Nate Carson / Cheshire Cat (worthashot_) wrote in fableless, @ 2016-07-09 23:31:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! log/thread, leona quinn, nate carson |
WHO: Nate Carson and Leona Quinn
WHAT: A first official date … that only lasts so long whoops.
WHEN: July 5th, night!
WHERE: A pizza place
WARNING/RATING: Some heavy flirting, mild swears, and self-esteem issues on both ends, but generally adorable.
Leona Quinn had been on a lot of dates. A lot of dates-- No, no, stop. Stop, right there. We all know what you’re thinking. Yeah, okay. A lot of dates. No. A LOT of fucking dates. She’d been in this scenario before. She had arrived first. She didn’t want to go in yet because she was too insecure on what to do. Did she grab a table seat? Did she ask for a booth? At least she didn’t have to worry about the bar option. A hand went to smooth out the ends of her blue summer dress. It wasn’t out of shape, or wrinkled, or turned up, but it was a distraction from the stupid way her stomach was churning and the way her chest was bubbling. But Leona Quinn had been on a lot of dates. And she knew that soon, the butterflies would stop, and soon, she’d be worried over the NEXT thing. She took out her phone as she stood near the wall (never against! It was probably dirty), and texted Sumner to keep busy. Nate, on the other hand, hadn't been on many dates. He'd been on some, although his high school girlfriends were less about proper dating and more about the common hanging out after school. His dates were usually only big events like Prom. But he was an adult now and he asked out a woman several years older than him, so he had to step up his game and act like her age group. Which meant all the types of things he expected boys to do for his sisters. Get them nice things, be good to them, be attentive, etc. That was the plan. His parents were a very happy marriage before the accident, so at least they presented a positive example. Nate didn't think he was running late, not until he saw her waiting, and then felt his stomach flip in anxiety. Oh boy. You weren't supposed to leave a pretty girl waiting! He knew that much. He'd gone through the trouble of awkwardly wrapping the shirt, even if she knew what it was, because that seemed like the thing to do. He was dressed slightly nicer than his normal several days worn jeans and faded t-shirts: clean jeans and the one button-up he actually owned. The kind of thing he was supposed to wear around proper family. And he was totally going to wreck it with pizza, but oh well. His hair was its natural disarray of curls no matter what he did, and he approached her a little quickly, green eyes wide. "Am I late? I'm so sorry. I'm like the White Rabbit instead of the Cat, huh?" He smiled self-deprecatingly and then offered her the badly wrapped package. "Hi. You look really pretty." She tucked her phone into her small clutch as soon as he arrived, looking up at him (way up. He was so tall. Staring at him like the love interest in any of the classics-- a look she had well practiced, with her eyes half-lidded and wistful, listening to him as if he were on the brink of saying something that could change their lives forever. “You’re fine! I just left a little early because I wanted to walk. Don’t worry! I--” She took pause as he handed the package, albeit very poorly wrapped, out to her, and positively preened as her smile grew three sizes. She took the assumed shirt in her hand and tucked it under her arm while her other hand went to hold onto his shoulder, using it to simultaneously bring him down and push herself up so that she could kiss his cheek. And then she, of course, tossed her deliberately curled hair, her laugh light and airy. “You look very handsome yourself, Nate.” She found herself in the throes of adoration over his mop of hair, even, the cute thing. “Do you-- want to go in?” She clutched the gift to her chest reflexively. Leona felt it might be rude to open it right away, but she was also dying to. It was difficult not to look adoringly right back at her, but it was pure sincerity for him. Nate didn't really have the finesse of someone who played the game well. Or played games at all. He leaned down when she went up to make it easier for her to reach his cheek. He was used to being tall and gangly compared to a lot of others. Her being petite was something he was well aware of, and willing to sweep her up when it was necessary during their makeout sessions. "First time anyone's called me that, so thanks!" Nate didn't consider himself attractive, but he knew he was cute at least. Cute he could live with. "I do, but uh ---" He smiled and touched her cheek, lowering his head down for a brief brush of their lips together. Really he took whatever chance he could get to do that. Leona was Leona. Her hair toss alone made her seem like a model in some kind of TV show. Nate lifted his head a moment later, looking a little sheepish. "Sorry, I'm tempted to do that basically all of the time." But they were on a date, not in her room. "Let's go in and sit." Nate moved to the door and opened it, gesturing for her to go in. "Milady," he said with a grin. There was something significant in the small gestures he offered her. Moving in to kiss her first (and having it be so chaste and soft and-- wholesome, like they were on a television show in the-- like. However long ago the television came out.). Holding the door open for her. His playful gesture of ye olde talk, and the way his smile seemed to come without any strings. As he opened the door, she gave him a mock, but playful curtsy. A signature, delighted squeal accompanied her smile, and she lingered just beyond the threshold of the door so that she could wait for him, her hand going to rest at his forearm, as if she were already familiar with him. And she was, in a way. He was Nate. She had known him for a while, even if she was only starting to really get to know him, if that’s what you could call unbridled makeout sessions with pepperings of compliments and cute talk in between. She stalled, glancing around the pizzeria uncertainly. “I… Where ever you want to sit, okay?” Leona, in part, was indecisive. She also did not want to make the wrong choice or come off as bossy on their first date. . Nate laughed at the curtsy, thinking it just about the cutest thing he'd ever seen, and he'd known Leona a long time, but not personally like this. They had an eager and active group of friends, but it was fairly easy for two people to hang out a lot and in passing, and still not know each other well. She was always in his sisters' crowd more than his, outside of Sumner. She was out of his league, but here by his side, and that was an insane but glorious idea to plant inside his head. Somewhere underneath the surface he was the cat, and the cat always did like insane things. Or Nate fancied it was that way. "Okay!" He said easily, not thinking of the choice as bossy or not. He was an easy going type of person, not prone to taking charge, but if it was her idea it was perfect. He took her free hand loosely in his and looked around, the gesture seeming so easy to him, so mindlessly simple. Nate spotted a booth toward the back and pointed at it so he didn't have to tug her, since he'd been told numerous times how annoying that could be. He didn't want to annoy her. He gestured for her to sit first, all gentlemanly like he promised Nora he'd be, and then slid across from her. "I figured this way we could talk without worrying about being annoyed." It was a small town after all. There were always people around. "Thank you for coming out with me, Leona. It's really, uh, well it's amazing." He squinted and smiled self-deprecatingly. "I think I say that too much with you, but it's true." She slid onto the seat opposite him, nervously smoothing down her dress before putting a napkin over her lap. Each of the imperfections of the seat ground into her, but she was used enough to the sorrier sides of her powers that she was able to, at face value, seem like there was nothing wrong. So she smiled, happily and earnestly, her face flushed with the anxiety that often came with first dates. “I’m like, really happy that you-- that we-- decided it was a date. I think you’re super great, and like, I could… like, probably talk about how exciting you are for-- I--” She put a hand against her face, and it was her turn to smile sheepishly. “I guess like, I just am really glad you’re here.” It was ironic-- in many ways, she thought him too good for her in the ways he thought her to be out of his league. Nate's open surprise at her words turned into a warm smile. "Wow I am apparently much better at this than I thought." If she thought he was great and exciting and glad he was there. They were both people with big hearts and low self-esteem, so it was an interesting match up. "I'm glad you're here with me." Nate grinned at her and put out one of his long fingered hands for her to hold if she wanted to. "I feel like we're in a romantic comedy where you're the sexy and smart girl and I'm the nerdy but nice boy, and we're going to have some pop song playing in the background over our dating montage." This was the kind of daydreaming he did the best, where he could imagine the story they would go on, and where they'd probably live that was cool and hip and who would play them. "That's kind of ridiculous, right? I watch too much TV." He could still see it. Her hand slowly lifted itself up by means of her hand pushing itself up with her fingers. She two-finger walked the short distance to his hand, a finger idly tracing nameless designs on the top of it. “Does this mean I get to make you over? Because that would be TOTALLY lit, like when Elle Woods takes Emmett and completely changes his wardrobe? And,” she gave an exasperated sigh, as if the mere thought of it swept her off her feet. “They are just M. F. E. O.” He kept his hand flat so she could trace to her heart's content. It was a gentle enough sensation he could almost feel it in his spine, in a nice sort of way. Through the nerves. "Sure! I mean, you're not going to put me in suits full time, right? Because I don't think that'd fit the library. And I probably couldn't afford real suits." Nate could afford shirts and cupcakes and pizza, but a suit was a tall order. Leona laughed and shook her head softly, thrumming her fingers over the soft of his skin. “No, no. Not full time, anyway.” "So when I saw that movie, I was going I hope she doesn't end up with that Warren guy he's a jerk. I'm glad it didn't happen." Nate saw so many movies. So. Many. He liked his action stars, but he didn't mind the romcoms. Most of pop culture references were to them anyway, duh. "Okay you got me stumped on this one. What's M. F. E. O?" She smiled, leaning forward and propping her head up on the arm that wasn’t currently occupied with his hand. “She LOVED him, like. She loved him SO MUCH, but Emmett is way better, anyway.” She beamed when she realized she could impart knowledge upon him, suddenly feeling very clever. “Made For Eachother! Which they ARE, right?” A pause as she tilted her head softly, her brows knitting together. Perhaps it was a horribly awkward question for a first date, but she wasn’t thinking of it in terms like that. Not really. “Do you believe in like, love at first sight? Or soul mates?” Nate didn't seem to mind the question or think it was a horribly awkward one for a first date. He liked to think about theoretical things and yammer on about subjects that he probably didn't have enough information on to make judgments about. "Hmm!" He considered it. "I mean like, people would say that our Tales have soul mates and that's it, right? But what about us that don't have soul mates in the text. Does that mean we never have true love or soul mates because it wasn't written or existed that way?" It was a subject he did think about sometimes, when he heard about people who were meant to be in their Tales. Well the Cat didn't have a someone special. So it seemed a kind of lonely idea. He nodded his head. "I do believe in love at first sight, totally. I think people can love more than one person in their life though, because it'd be really sad if they lost their true love and then had to be single forever." Nate ran fingers through his messy hair, blinking as if realizing he was probably talking a little too much about true love on a first date. Eh. Leona brought it up first, she seemed to like romance. He was only slightly self-conscious. For a moment she looked a little wistfully sad, maybe. Contemplative. More contemplative than she ever looked, anyway. Leona wasn’t a very introspective person for, well… many reasons! But the thought of Love in Tales wore at her. She had a Prince somewhere, but he hadn’t come. What if he knew he she was and was repulsed? What if he was a child? What if he wasn’t even born yet? It was an area that she refused to spend too much time on, if hypocritically. She smiled in the next second, and pipped up with a chipper, “Yeah! Yeah, I totally agree.” Instead of tracing designed on his hand, she went to lightly lay hers on top of his, giving it a little squeeze before pulling away so that she could look at the small menu at the table. Vegetarian, meat lovers, hawaiian. “Did you um. Want to like… share one? Or do you want to get little personal ones? Because I am totally not picky, especially with my pizza, just--” she looked at him evenly and with a coy, happy, flirty smile, “no garlic.” Nate noticed the change, but he also knew a good signal when he got it, and now was not the time to go why why why why at someone. He wanted to impress and please Leona, and realized that making her think about who was probably her true love, which was super not the Cat since the Cat didn't have one, was probably unwise for his wants to date her. Stupid. She squeezed his hand at least, so it wasn't a turn off … probably. "Oh man, I love garlic." He tried to hold a serious face for a good few seconds before his face split with a grin. "Just kidding, I will pretty much eat whatever people put in front of me. Let's share one though, that's kind of romantic, right?" Nate propped his chin up with a fist, green eyes warm as they looked at her. She was so freaking pretty, and he got to sit across from her all night. And maybe more later. "It's probably not romantic to point out when something is romantic." He chuckled and reached over to try and grab her hand, bringing her knuckles to his mouth for a soft kiss. It seemed also like a romantic thing to do. "I really, really like you, Leona." Her cheeks flushed, and she had a sudden burst of excess energy that she tried to burn off by shifting her feet over to his, gently nudging and knocking her feet against his legs and ankles. Nate smiled when she did and gently nudged his own back against hers, not minding that game of footsie in the least. “Oh, Nate,” she spoke softly, lifting herself off of her seat for a quick seconds so that she could lean over and offer him a quick, chaste kiss. When she pulled away, she was left with a toothy smile. “Let’s share our romantic pizza and like…. Gooo… back to my place?” He took the kiss, always surprised when she willingly did it, and his eyes lit up at the suggestion. He might be really enjoying the date, and dating her as a concept, but he was also the young man who couldn't get the photo she sent him out of her head. So Nate had very good reason to agree, and he did, enthusiastically. "Yes, that sounds like the best idea either of us has ever had. Sumner's not back yet, right?" Which meant they had the place all to themselves. Whatever that ended up meaning. “Not YET!” She knew she was being overly eager, and she could hear Charlie’s disapproval nagging in the back of her head somewhere. But she couldn’t help it. She could never help it. “I don’t know if Sam is home, though. He just moved in like, two weeks ago, though so like.” She shrugged. The thought of being loud (which was never a problem, with Sumner), or having her roommates know what she was up to (which Sumner seemed to ALWAYS KNOW) never really bothered her. Frankly, it didn't bother Nate either. If his roommates got into any business, he'd probably want to just go 'bro, good for you' and force himself not to say it out loud since it'd spoil the mood. If Leona wasn't bothered, he wasn't bothered. "I hope Sam doesn't mind if I say sorry not sorry if we're a little loud." His grin was absolutely, and undoubtedly, the Cheshire Cat's grin in that moment. Full of mischief. It might be presumptuous to assume they would be, but well, they were flirting. It was allowed. "It was your place first, you get to do what you want, right?" Her face felt like it was in a permanent state of HOT and PINK, and whatever other catchwords Victoria’s Secret had made popular. “You’re so bad,” she teased in a tone that suggested he wasn’t bad at all. That he was, in fact, good. Very good. She wished, suddenly, that he was sitting next to her as opposed to across from her so that she might be able to tease him with a few more well-placed kisses and hand placements. Instead, she settled with tapping her feet against his own. “Let’s, like, hurry and get that pizza, because suddenly I feel like I can’t hardly wait.” That grin of his stayed firmly in place. "See, I knew you looked pretty when you blushed." Nate was feeling fairly good about his moves at the moment. He might have his awkward and nervous moments, but he was at least being able to read her signals at the moment. Every flirt was a test, and he learned from her responses. He was taking the Leona Quinn class. "Well you know," he said, leaning toward her, as bad as she said, "we could always take the pizza to go." Nate wanted to do this the right way, but technically they were! They were still on a date and getting food. He thought he'd been pretty clear with her about his intentions. He didn't want his second guessing to get the better of him, but some of his daring flickered with uncertainty. "Unless you don't think that's romantic, because we could totally do a pizza version of Lady and the Tramp instead. With melting cheese instead of a meatball." She was comfortable with this. This was something she knew. The dates where physicality was certain. The moments where she could ease into knowing that, yes, okay. She had done this before. He wasn’t all sweet, inasmuch as he also was. “Okay, like, I have always wanted to have a Lady and the Tramp moment. It’s right up there with like--- the stair moment from Clueless, where you suddenly SEE SOMEONE in a whole new light?” She started to slide out of the booth, her hand going to grab her purse as she did so. “Let’s just-- yes! Let’s take it to go, and eat in my room, and we can even watch Lady and the Tramp?” Eating so informally felt a lot like fourth date material, but she was all for it. Nate figured they were just going to do things their own way, so who cared. The point was the date was intended. They knew they liked each other. If that meant cozying up with a pizza in her room rather than in a glamorous ballroom, it was still them doing it, so it was all good to him. He was delighted by her enthusiasm, having never met a girl as into him as he was into her. Nate slid out of the booth. "Okay, but wasn't our make out session kind of like the stair moment? Not as amazing, but that moment when it's like oh hey, we've known each other this long, and never realized how good this could be." He offered her his hand again to take. It was probably silly since they were only going up to the register to order and then waiting for it, but, well, he wasn't going to resist finding reasons to touch her. "Oh hey, maybe for the Remembrance Ball it can be like that though? I'm sure you'll wear something amazing and I can be like wow look at her, stars in my eyes, and it'll be just like that, right?" Leona was an emotional person. She felt deeply, for better or for worse. And the way he spun his words, she could practically feel herself swooning. He could have told her he had a thing for feet and she would have said, fuck it, sweep me off them. She took his hand, her fingers interlacing comfortably with his own. The height difference was something she could adjust to, she thought, looking towards the future. “And you’ll ask me to dance, and I’ll accept, and we’ll just. Lose track of time, right?” she offered, ushering the two of them along to the register, where she lightly nudged him forward, not wanting to be the one to talk and order. Not that she had a problem with it, but, well. She was old fashioned. And this was a date, proper as much as it wasn’t. Nate was good with words. Well more he had a great imagination, and they both liked these images of things that should be, and finally he was talking to someone who spoke the same language as him. "Yeah, lose track of time, and no one else will seem like they're in the room." Of course that meant he had to actually look really nice for the dance, and he needed to make sure he was an amazing dancer. He knew the general steps, he'd done it before, but now he needed to up his game. He had a few weeks to get that together. He got the hint and glanced to the guy behind the counter. "Hi! We'd like a medium pizza with pepperoni and extra cheese, but no garlic. No. Garlic. Very important. Thanks." Nate smiled over to her. "And ordered to go, please." |