Fantasia&Lunicus: The Date Pt: 2
Fantasia~
The moments ticked by slowly, a few women came into the restroom, they merely did their business and then walked out not bothering Fantasia in the least. Once she's alone again, she moves towards the sink. Staring at the mirror above it, she's alarmed by how red her face is. She was blushing up quite a storm, and that was in no ways natural to her character. Turning on the cold water, she lets it run for a few seconds to make sure it's very cold before she starts to splash it onto her face. The cold sensation helps to soothe the heated flush, but not enough to completely make it go away. And now she had managed to get little splashes of water all over her white t-shirt. This was turning into a nightmare. Slipping into one of the stalls so that she doesn't scare anyone.
She locks the door, and uses a touch of her fire magic. Just enough to warm her hand, she runs it along her shirt quickly drying the water from the material. Then she switches to her water magic, freezing her hands and placing them against her face until she feels the hot sensation going away. Feeling a little more satisfied, she slips out of the stall and goes back to the sink. Now her cheeks had a slightly blue look to them, and her lips were trembling from the cold. She just couldn't win! Biting down hard into her bottom lip, she sends a rush of blood into it that helps the color come back, and the trembling to stop. Fixing a few loose strands of hair, she finally slips out of the bathroom and rejoins Lunicus at their table. Though she's too nervous about what she had done to say anything, so she simply picks up her tea and starts sipping.
Lunicus~
With each passing second, Lunicus grew more and more eager for the woman’s return. Still, the fact that something was holding her up was a welcome relief, as it gave him more time to think about how he would go about questioning her. He wasn’t crafty enough to be smooth about it, and press the matter subtly, and he certainly wasn’t about to flat out ask. He needed to find a balance somewhere, but his inexperience with the challenge he was now faced with had him stumped. He was a fighter, born and raised to take up arms against any opposition, but this wasn’t something he could stab until it stopped moving. Sure, that would simplify the process a whole hell of a lot, but things just didn’t work that way with love. In fact, the more stabbing, the less likely one is to get anywhere.
His foot began to tap excitedly, and he continued to cast glances between the woman’s restroom door, and the water at his table. Dang, she was really taking a long time. His confidence was fading with the tick of the clock. Fortunately, she would eventually reemerge, and Lunicus beamed widely as she joined him at the table. But she seemed a little more interested in her drink than in him, at the moment, and as he waited and waited for her to finish and set the cup down, it seemed that she would never cease. Lunicus opened his mouth to speak, but he slowly drew it closed as she simply sat there and sipped, without a single word for him. Was she trying to avoid the conversation? Odd though it was, Lunicus shook it from his mind and gathered himself. Confidence, damnit. Confidence. He folded his hands upon the table and swallowed hard, taking in a slow breath before he began.
“Well… if you wanted to know what I was thinking, earlier… yeah, you pretty much summed it up… but… is that how you feel?” SHIT! As much as he told himself he wasn't going to be blunt, he went and smacked her right upside her head with the question. Wincing some, his hands clenched each other tightly and he hoped for the best.
Fantasia~
When he blurts the question out, it doesn't really take her by surprise. Though she was a bit unsure on how to answer it. Carefully, she sits her glass of tea down. The glass making a soft tink against the tables wooden surface. Her eyes stare directly into Lunicus' own dark gaze, never faltering or showing any fear. It was strange, she'd been so nervous in the women's room, her emotions were acting quite oddly tonight. Moving from one drastic to the next, hopefully she would be able to get them in firm grasp and under some sort of medium way. The tip of her tongue licks her lips, moistening them, and preparing them to answer his question, when suddenly... The waiter shows up, all smiles and charm asking if they had decided on their order yet. Unable to help herself, Fantasia burts out into a soft fit of laughter. Her eyes glistening with tears from the sheer moment of it all. Shaking her head, she glances from the waiter, and back to Luncius.
" Well, have you decided on our orders yet? "
Lunicus~
“I’ve decided that I pissed off someone upstairs…”
Lunicus’ hand moved to rub his temples before he cast his glance in the direction of the waiter. It was horrible timing, on the man’s part, and as much as Lunicus wanted to bang his own head against something hard, he managed to keep his frustration contained. After all, he was used to having bad luck. He contemplated asking the waiter to come back in a minute or so, but that would only mean the man interrupt them yet again, potentially at a point even more crucial than this. It didn’t seem like there could be a worse time to disrupt the two, but it would be best not to take any chances. He reflected back on the past couple of visits he had paid the restaurant, and came up with the first two dishes he could remember. Hopefully, Fantasia was a fan of chicken. If not, he was more than willing to trade. He hadn’t found a dish yet that didn’t make his taste buds sing.
“ Sorry about that. She’ll have the Pollo alla Parmigiana.... and I’ll have the Ragù alla Bolognese. Thanks.”
With a smile, he handed the menus to the waiter, though as soon as the man was gone he would let out a heavy sigh. With that little matter taken care of, it was time to shift his focus back to what he really cared about, at the moment.
“But anyway… you were saying?”
Fantasia~
The entire situation amused Fantasia, but she would try to contain herself, since Lunicus seemed frustrated by it all. She sits silently while he speaks to the waiter, her lips curled into that constant smile, though she did manage to squish the laughter away. Once the waiter leaves, and Lunicus turns his attention back towards her, Fantasia gives a light roll of her shoulders and sighs. It was a rather silly question, or so she thought. On the other hand, I guess he really did need a verbal answer just to make sure that there were no crossed wires, or misunderstanding. Making an odd sound, that was something between a 'hm' and a 'mh', she then gives a faint nod. Hand lifting up, to move across the table and rest lightly atop Lunicus' right hand. Then, in as serious of a voice as she can muster she speaks.
" Lunicus, you've known me for a long time now. Do I seem like the sort of person who runs around kissing men? Much less men that I do not have feelings for? "
Lunicus~
It was probably for the best that Fantasia stifled her laughter. Lunicus really… REALLY… wanted to know her thoughts, and he was scrutinizing all of her actions, desperately hoping that she wasn’t simply acting on a fickle whim. Besides, her sigh did a good enough job of crushing his spirit, at least until that slight motion of her head confirmed that there was something more behind the kiss than just an impulse. The feeling of all that tension and pressure in his chest expelling itself was something that, while welcome, Lunicus hoped he would never have to experience again. It was a great relief, like someone had lifted a freighter up off of his shoulders, and the woman’s hand, laid delicately upon his own, brought a smile to his face. And not the usual one, either: that irksome smirk he wore almost all day long. He was genuinely happy, and he would have lost himself in the moment if he didn’t muster up the sense to respond.
“Well…” his eyes traveled down to the woman’s hand, and his smile widened before he took his free hand and added it to the pile, setting it atop her own, “You’ve got a point there.” Looking back up and into the woman’s eyes, he tried to gather his thoughts to speak, but, lo and behold, his mind couldn’t put a damn thing together. To hell with words, then. He left them behind as he leaned in to the woman. He had always labeled himself as a man of action. It was high time he lived up to that title.
Fantasia~
Fantasia could still not quite push aside the parts of this that brought a touch of amusement to her. Though it was a very serious matter. With his hand resting atop her own, she lightly squeezes the fingers of the hand she still held captive at the bottom of the pile. She fully expected more words to come from his lips- questions. Lunicus was a man full of questions, and he could not deny that fact anymore than Fantasia could deny having red hair. However, when they do not come, and she finds him leaning in closer to her- everything stops. Her lungs forget how to function properly, and even her heart seems to still it's beating. Unsure what he would do next, she waits in a moment of anticipation that seems to stretch on forever.
Lunicus~
This was his moment. Lunicus could feel it in his bones. He was all fired up and ready to go; he was ready to act instead of just sit idly by and hope that everything would just fall into his laps like gifts from the sky. But as he neared the woman, Fantasia did the worst possible thing to a man as unsure as he was: nothing. She didn’t move, she didn’t budge, she did nothing. Lunicus had expected, or at least hoped, that she would join him at least part-way in his endeavor, but there were no signs for him to read, nothing to tell him whether or not to keep going and pray for the best or to back off now while his dignity was still intact. Wait! Was that… no. Damn it! What the hell was he going to do now?!
He had to consider his options quickly, while there was still time to make the right decision. Lunicus was too far out to slink back into his chair and play it off like he was just stretching out his back, but in response to his advance there wasn’t a sign to be found from Fantasia. And there he was, caught in his own, personal purgatory, with heaven right in front of him and hell waiting at his back. He could very well sink back into his chair, back in the depths of a burning desire to know something he never would because he never tried. Or he could press on to the pearly gates, where all his questions would be answered and his fears put to rest. But was he fated to be denied? If that were the case, a world where he never knew in the first place didn’t sound so bad.
All of his resolve had vanished in an instant, and the courage he had mustered was on a downward spiral into the cold embrace of oblivion. But a fire flickered in the distance, and like a moth, for lack of a better term, he was drawn to it, and it filled him with the strength he needed to simply say “fuck it”, though not out loud, and he pressed on until he found the lips of the woman ahead of him and pushed firmly up against them with his own. He cared for Fantasia deeply, and beyond the fear of rejection and depression he wanted to show it.
Fantasia~
No, no, no, no!
He was thinking again, she could see it there on his face, in his eyes. Something had happened to get those questions going again. Had she not been close enough, was there perhaps too much mirth reflecting in her eyes? She didn't want to close her eyes, terrified that if she did, she would miss something. Could anyone read so much from Lunicus with a simple glance as she could? Perhaps. In other parts of the world, during other periods of his life. But she doubted there was another living soul at Willow High who could gain so much information about Lunicus' thoughts with a peek into his eyes the way she could. It came with the years of having him there, and watching- Fantasia was always watching.
His hand! Lo' and behold she did still have a grip on his hand. Curling her fingers slightly she lets the pressure grow. Not much, just a slight motion that would hopefully help pull Lunicus back on track. It was all she could do, since jumping up and down waving pom poms and playing cheerleader probally wouldn't be in her best interest. Thankfully it didn't take much longer for him to start moving again. When he gets close enough for her to feel his breath against her lips, she finally trusts herself enough to let her eyes drift closed. The contact sent conflicting sensations through her body, it was electric and at the same moment held a certain chill that coursed along her spine. Strange, and unusal the sensations were, but there was nothing unpleasant about them.
Lunicus~
“…I am such an idiot,” Lunicus thought as he watched Fantasia’s eyelids draw to a close, and his own followed suit. In the midst of his ‘valiant struggle’, he had overlooked a grave detail about Fantasia: her paranoia around men. She had come a long way since he had first applied for a job at Willow High, but this was a rather sizeable step down a road she hadn’t dared to travel for as long as he had known her. Apparently, he had thought it was a reasonable expectation that she would do something other than freeze up. Looking back at things, that wasn’t one of Lunicus’ brightest moments. But Fantasia had acted, though in a somewhat subtle way, and it was a much needed push for him.
Lunicus was spending so much time reflecting on his errors that he was almost completely neglecting the life-changing moment presented before him, and he snapped back to the present point in time with a sudden jolt that almost caused him to pull away. He had screwed up enough for one day, and he wasn’t about to ruin such a perfect moment by over thinking everything. He submitted his mind to the tenderness of the woman’s lips, and he was resolved not to miss another second. But that was a hard thing to do for a person whose mind was under a constant siege of uncertainty, and he found himself wishing that he could pry into Fantasia’s mind and catch a glimpse of her true thoughts.
It went without saying that Lunicus was enjoying himself, but what did she think? He didn’t exactly have a lot of practice in the relationship department, and there was a nagging thought in the back of his mind that he was messing things up. But wait! He had the best source of all when it came to romance. If there was one thing Lunicus loved almost as much as fighting, it was movies, and he had always heard how certain scenes could melt a woman’s heart. It was simply a matter of applying the right scene to his current situation. It was a foolproof plan, up until he realized the one fatal flaw of it. Sure, he loved movies. Action movies. How was he going to apply Steven Segal’s brutal sense of justice to a kiss?! Gah! More pointless thoughts!
To hell with it, he needed to do something to quell his fears. Slowly, Lunicus drew the top hand away from the pile and brought it up to the woman’s cheek. It circled through her hair, and around her ear, before it stopped just above the nape of her neck. As far as his first attempt at being romantic went, he felt he was doing a damn good job. But what truly mattered what was she thought, and he desperately hoped the experience wasn’t proving to be awkward for her.
