Saturday, 4/26/08 Who: Jacob and Raquel Where: in the city When: evening What: a date
The first date for Jacob in a while, not for a random hookup, or friendly get togethers made him nervous beyond belief. He did not want to screw this up and thus ruin the friendship with a nice woman. There was the issue of retrieving food for Mikaela, which he got out of the way as quickly as possible - still handing it to her in a semi-nice manner - before he showered and dressed nicely. With his leather jacket out of commission, he chose a blazer and a white button down shirt that he had with dark jeans. Maybe he looked like a tool, but he hoped she thought he looked nice.
He had remembered the caramel popcorn, thankfully, and checked to see if there were any tables left at the restaurant they wanted, and everything seemed to be set. His nerves were a different story and going to be the death of him. Since Jacob needed to drive, he couldn't drink anything, but he had nothing left in his room. Monitoring himself occurred slowly but surely. A glance at the digital clock told him he still had plenty of time before she arrived, about half an hour, and waited at his desk. Reading a magical text helped to take his mind off of his nerves for the time being. Squeezing one of his trusty rubber spheres also assisted him and it was fifteen minutes before he calmed completely. It was possible to get a hold of his emotions if he tried hard enough.
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Of everything Raquel hadn't expected it had been Jacob asking her out. Sure, he'd been very attentive during the Friday moviethon, hugging her close and being affectionate but she'd just thought it was a joke, or that he needed some comfort being around people. Because of her shock it left her in a bit of a tiz. She didn't eat much dinner at all and focused more on what to wear, spending a few hours browsing and finally deciding on a bohemian number which didn't look too tarty.
Once she arrived at Jacob's door she took a moment to compose herself. This was sort of weird. Two dates in one week, not that she'd tell Jacob about the other one, with two guys she really liked. One she hadn't been friends with for long. This one, she was good friends with. She really didn't want to mess up their friendship but at the same time she couldn't deny that Jacob was fiiine especially wearing glasses and quirky to begin with. There were no airs and graces here.
She announced her presence with a sharp knock on his door, calling "Hey. Mintcake!"
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A friend asking another on a date. He wasn't the first one to do so and he had to look up tips on the internet because it was less embarrassing than asking someone he knew. Keeping it light and fun wouldn't be so difficult, he hoped. If he just kept thinking that everything would be okay, then it would be. Wishful thinking maybe, but it was all he had. The sound of the knocking on the door brought him out of his zoned reading of the magical textbook, which he shut before going to open the door. "Hey," said Jacob as he remembered it was necessary to compliment her. Good adjective? Nice, hot, beautiful, gorgeous? Damn it, where was the right words when he needed them? "You look stunning." He wiped his hand on his trousers and exhaled somewhat. "The world is our oyster. I can't guarantee that's the last seafood joke or the worst one I'll make."
He closed and locked the door behind him after he retrieved the motorcycle helmets, starting to walk with her towards the garage. It only took a few minutes, but he didn't know what to say as they walked. Unfortunately, if Raquel didn't start talking soon, he would open his mouth and babble, he just knew it. "You know the crescent pillow you have in your room now? I could make that look like a shrimp if you want. Or a lobster, depending on how much you like it." Hey, there were definite benefits to knowing a witch and Jacob wanted to show her all the fun things he could do. "We definitely have to steal one of the claws. It's kind of my tradition whenever I have lobster." Admittedly, that wasn't very often, but he still could have a tradition out of it regardless.
Handing her the spare motorcycle helmet, Jacob opened the door leading outside for Raquel and walked after her into the evening chill. Nothing like driving at night - it was a pain to see where he was going, but his helmet helped with that. This was another one of his adventures: the adventure to Red Lobster.
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The last time Raquel had been on a date with a friend it had all ended in heartache. Still, this was just for fun, right? And if there was one thing she had with Jacob it was fun. Somehow it didn't stop nerves from being in her stomach and when he called her stunning she practically beamed. "You don't look so bad yourself," she smirked, patting his arm in a friendly manner. Maybe this'd be awkward at first but they'd relax into it.
"You have a tradition for when you eat lobster?" Rocky chuckled, fascinated by this fact. Was it something everyone had? She knew in the movies people wore those funny little bibs and sort of had a way of eating it but saving claws? That was a little morbid. She didn't go into the questions of how many he had or did he preserve them. That would just be weird.
She had no idea Jacob had a motorbike. In fact she stopped still when she saw it, mouth open a little in shock before she sprung into action and put the helmet on. "Jacob Hembry. Man of mystery," she named him with a smile, strolling over to sit as a good little passenger.
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He had to try not to think about how badly this could turn out, seeing as she was a friend and he was mostly responsible for ruining the only relationship he had. This was something casual, so there was no need for them to be nervous. He gave her his thanks quietly before they continued onto other topics of conversation. "Yes," Jacob answered. "It's not for all restaurants, because they aren't as interesting." Nor did they offer fun pieces of exoskeleton which was fun to have. It was too much fun not to do, in his opinion. She could do whatever she wanted in Red Lobster, though. He would not ruin her first experience there by telling her what to do.
When they got to his mode of transportation, he glanced at her and noticed the surprised look on her face. Why did she look like that? Was it so odd for him to have a motorcycle? "Not really," he said with a shrug. Getting onto the bike after putting on his helmet, he made sure they were both secure before he opened the garage door and drove down the road. Talking whilst driving was difficult over the noise, but it'd only take about fifteen minutes to get there. He just drove and hoped she'd understand.
They arrived at the parking lot at last and Jacob parked the motorcycle, then walking with her to the entrance. He held the door from her and walked up to the person in front. "Hi, Hembry, table for two." Fortunately, the man was able to point them towards their table for them to sit and wait for the waiter to get their order. Now that they were settled, it was a matter of making conversation. No, he wasn't going to panic now when they were just about to have dinner. He opened the menu to glance at the starters and drinks, determining what he wanted - probably a soda. He hadn't been out in a while and hoped he wouldn't get into too much trouble for this. "Rule-breaking date. Kind of nice to be having one of those now."
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Raquel hung on for dear life all the ride over. She loved speed but she wasn't prepared to die because of it and she wouldn't be able to enjoy it if she was dead! The faster Jacob went the bigger her grin got and as soon as they stopped at the Red Lobster Rocky removed her helmet so that he could see.
The place was nice, not somewhere Raquel would have thought of coming before. Now that she was here she was going to enjoy it. It wasn't often that she was treated to a nice evening with a guy, or taken out to dinner. Even with her brother and the fortune he had he never actually bothered to show his sister how much he loved her with food. Heathen!
Once they were seated she set him with a confused look. "You still grounded?" she asked. Not that she minded.
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He was all about treating her now and wanted to be better than her other dates - hopefully he would be entertaining enough to earn a place in her top ten. Wishful thinking, no doubt. "Most likely," he said in response to her question. "I might be in more trouble for going out with you, but it's worth the risk." A compliment, which he hoped she recognized.
They received their starters then and Jacob broke off a piece of bread before he ate it and started to talk about the first topic that came into mind. Blame his still feeling awkward. Maybe a weird topic might change things for him. "So for Advanced Witchcraft, I have to do this project about the different effects of spells to change emotions. I need a willing participant. Would you help? It's nothing dangerous, I swear. I'm careful." He had a sip of water to soothe his dry throat.