A Not So Romantic Night Out

[Cerulaen]

OKAY. First pick-up RP, taking place after Ri and Jake have been dating for a while--who knows how long. This is just fluff. Buuuuut, it's the anniversary of when they began dating... and Jake came up with a horrible idea for their "special night out" xD This may just be for me and Jake to RP, buuuut....it's for your guys' enjoyment to observe xD

THE STRAWBERRY FIELDS

"Jake. It's nine in the morning." Daquiri Laurens stifled a yawn with her hand as she followed Jake into the strawberry fields. "Why did you make me come here?" The red-head gave one of the small bushes by her foot a disdainful look, making sure her leather boots didn't brush up against its dew-covered leaves. "Especially here of all places?" Honestly, she swore her boyfriend was on something half the time. Jake tried to take her hand and pull her farther in, but she tugged it away and glared at him. "Whatever you're planning on doing, you can do it here."

[GeneralArin]

Jake frowned as Ri stubbornly stopped. "But, over there is the spot with the mist and the breeze and..." He stopped midway explaining why they needed to continue when he saw her glaring at him. "And you just want me to get on with it." He sighed and straightened up. He had planned this whole romantic thing, with making the area just right for a scenic thing out of the movies, with some music and a light mist with the morning light.... but clearly Ri wasn't in the mood for any of that. Psh. What a waste. And now he didn't quite know how to word what he was going to say; before it was cued and based around the area scenery, but since they were here and not there.... he just went straight for the point.

"I wanted to invite you out to a dance in town for our anniversary." He said simply. "There's a costume ball thing going on at 5th street." Well. Not the picturesque romantic. But it got the point across.

[Cerulaen]

Daquiri raised an eyebrow. "Our anniversary? I suppose that was today." She gave Jake a skeptical look. "You actually remembered the day you asked me out on?" That was rather unusual for Jake, she had to say. The fact that he had remembered and wanted to do something for it... well, Daquiri certainly hadn't been expecting it.

  ...but a dance? When had he ever caught her dead dancing in public? Heck, she didn't even dance when she was alone. And a costume party, nonetheless? She looked up at Jake, keeping her expression neutral for the moment. He looked rather earnest about the whole thing... was this something he actually wanted to do?

[GeneralArin]

"Yes." Jake said with a serious nod. Then he paused for a moment. "Well, sort of. I remembered the general time frame, then was reminded of the exact date." He admitted, making a small motion with his hands to show that he was moving along the conversation. He did actually remember that it was around this time when he asked her out. Early summer, a couple weeks into the start of camp. Though the actual date was pointed out to him yesterday at dinner. So, naturally he was supposed to come up with something romantic for the date. Dances were something that couples did, right? Especially for holidays and anniversaries.

"It's at 8'o'clock tonight, so I figure that we skip out after dinner or something." He said, "I could drive us down there." When he thought about it, maybe his truck wasn't the most romantic thing to escort her in. It had been torn apart by more than a few different monsters, and he put it together the best he could... but the battle damage showed in several areas, as well as some charred marks that wouldn't come off. And it was a pick-up truck. Maybe he should have asked to borrow a normal car.

[Cerulaen]

For once, Jake appeared to be more on top of things than Daquiri herself was. Besides the fact that she had to give him at least a little credit for that--as much as she hated to do so--he had actually gone out of his way to plan something. Jake never planned things. He sort of just... came up with the idea in a random spurt and said, "Let's do it!" So, as much as the whole ball thing really wasn't her style... she felt rather obligated to go.

Dipping back to her lying-through-her-teeth skills from back in the day, she forced herself not to grimace and, almost as a second thought, took up Jake's hand in hers. "Eight o' clock," she repeated, looking more at her hand in his than at Jake's face. "Sure. Sounds like..." she swallowed, "...fun."

Then, mentally shaking herself, she looked back up at Jake and narrowed her blue eyes at him. "We have to go in costumes?"

[GeneralArin]

Jake gave an amused smile, he supposed that's what was bothering her. After all, some people found costume things silly. Dances themselves were romantic, and girls like romantic. That couldn't be it.

"Well it is a costume party, princess." He said wryly. "That's what's expected."
Well come on, costumes weren't that bad. There were plenty of interesting costumes. He was probably going to go for Indiana Jones. Or Han Solo. Either way sounded fun. And dances... well, it wasn't the most interesting he could think of doing, but it was the only public event tonight, and the most romantic thing he could think of doing.

[Cerulaen]

Daquiri wrinkled her pert nose. "Expected or not, where the h*** am I supposed to get a costume? I can't say I have them just laying around my things," she deadpanned. Then she paused, realizing something, before promptly shooting Jake a look. "Who are you going to go as? Han Solo?" It would figure. After all, there was a reason 'Princess' was his favorite nickname for her. And of course, it would only give him a reason to say it ten times more than he already did. Gods, she didn't know how she put up with him on a regular basis.

...it was a good thing he was cute.

[GeneralArin]

Jake gave her a broad grin, the sort he only gave when he's caught and has no immediate reply.

"Well who else could I go as, your worshipfulness?" He joked, using a term that Solo used in the movies. He ran a hand through his hair as he thought about her initial question, though.

"Uh... I guess we could leave a bit earlier, and swing by a costume shop before hand." He said with a shrug. "You could rent one for the night, and I'll take it back for you tomorrow." He hadn't considered that either, actually. Oops.

[Cerulaen]

Ugh, what am I getting myself into... Daquiri rolled her eyes at Jake's antics, whacking his arm when he started impersonating Han Solo again. The red-head gave him a disapproving look when he messed up his hair, as he was wont to do, and she reached up to finger comb them back into place.

"If you make me dress up in something stupid, I'm going to kill you, Forge Face." And she prayed to the gods that she wouldn't have to dance.

((You can either reply or time-skip here, Jake. I don't really currrr xP))

[GeneralArin]

(Okay... um. I suppose we can skip to our arrival.)

It was after eight when they arrived. Forty-five minutes is still fashionably late, right? Between leaving later than expected, stopping to get Ri a costume and finding a parking space in Manhattan, it was a miracle they made it before nine. Of course, they had to walk a couple blocks to get there. Not exactly as romantic as he planned, but it would get better at the dance, right? A bit of trouble before hand was a given for a great evening. Yeah, and dances were romantic. Get a nice slow song, with the lights going just right. Yeah. It could work.

Jake beat Ri to the door and held it open for her. "Princess." He said, making a melodramatic sweeping motion and trying not to grin too much. He was sure a smile was playing at his face, though.

[Cerulaen]

((Oh, no costume shopping? Lol, okay. Skipping to the chase, we are.))

I cannot believe you convinced me into wearing this," Daquiri grumbled, giving her long blue skirt the evil eye when she had to pick it up just to step over the threshold of the door. She was rather tempted to stomp down her faux-glass, but delicate kitten heels onto Jake's foot to wipe that cheeky grin off his face.

She was Cinderella. Freaking Cinderella. Blue ball gown, glass slippers, obnoxious updo--the whole shabang. At least she didn't have a fairy godmother.

...Unless Aphrodite counted. D***it.

Of course, the only reason she had consented to Jake's proposal of picking an outfit that fit his nickname for her was because she had bargained that if he wanted her to wear it, he would have to rent her one of utmost top quality. If she had to suffer the night pretending to want to be at this dance for Jake's sake, she was at least going to make it a requirement that she look good.

But still. "Did it really have to be Cinderella? Who happens to be only the most cliched princess ever created?" Just because she had consented and made Jake shell out a wad of money didn't mean she was going to complain any less.

[GeneralArin]

Well, at least she didn't step on his foot. He still couldn't help but chuckle, both knowing that she did have an odd fondness for him, and the fact that she could be so grumpy over a simple costume.

So many wry options to choose. How did he want to answer it? For once he opted for the more romantic option.
"Don't worry, you look beautiful." He said, giving a small smile. "Just have fun." They walked inside.

"After all, the pumpkin leaves at midnight."
Okay. So he couldn't completely miss an opportunity.

[Cerulaen]

When Jake complimented her, a warm, almost-unfamiliar feeling rushed through her body and her chest ached for a moment. He was an idiotic bozo who tripped over himself most of the time, but the fact that he would say more sentimental things only every once in a while... well, to say the least, it made them more special. Daquiri allowed a rare, genuine smile creep its way onto her lips and she took the blond's hand as he led her through the door.

  And then, of course, he had to ruin the moment.

  Dropping her boyfriend's hand, she made a face and crossed her arms over her chest as she looked around at their surroundings. Well, she had to give Jake a little credit--he had found a pretty good dance to go to. The room was a fancy ballroom, with a giant crystal chandelier and a sweeping staircase down to a gleaming wooden floor.

  But that was where the elegance ended. Most of the floor was covered by a zillion people, many couples, dressed in whacky costumes--many of which were cheap material with tacky designs. Daquiri wrinkled her nose at the lack of fashion and order in all of it. If she was going to a costume party, she kind of wished there was at least a theme.

  There were lots of people on the dance floor, but if there was a designated pattern they were following, Daquiri sure couldn't tell what it was. Yeah, she could dance. She didn't do it in public. Or ever, really. But she could dance. The question was...

  "Do you even know how to dance, Jake?" she asked, turning slightly to glance back up at the blond 18-year-old.

[GeneralArin]

He chuckled as she again showed that his humor was unappreciated. He looked at the ballroom and frowned. He hadn't expected it to be this crowded. There were a ton of people, a lot of them dressed in the five dollar throw-away costumes that you find on the clearance rack, and most of them loud. The music wasn't the best either. He had expected it to be more like the masquerade scene in the movies and less like a public school dance. It was noisy, and not in the predictable steady noise like a machine. This was people and speaker noise, which was significantly more irritating. He could tell that this would get old really, really fast. But, he could persevere. He said he'd take her out for the night, and he would. They would have a... 'romantic' dance.

That's when he caught Ri's question.
"Huh?" He said intelligently, his brows raising as he noticed she had spoken. He quickly backtracked to take in the sentence that he did hear, just didn't register. "Uh... A little." He said, his face a bit uncertain. There was that one time when he was six and his mom thought it'd be cute, if that counts. But he's seen it a lot, and in theory the ballroom type didn't look too bad. How hard could it be?

[Cerulaen]

Jake's initial response wasn't exactly what she would call reassuring. "Don't tell me you've never done it before," she dead-panned. She swore, if he dragged her to a costumed ball and he'd never even danced, he was so going to get a hard time from her when they got home. Meaning, he could kiss their midnight rendezvouses goodbye for a long while--and when she said kiss, that did not mean an impromptu make-out session. Nope, he would not be tasting her lip gloss for a good few weeks.

[GeneralArin]

Jake gave her his trademark crooked grin. The variety where he was caught in a situation that he was playing completely by ear and making it up as he went along.
"How hard could it be?" He asked, giving a shrug. He held out his hand to take her out to a vacant spot on the dance floor. You know, theoretically, if there was a decent spot to dance on the floor. It would be better if the music slowed down to something a bit more picturesque.

[Cerulaen]

Daquiri massaged her temples before looking back up at Jake. "Are you telling me," she said through gritted teeth, "that you invited me to a dance. When you don't even know how to dance?" She stared at his out-stretched hand accusingly. Had it really been worth it to follow along with this if Jake didn't even know what he was doing?

...then again, when did he know what he was doing? With an eye roll, Daquiri sighed through her nose and brought a hand up to run it through her strawberry blond locks--but then found she couldn't because of the stupid Cinderella up-do her hair was in. Ugh. She still didn't know why she'd agreed to this.

Giving the pressure points of her head another rub, she held up a hand to Jake to stop him from answering her rather rhetorical question. "Why don't you just go get me some punch. I think I'm starting to get a slight headache," she muttered, rolling her head to crack her neck. Princess geddup or none, it was to h*** with being lady-like for her. All she really wanted right now was to go home and watch some kind of stupid teen drama with non-buttered popcorn--anything that would get her out of this. But... she would hold out. For Jake.

As stupid as he could be at times.

[GeneralArin]

Jake was going to shrug and say something smart, but Ri held up a hand. She looked upset. Then she quietly requested punch.

Jake took a breath then dropped his hand, making himself accept the fact that she just shot him down. "Right." He said with a bit of a nod. "I'll be back, then." He walked over to the edge of the room, finding the snacks and punch that apparently were good with dances. He frowned to himself. He looked around at the crowded ballroom behind him. Maybe she didn't like it. Sure it wasn't exactly like the movies, but they could make it work. Unless she just didn't want to dance with him. Jake scowled at the punch cups. No, that was stupid. She's been dating him for a year. The noise was just probably giving her a headache. He could understand that. He poured two cups of punch and snatched up a couple of the small cookies on the side with a napkin. He shook his head to himself as he walked back to Ri.

Seriously, he had almost literally gone to the ends of the earth for her before, so it wasn't like there was anything to worry about, right?

[Cerulaen]

Daquiri could tell Jake was disappointed when she turned him down for a dance. She watched him for a moment as he walked off to fulfill her request and a small pang crept into her chest. She hadn't exactly meant to be cross with him, she just wasn't in the mood for getting her toes stepped on. With a small sigh, she crossed her arms and turned back to watch some of the people dancing.

  Most of the couples on the floor were doing some kind of mix between mosh-pitting and being stupid, but there was a group of people more off to the side that obviously preferred the classier side of dance. Waltzing and Charleston were definitely more up her ally.

  As she watched, the red-head's eyes honed in on one guy in particular, who proved himself to be a much better dancer than the rest. He didn't really appear to be dancing with just one partner, but was rather mingling among everyone and asking different girls to dance. He wasn't bad looking, either. In fact, he had Daquiri's favorite combination of black hair and eyes that definitely weren't brown.

  The song ended and Daquiri watched as the boy thanked his partner then started to search for a new one as there was a slight lull between the songs. She was more than a little surprised when he turned around and locked his eyes straight on her, like he had sensed her presence there and was drawn to it. He smiled and Daquiri raised an eyebrow at him before looking away. Boys. Always thinking they could charm a pretty girl with a nice smile. Well, he'd better think again before--

  "Would you like to dance, miss?"

  Daquiri whipped her head back around at the sound of a voice. There stood the black-haired boy right in front of her, a hand out-stretched politely with a brilliant smile on his face--one that reached his eyes. His green eyes. Her favorite kind. Daquiri opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out for a moment. That was strange.

  Giving herself a shake, she glanced over to where Jake was by the snack tables. He was still mulling over what to take, apparently. She looked back at the black-haired boy. Well, he certainly wouldn't step on her toes. Odds were, Jake would still be busy getting food by the time the next song finished. And if he got back beforehand, well, maybe he could watch and learn from someone else dancing.

  Shrugging slightly, Daquiri accepted the boy's hand and followed him back onto the dance floor.

[GeneralArin]

Jake stuck a cookie in his mouth as he walked back to where he had left Ri. He was still grumbling to himself for being so paranoid. It was one thing to be paranoid about danger and death, but relationships? Obviously something kept Ri around, since they were celebrating a year together. He looked at the vaulted ceiling that had stray balloons bouncing towards the peak. He didn't think the celebration was going particularly well, but it wasn't that bad, was it?

He shook his head again to answer his own question and clear his head. He took a sip from his punch cup to ease his nerves a bit. He looked around to see where Daquiri had gotten off to.
After all they'd been through, it wasn't like she was just going to run off with the first nicely dressed pretty boy....
that... was... dancing with her.

Jake blinked a couple times at the dance floor. He thought he had made a mistake at first, but it wasn't possible to mistake anyone else for her. He stood there staring for a bit longer, probably looking like half the idiot he felt at the moment. He worked his jaw for a moment, then set it.
He set down the drinks and snack at nearest table, then walked out onto the dance floor. His shoulders were square and he stood much straighter than he usually did. Jake slipped between other dancers straight out to where Ri and PrettyBoy were.

What he wanted to do was just deck PrettyBoy here and now.

But, he remembered his manners.
"May I cut in?"

Okay, well he remembered the words, but the tone was tight and anything but polite.

[Cerulaen]

"So, who do I have the pleasure of dancing with tonight?" black-haired boy asked as his he took her hand in his and let his other one settle on her hip for a waltz. Luckily, the new song had a slower beat so it made the dancing much more comfortable.

  Daquiri smirked at him. "Since you asked me to dance, I'm going to say learning your name first is more fair."

  The boy let out a brilliant laugh. "Alright, alright, Miss Difficult." He gave her a wink. "The name's Jasper."

  The red-head rolled her eyes at Jasper's flirting, but she cracked a small smile. "Daquiri," she returned.

  "Well, I have to say, Daquiri," Jasper paused to give her a spin and dipped her down so that his face was dangerously close to invading on her personal space, "you are quite the dancer."

  Daquiri gave a short exhale through her nose in way of laughing as Jasper spun her back up onto her feet. "You're not too bad yourself, kid," she replied. Jasper smiled again and started to say something else when he was interrupted by a voice that came from behind Daquiri.

  A voice that was all too familiar.

  "May I cut in?"

  Daquiri turned around at the sound of Jake's rather rude voice. "Jake," she hissed. "What are you doing?"

[GeneralArin]

"Asking to cut in." He replied shortly, still glaring at Prettyboy. He didn't miss the extravagant dip the jerk made, and sweeping Ri off her feet was an express job of a boyfriend, who definitely wasn't this guy. And the fact that she apparently didn't want him to cut in made Jake scowl more.

"Is there a problem?" He asked, glancing over at his girlfriend for just long enough to indicate he was talking to her and not Jerkface over there.

[Cerulaen]

Daquiri crossed her arms over her chest--oh yes, Jake had better believe she was depriving him of that view right now--and gave Jake a look that clearly said she was not pleased with him. "The problem, at the moment, is that you're being rude, Jake," she said through her teeth. Was he seriously going all protective mode on her right now? It was their freaking anniversary. She wasn't that much of a mood-killer to cheat on him with another guy tonight of all nights. "I was going to be gone for a three-minute song."

[GeneralArin]

Well, Jake wasn't exactly known for etiquette.

"And now it's less." He said gruffly, with a broad shrug. This time he actually looked at Ri while he was talking. "That's the point of asking to cut in."

If he was feeling a bit more reasonable, he might of realized he was being a bit rude. But then again, Prettyboy Jerkface was doing a slow dance with his girlfriend before he even got to dance with her. That was more rude. And the jerk didn't have a problem with pulling every smooth move in the book.

[Cerulaen]

Daquiri's eyes flashed with anger at her boyfriend's lack of chivalry. She didn't know how many times she'd gone over with Jake that just because she was dating him, that didn't mean he owned her or said what she could and couldn't do. She opened her mouth to say something along those lines, when Jasper stepped forward.

"I don't mean to barge in," he began, giving Daquiri an amused look that she didn't exactly appreciate, "but I believe the lady has a point. It was just one dance." He then took Daquiri's hand back up to transition back to a dancing mode. He gave Jake a smirk. "I'm sure she'll still have plenty left for you when I'm done with her."

When he was done with her? She didn't like that phrase anymore than she liked Jake butting in on her having a harmless dance with someone else. She wasn't very fond of Jasper's pushiness, either. "Wait a second," she began to protest, and went to tug away her hand from the boy's. But his grip suddenly became like iron. Daquiri widened her eyes in surprise.

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