Chapter Text
David beamed, overjoyed while on his date — date! — with the absolutely stunning Rebecca — with Becca! — whom he’d found ever-increasing reasons to appreciate. Despite this, they were still out of sync. There must be something I change about myself so she isn’t this… nervous. I’m the one who’s supposed to be nervous! Being around you, like this…
Rebecca twiddled her fingertips together beside the sniper rifle she’d tried to illustrate a point with. While he wasn’t entirely certain what she’d meant, the decision to be honest and forward reminded him a lot of what his mom used to mention. Only, this time, he had gained some practical experience with a practical woman. The kind he’d have fancied taking home for a family meal now that he’d had some time to explore her, even if she was acting… uniquely this evening.
Not that he was doing much better, no matter how he’d tried. It felt outlandish to prepare this much in advance, yet the concept of being anything less than prepared left him insecure. He hadn’t prepared to support her through being upset, only knowing to sit back and wait while offering supportive commentary. His mind raced with how he should’ve said anything different than the line he’d heard whenever his six-year-old self fell over or stubbed their toe at the grocery store, yet he still couldn’t find a reasonable solution.
Then Becca squeezed his wrist, and she gave him that smile that told him everything would be okay even if he didn’t hold all of the answers.
David wanted to be that same figure for her. That powerful beacon, the sort that could always get her to smile again and bring happiness into her world in exchange.
He knew where to begin. “You should definitely fire that up, then.”
“Nova! This’ll be some of the most fun I can have with a rod while I’m still wearing clothes.”
“I- uh…” David suddenly didn’t know where to begin.
That adorable smile?
That innocent chuckle?
The way the background got a bit hazy whenever their eyes met, with both of them snapping away after a few seconds yet inevitably coming back for another traded gaze?
The dating guidebook in his pocket had nothing on what to try when he felt like this. He’d checked, both when she’d kissed his cheek to bid him adieu to clean up earlier, and any moment he found his feet wiggling when thinking about her. It wouldn’t survive the week, at best! Or… Maybe it shouldn’t survive the here and now. It’s time to be honest, Becca, I—
Oh, stars…
Oh, I just called her beautiful. How could I have settled on such a cliché term? Where’s my brain during all of this?
How do I even recover from how much I must’ve disappointed her? It told me to start my compliments at the lowest I felt I could handle, yet telling her she’s as captivating as the world was from the moon is just… I don’t know, that seems too cheesy!
I want her to know I’m being genuine but I can’t just tell her the same thing every time her smile knocks the wind from me. I’ve still got to focus on breathing!
Rebecca’s eyelashes fluttered, a smirk stretching across her cheeks. “We could always play with a different rod for a bit… if that’s the face you’re making. Oh, what cute drool you’ve got there…”
> Cute drool.
She saw me drool over her!
How long have I been drooling?
Noooo!
David frantically wiped the corner of his lip. It was dry. Becca burst out laughing at his flustered stomp, causing his heart to soar. Her laugh set off a chain reaction between them, ending with them panting and wiping their cheeks, their backs pressed to the lane walls of the otherwise empty range.
She winked at him and stuffed one hand into her pocket. “So… About firing this thing…”
“Y-yeah!” He gripped both the spare mag he’d prepared and the object in his coat, gulping at having to reveal himself while he tried to figure out how to glean the best possible laugh from her. David wanted to earn Becca’s approval on his terms, not those of some impulse purchase. “Should I grab a target for you?”
“No need. I’ve got one for you to throw.”
“Huh?” David chuckled and traded her an ammo clip as she handed over the guidebook she’d kept stuffed in her pocket all evening. One he recognized from that morning. “What’s this? Exceed Expectations: How to Be a Refined Lady and Claim More Than Your Output’s Seed. Subtle Tricks That Make Them Stick if You’ve Already Sucked Their Soul Like a Golf Ball Through a Garden Hose…”
“You didn’t need to read it out loud!”
“Huh, there’s a ton of bookmarks. This one’s been circled a few times… Entry Three, Handholding Like the Degenerate You Are Without Grabbing Their—”
“David!”
He snorted and flipped to the table of contents.
“Please don’t read the deets on those articles, they’re a crime against passion.”
“Aw, these are way too similar to the ones I’ve been reading in mine.”
“Your what now?”
David sheepishly reached into his jacket pocket and dragged out a rolled-up magazine with easily as many bookmarks. “Here we are. Entry Five, How to Ask Them to Eat With You Instead of Just Eating Their… You get the gist.”
“So that’s what you did at the magazine stand earlier!”
“I certainly wasn’t warming up my skills to fire a pistol or secret squirt gun.”
Becca snorted and squeezed his arm, then leaned her head against it. “You’re something else, choom. Ready to toss that mess to the wind?”
“Just say when.”
“Ready, steady… Actually, one more thing before this.”
“Yeah?”
“Which article told you that super sappy stuff on how to swoon me? All those lines about beauty and such. That sickly sweet, ooey-gooey syrup of your sap.”
David’s mouth snapped shut, the corner parting just enough for him to whisper something as he glanced away. She’s gonna laugh at… No. She’ll laugh with me. I trust her.
“What was that, choom?”
His cheeks regained the best tinge of the evening so far. “None of them…”
“Ahaha, that’s… ahah… Hah… Please tell me you aren’t messing around!”
“I, uh…” David tugged at his collar. Was the room this cramped before, was she taking up that much of his vision this whole time, or was the way her eyes dove into his soul getting to him?
Rebecca cleared her throat as her face began to blend with her neck tattoos.
“Was it really too much?”
“No, no, no! Do it again! Trust me.”
Oh! Oh, this went completely different than I expected! What do I do now? Think, David! Agh, but I never expected to get this far! David rolled up his magazine and drummed it across the range table, sucking in a mouthy breath and letting his lips pop like gum. “Still recovering. One sec…”
Becca waited until he’d let the magazine unfurl before batting her eyelashes at him. “Hey, was that entry you called out intentional?”
“Maybe a bit…” Not that he would turn down either feast with her. Nor that he hadn’t been considering how to do it for a while now.
“Because mine was. Throw.”
“Huh?”
“Throw!” She held down the trigger and charged the tech shot. He barely hurled the magazine before the tungsten rod blasted free, vaporizing his copy.
“Woah, easy there! I barely got that into the range, let alone down it.”
“You’ll catch onto this woman’s signals soon enough, choom. So long as you’re clear of the firing line, I can best anything in the world!”
“Anything, you say?”
“Undoubtedly. Hurl mine when you’re ready. Make it a challenge and surprise me!”
He posed to throw, checked her absolutely magnificent smile for good measure, scanned the range to ensure they probably wouldn’t pierce the ceiling and ground level to hit a nearby store, and…
Becca’s eyes flew wide as his lips parted from her cheek. “Scoundrel! Fiend!”
David chuckled and hurled her guidebook while she still was busy gaping.
“You… adorable…” She hefted the sniper upright and locked onto the flying object, both of them knowing damn well that it would never determine what they actually wanted with their relationship. With each other. “Asshole!”
He grinned. She fired. He watched her feet leave the ground. She must’ve pulled the trigger without bracing.
She was in the middle of a backward launch when he bolted to catch her, his head spinning from how many times he’d subtly activated his Sandy that evening.
As the dust settled, the pair of them coughing and chuckling, David scooped her up and snorted into the front of her jacket. “How’s my gorgeous gremlin?”
“Hey, hey! I’m a mess enough already! You goof… ehehe, keep going!”
“And how about me?”
“You’re…” Becca lowered the Nekomata to the ground while gripping his arm, then used her free hand to grab his collar. “Looking mighty clean for someone who’s done me dirty.”
“Mmm… I’m quite dirty, I assure you. There’s someone I want to focus on… ”
Becca and David would eventually need to come up for air. To let his arms rest. To do something besides sway with her and nuzzle their noses together between giggles and lip pecks of adoration.
But to do all of that at once?
“David! You’re gonna work me up again…”
“Actually… Mind if I try something?”
That eternity was well spent.