Itharax: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!
The first date! Yeah!
Love, Keta
Chapter 9: The First Date
Meditating isn't Toby's strong suit by any means, and Gohan is well aware of this fact. Most of the time it amuses him, as he gets to watch the bouncy teen do everything in his power to remain, for the most part, still until Gohan finally takes pity on him. Sometimes, it only takes a half-an-hour, and others, it may be two.
But never, until today, has Gohan been so distracted. No matter what he tries, he can't seem to get himself to calm down enough to properly meditate. His heart wants to burst from his chest, and his muscles keep tightening, telling him that he should get up and do something. Because the source of his anxiety and restlessness is fidgeting too…
Eventually, he has enough of the lost cause that mediating is today, and Gohan calls over to the brunette, "are you ready to head off?" Toby nods rather enthusiastically, and he jumps up, dusting off his pants. "Good…" Gohan tips his head up to the sky and whistles, summoning the flying cloud.
The younger brunette finds himself smiling a few moments later as he's helped up onto the magical transportation, and a giddy feeling ignites itself in his belly despite his best efforts earlier. "Where are we going?" Toby asks, once he's situated on Gohan's lap, and the older teen's arm reflexively tightens around his waist as the nimbus darts off.
"West City," he replies. "There's this little movie theatre that's showing a flick that I'm pretty sure you mentioned liking."
"What kind of flick?" Toby raises an eyebrow in curiosity.
"Rocky Horror Picture Show."
Toby's eyes widen , and he turns his head back to look at the other. "Seriously?!"
"Yeah…"
"Awesome!"
Walking into the movie theatre around three in the afternoon, Gohan is immediately overwhelmed by the strange sights around him. There are near to a hundred people in the crowded room, and quite a few are dressed up as characters from the movie. From Dr. Frank-N-Furter to Magenta and even Riff Raff, the costumed people are boisterous and happy, talking to one another as if they had known one another their entire lives. The oddness of the situation is off-putting for the rather meek demi-saiyan, but Toby seems so excited to do this…
From the moment Toby steps into this room, surrounded by the oddities and strange costumes, he relaxes, and more than once Gohan catches him complementing some of the cosplaying movie goers. Just before the movie starts, Gohan finds himself with his housemate, sitting in the middle of a massive mob, and Toby leans over to give him a hug then. When the songs and dances come into being, he and many others start dancing as if nothing could deter them from being as zany and odd as they are.
Gohan quickly decides that he likes it when Toby's this kind of happy.
After the movie is over, Gohan and Toby decide to go for ice cream at another place that Gohan knows, and instead of taking the flying nimbus, they decide to walk to give themselves time to talk. It's kind of awkward as neither of them are sure what they should be talking about, but Gohan is nothing but perseverant.
"So... Did you enjoy the movie?"
"I always do... Thank you for taking me."
"Y-you're welcome. Um..." Gohan glances down to their hands mere inches apart, and he gently grasps the other's before turning his head away.
Toby smiles and pretends not to be surprised by the forward gesture, and he squeezes slightly, having not intention of letting go. "This is... this is nice."
"Yeah, it is..."
They walk in silence again, but it isn't so strained now. It's pleasant... until sirens interrupt it.
Less than two blocks away, shouting starts, and Gohan ends up dragging the brunette closer. The police have surrounded a liquor store where it seems a robbery is taking place, and this fact is something that Gohan cannot ignore. "Toby, come with me…" With , he pulls the teenager into an alleyway and turns on heel to leave a few moments later.
"Gohan!" Toby cries out, just low enough that it doesn't shift the attention to them from the horrified people on the street outside. "What are you doing?!"
The steely, almost dark look on the raven's face is so unlike him that it takes Toby aback for a moment, but then Gohan tells him, "I can't just hide away…" He fiddles with the watch on his wrist, contemplating if he should… "I have something to tell you." Toby nods, never taking his gaze off of the teen and the standoff outside of the alleyway. "Do you know of the Great Saiyaman?"
"Yeah… Everyone at school seems to talk about him. He's some sort of 'superhero'."
Gohan smiles, but the glimmering shine doesn't quite reach his obsidian eyes. "Yeah, I guess he is a superhero, and…" He presses a button on that watch, transforming in a manner of seconds into a rather ridiculous costume that would make a Power Ranger proud. "I'm him." If he had to pick from the green tunic to the black leggings and the antennae on his helmet, Toby wouldn't be sure what part of his maybe-sorta boyfriend's new outfit is the one that he finds so hilarious. He has to bite his lip from laughing aloud as his shoulders shake, and when that defense begins to fail, he clasps his hands against his mouth, not that this goes unnoticed by Gohan. "What?"
At last, Toby lets loose a few chuckles, and in between the laughter that seizes his lungs, he tells the other, "you look ridiculous!"
"What do you mean?" Gohan asks, somehow not nearly as offended as one would expect. "This is my superhero costume."
"You look like a Power Ranger who lost a bet." It's a few more seconds before the serial killer can stop laughing, but once he does, it's as if a switch has been flipped. Seriousness completely swamps the good-natured amusement, and he grins rather darkly. "Well then… It would explain your frequent disappearances from class. Although, I cannot say that I'm not surprised… Go save everyone, hero… I'll be right here…"
"This isn't too weird for you?"
"I've seen so much weirder… You have no idea."
"Oh… Okay. I'll see you in a few."
Gohan leaves then, diving into action, and Toby waits, watching his heroic deeds with a touch of worry in his heart. It's not that he believes that Gohan will get hurt, but… Gohan's a good person; how can he possibly get him to understand? How can get a hero to come home with him if he learns just how bad Toby can be?
