ax_main | Kitty and Illyana | Backdated to 8/1/17

Illyana's puzzled about why her conversation with Jeanne-Marie is bothering her, and goes to Kitty for advice.

Illyana headed back to her room, her mind still going over the conversation with Jeanne-Marie. Something was bothering her, and she wasn't altogether sure what it was. She'd liked the other girl, a lot, but...

No. It wasn't anything to do with Jeanne-Marie, or not directly. Illyana sighed as she opened the door to her room, then went over and plopped down on the bed.

"Do you think Tommy's sweet?" she asked Kitty, apparently totally at random.

Kitty paused, a piece of pizza halfway to her lips. On her laptop, colorful ponies and unicorns were exchanging dialogue about the power of friendship. She suddenly looked sheepish, and closed the laptop superquick. "Um. What?"

"Jeanne-Marie - you know, that girl across the hall, the one with the dark hair? She says Tommy's sweet." Illyana peered up at Kitty and wrinkled her nose. "Also that her brother's gay, in case you're interested in that. But it's bugging me. The part about Tommy, not her brother."

Kitty blinked again. She wasn't sure she'd known that Jean-Paul was gay. Was it in his interview? Shaking her head, she focused her attention on what seemed to be the real issue. "I mean, I think Tommy's a troublemaker, but he's not altogether without merit. Why, don't you think he's sweet?"

"I don't know." Illyana rolled over onto her back and sighed. "I guess I never really thought about it?" Which was weird, she guessed. She and Tommy had been hanging out, on and off, ever since the trip to Florida. Maybe there was something wrong with her not having thought about it?

Setting her pizza down, Kitty wiped her hands off and slid off of her bed. "You went on a date with him to Florida and you never thought about it?"

Illyana's forehead furrowed, and she looked over at Kitty, confused. "That wasn't a date. He was joking around about what he could do, and I called him on it."

Kitty flopped down onto the end of Illyana's bed. "Okay, tell me everything that this trip to Florida entailed."

Illyana sighed and stared up at the ceiling for a moment, remembering. "Well, we went to the beach, just like he said we would." She smiled a little. "Riding piggy back on someone's back who's going like, a few hundred miles an hour is pretty awesome, by the way. We hung out there until the sun started going down, and then we walked along the water for a while. And then we broke into some surf shack and climbed up on the roof to watch Disney's fireworks."

"So...you rode on his back, practically hugging him, walked along the beach as you watched the sun go down, then celebrated together," Kitty summarized. "'Yana, that was definitely a date."

"Are you sure?" Illyana picked up her head to give her roommate a skeptical look. "He never actually said it was."

"No, I'm not sure," Kitty sighed. "My first interaction with a boy was fireworks with Bobby. And awkward pizza alone with him, thanks for that. But every teen drama I've watched, from Gossip Girl to Pretty Little Liars, has demonstrated that long walks with guys, sunsets, and pretty much any time alone with them unless they're gay means that it's a date."

"Sorry about the pizza," Illyana said automatically, and gave Kitty an apologetic look. "The fireworks went longer than we thought they would." She grinned a little, though. "But at least we didn't burst in on your date?"

Kitty wrinkled her nose. By her own definition, the fireworks and pizza with Bobby was a date. But she was in the same position as Illyana. They'd never actually said it was a date. "Dating is more complicated than it is on TV," she decided, thumping her head back against the wall.

"Oh good, it's not just me then." Illyana let her head plunk back onto the mattress. "So, any insight on why it's bugging me that Jeanne-Marie thinks he's sweet?"

"Okay, yes," Kitty glanced at her. "That is a little emotion called jealousy. You like him, duh."

"I..." Illyana's forehead furrowed. She liked Tommy. Okay, she could buy that. But Kitty was suggesting she liked Tommy, and...

"Does TV have any answers on what to do next?" she asked hopefully.

"Well, first you spy on the boy to see if he likes Jeanne-Marie back," Kitty told her. "Although sometimes they spy on the girl to see if she meant 'sweet, nice boy' or 'sweet cute boyfriend'."

"She asked me if I didn't think so, too," Illyana mused. "I don't think they're boyfriend/girlfriend." She made a face. "Not yet, anyway."

"Okay, so, you just have to make it known that you want to be his girlfriend. I mean, if that's what you want," Kitty smiled.

Was that what she wanted? Illyana tried to picture it, and wasn't altogether sure that she could. She liked Tommy, yeah. He was fun. He was cute. And yeah, Jeanne-Marie was right - he was kind of sweet. Not in the bring flowers kind of way (which was just as well), but in the he let her change the subject kind of way. Moreover, he seemed like he might actually get it, if she ever didn't change the subject, and actually told him stuff.

Did dating him mean she'd actually have to do that? She wasn't sure.

Finally, Illyana sighed and wrinkled her nose. She'd figure that out later. In the meantime, Kitty was waiting for an answer. "How do I do that?"

"Um. Tell him, I guess?" Kitty suggested. "Or just, you know, tell him that you like him, and the reasons why. Or I guess, just kiss him or something?"

"Just...kiss him?" Illyana sat up and eyed Kitty skeptically.

Kitty shrugged. "Hey, it worked on Pretty Little Liars!"

Illyana considered that for a moment, then nodded and quirked a crooked smile. "I think we need to re-watch. I need all the help I can get."