Gar and Shen - Back to school party
Sep. 16th, 2017 09:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ax_swift posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ax_mainGar is experiencing a couple of firsts already, and Shen comes along to add a couple more to the list. And some things are cleared up, ish?
Looking over everyone else, Gar felt horrendously under-dressed. It was the first party he'd ever been to, and he, already, was feeling like he was doing a horrible job at it. That was part of life, though, and Gar wasn't one to let himself get down about the little things. So instead, he was having himself a bottle of water, and he found himself looking for Shen.
He finally laid eyes on her, and he found himself looking pensively at her. Gar had never had a crush before in his life, though popular TV shows had given him an idea of what they were kind of like. All he knew was that he liked being around her. He liked seeing her smile, he liked talking to her, and he felt really good when she was around. Still, the semi-realization that he might have a crush on her made him awkward. Was it okay? Was it not okay? Should he tell her?
For now, he decided to just nurse his bottle of water and cast a look her way. Maybe he'd pluck up the courage to go and talk to her. But she was dressed so nice, and it was cute that she was barefoot, and... He took another sip of water. Maybe it was the ambiance or environment or something but this almost didn't feel real, liking someone this much.
Shen had definitely gone all out tonight. It wasn't like she'd been having fun with clothes in her daily life recently, so she'd jumped at the chance to wear something else than usual. The dress was short and sweet, and her wings fit perfectly out of the hole in her back. Going barefoot was business as usual; she'd rarely been wearing shoes since getting used to the talons. And she was wearing make-up for once, a dark red lipstick, green eyeshadow for a touch of color, and mascara.
When she left Jeanne-Marie to go get herself another drink, she caught sight of Gar looking her way and she smiled at him, but kept going. Vodka and juice acquired, she took a happy sip, then saw Gar looking her way again.
It would've been easy to simply walk through the crowd to him, but it wouldn't have been fun. She took off - and did not flash anyone, not with anything but the black hotpants she was wearing under her dress for this very purpose - only to land beside him without having spilled a drop of her drink. She was good, even one drink in. "Hey there! What's up?"
"Hey," Gar said, a dopey smile drawing across his lips before he realized he was being a goober. "I, uh. Not much. Just. You look, y'know. Good," he said. "I-I mean, you always look nice, just, it's nice to see you all dressed up. It's nice," he said, realizing that he was kind of just spilling words everywhere since the conversation topic was open and broad and she was there looking so pretty and nice.
Shen laughed. "Thanks. It's a nice break from tank tops." She really should figure out how she was going to handle the weather getting colder and colder. No way she was going wingless just to be able to wear a sweater. "You having a good time?"
"Yeah. You?" he asked, though it seemed pretty obvious she was.
"Definitely," Shen grinned. "Come on, selfie time!" She slid her phone out of the side of her dress, where she'd stuck it against her boob given her complete lack of pockets. She pulled up the camera, then leaned close beside Gar to take the picture, grinning up at the phone she held.
Gar's cheeks darkened a bit as she got close to him, but he gave a cheesy grin and a peace sign for the selfie. "First selfie ever!" he said, through the grin.
Shen made sure to frame it perfectly - selfies were all about angle - then took the picture, and grinned at Gar. "Happy first selfie!" She displayed it on the screen to show it to him. "It's a good one!"
"It is," he agreed, his cheeks still a bit darkened from, well, blushing. Just didn't show well on green, really. "It's my first party, too," he added. "It's a whole night of firsts."
"Wow." Shen locked her phone and slid it back into her dress, needing a moment to get that right. "But you've danced before, right? What about alcohol?" Trying to find other firsts, yes, absolutely.
"Haven't danced. And... we're not ... supposed to drink, right?" he asked, curiously. "I mean, it's .... isn't that... not allowed?" The Professor had to know. How could he not?
"That cooler over there, it's the spiked one," Shen pointed at the one in question. She held out her drink. "Want a sip? There's vodka in it."
Funny how she'd just avoided the question. But peer pressure seemed to work on Gar easily, and he graciously accepted. "S-sure, I'll try it. Why not?" Shen was doing it, and Shen wasn't a bad person. Which meant it was probably okay. He just stared at the drink, for a moment, before deciding to finally take a sip.
His face probably said enough.
Shen chuckled at his face. "That bad? I feel like you can barely taste it." Which was for the better; she didn't want to end up completely hammered after a couple of drinks.
"I just wasn't expecting it," Gar said, hoping he hadn't made himself look like a little kid. He took another sip and forced himself to not grimace. "That's not bad. Once you get like, y'know. Used to it. I guess."
"Keep this one, if you like, I'll go grab another," Shen offered helpfully.
"A-are you sure? I can go get my own," he said, not wanting to have stolen her drink or anything.
"I'll be right back," Shen assured him with a smile. And with that, she was back up in the air, and then back again with a new drink. "Cheers," she told him, and took a drink.
"I guess an actual bird would've had a harder time carrying a drink," Gar said, wondering how he would've done the exact same thing. "There's something to be said about flight and opposable thumbs together, I guess," he said, taking a drink like she did.
"Best of both worlds, that's me!" Shen confirmed brightly, stretching her wings slightly and giving a half-bow.
"Yeah," Gar chuckled. "You're great," he said, earnestly, taking another sip of the drink, which, okay, he was getting used to. For Shen, because she seemed to expect it of him. "Seriously. You got really lucky at the powers lottery."
"Says the guy who can turn into any animal he likes," Shen remarked. "Including dinosaurs." She grinned, wings bristling before settling down. "But yeah. I'm real happy with my lot, too."
"Good," Gar said, grinning. "You should be. I mean, seriously. You're great," he said, again.
At his repeated statement, suspicion dawned in Shen, and she went over some more things that didn't mean much on their own, but all put together... She paused, wondered whether to say anything at all, but she'd rather ask and get it wrong than not ask and trample his feelings. "Gar, do you... I might be reading this wrong, which would be cool. But do you like me?"
Gar blinked at her a few times. "Of course," he said. "We're friends, right?" And he thought she was amazing. And... yeah, okay, he probably had a crush, and he sort of had an idea of what she was getting at, but he was suddenly sort of bashful about it, and his cheeks got a bit darker. "You're great to be around. You're... nice, and you're... really pretty," he added, looking away.
Oh, shit. That was definitely a yes. Right, here came the talk. Shen smiled at him when he looked back at her. "Yeah, we're friends. And I'm... not looking for a boyfriend. That cool?" There would be time for commitment later. Much later. When she was thirty, or something.
"That's fine," Gar said, blinking at her. "I... honestly never even really thought about that," he said. He'd never considered that as an outcome. It had nothing much to do with self-confidence, though. It was just... well, it was just how it was. Shen was a free spirited person. "I just like being around you. You're fun."
Shen smiled, both touched and relieved. She hadn't wanted to hurt him. "OK. Cool." Her smile took on a playful quality. "You're pretty fun yourself."
He grinned wider, somehow. "I try," he said. "Being able to turn into animals helps a lot with that."
"We have plenty of fun with you in your natural shape," Shen pointed out. "Speaking of, first dance, when we're done with our drinks." She didn't like awkwardness, so she tended to skip straight past it if she could.
Which Gar could appreciate. "I guess we do, huh," Gar chuckled. "And I'm just warning you. I will probably be really bad at dancing," he said, sipping on his drink. Well, he was already used to the slight alcohol tinge. Which was nice. This was actually pretty enjoyable.
Shen leaned in slightly to confide, in a near whisper, "The trick is not to give a shit."
He almost spit his drink laughing from the comment. "I-I guess that'd help, yeah."
"No, seriously," Shen told him with a smile, nodding to emphasize her words. "My best friend from Seattle, Ali. She dances so. Ridiculously. But she's so into it that... it's cool. It's ridiculous, but super cool."
"Well, I'll keep that in mind," Gar said, realizing that he was close to polishing off his drink. Guess it was getting close to time to put 'not giving a shit' to the test.
"The alcohol will help," Shen assured him with a grin, wings shifting slightly with her eagerness to go and dance. She'd keep them tucked against her as she danced, of course, she didn't want to bang them into anyone. But they had become a part of her body language by now. "Bottoms up?"
"To a good first dance," Gar said in a half-joking toast, as he polished off his drink.
Shen laughed and downed her drink, setting it down nearby before grabbing his hand to tug him towards the area that served as a dancefloor.
Gar set his empty cup next to hers, and followed her onto the dance floor area. Hopefully he wouldn't make a complete fool out of himself. But he would do his best to not care if he did.
Looking over everyone else, Gar felt horrendously under-dressed. It was the first party he'd ever been to, and he, already, was feeling like he was doing a horrible job at it. That was part of life, though, and Gar wasn't one to let himself get down about the little things. So instead, he was having himself a bottle of water, and he found himself looking for Shen.
He finally laid eyes on her, and he found himself looking pensively at her. Gar had never had a crush before in his life, though popular TV shows had given him an idea of what they were kind of like. All he knew was that he liked being around her. He liked seeing her smile, he liked talking to her, and he felt really good when she was around. Still, the semi-realization that he might have a crush on her made him awkward. Was it okay? Was it not okay? Should he tell her?
For now, he decided to just nurse his bottle of water and cast a look her way. Maybe he'd pluck up the courage to go and talk to her. But she was dressed so nice, and it was cute that she was barefoot, and... He took another sip of water. Maybe it was the ambiance or environment or something but this almost didn't feel real, liking someone this much.
Shen had definitely gone all out tonight. It wasn't like she'd been having fun with clothes in her daily life recently, so she'd jumped at the chance to wear something else than usual. The dress was short and sweet, and her wings fit perfectly out of the hole in her back. Going barefoot was business as usual; she'd rarely been wearing shoes since getting used to the talons. And she was wearing make-up for once, a dark red lipstick, green eyeshadow for a touch of color, and mascara.
When she left Jeanne-Marie to go get herself another drink, she caught sight of Gar looking her way and she smiled at him, but kept going. Vodka and juice acquired, she took a happy sip, then saw Gar looking her way again.
It would've been easy to simply walk through the crowd to him, but it wouldn't have been fun. She took off - and did not flash anyone, not with anything but the black hotpants she was wearing under her dress for this very purpose - only to land beside him without having spilled a drop of her drink. She was good, even one drink in. "Hey there! What's up?"
"Hey," Gar said, a dopey smile drawing across his lips before he realized he was being a goober. "I, uh. Not much. Just. You look, y'know. Good," he said. "I-I mean, you always look nice, just, it's nice to see you all dressed up. It's nice," he said, realizing that he was kind of just spilling words everywhere since the conversation topic was open and broad and she was there looking so pretty and nice.
Shen laughed. "Thanks. It's a nice break from tank tops." She really should figure out how she was going to handle the weather getting colder and colder. No way she was going wingless just to be able to wear a sweater. "You having a good time?"
"Yeah. You?" he asked, though it seemed pretty obvious she was.
"Definitely," Shen grinned. "Come on, selfie time!" She slid her phone out of the side of her dress, where she'd stuck it against her boob given her complete lack of pockets. She pulled up the camera, then leaned close beside Gar to take the picture, grinning up at the phone she held.
Gar's cheeks darkened a bit as she got close to him, but he gave a cheesy grin and a peace sign for the selfie. "First selfie ever!" he said, through the grin.
Shen made sure to frame it perfectly - selfies were all about angle - then took the picture, and grinned at Gar. "Happy first selfie!" She displayed it on the screen to show it to him. "It's a good one!"
"It is," he agreed, his cheeks still a bit darkened from, well, blushing. Just didn't show well on green, really. "It's my first party, too," he added. "It's a whole night of firsts."
"Wow." Shen locked her phone and slid it back into her dress, needing a moment to get that right. "But you've danced before, right? What about alcohol?" Trying to find other firsts, yes, absolutely.
"Haven't danced. And... we're not ... supposed to drink, right?" he asked, curiously. "I mean, it's .... isn't that... not allowed?" The Professor had to know. How could he not?
"That cooler over there, it's the spiked one," Shen pointed at the one in question. She held out her drink. "Want a sip? There's vodka in it."
Funny how she'd just avoided the question. But peer pressure seemed to work on Gar easily, and he graciously accepted. "S-sure, I'll try it. Why not?" Shen was doing it, and Shen wasn't a bad person. Which meant it was probably okay. He just stared at the drink, for a moment, before deciding to finally take a sip.
His face probably said enough.
Shen chuckled at his face. "That bad? I feel like you can barely taste it." Which was for the better; she didn't want to end up completely hammered after a couple of drinks.
"I just wasn't expecting it," Gar said, hoping he hadn't made himself look like a little kid. He took another sip and forced himself to not grimace. "That's not bad. Once you get like, y'know. Used to it. I guess."
"Keep this one, if you like, I'll go grab another," Shen offered helpfully.
"A-are you sure? I can go get my own," he said, not wanting to have stolen her drink or anything.
"I'll be right back," Shen assured him with a smile. And with that, she was back up in the air, and then back again with a new drink. "Cheers," she told him, and took a drink.
"I guess an actual bird would've had a harder time carrying a drink," Gar said, wondering how he would've done the exact same thing. "There's something to be said about flight and opposable thumbs together, I guess," he said, taking a drink like she did.
"Best of both worlds, that's me!" Shen confirmed brightly, stretching her wings slightly and giving a half-bow.
"Yeah," Gar chuckled. "You're great," he said, earnestly, taking another sip of the drink, which, okay, he was getting used to. For Shen, because she seemed to expect it of him. "Seriously. You got really lucky at the powers lottery."
"Says the guy who can turn into any animal he likes," Shen remarked. "Including dinosaurs." She grinned, wings bristling before settling down. "But yeah. I'm real happy with my lot, too."
"Good," Gar said, grinning. "You should be. I mean, seriously. You're great," he said, again.
At his repeated statement, suspicion dawned in Shen, and she went over some more things that didn't mean much on their own, but all put together... She paused, wondered whether to say anything at all, but she'd rather ask and get it wrong than not ask and trample his feelings. "Gar, do you... I might be reading this wrong, which would be cool. But do you like me?"
Gar blinked at her a few times. "Of course," he said. "We're friends, right?" And he thought she was amazing. And... yeah, okay, he probably had a crush, and he sort of had an idea of what she was getting at, but he was suddenly sort of bashful about it, and his cheeks got a bit darker. "You're great to be around. You're... nice, and you're... really pretty," he added, looking away.
Oh, shit. That was definitely a yes. Right, here came the talk. Shen smiled at him when he looked back at her. "Yeah, we're friends. And I'm... not looking for a boyfriend. That cool?" There would be time for commitment later. Much later. When she was thirty, or something.
"That's fine," Gar said, blinking at her. "I... honestly never even really thought about that," he said. He'd never considered that as an outcome. It had nothing much to do with self-confidence, though. It was just... well, it was just how it was. Shen was a free spirited person. "I just like being around you. You're fun."
Shen smiled, both touched and relieved. She hadn't wanted to hurt him. "OK. Cool." Her smile took on a playful quality. "You're pretty fun yourself."
He grinned wider, somehow. "I try," he said. "Being able to turn into animals helps a lot with that."
"We have plenty of fun with you in your natural shape," Shen pointed out. "Speaking of, first dance, when we're done with our drinks." She didn't like awkwardness, so she tended to skip straight past it if she could.
Which Gar could appreciate. "I guess we do, huh," Gar chuckled. "And I'm just warning you. I will probably be really bad at dancing," he said, sipping on his drink. Well, he was already used to the slight alcohol tinge. Which was nice. This was actually pretty enjoyable.
Shen leaned in slightly to confide, in a near whisper, "The trick is not to give a shit."
He almost spit his drink laughing from the comment. "I-I guess that'd help, yeah."
"No, seriously," Shen told him with a smile, nodding to emphasize her words. "My best friend from Seattle, Ali. She dances so. Ridiculously. But she's so into it that... it's cool. It's ridiculous, but super cool."
"Well, I'll keep that in mind," Gar said, realizing that he was close to polishing off his drink. Guess it was getting close to time to put 'not giving a shit' to the test.
"The alcohol will help," Shen assured him with a grin, wings shifting slightly with her eagerness to go and dance. She'd keep them tucked against her as she danced, of course, she didn't want to bang them into anyone. But they had become a part of her body language by now. "Bottoms up?"
"To a good first dance," Gar said in a half-joking toast, as he polished off his drink.
Shen laughed and downed her drink, setting it down nearby before grabbing his hand to tug him towards the area that served as a dancefloor.
Gar set his empty cup next to hers, and followed her onto the dance floor area. Hopefully he wouldn't make a complete fool out of himself. But he would do his best to not care if he did.
