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 Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 8:01 am
Halfway up the stairs, Aurora paused to watch as Akio slunk through her living room and found his way to the couch, with her favorite maine coon slipping out from where ever he hid when she wasn't home. "That is." She called from her spot on the stairs.
"Bob, that's Akio. Play nice," she instructed, enough of a tone to imply that the cat should listen to her. "Akio, that's Bob. I'll leave you two to get acquainted. If you see a small, prissy cat, that's Reven." Rory could only hope that Reven wouldn't cause trouble by talking because while she had in fact told Akio that her cats could talk, she didn't want to explain how or why, lest they scare them off.
Bounding the rest of the way up the stairs, she disappeared into her room so she could pick what dress and sweater combo she wanted to wear. Her previous choice was thrown out the window when Akio showed up at her apartment complex. He had already seen her in her high school uniform and still seemed interested in seeing - dating, they were dating right? - her, surely whatever she picked wouldn't matter.
But...
Rory wanted to at least look a little nicer than usual. There was a dress for that somewhere in her closet she was sure.
In the end, she picked her navy dress and brown boots, sliding on the bow and arrow necklace her father had given her years ago and fixed the loose whisps of her braid back into place before she came back down the stairs. It wasn't as nice as her gala outfit, but she was somewhat dressed up. As much as she could.
"Okay, done with that uniform, forever."
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Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 8:36 am
Bob. She had a cat named Bob. The mangy looking thing with a ratty collar - no, tie - was continuing its slow amble towards him. When Aurora tossed out the introduction, it even had enough sense to glance up at her, as though he were actually listening to what she had to say. Then again, hadn't she teased that they had "conversations" all the time? It was evident that the cat was not able to comprehend what the girl had to say, though, because as soon as the teenager ascended the stairs and was completely out of sight, the furry little devil actually began to hiss at him. He found himself automatically scooting away, the large ginger tom leaping forward to take his throne atop the arm of the couch. Green eyes peered down at him as the hissing stop, giving Akio the most judgmental stare that he'd ever seen in an animal before. "H-Hey, Bob." One hand reached itself out in offering - animals liked to sniff things, right? - and was immediately met with another hiss and a swat of the cat's claw. Jerking backwards, the young man held his hand to his chest and prayed that Aurora hurry back quickly. The stare off lasted for approximately six minutes and forty-three seconds before the sound of Aurora's boots made their way down the stairs. All of a sudden, the large Maine Coon was hopping off the arm and onto the couch itself, moving to rub its head against Akio's side as it purred loudly and seemingly proudly. What in the devil's name....
"That's...that's great news," Akio's voice was still hesitant as he did his best to pay both the woman and her cat equal amounts of attention, just in case the beast decided it wanted to hiss and swipe at him again. "I like you better in that dress anyways - it's more mature?" He let out a wince as the cat began kneading his leg, sharp little dagger-like claws burrowing into the fabric as he did his best to appear friendly towards the woman's clearly bipolar feline.
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Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 9:35 am
Rory was delighted to see Bob snuggling into Akio when she came up behind her possibly two favorite boys - it was debatable at this point, since she barely knew the man on her couch - playing nice. "Bob," she cooed, reaching over the couch, having to stand on her tippy toes to do so, to scratch him between the ears, "Akio and I are going to go out for a bit. Please don't wreck the kitchen." She remembered how he'd dropped tuna casserole all over the kitchen floor at her babysitting job.
"If you're good, I'll let you have some of the nicer tuna." He could get it himself now, but he also knew it was risky enough to hopefully not.
Leaning over, she kissed Akio's cheek before moving away from the couch completely to retrieve her smaller bag that was in her other one. "I- I assumed we're going to do something, since you were waiting for me." She looked troubled, because, well, she had no idea how this dating thing worked. "But, we can also just stay here, if you'd rather?"
Yeah, give him options, that sounded like a good idea.
"Oh," she said suddenly as if reminded by a stray thought. "You didn't tell me how old you are." He was graduating college, so he was...probably in his twenties or so she assumed.
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Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 10:13 am
Bob seemed far more receptive to her extended hand than he'd been when Akio had offered his - the cat ignored his needle-kneading to rub affectionately against the scritches the young woman was giving him as she cooed at him sweetly. She certainly was talking to him as if he understood and, just as to be expected, the large cat emitted an audible, " Mrowwwwww." in response to her offering. Strange... yet endearing, in a peculiar way. But every fairy tale princess had to have an animal sidekick, right? Grinning to himself, he simply shook his head as he focused on her questions and the options she provided. "Honestly, I just wanted an excuse to see you and get your number again," Akio laughed sheepishly as he admitted he'd been flying by the seat of his pants when it came to returning to the apartment complex. "I'm okay with whatever you'd like to do." He glanced over towards the cat, who was giving him another subtle look with those suspicious emerald eyes. "...but going out could also work." He rose from the couch, creating space between himself and the hairy monster as one hand moved to rest on the small of her back, guiding them closer towards the door from which they'd entered from, "Do you have a place in mind, beautiful?"
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Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 11:25 am
Rory paused to give Bob a stern look, before smiling up at Akio when he came to join her, trying not to shiver when his hand pressed against her back. "Well, you've seen me, now you have to spend time with me." The more time she spent around him, the more she felt like it was okay to be relaxed and maybe even a little sassy at times. Clearly he liked her enough to risk running into her hulking man of a father and enough to not let their predicament not send him running.
Though, perhaps she should have better considered what it meant to have someone clearly over eighteen who was okay with dating someone who was only seventeen.
It didn't matter, to her anyway, because she had made a choice and was keen on sticking with it until something proved that she shouldn't. Besides, Akio wasn't like the other boys in her life. She turned to face him, expectantly holding her hand out for his phone so that she could remedy the problem. "Just don't - um," she hesitated, not wanting to admit that despite having a nicer phone courtesy of her cat friends and a certain Finn, talking and texting wasn't something she could do frequently. "Pops can't spring for unlimited, so keep it to a minimum? If you want to talk to me, it's better to do so in person anyway."
Then she wouldn't have the capabilities to overthink what she might say back to him.
"No, I..." she reached for his hand as they left her apartment, with Rory locking the door behind them, "I just wanted to spend time with you. Bob is an attention hog, he wouldn't share me." She loved the ginger coon, but he was also terribly protective of her especially after the hospital incident.
"Somewhere that's good for talking, mister I need to know how old you are but can't be bothered to tell me how old you are too."
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Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 1:33 pm
The idea of being unable to text her was simple an atrocious thought. Akio was a texting fiend, when it came down to it, so the thought of being limited to one or two texts a day was just... unacceptable. "But what if I'm feeling lonely and want someone to talk to in the middle of the night? Are you going to deprive me of asking for a bedtime story from the loveliest of princesses?" Fishing out his phone, he held it out for a moment before yanking it back, an idea springing to mind. His hand reached back again and this time, his wallet appeared out, the worn leather opening up to reveal an assortment of colorful cards, a student ID and a clearly abused spot where cash was folded within. "How about... I just offer to pay him for every text? Every time I want to send one, I'll give you a dime." A ten dollar bill appeared from within the fold and he handed it over to the young woman, along with his phone while the wallet returned to its home. "So payment for one hundred texts in advance?" He had no idea if it would work - no idea if she'd even entertain the thought. But as much as he planned to see the young woman, being deprived of her in any sense of the word... well, it just wouldn't do. As he moved to open the door, he paused at her next prodding, calling him out for avoiding her. It wasn't like he was trying to dodge the question... but it almost felt... well, embarrassing. Like he was turning into an old man. "Twenty-three." He responded as nonchalantly as possible, gesturing for her to leave before him, despite it being her house that they were exiting. "I'll be twenty-four in September." There was slight concern etched on his expression. Just as she'd hoped she hadn't been too young for him... could he possibly be considered too old, to her?
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Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 2:15 pm
Moving to take his phone, Aurora frowned at him as he pulled it back, acting a little over dramatic about her inability to text him as frequently as he might want. "Akio..." She mumbled quietly, looking down at their shoes as she tried to find what to say. She was planning on getting a job now that school was out, she could probably work on being the one that paid the phone bill so she could alleviate some of the money stress on her father's shoulders. Plans were a bit expensive but...she could make it work, especially if texting was such a big deal to her new beau.
"No," she pushed the bill back into his hand while carefully extracting the phone so that she could add her information to his contacts. "Just - Give me two weeks, okay? But I'm not taking your money." She knew that he was just trying to be helpful, and to serve his own wants and needs, but she wasn't a charity case. "I'll figure something out, but you don't get to pay for stuff like this."
The idea that she was going to let him spend any money on her was startling in itself. Rory hadn't had anyone want to spend money on her outside of her dad or Bob, or that lovely gift that Bea had given her for her birthday.
When he finally gave her his age, she hummed, tugging him down the step to her apartment and towards the sidewalk that led back to the main street. "When?" She figured this was the appropriate time to find out his birthday. "Six years is nothing, mom and pops were fourteen years apart, but, um. Don't tell him unless he asks, whenever you meet. He gets a little...over protective."
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Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 2:34 pm
Never one to be deterred, he simply pocketed the money into the side of his pants and moved to lock the door behind them as she descended the stairs, his other hand in tow. Rejection was a foreign concept for Akio Yoshida. Compromises, alternatives and round-abouts were all acceptable replacements for receiving a no for an answer - he would simply nod his head in the meantime and allow his fair Aurora to call the shots. Clearly he would just have to save all of his pictures and selfies for when they met up! Taking the stairs two at a time, he resumed his position of wrapping one hand around her waist as he sidled along beside her. "September," he reiterated happily, giving her a wink. "If you want the date, though, you're going to have to trade me yours in return." He guided her to the right - there were a few of his favorite haunts nearby, most importantly one that served the best cheese fries in town. If she wasn't going to allow him to spend the money on their text conversations, she couldn't stop him from at least treating her to their first impromptu date.
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Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 3:00 pm
He didn't seem to want to push the issue, which she was grateful for. Finances were always a tricky thing, especially when she considered that she'd always been poor and the idea of anyone paying for luxuries like phone bills for her made her uncomfortable.
She just needed to find a job, with flexible hours, so she could still volunteer while she was out of school. It wasn't like she was going to college, she couldn't begin to pretend she could afford that, but there had to be some connections somewhere that she could rely on.
Aurora resolved to look in the upcoming days before graduation.
Leaning back into him as his arm wrapped around her back, Rory felt warmth and happiness blossom from her chest as they walked. "March." If he was only going to give her a month, that's the best he would get back. "You can just start asking you know, instead of trying to barter for information . Just remember Akio Yoshida is easier to google and find results than Aurora Willows is." Didn't mean that she would locate the correct man, but she could threaten and try at least.
She recognized the area he was leading her into and seemed to look approvingly upon where ever he thought to lead her. He hadn't led her astray that first night and she trusted him not to do so now. "September isn't too far away," she said thoughtfully, ignoring that March, however, was practically a year away.
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Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 4:00 pm
"I.... wait." His eyes narrowed and he looked at her with suspicious playfulness. Had she Googled him? This was the first she'd mentioned of it, but then again how would she know to... Shaking his head, Akio shrugged off the notion. Surely she hadn't because he hadn't been pestered about... well, everything that Google had to dredge up about the young man. "I'll keep that in mind, beautiful." He also wasn't about to ask her directly for her birthday, not on the off chance that it made him look desperate enough to figure out when she'd be considered a legal adult. But, tit for tat - she was being sassy with her responses and he enjoyed the banter. He didn't enjoy the fact that it would be a long ten months of waiting to do more than kiss, but... Good things came to those who waited, right? "The first. Always a good way to start the month, if I do say so myself." One hand gestured out towards the small shop with the red and white striped awning. It seemed cliche and cheesy.. which was perfect, really, for the amount of cheese they were known for drenching most of their food with. While grease wasn't his favorite, their fries were. "You up for a bite? I'll sometimes drop by for some fries, but if you're hungry, we could do burgers or salad?" His hand squeezed her side, a gesture that was quickly becoming habit. "My treat."
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Posted: Wed May 24, 2017 8:26 am
She couldn't hide her bliss even when he seemed to scrutinize the threat she'd thrown his way. Idly, Aurora wondered if she should attempt to google him, especially if this became a regular thing...
No, she'd just let him tell her about himself. It was more fun that way and required less library visits. (She had a nice laptop, courtesy of Pasi who custom built her one for Christmas, but no internet at home.) Googling seemed like a lot more work than she felt like doing, for the moment.
"Best way to start the month if you get to celebrate it with someone important." Her own birthday had been...well disappointing, outside of the surprise gift from her classmate. She loved the morbid little plush, it had a home on her bed with her pillows. "I visit my mother every year on mine." It was only fair, really, since that was also the anniversary of her death.
"Pops leaves a cupcake for me and twenty bucks for flowers, if he has to work." She shrugged, thinking about how a few days later she'd terrified her father when he had gotten that phone call... "What do you like to do for yours?" Rory felt like she had been rambling uselessly about something that didn't really matter. She would much rather hear about him.
"Fries sound nice, Akio." She replied glancing at the establishment he pointed out. "Especially with cheese, but no bacon. I don't eat meat."
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Posted: Wed May 24, 2017 9:00 am
Aurora didn't sound terrible enthusiastic about her tradition for celebrating her birthday. Akio understood what it was like to have workaholic parents that only wanted the best for their children, but a cupcake and twenty dollars? Really?"I'm sure she appreciates the visit," He mused softly, trying his best to lighten the mood and shy away from the fact her father lacked the obvious whimsy that one should have while doting on their daughter, "Do you and your mother do anything together, then? " Opening to the door to the small food joint (restaurant seemed almost overkill to call it, seeing as there were only a handful of tiny chairs, tables and an order line near the grill), he held the door for her before entering, himself, while he pondered how to approach her question. Akio's birthday had always been celebrated when he was a child - as lavish and ridiculously as he'd grown up to be. Expectations were high for his performance and in return, he was rewarded with his heart's desire. As an adult, though, and living across the world... anticlimactic was the theme for his past five birthdays in the States. "I usually spend it alone." Broad shoulders shrugged rather helplessly. There had been no tradition - one or two years had been spent moping around in his apartment while ordering out, another had been spent meeting and singing with strangers down at the karaoke bar. He couldn't remember the first year. Probably just chilled at Meadowview - it stunk having to attend high school, of all things, on one's birthday. But... hey, birthdays were probably overrated anyways...right?
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Posted: Wed May 24, 2017 9:18 am
Birthdays had always been insignificant for one Aurora Jane Willows, but she figured it was the price one paid when you were the child of a single father and funds were tight. Still, she had never doubted how much her father loved her, even when he couldn't give her gifts like other children's parents because they had their own little traditions. She'd get a cupcake, they'd visit Miss Poppie and pick out flowers, then visit Briar Willows' grave. It had only been the last three years where pops couldn't join her.
"Oh." The smile slipped from her lips when she pressed them together. "Ah..." Rory realized how careless her prattling had been, Akio didn't know. Of course he wouldn't. "No. It's hard to do something with a gravestone." She didn't sound offended or put out, but mostly matter-of-fact about it but managed to wince at the dryness of her own tone. "Sorry..."
She shouldn't have brought it up at all, it seemed dumb in the aftermath.
"Well, maybe this year you won't have to spend it alone?" This time, she sounded hopeful but wasn't daring enough after her blunder to suggest that maybe they could spend both of their birthdays together. Hers was nearly a year away, anything could happen in a year and she didn't want to get her hopes up.
September was only four months away, close enough to plan but not set her heart on.
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Posted: Wed May 24, 2017 12:11 pm
The moment she muttered the word gravestone, he felt himself grow tense with embarrassment. Ah, well... perhaps that was yet another reason why Mr. Willows was so protective of his little girl. Without a mother or a second income into the household, there was no wonder why Aurora was as sheltered as she was. Shaking his head, he ushered them both towards the register, attempting to keep in mind her comment about being a vegetarian. It shouldn't have surprised him - the dragon princess refusing to eat any of her woodland friends - but it would certainly put a damper on visiting a few of his favorite restaurants when it came to picking out date nights. He ordered them both fries to share and two cups to take to the soda fountain across the ways. Extra cheese, no bacon - sides of ketchup and ranch. He also paid for it with the ten dollar bill she'd refused earlier. Offering her the cup, he couldn't help but smile at her last comment. "Well, maybe this year you won't have to spend it alone?" "I would imagine that having a beautiful young woman keeping me company would be one of the best presents I could ask for, honestly." Eyes flickered in her direction as he moved to fill his cup with ice. "That is, if she's not too busy doing other things, on the first of September."
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Posted: Wed May 24, 2017 2:15 pm
Akio didn't give her a chance to insist that she would only want water and didn't need a fountain drink, so she accepted the cup and stared at the array of drinks that she could pick from. It wasn't that she didn't like soda, she just had it so rarely that she didn't know what to get or couldn't remember which she liked.
She stood back, still debating as he retrieved ice and offered her words that made her heart flutter.
Rory thought it horribly unfair how easily he made her heart skitter or how delight kept bubbling through her. Even the simple way he looked at her had her heart leaping and she was still stunned that out of everyone at that gala, or even in the city really, he wanted to be with her. "I think I can shuffle some things around and clear my schedule." Came her slow response when she decided that she would settle on sprite, because that seemed like a safer choice.
"Don't think it's too much trouble to make time for you." If she wasn't in the middle of something, Rory was pretty certain she would always make time for him as long as he asked. Or she could work her schedule around whatever his was.
Once she'd retrieved her beverage, she found a seat and watched him with a contemplative expression.
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