The Prettiest Girl To Be Anxious Over. Period.

Kade felt so uncomfortable. He might have blamed someone… eyes fell on Daedalus. He had recently become Ace. [Yes, because this is in chronological order do not judge me.] He felt like a superhero. He felt like crying. He felt like… hugging someone. He felt like throwing a party. Celtor would not be so proud.
Things confused him. He had just become Ace. He had just gotten all the things he ever wanted. Except he didn’t have Celtor back. He didn’t have his dead parents back. For the moment they did not matter. For the moment… a pretty girl matter more.

It was his life. He had gotten a message that he needed to help with a job. He was fine with that. He was fine living and dying for a cause… but this girl… this woman. The way her cheeks flushed talking to him. The way she couldn’t deny, but would never admit, to liking him. She was a woman. A beautiful woman. An amazing woman. One his guild master felt the need to prod him about. When becoming ace? He was a pubic figure now. Something, above a secret dragon slayer, that must suddenly be scrutinized. Was his life ever casual? Never. And it shouldn’t be.

“Kotone!” he said when he saw her. They were meeting up for a job. He’d asked two women to join him. He was fond of them both. One was mature, casual, and strong. One was beautiful, the friend of a piece of glass, and someone who made him smile when he tried not to.

“Kotone…” he said a second time. Adjusting himself. They were alone. For once. He cleared his throat. He had not been this nervous… ever. No one was this impressive. No request this intense. He… he was vulnerable. “Would...” he nervously scratched the back of his head, “you like to go on a date… with me?”

Kotone had arrived a bit earlier than the time Kade had asked her to meet him. Mostly because even after traveling around she couldn’t get him out of her head. He was like an adorable dragon slayer parasite that wouldn’t let go of her brain. She didn’t understand it. She’d never needed anyone before, but a couple of fun days alone with the guy, and suddenly she couldn’t help but obsess, even if she didn’t act it most of the time. Crushes were complicated things, especially when she wasn’t used to such emotions, and she had no one she was willing to talk to about it.

Kotone’s thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice calling out her name in greeting. Kotone looked up to see Kade. She’d managed to suppress her blushes upon greeting him after the first few times, but she still got this feeling she couldn’t explain, but knew she liked when they met up again. “Kade!” Kotone greeted back as he fidgeted a bit. They were alone again, for what seemed like the first time since he’d visited her. What happened next… well, Kotone herself wasn’t sure. Suddenly, he was asking someone… asking her… on a… on a date? The dragon slayer’s cheeks flushed crimson, and her eyes popped open wide. Her arms she’d had crossed as she waited for him dropped to her side from the sheer surprise, and her poor heart wanted to beat out of its chest to keep supplying enough blood, since anything extra was now in her cheeks.

"I um…” Kotone blinked. Speak, darnit! She nodded. “… Yeah… yeah I would.” She nodded, suddenly feeling the need to fidget as well. Her eyes glanced off to the side nervously, but she looked back at his momentarily, looking him over as she tried to figure out what was going on and how to handle this sort of thing from here. But she was lost. Lost, and unable to figure out why she was willing to be that vulnerable for one person so easily after a lifetime of not wanting to be hurt by anyone. “Wh-what did you have in mind?” she asked finally, standing there awkward and unsure of herself, a mix of terribly flattered and terribly frightened and terribly happy all at once. She felt like she was in a dream.

So, maybe he was a bit exaggerated in his emotions, but he really did feel anxious. He was a host. He was someone who made friends with everyone, but he wasn’t often a best friend. He wasn’t often interested in a girl. He had noticed her acting strangely, but it wasn’t until Daedalus talked to him that he felt he should do… something about this. Unlike his last girlfriend, she was a wizard. Unlike his last relationship, Kotone understood aspects of him that almost no one understood. So yes, he was on edge and exaggerated compared to normal.

Kade asked Kotone on a date and she blinked and blushed. Blushed a lot. He waited patiently, impatiently really, but he was going to look patient. He waited, and she nodded. She would like to go on a date. He smiled. Well that was good. Sure things were going to be super awkward while they had trip today, but after that he at least got to go a date with a lovely young woman. She asked what he had in mind. “Well, would you like to go to a play? I will come up with dinner for us after that. If that sounds good to you,” he offered. He would make it special. Flowers, ice. Yeah, he would do his best to give her a good date.

Kotone didn't really go to plays. She didn't do a lot of things normal people did, partially because the company she kept rarely did that stuff, especially when she was around. Kotone grinned at Kade though, unable to stop from a combination of blushing and smiling. She wanted to hug him, but she was barely able to contain herself. It probably showed. She wasn’t sure. She wasn’t sure about a lot of things. Since when was she a girl? Like… a girl girl? The kind guys liked back? The moment was entirely too weird, but she found that she could hardly complain. She had literally nothing to complain about except her own uncertainty, and the scared feeling that gnawed at her gut all of a sudden. She was able to suppress it pretty easily though, at least.

She nodded with a grin, obviously unsure what to do with herself at the moment. She was fidgety, more fidgety than Kade, and possibly even more excited. Not that she would be able to tell either way. The way he smiled when she said yes…. Her eyes focused on the smile and the blush she had had since he asked intensified, and her own small, uncertain smile accompanied it. “I’ve never been, but I’d love to go with you,” she told him. “Anything, really. I don’t know much about… dates and stuff. Or… relationships or anything..”

It was not surprising that Kotone didn’t go to plays. Because it was clear she really didn’t do “normal people things.” He didn’t mind that though. It was easier in some ways. He had a whole category of things he could introduce her to and she would have a new experience. That was good, right? In a dating situation the people should be able to open up their date’s life experiences. Well, he hoped that was right, because it sounded like what they were going to be doing. With understanding came the ability to safely go to a play with a dragon slayer.

“That is fine, Kotone,” Kade assured her. She seemed very intimidated about the whole dating process, but he was happy to show her something new. It would be fun and good. And well… he did like her, so there as that. “No previous experience necessary. I have at least enough experience in dating to know how to give you a nice date. Oh… and on a topic that might… well, its also exciting,” he said with a nod. Not sure how to approach this topic. It was slightly tied to him asking her out. “After the attacks our ace went on a trip. Stepping down. Daedalus asked me to take the position. So… that’s pretty exciting too.”

Kotone was a bit distracted by spazzing in her head about anything she could reach for when it came for dating someone. Not that she had an entire picture as a part time hermit, part time hero, and part time completely antisocial teenage girl. How did she do a good job in return? It sounded like he was doing all the work! If he did all the work it would be a catastrophe, right? She suddenly wanted to tear her hair out in frustration from her lack of social experiences, especially when it came to this. She’d never felt like she’d been so antisocial, but apparently she had been. All the while, she had been standing there both listening and looking interested while she multitasked by freaking out in her head.

She was jerked away from the thoughts though, a little more obviously than she would have preferred had she been in control of all of the emotions swirling around her. She’d of course been listening, but unfortunately she just wasn’t prepared for everything, and managed to look like she’d gotten lost somewhere in her own head. “Oh! That’s great news!” Kotone told him with a wide grin. If she were someone who normally hugged she might have hugged him in congratulations, but as of yet she had never been a touchy person. “I’m surprised and all, but… more with the timing than anything. I think you’d be a great Ace. Or will be. Or whatever… I mean, you have that skill with people I don’t, and as far as I know you’re one of the strongest people here.” Was she really talking this much? Kotone hoped she wasn’t annoying. She would be annoying herself right now if she were someone else listening to her…

Talking to a girl he liked about the upcoming date they were going on was a bit unusual. Generally speaking at first it was a less communicated event. He would ask, get agreement, and give a time and a date. He had to figure out the details, from generic date material to something very specialized for the girl. His last girlfriend was not Kotone, and anything he’d learned about her as a woman meant very little regarding Kotone. That made him want to change the subject all the more. He didn’t want to flounder about when he really didn’t know what he was supposed to say.

The topic change to being Ace was nice. She told him it was great news and he smiled back at her. “Well I am told Taki suggested me, which surprised me. I mean, she stepped down, and that is her decision… but I had no idea what was going on behind the scenes. I have had a bit of time to get used to it, but I was more surprised than you, I assure you.” She said he had better people skills, and that he was strong, “Yeah, well I’ll try to use that to best benefit Lamia Scale. As far as people skills, you just need some practice. I’m sure you’d do well given time. And you are more than welcome to visit me with my new fancy title,” he said, joking clearly, “Its strange to think I have more influence now… but I want to do something smart with that.”

Kotone wasn’t anywhere near aware of what normal was and wasn’t in a date, much less a relationship. Friendships were still relatively new to the girl, considering that even when she’d not been a bitter teen she’d been a hermit girl who lived around dragons and animals and not people. Kade was right, he wasn’t going to get much help judging things from other women he’d dated. One thing though, was that she was a sucker for sweet gestures towards her. They didn’t happen that often, and they were still pretty new as far as experiences went.

“Kade,” Kotone chuckled, happy and amused by her future date. “You’re a good guy. You’re smart. You’ll do something smart with it whatever you decide needs done. Besides,” Kotone paused, scratching her nose with a blush. “The only stupid thing you’ve done is ask me on a date.” It was supposed to be a joke, but she wasn’t exactly convinced she was dating material despite anything he’d said in the past. Kotone placed her hands behind her back, clasped together as she shifted her weight. She didn’t want to ask what they were supposed to be doing now. The obvious answer involved whatever reason she’d been asked here in the first place. She knew she was here early for a reason, but that one had been revealed. She wasn’t sure what to do right now, in this moment. Had anything changed? Was she obligated to do anything special now? She had no idea, sadly.

Kade was going to have to be their compass to what was normal. It was interesting considering he had been away from people and with a dragon for a larger chunk of time. It was the difference in everything that made him a much better people person. Also having dated ever kind of helped that a lot too. Not because he could compare Kotone, but because he had experience calming his nerves over a girl, and because he simply had a clue of what order generally things went in. It was a mixed bag.

Kade smiled as Kotone told him he was a good guy, and a smart guy, and he’d figure things out. He could have attributed that to the dating process, but he was pretty sure he could apply this to their dating as well. She said the only stupid thing he’d done was ask her out. He knew it was a joke, but he didn’t like self-depreciating jokes from people who weren’t confident in that area. They were grounded in actual self-depreciation. “Oh, it wasn’t stupid. The delivery of the question may have been odd, but the asking in general wasn’t.”

Kade figured they would simply get to stand around awkwardly until Hannah showed up.