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Comments
Min, after the show, I look at my phone to check the time. 4:15. "Shoot. Ah, Lili's party is going to finish up soon. I've had a lovely time, but..." I'm looking around for a cab. Dammit, I don't want to end this. I'm thinking.
After a minute with no cab, I look at you, Min. Decide I'm not done yet. I hold up a finger and take out my phone. A few seconds, a few rings, then "Hey, ninjalady. Listen, would you mind... oh, he is, is he? Your craftiness is spooky. Yes. Yes, we did. Yes. Yes, she is. We'll talk later, okay? Yeah, goodbye. Tell her I love her."
I laugh, shaking my head. "Apparently, Jim is already on his way to pick up my little Queen. Those two are... incorrigible. They like to watch Lili when I'm out of town, Bonnie's trying to get pregnant, and they call it 'practice'. Anyway, we have some time, so if you're up for it, maybe a walk down to Waterfront Park?"
I eavesdrop. I'm not even hiding it. I am trying to hide my growing excitement at a little more time with you. The mention of Lili is sweet, but it does hang a bit over my head. I can't help it, projecting myself a few months ahead, seeing what things would be like. I travel, you have your design, which could travel, too. But Lili. She's an anchor, in a good way. Just maybe not for us?
There doesn't have to be an us for there to be a date today, though.
"Yes. That would be lovely." I walk beside you as we go. I don't want to take your hand, well, I'm nervous to be open about it. But I'm close. I'm smiling. I do the lock of hair behind the ear thing.
(Rolled: 3d6. Rolls: 6, 3, 1. Total: 10)
We wander down to Waterfront Park, not touching but aware that we could be if we wanted. The day is sultry (it is August in Charleston), but there's a breeze off the harbor, sharp with salt. We pass a juggler, and a little later there's a guitarist playing something classical his instrument plugged in to a small amp.
We're on a little promenade along the water.
I smile sweetly, take your hand and arrange you against the rail. "Do you mind? A memento." I step back to the bench and pull a medium-sized sketchbook out of my purse, some pencils. "The light makes you glow. I like it." I know my tongue sticks out of my mouth a little when I sketch, I've tried to break the habit, but never successfully.
While I draw, I quote one of my favorite bits of poetry. I stop myself, worried that I'm being pretentious.
Ooh! I know this poem, too. I'm surprised I do, but Greek myths have always fascinated me, so this one stuck.
I don't quote poetry out loud, Alani. But you just bring it out of me, so I offer back, haltingly, "Orpheus hesitated beside the black river. With so much to look forward to he looked back. We think he sang then, but the song is lost. At least he had seen once more the beloved back."
I smirk when I finish. It's obvious to you that I barely made it through. I think I skipped some dead soldiers lines, but I really like the lines about Orpheus.
Min, when you pick up the second stanza, my eyes widen. Not in surprise, but with an actual tiny sting of arousal. The story so sad, the words so beautiful, and yet my response to hearing them in your mouth is to wonder what your lips might taste like.
While I keep sketching, I feel like I should ask a question, keep conversation, momentum going. Surroundings provide inspiration. "Do you like the water, Min?" It seems like a safe question. A breeze grabs a strand of your hair and I watch it playfully curving away from you face, my hand still moving on the paper.
If I believed in reincarnation, which I don't, I'd come back as a fish." I answer with a patter that shows it's one of my favorite lines about myself. I smirk, then gesture off to the north of the shoreline, "My boat is docked a couple miles from here. It's my favorite place in the world."
I get going and with these little flirtations and the food and the thrill of somebody as pretty as you drawing me, I say, "I adore the water, Alani. Swimming, surfing, boating, hell, even water polo." I have this wicked grin as I share this. I barely keep from adding Anything that gets me wet, I'm interested. It's riiiight on the tip of my tongue though.
"A boat? That's wonderful. Do you get to spend much time on her? What's her name?"
I finish the sketch and stand, walking over to you. I put my hand on your shoulder as I hold the sketchbook so you can take a look, watching your eyes. I've drawn you, of course, but taken a few liberties. Your dress, although lovely on its own, is exaggerated, longer, swept back by the same wind that sweeps your hair into an elegant wave. Even in the quick pencil sketch, I've taken care to capture the light dappling your cheeks, the shadow of a palm tree soft on the ground before you.
I hope you like it.
"She's The Ceto," I pronounce her name like "KEY-toe". "I spend every moment on her I can. I live on her, when I'm not traveling. She's..." the sight of your sketch is much, much more interesting right now. I just look at how you see me. I look pretty hot with the hair and the dress and everything.
"Wow, Alani. This is really amazing." I say, looking up into your eyes. "You're so creative! I can't believe you just whipped that out. I have to say... I look kinda hot in your picture." I'm flirting again, like I'm some shameless teenager.
Take a Bonus die for that picture!
How cool that you live on a boat! And her name rings a bell, just can't place it.
My hand on your shoulder suddenly tingles with something like static electricity, and the words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. "You look more than kinda hot, Min, and not just in the picture." It's too soon, dammit, I know it's too soon, and out in public in broad daylight, and I don't know how you feel about that, but I do know how I feel.
I kiss you, Min, and now I know. I know how your lips taste. A touch of salt, a memory of that bourbon sauce, a hint of a promise.
Yeah, it's too soon. I asked for it, throwing that stupid line out there. It's on me, but it's too soon. I don't flinch or anything like that. I've kissed on the first date, lots of them. But I'm alone now, so do that math on how that's worked out so far.
You do catch a little intake of breath right before your lips brush mine. My eyes widen, my pulse quickens. From a purely physical approach, you just rocked my socks off, Alani. But when I think about everything else: my history, Lili, my job, the world, it just scares me a little. Is this how you are with other strangers? Or first dates, at least. That's trouble.
I look away, to the water. There's a silence, a long silence. After a moment, I self-consciously lick my lips, and taste a hint of bread pudding.
Oh shit.
One Mississippi.
Two Mississippi.
Three Mississippi.
Four Mississippi. (please say something)
Five Mississippi. (please say something?)
Six Mississippi. (okay, I'll say something)
"Okay, too soon. Too soon. I get it. It's just... I don't do this much, seriously haven't been on a date in, well, a long time. That one time Jim and Bonnie set me up with Vin Dangerfield didn't count, right? Because I don't do... that. So it wasn't a date, which means I haven't been on a date in..." I'm trying to stop talking, but I can't. "...three and a half years? And she was one of my professors. And, dammit, Min, you're cute and smart and interesting and Bonnie and Jim hit it out of the park with their ninja shit, and I..." Okay, I finally just peter out, lean up against the railing, hoping.
Attraction: (Rolled: 2d6. Rolls: 4, 4. Total: 8)
Bonus: (Rolled: 3d6. Rolls: 3, 2, 1. Total: 6)
Well, you answer the "do you do this with other first dates?" question. I'm still a little worried about how wild you are, but my heart goes out to you in that moment you've shared.
I step over a little closer, slide a hand up your back, a friendly touch. "It's alright, Alani. It just surprised me, is all. It's ah... it's been a long time for me, too. With work and travel, I don't get around people that often. At least, not sober ones." I realize I've just stepped right back to the point where you kissed me, and I'm nervous. Please don't kiss me again. Too soon. But I can stand right here and look at you, that feels nice.
Min, I can't help but remember how your lips taste, and you're so close, but I know it's not time for a reprise. Dammit, Alani. Dammit, dammit, dammit.
"So, here's the thing." I'm pretty sure I'm about to overshare, but I feel this strange need to salvage this. To salvage you, Min.
"So, Lili's father, Duke? Duke Palau. A little Samoan weasel that had a way with words. I've known since I was like eleven that I was into chicks... women, but I'll tell you this. There was no LGBT Rainbow Happy Club at Radford High, and Dad was a Navy Captain then and saw things pretty much as whatever it takes to make Admiral before I get passed over too many times, not interested in dealing with what he thought was crazy talk." I stop and look at you, wondering. You seem so strong, but are you interested in my weakness?
Reroll: (Rolled: 2d6. Rolls: 5, 6. Total: 11)
You share your story and maybe I should be feeling sorry for you. But the part that catches my attention is, "You're a Navy kid, too?" I smile, feeling warm to know there was something I sensed about you, a kinship. "My pops and mom both met on a boat. Mom got herself reassigned to a port job, then didn't re-up so she could have me. Dad's still out there. Retired from the Navy, now he runs his own boat."
I look out at the waves, not longing, just because. Then I chuckle, "He was a chowderhead. Never made rank, just did the job." I cock my head to look back at you, "How did it work out for your dad?"
"Dad? Made Rear Admiral a few months after Lili was born. Wound up here in Charleston as CO of the Naval Weapons Station, then Mom died in a car accident a few weeks later. He hung on in his job for a while, retired as soon as he could. Mom left the ranch on Molokai to me..." Too Much Information, Alani. "So... he got his star." I try to analyze what I just said, look for the pitfalls, but I just can't.
"Oh," I say, snapped out of our connection through the Navy, and reacting to the loss of your mother. You didn't play it for pity or attention, but there's a loss in your tone, hidden behind all the bubbly exterior. My hand's on your arm, a touch to let you know I'm here.
"A ranch in Hawaii? That's... wow." I'm impressed. I've been to Hawaii, it's amazing.
Take another re-roll
Reroll: (Rolled: 1d6. Rolls: 4. Total: 4)
Min, we chat for a while, leaning there against the railing side-by-side and looking at the water. Quick glances to keep us connected, we talk about the past, the present. I show you some other quick sketches from the pad, many costume ideas but a few just things that caught my eye while out and about. One is my daughter, sleeping. We work our way past my impetuous kiss, finding our way again into this social dance after the misstep.
I realize that I'm not in a hurry. Jim and Bonnie have Lili, and they'll gladly feed her, if she even wants dinner after the mountain of pizza I'm sure she consumed. I have time. "Min, do you have to get to work on your deadline? I'll understand, but I'm, well... free and clear for a while."
OOC: Let's call that the turn. Next one (yours, Rich) will start with 3 Attraction.