¡Tink! (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} tinkhatespink) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} valarlogs,@ 2014-08-23 09:11:00 |
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When: Saturday... hey, that's today!
Where: The Date Store
What: "Romance and the Sex Life of the Date"
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete!
They say that the key to a successful relationship, at the start, is to know how your partner liked their coffee. As in, that was a good sign. Neal took it as a good sign too. When he picked up Tink, on Saturday, for their drive to Indio to check out the date gardens, it wasn’t too early. They’d arrive at the cafe for lunch, and still have time to do everything else - namely, the movie entitled Romance and Sex Life of the Date (what even?) and also the date store and the date walk, featuring trees with ladders handily attached to them for easy climbing to reach that elusive fruit.
A date in a date garden. Yeah, he was kind of a dork, but it was unlike anything she’d ever done before?
Back to that coffee fuel. For the drive, he had two cups of the stuff - his usual black, bitter, and bold, and hers with vanilla and cream (drip coffee, also with a shot of espresso). That was how she liked it. And he knew how much to put in without being overwhelming. Score a point for him.
Now they were browsing the garden store while they waited for their table at the cafe. “I never thought dates could be so versatile,” he noted, because holy hell. Everything from gift baskets to fancy figs to a whole treasure chest of candied cherries, walnuts, and yes, blonde and brunette dates.
Speaking of! “You’re my favorite blonde date, Tinks.” So romantic.
It was adorable. He was adorable. And yes, this was unlike anything Tink had ever done. One of the guys she’d gone out with in the past (because, believe it or not, she’d actually had a couple of dates before) had taken her to an antique car show. Trying to play on her interests. It’d only scored him so many points. And another had taken her to Knott’s Berry Farm. Tink assumed that ThemeParkDate was because it was cheaper than Disneyland or Universal--both of which she’d have preferred. But this was the first time anyone had ever taken her to a date farm.
Or got her coffee order right. Like, just right. It was delicious, warm, and filled her empty tummy during the ride to the farm. He was scoring points left and right.
Tink nodded. “...I have to try this Crystal Date stuff.” She said, running her hand over one of the packages, because let’s face it, Tink was a tactile person. She gave him a bright smile, cheeks going pink. “It’s an honor to be your favorite blonde date.”
Then she stepped over and went up on her toes to tap a kiss against his cheek. It was slightly awkward, but heartfelt. Outside of Tink’s usual comfort zone.
“Yeah, you should totally get that,” Neal agreed, picking up the package and studying it. Because what the hell could you even do with crystallized date pieces? Maybe use it as a sweetener? Just a spoonful of date crystals made the medicine go down. “I’m going to get the gift box.” Mostly because they looked like turds, and he wanted to imagine the look on Hook’s face when he received a bunch of poop fruit in a treasure chest. Cassidy never claimed to not be a troll sometimes.
When Tink bestowed a kiss on him, he grinned at her, dark eyes pleased - like something lit from within. His arm slung around her and he pulled her nearer, in close proximity when fingers flipped a lock of blonde hair between them. “Yeah, so about that date thing...” he started, meaning the activity date and not the...entire garden of them. “Do you want to just keep that between us, or...?”
Basically, he was trying to get a feel for her idea of exclusivity. And girlfriend-dom, however juvenile it sounded.
There were about a billion things that Tink could imagine using Crystal Dates for. Her little, Tinkering brain was going crazy with the possibilities. Mostly food related, which was funny, considering she wasn’t much of a cook. At least, not yet. That might change, though, if she kept finding interesting ingredients that she wanted to tinker. Experiment with. Whatever.
“What do you mean, between us?” Tink asked, cocking her head to the side a little. She hoped their going out wasn’t a secret. She’d told her family and some friends so far. And he was coming with her to the wedding, right? So they were kind of out in the open. “Is it a secret?”
“No, no, not like that,” Neal was quick to assure her, inching away from the five-pound box of super jumbo Medjools. “It’s not a secret.” Tink could tell whomever she wanted. Shout it from the rooftops, write it in the sky. Whatever suited her. “I mean, I’d only date you and you’d only date me and...that’s what it’s all about?”
Right, that sounded like the hokey pokey. But hopefully she got the point now. Why was it that these adult conversations in relationships, the ‘getting over the communication’ hump really were a regression back to high school? That was something that never changed. It was kind of funny.
"Oh," Tink said, and suddenly it clicked. He was asking her to date him exclusively. A deep pink crossed her cheeks, and a smile nearly tore her face in half. Not literally, of course.
"Yeah. Well, I'm not seeing anyone else. I'd like it if you... y'know, only went out with me, too." She said it shyly, unable to stop grinning. There was a tiny sliver of nerves, like he might jump out of a box and yell "HAHA JUST KIDDING" and leave her heartbroken at the date store. But she had a feeling this was the start of something pretty awesome.
Tink didn’t need to worry, because as soon as she said the only person she wanted Neal to date was her (convenient, it worked out nicely that way), large hands cupped her face and he delivered kisses right to her - raindrop ones, placed on her temple and her chin and then on her lips. Maybe he should have saved such a display for the date sex life movie, but sometimes you just knew what you wanted and had to go for it right then and there. “Okay,” he agreed, his thumb running across her jaw. “Glad we got that, uh...settled, then. It basically means you can kiss me whenever you want.” So really, she could feel free to grab him and plant one on him at any time it struck her fancy.
But rather than make out in the date store, their table was ready at the cafe. They could come back and get their figgy merchandise on the way out; Neal was pretty sure it’d still be there. Unless there was a sudden rush for the variety pack. “Come on, let’s go,” he curled his hand around hers. “Food awaits.”
Tink didn’t tense up this time--not like she had on the pier--but she still wasn’t sure how to react to all of this attention. A part of her wanted to ask, but another part didn’t want to look or sound as inexperienced as she was. So she gave a laugh at the kisses, and brought her hands (omg, what was she supposed to do with those??) to rest on his sides as he held her face and kissed her lips. Her heart was still thundering as she smirked up into his eyes. “I’ll try to remember that.” Now she had permission? There would be kissing. Lots of it. Tink really liked kissing.
They walked together to the cafe, Tink’s hand twisted in his to lace their fingers together. Exclusive felt good. It felt like a more intimate connection. Her cheeks were burning all the way down her neck and under her shirt, and the smile on her face was going to be impossible to push away. She wondered how she was going to eat lunch if she couldn’t stop smiling. “I’m starving.” She slipped into her chair and finally released his fingers. “And I want a date milkshake.”
“Then a date milkshake you’ll have,” Neal promised once he was sitting, comfortable at the table. “I read the crystal things are the secret ingredient.” Or actually, it wasn’t much of a secret, was it? Oh well. Should he go for the stuffed dates or something entirely not related? Logic would say he should go completely date-crazy but he didn’t think his intestines would appreciate such an overload at once. So a date milkshake it was, keeping it simple. And the chicken tacos to quell the growling tummy.
Reaching across, he found Tink’s hand again since he wasn’t apt to quit touching her anytime soon. “Did you get all that stuff with your family worked out?” Wedding drama. Couldn’t they all just get along!
Tink let his hand take hold of hers, and she gave his fingers a squeeze. This was so new and so exciting. It felt good, though. Almost natural. Almost. She still couldn't believe this was happening. Neal was handsome, smart, and he liked Tink. Liked her enough that he wanted to see her and no one else. Her heart was thundering again as she ran her thumb over his knuckle.
"Yeah. Mostly. I apologized and ... my brother's fiance? She's ... too damn nice." Tink admitted, giving a little gush of air and deflating a bit. "She was really quick to forgive me. I feel like such an ass hole for complaining about it at all."
He was glad to hear it worked out, though when Tink described herself in not so favorable terms, Neal winced slightly, a teasing expression. Never would he refer to her as an asshole! “Well, what’s done is done so hopefully you can both move on. I’m sure offering to help her out with some stuff maybe softened her a little too,” he said, his other hand covering hers at the table top - they looked like two teenagers, probably, and hell. Should those date milkshakes actually be one, with a single straw?
“Gonna introduce me to your huge family as your boyfriend?” he asked, that crooked smile back, a genuine artifact. “I’d introduce you, but....” Neal shrugged. “I don’t really have any family.”
Oh. Boyfriend. Wow. Tink hadn't thought of that at all. But now that he’d mentioned it, her stomach twisted. In a very, very good way. A shy, goofy grin crossed her features. She shrugged her shoulders, sheepishly. "...I've never brought a boyfriend to meet my family before," she admitted. "But... I think I'd like that. I think it might shock my mom and dad."
She squeezed his fingers again. "...no family? None at all? Not even people you choose to be your family?" Because Tink was raised to understand that blood meant nothing compared to love. After all, her brothers were adopted after being fostered. And her parents went on to foster more kids after she and her brothers moved out.
Someone came by to take their orders, that Neal could vaguely recall, and he was pretty sure he said what he wanted, but he was nearly one-hundred percent focused on being introduced as Tink’s boyfriend. And why wouldn’t he be? That was a high honor right there. “I’ll be on my best behavior for mom and dad,” he said, and who could resist those puppy eyes and that growly voice, like a manly grunt wrapped in cotton. “You know. Do my best to impress them and the rest of your family.” He wanted them all to get along; it was important.
But he didn’t really have anyone, no. “I still keep in touch with my foster sister but that’s really about it,” Neal admitted. “I wasn’t even in foster care for very long before I ran away. And...I haven’t seen my father since I was fourteen. Or my stepfather since I was a kid too.”
"You don't have to do anything, Neal." Tink said, kindly but truthfully. "They're going to love you." Was using the word 'love' too much too soon? Tink didn't love him. Not really. Not yet. Though, she knew she could. It was early for that sort of talk. She didn't mean it that way, anyway. "I mean, I'm crazy about you, so I might be a bit biased, but I think they're going to approve. Because you make me happy."
She cleared her throat and sat up a little, but her hand was still snuggly nestled between his, wrapped around his fingers. "...did I just get really sappy? Sorry."
It was a shame that Neal didn't have much kin. Tink didn't feel sorry for him, exactly, but it wasn't exactly happy, either. Here she was, surrounded by family, and he didn't have any to introduce her to. Not that it mattered. "I'm sorry," she added. "Maybe... maybe you can introduce me as your girlfriend to your friends instead." Her voice hitched on the word 'girlfriend' as if she couldn't actually believe she was saying it.
“No, no, not too sappy...” Neal was flattered, and he didn’t bother to fight the sincere grin on his face, a flash of teeth that were blindingly white and so sincere it could have healed the sick or wounded. He was just sincere in most everything he did - threw his whole self into it, didn’t want to go half-assed. And he wouldn’t in a relationship either. “You make me really happy too. I mean, that’s what I want for you though. To be happy.”
Was she really crazy about him? His tender heart, abused in the past, so much that he didn’t even know what was holding it together sometimes, sped up. In a good way. “I’ll introduce you as my girlfriend to complete strangers, so at least there’s that,” he joked. Soothingly, to ease any lingering nerves, he squeezed her hand and then sat back when the milkshakes made an appearance.
“You get to pick date night next time too.” Could she top the date garden? Only time would tell!
A deep, deep pink flush crossed Tink's cheeks, and she smiled bashfully but brightly at his words. So, they wanted each other to be happy. Those were good goals to start a relationship. A relationship. Tink couldn't believe she was in one of those. It'd never really happened before. There had been dates, feeble pawing, and yes, Tink had had sex before. But nothing lasted. Nothing lingered. Part of it was that she was so damn awkward. Part of it was that she always ended up choosing the wrong guy.
Until now, anyway.
"Complete strangers? That sounds like a funny conversation. 'Nice to meet you. Have you met my girlfriend, Tink?'" When the date milkshakes arrived, Tink had to sit up, too. She withdrew her hand--almost reluctantly--and brought both to her lap. "Ah, so it's my responsibility to pick the next date, is it? I don't think anywhere I pick out will be as awesome as Romance and Sex Life of the Date, but I'll do my best."
Speaking of dates. Tink used a fingertip to sample the whipped cream off of her milkshake. Then she sipped from the straw.
If you asked Neal, he didn’t think he’d give rave reviews to a milkshake that wasn’t cookies and cream or something standard. But it was actually really good. Maybe it was the dusting of nutmeg that gave it the extra boost. Bless California and its strangeness, where date farms were pretty prominent. “I bet you can come up with something good,” he said encouragingly, and slurrrrp there went that particular undignified noise. What fun was a milkshake if you didn’t slurp it, anyway? “You’ve got killer instincts.”
And if not, then hey, they’d manage to entertain themselves in the privacy of Neal’s loft apartment. Or something. Either sounded fine to him.
Tink would have said that the company made a big difference, too. If she'd been trying this in the comfort of her own home, it wouldn't have rung as many bells as it was ringing today. Not after being asked to go steady, and some all-too brief kisses with her now-boyfriend. Boyfriend! It was going to continue being exciting for a while.
"Do I?" She asked, her nose crinkling up as she grinned. "All right. I'll come up with something good. Somehow." She was already starting to think about it.
The idea of simply staying in hadn't even crossed her mind. But she wouldn't refuse if he suggested it. So long as it was his loft apartment. Boyfriend or no, Tink wasn't sure he was ready for her place. She wasn't sure she was ready to show him her place.
He’d picked up Tink for the drive to the date gardens, in his crappy car that was actually running pretty good now thanks to her, but Neal hadn’t gone inside her place. That just meant he was going to be a gentleman and walk her to the door when he dropped her off. And probably poke his head in like a curious cat. Such were the ways of now-boyfriends. But she’d picked pretty well, all things considered. It was nice being with someone who only wanted to flirt with and date you, wasn’t it?
“You do,” he grinned, and leaned over to steal another kiss - chilly and sweet - and it was obvious that, for the first time (and all of the dream junk pushed aside, on another plane to deal with another day) he could safely say he was glad he had moved here.