I'm not sure I will be able to write a separate Valentines' Day Story so this may be it. Sorry. I'm feeling weighted down right now.
Rex v. Valentine's Day
I do not own.
"Hey, support the center for student life by buying a rose for Valentine's Day!" A boy stood outside the library with a bucket of roses.
Rex grabbed Noah's arm in a panic. "Is today Valentine's Day?" He asked the blond boy.
"No." Noah yanked his arm back from his painful grip. Rex relaxed until he added, "It's tomorrow."
"Aaaauuughhh!" Rex fell on his knees and held his head in his hands in a dramatic fashion.
"You forgot to get something for Circe didn't you?" Noah sighed.
"Quick! What did you get for Claire?" He bounced up and grabbed Noah by both his arms this time. He shook him in his agitation.
"Rex, stop shaking me!" Noah's teeth chattered. "I got tickets for a play she wanted to see weeks ago."
"Circe doesn't like plays! What am I going to do?" Rex fretted.
"Why don't you get her a flower?" He nodded to the boy selling flowers.
"Yeah, yeah! Good idea." He ran to the kid. He asked, "How much for a flower?"
"$10." The boy answered.
Rex's head snapped up and his hand paused halfway pulling out his wallet. "For one measly flower? That's highway robbery!"
The boy shrugged. "It's for a good cause."
"Not for my wallet." Rex shoved his wallet back into his pocket. "I'll figure something else out."
"Rex, everything's going to be expensive at this point." Noah sighed. "Just buy the flower and get it over with."
"No! Besides Circe deserves something better than a half dead flower." Rex said determinedly. He walked in the opposite direction.
"Wait! What about studying?" Noah called to him.
"I'll study later." Rex answered as he broke into a run. His legs formed into his Rex Ride and he rode off in a cloud of exhaust.
Noah coughed as he fanned away the smoke. Shaking his head he entered the library for some serious studying.
0o0
He felt his cell phone buzz in his pocket. Pulling it out, he checked the caller ID. He almost groaned but answered it anyway.
"What, Rex?" Six asked tersely.
"Six, I need money! It's an emergency!" Rex said in a panic.
"I thought that's why you have a job?" Six raised an eyebrow.
"I don't get paid till next week and I need cash stat!" Rex said.
"What is it this time?" Six checked his watch. He wondered how long this was going to take.
"You don't understand! Tomorrow's Valentine's Day and I got nothing… I repeat NOTHING for Circe!" Rex cried.
"Well, then you're dead." Six hung up.
The phone buzzed again. Six thought briefly of not answering but the annoying buzzing would annoy him to no end.
"Rex, just get her some chocolates from the dollar store." Six gave up and answered.
"No, no, no. Those things are nasty! It's like playing chocolate roulette… am I going to get the caramel or the one that taste like toothpaste… I just need a $100 loan." Rex pleaded.
"Why don't you ask your job for a work day loan?" Six suggested.
"I did! They said they don't do that kind of thing." Rex groaned. "Please, Six? Please, please, please, pretty please with a cherry on top."
"Rex, you're not a kid anymore. You need to deal with this…" Six said.
"Nooooo, come on Six! You don't want to be the killer of love, do you?" Rex whined.
"I've killed lesser things." Six stated flatly.
"Ok… not sure how to respond to that… seriously Six, I know Circe would love dinner at the French restaurant." Rex said.
"I recommend you go someplace less expensive like McDonald's." Six noted.
"I'm not joking." Rex said.
"Neither am I." Six replied seriously. "Look, Rex, expensive restaurants, trips, or gifts are not the only thing you can do. You can have a picnic or take her for walk in the park…"
"Lame, lame, lame." Rex groaned. "Come on Six."
"Rex, this conversation is over. You're a big boy, go figure it out." With that, Six hung up.
Rex glared at his phone. "Well, thanks for nothing." He shoved his phone into his pocket. He pouted as he stared off into the distance… right at a supermarket. His face brightened. He just had a great idea.
0o0
Circe walked with Claire back to the dorm rooms.
"Oh, Noah's taking me to see that new play tonight for Valentine's Day." Claire said excitedly.
"Sounds like fun." Circe smiled.
"What are you and Rex doing?" Claire asked.
Circe shrugged. "I don't know. Knowing Rex he probably forgot and is now scrambling for a present. I'll probably get one of those library roses they were selling yesterday."
"I'm sure he has something better than that." Claire reassured her.
Circe gave a weak smile. They opened the door to their room.
"Surprise!" Rex cried throwing confetti into their faces.
Instinctively, Circe activated her sonic scream blowing back the confetti and Rex. Rex slammed into the wall before sliding onto the floor.
"Rex!" Circe said horrified. "I'm so sorry. You startled me." She and Claire helped him up.
"Right, right. Never surprise someone with a built in weapon. My bad. I forgot." Rex said.
"What are you doing in here?" Claire asked.
"I was giving my girlfriend a surprise." Rex answered.
"What a heart attack?" Claire looked around. "I'm assuming you'll be cleaning up this confetti."
"Sure thing." Rex agreed absent mindedly. "Come on Circe."
"Where are we going?" She asked suspiciously.
"Trust me. You'll love it." Rex pulled her along.
"I'll see you later." Circe told Claire as she was dragged out of the room. Claire waved. When the door slammed shut, she looked around at the mess. "He's not cleaning this, is he?"
"Seriously Rex, where are we going?" Circe asked as Rex pulled her down the corridor to the common area. The common room consisted of a kitchenette and living room which was now bathed in a soft glow of dozens of votive candles. She gaped at the room. In the middle was a table with two chairs.
"I made us dinner!" Rex said proudly.
"Really? I didn't know you could cook." Circe said with shock as Rex led her to the chair. He pulled it out for her and she sat down.
"Yeah, well Bobo's meatloaf wasn't the best. Don't get me started about Doc's cooking. I was pretty sure that was a brick masquerading as meatloaf. The sauce was good. Six hates meatloaf." He pulled a bread pan from the oven. He turned it upside down and shook it. With a loud plopping sound the food slid out of the container onto the plate. He brought it to the table. He then retrieved a pot on the stove and slapped down some mash potatoes onto the plates. Rex sat down. Circe eyed the food with a great deal of misgiving.
"So how did you learn to make this?" She asked.
"Internet." Rex cut a piece of meatloaf and placed it on Circe's plate.
She picked up her fork. Placing it tentatively into the meat, she pulled off a small piece. Looking up, she saw Rex watching her expectantly. She gulped before placing it in her mouth. She chewed slowly. Then her eyes brightened.
"This is actually pretty good." She told him.
"Try the mash potatoes." He said proudly.
Circe took a forkful. "It's good too."
Rex nodded. "Yeah, the secret is the 7.2 percent lump to mash ratio."
"How did you learn to make this?" She asked.
"Kate taught me." He said digging into his own plate.
"Kate? Who's Kate?" Circe frowned.
"Huh? Oh, Caleb's wife." Rex said with a mouthful of mash potatoes.
"You're going to have to start from the beginning." Circe told him.
"I never told you about the village of engineers I met after I ran away from Providence when I learned that Noah was hired to keep an eye on me?" Rex asked.
"Yeah, you skipped that part." Circe said wryly.
"Well, I told you about Zag-RS, right?" He asked as he helped himself to more meatloaf.
"Yes… oh, was that when you were with those people Zag tricked to build a tower to kill all humanity." Circe remembered.
"That's right." Rex said.
They spent the night talking and eating. When they finished, they placed their plates into the dishwasher. They went outside and took a walk around the campus laughing and talking. They didn't realize how late it got until the campus clock chimed.
Rex walked Circe back to her dorm room.
"Thanks for dinner." Circe said as they stood outside her room.
"You're welcome." Rex rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I hope it wasn't too, you know cheap…"
"No, it was fun, really. I like talking with you." Circe smiled.
"Yeah, I like talking to you too." Rex echoed.
They stood awkwardly in silence. Then suddenly spoke at the same time, broke off, and laughed.
"Good night, Rex. I really had a good time." She said.
"Happy Valentine's day." Rex smiled.
She smiled back. To his surprise, she leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss. His smile broadened. He pulled her close and their kiss deepened.
When they heard voices they broke apart.
"Hey Noah," Rex greeted his friend. They gave each other a fist bump.
"How was the play?" Circe asked.
"It was great." Claire answered.
"It was alright." Noah shrugged. When Claire gave him a look, he quickly added, "But the company was great."
"Well, good night." Claire gave Noah a peck on the cheek. She and Circe walked into the room.
"How was your date?" Noah asked Rex asked head out.
"Not bad. And yours?" Rex returned the question.
"Same." Noah said. "You know, we're a couple of lucky guy."
"Yup." Rex agreed. "Can't ask for a better girlfriend."
"I'm surprised." Noah said suddenly.
"What? That I actually pulled off a good date?" Rex asked slightly offended.
"No, but usually doesn't something happen to you on Valentine's Day?" Noah wondered.
Rex was about to answer when out of nowhere someone yelled, "Look out!" Noah got of the way just in time. But Rex was rolled over by a cart filled with flowers.
"Oh, Rex, Are you all right?"
Rex recognized that voice. "Hi, Annie." He sighed. "Why are you here?"
"Oh, Federico surprised me with a trip home to visit my family and before we left I wanted to drop by and say hi to Claire. We don't have classes till the evening tomorrow so we figured it was okay to stay out late... and do you need some help getting up?" Annie rambled.
"No, no, no. I'm fine." Rex scrambled up. "Go, go visit Claire. Her dorm is there. Go now!" He shooed her.
"Oh, okay. If you're okay." Annie said a little confused. She turned around and her purse hit the cart which then tipped over and fell on Rex.
"Rex!" Annie said turning around again.
"No, no! Just go." He formed his Smack Hands and lifted the cart off himself.
"Come on, Annie. I'm sure Rex will be fine." Federico said as he led her away. Turning around he told Rex, "I'll talk to you later."
"Sure." Rex grumbled as he pulled flowers from his hair.
"My cart! Who's going to pay for all these flowers?" An angry vendor ran over.
Rex sighed.
"I guess Valentine's Day got you again." Noah observed.
"No, just Annie." He pulled out his wallet. "So what's the damage?"
Valentine's Day: 1 Rex: 1 Annie: 387 and counting