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 Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2016 2:00 pm
[ Text to Wonderboy: Are we still on for lunch? You never said where you were taking me. ^.~] Kat sent the text through before setting her phone aside, turning her music up just a bit so she had something to listen to while she took care of her hair and makeup for the day. There was always a chance that James wouldn't answer but on the off chance that he did she would very much appreciate not needing to buy her own lunch that day. Races had been harder to find since the last one was broken up by good ol' DCPD and that meant money was short and she couldn't just mooch off of Prissy all the time. Well, she could, but Katrina liked to believe that she was better than that; that she could actually, honestly support herself doing something fun that she loved instead of picking up a part time job that would cut into her volunteer work -- And her night time activities.
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Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2016 10:52 pm
James had spent most of his time after the disaster in the Dark Kingdom laying in bed, tending to the burn wounds on his chest and hands and the damaged done to his back. He'd missed classes, a few tests, and had to call out from his internship at Meadowview. He had gone to the hospital after being tended to at Chase's house because the damage had been more extensive than any of them could care for.
He hadn't told anyone, but it'd also given him the doctor's not he needed to keep his TA position and to be allowed to make up the school work he'd missed.
He was supposed to graduate at the end of the semester with his master's so he could properly teach. James couldn't afford to ******** up now, especially when he was almost finished with his thesis paper.
But his outdated phone lit up with a text message and his heart jumped in his chest as he hurried to snatch it up. Foolishly, he'd hoped that it had been Leora, whom he hadn't heard from in months because she was the only one who ever texted him, but it wasn't her it was Katrina. James blinked at the text in confusion because he'd forgotten that he'd given the brunette with the pink frosted tips his phone number.
Her name was listed as Cheshire Kat and he struggled with remembering who's idea that'd been.
[Text to Cheshire Kat: Oh yeah, of course. ]
There was a lapse in texts when he sent a second one three minutes later because he couldn't think of where he should take her.
[Text to Cheshire Kat: Lady's choice, after all I -landed- on you. ]
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Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2016 4:14 pm
[ Text to Wonderboy: It's alright if you forgot and you have other plans.] [ Text to Wonderboy: Would you rather reschedule?] Katrina wouldn't be mad if he did want to reschedule. She might be a little disappointed (because what kind of girl wouldn't be disappointed at missing out on a lunch 'date' with a charming someone who'd swooped in to rescue them) but he might not have meant it about lunch. He also might not have actually remembered. A lot had gone on that day. Still, she did her best to not stare at her phone while waiting for a response, snagging her jacket and keys on her way out the door. Even if he decided he wasn't up for lunch today she still needed to track down something to eat.
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Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2016 8:08 pm
[Text to Cheshire Kat: No, tonight is fine. You're my plans. ]
James sent quickly after she responded, slightly panicked that she thought he was bailing on her. He hadn't forgotten, but he had been so exhausted that he had barely crawled out of bed after everything.
[Text to Cheshire Kat: I've just been catching up on school work and lesson plans. I could use a break. ]
He pocketed his phone, wandered over towards his tiny closet and pulled out a zip-up hoodie that he slid on carefully, trying not to wince when he stretched in a way that aggravated his back wounds.
[Text to Cheshire Kat: Where do you want to meet? ...I don't have a car, sorry. ]
James boarded most of the time, or walked, or caught public transportation. He was too broke with all of his student loans to afford one. He wasn't exactly proud of that fact but, he was a grad student it was practically his job to be broke.
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 10:28 am
[ Text to Wonderboy: Anywhere close to here you are that's good?] [ Text to Wonderboy: Or I can come pick you up if you don't mind riding double on a bike.] After a brief pause where she stood staring at her phone she finally sent a third text through. [ Text to Wonderboy: ... Or I can get Prissy to drive.] Probably not her favorite option, but for all that lunch was supposed to be James repaying her for being his crash landing pad after he'd been thrown off of a raging, flaming bull, she also very much felt like she and Priscilla owed him. He had put himself on the line for them and he'd taken more damage to himself in doing so. Making arrangements for transportation was the least she could do for him.
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 5:52 pm
James stared at his phone, lips pursed together as he tried to decide, to think about the places near his that might be near hers. He was hesitant about riding on her bike, he was long-limbed and too tall to comfortably fit onto things not made for people of his height.
After about three minutes he responded with
[Text to Cheshire Kat: No, it's okay. There's this cat cafe place nearby if you're interested in that? ]
Was it cheesy to assume that she was a cat person just because she put "Kat" in his phone? God, he hoped not.
[Text to Cheshire Kat: I mean, if you want Prissy to come...]
He chewed on his bottom lip contemplating his next text because he wasn't sure how old Katrina was and if was creepy for him to tell her he'd rather not have the pinkette crash their lunch date.
[Text to Cheshire Kat: I would prefer something one on one? Unless you'd rather not. ]
Smooth James, smooth.
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 6:33 pm
Somewhere between 'cat cafe' and 'I would prefer something one on one' Katrina had started to blush. It wasn't something that she did often. Most things didn't make her flustered beyond the sort of flustered one got when they were angry and she didn't blush when she was angry. Was -- Was James trying to take her on a real date? O. M. G. No, that probably wasn't the case. He probably thought Prissy was just as obnoxious as she did. Or-- Or maybe he was interested in Prissy instead and wanted to ask questions about what she liked and didn't. Nah. [ Text to Wonderboy: Meet you there in thirty? Think I know the place you're talking about. Never been before, though! Catfe, right?] [ Text to Wonderboy: Prissy's more of a small, yappy dog type of person, I think.]
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 6:47 pm
James had the social graces of, well a child who didn't realize when he was, apparently, flirting or seeming like he was flirting. It hadn't even occurred to him that Katrina could think that this was a date-date and not a hi-sorry-you-seem-nice-and-i-crash-landed-on-you-date.
It was a friend date or a let's-be-friends date.
Besides he had a girlfriend - sorta. Okay maybe not. It had been at least six month since he'd heard from the tiny woman. It was probably safe to assume that he was not in a relationship but still, painfully single.
No, James was thinking too much. He was just going on a lunch date with a nice girl that a not-so-nice man forced him to be in contact with.
It was fine.
[Text to Cheshire Kat: OK, see you in 30. ]
That gave him plenty of time to clean up, comb his hair and slide on a jacket before he grabbed his board, wallet, and keys. It didn't take him long to get there either, but he was grateful to arrive at least ten minutes early, so that she wouldn't be waiting on him.
Even if he looked like a loser pretending to be cool, leaning up against the side of the Catfe with his board resting beside him.
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 7:04 pm
Kat stared at her phone for a minute before tucking it into her jacket pocket. Date or datedate, she wasn't going to worry about running back inside to change, or touch up makeup, or anything silly like that. There wasn't much of a point when she was taking her bike, not willing to risk road rash for fashion and not wanting to smudge her helmet with cosmetics. She grabbed her helmet as she rolled her bike out of the garage, popping it on before starting her bike up. The ride was decent enough; not much traffic on the roads she took, giving her a chance to have a little bit of fun only to reign things back in as she approached the cafe. Kat let the bike idle for a moment as she pulled into a parking space, kicking the stand down to hold it up as she shut everything down. She liked to envision that she looked like a complete badass getting off of the bike, boots hitting the ground as she pulled her helmet off to shake out her hair. In reality it probably looked more silly than anything, but she was still riding on the speed high too much to care.
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 7:52 pm
James saw Kat arrive on what was not a bicycle but a motorcycle. His green eyes were wide in surprise, jaw drooping slightly in awe as she hopped off, pulling her helmet off with flare because, well, a motorcycle was not what he had pictured when she asked him if he wanted her to pick him up on her bike.
He had expected that she wanted him to ride on her handle bars OR the back end of her bicycle where a basket was supposed to go but definitely not what she'd been riding.
Well, Kat had definitely surpassed him in the coolness category and he pushed off the wall, snagging his board by the bearing and strolling over to her.
"Y'know when you said bike, I didn't expect this."
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 8:06 pm
"Lemme guess... Pink tassels? A basket? Maybe a little bell?" She was smirking as she secured her helmet to her bike, making sure everything was good to go before turning to face him. Spring green eyes were dancing with amusement as they met his. "Haven't had one of those since elementary school. Traded the Huffy that every other little girl wanted in for a bike with stunt pegs as soon as I'd saved up enough allowance for it." Then she'd started hanging out with the wrong crowd (or maybe it was the right one now, all things considered) and that had gotten her interested in motorcycles and fast cars. "If you wanna go for a ride later I can take you home." Still smiling up until she realized how that might sound, given the context of his text messages. " Your home," she added on quickly, "by yourself. Drop you off at your home..." Good one.
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 8:35 pm
"Okay, maybe not that specific," James laughed tucking his freehand in his pocket, tucked the board beneath his arm. "But I kinda thought you wanted me to ride on your handlebars and that did not seem like a good idea." One, because he'd obstruct her view almost completely with his back and two because it'd be very uncomfortable.
"I mean, I wouldn't turn you down," he said after a brief moment of consideration. He still thought he was probably too tall to ride on the back with her, but he was willing to consider it. "We'll just have to like strap my longboard to something. Or I guess swing by my place and drop it off. It's like a twenty minute board ride to here."
He didn't even seemed phased by her blunder, instead was practically beaming. "It's really neat that you ride. I never knew anyone except boss man to." And boss man was terrifying. "And that's mostly because he showed up at my apartment and dragged me out so..."
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 8:51 pm
"You're way too talk to sit on handlebars. I'd never be able to see past you. We'd wreck." A smirk was still on her bright, pink lips as she gave him a nudge towards the front door of the cafe. He could check out the bike later. Right now she was starving. "The bike is how he and I met, actually. He showed up at a race I'd signed up for, cheated and then one of us challenged the other to a run. I think it was him. It might have been me-- I might have wanted to punch him in the face," she snorted softly, never mind that her current opinion of their General was much different than it had first been that night. "We'll give the ride thing a try after food. Have you been here before?" Her brow quirked as she glanced up to him, lightly grabbing him by the wrist to tug him along just in case the gentle nudge hadn't been enough.
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 9:57 pm
"My thoughts exactly," James admitted, following her when she nudged him softly. "I don't know if cheating is the right word. He bends the rules. A lot. He's good at it." He'd seen the way the general handled things, the way he controlled those ranked below him and had even heard rumors that Labyrinthite had escaped punishment more times than he should have.
"You're not the only one who wants to punch him in the face," the tall brunet said dryly, fingers curling into his palm before he shook his head.
"Yeah, of course. I don't want to make you wait any longer than you have to," he flushed slightly, grip tightening on the wooden longboard. "I haven't but I - I thought you'd like it?" He looked even more embarrassed with the admission.
Her fingers caught his wrist and the tips of his ears went scarlet and he stumbled, careening forward, when his foot caught a lip in the pavement. "Kat - !" was all he was able to get out before he lost all his balance and crashed into the ground, and potentially her.
Oops.
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2016 5:01 pm
"Well, I don't want to punch him in the face anymore. He kind of made it up to me after that." The awakening part had still been a b***h and a half, but the view from the skyscraper afterwards had been so worth it. Plus the super strength, the speed boost and the promise of being able to teleport once she'd proven herself enough to level up? Awesome. There was a pause where she'd been about to respond to his commentary on the Catfe, but then something had happened and-- Wait. Wait. No. Katrina barely had time to wince as she turned at the sound of her name just in time to see James teetering, then tripping and tumbling and... He stumbled into her not entirely unlike the scene in 101 Dalmatians where the dogs had tangled their owners up together in their leads. Katrina made an attempt to catch him and then they were both on the ground, she on the curb and he sprawled atop her. "James," she groaned, giving him a gentle shove, "we really need to stop meeting like this."
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