Girl Talk (Anjali)

[Chris Rossi]

Chris had no way of knowing the thoughts on her friend's mind. Yet she wouldn't be surprised to. Anjali had talked before of her parent's expectations and her limited experiences 'dating' men she had been set up with. After all, one of their first serious conversations had been about sexuality and how she wanted to explore it even if she was resigned to living the life her parents expected of her. Honestly, Chris hoped she would in time choose to live the life she wanted instead, but there was no rush for Anji to come to any conclusions any time soon. Better to experiment and make an informed choice.

She had always wanted to help her in that effort - she had just never thought it would be as anything more than a friend.

The task of choosing a date was a far more pertinent matter though, and difficult at that. After all, there weren't many activities that the two didn't enjoy as friends and Chris had a suspicion that getting out of their admittedly small comfort zones was probably important to treating an outing as a romantic date rather than just fun with a friend.

Chris nodded as Anjali agreed to dinner, but not just dinner. Atmosphere was important. Catching a bite to eat by itself was friendly. Making it feel like a date involved a bit more planning, but by itself just felt... lacking. Her suggestions made Chris smile though.

"I agree though, movies are just... like, it's one thing to go with friends or as an established couple or something, but to start out? It's so impersonal," she said with a wrinkle of her nose. "Mini-golf would be fun though." It seemed a good fit for them. They were both semi-athletic and fun-loving, even goofy. Her smile widened as the younger girl spoke of holding hands or doing something datey in the dark.

"How about this. A round of mini-golf to start, then dinner after. If that goes well, then maybe we can add the planetarium afterwards, do something datey in the dark," she added with a playful smirk. She was teasing Anji, but she had to admit, the proposed idea definitely had its merits. There was that little flutter again. Oh how she hoped that the date would go well. It was funny how quickly it came flooding bath. When they became friends, she had filed Anji as off-limits and so she had somehow stopped noticing the attraction she felt for her friend.

Chris softened as the younger girl experienced a sudden rush of nerves. "Hey," she said gently, reaching out a hand to rest on her friends knee. Funny how suddenly that simple touch seemed charged with electricity - the sort that made her feel all tingly. "You don't suck at this. Promise. I mean, I'm no expert or anything, but the whole point is that it should be personal, right? Which means the only wrong way to do it is trying to plan something because that's how it's 'supposed' to be."

Her smile widened slightly, though there was a sweetness to it that made her seem more comforting in that moment. She had always found Anjali's tendency to worry about those sort of details endearing - it just showed how much she cared - and now was no different. She waited a moment, acutely aware of the way her hand lingered, gauging her friend's reaction and trying to decide if she should withdraw or maintain the contact.

"So how does that plan sound to you?" If she agreed, they only needed to figure out what sort of food they wanted to have and where they should eat it.

[Anjali Kedar]

Anjali nodded along, glad that they seemed on the same page for movies.  She liked going to the movies and all, but it just wasn't date-like to her, which was odd since a lot of people went to the movies on first dates.  She supposed to give them something to talk about, but she and Chris didn't need conversation starters.  They got along just fine as it was.

Her grin only spread wider as her friend made their plans more concrete.  Friend? Date? What was Chris to her now? As she playfully mocked her, Anjali covered her face and groaned pathetically into her hands.  Why did she need to be such a spaz and say stupid things all the time?  Her cheeks were hot with embarrassment when she finally pulled her hands away and shook her head at the other girl.  "We don't need to do anything datey in the dark." Though, she thought, it would be nice..

Chris's hand on her knee sent a shock of electricity through her entire body and she looked over into the other girls eyes as her voice softened.  Her heart fluttered at the sudden change and she swallowed the large lump in her throat.  Her reassurance somehow helped her feel better, and though her heart continued to hammer in her chest, she gave a soft nod and felt herself calm some.  Maybe she didn't suck at this.. She just wasn't experienced yet. She'd never planned a date before, so it was all new to her.  She gave a little nod accompanied by her signature bashful grin, feeling her spirits lift once more.  Was it possible she was actually doing this all right after all?

Despite how calm she now felt, she had to focus on breathing.  Slow, deep breaths in and out, still hyper aware of the hand lingering on her knee.  She wondered if she should touch Chris in return or if that would just be weird.  It wasn't as if she didn't want to, but this wasn't their date yet.  Did it matter? There was no rule in not touching someone else..  Her eyes shifted away from the other girls and down to the hand on her knee instead, her own fingers twitching as they fought to either stay put or move towards Chris's.  Finally she forced her hand up, slipping her fingers through the other girls to intertwine them, keeping them both their on her knee.

"It sounds good." She offered back softly, clearing her throat after as it now felt dry.  She looked back at Chris briefly before grinning bashfully down at her hand around hers.  Would Chris be able to feel how moist her palm was growing? Would she be grossed out by it? Fearing the worst Anjali pulled back and reached for her dinner, wanting to distract herself and Chris from her possible weird little faux pas.  

"Sooo.. do you have a food preference or what? You know I eat almost anything.."

[Chris Rossi]

The urge to tease Anjali was too strong to resist - besides, that was pretty much how Chris was used to showing affection at this rate - and the reward was totally worth as a noticeable blush colored her face. "You know, you're cute when you get all flustered," she said with a smirk. "Besides, I never said I objected to doing something datey in the dark," she added with a playful wink. It would be nice really. It had been... well, more than awhile really.

Chris was a little nervous when Anji didn't seem to react to her touch. Was that weird? Maybe she shouldn't have... or maybe she'd just lingered too long? She didn't want to make the younger girl uncomfortable, obviously... Just as she started to lift her fingers to pull back, instead, she felt Anjali's fingers thread through her own. She couldn't help but smile as she looked up at the girl, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

Her smile only grew as the other agreed that sounded like a solid plan. Was this really happening? It was a bit hard to believe and yet... that little giddy feeling wasn't going away. Nor was the fluttering sensation in her stomach. She had never seen it coming, but she was glad that they were going to give this a try.

Anjali pulled her hand away then, and so Chris followed suit, wondering if she had done something wrong. That worry quickly faded though as she instead reached for her long-forgotten plate of food. Oh. That was a thing. Right.

So she grabbed her own plate and took a bite as she considered the question at hand. "Well, I mean, you know me, I'll eat nearly anything. I think it's less a question of what we'd eat and what's more..." Her mouth suddenly went dry. "Romantic." Was that weird to say? Hopefully not. "You know what I mean?" she added, hoping to diffuse some of the awkwardness as she took another bite of food.

"I just, well, I'd want it to feel special, not like any of our other hangouts. Not that those are bad or that I don't enjoy them, just that..." She pursed her lips together, trying to calm down her apparently rampant nerves, even as a blush spread across her own features. "Well, it's a date. It's supposed to be special, right?"

[Anjali Kedar]

"Ugh.." She groaned when Chris called her cute.  That was such a weird compliment.. she was cute when she was acting like a total idiot.  That wasn't cute! That was pathetic. Then when Chris said she had no objections to anything datey she had to nip at her bottom lip again, that anxious excitement making her stomach clench tightly. What sort of datey things did Chris have in mind? She had just thought maybe some hand holding or the slip of her fingers onto a knee or something like that, but what if Chris had other ideas? What if Chris planned to full on make out with her at the planetarium? Anjali's heart hammered in her chest just thinking about it, her eyes sliding down to Chris's lips as she imagined what it would be like to kiss them.  Her gaze ripped away quickly down to the food in her lap, not wanting to think about something so, well, date like before their actual date while they were hanging out and eating a meal together. That would get awkward quickly.

"Romantic?" She questioned as though the thought had never crossed her mind.  Her brows creased gently as she considered romantic restaurants.  Anything too romantic was going to be a lot of money and she had technically asked Chris out so she intended to pay.  At least for some of their activities! Romantic sounded pretty expensive for her taste though, and she suddenly found herself wondering how she could approach the topic without sounding like a lame, broke college kid, which she technically was.  She made alright money at the gym but she had a lot of expenses, many which her parents helped her with, but she had the feeling they wouldn't support her paying for a date.  Her parents were pretty traditional in that sense.  Even if she were going on a date with a guy they would expect him to pick up the tab, and if he didn't he would never be considered acceptable for Anjali.  

"Yeah, I guess it is supposed to be kind of special, but, like, whatever we do will be special." She pointed out, not trying to manipulate the conversation too much.  "We could get sandwiches or something and even picnic.  Like, it doesn't need to be fancy.  We're not fancy people.." Or rich people
she wanted to add but again feared what her girlfriend.. no not girlfriend.  Girl Friend, would think of her.  Was she too broke to pursue a relationship? "But a first date at a restaurant could be nice.  Maybe, uhh.. what's romantic? Italians romantic, right? We could share a plate of spaghetti and suck the ends of noodles and meet in the middle.  Then I can give you the last meatball.." She smirked, pushing a bite of food into her mouth, obviously teasing a little.  "Whatcha think?"