Blind Date[ Open to Male or Female]

[Shadowlace]

Olivia had accepted this date after she had been corned at her sister's announcement party. Vivian her sister was always the popular girl she was younger and not surprising she was engaged to a man while in college!

At this party, her new Step Mother Janice cornered her and flat out asked. 'Where was your man' Normally the red-haired woman would have played it off but Janice wasn't having it. She was worried as she had never seen Olivia in a relationship. It wasn't like Olivia didn't like the idea of a relationship it was just her hobbies were more important. Olivia also seemed to have her eyes on people she couldn't even fathom to ask out. That was more Vivian.

In the end, she decided to relent to the barrage of ideas Janice and seemingly other party-goers had suggested. So now Olivia was sitting in a coffee shop in her best Spider-Woman Shirt, good skinny jeans(That hugged a little too tight), her comfortable shoes, and her satchel bag. Might as well do some work on her passions while waiting for, well whoever this mystery date with a pink rose showed up.

 

[susurrus]

A blind date. At my age. Damn. How the mighty have fallen. Still, ya gotta keep yourself out there if you've got a chance. And ya takes what ya can gets after a while.

Most of the women I'd come across lately were looking for what I consider neanderthals. You know, the kind of guy who thinks more of his truck than his kids. When they found out I couldn't give half a shit about football or cars, I got pegged as something other than a man.

I couldn't even remember who'd set me up this time. I had to admit, even though I wasn't a coffee drinker, meeting at a coffee shop was preferable, in my mind, to a bar, because on top of not doing coffee, I can't stand the taste of alcohol, either. Needless to say, I didn't get out much.

The one thing I could remember was that I needed to bring a pink rose, so this woman I was meeting would know I was there for her.

This was my first truly blind date. I liked seeing a woman before I spent time alone with her. I wasn't getting that chance this time. All the blind date horror scenario cliches ran through my head as I reached for the door handle.

Oh, in case I forgot, my name is Kent Scott Allen. Yeah. In case you don't know: Superman, the Golden Age Green Lantern and the Silver Age Flash. My dad's a fan. I've got his collection. "Nerd" used to be a bad word, and I wore it proudly. Now it's cool - or at least more accepted. First time in my life, I could consider myself "cool." I wasn't really sure how I felt about that.

Anyhow, I stepped into the shop and my nose was hit with the scent of ground coffee and vanilla. There was a gentle hum to the room, but not the din you often get with the bars these days, what with all hard surfaces with nothing to absorb any of the noise.

A visual sweep around the room landed me a couple possibilities. I took a breath and stepped toward the most likely candidate.

Extending the rose, heart pounding, I managed, "Jessica Drew, I presume?"

 

[Shadowlace]

Olivia had set up her laptop and her art pad. Both were decent, not top of the line but both did what she needed of them. She didn't know how long she would have to wait for her date so she had ordered a tall black coffee and a strawberry muffin. The Barista had brought them over and sat them next to her.

Olivia was nervous, so she tried to get distracted by her project. It wasn't anything her Stepmother would understand, she was working on her comic series. It was still in the rough stages and obviously still seemed a bit derivative of other work. The redhead persevered none the less.

Taking a sip from her cup she set it down and began to type away. She types 'PR enters the scene, the gruesome viscera remained from the attack. She steps gingerly through the mess whispering. Dialogue: Mouse you there? Mouse?. Just then a flash of light hits PR from a doorway and reveals Pink Rabbit in her suit' She paused and watched some people enter before she went for another sip.

Olivia minimizes her script to bring up her digital sketchbook and then takes her pad and pen and begins to work on the image of a female silhouette she had done a few days past. AS she begins she hears someone real close say 'Jessica Drew I presume' she looks up and sees a man standing at the other side of the table .

She was about to ask him why he was there and noticed the rose. She blushed a bit and nodded."Yes, but she only is on the shirt"She gets up and extends her hand. At least partial before she notes her stylus was still in there and she quickly deposited it on the keyboard of her laptop.

After the handshake, she gestures for him to take a seat."Hi I'm Olivia Chastaine, it is nice to meet you. I hope you don't mind I thought I'd work on some things while I waited."The redhead said as she took back her seat and began to close down her work. It would be rude to have it still up when the whole point of this was to talk to people and get to know them.

 

[susurrus]

My greeting was ignored for a couple beats, until she realized I was talking to her. Then what I said registered and she smiled, indicating the image she wore: "Only on the shirt." She then got up and held out her hand. Realizing she still held her stylus, she sheepishly laid it down and extended her hand once more.

She had a nice handshake, firmer than a lot of the women I'd met in the past, and even many of the men. It was a good omen.

As I sat across from her, she introduced herself, then apologized for working while she waited.

"It's no problem. What were you working on?

"Oh, my name's Kent. Kent Allen. Sorry. I'm afraid I've never done this before. I'm kind of nervous."

 

[Shadowlace]

Olivia smiled especially at the name. Once he sits down she follows suit and begins to put away her stuff. She had to mill over what to say about her project before she finally spoke.

"Oh well I'm trying to get my comic idea finished. Nothing big just a fun little book that I think will be fun."Olivia says clearing all but her coffee and muffin from the table. The freckle-faced young woman then looked up and fully acknowledged him.

"Kent Allen you say, does that mean you are able to leap tall buildings in a single bound alongside faster than a speeding bullet?Olivia hoped this came off playful as she noted the references in his name. He also seemed to be a bit older. It wasn't bad, just wondered why her mother would set him up with him.

Not wishing to wait, she flat out asked."So Kent, what drew you to accept a blind date. I mean I'll be honest if my stepmother and sister hadn't been so adamant I would have probably been happy in my apartment working on my book. So I am curious why a handsome guy like you would take something unsure as this?"

It was a gamble, but it was grating on her. Honestly, if she was in his shoes she wouldn't have come. God, she hated dating so much talking and story swapping, why not get to the good parts the fun. Granted she really hadn't done much of it but then again Olivia was a basic woman.

 

[susurrus]

She answered his first question as she was tucking her laptop into a pocket on her backpack. When she sat up, the look she gave said she was ready to give him her full attention. God, he liked pretty geek girls. She was younger than he was, but not by an insurmountable number of years.

"A comic, eh? What's it about, if you don't mind me prying. If it's a secret project, feel free to tell me it's none of my business right now.

"I jumped off the garage once when I was a kid, had my cape on and everything. Unfortunately, no flying was involved. Dropped like a rock. Broke my arm in two places. Gave up trying to fly after that. As far as running, I took third in the mile at State in high school, but that's about it. Oh, and I didn't clue you in on my middle name. It's Scott. I don't have a magic ring, either." He didn't know if she'd get the reference to such an old character, but he had a feeling this one just might.

He smiled when she called him handsome. It had been a while since someone other than his mother had called him that.

"Thank you," he responded to the compliment. "I think I'm here due to desperation. Sorry to have to admit it, it does make me sound like a loser, but let's face it, when it comes to social and relationship situations between men and women, the women hold all the cards. Most of them are looking for the typical 'guy.' You know: cars, sports, hasn't read a book since his final English class in high school. When they find out a car is simply transportation for me and I couldn't give a crap about what the score of last night's game was, I see them stamp me with a label and lose all interest.

"I also don't hang out in bars and all that stuff, so I got set up with this meeting. I've got to say, I'm not sorry I came."

 

[Shadowlace]

Olivia chuckled " So does that mean your weakness is green wood?"Granted she wasnt much of a DC fan, but it didn't mean she didn't know a thing or two about either.

" Oh kinda of its a super duo book"the red head took a drink and mulled over whether she would reveal more. Eventually she decided against it. " I can't really reveal more. I'm still fiddling with it."


As the handsome man went on she nodded. It was hard out there for a non bar patron. Aside from church,which not necessarily a great choice either finding someone was a task! Even online and dating services was a hassle." I wholeheartedly understand. Not a bar girl myself. I am happy you came"

 

[susurrus]

Kent chuckled when Olivia knew Alan Scott's GL weakness. He didn't correct her that it was just wood in general, regardless of the color. It wasn't really important in the long run, and he really wasn't in the mood to start off what was already a fairly awkward moment by correcting her.

"Thank god mine isn't green then, huh?" he chanced, hoping his attempt at humorous innuendo didn't scare her off or offend her.

"I've never met anybody who was trying to make their own comic. That's really cool. I do understand you wanting to keep it to yourself. Who knows, I might have come just to steal your ideas."

He smiled when she told him she was glad he had come. From a physical standpoint, Olivia was a lot more than he he'd hoped for, and she was creative, which said she had an active mind. So far, so good.

However, small talk wasn't really his expertise, and even though at first glance, at least some of Olivia's interests appeared to parallel his, he wasn't sure where to go from here.

Craning his neck to check out the board behind the counter, Kent tried to read the menu. "Do they serve anything other than sweets here? I have no doubt they're incredible, but I haven't really eaten much today and could use some real food before stocking up on sugar."

 

[Shadowlace]

"True, that would be unfortunate. Though I have painted if your interested!"Olivia says giggling at the joke. He was charming and knew his stuff. Probably a bit awkward like herself. I mean she grew up liking comics, Star Wars, Star Trek, Bradbury, Burroughs, and Howard. Hell, she was the only girl in her school who played Dungeons and Dragons with the guys, and not as a girlfriend.

"Oh no, Mr. Bond are you trying to get your hands on my Top Secret Files!!"She laughed this time. It was her fear and he had stated clearly he was here for the date, but if he was here for her comic that would be the cherry on the cake. A cake she hoped would continue past this table.

As she watched Kent look about Olivia wondered if he had run out of material. It was something that if you are not comfortable with these sorts of things happened quicker then you had thought."They do have some breakfast burritos and sandwiches. They are okay but stay away from anything that says Organic Redux. It's like Gluten-free, no GMO, which makes it taste like cardboard!If you want I can get this to go and we can go somewhere else with more options?"

 

[susurrus]

Kent liked that Olivia played right along. His innuendo had been picked up and she ran with it. It was a definite good sign. Any other time, it would have been taken as something other than joke and that would have been the end of the whole endeavor.

Another suggestive comment came to mind in response to her "secret files" line, but for once, he played it back in his mind before just blurting it out, and he decided, "less is more," and kept it to himself. They'd only known each other for, what, maybe fifteen, twenty minutes? Probably good to curb such talk until they got more comfortable with one another, though they were already doing a lot of laughing together, which was definitely a good sign.

"Organic redux?" he laughed. "God, that sounds like compost." Putting on a haughty voice, he sniffed, "Waiter, I'll have the roasted watermelon rind with sour milk reduction and rotten tomato confit, please."

 

[Shadowlace]

"Yeah if it wasn't for the desserts and awesome coffee I would have gone to another coffee shop. The organic stuff is literally a dumpster fire!"She sais with a giggle. As she did she chuckled at the mans joke.

"It's okay, we'll take a stroll down the street. I live near hear so I know a few of the restaurants. What are you looking for food-wise?"Olivia asks taking a sip of her coffee she smiles.

"So Kent tell me more about yourself? Aside from the great naming convention your parents had."

 

[susurrus]

Kent shrugged. "As far as a specific cuisine, I don't have anything that my taste buds are screaming for right now. Let's put it like this: I've been asked the question, 'Don't you ever eat American food?' I do, but when there's the world to taste these days, why limit yourself? If you're from around here, why don't we go to your favorite place?"

He fidgeted a little. He never knew how much information to put in a "life story" discourse. Fortunately, they'd already established that he could include any "nerd stuff" he wanted. That was a a relief. It was the first time he could be confident the woman's eyes wouldn't glass over it he started talking about comics or Star Trek or any number of other "non-macho" interests.

"Me? Well, You already know my name and its origin. I like that you think it's cool. Fortunately, growing up, most people had no idea of the true nature of my name. If they'd known I was named after comic book characters - yeah, the last name is a coincidence - I'm sure I'd have gotten a lot more shit than I did.

"Anyhow, I've got a sister, I'd guess she's about your age, but that's irrelevant. Parents are both still alive.

"I grew up in the Midwest, in a really small farming town. As a kid, my friends and I played superheroes and all that kind of thing, I guess I just never grew out of it.

"I came here for work. I'm one of the millions who makes their living sitting at a computer, but I have to rely on IT to keep it running.

"I do some writing as a hobby. I've written most of my life. Howard was one of my big influences in high school. I emulated him before I developed my own style. Will I offend you if I say most of my stories these days tend toward the erotic? It isn't that I don't write other things, but that seems to be the majority of what comes out of my mind these days."

He stopped there. Although Olivia's face didn't change at his admission of the subject matter he most often wrote about lately, he wanted to get a reaction from her before he said anything else. Not that he had a lot more to say at the moment. He laid his hands on the top of the table and did a little more fidgeting, afraid he might have said too much on a first meeting, in the first hour of that meeting...

 

[Shadowlace]

Olivia listened intently. She was happy such a handsome guy had come and wasn't some modern nerd thinking comics and comic book movies were the same thing. She also heard the sting in his voice from the suspected bullying or belittlement of his preferred hobby and life in those days.

As he got to the erotic stories Olivia interjected." So you write erotica? Like real erotica or more like fanatic erotica?"The res head was curious and then giggled.

" I know someplace where we can both be more comfortable and has some food. But mostly microwave stuff and Funons"she gathered her things and slung her backpack over her shoulders." Follow me, if you dare!"

She would lead him if he followed past a long line of small boutiques and bistros to a sharp right turn on a one way street. After a laundry mat they came to stop at 'Shy Guys cards and games'.

 

[susurrus]

It was a relief when Olivia appeared not put off, but interested in the kind of stories he wrote.

"Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean by 'fanatic erotica,' unless you're talking about things like 'Captain Kirk does Wilma Flintstone' or something like that. If that's what you're saying, then, no, I just try to write about regular people doing naughty stuff together, though I've always thought the Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island have never been sufficiently mined for their potential sexual tension."

At her suggestion, he replied, "You've got me curious." Then, he remembered a recurring line from Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In: "Blow in my ear and I'll follow you anywhere."

He then followed the retreating form of the cute redhead out of the coffee shop, admiring the view from this perspective as well, before catching up and walking beside her.

Unfamiliar with the area, Kent wondered where they were going. After no more than ten or fifteen minutes, they stood outside a door. He read the text painted on the glass and lifted an eyebrow at his companion. By the place's name, he suspected what they'd find inside.

"Once more unto the breach," he said, grabbing the door handle and swinging it wide. "Lay on, MacDuff," he added, motioning for Olivia to continue to lead, since she was obviously the one who knew where they were.

 

[Shadowlace]

"Kinda, but mostly in house I mean they don't usually do like Star Terk Meets Star Wars I mean Kirk doesn't show up and seduce Leia. Though Uhora and Leia...That would be sexy"Olivia says with a smile as she listens to the whole classic rerun TV idea she laughs.

"I figured more the Partridge Family and Brady Bunch, But those were a bit more before my time"She says as she opens the door to the store. It has various posters of Games, Comics, Movies, and Bands. Long boxes and cabinets dot the floor. Cardboard cutouts dot places as well as shirts and shelves of games and books alongside records[yes vinyl], CDs and other music.

She leads you through statues of superheroes and heroines to a small set of strangely mixed cafe style seats in front of a bar. She taps it and a long-haired pierced guy in a beanie comes out with bloodshot eyes and smiles.

"Hey Olivia welcome back, what can I get you and..Whoa who is this dude? Are you on a date? If so congrats bro" He says giving a thumbs up before he holds up his pad with numbers on it,

"You know the drill if you want a meal circle, if you want something else just write it okay," He says handing the pad over to Olivia and she smiles. Olivia takes it and shows Kent a burger, a cheeseburger, a chicken sandwich, and a chilidog. Each came with a picture of chips or fries and a pickle. Next to it was a spot for add ons and your drink. Under there were just open lines for notes.

"Hi Todd, love the new Ravagers shirt, This is Kent and yes he is on a date with me. Also if Vinnie is the back tell him he still owes me for that sweet mint condition Secret Wars number 8"She says handling the guy like a regular and then turns to Kent."GO ahead and circle what you want and write in anything. Todd will make sure it gets done, if not I'll make sure he pays for it later"

 

[susurrus]

Inside, it was as Kent expected: Organized chaos. Where items could be boxed, they were boxed. However, the boxes were of several different sizes due to the differing dimensions of their contents. He quickly identified comic book long boxes lined up against one wall, vinyl record albums along another, paperbacks and hardcovers on shelves in various places, and wherever there was a flat spot, a cardboard standup, a figurine or some other collectible. The walls were a mishmash of superheroes, musicians and various other examples of pop culture from the last fifty years. It was Kent's kind of place.

Olivia led him through all this into another room that was moderately more ordered. It was obviously a gaming room or a side room for assembling models or any other activity one could imagine in a place like this. To prove the point, there was a group of three guys playing some kind of card game in a back corner, and there wasn't an ace or king of hearts anywhere in sight.

Apparently, this room was also a cafe of sorts, going by the folks eating at a couple of the tables. At one, a couple was reading - he, one of the myriad Star Wars novels, she a trade of "Once and Future." Their food sat before them, untouched.

Kent sat next to Olivia at the bar. She acted like she lived at the place. A knock on the wood got the attention of a heavily pierced guy. He greeted Olivia like an old friend, but was taken aback by Kent's presence. However, when it was made known Kent and Olivia were there together, he seemed genuinely pleased.

Olivia was quite obviously a regular here. After she finished giving the working guys shit, she turned to Kent and explained the routine. It was pretty straightforward.

He chose a cheeseburger and fries, then wrote in, "jalapenos and barbecue sauce." A cooler behind the bar held various specialty sodas - no liquor license here - and a fountain advertised the usual suspects.

"So, I assume you know these people and this place," Kent smiled knowingly.

 

[Shadowlace]

Olivia watched as she giggled."Didn't figure you for a southwest burger kinda guy!"Olivia pulls a slip and writes 'The Usual' on her s and then gestures to a smaller cafe-style table.

"Well yeah I am a regular here. I get my pull here, I work here sometimes, Oh and I live upstairs"She says pointing to the ceiling. She grabbed a couple of sodas, one grape one orange, and then tosses one to Kent.

"Its fairly cheap, though only a one-room, Was hoping for more I like it's not far from a place I really really love being here. It's like my church!"Olivia said chuckling slightly as she took a seat.

"So tell me more about yourself Kent? the important question first are you a Marvel man or a DC man?"She asks opening the soda and taking a deep swig. She tried not to linger to long on his butt or crotch. She thought maybe his face or chest but she felt like blushing at them too.

 

[susurrus]

Kent caught the bottle Olivia tossed his way and twisted the cap off. He chuckled as he took a sip, then said, "Yeah, I'm something of a chilehead. I'll barely notice the jalapeños, but I'll take what I can get. Oh, and saying that, I don't eat spicy all the time and it doesn't have to be nuclear when I do."

Nodding at her admissions of being a regular here as well as living upstairs, he told her, "I gathered the regular thing at least. My regular shop is about a half hour from my house. Still, it's good to have a place, like the song goes, 'where everybody knows your name.'"

Taking another pull from his bottle, he thought about the answer to her other question. He doubted it would tear their budding relationship apart, and he wasn't about to lite to her, regardless.

"My 'preferences,' eh? Okay. Mind you, I'm not against any of my seconds, but you asked, so I'll oblige:

"The two biggies: DC to Marvel. Trek to Wars. My dad let me read his books when I was younger, as long as I treated them right. You bet I wasn't going to trash them. I've gone back over the years, filling in a lot of the gaps in his collection.

"I've become something of a fan of 2000 AD. Dredd mostly, but also Rogue Trooper and Strontium Dog.

"Green Lantern and the Legion are favorites, though I buy practically everything DC puts out. I'm actually a bigger fan of the JSA than the JLA. Reading my dad's All-Stars as a kid, I fell in love with Power Girl - well before they started making a big deal of her bust - and Jay Garrick and Alan Scott.

"Over on the Marvel side, I loved the Defenders. Packing the kind of firepower Doc Strange, Namor, the Hulk and Silver Surfer all in one group was hard to beat. I think I also fell in love with Valkyrie: the Barbara Norris version, not the current Jane Foster one. I think it was probably the iron bullet bra with the black leotard bit.

"I like the overall optimism of Star Trek. They're generally trying to get along, where in Star Wars it seems like they're always against something.

"I like a little manga, mostly the stuff they started translating for American consumption through Viz back in the 80s. Takahashi's stuff, all of the Koike and Kojima, and I instantly fell in love with anything drawn by Ryoichi Ikegami.

"I've done a little gaming, but due to time, haven't been able to for years now."

It was about this time their food came out. He was pleased to find fresh jalapeño on the plate, rather than pickled, and the kid who brought the food just plopped what looked like a brand-new bottle of barbecue sauce out for him.

Pouring a pool of sauce on his plate, he picked up a fry, dipped it in and asked, "How about you? I assume from your shirt you're a Spider-Woman fan. I was lucky back in the day and picked up her first issue for cover. Don't have her first appearance though. Anyhow, please, let me know how you tick."

 

[Shadowlace]

Olivia listened and enjoyed the talk. Kent was a handsome guy with an even more impressive grasp on nerddom's she too enjoyed. Still, she wasn't much of a classic Star Trek fan, or much of a DC fan she did appreciate most of the characters and stories.


"I am quite the fan. I have most of the original run of Spider Woman. Jessica Drews' run. Also, I have some issues with Julia Carpenter. The Defenders, with the full run of the Fearless Defenders!!!"She says with a giggle. She takes another sip of her drink and then takes a bite of her sandwich.

"As for DC I am a fan of the Terrifics, The Question, Justice League International, Constantine and Zatanna!"She offers mewling over the anime question.

"Anime I'm more series based fans. I really should look into creators more. Seems that might be the last bastion of sanity"

 

[susurrus]

Kent nodded at Olivia's manga comment. "The trouble for me is: I've already exhausted the majority of the manga by the creators I like. I mean, I think I've already read or have everything I know of. I'm sure there's more manga I'd enjoy, but there's so much of it available these days, there isn't enough time in the day to sample enough of it to discover more.

"I remember starting out with Hellblazer and finding the stories too weird for me. Then after several years, I cozied up to the weird and had to start the long, arduous search for all those issues I'd passed up. Don't you hate when you have individual issues to find, you get into a box and find a run leading up to that one you're missing, thinking, 'Finally, I'm going to find it,' only for it to have every issue but the one you need?

"Yeah, I like the Terrifics. I've liked Michael Holt since they introduced the character, even if he is Mr. Serious all the time. I thought the addition of Plastic Man to counter Holt's focus was brilliant. And what's not to like about Metamorpho? I will admit, I was a little disappointed that the Phantom Girl they introduced wasn't the character from the Legion, but I let it pass.

"I've tried to pick up every take on the Defenders, especially if Valkyrie is involved. When I started reading back issues of the original run, it struck me how, since they had so many supernatural characters, Damon Hellstrom, Hellcat, Gargoyle and the like, it became, 'Let's create a supernatural threat for them to fight, even if it's a one-and-done each month.' I had to admit, reading them as an adult and not a kid, I found a lot of those pretty of silly."

He stopped. Wow. He was really rattling on. He'd had this kind of conversation many times with other guys. It was a first to be having it with a pretty thing with honest-to-goodness breasts. And her eyes hadn't even glassed over yet, and she wasn't casting around for an exit, either.

So, giving Olivia time to get a word in sideways, he stopped talking. Besides, his food was getting cold.

 

[Shadowlace]

"Right exactly, You never think a series is gonna be so so and then you pick it up later and BAM something hits you like a ton of bricks."She giggles as she then takes another drink and looks at Kent. She was in a good place. He was charming witty and new his stuff.

"The Terrifics are a great team, Kind feels like classic Fantastic Four! They work so well together, but not exactly the same. As for Valkyrie, Brunnhilde is hot. I wouldn't be surprised you liked her for more than her combat prowess and a cool flying horse.' Olivia says chuckling and then taking another drink. She was truly having fun and the companion really did help.

"But that is the beauty of comics. We can escape and enjoy life without worrying about actors, effects budget ect."She then looks up and smiles. Seeing Kent she giggles and then sits up."Say Kent do you want to maybe get out of here and enjoy the day? I mean I can head upstairs and put away my stuff, then see where the day takes us?"

 

[susurrus]

Kent was enjoying the comics talk. It had been a while since a female had even just sat and listened to him talk about them, much less participate in the conversation. Even though there was something of an age difference, he'd be a fool not to at least try to have a relationship with this one.

When Olivia suggested moving on, he replied, "I made no other plans, so if this blind date thing had gone belly-up, I'd probably have just gone home and vegetated there. I'm ready to go when you are."

 

[Shadowlace]

"Oh so you wouldn't mind me doing that. I'm gonna change too. Um"She pauses as she begins to consume more of her food. She does this to mill about how to ask him about the next part. She was nervous, she hadn't asked someone this early in the courting cycle.

She reaches out and drinks deeply in the soda before she looks at him a bit red-faced. She begins to speak and instead lets out a blech. She blinks and turns a deeper shade of red. She hides her face for a moment after that. She breathed in and out, in and out. Olivias' mind seeking to salvage this.

"Excuse me!"Olivia says jokingly. She then sits back up confidently and giggles."I am sorry for that, I was trying to see if a hard heavy hit of sugar would get me through my question. Instead the carbonation decided a different reply!"She says laughing a bit harder as she then exhales.

"So I am gonna head up to my apartment. However, I don't want to miss more conversation opportunities so I was wondering if you'd want to come with me? To my room..upstairs. Not in my bed..well it's a one-room studio so...but still yeah one room! Soo...Yes?"Olivia finally asks shifting her eyes from him ot her hands which were being nervous.

 

[susurrus]

Olivia got nervous at implications involved with what she said and Kent's response. Like you see in movies or television when somebody's trying to get up a last burst of courage, she grabbed her bottle and slammed a big gulp. However, being carbonated instead of fermented, instead of a rush of inhibition, the bubbles brought on a huge, unladylike belch.

A beat, then giggles broke out on both sides. While she laughed, Olivia brought her hands to her face as her color darkened even more.

She apologized, which in Kent's mind was unnecessary, but he didn't say anything, just continued smiling.

She explained she wanted to dump her stuff and change, but got in a loop of clarifications when she realized what kinds of implications she might be putting in Kent's mind.

"It's okay," he laughed. "I'm not one of those guys who expects bed activities on a first date. We only barely know each other, though I know that's of little consequence to a lot of guys. I'd love to see your place, so like I said, whenever you're ready, I'm ready to follow. We're on your turf. Give me the Pocahontas bit."

 

[Shadowlace]

She finished her food. The Nerdy redhaired woman was still nervous, she hadn't had a hot guy who was well desirable in her apartment for al long time. She had men in there, but you know game night doesn't count. She really was nervous

Once done she stands and begins to grab her stuff. She jostles a bit as she pulls out her key which dangled a variety of things, Batman the Animated Series Harley Quinn,Battlestar GalaticaClassic Cylon, Captian Americas' Shield, Wonder Womans' WW, the Fantastic Fours' Logo. All hung from her keys which were attached to her lanyard which was Baby Groot. She smiled and looked to Kent.

"How about you follow me and I'll get changed. Then drinks and some fun stuff like pool and darts!" She says turning and heading further back into the store, through the maze of nerddom, into the big open area reserved for table top. At the back is a door and she walks over to put her key in the lock and turn.