"Her name is Lil. I'm taking her out to a nice dinner at Olive Garden and a walk in the park. Sock? Sock! Are you even listening to me?"
Jonathan waved his eyes in front of the demons eyes, attempting to get a response. Unfortunately, his efforts to explain to Sock why he wouldn't be home tonight were fruitless, each summary ending in a dazed "Wha...?" from the brunett.
Blank green eyes snapped back into focus on the blonde's face. "Uh. Ok. Cool." was all Sock managed.
"So can you please please please not screw it up?" The human begged.
"Jonathan. Jonathan jonathan jonathan. Jon-a-than. Have you learned nothing over the past year?" he scolded.
Jonathan groaned and made one final request. "Can you at least... not make me look crazy?"
Instead of responding, the demon chuckled and phased through the nearest wall, almost as if to make a dramatic exit.
"Flaky as usual I see!" the blonde called after him, duly noting that he didn't really need Sock's help to make him look crazy.
...o0o…
Like the gentleman he was, Jonathan pulled the chair out for his date. Once Lil was seated, he plopped himself down opposite her.
"You look very nice today," he complimented, attempting to make small talk.
She chuckled. "You don't look half bad yourself."
When the waiter came to take their drink order, he apparently didn't notice the candlesticks hovering a few inches off the table. Jonathan snickered a bit as the man left, and the candles were gently placed back on the cloth.
Lil awkwardly hid her face behind her sweater sleeve. "...Everything ok?"
Jon quickly recovered a straight face and cleared his throat. "Yeah. Everything's great."
The waiter returned with the drinks, and the couple placed their orders. Idle chat was made between the humans, while the intangible being watched the waiter leave.
Jonathan's focus was soon recaptured by the brightly colored demon, who had somehow acquired socks to put on his hands and was currently making Lil's purple hair stand on end with static electricity.
Jonathan, eyes still on Sock, cracked a small grin.
Lil blushed and bashfully brushed a strand of hair out of her face, thinking the smile was for her. Because rationally, who else could it be directed at?
Sock's attention suddenly shifted to the door of the kitchen. He floated away, leaving Jonathan a little disappointed and mildly worried for the food.
While listening to Lil tell some story he wasn't particularly interested in, Jon wondered how Sock could manipulate objects. He was already aware that the demon was able to do so, but he also knew it usually took a lot of concentration and willpower. Now, watching Sock slowly inch an unoccupied chair away from a table, he seemed to be doing it with much less effort.
His train of thought was interrupted when the waiter, returning from the kitchen with their orders, tripped over the chair his demon had inconveniently placed in the middle of the rout the server would use. Lil let out a loud gasp as a bowl of pasta splattered over the back of her jacket.
Barely holding in his laughter, Jonathan was quickly by her side. He shed his own sweater and offered it to her as a replacement for the evening.
"We'll take that to go, please," he told the waiter, who nodded dimly, barely recovering from his fall and attempting to recollect the fallen bowls and plates.
...o0o…
"...And then he said, 'But wombats don't have feathers!'"
Jonathan laughed, secretly hoping this was the last story for the evening.
"Well, this is my place…" Lil said in a way that implied the close of the evening more than anything else. She quickly took off the grey hoodie, handing it back to Jonathan with a sigh. "I really had fun tonight," she told him.
"Yeah, me too," he replied, but his mind was elsewhere. Jon hadn't seen his demon for a few blocks, and he had stopped attempting to sabotage the date since the restaurant, which was nearly an hour earlier. This concerned the human, and he wasn't sure what had killed his vibe.
Jon looked down at Lil's brown eyes,, and realized those weren't the eyes he wanted to be looking into at the end of a date, pleading for a goodnight kiss.
Lil leaned in for a kiss, but Jonathan cut it off with an awkward goodnight hug. She seemed a bit disappointed, but she didn't press it any farther. Climbing the steps to her apartment building, she inquired, "So, see you again sometime?"
He gave a halfhearted smile. "Yeah maybe."
Once the door was shut, Jonathan took off in the direction he came just minutes earlier with his date. He retraced his steps, pondering how the evening might have gone if it was spent with someone else. Probably filled with stories he was actually interested in, and with jokes that actually made him laugh.
Jonathan found Sock in the park, sitting on a bench; well, it was more like he was hovering a few inches above the bench. The blonde slid up next to him quietly, uttering a small "You ok?"
Instead of a response, Jon received a small sniffle. He rolled his eyes and, seeing nothing better to do, slid his arm around the smaller boy's shoulder. Instead of falling through him like mist as usual (and as expected), Sock become tangible and solid, allowing his arm to rest behind the demon's neck.
Sock jerked his head back in surprise at the touch. As he did, the tears on his cheeks caught in the lamplight and became visible to Jonathan.
"Hey! What happened?!" He asked in concern.
The brunet quickly hid his face and wiped the tears away. "Nothing. I'm fine. It's nothing." Even as he said it, his voice was strained and cracked.
"Were you jealous of my date?" Jonathan teased in an attempt to lighten the mood a bit.
Sock again abstained from responding.
"Yeah, well, it wasn't that great. The date I mean. And, I guess, neither was she." Then after a pause, "You know what the best part was?"
There was another cute little demon sniffle, and then,"Jon, I don't really want to hear about how great your stupid-"
"It was you, dumbass. I laughed every time you tried to sabotage our date. And that's more than I can say for Lil's jokes."
Sock giggled a bit. "Do you really mean it?"
Jon cracked a bit of a half grin. "Yeah."
Sock nuzzled his way into the crook of Jonathan's neck. "Ya know, when I was alive, I never got to go on a date like that. Well, I guess I never really wanted to, but…"
"What changed?"
"I didn't find anyone I thought was worth it. That is, until now."
Jonathan laughed, absently stroking the bit of hair poking out from under Sock's hat. "I think it was the same for me, except I didn't go on the date with the person I wish I had."
"Oh yeah? And who's that?"
"Are you really gonna make me say it out loud?" Jonathan asked in a playful tone.
"Wouldn't have it any other way," Sock giggled again.
"Then I suppose the world may never know." Jon stood up. "Ya know, I should probably be getting home, dork."
"Hey, that's not fair!"
. ..o0o...
Lil sighed as the door shut behind her. She really did enjoy the date, but didn't really enjoy Jonathan's company.
"I'm home," she called as she set down her purse.
"You mean you didn't invite him in? Such a shame," answered her guardian angel who had suddenly appeared at her side. "And to think, I was really looking forward to meeting his friend."