Work Text:
Date Night
Ten was nervously staring at his appearance in the mirror. Unconsciously trying to fix his “hair” protrusion once more, the tall and lanky Extension Corps member let out a sigh and turned around to face a grinning Ecks. Shun was standing a little to the side, watching silently at the scene in front of him.
It wasn't a secret that Ten was the most vain member of their little group and given that today was a special occasion for him, this was literally doubling his effort looking better than ever. Ten had to defend his reputation as Lady Killer after all. No one could really resist his charms, or so he thought. His friends knew that the exact opposite was the case, most women he tried to hit on were annoyed by his slightly arrogant and boastful self. After an especially embarrassing date that left Ten depressed for three days afterwards, he had stopped looking for potential partners for a while, focusing on his science projects(and eating tons of ice-cream to kill the pain inside).
That was until he met this woman scientist named Technikki. It was love at first sight, at least for Ten. From her goggles to her beautiful slightly blue skin, just everything was perfect about her in his eyes.
Now he finally had the guts to ask out Technikki on a date. They would rendezvous on Jellyfish Island at Club Dyode and to say Ten was excited would have been a huge understatement. He played out the date in his head over and over again, how to act, what to give her as a present and so on. Both were scientists so that was something they had in common, they could build up from that point. Yes, Ten would be successful today, he was sure of it..
Now after half an hour of checking himself out in the mirror, he decided that it was time to go. Their date would start in about half an hour so he once more checked everything and then turned around to face Ecks and Shun.
“I am ready” Ten exclaimed, inhaling deeply. Eck´s raised a brow, smirking. “Are you sure about that? You look positively nervous, dude.” The taller figure simply glared at his companion, flipping him off. “Shut it, Eggs. I am fine…Just get out of the way so that I am not going to be late for my date with Nikki~” His voice had an uncharacteristically higher pitch whenever he spoke about her which was something Eck´s had noticed right away. At first he had made fun of it but by now he knew that Ten was serious as can be when going into Lovey Dovey mode, as Eck´s had called it.
…
On Jellyfish Island, Club Dyode:
Ten was looking around, checking his watch over and over again. Still ten minutes to go but his stomach already made somersaults out of excitement. Would she like his outfit? How he smelled? He had decided for a slightly musky smell this time around and was silently hoping that it would be to Nikki´s liking.
Minutes felt like ages for him by now and as he finally saw the object of his desire, his knees started to get weak. Technikki wore a casual outfit and of course her trademark goggles. After all, she never went out of her home without them.
The scientist walked over to Ten, smiling.
“Hello, it's nice meeting you once more, Ten! You look positively vibrant, I hope I haven't let you wait too long? But judging from my watch I arrived just in time.” She smiled as Ten handed her a small bouquet of flowers. “Those are quite a sight to see, very pretty but also kind of rare? I am not quite sure about the exact scientific name of those flowers, but they are pleasant to look at!”
“I am glad you liked them. Why don't we sit down over there? I will get us something to drink. What would you like?” Ten asked, leading Technikki over to an empty table. It was still early tonight so not many people were at the club yet. “I'll take a Jellyfish Soda, please”.
Without wasting time, Ten went over to the bar and got themselves a couple drinks, returning to the table, nearly spilling their drinks though because he had tripped over his own feet. Thankfully nothing had happened and thus the first obstacle of tonight had been cleared.
“Thank you. I must say, I was surprised though when you asked me out for a date initially. You never striked me as the romantic type…given that I am not very well versed in romantics either, this could very well end up in a disaster!” Technikki exclaimed, looking at Ten with an expression that was hard to figure out. Taken back by his date´s bluntness about the course of the possible fate of their date, Ten cleared his throat and tried his best to not sound too awkward.
“Well, I try not to make it that way. I will admit that I am really nervous and used a lot of time to make myself ready for tonight. When it comes to parables and differential equations i have no problems, but to talk with a woman like you for…for example…is really hard for me” Did he just admit his incompetence in dating? What the hell was going on? Was it his nerves that played a trick on him? He started to sweat profusely.
"A-anyway." He cleared his throat once more, looking on the ground instead into her eyes at first. “Uhh you look really nice tonight, Nikki” There, that was a start. Now for the continuing of his pursuit. Technikki herself blushed at Ten´s words and was equally looking to her left side, not sure how to continue. “Thank you, Ten, you look very nice as well! If you don´t mind me asking…seeing as you´re a scientist as well, what are you currently working on? I am curious as there are not many like minded scientists around Concordia aside from me and maybe Adaphne…” Thinking of her rival made her formerly flustered mind clear up very quickly though and she focused on Ten again. “Well, currently I am working on a device that will make us able to travel to other worlds! It will open so many opportunities for everyone in Concordia! That said, I kind of ran into a few dead ends lately though. The thing that worries me most is the energy that is needed for this kind of thing. It's a humongous amount of energy that I need for it to work in the end. Unfortunately Concordia is not able to create so much output and thus my research is kind of on the backburner now…”
Technikki was listening to his every word, sipping on her drink occasionally. As he had finished his speech, she looked at him admiringly. “That sounds like an amazing research project! I am amazed that you came up with this all by yourself!” Ten started to blush now. The praise he got from Technikki was more than enough to make his stomach churn in excitement.
“You really think so?” His voice became a little higher which Technikki found quite charming, all things considered. “I do so, indeed. As you mentioned earlier, it will benefit everyone on Concordia which is wonderful! That is what we scientists are supposed to do! Make stuff so that others can profit from it! To make their lives easier!” A smile appeared on Technikkis face and before Ten could say anything else, she touched his bigger arm with her hand, gently caressing it. “I would love to help you with your work! Let's figure out how to deal with this energy crisis and make your project work out!” She stopped herself, blushing hard as she pulled back her hand quickly. “I-If you´re alright with it that is…i mean i know the feeling if one gets very protective over their little project and-”
She started to ramble just like every time she got nervous about something. Ten however stopped her and took her hand in his own, sporting an equally flustered expression. “I-It's okay, really. I would love and appreciate your help in this project of mine…It's nice working together with like minded people after all…and as you stated, not many scientists like us are out there. So we have to stick…stick together…”
The air suddenly was filled with a crackling fire(not literally of course duh) as both scientists were staring into each other's eyes intensively. Their surroundings were starting to fade and an intense heat was building up between them, only being extinguished by a drink that was poured out over Technikkis head suddenly, making her snap out from whatever she had just experienced.
Behind the female scientist was Adaphne, wearing an expression of annoyance on her face and holding an empty glass in her hands. “Ooops, my hand must have slipped. Sorry, my bad” The woman sneered, snickering at the sight in front of her. Ten, who had snapped out of his stupor by now as well, was staring at Adaphne with an angry expression.
“What's the matter, lover boy. Did I interrupt something here?” Adaphne chuckled, throwing back her hair in a very dramatic way. “What do you want? Leave us alone!”
He couldn´t believe this was happening right now. The date was going so well, that was until that woman appeared out of nowhere, ruining everything. “I just wanted to pay a visit to a dear old friend of mine, that is all. I had no idea she was out dating you pathetic excuse of a scientist today…i am truly sorry” Her words were full of sarcasm.
“I-I…excuse me for a moment, please…” Technikki stuttered, getting up from her seat, scuttling over to the washrooms across the hall, vanishing inside. Ten sat back down, head hanging low. Was this already the end of their little get together? And what gall that woman had to call him a second class scientist! How dare she? And even worse, Nikki had to suffer because of it. Getting up angrily, Ten threw his drink right into Adaphnes face and went after his date in a hurry. Adaphne stayed back, wiping off the excessive drink that had been thrown in her face. Her hair was ruined and her dress was as well. That alone was enough for the scientist to plan her revenge against Ten. Just like the tall member of the Extension Corps had done, Adaphne was making her way to the washrooms.
…
Technikki was splashing water onto her face, the smell of the alcoholic beverage that Adaphne had thrown at her was still lingering in her nostrils. She hated alcohol and the smell of it. Now it was stuck on her like a chewing gum. When Ten entered the washroom, she turned around and faced him, visibly uncomfortable in her current state.
“I am sorry, Nikki” Ten said before the other could even say anything at all. “This was not how this date was supposed to go…i wanted this to be a memorable evening for the both of us…” He went over to her and offered his date a towel. “Here, it's not much but it will wick away most of the moisture…” She took his offer and used the towel thoroughly. Just as she had finished, Adaphne entered as well and positioned herself in front of Technikki, glaring at her. “You said you weren't ready for another date with me, yet you go out and meet this pathetic excuse of a scientist? Changed your mind quickly, huh?”
They had dated once or twice but it never felt right with Technikki. Their rivalry was just too much for a relationship to have a chance and thus slowly but surely Nikki had stopped contacting Adaphne completely, ignoring her basically.
“Next time you choose to ignore a genius like me, think before acting. I should have known that associating with you would only bring bad vibes all around. Consider this a little revenge of sorts. It's all on you, so stop acting like you´re the victim here!” With that, Adaphne storms out, slamming the door shut, leaving behind only Ten and Technikki.
“You were dating her?” Ten asked, tilting his head. “Why, I thought you hated each other?”
Technikki let out a sigh and looked at her date with a sad look on her face.
“We tried to mend our differences but it was a bad idea from the beginning and i rue the day I decided to go for it…we had a couple dates, yes. But each of those dates was worse than the next. And so I stopped contacting her after a while.” Nikki explained, walking closer to Ten who was listening quietly.
“Adaphne is a very selfish person and only has her own well being in mind. I suppose she still loved Luigi but was pissed that he denied her advances towards him so she went for me instead…” The more she thought about it, the more ridiculous it sounded to her. She felt tired by now and just wanted to go home, yet she didn't want their date to end already.
“You look tired, Nikki. Do you want to go home?” Ten asked, feeling sad that their wonderful date was supposingly over already. “I am indeed tired, but more so emotionally than physically.”
Ten paused for a moment, then offered his larger arm towards Technikki. “I could escort you back home if you wish.”
She looked up to Ten and smiled tiredly.
“Thank you, that would be nice…”
And with that they went out of the night club and in the direction of Merrygo Island where Technikkis workshop was located. It was dark by now and the moon was high up in the sky. Ten and his companion were walking slowly, side by side, silently. That was until they reached her workshop. She paused for a moment, then turned around to give Ten a hug.
“Thank you for tonight, all things considered. I enjoyed our time together very much” Nikki stated, keeping her embrace for a little longer and was pleasantly surprised when Ten returned the affectionate gesture. They were standing like that for nearly an hour, no one was really moving. After an eternity both finally let go of each other, smiling. Even though Adaphne had thrown a wrench in their evening together, in the end Ten was happy that they were at this point now. His heart was beating faster the longer he spent time with Technikki and dreaded the night already. They would part ways soon and who knew if there was a chance for a second date coming up anytime soon…Technikki had a busy schedule and had her own projects to work on.
His fear about that took a backseat though as Technikki pulled him closer to her, standing on her toes to reach Ten´s face. Without another word she gave the taller Concordian a gentle kiss on the cheek, smiling while doing so, causing Ten to blush ten shades of red. “Thank you again for tonight. Maybe next time we could hang out in my place or yours, the chance of meeting Adaphne there is astronomically small, you know?” Both laughed at this.
“I would love that. How about tomorrow? Eck´s and Shun will be over at Cozette´s house babysitting Reclusa, so we could spend some more time together…unbothered by them” He suggested, making Technikki chuckle. “I certainly can reserve a space in my busy schedule for that” She replied, nudging Ten playfully.
“Looking forward to that, then.”
Standing there in the moonlight together, both went on for a final hug before Technikki went into her house, waving a last goodbye to Ten before closing her door. Ten remained in front of her door for a couple more minutes before turning around to return home as well. He bet that Eck´s and Shun were already waiting for him, eager to know how everything turned out. Those two would never change. Always being so damn nosy and all. But at that very moment, Ten couldn't care less. He certainly had to tell a lot about tonight so he went out into the night with his heart skipping a beat or two, looking forward towards tomorrow.
The end(for now ;))