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The Dating Meme
Dating is, when you think about, really weird. It's a totally different thing for different people. Some are friends for years before they date; others start dating on the same day they met. Sometimes, there's a lot mushy stuff involved; other times, the couple acts just like friends. None of this is necessarily right or wrong.
Whatever it is, your character and the character you reply to are now dating. How? That's up to you. Whether it be awkward or not, the relationship will be uniquely theirs.
How to Play
-Comment with your character and preferences.
-Reply to others.
-Have fun.
Prompts
1. Best Friends to More: Oh, wow, you've been this person's friend forever! But then you realize you have feelings for them, and they for you. Will things change when you change your status?
2. The Sudden Decision: Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but here I am, date me maybe?
3. Confession: You've had feelings for this person for, like, ages, and you want to ask them to date you. Or maybe the confession just slips out...
4. Hate Date: You really don't like this person; actually, you hate them. But you don't want them to be with anyone else!
5. I Guess We're Dating: Huh. We are dating, aren't we? Everyone else knew before us...
6. Slow Decision: For the more mature and seasoned, they might fall into something sweet without needing to rush.
7. Been Burned Before: One of you has had a bad relationship, and now both of you have to bear that brunt if you want to date now.
8. Innocence: This is your first real relationship, so you have to figure it out together. That's harder than it looks.
9. Courting: You're from an old-fashioned world or are old-fashioned yourself, so it's courting, not dating. Still, maybe you can sneak away from the chaperon.
10. First Date: Your first true date. What's it like? What would happen if...I don't know...it went bad?
11. First Kiss: Of course.
12. First Time: Together or in general.
13. The Perfect Couple: The couple that never argues and is more like best friends than a couple.
14. The Not-So-Perfect Couple: Ugh, these guys always argue and seem to despise each other. Why are they even together?
15. Comfortable: You can do anything around or in front of your honey.
16. Not Cut Out for Dating: One of you is anti-social, a jerk, a stoic badass, whatever. You're not dating material...yet here you are.
17. Getting on Each Others' Nerves: Spending too much time together can get even the most patient people annoyed with the person they're dating.
18. Know What You Like: It's almost like they can read your mind, whether it be in the kitchen, at the store, or in the bedroom.
19. Trouble in Paradise: Maybe it's external factors, or perhaps internal, but whatever the case may be, things aren't looking so sunny.
20. Test the Strength: Someone else has an obvious crush on the person you're dating. What do you do?4. Hate Date: You really don't like this person; actually, you hate them. But you don't want them to be with anyone else!
5. I Guess We're Dating: Huh. We are dating, aren't we? Everyone else knew before us...
6. Slow Decision: For the more mature and seasoned, they might fall into something sweet without needing to rush.
7. Been Burned Before: One of you has had a bad relationship, and now both of you have to bear that brunt if you want to date now.
8. Innocence: This is your first real relationship, so you have to figure it out together. That's harder than it looks.
9. Courting: You're from an old-fashioned world or are old-fashioned yourself, so it's courting, not dating. Still, maybe you can sneak away from the chaperon.
10. First Date: Your first true date. What's it like? What would happen if...I don't know...it went bad?
11. First Kiss: Of course.
12. First Time: Together or in general.
13. The Perfect Couple: The couple that never argues and is more like best friends than a couple.
14. The Not-So-Perfect Couple: Ugh, these guys always argue and seem to despise each other. Why are they even together?
15. Comfortable: You can do anything around or in front of your honey.
16. Not Cut Out for Dating: One of you is anti-social, a jerk, a stoic badass, whatever. You're not dating material...yet here you are.
17. Getting on Each Others' Nerves: Spending too much time together can get even the most patient people annoyed with the person they're dating.
18. Know What You Like: It's almost like they can read your mind, whether it be in the kitchen, at the store, or in the bedroom.
19. Trouble in Paradise: Maybe it's external factors, or perhaps internal, but whatever the case may be, things aren't looking so sunny.
21. Pregnancy Scare: Hey, it happens. So, how do you feel when the period turns up missing?
22. Getting Serious: Things are getting way deep with this person. They may be the one...or maybe they think they are, while you're not too sure.
23. Old Hat: This relationship is dull. Can you get back the spark?
24. End It: You don't want to date them anymore. You want to see other people.
25. Taking It to the Next Level: You don't want to date them anymore. You want to marry them.
26. FREE SPACE
god i'm so rusty... I'M SORRY meets your lame with more lame
And, after all, she did appreciate it. A lot. Because his stubbornness (a trait that she shared) and his shyness (also shared) meant that, for two people in a relationship, they spent a lot of time dancing around the topic. Never had she doubted his feelings - he'd cemented their strength in her mind more than writing an actual thesis would have - but, at times, she became frustrated about how their relationship seemed frozen in time. The irony isn't lost on her.
But then things like this happen, and her confidence is restored, as well as those pesky feelings of affection she's so embarrassed by. They might have argued and bickered like usual, but standing here in the park with him, Kurisu finds herself feeling a gentle sort of contented happiness.
And then. ]
Wah -- d-don't just suddenly start shouting! I'm standing right here! [ someone calling the cops on them would really ruin the date. ] What are you talking about?
i am 100% rusty... god
[His heart is in his throat now, as possibilities flit through his mind. Does Kurisu really want to spend the rest of her life with... This? This, just what he has to offer?]
[Okabe's not as much a risk-taking man as he once was. Look where all those risks got him: twenty-three and still in his shitty apartment, every few nights spent in that musty futon of his riddled with flashbacks, a man leaping forever through time. Nobody, and certainly not any doctor in this country, can ground the brain again once it has unstuck.]
[But damn it, he secured his future. Their future! Kurisu is alive, breathing, next to him, so very real. They secured that reality for themselves, this world far-removed from all the bloodshed and misery they faced. Now he just has to do it again... Whatever it was, if he can remember the words.]
I... [Damn it, dude, don't choke now! screams Kyouma in his ear.] I won't hold you back. It'd just be nice to be able to see you, and have you come home to me every night, and maybe have some little kids and--
[And onto his knee he slides, one smooth movement, his long coat billowing about his legs much like his lab coat used to. (Does, still. A man can still indulge.) He breathes deeply to prepare himself for what's about to happen.] Heh-hem.
returns literally a year later
With that in mind, she was certainly expecting him to ramble. But not about this.
At first, Kurisu doesn't quite process the meaning of his words. It sounds like he wants to live together with her, and she blinks in surprise before a wry, fond smile softens her expression. Because she would if she could - she'd said it before, but she needs to stay in America to research, and he has his own ties to Japan, and it was all depressingly difficult, really, and he should know this already. Their relationship is ever punctuated by distance, whether in time or space, apparently. But then he keeps going, says he'll follow her, says he won't hold her back, wants to see her every night, wants -- kids?! her blush is as instantaneous as ever, but she can't even yell at him about saying something embarrassing like that in public because they're alone and this is really, truly, honestly starting to sound like - a marriage proposal.
Before she knows it, he's down on one knee. ]
O... Okabe, are you... [ her voice is high-pitched, cracks a little, and her fists are held tight at her sides - she feels like all her muscles have locked up. She's not even sure what she was going to say to him. Suddenly, thinking is distressingly difficult. All she can do is stare at him, wide-eyed, heart in her throat. ]
no subject
[No. No, he can't chicken out. For one, Mayuri would kill him, or at least be very upset in that way Mayuri gets; she's the one who went ring shopping with him, who gave him the pep talk, who pushed him to move their relationship out of that dead stasis in the first place. His father would say he's not being man enough. Daru would say he's not being man enough, and who wants to be told they're not a man by Daru?]
[He's not really ready, you're never ready to marry like you're never really ready to have kids, but he's as ready as a guy can be. His mother gave him a god-damned "Rosetta Stone Teaches English" subscription as a gift - he's been practicing - and if that's not a sign, he doesn't even know what a sign is supposed to look like.]
[In a small voice, humble and yet bold, unusual:] Yeah. I am. [He had a speech all prepared, but it's left him now; his heartbeat is quick, he's trying not to blush or stutter. Instead of trying to remember what he was going to say, he speaks from his heart.] After all we've been through, you know how it is, I can't be away from you for another moment. I understand if you don't want me to follow you, but I'm ready, I mean, I keep thinking about it and all I need is your answer--
[He catches his breath in a long inhale and pulls a little box from his coat pocket. His voice almost cracks on the next words, so all Kurisu'll be able to hear is:] Marry me?
no subject
She's sure she didn't imagine it happening like this, in a park in Japan in winter. The scruffy, nervous man before her is about as far from a prince as one could get. And now, family, marriage - things like that weren't her dreams anymore, just far-off "maybes."
And yet.
How could she picture it any other way? She doesn't want a prince or a fairy tale wedding or a white picket fence. She wants someone who will see her for who she is, who wants her to succeed, who'd stand by her no matter what - a constant friend, a best friend, a partner. She wants a stupid mad scientist who will probably have her tearing her hair out before it can go gray. Listen to him making excuses, self-doubting! He always is - she just can't make him believe. ]
... Okabe, you idiot, [ she responds, voice quiet, heart swelling; she's almost alarmed herself at how easily her response comes, when she's supposed to be the one who stops and makes rational decisions, but she can't stop it. Maybe there was never any uncertainty at all. Kurisu tries valiantly not to tear up, like everyone does, but she can't get more than those three words out before they start to flow. ] Of course. Yes. O-obviously! What do you mean, "if I don't want you to follow me?" Of course I do! Don't you know that I -- I --
[ her words start failing in the face of her emotions, to her distress, but just this once, she decides it's probably okay, though she moves to rub at her eyes. Even then, broken but audible, achingly: ] -- I love you, Okabe...
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[A yes. She said yes. She said yes! Even if she's calling him an idiot (it's a sign of love), saying he shouldn't have doubted, she said yes and she said it outright, she loves him, how could he ever have doubted this feeling that's tight in his heart? He could take on the world, he's Hououin fucking Kyouma, he's already taken on the world once - and with Kurisu by his side and his labmems in his pocket, there's nothing he can't do.]
[He realizes the guy probably shouldn't be tearing up during a proposal, but his eyes are watering, his face is screwing up nevertheless. Still, he's smiling giddily under it, a different sort of grin than when he's teasing someone. She might recognize it as the 'Kurisu did something cute, romantic, or otherwise wonderful' grin.]
I love you, Makise Kurisu. I'm- I'm in love with you. As long as we live, I never want you to doubt it. I want to provide for each other, and have you with me, and everything... I'm so happy. [The last words sound like he's going to start bawling any second. In a weak attempt to stop himself, he looks up at her (that was a mistake, he thinks as a tear finds its way onto his cheek) and pops the box open. The ring inside is something that he thinks fits her, but something she could wear without it getting in the way: a diamond's set into the metal, with two rubies to either side. It is probably the first purchase he's made in his adult life without cheaping out, and it might be the last; live it up.]
[And then he says, or more asks:] Give me your hand?