First "Date" (Ravyn)

[Ravyn Rozanova]

"Don't mention it," Ravyn told him, looping her arm into his and giving him a friendly bump on the shoulder. "I had a lot of fun!" It was true - she hadn't planned on enjoying it quite as much as she did, but she wasn't complaining, of course not. If anything, it had been a little refresher for her after all of the drama she'd been in herself. Kouji was drama-free (from her standpoint, at least), and it was nice to hang out with someone without the pressure of making a perfect impression. She couldn't help but wonder what their relationship could have been like had they both not been preoccupied wit other people.

"Let's go there, then," she replied, grinning mischievously. After a few more minutes, they reached the dorms, and Ravyn peeked inside the window. There weren't a lot of people around, but she did think she saw Tak's familiar mass of long, black hair. "Okay," she murmured, turning to Kouji, and placing a hand on his shoulder. "I think I see her in there. When I open the door, don't look around; pretend to be distracted by me, okay?" She gave him a wink. "After a few seconds, when she should be looking our way..." She pursed her lips. "You gotta kiss me, okay?" Shouldn't be a big deal, right? She'd kissed friends before. "And make it convincing," she added, giving him another friendly nudge. "I won't bite, I promise."

That said, and giving him little time to think about it (if he thought about it too much, he might back out), she took the few steps to the door, with him tagging along, and tugged it open. Sure enough, Tak was there, but Ravyn kept her eyes averted and pretending to be laughing at something Kouji had just said.

[Kouji Yajima]

“Uh, okay.” Kouji followed Ravyn. Were they going to do this now? Was it too soon? They just came up with the plan. It was probably a good thing though, because Kouji would have most definitely backed out of it if he had time to think it over more. He was a bit of a wimp when it came to these things. Once they reached the first floor dorms, Kouji was a bit more nervous than he should have been. “Are you sure this is going to work?” He immediately questioned before there was even a plan in place.

He kept quiet though, as Ravyn explained what they were going to do, and he barely had time to take it all in before the door swung open and they were walking inside. Talk about sudden! He laughed along with Ravyn, trying to hide his nervousness, and keep his eyes off of Tak. He did catch her in his peripheral vision, though. It was definitely her. Oh god. He couldn’t do this. He’d look like a total ass! But if he didn't do anything, he’d never know how Tak felt about him. It was the only way.

He gave Ravyn a nervous smile, and hesitated for a moment. His hesitation was apparently evident to Ravyn, who was giving him a look that clearly said ‘man up and kiss me already!’ Okay. It was no big deal. Without much warning, he quickly leaned forward, giving Ravyn a much deeper kiss than really needed to get the point across, and he wrapped his arms around her waste, pulling her close.

[Ravyn Rozanova]

Ravyn really did commend herself for this idea. Now only was it harmless (in her opinion), but she got a kiss out of the deal! She would have to tell Noah about it some other time - no need for him to hear about this from someone else and think this was for real.

She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze as they stepped inside, glad that he put up the act of laughing along. He was convincing enough, and when she paused and turned to look at him, he smiled, but she could tell he was rethinking this idea. She pressed her lips together and rose her brows slightly. C'mon Kouji, just do it, she thought. Apparently he got the point, because at that point he leaned forward and pressed his mouth to hers, with a little more force than Ravyn had been expecting. She was surprised for a brief moment before she closed her eyes and just went with it. Did she feel some tongue? God, Kouji, you sly cat! It was far from unpleasant, though, and Ravyn pressed herself against him, running her fingers through his hair as she grinned into it.

After a long enough period (okay, probably a little longer than really necessary - Ravyn was amazed how good at kissing Kouji was, and she was hesitant to pull away), they pulled apart and, still not looking Tak's way, Ravyn tugged Kouji towards the stairs. Their work here was done.

[Takchawee Ominotago]

Tak had been minding her own business that evening, bringing her henna downstairs to watch TV on the big screen. It was a quiet night - a lot of people were either studying, or just hanging out in their dorms - and she was fortunate to have almost the entire area to herself. She flipped idly through the channels as she finished the last lines along her leg with a satisfied smile.

It was at that point that the creak of the door caught her attention, and she turned over her shoulder to see who it was. Oh. It was that bird chick that Kouji had... Been doing something with. Tak didn't want to say date. Because that would mean Kouji was seeing someone and... And that just didn't sit well with Tak. She wasn't sure why. But it didn't.

And then Kouji appeared, and they were laughing about some unknown joke, and Tak bit her lip, eyes narrowing as a bubble of.... What? Jealousy? No, she didn't get jealous. That wasn't jealousy she felt. Just, uh, concern for her breaking his heart. Yeah. She was about to say something....

And then he kissed her.

Tak's eyes widened and she watched for a few seconds - holy crap, that wasn't just a friendly peck. She immediately ducked her head and pressed herself against the couch, pressing a hand against her mouth. A sick feeling settled itself in her stomach. This shouldn't bother her so much - they were just best friends, she should be happy for him! - but it did, and she fought against going over there and breaking them apart.

"What a bitch," she whispered to herself, as though it was all the girl's fault. Oooh, how Tak disliked her. Why, she still wasn't sure. But it was obvious there was something about Kouji kissing another girl that made Tak upset, and Tak could only wish she understood why. Because... She didn't do crushes, or love, or whatever usually caused jealousy in these sorts of situations. Right? She tried to come up with another explanation, but nothing came to mind.

This was going to haunt her for a while. It would probably show the next time she and Kouji spent time together. Which, really, would probably be tomorrow. Shit.

[Kouji Yajima]

Kouji had no idea what had gotten into him. Yeah, he had kissed girls before, but never quite like that. He certainly couldn’t say that he didn’t like it, after all, he was a hormone driven boy just like everyone else, only a bit more innocent. When they pulled apart, he let out a long breath, and had a sort of dumbfounded look on his face. He didn’t even have time to catch a glimpse of Tak before Ravyn grabbed him and walked him out of the room.

Oh God. Tak was TOTALLY going to think that he was going to have sex with Ravyn. He knew how Tak’s mind worked. Or, at least, he was pretty sure he did. Sometimes, he wasn’t quite so sure, but that wasn’t the point.

As soon as they reached the stairs and were well out of earshot, he turned to Ravyn, still a bit wide-eyed. “Uh… Was that convincing enough?” He questioned, scratching the top of his head. He sure hoped so, because he wasn’t sure if he could handle that again. Not that it was bad. It was actually quite nice, but also very, very confusing. Kissing one girl to make another jealous, and you end up thinking of them while kissing the first… Yeeeeeaaaaah. Too much for Kouji’s brain to handle.

[Ravyn Rozanova]

Rayvn didn't know how Tak's mind worked, and thus didn't think anything of it as she pulled Kouji away from the area and up the stairs. If she had, she supposed she could have just looked a little eager to get upstairs and start doing something. As it was, she just wanted to get out before anything went wrong.

Ravyn stopped and looked at Kouji, a smirk widening her face. "I think so," she chuckled, giving his arm a squeeze. "I mean, even I was a little surprised at that intensity. Did I feel tongue? Where did you learn to kiss like that?" She stuck said body part out of her mouth at him, before laughing again. "Whatever the case, it's all good. I just like kissing people, you know? And if it means you get some feedback from Tak, well, that'll be great!" She really hoped this did work out for him. Even though she wasn't a huge fan of the girl, she could tell by the way Kouji talked about her that he was absolutely smitten.

"Let me know how it goes, okay? I might be able to help you decode any signals she sends your way," she offered with a gentle smile. She leaned in and gave him a hug, planting a soft kiss on his cheek. "And if you ever feel like harmless making out, let me know," she added with a laugh. Teasing, of course. But it had been fun.

[Kouji Yajima]

Ravyn seemed to be amused by the whole ordeal, which was good because Kouji was just plain confused. He wasn’t sure if he liked it or not, or more accurately, he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to like it or not. Why was life so complicated?

“Uh…” Kouji didn’t know how to respond. Intensity? Well, yeah, now that he thought about it, he did kiss her quite…yeah, intensely. That was a good word. And the whole thing lasted for much longer than was probably needed. But… it was nice, in a way. He wondered what their relationship would have been like if they both weren’t occupied by other people. Oh god, she brought up tongue. In response, Kouji lifted his hands up, waving them slightly in a bit of a panic. “I’m sorry! I was just nervous, and you were giving me that look, and I didn’t know what to do!” Yes. He was apologizing for making out with a girl with no strings attached. Ooooh, Kouji.

Luckily, though, Ravyn didn’t seem to be in any way offended by his actions, which he was grateful for. In fact, she almost seemed to be… encouraging them? Were all girls this forward? It was so confusing. “Uh, yeah. I will,” he replied, hugging her in return, “Thank you for everything, really. I hope this works.” Kouji paused for a minute, “Oh God. She totally thinks we’re having sex right now.” That little thought traveled back into his head as his mind went back to Tak. “Shit. I can’t let her think that. I need to go and explain.” Barely two minutes had gone by and he was already about to fess up. Good job, Kouji.

[Ravyn Rozanova]

Kouji still seemed sort of confused with the entire thing, so Ravyn made herself stop being so jovial about the entire thing and straightened her face slightly. "It's okay Kouj, really!" she told him, smiling warmly. "I'm just teasing you. It was my idea anyway, I didn't mean to pressure you so much. I just thought it would help." She patted him affectionately. "You did perfectly." And it certainly wasn't something she would forget soon, even if he would. Kissing people was just.... Fun. And in a way, it almost made her connect more to people sometimes.

She chuckled at the obvious nervousness in his voice. "No problem. And I'm sure something will come of it. Just wait and see." Ravyn tilted her head as he seemed to panic, her brows furrowing even as the subject of them, ah, having sex came up. She chuckled nervously. "Seriously? Does she really think like that?" And then he was panicking more, and Ravyn had to keep him from going right back out there and ruining everything. "Nonono. Don't do that." She caught his eye, making sure he was looking at her when she said,"I'll go back out there and make sure she sees me. I should probably go get some books at the library anyway. You just... Keep calm, okay? This'll all work out." She offered him another smile, giving his arm a reassuring squeeze before turning to go. "Let me know how it goes!" she called back, before turning to go back out to the room. She passed by the couch where Tak had been, making sure to pause long enough so that the girl would see her, before heading back outside. A smug smile tugged at her mouth. She really hoped her plan worked.

[Kouji Yajima]

“No, it’s a good idea! I just… my brain hurts… or something.” Kouji wasn’t the best with words. He was pretty sure he wasn’t good at these thing in general, either, so that didn’t help. Ravyn did managed to calm Kouji down as she explained how she would go and make sure Tak saw her leave. Good. No sex. Wow, who thinks that? Seriously. Only that idiot of a boy. “Yeahhhh, it’s kinda the top thing on her mind…” He mumbled, looking a bit pathetic while doing so.

“Thank you, so much.” His expression went from pathetic to hopeful. He really wouldn’t have been able to come up with the plan, let alone act it out, without her. He’d make it up to her sometime. Maybe he’d figure out a way to help her with her relationship stuff. Either way, he was sure he’d make it up to her somehow. “I will!” He waved to her as she turned to walk back in the room, and after a few moments, he returned to his dorm and flopped on the bed face first. All this girl stuff was exhausting. He didn’t understand how people could constantly do it. He was too tired to even change out of his fancy clothes, but it wasn’t long until he heard someone enter. “Mm?” He questioned, talking to his pillow before looking up to find none other than Tak.

[Takchawee Ominotago]

Tak fought with herself for a while about going to see Kouji. Shortly after they had left the room, the Ravyn chick had come back and left the dorms, casting aside Tak's thoughts that they had gone up to Kouji's room to make out more, or something. The thought of Kouji... Doing something.... With someone else just disturbed Tak. And so, instead of letting her thoughts drive her crazy, Tak stood up with a grumble and made her way upstairs.

She actually paced in front of Kouji's door for a few moments before going inside. She found him with his face against the sheets, and she paused, taking a moment to just look at him. Then he looked up and saw her, and she tried to clear her face from the emotions that were running through her. "Well, don't you look sharp?" she told him, a little less cheerfully than usual, before going to perch on the side of his bed. She glanced at him before looking up at his wall, already regretting coming up; something felt weird. Why was she upset?

"So, it looks like you and that, ah, Ravyn had a good time," she commented, trying to speak airily but failing to some extent. It was hard to hide the slight - What? Envy? - in her voice. He was her Kouji. The thought of him spending time with some bird girl made her sick to her stomach. "Are you going to see her again?" Might as well ask, to see if this was something she was going to have to try to get used to.

[Kouji Yajima]

Kouji hadn’t expected Tak to visit so quickly, and it threw him off guard. He needed time to prepare what he was going to say! Now he had to think on his feet, and that wasn’t good unless he was playing soccer. He pushed himself up and turned so he sat on his bed, simply looking at Tak, a bit dumbfounded. Look sharp? Oh yeah, he was dressed up. He had almost forgotten. “Uh, yeah. I bust out the nice clothes on occasion.” He tried his best to sound casual, and he scratched the back of his head, trying to read into Tak’s tone. Something was wrong, that was for sure.

Wow, right to the point. Was she jealous? Kouji was never good at this guessing game, but he was starting to think that maybe she was. “Yeah, we did.” He stated carefully, feeling like he was now in a room with a tiger. He couldn’t lie to Tak, but he had enjoyed his time with Ravyn, so he wasn’t lying… she was just probably thinking it meant something else. That wasn’t his fault, right? “You do anything fun tonight?” He tried to keep the conversation flowing both ways, but he was starting to get the feeling that that wasn’t going to quite work out as planned.

…Was he going to see her again? Oh dear. He hesitated with the reply, unsure what to say. Ravyn should have given him notes or something! He wasn’t prepared for this! “Uh,” What was he supposed to say? If he said no, then he’d look sleezy, and if he said yes, he’d be lying and probably cause more trouble than needed. It was a lose-lose situation. “I-I think so.” Well… he wasn’t really lying, he determined, because they had agreed to go out flying sometime. That counted, right?

[Takchawee Ominotago]

Tak peered over at Kouji out of the corner of her eyes as he spoke. "You look great," she told him honestly, but in a somewhat neutral tone. She just couldn't seem to muster her normal energy. What was her problem? She sensed a little tension in him, too, and wondered why he was off-balance too.

She really wasn't hiding her jealousy well. It was only Kouji's innocence that was probably keeping him from noticing it immediately. "That's good," she replied a little stiffly. Not knowing what else to say, she kicked her feet. What had they done? Where had they gone? These questions kept running through her head, but she didn't want to feel like... His mom, or something. Why did it matter? She tried to tell herself it didn't. "Yeah, it was okay," she replied, leaning back so she was lying on his bed, looking up at his ceiling. "Hung out with Cam for a bit, then came down and watched some TV. No hot dates for me." Not like she wanted any anyway - dating just wasn't her thing.

Tak glanced up at Kouji as he hesitated. Why was he hesitating? And why did he seem so nervous? She had no idea. "Oh," she replied simply. Silence hung in the air before she reached her arms up above her head and let out a tiny sigh. "That's... Good. Sounds like your love life is picking up." Her words came out slowly, unnaturally. What the hell was wrong with her? "That was some kiss," she added with a snort. "I wasn't sure if I was supposed to see that or not. But, uh, it was... Hot." Yeah... 'Cause she imagined it being her instead of Ravyn.

[Kouji Yajima]

Something was definitely off with Tak, and Kouji was starting to notice. He couldn’t help but to feel a bit excited about it. I honestly felt guilty that he was happy his best friend was in a bad mood. But that definitely meant something, right? He still wasn’t quite sure though. It was best not to assume. Maybe she was having a bad day. He pushed himself off his bed and unbuttoned his vest. “Thanks, they’re not really comfortable though.” He mumbled, sliding the vest off and tossing it aside. It was really an item of clothing that should be on a hanger, but he’d worry about it later.

At the mention of Cameron, it was Kouji’s turn to be jealous. He stiffened slightly, but tried to hide it. “That’s cool. You two do anything fun?” God, he honestly hoped not. He put his hands in his pockets and glanced around the room. Why were things so awkward? Surely, he wasn’t reading into this wrong. He couldn’t help but to be nervous though, after all, he was messing with his love life.

“Ahaha, yeah. I guess it’s about time. Mia has been trying to get me out on a date for a while now…” He mentioned casually. It was funny, how Tak was right about his love life picking up, just in ways she didn’t quite mean. At the mention of the kiss, Kouji’s eyes widened. She just HAD to bring it up, didn’t she? “O-oh. I d-didn’t know you were there. Uh. Yeah. I guess it was.” Talk about awkward. “Uh, are you okay?” Good time to change the subject. Best subject change? Maybe not. Oh well.

[Takchawee Ominotago]

Tak looked him up and down briefly, a very small smirk landing on her lips. "Comfort is key," she mused quietly. "S'why I don't like clothes in general," she added, chuckling humorlessly. She watched him toss the article of clothing away, and was stunned to realize she wanted to push him against the bed and take the rest of his clothes off herself. What was wrong with her? He was her best friend.

She felt him tense up a little, though it was slight - she only really noticed because she knew him so well. "Not really. We just kind of hung out and watched a movie." That was all they had done, really. Okay, their clothes might have been off, but that shouldn't be a surprise. Tak followed his gaze, wondering why everything felt so... Off. She had never felt jealous of anyone before. But she found herself wanting to smack that bird bitch.

"Yeah, that's... That's good," Tak replied, feeling it was anything but. She felt her anger simmer at Mia suddenly. Why did that chick feel the need to get involved in this? "How... Sweet of her." She tried a smile, but it ended up as more of a grimace. At least now he was distracted by her mention of the kiss, and she looked up at him from where she was lying on the bed. "I saw it all," she told him with a quick, unamused grin. "Wish you'd kiss me more often," she added under her breath, looking back up at the ceiling. Had she really just admitted that? .... Oops. Well, it was no secret she liked intimacy, at least.

"I'm..." she struggled to find the right word. "No. Not really." Might as well be honest. "Something feels weird, Kouj. And I'm not sure what." She looked over at him again, eyebrows furrowed.

[Kouji Yajima]

Wow…. This was just so awkward. He had never really felt awkward around Tak, so why so suddenly? The air was tense and he felt like he needed to choose his words very carefully. Was this was love was like? Really? Because it sure was confusing. Unaware of what was going through Tak’s mind, he unbuttoned a few more of the buttons on his shirt and sat back down on the edge of his bed.

He was glad to hear that Cam and her had only watched a movie, and a wave of relief went over him. He hated being jealous, because he felt like he had no right to be so. “Oh, that’s cool…” He murmured, running a hand through his messy hair.

Kouji hadn’t seen Tak this irritated in a while, and to be honest, it was quite terrifying. Maybe the whole kiss thing wasn’t such a great idea, after all. Oh, why did he do it—wait. “You do?” Kouji’s eyebrows knitted together in a confused manner. He must have heard her wrong, because he was pretty sure that she just said that she wished he’d kiss her more often. Oh, how he wanted to kiss her.

He watched her carefully, worry in his eyes as she flat out admitted something was wrong. “Can you try to talk me through it, maybe?” A tiny spark of hope fluttered through him as he finally realized that she was jealous. She had to be. Now that he had it in his head, he couldn’t stop a goofy grin to spread across his face. “Any ideas at all what it is?”