who: Credence Barebone & Luna Lovegood when: After this where: Fortescue’s What: Conversations warnings: They are cute, it’s gross. status: COMPLETE.
Getting ice cream on a summer day, or a late spring day, felt like such a luxury. It wasn't something he'd ever done at home, but it was something he'd seen other people doing. Usually rich people and he would watch them with their silver teaspoons and crystal ice cream dishes, and then he'd feel guilty for even thinking that he should have it because he shouldn't.
Except that these days he didn't automatically go that line of thought anymore. Even if there was a pang of wishing for Emmeline almost every time he did something like this. And that would usually be followed by guilt that he was here to do something, and she wasn't, but he was trying to get better about not dwelling. Dwelling was only going to make things bad for everyone else around him, and he'd agree to go with Luna not to bring down her afternoon - but to do something with her. So for Luna's sake, even if not for her own, he tried to push past the guilt.
He stuffed his hands in his pockets as they approached Fortescue's he turned to Luna. "Are you going to the dance thing?" Credence was trying not to think too much about it. He hadn't even committed to going, or not. While he might be slightly less awkward at such events than he had been a year ago, that didn't mean he still didn't feel awkward about them.
Luna never really spent a lot of time at Fortescue’s back home. She hadn’t really thought about it or maybe it had just never been so hot that the satisfaction of eating the ice cream was so much so that she felt that she wanted to eat it often. In Texas, she felt the heat more than she cared to admit, but it didn’t feel so sweltering now after so much time with it. Still, it was enough to encourage her interest in ice cream. It didn’t hurt that Fortescue’s seemed to be fine with adding flavours.
She wasn’t unaware that things were still difficult for Credence. She didn’t see it as a bad thing, but she was letting him deal with it in his own way. If he needed her, she was there and she hoped he knew it without it having to be said.
“Oh.” The subject gave her pause. “I...yes. I asked Hunk if he would like to go. I am still trying to figure out if it is a date or if I want it to be one, but yes.”
Credence tilted his head, considering that. He'd always sort of assumed that if someone asked, it was a date. On the other hand, there were a number of times that Flash had asked him to do things and he hadn't considered it a date. Perhaps one needed to state one's intentions up front? Probably that's what his mother would have said, not that he considered her a fountain of incredible advice, always - just, though, it might be helpful in this case.
"That's good," he said aloud. He had no idea if he was going, or should go. He could volunteer to watch Helena for Albus. He wondered if Flash was going. "What are the, I mean, do you like the idea of it being a date?"
Luna considered it for a moment. It hadn’t really occurred to her that it was something to overthink. Harry had asked her once to go to a party as friends, so she’d thought it was about the same. Though, Hunk had asked if it was a date when she asked him and now she had to figure that out. She had gone over things, rethought conversations.
“I hadn’t thought about it before,” she started carefully. “Harry asked me to a party once as friends. I’d thought it odd that he clarified, but I hadn’t thought it as an odd thing to do. I suppose some people do bring dates to parties.” Her brow furrowed thoughtfully. “I think he would be good to date and he tends to get flustered sometimes. It’s hard to know if you like someone, though. As more than friends. Or maybe I just don’t know very well.”
Credence nodded. He was hardly someone to give advice in this arena, but as he thought about it he was pretty certain that if Flash offered him a date, that he would accept it as a date. He didn't think Albus or Luna would mind about that. "Do you feel funny in your stomach when you talk to him?" He asked, looking over. "Like, something is under your heart and it might fly out?"
Luna considered this information for a moment. She knew she felt warm, like she was safe. She wasn’t sure that it felt strange in her stomach, though. Or maybe it did. “I feel happy when he is around. He is very kind and nice and he doesn’t laugh at me when I say things that aren’t quite right or things other people have teased me about.” She didn’t know. “I like to spend time with him. I don’t know if that means anything in particular, though. I like to spend time with you, too, only I know that I do not have feelings for you. That is clear.” A pause. “But I am glad we are friends.”
Credence smiled at her and he nodded. "I feel likewise." Which was good because it would have been awkward if one of them would have had feelings and the other one didn't. "Maybe it's not important to have those," he said. It was certainly how he felt with Flash sometimes, but it didn't mean that everyone felt that way, necessarily. He wasn't entirely certain that this was the only way to feel about someone you wanted to date, because he'd never dated anyone at all. "Regardless, I think that sounds nice, so you could say it is as friends, and perhaps there might be dates, later, if you wanted to make it that." That seemed awkward though, and if Credence were having to do it, he'd never figure out how to say it.
There was a nod and she smiled some. “I think we have decided that it is as friends, but if we would like it to be a date, then we will call it a date.” She wasn’t sure if it was going to shift. She felt like it took something to make her want to date someone, but that could just be because she’d never considered dating or wanting to date anyone before. This was different in a way because now she’d considered it. First in an attempt to help Credence and now in order to understand her feelings regarding Hunk. She thought he was very smart and very kind. She had learned a lot of things about engineering and, while she didn’t really understand most of it still, she was curious about things she didn’t know. “I think I want to make him a hat. He has a lion that he fights in, but it’s not here. I would have to get a drawing of it or a picture. But then I can make a hat for him so he can have something that reminds him of his lion even if it’s not here.”
Credence nodded, following the first part easily enough, but then the later part sort of escaped him and he turned over to look at her not comprehending what she was trying to say. He didn't know anything about Hunk or his world, but that seemed like an odd way to state something. "He has a lion that he fights in?"
Luna nodded. “It is like a robot! I think very advanced, though. I do not really understand robots still.” She had a vague understanding of the way things worked from what Hunk had said. “They all have lions and they form to make a much bigger robot they call Voltron!” She had no idea what that looked like, but she was curious about it. “They fight evil apparently.”
Credence knew something of robots, but not really anything like this. It was a reminder of how very different this world was from his own, and then again how very different some of the worlds that those here came from were from his own. Certainly his had magic, but it did not have robots like this world had, and it certainly did not have ones that you could fight with. "That sounds … very impressive."
For a moment he considered. He wouldn't normally suggest it, not wanting to look up his own world or for anyone else to do so either, but… "There are the books, with descriptions of our worlds, and things. Do you think there are pictures of them on the Internet? You could use that to maybe make a hat for him?"
Luna’s smile brightened at that and she reached out to grab his arm. “That’s a wonderful idea!” She now had a plan. She would see if she could find anything about Voltron and the yellow lion. She wouldn’t go very far into it, though. She didn’t want to invade his privacy. Most people knew her and the things she did, so she was used to it being part of her life, but Hunk probably was not as used to it. After a moment, she pulled her arm back, letting go. “Are you going to the ball too? You could hang out with Hunk and I if you wanted. Maybe Flash will be there, too.”
"I don't know," Credence shrugged. He hadn't really thought about it, but the idea of Flash being there, was nice. If he were braver maybe he would ask Flash if he wanted to go together. As friends. But Credence wasn't that brave and he knew it. Maybe someday he would be, but for now he couldn't help but play it safe, but if Flash was there - then maybe Credence would ask him to dance. "Maybe. I think I might."
He glanced up at the menus stating the different types of ice creams and started ruminating on the flavors. "Yeah, maybe I will."
Luna smiled quietly at that as she listened to him. She already knew what she wanted, but she was waiting for Credence to make a decision. She stepped forward after a moment, ordering blueberry and vanilla ice cream. Then Credence could decide if he wanted that or he wanted something else. “Good. I think you’ll have fun. We can dance if you want to. Maybe we can get a group together.” She smiled a little. “I think it’d be nice.”
Credence decided to copy her order, just because he was curious about the blueberry and wanted something to go with it that wouldn't be too high a taste. "I'd like that," he said as he stepped to the side to wait for the cone. "Perhaps we could work on that when we get home."