward from here."

Well. Now that it was only slightly awkward. Erika made a slight wave with her other hand as if she was trying to wave the conversation to the other side of the street, away from them. "Ahh, but I did not mean to drag the mood down. My apologies."

Brock was willing to accept "slightly awkward", if only because most of his conversations with girls were really awkward, and also "slightly awkward" was certainly more favorable than "incorrigible crash and burn".

Still, he hadn't wanted to make her feel like she couldn't or shouldn't be talking about the strange event and its aftermath. "No, don't worry about it. It's not like we can pretend it didn't happen."

It took him a moment to realize what else that implied. That they couldn't pretend the weekend didn't happen, or they wouldn't be heading downtown this summer evening.

"Certainly not," Erika agreed. "But it still does not do much good to dwell on it."

Not everything that had occurred during the weekend was bad. Some of it, as the warmth of his hand reminded her, was actually rather nice. How long would it have taken for something like this to happen without such extreme prompting? It was a mystery.

"Though... I believe more good might have come of it than anything."

Hearing Erika say that some good came out of the antidote disaster gave him a serious case of the warm fuzzies. If she was referring to what he thought she was referring to, anyway.

The conversation had proved distracting enough that he almost didn't realize they were downtown. But there they were, and Brock was holding the door open to the cafe-slash-dinner place he totally found all by himself with no outside help.

...Okay so Bob suggested the place, but Erika did not have to know that. It really was a nice cafe, though. "Hopefully this is okay?"

She made a slight bow of her head along with her "thank you" as she passed him. Habits were afoot. Erika waited for him to follow her inside before she gave the place a really good look.

There was something familiar about this cafe but Erika couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. Maybe she'd heard about it from someone or something. Perhaps it was the dozens upon dozens of fliers that were up at school. At any rate, it was a lot nicer than Erika had anticipated. Not that she had been expecting anything atrocious at all. Had he been worried about it?

Erika smiled at him. "Yes it is."

Though... was it just her, or did it seem a little empty?

As if the cafe suddenly heard their thoughts, the lights inside all dramatically lit up, but instead of the usual lighting, it seemed like light bulbs were floating and flickering in the air. In reality, they were smarms of Volbeat (http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Volbeat_%28Pok%C3%A9mon%29) and Illumise (http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Illumise_%28Pok%C3%A9mon%29), the ladies leading the men into forming small shapes around them.

Through the glass, only one table could be visible, covered in a white silken tablecloth, expensive silverware, dishes and sterling tea set (http://images.replacements.com/images/images5/flatware/I/international_silver_prelude_plain_sterling_hollowware_7_piece_tea_set_waste_kettle_tray_P0000127868S0125T2.jpg), smoke escaping from the tea pot. Something was in there, hot and boiling. Close to them a few floral (http://www.savannahartglass.com/images/Ikebana.jpg) arrangements.

Yet no one seemed inside.

It was then that an all-to familiar voice appeared from behind them, dressed in a suit that looked like if a server and a business man had had a terrible accident together. Regal, yet maid like?

"Hello!"

Brock nearly jumped out of his shoes. Sure, Bob had recommended the cafe, but he didn't quite expect her to be here. Now how was he going to make like he'd scouted this place all by himself? Obviously he was just going to have to roll with this.

"Um. Hi Bob. Fancy...meeting you here."

Because the restaurant reserved just for them was totally not suspicious at all. Nope.

Erika had just been about to start critiquing the floral arrangements to herself when suddenly! GOD. It was very safe to say that Brock had not been the only startled one. "Ahh... Bob, good evening."

What was that outfit.

Now the plant gym leader was just looking between the both of them, her initial surprise becoming more of a curiosity. Mostly because... well what wasn't curious about this scenario, seriously.

"Are you... here for dinner as well?" It was all too clear that no, no she was not, unless she was joining them at the one (1) table, but Erika asked anyway.

"No, of course not!" she said, with a cheerful smile. "Brock asked me if he could reserve the restaurant for the both of you. It was such a heartwarming and lovely request I couldn't say no!"

Wait, was Bob doing a little white lie so Brock would seem like he had thought of everything? Well, it wasn't like Erika would know . The front door opened and she beckoned them inside, as a flocks of butterfree and jumpluff took their cue to fly off into the air.

"Come in, come in! I've prepared a ten course meal just for the both of you, and I do hope it will be both to your liking."

Edited 2010-10-06 10:45 (UTC)

Bob. What. Bob. Bob.

This was altogether too much. Brock wasn't sure whether to be thrilled or embarrassed, but the fact of the matter was, Arceus was bending over backwards for a dumb kid like him. The very thought was enough to send all the blood rushing to his face.

Still, he had to stay cool. Betraying his mortification would certainly spell disaster. Fighting back the urge to crawl under the nearest table, he smiled weakly and offered his arm to the gym leader next to him. "Shall we?"

A reservation of an entire restaurant just for them. At Arceus' restaurant no less. With a 10 course meal and an explosion of Butterfree and Jumpluff and what was even happening. Oh Brock you were very silly. This set up was entirely too much.

It was kind of sweet. A little much, yes, but sweet.

Erika took his proffered arm, giving him a smile. "Yes please."

It was too much, yes, but he wasn't about to argue with Arceus, of all people. And he certainly wasn't going to deny her help, however excessive it was. Had he been more confident in his abilities to woo the ladies, he would have felt slightly insulted by Bob's overcompensation, but as it was, Brock felt he needed all the help he could get.

They made their way to a table and soon enough, they were seated. Still trying to fight back the butterflies in his stomach, he figured that this was the part of the date where conversation really got started. "She really outdid herself." He whispered.

"She certainly did," was Erika's whispered reply. Now that they were sitting it was easier to take in a proper view of all of the extravagance. Knowing it was all for them... Well. Erika felt like it was certainly an honor of sorts. "I'll have to ask her later if she was the one that did the flowers..." Probably.

Bob already had the dinner plans laid down, so it wasn't a surprise that there was a lack of menus about. Instead Erika's attention was drawn to the lightly steaming teapot on the table, and the cute little cups that went with it. She hadn't noticed it when they first walked in, but there it was bubbling away in an enticing fashion. It seemed to beckon to be used. Erika made a reach for it, smiling over at Brock.

"Would you care for a cup?"

Brock was not necessarily one for tea, but he certainly didn't dislike it, and seeing as Bob had prepared everything just for them, it seemed wrong to turn it down. He knew Erika was quite the aficionado, anyway.

"Um, sure." Was his eventual reply. He offered his cup, taking care not to spill anything.

Finding it too hot to drink, he set it aside for the moment and awkwardly twisted his hands together underneath the table. He knew there was a lot they needed to talk about tonight, but he wasn't sure how to bring it up. They'd only just sat down, surely there were other conversations to have. But at the same time, Brock knew if he put it off, he'd find excuses forever.

He took a deep breath as if preparing to jump into icy water. "So, um. About Saturday..."

A cup for him, and a gentle slide of the sugar dish should he want it. A cup for herself, and Erika carefully picked it up to take a cautious sip. There was a light note of apples and spice. It tasted like fall.

She set the cup down on its saucer when he spoke. It was definitely not a conversation she wanted the night to end without having, so Erika was a bit relieved that it was going to be one of the first. "About Saturday..." she repeated softly, regarding him closely. There were a lot of things about Saturday. Picking where to start was a hard choice to make.

Well, there wasn't really much point in beating around the bush when they were off on a date, was there? Erika had an idea about what part he might have wanted to talk about it. "I meant what I said."

Brock started spooning sugar into his tea, not even sure that he really needed it, just finding that he wanted something to do with his hands besides wring them together, because that made them sweaty and gross.

He was glad, though, that easing into this particular serious discussion did not deter Erika. A part of him had been so afraid that they were going to go out tonight, and she'd say that Saturday had been on impulse and that would be that. Hearing her say she really meant it...

He bit his lip and stared into his steaming cup. "How long?" It was, perhaps rather obviously, less of a 'how long have you had feelings for me' and more of a 'how long have a I been a big, dumb idiot'.

Her hands wrapped around her cup, the warmth spreading through her palms making the warmth on her cheeks easier to ignore. "Ah... well...off and on..."

Erika picked up the tea and took an idle sip. Admitting how long was a bit embarrassing simply because of how silly it all seemed in hindsight. It was a bit hard to share that she apparently had the tendencies of a schoolgirl when it came to this. At her age! She should have been above that sort of thing. "At least two seems right."

"Years, that is... Hm."

"Oh."

On one hand, it was probably good she hadn't been pining away forever and ever, but two years was a long time. He understood the feeling of waiting and wondering...not acting because you thought you weren't good enough. Brock wasn't sure if that's what Erika had felt, but that was probably the best way he could understand it. It was probably a similar feeling.

"I'm...sorry." He cast his eyes downward and tried to sip his tea. It was still too hot, and he sputtered when it burned his tongue. Smooth.

Erika shook her head. "You have nothing to apologize for." She glanced up at him with a bit of worry at his sputtering, not outright reminding him to be careful with the hot liquid but... well the tea had done a good job of that.

Once she was sure that he was in fact alright, she continued on a bit. "I could have said something earlier but... with as often as we got to see each other before now, I was certain there must have been others you were interested in."

"No, that's not..." He trailed off, not entirely sure where he was going with that. True, Brock could probably find something attractive and desirable about every girl he knew. Erika, though. Erika was different. He wasn't sure when he'd realized that, but sitting here with her now...he could hardly believe it.

"I mean...I just. I would have said something too, but I was worried..." Brock wasn't quite sure how to best word it. I was worried I wasn't good enough. "No, nevermind. It's not important."

Oh no now he had her curious. That was a terribly horrible thing for Erika to be, Brock, didn't you know that. She seemed to try and get the answer from his face, but that just wasn't working.

"No, it's important if you have something to say," she said reassuringly. After a moment she add, "Though not necessarily right now." The last thing she wanted was for him to feel pressured, even if she was curious.

"It's..." He searched for an appropriate word. "It's silly."

Though, perhaps it was important for him to get these things off his chest. If this date was going to become two or more, he was going to have to try his best to be honest, even if his trains of thought were often hard to admit.

He sighed and dumped another spoonful of sugar into his tea, stirring it as a distraction. "I don't know, I just...I don't think any girl has ever...liked me, so I guess I figured you...wouldn't be any different. I mean, let's face it, I'm not the most...socially adept."

Brock laughed nervously and lifted his cup. "Like I said, it's silly."

That was going to be the sweetest tea ever.

Perhaps it was just because she was monumentally biased in the subject, but Erika had a hard time processing that information. "A little silly... but one can't help believing something if they're never contradicted."

Erika smiled at him from over her cup. "I'm sure there must have been plenty of girls that liked you. You might not be the most... socially graceful..." She trailed for just a moment, frowning just slightly. "But if they didn't see all the good you have in you, perhaps it's better that way."

Brock was admittedly not very good at taking compliments, and Erika's words made him feel like he was going to explode. So much for not being socially awkward. "Erika..."

He wasn't sure what to say beyond that, so he took a generous sip of tea in the meantime, as if it would magically give him the answer. Instead, all he got was a mouthful of the most sickeningly sweet tea he'd ever had, but Brock supposed that was his own fault. At least it had cooled down and he wasn't burning himself all over the place.

"Thanks."

"I'm sorry for not saying it sooner."

Confidence was something he needed a little more of outside of the gym, that much Erika knew. Perhaps it was just a matter of nurturing. She set her tea aside for the moment, a little mischief hinting in the curve of her lips.

"I'll just have to make up for missed chances."

And what a perfect moment for the first part of the meal to come! Bob appeared again, with two black square plates that rested in her hands delicately balanced.

"First course is an amuse-bouche!" she explained. "One of my specialties, actually." There was a small laugh as she set the plates down. "Lemon jelly submerged by fennel puree with a tapenade on top (http://londonfood.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/amuse_bouche.jpg). I know it might sound a little unusual, but it will open up your pallet for the next part of the meal to come." With a tiny bow, she exited back into the kitchen, stage right.

Edited 2010-10-11 11:54 (UTC)

"Oh, um. Thanks, Bob." Her timing was truly impeccable. Brock watched her return to the kitchen and then moved his gaze to what she had delivered. The description of the tiny little dish (it was sort of adorable) had gone right over his head.

Sure, Brock did his fair share of cooking, but there was a huge difference between making the world's best comfort food and being an actual gourmet. He stared at the first course and leaned in towards Erika, his voice low.

"What is it?"

Oh goodness look at its little cup and its little spoon. "Thank you," Erika had told Bob with a bright smile before the pokemon god had made her exit.

Growing up fancy pants style in a fairly large city in a melting pot sort of place meant that Erika was equipped with the definitions of a few fancy pants words. She wasn't an expert by any means, as her family had never gone out to eat with a bang that often, but she felt fairly confident.

Erika chuckled and leaned towards him in turn, as if the explanation was a secretive affair. "It's an hors d’œuvre... It's used to showcase the chef's talents." She pointed to the various elements of the tiny dish. "That's the lemon jelly. This is the fennel, I believe. It's a type of herb..." She paused at the dark center, a look of perplexity crossing her features.

"...I've never had tapenade before. I think it's French?"

Pewter City was certainly not a hub of cultural development, and Brock's general ignorance of lemon jelly and fennel and tapanade was certainly reflective of that. What if it tasted bad.

He stared at it a little more. French! Like Fantina~~'s boobs~~! Amazing! It did look a little funny, though. Lemon jelly sounded okay but all the other stuff went right over his head. But he didn't want to offend the god of Pokemon, not when she'd gone through all the trouble to set this up for them.

A spoon was plunged into the tiny bowl and held up to Erika. "Maybe you should try it first."

"Alright." And nom. An interesting plethora of flavor and texture hit her tongue all in one go. Sweet, a little salty, smooth and just a little... not quite grainy, but ... oh hello licorice taste you were totally the fennel because you certainly were not the lemon jelly.

"... That was quite interesting," she remarked. She followed suit with her own spoon, lifting a bit up towards him. "See for yourself."

WELL. It wasn't poisoned. Not that he thought it was poisoned, that would be silly. Mostly he was just worried it was going to be gross. But Erika seemed to enjoy it, so that was good enough for him.

He stared at Erika's spoon for a few moments, as if unsure what to do. But then he figured she was just returning the gesture, and leaned forward to take the utensil (and the mysterious first course) into his mouth. Om.

It was good! Surprisingly good, for something that looked as strange as it did. In fact, he decided to voice just that. "It's good."

Edited 2010-10-27 01:37 (UTC)

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It's a date~

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I AM SO SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG, SOB.

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cop out: the tag

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