Who: Billy Horrible + Tinkerbell (Dr. Horrink) When: Late August Where: Out and about! What: Their FIRST (real) DATE Rating/Warning: Status: complete
Tink was waiting outside of her apartment, on the curb. She was wearing a cute dress (an off-white thing with a halter top and lace around the bottom of the skirt), something she’d worn out before, but it still felt awkward. She wasn’t quite sure how to sit, and she was afraid of spilling something all over it. But now that she was a girlfriend, and they were going on proper dates, it was time for her to start acting more like one. She thought. She had no idea what that meant, exactly, except that she should start wearing skirts and they could totally do more kissing.
Billy didn’t expect skirts. He didn’t really expect much of anything (except for kissing. Which he didn’t exactly expect, he was just hoping for it). Probably Tink thought likewise, but that hadn’t stopped him from wearing a proper shirt and a blazer with his jeans, either. It didn’t stop him from debating for a stupid amount of time at the florists in the local grocery store about what flowers to get for her.
You got people flowers on first dates, didn’t you? Yes.
He’d ended up with some kind of weird purple carnation. They were in the passengers’ side seat when he pulled up to Tink’s.
Tink leaned down to look in through the passenger window, then gave an excited wave before pulling the door open. There were flowers on her seat. She gave him a questioning look. ...flowers? Were they for her? Since… this was a real date? Like, the real kind?
“If you don’t like them,” Billy said quickly, pointedly not looking at the flowers, “You can just. You know. Whatever. Throw them out. Donate them to small children in orphanages. Whatever. I mean hi!”
Tink’s nose crinkled up a little and she picked up the flowers. “They’re beautiful. Thank you.” She said, as she climbed into the seat. Then she leaned over the center console thingy, awkwardly, and tapped a kiss against his cheek. Well, kinda the corner of his mouth. Or more like his jaw. Whatever. She kissed his face somewhere.
“This is like… a real date now.” She added, lowering her face to smell the flowers.
It was like a real date now. Terrifying. He’d brought flowers. There was chocolate in the glove compartment, but there was always chocolate in the glove compartment. Billy didn’t even need to say so anymore, because that was just how things were.
“Yeah.” he said, face kind of tingling from the kiss and a stupid blush and he couldn’t seem to stop. “Dates. Haha. Well. We should. Have dinner?”
“That’s what people do on real dates, right?” Tink said, leaning back a bit in the chair. She didn’t go for the M&Ms yet. She wasn’t ready to put down the flowers to reach them. “Like… somewhere with wine and table cloths and stuff.”
“Yeah. That.” He started driving because he was aware that he could not actually stare at her for the entire time they were seated in the car. That would be weird. He wasn’t weird. Nope.
“Italian?” Everyone liked pasta, man.
“Everyone likes pasta.” Tink said. It was like she was reading his mind. Maybe they were meant for each other? Like, soul mates, or something. She gave him a smile. “Just… I can’t get any red sauce on my dress. So… I might need a bib.”
Really awkward soulmates. Billy could dig that. He smiled as she totally went Mrs. Cleo on his ass.
“Aw, red suits you. I wouldn’t worry about it.”
Tink blushed deeply, and grinned. “Well, if you like it, then I’ll make a huge mess.”
“That wasn’t what I meant.” That wasn’t what he’d meant. “Anyway.” He stared at the road awkwardly until he pulled into a parking lot.
This place better have candles and shit on the table. It was hard to be romantic, and maybe ambiance might help.
She was kidding. Mostly. She would have made a big mess if he liked a big mess. Sometimes she considered herself a big mess. She was glad that he liked her, anyway, even if she was a big mess.
“I’ve never been to this place before.” Tink said as she climbed out of the car. She left the flowers behind. Along with the chocolate in the glove compartment.
“Yeah,” Billy locked the car behind them and opened the door of the restaurant like a total freaking gentleman. “Me neither. But it got a good yelp review. Do people still use yelp? Oh my god, I might be getting internet old.”
“Uh. I use Yelp, and I’m a people. So… yes. I think people still use Yelp.” She gave a quick “thanks” as she skirted past him and into the restaurant. She didn’t feel over dressed. Funny. She would have sworn that she would. Actually, she was very thankful she’d worn what she did--coming in her cargo pants and a tank top definitely would have been under dressed.
But it would have been cool. Eventually the two of them might realize that dating didn’t mean they had to be -- well. Not themselves. But for now it was sundresses and button up shirts and things that matched their eyes and made them look like normal attractive people. Or something.
They were shown to their table, and Billy was just sickly pleased there was a stupid candle on the table. “Cool.” Billy said. “It’s cool.” What was he even talking about?
“Yeah.” Yelp, right? They were still talking about Yelp? Anyway, they were sat at a table with a stupid candle on it, and a white tablecloth, and cloth napkins that they laid across their laps. Tink opened the menu and looked down at it.
“I made a new set of noise canceling headphones,” Tink said, making conversation as she tried to figure out what to eat. Lasagna sounded good. “I had to take apart three different pairs to get the parts that I wanted, but I think the end result is pretty amazing.” ...imagine what she could do with some Wonderflonium.
Just so long as she didn’t bounce it. You weren’t meant to bounce Wonderflonium.
“How noise cancelling are we talking here?” It was easier to talk about electronics, science. He stared at his menu too, and thought about something with cheese in and maybe some kind of white sauce. Totally unhealthy. “Because tearing apart three other pairs doesn’t sound cost efficient. There’s gotta be a better way.”
“You’ll have to try them out to see. I mean, like, 99.9% effective at canceling out the outside noise.” She shrugged. “One pair I got free at a garage sale for buying these really cool looking old records, another my brother gave to me when he upgraded his set, and the third came with my iPod.” So… really cost effective for her. Just not something she’d do in bulk.
“But they’re actually headphones, right? Not those little earbuds?” Billy loathed the earbuds with a passion that he couldn’t even explain. It wasn’t even natural. “I’d love to see them. Should we get wine?”
“Yeah, of course.” Tink said. If you were going to do anything worthwhile with headphones you should use the good kind. Not those dinky white things. “Yeah, of course,” she repeated, grinning and nodding to the wine question.
Billy approved of wine. Liquid courage that would bring possible kisses later, because lord knew he wouldn’t be able to muster it himself without falling over into a little heap of twitchy anxiety and self doubt.
Sometimes he was sure he was just the lamest dude on the planet.
“Yeah, of course.”
Tink lifted her hand to flag down a waiter. “Wine, please.” Though, she had no idea what kind. White? Red? Dessert? She normally bought the Two Buck Chuck from Trader Joe’s. “Uh… the kind that goes well with Lasagna. Oh, and I’ll have a slice of the lasagna, please.”
Billy actually laughed at that, because it was perfect and awkward and -- well. Perfect. Like Tink always was, really. He grinned and chewed his bottom lip before ordering himself.
The waiter seemed kind of weirded out, but seemed intent on surprising them with the wine choice.