tara diana smith (tardiss) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-02-11 21:08:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, billy horrible, tardis |
Who: Billy Horrible and Tara Smith
When: Friday evening
Where: Ice cream shop, then a rollerskating place!
What: Billy and Tara go on a date!
Rating: Low
Status: Complete when posted
Tara had liked Billy the moment she’d met him. He seemed like a good person, and she loved surrounding herself with those kinds of people. He had also turned a lovely shade of pink when she’d been speaking to him in the electronics store. She was intrigued.
She’d just left John and Gwen’s apartment, having gone straight there after work, then left saying she was meeting a friend for an adventure. It was possibly worse to say than that she was going on a date, which most people would assume was going on. Tara just thought she was having a great adventure!
Now waiting outside the ice cream shop, Tara was leaning on her little blue car, looking at her phone.
Tara had said adventure. But when you texted a person out of the blue that you’d only met once, and asked them for ice cream and rollerskating -- well. How could Billy not think that it was a date? He pulled up in his car -- also blue, thanks very much -- and rust accented. Not like, a gold-brown paint, but actual rust. But whatever man, he loved his Geo Metro.
He parked next to her, getting out of his car and then leaning against the passenger side - across from her. “Hello,” he greeted, friendly.
Tara was clueless -- it’s true, she wasn’t one to read into things too much. When Billy pulled up, Tara immediately stashed her phone in her bag and was smiling. “Hi!” she greeted him warmly, coming over and immediately giving him a big hug. “Thanks for coming! I really wanted to get out tonight,” she said as she pulled back, holding him at arm’s length. “How are you?”
Billy patted Tara’s back awkwardly during the hug. There was that faint shade of red again, rising up on his cheeks. “Oh, uh, sure. You know. I mean. It’s cool.” Smoooooth operator. “And I’m good. You?” She, apparently, always had as much energy as she had displayed on their first meeting.
Tara was a hugger, plain and simple. She liked touching -- others didn’t seem to mind so much, so she wasn’t about to hold back. “I’m great!” she told him, still smiling. She let go of his shoulders and nodded toward the shop. “Ready?”
“Uhm?” A pause, and then Billy fixed a little smile on and gave a nod. “Yes. Yep. Uh-huh. Ready.” Ice cream! Yay!
Grabbing his arm and looping hers through it, Tara led the way into the shop. “What’s your favourite flavour?” she asked, though she didn’t give him much time to answer. “Mine’s bubblegum, but I like anything that’s sweet. I’m a big candy fan!” She had apparently learned to ramble quite well with John around so often. “Do you like candy?” She was pausing long enough for him to answer this time, at least.
“Uhm,” said Billy, who was apparently not very good at rapid fire questions. “I guess I like candy? I like... chocolate ice cream. I’m sorry,” he said, looking sheepish. “were there more questions in there?” This girl was possibly ADD. It was a little overwhelming.
She would slow down. Eventually. Maybe. “Nope!” she assured him, pulling open the door and stepping through. “Just wanted to know the basics,” because apparently those were the most important things for Tara.
Leading him to the ice cream bar, Tara was considering her options. Would she go with the usual? Or branch out and try something new? She furrowed her brow, trying to decide.
The basics. Apparently they always included ice cream flavors and candy, now. Billy felt a little old. A few years ago, they’d been asking favorite colors. (Okay, not really. He was from an age of the internet. Mostly people just asked “ASL?”.) He peered at the ice cream too, although he already knew he’d get chocolate -- this place didn’t have frozen yogurt which was really his favorite, so... yep.
“There’s your bubblegum,” he pointed out.
She grinned as he pointed it out, turning to look at him before nodding. “Yes, I do think I’ll get bubblegum. It is just too colourful to pass down!” she was always so enthusiastic about everything. Especially when it came to candy and ice cream -- they were among her favourite things in the world. Others included her best friend, blanket forts, and wine. She was also becoming much more partial to the wheezing her car did.
“Get whatever you like,” she assured him, letting go of his arm as she made the (unnecessary, she knew what she wanted) trek down to one end of the ice cream and then back. She had to consider all of her options, right?
Of course she did; it was the smart thing to do. Billy checked out the menu behind the counter, trying to make his own (banana) split decision for a good treat. “Oh my god,” he said, in vague delight. “They have smoothies.” Her excitement was spreading, apparently.
She has that effect on people. As long as they are open to it. “Get one!” she told him, laughing a bit. She was still studying the flavours, though when the girl behind the counter asked what she’d like, Tara knew better than to deny it. “Three scoops of bubblegum in one of those sugar cones, please! And whatever he wants,” she said, walking over to Billy and placing a hand on his upper arm.
Billy flushed pink at the hand on his arm, and he thought, you know, maybe he could get used to such a spunky, nice girl being around. It might be good. Because being in love with Tink was rough business, man. “U-uh,” said Billy, voice going a little high for just a tick before evening out again. “Can I have the... tropical mango madness smoothie?” Why did everything have such a stupid name? He hated that. Also, where did this tiny brunette think she was going to put away three scoops of ice cream?
Tara was all kinds of spunky sunshine and energy. She had bundles of it, and it wasn’t going anywhere. “Good choice!” she told him, giving his arm a squeeze. “I’ve never had that. You’ll have to let me know how it is!”
After a moment, she accepted the ice cream that was passed over the counter, and moved down to pay for their treats. She didn’t waste a moment in tasting her favourite ice cream, settling up the transaction quickly before turning back to Billy while he waited for his smoothie. “Would you like to try?” she asked, offering it with an extended arm and a smile.
“Bubblegum?” Billy asked, even though he didn’t really need to. “Uhm -- no. I’m not sure how well that’d sit with my tastebuds.” No, really. That stuff sounded like some straight up poison.
“But it’s great!” she assured him, wiggling it a bit while it was extended. When he was obviously not interested, though, she pulled her arm back and began eating it herself. “Suit yourself,” she mumbled around a mouthful of ice cream, still smiling though. Billy was quite nice (though he was kind of a hater), so she just smiled and let his comment pass. Tara was no kind of hater.
Hey Tara. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
“As long as you like it, right?” Billy nodded to the person behind the counter when he got his smoothie, and gave it a sip even as they found a little table to sit at. “It’s very tropical,” he said, before offering it to her.
“Mmhm!” she mumbled as she followed and sat across from Billy. Leaning over at his offer, she took a sip of the drink. Her eyes went wide and she grinned. “It’s yummy!” she exclaimed, sounding quite excited about this new discovery of flavour. She might have to start considering smoothies more often, it seemed. “Are you a fan of bananas?” because that was a very important question.
--
Later that evening, they arrived at the rollerskating rink (one of Tara’s absolute favourite places), Tara leading the way inside. She was having quite a lot of fun with Billy -- he was so different from John and the people she knew. It was refreshing to meet new people.
“Have you rollerskated before?” she asked, walking into the centre. “I only just learned a little while ago.”
“When I was little I did it a bit,” Billy said, letting his gaze work over the entirety of the rink, and then toward the people behind the service counter. “It’s been a very long time though, so … you know. Sorry ahead of time.”
Tara turned to face Billy, smiling widely. “Then we can learn together!” she grabbed his hand and pulled him to the counter. Going through the process of renting skates and paying, she then led him to the benches meant for putting them on. She plopped down and started on her own.
Billy laced up the skates, taking the time to do it properly instead of the halfassed way he usually tied his shoes. He didn’t want to trip and fall and break his neck and die or anything. That’d be really embarrassing. Finally, all set, he went about the not so smooth business of trying to stand up without looking like a complete ass.
Everyone looks like a bit of an ass in rollerskates. It’s just something you can’t really avoid. Tara managed to get up without falling or losing her balance, which was a first. She grinned once she was standing, nodding toward the (mostly empty) rink area. “Are you ready?!” It was time for them to fall lots.
“Yep,” said Billy, who was not used to things like looking forward to falling down, or, well, basically rolling around in a large circle repeatedly. But he supposed there were first times for everything, and Tara’s smile was bright and really cute. It was hard to resist, really. “Let’s go then,” and then he offered her his hand because he totally thought he was on a date, okay?
And Tara just really likes holding hands and touching people. Maybe it’s because in her other life she’s never been able to do that. She grabbed Billy’s hand and held on as she pushed off, steadying herself every time she stumbled with his support. She was giggling uncontrollably most of the time, just enjoying Billy’s companionship and good humour about this all. He probably wasn’t the type to do this regularly, but he was being a good sport. And Tara thought he was pretty great for playing along.
Chatting at him incessantly, she rounded the rink with him over and over, only falling a few times. She didn’t have much experience with things that people learn as kids, and was telling Billy all about it. “I’ve never even learned to ride a bike!” she said, looking at him with that big smile of hers. “I only learned to swim a few years ago, too. I’m not too sure why, but my parents just never taught me how!”
Billy was laughing a little at her stories -- they were similar, in some regards. “I never learned how to swim at all,” he admitted. He’d just never liked the idea of sticking his head in a whole lot of stuff that could kill him, call it odd. “But if you can skate, you can definitely ride a bike.”
And, just like that, Tara stumbled and fell -- he totally jinxed her. Letting go of his hand as she fell, she was on her hands and knees and giggling non-stop (after the yelp of surprise, of course). If there was anyone else in the rink, they’d probably be laughing too. An adult (in body, perhaps not mind) falling while rollerskating -- definitely a sight to see.
Billy swerved a little to stop himself when she fell, but of course, it only added to the embarrassment of it all when he fell on his ass too. Swerve turning: it was not for people who were not good at things.
“Jesus fuck,” he said, but he supposed he wasn’t that mad -- not when she was giggling like a loon only a few feet away.
She began laughing even harder when Billy fell as well. It was only human nature to laugh. And she wasn’t laughing at him, really, just the situation. “Sorry,” she breathed through giggles, waving a hand and then moving to sit on her bum. “I -- my -- my gosh, your face!” because he’d looked so scared for a second. It was pretty great.
Billy did something he never thought he would to at her claim: he pouted. Hard. It didn’t last for long though. He pushed himself back up to standing, and then gave her a sardonic sort of expression before holding out his hands to help her up.
She took his hand gratefully, stumbling a bit as she struggled up. Leaning on him (a bit heavily) for a moment, she looked up at him and smiled. “Thanks!” she said, and then took his hand and started moving off the rink. “I’m just going to sit for a minute. Is that okay?” she might have hurt herself, or have bruises or something -- better to look now and care for the owwies!
“Seems fair,” said Billy -- who wouldn’t admit it, but was getting a little tired anyway. This was a huge change from sitting in front of a computer all day. He trailed after her, and then plopped down on the nearest bench, taking a little puff of a breath and leaning his head against the wall.
Tara plopped on down beside him, bending and rolling up her pant legs to check on her knees. They were all red and would most likely bruise. Damn. She made a pouty face and turned to look at Billy. “Ow,” she said, looking like a sad, sad woman who had just fallen on her face while rollerskating.
Billy looked a little like a deer stuck in headlights for a moment, he wasn’t sure what to do at a pout so... well. Pouty.
“...Should I get you an Icee?”
Ooooh. This particular brunette liked anything with candy, and Icee’s were right full of sugar. The pout instantly disappeared and she smiled, nodding slowly. Yes, an Icee was a very good idea to Tara.
“I’ll just... do that then.” It wasn’t that Billy prided himself on being super manly or anything, but rollerskating over to a little vend stand and asking for a blue-raspberry Icee was probably the least masculine thing he’d done in a while.
Oh well. Tara’s smile would be worth it.