Sequel: Acrasia
Status: Da-da-da-da Da-da Done.

Brontide

Her

"Look, alcohol I can actually drink," Rae sighed, sipping her beer. They were way overdressed for the Chinese restaurant, but Rae could care less as she downed the last of her second beer.

"Slow down, Honey," Chris said, smiling slightly. The waiter set down their food in front of them, winking at Rae as he left. Chris raised his eyebrows.

"What?" she asked.

"That guy-- you didn't even notice?"

"Notice what?" she said around a bite of orange chicken.

"Nothing," he shook his head and picked up the chopsticks. He looked at Rae, expertly eating her dinner, and tried to imitate her. Except he couldn't. He couldn't seem to grip the chicken with the chopsticks and only achieved dropping his food five times before Rae noticed his struggle.

"Are you having some troubles?" she asked.

"Uhm... yea," he said.

She giggled. "Lookit." She repositioned her chopsticks. "Just take one and kind of rest it in the crook of your hand, between your thumb and your... yeah like that." She smiled. "Now take the other one and- that. Cool. Now do it."

He reached for a piece of broccoli, but dropped it again. He shook his head. "I don't-"

"Look," she did it again, this time positioning them in his hand instead of her own. It took him a few concentrated tries, but he was finally able to eat something.

"I have never been able to do that before," he mused, a half-smile on his face.

"Glad I could help." They were silent for a few minutes, until Rae spoke again. "You know what I want to know?"

"Hmm?" he asked, thinking it was going to be something, you know, useful, maybe?

"How do you spell out a gasp."

Chris cocked his head to the side. "What?"

"Like, you know-" she gasped "-how do you spell that out?"

"What do you mean?"

"Okay, so say you're on Facebook-"

"Face what?"

"Well, then, my good sir, you have zero life. Let me rephrase this. Say you're... I dunno, writing a story. And you want to make someone gasp, but you don't want to-- okay I'm confusing myself. Email. You're emailing someone. In the first person point-of-view, right?"

"Okay..."

"And 'Oh my Heavens, I just gasped,' is a bit long for your taste."

"Okay..."

"So then how would you spell out a gasp?"

Chris pouted his bottom lip and shrugged. "I guess there would be a lot of 'h's in there."

Rae shook her head, her chopsticks held up with a piece of chicken clutched in the end. "No, see that's what I thought. But gasping is inhaling. And 'h's imply exhaling. See?" She exhaled, pointing to her mouth with her chicken-filled chopsticks.

"Well then how would you spell it?" he asked.

She shook her head again. "I have no clue." (a/n: There you go, Yasmin:D)

They talked for a bit longer and finished their meal. Chris was quiet the whole way home. Rae didn't really mind it, though. She was still busy trying to figure out how to spell a gasp, among other things. They sped through the city at dangerous speeds, but she didn't notice. What she did notice, however, was the three sets of eyes staring at them out of the window of her little second story apartment. Chris walked her up to her door.

"Well," she said when they got there. "That was fun."

Chris nodded and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Rae raised her eyebrows expectantly. He didn't do anything, he didn't even seem to notice, so she decided to initiate by stepping forward. He didn't seem to realize what she was doing until she leaned in. He opened his mouth, his eyebrows shooting up, and he quickly side-stepped around her and out of the way.
"I'll- uhm-" he cleared his throat as she turned around, marveling at how fast he'd gotten to the other side of her "-I'll see you tomorrow."

And then he was gone.

The door banged open and Jeremy stood there, a bottle of peppermint schnaps in his freshly MAN-icured hand. "Whathafuck was that?" he demanded. It was obvious he'd been watching the exchange from the peephole.
Rae coughed and flinched away from the stench of alcohol wafting off her friend. "I don't even know."

.::.

Rae snuck out of the house early the next morning. She was tired, but her laptop and thesis research really needed some attention paid to it, and she wanted to do it before class. Too bad her mind was other places.

She got in probably a good hour and a half of studying before she drifted off into thought. Chris. He was usually awkward, so she was expecting it. And, honestly she hadn't been disappointed. There had been a few moments when the awkward turtle made a guest appearance, but overall, it hadn't gotten in the way of the night like she had expected it to. They'd actually had a lot of fun.

Until he dropped her off. She'd been expecting a kiss on the cheek, maybe. Even a hug would have sufficed. But he decided to summon the awkward turtle, which, Rae decided, must be his spirit animal. This made her wonder if he'd ever had a girlfriend before. Someone who looks like that, of course he had.

Suddenly a thought hit her, and her mouth opened slightly.

Was he a virgin?

Rae put a hand to her mouth and decided she had to find out.
♠ ♠ ♠
Sorry that took so long, guys D: I know I'm a horrible person, but you know what? The first ones were all out in like three days, so I think you can deal. But anywho, thank you all for reading and subscribing and commenting and recommending and we love you and never ever change.

Soundtrack
Tete A Tete by Walk the Moon
Always Something by Cage the Elephant
What Ever Happened by The Strokes