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 Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2016 7:07 pm
He hadn't planned this, in fact it was the exact opposite of what he had intended because, once again, they were a pile of limbs and he was on top of her and -
James was completely and utterly bright red as he hurried to untangle himself from her. "I am so, so sorry Kat I didn't mean - " he scooted backwards once he was sure he wasn't going to like elbow her in the face or accidentally knee her.
It didn't help that his board had flown out of his hands and was starting to roll down the street.
"Oh no! s**t, s**t, s**t!" He was on his feet in half a second, racing after his only means of transportation. He caught it, after sprinting for a solid minute but by the time he returned to Kat he was flushed and a little sweaty.
So much for a good second impression. He held out his hand for her, cheeks scarlet when he said, "I guess I couldn't help but fall for you?"
Maybe cheesy one lines would make her less mad at him. "I am really sorry. I'm just - I'm clearly a mess."
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2016 7:17 pm
Katrina remained sitting on the curb as she watched James take chase after his board, taking a moment to try and straightened herself out a bit while doing so. She tugged on her ponytail to tighten it, head tilting up as he approached her again. I guess I couldn't help but fall for you? Her lips twitched as she pressed them together, eyes dancing with an impish gleam as she tried so hard not to laugh. Kat's face was flushed from the effort and when she couldn't hold it in any longer she let it out, leaning back on her hands for a moment as she tried to catch her breath. " Oh my god, that was terrible..." Still laughing, she slid her hand into his, tugging herself up to her feet along with his assistance. "Listen, Wonderboy, we've got some work to with this weakness of yours. You can't just go falling for any girl these days."
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2016 7:35 pm
James got the reaction he'd been hoping for and he was practically beaming, the heat in his cheeks receding, as Katrina laughed. His mouth was a crooked grin, shoulder's hunched with one hand pressing his board against his hip and the other stuffed deep in his pocket.
He made her laugh, that had to couldn't for something.
The grin faltered when she spoke though and his expression softened, grass-green eyes searching her face. "But Kat, I didn't fall for just any girl. I fell for - on - you," he spoke so earnestly it was hard to tell if he was joking or if he meant it. "Contrary to what you might think, I'm not easy," he teased, despite not thinking that she thought that way at all.
"But you're right, I need to work on my lines. Can't use it in my next romance novel can i?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2016 7:49 pm
"You are so terrible and I can't breathe," she wheezed, sides aching from laughter that had paused only briefly as he'd gotten serious before resuming once more. It continued on for a moment or two before she stepped forward, slipping her arm through his with a bright, warm smile on her face. "How about you let me know just how complicated you are over lunch, Wonderboy? I'll let you take the lead this time... Watch your feet, though, alright?" She teased him, giving him a gentle nudge as they stepped up onto the curb together, making sure to hold on to his arm just a little tighter in the event he stumbled once more. "You're a writer?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2016 8:51 pm
"Okay, okay," he laughed pulling his hand out of his pocket in surrender. "Now, are you always going to call me Wonderboy or will you ever slip in a James?" Not that he minded, he liked that he had a friend - that's what he and Kat were right? - that'd given him a nickname.
Not since Ruthie and her game-themed nicknames. Leora hadn't even really given him any pet names, but they'd just started getting serious when she became radio silence.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll be careful just don't fall on me in retaliation okay?" He teased, leading her into the Catfe and towards a table that was against a wall so he could lean his longboard against it.
"Sometimes, I'm an english major working on my dissertation for my master's. I ran a blog for a while but space things happened and well - I sounded crazy and lost a lot of followers because of it." He swallowed hard, thinking about the time where he died and was a colorful ghost before suddenly coming back to life. "I write articles for the paper from time to time."
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2016 9:44 pm
"Fall on you or fall for you? I believe you said both things outside, Wonderboy." Katrina smirked as she settled into a chair while taking a glance around. She was listening to him, mostly, but she was also paying attention to the little things around CatFé. They were currently up closer to the barista stand, but there seemed to be a whole different area. She nudged his foot lightly with her own beneath the table. "Remind me to ask you about space things later. Tell me about this place. What's back there?" She made a gesture before pausing to glance over the menu. They had a rather impressive tea selection and she was certain she'd find something that she liked on the menu. And cake. Ready to order mug cakes sounded amazing. Wait. Wait. "Oh my god, they have cat cookies."
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Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2016 3:47 pm
"If you want to fall for me I wouldn't mind," James replied innocently, grateful that he'd managed to snag a reservation at the Catfe by pure chance. Maybe his luck was turning around, of course, given the way he'd fall on Katrina again, maybe not. Of course he wasn't going to tell her that he paid hourly to hang out.
"They've got lots of cat themed pastries and some sandwiches I think. Great coffee selection too." Or at least that's what he'd read. "Honestly? I don't know much, but I - " he hesitated, tongue pressed against his cheek as he played with the menu that'd been left on the table. "Back there is where you can play with all of the cats, I think. I'm not sure. I - uh - couldn't a slot but maybe in like three months?"
His brows were raised and he offered a weak smile. "I only picked it because I thought you liked cats?"
Was that a bad idea? Oh man, what if he'd made a gross assumption.
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Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2016 6:43 pm
"I'm sure you wouldn't." Her lips twitched as she tried very hard not to just grin or laugh or something. Instead she glanced down at the menu again, occasionally peering up to him over the edge of it. There was something so simple about the way they were bantering back and forth with one another and it was nice. "Wait," Katrina set the menu down, leaning back in her chair. "You picked this place, a place where you can go and play with cats after you get a drink and snacks, for me?" That was, quite possibly, one of the sweetest things that anyone had done for her lately. She watched him for a moment before lightly nudging his shin with her foot beneath the table. "It wasn't that big of an inconvenience let you fall on me, just so you know-- Honestly, I'm the one who should be thanking you. You were hurt because you were trying to protect me-- Well, me and Priss."
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 7:59 am
"No," he agreed. Then, more quietly and more to himself than to the girl sitting across from him, "I don't think I'd mind at all." It was a nice, simple thought that drifted through his thoughts as he looked at Katrina with her soft features and eyes that were a brighter green than his.
She rocked a killer ponytail, he appreciated that.
The sudden drop of menu startled him, because James had drifted into quiet thoughts and contemplation.
His dark brows shot up and his green eyes were wide as though he was worried she might throttle him. "Well - I mean. Yeah?" He sounded uncertain because he still couldn't tell if Kat was happy or mad about it.
"It's not like - it's not a bad thing is it?"
James picked at the corners of the menu in his hand. "I know but - I would be a total d**k if I didn't. The big guy is a total a** for leaving you two alone and well - maybe I wanted to get to know you better. You care a lot about people, I like that." Or at least, she cared a lot about Prissy.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 8:14 am
"No, it's not a bad thing. It's a good thing." Kat was smiling brightly and it made her eyes shine as they met his for a moment. She held his gaze for a second or two too long and then glanced away quickly, face lightly flushed (something that she would deny immediately if he dared point out that she was blushing). Out in public probably wasn't the place to start defending General Labyrinthite and his actions to James. With other people seated near and around them she couldn't exactly tell him about the fight inside the castle and how he had stepped in with his scythe to fend off a blow that had been meant for her. She couldn't really explain how the General had whisked her away to show her an incredible view and magical things even if she wanted to. "He's not that bad," Katrina said instead, laughing softly as she shook her head before quickly changing the subject. "What are you going to get?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 8:50 am
If James noticed her blush, he didn't comment even if he was smiling a bit stupidly to himself. It'd been a while since he'd been out with someone that wasn't project or school related so this, stumbling and all, was blissful.
"Maybe. I think he likes you more," he shrugged, letting the conversation dwindle when Katrina switched topics. "I'm leaning towards a latte and maybe a cat shaped muffin. Though I'm not sure I'll be able to eat it. It might be too cute." His attention shifted to the glass case with all of the pastries lined behind it.
"What about you?" He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "If you don't get a cat cookie I'm going to be disappointed."
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 9:13 am
"Soo... Why don't we both get lattes to go and a cookie big enough that we can split, so you're not stuck trying to figure out how to keep a muffin forever, and we go find ourselves some food food. There's a place that makes incredible burgers out of pretty much everything -- beef, bison, salmon, turkey. Fries to die for too. If you're still not too keen on the idea of riding double on my bike after we get your board back to your place we can find another way there." She paused upon realizing that she had rambled, playing her words through her head only to pause again. "I mean-- Not that I don't like tea and cats and muffins and cookies. You're great-- I mean this. This is great, the Catfe is great." But food, were the words that she left underlying. She was going to waste away into nothingness if she didn't get real food to replenish her energy reserves. "What do you say, Wonderboy?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 3:01 pm
"Latte's sound good and we can share the cookie only if I get the head. There's something oddly satisfying about biting off the head of a cookie that has one." The mere act of cookie beheading was something that, in James' opinion, made any cookie edible and tasty even if it did, ultimately, suck. "In the case that it's 90% a cat head well, we can work something out."
Though he really wanted it to be like a full cat. That would be the best.
"Do you - Do you mind walking up to my apartment?" James had never really been self-concious about not having a vehicle before but - he was twenty-six without a car and Kat had to be, well, she couldn't have been older than twenty-one and oh god -
He probably looked like a loser. "It's about fifteen minutes from here," he scratched at the back of his head nervously. "I don't - I have no problems with riding on your bike after, if you don't mind me probably clinging to you for dear life because it's mildly terrifying.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 8:13 pm
"You can have whatever part of the cookie you want... As long as you don't want to do something weird like lick all of the icing off and let me have the rest." She stuck her tongue out at him, setting the menu down before standing so they could head up to the bar to order their drinks. Kat let him pay for the lattes and the cookie without a fuss, taking her cup from the barista with a soft 'thank you' before nudging James out the door. "It's more thrilling than terrifying. Well, maybe a little scary the first time, but you can wear my helmet." If she let him borrow the helmet it meant that she would be driving considerably more careful than she usually did when she was riding on her own. If this was going to be a thing that happened she'd have to look into getting a second helmet just so she could show him what it was really like to ride. "Fifteen minutes by foot or fifteen by skateboard? Have you ever car-surfed on your board before? I bet you could bike-surf as long as I wasn't driving too fast." She pondered the options aloud, taking a small sip of her green tea latte.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 8:38 pm
He looked like he was contemplating the idea of doing exactly what she said she didn't want him to do when he pushed the cookie up so that the head peeked out of the paper bag they'd provided. "Nah, that sounds like more effort than it's worth." A long finger tapped against the packaging as they excited the shop, with James struggling to juggle his board, his drink, and the cookie.
In hindsight, he should've brought his backpack, the one with that was designed to fit his board between straps but -
He thought that would've been tacky.
So, he raised the cookie towards his companion with arched brows and a slight toast before biting the head off in a smooth chunk then offering the remains to her. Then, he shifted the loaded board beneath his arm, tilting his head back so he could slip the rest of the cookie into his mouth without using his hands.
"It's a longboard not a skateboard," he corrected automatically, because it was second nature. "Fifteen on foot, ten on a board." Depending on people traffic or how actual traffic was. "I don't know if bike-surfing is wise I mean, I'm already really clumsy as is. Do you really want to add high speeds? Besides, if we walk it'll give us time to talk and drink these lattes."
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