Date - Part 1

Vivi was in a bind.

Her plan sounded foolproof at first, but Linde always said that she was a special class of stupid on her own. She flicked the hair from her face anxiously. On the table was her deluxe cookies-and-cream glace. The snowy top was blessed with tasty caramel, and it exuded a vivid frost of silvery white.

As silvery-white as the silver-haired girl staring at her. Fie swallowed the last bits of her chocolate banana sundae.

'Say something!' Vivi screamed in her mind, more to the other girl than to herself. She had run dry on conversation topics two scoops ago.

Yup. Invite the robotic Fie out on a date and come home as the bestest of friends. Perfect plan, Vivi thought. The in-between could wait.

It was absolutely flawless.

"So… um…" she said, clawing at whatever awkward dating experiences she's had in the past. That is to say, none at all. She sympathized with the boys she used to make fun of for being nervous in front of girls. "Do you… like ice cream?"

"Not really," was the curt reply.

She winced. Instant rejection. "Wh-what about pizza? Kirsche's crispy cheese pizza is super good!"

"No thanks. I'm sick of pizza."

"Soda?"

"Juice."

"Popcorn?!"

"Meh."

Throw me a bone here!

"What sort of food do you usually eat?"

"Field rations."

"...Like in the military?"

"Yup."

"Oh."

End conversation.

Sighing, Vivi swirled the dessert with her spoon before transporting the sweetness to her mouth. Maybe a bit of sugar could help her think of ways to make Fie open up.

Why was she doing it? No particular reason. Fie was the newest member of the Gardening club, so she obviously wanted to get to know the girl. Not only that, but she was also two years younger; Vivi wanted to play the older sister role every once in a while.

At least, that was what she kept telling herself.

Truth is, she was interested in the little ex-jaeger. Curious even. Fie was a curiosity. Barring the fact that she had that kind of upbringing, she was also talented in a multitude of things outside of combat. Military tactics, athletics, and, of course, napping in seemingly un-nappable places. Stuff Vivi could only dream of to be competent in.

"Eh?" The sudden clanking of her spoon reminded her where she was. That was weird. Where did her ice cream go?

Nope. Nuh-uh. There was no way Erebonia's hottest lady would let herself get fat. Vivi grimaced. She hoped that if she believed hard enough, the ice cream— and calories— in her stomach would magically reappear in the empty cup.

Tragically, it didn't.

There was one last spoonful though. Might as well; she paid good mira for it. She and Linde weren't exactly noble-class rich. Before she could, however, Vivi noticed a subtle change in the way Fie was staring at her. "Hmm?"

She wasn't staring at her— more like staring at the spoon in her hand. Vivi waved it from side to side just to make sure.

"You want it?" she asked.

A nod. It wasn't a big nod— you could mistake it for a natural tilt of her head. But a nod, nonetheless.

"Say 'ahh.'"

Ridiculously enough, Fie complied. Even more ridiculous, she looked like a hungry cat doing so. Vivi kept that image to herself just in case this kitten had claws as sharp as her tongue.

Lime-green eyes widened. Grabbing the spoon, Fie directed it into Vivi's mouth and waited for her to swallow it.

"What's the matter?" Vivi asked, wiping the ice cream that was clumsily splattered on her lips. "I thought you wanted it?"

"...I'm allergic to cookies."

She was? Vivi hadn't heard of anyone being allergic to cookies before. She gawked at the strange girl, dumbfounded.

Fie, on the other hand, glared towards the exit. There was a commotion going on outside. Vivi couldn't tell what it was exactly, but it seemed like a patron had been causing a ruckus. It was still midday. Was someone drunk?

They probably needed to leave then. Two high school girls shouldn't really get involved in that situation. "...Let's go, Fie."

"Mh."

It was ingenious! No girl could resist the temptation of buying cute clothes. Clothes made the woman, and you learn a lot about a person just from how they dress.

Vivi smoothed out the collar of her shirt. Being required to wear their school uniform at all times made everyone stuffy, so shopping for clothes was doubly effective for the students at Thors. Quadruply so since the summer just started and nobody wanted to get stuck wearing a crummy uniform.

Which made it octuply effective for young girls like Fie, right? Right?!

Her plan was an ongoing success— she should write a book about it. Fie Claussell, the ever-bored girl, was diligently browsing the various wears and outfits on display inside Boutique - Le Sage. From what Vivi could see, she was trying out the different types of hats available.

Practical. She could've guessed Fie would go for a hat. Not only could a hat block the heat from the sun, but get the right one and you can wear it during the winter to keep your head warm.

Vivi wasn't the type for headwear though; she liked having her hair loose. But...

"Maybe I should buy one too…" she said idly. If it didn't fit her, she could always just give it to her sister. Linde looked way better in a beret than she would have, anyway.

"Buy what?"

"...Blergh?!" Vivi flitted around to see Fie behind her, holding a dark-brown beret. "Don't just sneak up on people like that! You almost gave me a heart attack…"

Fie hastily put the cap on, caring little for the price tag that was hanging off to the side. "I want this," she said with a rare, determined expression.

It. Was. Adorable.

"Oh ho ho. Not a bad choice, young one," Vivi said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Who you gonna wear it for, huh? A boy, perhaps? Your next date, hm~?"

"Date?" Fie tilted her head. The price tag swayed with the gesture. "Date, as in the stuff we're doing now?"

Vivi tried not to squeal from the cuteness. "No, no. D-A-T-E. As in, you and a boy, spending time together. That date."

"Does it have to be a boy?"

She wasn't really sure. "Well… you CAN go on a date with a girl, like what we're doing now. But a date with a boy is a different thing!"

Not like she knew how, though.

"What makes it different?"

"All sorts of stuff! Like going out to dinner, watching stage plays, hanging out in the park, holding hands— romantic stuff like that," Vivi said, trying to sound as authentic as possible. Her entire resume on dating only included stuff she's learned from magazines and romance novels.

"Have you gone on a date before?" Fie asked innocently.

She froze. "O-o-of course, I have! Boys line up to go on dates with me all the time! Pretty much every day! Ha ha ha…"

"Is that why you want to buy that? For your date?"

It was Vivi's turn to tilt her head. "Buy what?"

Fie pointed at the article of clothing clutched in her hand. "That."

A black lingerie.

…

"YUP," Vivi yelled. "How silly of me to forget!"

Like a stringed marionette, her limbs gracelessly flailed her towards the changing room. "Stay right there, Fie. Imma go try this on. Tell me how it looks, m'kay?"

"Okay."

The curtains closed with a frantic whoosh. Vivi curled down to her knees and struggled to contain the growing blush on her face. She hoped Fie didn't notice.

Yes, she WAS checking out the lingerie; they were sexy as hell, but that was it. It wasn't like she was going to buy one. Why would she, anyway? She didn't have a boyfriend. Her first dates were with girls even.

She'd strangle anyone who knew, but it was the truth.

Vivi was a virgin.

She hadn't even had her first kiss yet, let alone held hands with a boy. Sex was definitely out of the picture.

Aidios, if Linde found out she bought lingerie, she'd freak.

While her sister knew she liked to tease boys, she also knew better than anyone that Vivi hadn't actually scored a boyfriend yet. And it wasn't something she wanted to hide from her either. It was just awkward talking about it.

It wasn't her fault that guys were too scared to flirt with her. She was friendly enough, sometimes maybe a bit too much to arouse suspicion among her friends. But she acted like that all the time! That was normal for her.

It was Linde's fault for being her twin. What few guys that DID have the courage to confess, had inadvertently confessed to her sister instead.

Granted, watching her get flustered was hilarious, but she always felt that small twinge of envy. Seeing Linde all cute and embarrassed like that sent the boy's hearts aflutter… then they will soon forget about their crush on the pitiful younger twin.

The ones that did confess to her… wanted to confess to her sister.

That was the point when guys confessing to either of them pissed her off. Couldn't they at least tell them apart? They were twins, she knew, but how hard was it to pay some freakin' attention to the person you were 'in love' with?

So she pushed them away— shrouded her feelings under a guise of mischief, secretly waiting for that one guy to finally get it right.

One day.

"Vivi?"

"Just a minute!" she called out. She didn't need a minute to get dressed; she had already finished putting it on. An admittedly fit figure stared back from the mirror. The lingerie was as sexy as she thought. Her fashion sense hasn't waned apparently.

Vivi sighed. It's immature, but she wasn't satisfied with what she saw. Unflattering, compared to Linde's. How come she always got the lower end spectrum of their genes? Her arms and legs were leaner than average, and her neck area was thin, skeletal and uninviting. She poked her collarbone with disinterest. No guy would ever want to see that on their bed.

Her lips were a pale pink and her cheeks weren't as vibrant as they normally were. Believe it or not, Vivi had almost zero talent with makeup. Her ditziness wasn't just for show. If she tried, she would end up with an overly saturated mess, hence why she asks her sister to do it for her.

She definitely lacked in both upper and lower departments too. Guys loved it big, round, and curvy. It was just natural for them to prefer the more voluptuous Linde.

"...Ouch."

Thankfully, the ice cream hadn't affected her yet, as she found out by pinching her stomach. Only time will tell, though— along with the girl she asked to wait.

Slapping both cheeks to psyche herself up, she swung the curtains open in one dramatic floosh. Hand on hip, she stuck her tongue out and donned her sexiest pose. "Sorry for the wait! How do I look~ ?"

A massive landslide of clothes.

She yelped as their combined weight crushed her to next season.

The person that dumped them on her looked bored as if almost killing her was as normal as a Tuesday. Closing the curtains again, Fie spoke in a neutral voice. "I want to try these on."

"ALL of these?" an exasperated Vivi yelled. She squirmed her way out of the twisted sea of raiments that Fie had randomly picked out. Most were a tad too big for her, and some were even made for males. It wasn't that she wouldn't help her out, she just wanted to make sure. She promised she'd show her a good time, after all.

Fie nodded.

Vivi groaned. For once in her life, she regretted ever shopping for clothes.