Tell me something I don’t know.
Who: Laura and Aurora What: The queen of danger and queen of butterflies have an adorably awkward dinner date When: Early August Where: A restaurant status: complete
An Ice-Cream date had been one thing, and yet it had felt very appropriate to Laura to have such a date with Aurora. She still wasn’t sure where they stood with each other, and hadn’t really tried to flirt on purpose then or since. But she’d wanted to.
She just didn’t want to ruin their friendship. That was more important than anything else to her.
Still, she did hope to see if she could make Aurora blush more, so she dug some of her less-worn clothing out of the closest. Not that she didn’t often have her stomach exposed, but she didn’t wear skirts often any more. But for Aurora she’d do it. Hell, Aurora could probably get her into a sundress if she pouted long enough.
Logan gave her an odd look when she came out in a short skirt and mesh top, “Is this the part where I tell you you ain’t goin’ out like that young lady?”
“Yes, and this is the part where I yell at you that I’m going like this anyway.” Laura seemed pleased with the discussion.
“Just so we’re clear.” Logan knocked back his beer. “Have fun.”
Laura smiled, grabbing the keys to her motorcycle. “I don’t know when I’ll be back, but probably not too late.”
“Please, come back late or tomorrow morning. I like how happy you are when you’ve got laid.” Father of the year right there.
“I don’t think she’s ready for that.” But she wouldn’t say no to the idea. Laura disappeared out the door for the drive to pick up Aurora.
Aurora was nervous. It wasn’t a completely unusual thing for her, but she knew this was in regards to the date she was about to go on. She’d considered most of her clothing and whether or not it was appropriate, but nothing felt appropriate. She settled eventually on a blue dress. She hoped it was okay because she didn’t really have much by way of any other clothes. All of her jeans were for gardening and had worn out knees and tears in them. The nicest pair was a pair of overalls and she was pretty sure that was not date attire. Not that she had much experience with date attire.
She heard the sound of a motor in front of the house, so she waved to her aunties before making her way out the door. When she saw Laura, she waved, smiling brightly at her. It took a moment to notice the motorcycle and her outfit, but once she noticed, it was difficult to focus on both of them.
Laura’s eyes lit up when Aurora came out. The dress suited her. She waved at Aurora. “You look… I like… nice.”
Way to sound coherent, Laura.
Aurora smiled at the ground for a moment before stopping right next to the motorcyle. “You look nice, too.” Because she did. Even if Aurora would never really believe that she could wear anything like that. “Helmet?”
Laura held one out for her. Unlike her father, Laura wore one herself. Logan might be perfectly okay with always getting injured or dying, but Laura had come to realize she didn’t have to hurt herself, just because she could heal.
“Hold on.” Okay, so she still drove a little recklessly.
Aurora put the helmet on. She didn’t heal easy, so it was a bad idea not to try to be safe about things. Once she’d climbed on, her arms wrapped around Laura. This was officially her first time on a motorcycle, but the wind whipping her hair around and the sound of the air moving past them was a different sort of exciting. She pressed her face lightly against Laura’s shoulder, smiling a little as she did.
For some reason, Laura’s senses felt heightened. They already were due to her mutation, but there was an extra buzzy feeling to them, like she was very aware of Aurora’s proximity. Honestly, it was exciting.
She weaved through traffic until they reached their destination. It wasn’t the fanciest restaurant ever. It wasn’t fancy at all. But for two girls trying to figure out the dating thing, it would do. Laura parked, then cut the engine and leaned back against Aurora for a moment. “I hope this is okay.”
Aurora sat still for a minute, arms still around Laura’s waist even though they’d stopped. She had a feeling her hair was even more of a mess than it was before, but she guessed it would be fine. People probably didn’t decide to stop liking other people just because that person’s hair was messier than normal. Then again, that person would obviously not have seen her covered in dirt before...and Laura had at least seen her a little covered in dirt.
“It’s fine.” She slowly allowed her arms to slide back so she could take the helmet off and work on getting off the bike. “I’m sure it’ll be great. Plus, it’s hard to go wrong with food.” It could go wrong, but she was choosing to believe that it was going to be a great experience.
“I don’t think you’d get food poisoning here,” Laura said. It obviously wouldn’t be a problem for her! She got off the bike, then leaned in and tried to fix Aurora’s hair without making it worse. “Maybe I should have borrowed the car.”
Aurora shrugged, smiling a little. “It’s okay. It was fun riding on the motorcycle. I’ve never been on one before.” She pulled her hair over her shoulder and carefully braided it, taking a hairtie out of her bag and quickly tying it. “Now it’s not a problem.” She grinned, reaching for Laura’s hand. “The food might run away if we don’t get there soon.” Which she didn’t believe for a moment, but she couldn’t stop herself from saying it anyway.
“I’ll catch it if it runs away. I sometimes run with the wolves,” Laura replied, before realizing how weird that sounded. She tucked some hair behind her ear and made a bee-line for the door, only slowing enough to keep hold of Aurora’s hand.
Aurora bit back a laugh, but she didn’t stop smiling. It was entertaining to think about Laura chasing after the food and catching it. “I’m not sure you’ll need to chase it.” She felt light as she walked into the restaurant, but she let Laura lead the way inside and let the hostess lead the way to a table before taking her seat.
“The public indecency charge would be unwelcome,” Laura joked. It was best to run with the wolves au natural. Stay closer to nature that way.
Unsure what to do, Laura hesitated before pulling the chair out for Aurora. Aurora after all was a princess, kind of. She deserved it! Sitting down across from Aurora, she nervously rubbed her fingers along the table.
Aurora didn’t immediately comprehend what she meant, but the moment she did, she felt her cheeks heat up. She did not really know what to do with that information. She was not prepared for it at all, so she decided to push it to the back of her mind and ignore it.
There was a smile when she sat down and she looked over at Laura once she sat down. “Soooo...did you do anything fun between our ice cream date and now?” She knew about the dreams. They all had them. She just didn’t know if there was something besides those things. “Make any seal friends? Battle any giant fish?”
The blushing had been worth the comment, and Laura seemed pleased with herself over it. She sat, forcing herself to relax as she did so, and focus on her friend. That she was on a date with and wanted to be more than friends with, which had honestly taken some hoops for her to mentally jump through and accept. Feelings were a pain in the butt.
“No seal friends, or giant fish. I’ve been going out a lot at night. Helping people. Avoiding Logan’s lady friends.” Laura wrinkled her nose. Her dad was, to use the vernacular, a slut.
“Well, that’s unfortunate. I was almost sure that one of those two things might have happened.” Not that she really thought that, but anything was happening. But what actually happened was nice, too. Outside of the part about the lady friends. “Well, you’re always welcome to come over and hang out in the greenhouse if you need to. For whatever reason.”
When the waitress asked for drink orders, she ordered a soda and waited for Laura to order before saying, “Tell me something I don’t know.” Because the point of dating was to learn more about the person, right? She was pretty sure it was.
Laura blinked. It was a good question, but she didn’t know where to start. She tucked some hair behind her ears, smiling shyly at Aurora. She’d love to hang out more. Forever. Aurora was someone she’d never tire of being around.
“About this life, or the other ones?”
Aurora studied her for a moment. “I’m going to say both. Both would be good. But maybe start with this life since there’s probably a lot either way.” She just wanted to know more about Laura. That was the important part.
Laura looked at Aurora with an expression that was halfway between fond and utterly smitten, before she caught herself and took a drink of water. “I’m really good with physics and chemistry. My mother was a scientist, and she’d take me into work before the accident killed her. I’d help with things sometimes. Solve high school puzzles when I was still little. I wanted to be a scientist, but I haven’t wanted that since I ran away from my last foster home.”
She realized that sounded depressing. “I’m happier with the idea of helping people directly. But I wonder what I could have been if things had been different.”
Aurora didn’t miss the look, but she was a little confused by it. Mostly just confused about why Laura was looking at her like that. Yes, she understood that Laura liked her, but...she didn’t really know what to do with the look.
She wanted to ask why regarding the science comment. Why had she stopped wanting to be a scientist? Was it a foster home here or in the dreams? There were a lot of questions. She just didn’t know if she should ask. “...What happened at your last foster home? You don’t have to tell me. Obviously.” She just wanted to ask. Her hand slid across the table before it moved to rest on top of Laura’s. “I think you’ll be great either way. Helping people is very important. No matter how you’re helping them.”
“They weren’t very kind people,” Laura explained. “I was mostly there so they could get more money from the state, and they were negligent and abusive.” She played with her fork, spinning it around in her fingers while not moving her other hand for fear of making Aurora move hers.
“Then I was homeless for a few years. And then Furiosa found me and helped me move out here.”
Aurora’s expression shifted to one of concern. The idea of someone hurting Laura made her angry for her sake. She hadn’t had her parents, just her aunties. They were forgetful and they didn’t know that much about taking care of a child, but it hadn’t been on purpose. They’d just been given a girl to look after without really knowing what they were supposed to do. They’d loved her and cared for her.
“I’m sorry that happened to you. I’m glad she found you and brought you here, though.” She lightly squeezed Laura’s hand. “I know you can probably take care of yourself now, but I won’t let anyone hurt you if I can help it. I know I can’t help everything.”
“You want to try, and you’re sweet and gentle, and very stubborn. I don’t think I have the words to tell you how much that means to me. At least my life was easier than my dreams, but just hard enough that it wasn’t a complete… shock.”
Though it was impossible to harden entirely against the path her dreams had gone. They were memories that Laura didn’t like to dwell on. Not good dinner conversation and she didn’t remember if she’d told Aurora about what she’d done to survive after escaping the facility.
Which was not something she wanted to think about when in such beautiful company. “I’m okay now. I really am. I won’t let these new dreams drag me down again. Having you around helps.”
Aurora smiled a little. “I am known for my stubbornness. Especially when it comes to making friends. I think that’s a part of the dreams and here.” Like how she was fairly certain that the Horned Woman (aka her Fairy Godmother) was meant to be her close friend. She maybe didn’t like keeping her close always, but she’d started getting better about her being around now. She’d even participated in the mud fight, which had been entertaining.
“I’m glad that you’re doing okay. I can always find ways to make it easier if I have to. Even if it’s just doing something that you like to do or...well, whatever would help.” Her stomach felt fluttery. Almost like she had managed to get butterflies trapped inside of it. That made her smile again at the memory of the butterflies. “The Butterfly Queen is always here to help others in their time of need.”
“The Butterfly Queen is lovely,” Laura said. “And she makes things easier. By being herself, and with her smile that lights up the room.”
It was as close to gushing as Laura ever got, and she ducked her head, staring at the table and her plate of food.
Aurora smiled even more at that, her hand lightly squeezing. “Well, the Butterfly Queen does like to keep the Queen of Danger from frowning too much. For her own good. Also because she has a nice smile when she uses it.”
Aurora didn’t duck her head, however. She just smiled, not her biggest smile, but something small and soft. “You’re a good person and I like to have you around.”
That made Laura smile, and she lifted her head to look at her. “I like being around you. But that is…. Probably obvious.”
Aurora’s smile grew as Laura looked up. “It’s a little obvious. But it’s okay with me.”