InsaneJournal

Log: Tabby Smith and Berto Da Costa
SUMMARY: Berto takes Tabby out to the movies and they flirt, discuss Ric/Star (which apparently they both ship) and finally have The Talk. There is much :D at the end.

BERTO: To the casual observer it probably didn't seem like Berto noticed much outside of his own problems. He was fairly reserved after all, spending most of his time at work or hanging out with his cousin and friends. It wasn't often that Berto got involved in the politics of the hotel or took part in the journal wars, preferring to watch from the sidelines instead. However one thing -or person rather- that broke this trend was Tabitha Smith and Berto had quickly decided that anything which affected her automatically became his problem too. Most likely it was a simple case of smitten teenage boy but regardless of how serious or not their relationship might be, it was safe to say they liked each other. So the minute he'd had the chance Berto had insisted on taking Tabby out on a date, wanting to distract her from all the excitement and drama which had unfurled over the past couple of months. Of course his version of a romantic date wasn't anything special -he wasn't that great a thinker after all- but a light hearted movie was probably exactly what they'd needed. As they left the movie theater Berto impulsively grabbed Tabby's hand in his own and swung it playfully. "Okay, so admit it. You're glad I made you come out with me, right?"

TABBY: Tabby, once upon a time, had not been one to get involved with anything. She'd been a major not-joiner at school, preferring instead to skip classes to drink and fool around more often than not. Even at the hotel she hadn't for the longest time, but her friendship with Ric and then later Star had drawn her in, and here she was. Ric and Star had become her family, and for a girl who had had some pretty negligent parents and no extended family to speak of, it was pretty important to her. Which had in turn meant she'd ended being dragged into some pretty serious stuff. Which was a lot for the young girl to shoulder, but she had, and she wasn't about to start complaining or running away from it now that it had gotten hard. But it wasn't the only thing that had changed for Tabby recently - her increasing turn towards being a little more serious and a little more stable had meant that she wasn't jumping from bed to bed like she used to, and had even taken to just staying in the one - the one belonging to Berto Da Costa. It was something novel for her - not only that she wanted to, but he wanted her there as well. She hadn't complained at all about Berto taking her out to a movie - a little bemused, maybe. Was this a date? In the end she hadn't cared, because really, hanging out with Berto was definitely on her list of favourite things to do. Near the top, even. She laughed at the question, keeping up the playful swinging of their hands. "Well, the movie didn't completely suck, I guess." She grinned over at him, squeezing his hand briefly. "Maybe you should take me out on dates more often," she finished up teasingly.

BERTO: Unlike Tabby, Berto tended to be a one woman kind of guy. He'd been head over heels for his high school girlfriend, which had puzzled everyone in their respective social circles because they'd been part of two very different cliques. Despite that though Berto had gone out of his way to be a good boyfriend; he'd tried not to make fun of her stupid friends, had spent his wages spoiling her whenever he could afford to and had even cut down on smoking up at her request. So it had been a little devastating when she'd dropped him the moment he'd run into trouble, although maybe turning into a monster like creature would have been hard for any girl to deal with. In any case, the experience had put him off dating for a while. In fact Berto had been happy with sticking to casual hook ups -at least until he'd met Tabby. She was funny and cute and loyal and the best part was she didn't even seem to know how awesome she was. Which was maybe why Berto had taken such a liking to her, he'd wanted to show her that she deserved to be spoiled and made a fuss of and treated right. Which so far was going successfully, if her current mood was any indication. "Oh, the movie didn't suck," he replied in mock outrage, before pulling her in closer and settling his arm over her shoulders. This way he could keep her tucked in close, and sneak a kiss more easily if he wanted to. "I don't know. My other girlfriends might start to get jealous," Berto replied, pretending to think about it. "And do you think Ric and Star could cope with me taking up so much of your time? We might end up with a few cat-fights on our hands."

TABBY: It's entirely possible Tabby didn't quite see herself the way other way people saw her - in her mind, she was a scrawny, dumb ex-addict who had somehow managed to land herself some of the most awesome friends in the world and she still didn't understand it, but she didn't want pick at it. It was just enough that she did, and she wasn't about to do anything to screw that up. ... at least not on purpose. She cuddled in underneath his arm, hers snaking around his waist so she could properly cling. "Oh so I guess hanging out with you was okay," she said a little cheekily, trying to ignore the slight sinking feeling in her stomach when he mentioned other girls. He was just joking, right? Please let him be joking. "Oh, they'd totally cope. I mean it's not like you can't hang out with us as well. Or, you know, that they don't need alone time for themselves." Wait, should she have mentioned that? Oh well. It was Berto, it's not like it was one of the crazy dumb people at the hotel.

BERTO: Berto felt her tense up a little at his comment and he glanced down at her, though he could only see the top of her blonde head in their current position. "You know I'm kidding, right? I don't think I could handle you and some other girl at the same time." He gave Tabby a reassuring squeeze and then added firmly, "Not that I'd want to." He was happy with his scrawny, ex-addict thank you very much. Though Berto would be the first to argue with Tabby on that description if he ever figured out how she viewed herself. He smiled a little at her comment about her friends and nodded. "Yeah, they seem..." Berto trailed off for a second, carefully choosing the right word, "Close." In the biblical sense if the rumors were to be believed but Berto wasn't one to judge, despite his decidedly Catholic upbringing. For a start he didn't care who did what in their bedroom, provided they weren't hurting anyone, and secondly he thought it was nice. Ric had been through some tough times, if Star could make him happy then what did it matter if they both happened to be guys. "And I like not having to feel jealous." Which he undoubtedly would -and probably did at one point- if it wasn't so obvious that Ric and Star's attentions fell with each other, not Tabby.

TABBY: "Really?" Tabby noticeably perked up at his comments, tilting her head up to look up at him with what could be called a hopeful expression. Tabby honestly wasn't sure exactly how... whatever it was that they had worked, and so he could have maybe been seeing other girls if he wanted. Not that she was seeing anyone else, or that she would have been really happy if he had been, but... it was possible. Right? "I just..." After a moment's hesitation, words just started to spill out of Tabby's mouth, running as quickly as possible as she tried to get through everything she had to say. "Like, I mean, it's not like I've been seeing anyone else either, but I know we're not really... I don't know, exclusive or anything and so you could have been seeing other girls if you wanted to. Not that like, I don't care if you were or whatever, because I do care, but you know... you could have been. And yeah, you totally don't have anything to worry about with Ric and Star, I mean, even if they weren't together they're more like family, you know? I mean, yeah, Ric is really hot and I totally wanted to sleep with him ages ago, but that was like, when I first met him working at Inferno, I so don't want to anymore. And yeah, he and Star are totally family anyway, and oh my god, why didn't you shut me up already."

BERTO: If it wasn't for the part where she admitted that Ric was hot and had apparently wanted to jump him at one point, Berto would've found Tabby's babbling kind of cute. And okay, maybe he still did despite the little slip up because he didn't need to be asked twice to shut her up. He paused mid-step to turn toward her and cradled her face, giving her a chaste kiss on the lips. "Better?" he asked with a grin. Kisses aside though, they'd obviously wandered into serious conversation territory because Berto was fairly certain they were having The Talk. "Look. I don't want to date anybody else, Tabitha," he said seriously, using her given name for what was probably the first time. "I don't see the point in having three girls on the go, it's sleazy and not to mention stupid when you've already found the one you want." Hint, hint. "And I might be wrong but I think we've got a good thing going here. So why don't we give it a go and make it official?"

TABBY: Tabby grinned back after the kiss, glad that he wasn't turned off by anything she'd said during her babble (... or at least not too much, since he was kissing her). Then he got so serious, and she was worried for a second until she actually heard what he had to say. So many things flittered through her head as she spoke, she honestly could not believe what she was hearing. Tabby hadn't had a lot of experience with guys wanting to be with her like this - the last had been Pete, and she'd screwed that up so badly it hurt to think about it - and she honestly hadn't been sure that Berto had liked her that much. It was a dumb thing to not be sure of, given how much time they'd spent together, but there it was. "Really?" She asked tentatively, unable to keep a broad smile off her face despite her hesitation. "I mean like. I've never been someone's girlfriend before so I have no idea what I'm doing but I know I really like you and I don't want to be with anyone else but you anyway and oh my god I just need to stop talking." She leant up and kissed him again, shutting herself up this time.

BERTO: "Really," Berto replied with a nod. And god, if he ever found out who had knocked the self-esteem out of Tabby -correction, his girlfriend- he'd have great fun making them regret it. Because it was truly insane that such a sweet and pretty girl could think so little of herself. "Basically all you have to do is yell at me when I don't pay you enough attention and let me take you out every now and again." Or at least that's what his last relationship had consisted of. Who knew, maybe things would be different with Tabby. They already were, he supposed, considering that she probably wouldn't dump him for hulking out whenever he needed to use his powers. "C'mon," Berto added, taking her hand again, "I'm buying us dinner to celebrate our first official date."