on planning dates at night raven college...
(savanaclaw on planning dates; a short story from my twisted wonderland DR!)
it’s tough going for men looking for love at night raven college, especially where there are very few women on campus. so, when a second year friend from savanaclaw started going on dates with a girl from MDI, everybody was rightfully excited for him.
i think it happened right after leona’s overblot, during that apology barbecue? he asked me, quietly and a little bit embarrassed, how to plan this first date right. he wanted to ask because, well, i’d been a woman before right? so i know how this goes? but things like this aren’t very private, especially in a dorm full of people with sonar ears.
the other men kind of went into the whole spiel, get her flowers and pay for dinner, open doors and be a gentleman (as vague as that statement is). despite how wild they act, most of these men know how to treat a woman well, at least in theory. but my friend’s eyes kept jumping back to me.
kind of tough to explain how women like dates to be planned though? i ended up settling on “well, what does she like? any hobbies she has, anything that you two bonded over?” you’d think i grew a SECOND FUCKING HEAD the way those men stared at me. one of them even had the GALL to ask “well what does that have to do with anything?”
i popped a piece of pineapple into my mouth and chewed, trying to think of how to explain further. the best part of a date for a woman is feeling like it’s a date for her, i try to explain. like, i don’t like going on dinner dates because i have a hard time finishing food and it feels rude to make somebody else pay for a meal i can’t eat. that’s something that you wouldn’t know without knowing me well.
the suitor nodded his head, comprehending my words better than i expected honestly. “she’s real sweet, we met at a basketball game but she doesn’t seem the type to play. she likes animals a lot, has a dog at home with her family…” he continues for a while, lining out the kind of girl she seems to be, at least from first impression. an incredible sense of style, kind to everyone, the type that usually wouldn’t find any interest in an NRC student but hey, if anybody could pull a sweetie like her it would be this friend.
the peanut gallery had gone shockingly quiet, hanging off my words a little bit (but still nonchalant, because. men.). me and my friend spent a long while lining out the details of this date, what he wanted to do and what she might like. "text and tell her you have a rough idea of what to do," i suggest, "then she can choose whether she wants to know or be surprised."
"but the man is supposed to plan the date?" says somebody off to the side, mouth full of some meat that smells delicious but is probably too heavily peppered for my fickle stomach.
i tried to explain that yeah, that can be nice for some people, but some people need the sense of control that helping out with dates can have. some folks just don't like to leave things up to chance.
"when did you become such a romance guru?" leona asked from his place reclining by the pool, one eye open and a smug expression on his face. i'm gonna be real, after the overblot he was just like. the normal spelldrive captain that i worked with.
"most of my exes couldn't really do it, so i had to figure it out myself."
it was like i'd just announced that i was a PIXIE, the way these men howled in disbelief. "you had EXES?" "you DATE?"
"uh, yeah? it's a normal part of school years back home."
ruggie's over there busting it UP laughing and he tries to explain that nobody really thinks of me dating other people from back home, especially with how physically affectionate i am with people i consider just friends.
"are you calling me easy, bucchi?" i taunt, and he tries to backpedal as the rest of the dorm laughs. really, it's kind of a shocker that they think i've never been on a date?
the night is full of chatter, guffaws and chuckles, but then it slowly starts to die down as the students start talking about their own love lives (or, in some cases, the lack thereof).
my friend comes back over to me, showing me his phone with a big ol' grin on his face, and i'm HYPED because i'm kind of just spitballing with this date stuff. she liked the plan, had some things to include and adjust but i was at least a little bit of help. he thanks me profusely (or, at least, as profusely as a member of savanaclaw can. no matter how nice he is, he's still here instead of at The Other School for a reason).
i wave it away, on my second helping of pineapple. the pineapple at this party was GAS. i could make an entire post about this pineapple. or pineapple in general.
i think jack's being totally innocent when he asks me what sort of date i would want to go on, but the rest of the dorm heckles him anyway. nothing you can do about that, i guess, so i take a minute to think.
i hem and haw for a GOOD long while, trying to decide what i'd like and of COURSE i can't help but think of what i'd want to do with leona and i think everybody knows that. i decide on going down to the port town, wandering around and seeing what catches my eye. you'd swear these boys had notebooks at the ready the way they were asking questions though?
"would you want him to walk you home?" to the gate of the college, maybe, but not back to my dorm unless he's actually FROM night raven (and some of those boys DEFINITELY prickled thinking about me going on a date with somebody from The Other School).
"would you kiss him on the first date?" depends how i feel. i don't see kissing as a colossal deal like some people do.
"what are some instant no's for you?" being patronized. there's a difference between chivalry and babyproofing and if you do the latter you'll just piss me off.
we talk about this for a long while, the boys cutting in with some of their insights about dates they'd been on, things that had been a success and things that had been awkward with their partners. one of them, a third-year with a fourth-year boyfriend from scarabia, puts in his two cents of planning for somebody who feels the need to reciprocate.
honestly savanaclaw's just like. a super muscular slumber party? they like fistfight and throw each other into the pool but they do really like to talk about like romance and movies they've watched. they're a lot more respectful than people here are so i never have to worry about them being creepers.
but yeah the night winds down and i'm getting tired (because DAMN that week was EXHAUSTING) and when i stand and start gathering my stuff all of the boys are like "noooo but then when you leave we all have to go to beddddd :(" like hey diva! you don't have a bedtime! you are all grown ass adults!
and one of them suggests walking me back to my dorm because they DO live at night raven and then they all start arguing about who's going to be taking me back. because obviously they all can't go. obviously. so they start figuring out some sort of contest where one person will get to walk me home when LEONA stands up and is like "all of you clean this shit up and go to bed. i'll take them so you idiots don't get yourselves hurt trying to decide." they tried to rope him into it but he did that like mom eyebrow raise and they all shut up like misbehaving kids...
so leona walked me homeeeeughhhhh he's so perfect and lovely we talked the entire way back about everything and nothing and,,, i could talk about him for HOURS do NAWT let me bring up leona kingscholar.
this may not be the most cohesive thing posted on this blog but i miss writing about this dr... everybody is so AUGHHHH and i'm so EUUUUGH and trust. i am a mary sue. everybody wants me and everybody thinks i'm cool and *yap yap yap*.
but yeah! considering making more posts like this just detailing some of the stories i've picked up from twisted wonderland, tell me what you think?
credits for the divider go to @strangergraphics! credits for all photos to where they are due :)
iri loves you ~
