recolle | love's not a competition [closed]

[tmw it's five minutes to showtime and you're only just heading out the door]

[It takes a bit of a jog to get to their designated meet-up point on time, but Arlene prides herself on her ability to move in heels. She arrives only a little disheveled, trying to look casual as she surreptitiously adjusts her top and uses the selfie mode on her phone to check her hair.]

Oh! You're here already.

[Inwardly cursing herself for taking so long to pick an outfit- though she's quite proud of the emerald green number she went with- she puts on a smile for him, anyway. If anyone asks, she's here exactly when and how she intended to be.]

What, did you expect me to be late?

[he sounds snappy, but he answers amicably with a big smile. he's leaning against his parked scooter, their mode of transportation for the day (you're welcome), looking quite alright in his trousers (who shopped for him??) and a button-up for the occasion.]

[on the seat of his scooter, he's got two paper-wrapped bouquets. the first, he picks and gives it to arlene with an easy smile.]

Here you go! Got it from the store.

[don't ask him what the second one is for though]

[Arlene takes the offered bouquet, her smile softening into something more genuine. Her cheeks are only a little red because it's cold and she was running, though. Yup. Nothing to cover up here, she's holding them to her face because they smell nice!!]

You're such a sap. So... [Lowering the flowers from her face, she gestures to the other bunch.] Still doing deliveries, or what?

[She eyes the scooter dubiously. Her dress wasn't chosen with a scooter in mind... at least the dark leggings under it will protect her dignity.]

[it's fine! he's actually had lunafreya ride his scooter, and that girl dresses fancy as fuck. pretty sure arlene can handle this with her leggings. besides, the scooter has a nice seat for a passenger in the back]

Hm? Oh, no! I finished a bit earlier.

[he points at the other flowers with his thumb]

These are for Noct.

[...no explanation follows]

[In the absence of an explanation, she can easily fill in one of her own. Her smile fades as she raises an eyebrow.]

Wait, are you--?

[ambiguously gay? yep.]

[prompto crosses his arms and frowns in return to her eyebrow raise]

A great friend? Of course! There's no way I'm letting him down after I dragged him into this in the first place.

[Well... he probably didn't sign his boyfriend up on a blind date. Who does that? The dots aren't really connecting, and Arlene still looks a little dubious, but she shrugs.]

Okay. Want to go get a coffee or something before we tail 'em?

[unless he's a strange one, which he is. thankfully--this is not the case.]

Oh, sure! I don't think they're anywhere near each other right now anyway.

[with sleepy habits and everything, who knows]

Any place in particular?

[he starts for his scooter, holding it by the handles and straightening it, just in case arlene wants to go somewhere in the city.]

Not Expressive. The whole town's gonna be there.

[Plus they're kind of her work's rivals, but avoiding it because of that would imply she actually cares about her job...

She follows, eyeing the thing for a minute before she hoists herself into the passenger seat. Once he's aboard, she'll be utterly casual about hanging onto him for stability.]

If not that place, how about The Confectionery?

[it's fine, he thinks, as safety comes first. he turns around and offers her his helmet and also the other flowers]

[don't argue with him about this]

They got drinks and snacks there, too.

[ew she doesn't want your used helmet??? It's probably full of hair gel]

[Actually nah it's good, she has no idea what to expect from his driving. She puts it on and shuffles both bouquets into one hand, briefly bringing them to her face to smell-

A memory slots into place where it hadn't existed a few seconds ago. There was a man in black, tall, broad-shouldered, perpetually showered in rose petals. They drifted through the air wherever he was, spontaneously generated out of seemingly nothing. A hood concealed his features, but she thinks he might have had blue eyes; it's on the edge of her memory, she knows she should know him-]

Huh? Oh... yeah, that's fine.

[She leans into Prompto's back and squeezes her eyes shut. The image comes back easily, but the mystery man's face isn't becoming any clearer.]

[in the meantime, prompto is none the wiser to what arlene's going through; he just turns on the scooter and starts driving it out of the campus' area. it's only a bit awkward to have her press against him like that, but maybe she gets motion sickness?]

[it's fine]

[at a red light, he turns over his shoulder]

Uh, you okay?

[Arlene opens her eyes. Her answer is uncharacteristically quiet.]

Fine. Just a... weird head rush.

[Wait, crap, that's not any less worrisome is it? Well... he gave her flowers, she can give him a little honesty just this once. She straightens up, moving her grip to his shoulders.]

Hey, does this thing go any faster?

Edited (Hi I'm from the department of redundancy department, issuing myself a citation for not proofreading before I send) 2017-02-16 03:11 (UTC)

[my driving's not so bad, is it... is all prompto can think about--when arlene prompts him to go faster? he looks up at the still red light then down towards the ignition. please, he's trying his best!]

Soon as it's green we'll go. Just... let me know if you need a break though?

[he would probably never hear the end of it if she puked because of him]

[a few seconds later, the green light--and prompto scooters off]

Edited 2017-02-19 15:28 (UTC)

[Diversion attempt: failed. Maybe she should have waited until they were moving again.]

It's sweet of you to worry and all, but I'm fine. [She sticks her hand out, giving a thumbs up that's somewhat awkward with a handful of flowers.] Promise.

[and they're off! zoom~ Much as she'd like to give him crap about the scooter (and will when she's talking to Chloe later,) it's actually kind of fun from back here? She hums a slightly off-key pop song to herself and watches the city go by until they get to the Confectionery.]

[and here we are. prompto parks the bike and waits for arlene to get off before he does the same, locking up the drive system with his key.]

Maybe you're feeling hungry. Whatever it is, it might go away after you get something to fill you up.

[scratches his nose, and grabs the flowers...for noct...from her (this will look funny, the two of them holdings flowers)]

After you~

[Prooooooompto. Come on, let a girl have her pride. Arlene gently whaps him about the shoulders with her bouquet, scattering a few pink petals. Thankfully, the sight doesn't do anything weird to her head this time.]

Hey. What part of "I'm fine" is so hard to understand?

[She wouldn't turn down a snack, though, so she leads the way indoors, a waft of baking-sugar scent puffing out into the street as she opens the door. And look! They're here at a relatively unbusy time--it's a Valentine's miracle.]

[that's not what flowers are for!! he means to protest, but gives himself up to the idea that arlene will just find another excuse to sock him or something instead. so, instead, prompto heads on over after her and into the bakery.]

[there's a table for two they can sit at, and prompto does just that, immediately looking through the coins in his wallet]

Alright. Is there anything in particular you want? I think I'm going for donuts, and maybe a hot drink...

[Hey, the flowers survived. Mostly. (What shape are they going to be in after being carried around for the whole date, though...)]

[She settles into the chair across from him and props her elbow on the table, looking over his head at the menu on the wall.]

A hot drink sounds fantastic. I could go for a cinnamon latte... mmm... maybe one of those chocolate cherry cupcakes.

[prompto is happy to find that he has enough for those things (after a couple glances at the menu and considering the prices). he stands, abruptly, and asks arlene to wait there for him.]

[he makes the queue, orders for himself and arlene, pays up, and returns with a tray of their consumables, quickly sitting down]

Here y'go~ Hope I got the order right.

[he'll start biting into his boston creme donut #easy]

[oh no what a sweetheart, what a classic date]

You did. Thanks.

[No mockery, no tsundere antics or patronizing nicknames- it seems she's actually being sincere for a change, taking her items with a soft smile.

She takes a moment to try her coffee (decent, even if she's so used to A Good Bean's that she can't help but compare) and a nibble of cupcake before making small talk.]

So... any idea where Their Royal Highnesses are even going?

Probably something fancy.

["fancy," not for dumb boys who get powder all over their cheeks and lips after biting into a donut. he cleans up after some more embarrassing seconds of this]

And expensive. Noct probably hates the idea of being out at all.

For sure, expensive. Vera tried to pay with a hundred last time she was at my work. Seriously!

[Oh, sunshine. She breaks into a wide grin at the sight of him with powdered sugar all across his face.]

Hey, you missed a spot.

[Taking up a napkin, she leans over the table and dabs at his nose with it. A couple heads turn their way, which she ignores, entirely focused on gauging whether he's turning red enough under all those adorable freckles.

Seemingly satisfied, she nods and sits back, proclaiming in a sing-song tone:]

Better~.

Edited 2017-02-25 20:59 (UTC)

[all prompto knows is that his best friend is fucking loaded, and while that's never been a point of interest for prompto, he's always remarkably aware that while noctis' tastes were on the simpler side of things--the guy could afford the finest of five-star locations if he wanted to, no sweat.]

[if there's anything to gauge by his expression, is the surprise at being caught off-guard by the action and the consequent growing flustered under the rather motherly? and embarrassing.. action...]

[look, prompto isn't used to these kind of things]

Yeah! Uh, thanks.

[he's going to be self-conscious of how he eats his donut now...]

[Call her "motherly" to her face and this coffee's going on your shirt, buddy.]

[Awww, he's so cute when he's embarrassed. Arlene giggles to herself, smugly pleased as the proverbial cat that ate the canary. How fitting, given his hairstyle.]

Anytime. You're sure he's not going to, like, stand her up? If he hates it that much.

[She plucks the cherry garnish off the top of her cupcake and pops it into her mouth. Fortunately for Prompto and everybody else in the café, she just bites it off the stem like a normal person instead of trying to do any weird tongue tricks.]

[keep it cool, buddy.]

[by "cool," it means prompto is glancing down at his hot drink and tapping at it, awkwardness clear. he's not as cool! and confident! as he pretends to be, okay!]

Nah, he wouldn't... He doesn't like making others feel offended or made fun of.

[Time to dial it back for now? Probably. As fun as it is to watch him squirm, she doesn't want to actually ruin their date. After all, he's cute and he's been nice to her so far... and she'd miss out on the opportunity to make him squirm more later.

Which is her real priority here, you gotta wonder.]

[She leans in ever so slightly, curious about the sleepy rich kid she vaguely recalls from high school.]

Never got the impression he cared about much of anything.

Edited 2017-02-28 03:59 (UTC)

Well, that's the thing. He doesn't care that others did or didn't have an impression.

[prompto shrugs his shoulders, taking a sip of his drink--and finally lifting his gaze, relaxing a bit more.]

He likes to use his energy on things he finds important, and making an impression isn't one of them. He doesn't like letting others down though, for sure.

Edited 2017-02-28 04:15 (UTC)

How about you?

[She picks up her latte and swirls it around, her blue-green gaze fixed on him.]

What do you like to use your energy on? Besides pictures, I mean, everybody knew that.

[...oh, that's quite the question. he does many things with his energy, but they're probably not the answer arlene's looking for. so, he shrugs]

On being the best kind of person I can be.

[#cheesy]

Edited 2017-02-28 04:53 (UTC)

[Believe it or not, she wasn't looking for any answer in particular. Just getting to know her date a little better.

She snickers a little, raising her cup to hide it.]

Sap.

You know me. Head in the clouds, and all that.

[he's a simple fool, but he's smiling. and does--not literally--turn the tables on her]

What about you? What is it you do?

[she brought it on herself, and takes it in stride.]

I act! Don't tell me you haven't seen a single play on our fair campus, you'd break my little heart. [She winks at him before clutching her chest dramatically, dipping back in a mock swoon.]

[Of course, that's like him saying "I take pictures." Everybody knows. She makes sure of that. After a moment, she rests her elbows on the table and leans in again.]

I like dancing... people watching... I could take or leave long walks on the beach.

It's not like I've been invited to any~

[that's easily amendable, without him having to feel guilty about having not done so. but it's true; he hasn't attended a single play because he's either too busy or had no idea they were taking place at all.]

...surprisingly quiet things. You always seemed more the type to want to be the centre of attention.

[from...high school. finishes up his drink]

You don't have to be invited, dork-

[oh nooooo how dare he call her out like this? It's her turn to be awkward, her eyes flicking away from him as she picks at the remains of her cake.]

I'm full of surprises.

Tell me about it!

[he smiles big, leaning back on his chair a bit, tipping it on its hind legs]

I wonder if others are making new friends out of this blind date thing... Aahh, I hope so...

[please don't fall, prompto. a concussion would just spoil the whole evening

and also your date would probably laugh at you. she'd feel bad about it later, but she'd laugh.

At least she seems to relax a little when he doesn't take the opening to make fun of her.]

That's Sunshine. [She uses the nickname casually- not talking down to him for a change, just making an observation.]

[he turns his smile at her, grinning, slamming down the chair onto the floor before he becomes another statistic]

Yup. You know me, looking at the bright side of things.

[he clearly has not taken this as offense]

What about you? Having a good date yet?

Hmmm...

[She leans on the table, propping her chin on her hand, her head cocked to the side a little as she looks at him. His smile is contagious; she can't help breaking into one of her own.]

Maaay~be I am. [wink] Ask me again in a little while.

What's with that?

[prompto can't play these smooth games]

Anyway, wanna check where Noct and Vera are off to next?

[if her being obtuse for the sake of it is coming off as smooth, she's ahead of her game]

Already? [Ugh, why did she agree to take time out of her afternoon for Vera...] Sure, I guess it's time.

love's not a competition [closed]

Blonde Failboat Spy Adventures (ie. Arlene and Prompto)

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/pulls a coffee flavor out of a hat

Re: /pulls a coffee flavor out of a hat

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