Man, sitting down to write has gotten kinda hard recently...oh well.
Enjoy!
Ultear ate her breakfast quietly as the others sitting around her talked. She wasn't really paying them any mind, as far as she could tell it wasn't anything important.
"I kinda want to take a job." Drake said as she came back into the conversation. "I'm getting bored around here." This made Steph smirk and elbow him.
"Just make sure you don't get a job from the fan club." She joked, making Drake groan.
"Have you even gotten one of those yet?" Nashi asked from his left, also smirking.
"No." He replied. "Not yet I don't think. Maybe Mira filters them out for me."
"You'd better hope." Ultear said, rejoining the conversation as she brandished her fork at Drake. "Or else you might get one sooner or later." This made Drake look a bit scared.
"Maybe I'd better ask her to just in case..." he murmured. This caused the four girls around the table to laugh. Damien hadn't shown yet, but Ultear assumed that was because he was still recuperating from his experience filling in for Simon at that party. She didn't know, really. Simon was also gone, although Ultear assumed that was him sleeping in after their job. They had only gotten back around midnight.
"Speaking of jobs, how did yours go with Simon?" Elise asked Ultear, making her look over. "Probably wasn't a big deal."
"No, not really." She replied. "Bandits are a real pain sometime."
"That's an understatement." Nashi said. This made Drake look over at her.
"What about you?" He asked. Nashi looked over at him.
"What?"
"You took a few jobs these past few days, right? You weren't around." This caused Nashi's face to go red.
"R-Right!" She spluttered. "O-Of course I did! Easy! Easy as ever!" Ultear raised an eyebrow as Nashi's anxious behavior increased the longer the group stared at her. "What're you all staring at?! I swear they were!"
"Do I need to take a listen?" Drake asked with a smirk. This made Nashi stand and grab him by the collar of his shirt.
"Don't you fucking dare." She seethed angrily, making Drake laugh weakly. After Nashi's...episode, she sat back down and chugged her entire mug in one go, her face still as red as ever. Ultear would have to ask later, she did not seem keen on sharing.
"What the hell am I walking into?" They all turned to find Damien standing there, making a confused face.
"Oh there you are, Onii-chan." Step said, smiling. "Did you sleep in?" Damien's confused face turned into a devilish smirk.
"Yeah. Something like that." He looked over at Ultear, and then snickered.
"What?" She asked, making a face.
"Nothing." He said. "Hey, Drake. Come here a sec." Drake seemed just as confused as the others, but he stood and walked over to Damien. Once he reached Damien, he leaned in towards Drake and whispered something in his ear. Once Damien moved back, Drake was wearing quite the mischievous grin.
"Oho." He said. "That sounds like it'll be a riot."
"Right?" Damien asked. "Come with me, I need your help." The girls watched in confusion as the snickering pair retreated back out of the guild hall.
"What are they up too?" Elise asked.
"Probably nothing good." Steph said. Nashi remained silent, although she was still pretty red. Ultear shrugged and returned to her breakfast. Whatever Damien wanted Drake for, it wasn't anything she wanted to know about. The conversation carried onto another topic, and Ultear ignored that as well. Once she was done her breakfast, she kind of felt like going on a walk. It was a pretty nice day, after all...
"What the hell are those morons doing?" Elise asked, shaking Ultear from her thoughts. She turned to find Simon being shoved across the floor towards them, both Damien and Drake pushing him forwards. Ultear wasn't sure she'd ever seen Simon looking so out of it. It was a combination of anxious, anger, and something else. Soon enough Simon came to a stop in front of them, standing completely rigid. He didn't say a word, and Damien smirked at him.
"Come on, Simon." He said. "Don't you have something you want to say?" Simon only gulped at this, confusing Ultear even further. Drake laughed.
"You're this far, man." He said. "Just come out with it." Simon grimaced at this, his left eye twitching.
"U-Ultear..." he said weakly, making her look at him in confusion.
"Yeah?" She asked. Simon's eye was still twitching, and it only seemed to make Damien and Drake laugh.
"I know this is really sudden and everything and you have every right to say no please say no how about we go to dinner tonight?" He rushed out all at once, expression barely changing. This made Damien and Drake burst out in laughter.
Ultear, however, blinked in confusion.
"...Huh?" She asked. She was certain he had not just said dinner. Had he? He'd said it all so fast she'd barely caught it. Simon made a face and turned to Damien uselessly, who only motioned forward. Simon sighed.
"I..." He looked so uncomfortable. "I asked if you wanted to get dinner with me tonight."
...
"O-Oh..." She said weakly, feeling the blush creep onto her face. She turned uselessly to the other girls, but they all avoided her gaze. Ultear didn't know what to say. Why was he asking? She was so lost and she didn't like it at all. Looking back at Simon, he seemed to be casting Damien a livid look, one that Damien returned with a smirk. Why? She was at a complete loss.
"You don't have to say yes." Simon said quickly, avoiding her eyes. "I don't really care what you say..."
"Don't be so modest, Simon." Damien quipped. "Surely you want to?" Simon didn't say anything at this. Ultear had the creeping suspicion that Damien was behind this, but she would have to ask later. She looked down at her lap and contemplated this thoroughly.
"...Sure."
"C-Come again?" Simon asked weakly Ultear sighed and looked up with a weak smile.
"I said sure. Sounds like fun."
"I hate you." Damien laughed at this as Simon paced back and forth in front of him and Drake in the park.
"Do you have any idea what I put up with in your stead?" Damien asked. "Taking Ul to that dinner you promised her for beating Mami is the least horrible thing I could have had you do, you know. I could have had you take Mami instead."
"Ugh..." Simon groaned and rubbed his eyes. Once he did, he looked over at Drake. "Why did you help him?" He asked. Drake shrugged.
"Sounded funny." He said innocently. "Besides, it's like Damien said. He put up with a lot of shit, this is the least you can do." Simon growled at this. He had not, at any point, told Damien to take his place at Bella's stupid party. That was Damien's own fault. Why was he now somehow indebted to him and not Bella? Seemed strange.
"Why are your panties in such a twist anyway?" Damien asked. "Did we make you ask her out prematurely?"
"Get real." Simon snapped back. "It was embarrassing because you wouldn't let me clarify I did so because I somehow owe you and not Bella." Damien winced at this.
"Bella didn't lose anything." He retorted. "If anything Mami owes her."
"What?"
"Nothing." Damien said, shutting him down. "It's one night. You said you were going to do it anyway."
"I was joking!"
"Oops." Simon narrowed his eyes as the two other guys snickered at this. He really had no idea what he was supposed to do. He'd been adamantly against it the whole way to the guild hall, but then Damien had Drake come out and the two coerced him into the guild hall and made him do it. And now he was stuck with a date. Great.
"I don't even know what I'm supposed to do." Simon replied. "You guys act like I've done this before."
"Which is why I invited our resident playboy!" Damien said, slapping Drake on the back. This made Drake look incredibly unimpressed.
"Is that really how you look at me?" He asked weakly.
"Never mind that. Just help poor Simon over here not blow a gasket tonight."
"I'm not exactly a date night connoisseur either, you know." Damien frowned at this.
"Didn't you go out with Winter?" He asked. Drake nodded.
"Yeah, when we were younger." He said. "Our relationship was not anything special."
"Well it had to help some, didn't it? We aren't talking about a fancy restaurant. It's just dinner." Drake rolled his eyes and leaned back against the Sola tree.
"Whatever. What are you guys doing tonight, Simon?" Simon turned his attention to Drake at this.
"I don't know." He replied. "It isn't fancy, obviously, but other than that I'm not sure. I was against this to begin with. I don't have a plan." Drake nodded and pocketed his hands, humming to himself.
"Well if I were you, I'd just go to some place Ul wants to. Just make sure she's happy. If there's one thing I've learned with the girls we hang out with, keeping them happy if pretty important."
"See?" Damien asked. "Just improvise the whole thing. You'll be fine."
"As I see it, that's all there is to this." Drake continued. "Besides, you two aren't an actual couple. Just make small talk. Maybe insult Damien a little." Damien made a face at this.
"Hey let's not." He suggested. Drake shrugged.
"You know damn well Simon's going to say something to her about this being a set up for you to get payback." He said. "Might as well take the hit." Damien shrugged at this, and Drake returned his gaze to Simon. "So take a deep breath and just get through tonight. You'll be okay."
"I know that." Simon said. "I just know tonight will embarrass me."
"So...What's the plan for tonight?" Elise asked.
"As if I have a plan." Ultear replied. "That caught me off guard. Why did he ask me to dinner?"
"He did say he would." Nashi said from the other side of the table. "You know, when you beat Mami at the Games." Ultear very vaguely remembered something like that being said. It had been a while ago, truthfully.
"Yeah, so he's probably just making good on his promise." Elise said.
"Did nobody else see Onii-chan and Drake pushing him and laughing at his expense?" Steph asked, speaking up. "It looked to me like they made him do it."
"Why?" Elise asked.
"For revenge probably." Steph surmised. "He went to that thing in Simon's place. As far as I can tell he didn't have a good time."
"So he made Simon ask Ul out for...revenge?" Elise asked. "That's not even that bad."
"No, not really." Nashi agreed. "Although you are going to go, right Ul?"
"Uh..." Ultear said, looking up. "I guess. Although I don't know what we'll be doing. Do you think he ran off with Damien and Drake to plan something?"
"I doubt it." Steph said. "Simon probably went along because Damien wasn't suggesting some fancy shit. So it'll probably just be some casual place."
"Logical." Elise agreed. "Simon's not good with that kind of stuff." That much was true.
But then again, neither was Ultear.
"Guys, I'm not exactly comfortable with this." She said, speaking up. "I know it's not a serious date or anything, but I still don't know what I'm supposed to be doing." Nashi raised a hand to her chin.
"Well, in my experience..."
"In your experience?" Elise asked quietly, making Nashi go red. "What experience?"
"I-I mean..." Nashi scratched her head awkwardly. "I meant, you know, as a girl."
"Sure you did."
"Shut up, god." Nashi said angrily. "Anyway, I think the best thing you can do is just be yourself, you know? Don't be weird."
"Stellar advice, Nashi." Steph said. Nashi shrugged.
"Well? It's not a real date. I'm not going to tell her to show off her cleavage and dress super revealing so Simon constantly gets an eyeful of her..."
"Oookay, let's stop." Ultear said, breaking into their argument. "You have a point. It's not a real date, no point in getting worked up. Besides, it's just Simon. What could possibly happen?"
"That is painfully true..." Elise muttered, making Nashi and Steph chuckle. Ultear sighed and stood.
"I'm going to go back to my dorm and do what I can to get ready. If Simon comes looking for me, tell him that's where I am."
"Can do." Nashi said. Ultear nodded thankfully, turning to go to her dorm. As she walked, she told herself to remain calm. Why the hell was she so jumpy anyway?
It was just Simon.
Elise watched Ultear walk off, before her eyes drifted to Nashi.
"So," She said. "What experience were you referring to?" Nashi looked away from her, the tips of her ears a darker shade than her hair.
"I said shut up, didn't I?"
Now that it was nearing dinner time, Ultear had the suspicion that Simon was probably going to show up at any time. She hadn't really done anything that screamed 'getting ready', she'd really just retreated to her room to think about the situation at hand. She'd finally managed to calm herself down, so now she was just waiting for him to show up.
"Ultear?" Ultear looked up as Steph's voice came from the other side of the door.
"Yeah?" She asked.
"Simon's downstairs. You ready to go?" Ultear took a deep breath and stood up.
"Yeah. Thanks for coming to tell me. Are Nashi and Ul not around?"
"...No, they aren't." The pause made Ultear curious as she opened the door to find Steph looking away from her. "They're still at the guild hall.
"Weird, I told them to tell me if he came. Thanks."
"No problem." Ultear moved past the girl to walk downstairs and into the lobby, Once she got there, she saw Simon leaning up against the wall, staring at his feet. He looked up once he heard her approaching.
"Hey." He greeted.
"Uh, hi." She replied. Simon got off the wall and walked towards her, still looking rather apprehensive.
"Ready to go?" He asked.
"Yep. Are you?" At this, Simon sighed.
"Yeah. As I'll ever be." He turned to leave the dorms at this, and Ultear quickly followed after him. They walked in silence, which was somewhere between what she expected and awkward.
Tonight is certainly going to be interesting...
I'd have to say I agree, Ul. I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try to get five!