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You chose today as the perfect day to go grocery shopping.
A basket was comfortably nestled in your elbow as you waltzed down the lines of carts. You had just gotten there, and were looking at apples. You were very picky with your apples, so you were standing there for an exceptionally long time scrutinizing every detail of each apple.
That is, until you were interrupted.
“Hey, wanna get a drink with me?” a man asked you, gesturing to himself with his thumb and winking at you with a spark in his eye.
You eyed him up and down. He had messily attractive hair and a beautiful set of purple eyes, but that overly confident air surrounding him seemed suspicious. At first, you were annoyed. You were obviously busy, and you weren’t about to stop doing what you were doing for an obnoxious playboy. One who you were nearly certain was never successful, going by the fact that he’d asked and been rejected by every woman on the trail to you. But, he was cute, and you were bored. So maybe you could play a little.
You smirked at him, then folded your arms, rather uncomfortably since you were holding a basket, but you didn’t show it. “And why should I?”
That took him aback, and for a moment he didn’t know what to say. “Because uh…beautiful women like you deserve to be treated right!”
“And you know how to do that?”
“Um…” he scratched the back of his head shyly. “Yes?”
Did he now? You had to keep yourself from cackling aloud. Poor guy seemed to be a little confused.
“All right then. Show me.”
“Show you?” he questioned, tilting his head to the side confusedly.
“Yes.”
He waited for you to explain, but you never did. And you didn’t walk off or tell him to go away, so you hoped he’d get the hint that you were giving him a chance. You could practically hear the gears turning in his head.
Suddenly, he seemed to regain his air of confidence. “All right then. I know just the place!”
He opened a portal, then looked to you, perhaps waiting for an impressed ‘ooh’ or ‘ah.’ However, you merely held a calm smile. He coughed, then moved on. “After you.”
Your smile widened challengingly, making him visibly nervous. “So…”
“Yes?”
“You want me to go inside a portal created by a strange man I’ve never met before? I don’t even know your name, yet you expect me to waltz inside a portal that could lead anywhere?”
Finral waved his hands in protest. “No, of course not!”
“Beyond that, are you in some sort of hurry? What, exactly, are you trying to rush?”
“No, no, you got the wrong idea!”
You forced your smile to fall. “Do I?”
“I promise you do,” he insisted. “And the name is Finral. Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier.”
“First you tell me my judgement is wrong and then you demand forgiveness for a mistake you didn’t even realize on your own? You should be taking responsibility for your own missteps, not demanding forgiveness. You didn’t even say ‘please’ or apologize.”
The man named Finral looked rather dumbstruck and you struggled very hard to keep a straight face.
He cleared his throat, attempting to recover from the blow. “You’re right. I offer my most sincere apologies.”
“For what?”
Finral blinked. “What?”
“What are you apologizing for?”
“Um…for not giving you my name?”
“And?”
“For overstepping boundaries and assuming you would enter a portal of my own making when you don’t even know the destination.”
“And?”
He tilted his head in thought once more. “Um…”
You smiled once more. “I’m just kidding. You are forgiven.”
Finral let out a deep exhale of relief, making you chuckle inwardly. He was way too cute for his own good.
Within moments, Finral puffed up his chest. “Okay! I know a great place nearby!”
He began walking, but stopped when he realized you weren’t following. Instead, you stood in place, hands on your hips, and an expectant expression.
“Is something wrong?” he asked.
You narrowed your eyes. “You’re not going to offer your hand? I may get lost.”
“You…” he pointed to himself, “…want to hold my hand?”
You sighed in feigned sadness. “Well, I guess if you don’t want to…”
“No, I want to!”
He hurried back towards you and grasped your hand. You accidentally let out a chuckle at his adorable desperation.
“Did I say something funny?”
“No,” you replied, then paused. You wondered if calling him cute would fluster him…so you did. “You’re just cute.”
A bright red blush spread across his face, and you chuckled at that too. “Come on now.” You tightened your hold on his hand. “Take me to this ‘great place.’”
You both walked several blocks, hand in hand, and he’d make idle chit-chat along the way. Asking you what your favorite color was, what you did in your free time, how you got your hair to be ‘so utterly gorgeous!’—his words.
It was rather charming, to say the least.
You gave him made up answers, just to see what he’d say, and he didn’t disappoint.
“My favorite color is swamp green.”
“Oh, so you enjoy nature! That’s great!”
-
“In my free time I enjoy clipping my toenails and brushing my armpit hair.”
“I love a girl who has excellent self-care!”
-
“I use mayonnaise for the shine in my hair.”
“Wow, how inventive!”
-
He was totally and utterly clueless that you were messing with him and that made it all the more fun, even if you felt just a little bit guilty. He was so innocent and inculpable that you wanted to pinch his cheeks.
Eventually, you arrived at your destination.
“This is the best place I know of in town!” Finral announced assuredly, gesturing to it dramatically. “I’m sure it will suit your exquisite tastes!”
“What makes you think you know my tastes?”
He faltered a bit, but brought himself back up nearly instantly. “Ah, well…I’d love to learn them over dinner! How about I treat you?”
You scoffed. “You think I can’t pay for my own dinner? That this place is too fancy for me to afford?”
“I…well, I didn’t say that.”
“I can’t believe you just called me poor,” you said in mock offense, pointing an accusatory finger at him. “Just because you’re a magic knight rolling in money, that doesn’t give you the right to stomp on us commoners!”
Your fake anger was so convincing and loud that it grabbed the attention of several passersby, and Finral held his hands up in surrender to try and calm you down.
“I swear I wasn’t. I would never!”
You continued to glare at him with all the daggers you could muster, despite simultaneously trying to hold in laughter. It was extremely difficult, actually. But the poor boy was so scared that you couldn’t handle it, so you let out your laughter, earning an even more confused look from Finral.
“Um…” Finral began, but trailed off. He waited until you regained composure before saying something else. “You’re quite the woman, aren’t you?”
You ignored his comment, and went back to being straight-faced. Well…as straight as you could be in this situation. “If you wanted to learn my tastes, shouldn’t you have offered to let me pick the place? Not to mention, you could have set something up in here and I would be none the wiser.”
You knew he didn’t set something up. He didn’t strike you as that type of guy, but you’d heard of his obnoxious playboy ways way before he approached you. He’d asked several of your friends—all of which rejected him quite harshly. You were curious to see how far he’d go to get in your pants. After all, you did just let him walk you all this way to a destination you knew you were going to reject before you even got there.
At this point, you completely expected him to get fed up with your nonsense and run off. But he surprised you.
“You’re absolutely right,” he said, self-assurance back in his tone. “The lady must always have choice of the venue. Please forgive my rudeness and I apologize for being presumptuous.”
You smiled. He truly was adorable. “You are forgiven. Walk with me,” you said, beginning to walk. “It’s close by.”
He rushed to catch up with you, and offered you his hand. “As you wish, beautiful.”
You blinked in surprise, and then grabbed his hand with a shy beam on your face. You sighed quietly. At this point you’re going to be the one blushing.
You guided him with your clutched hands down the path to a place you knew he was going to love. Once more, it was very difficult to hold in your laughter. He attempted more small talk, to which you gave more ridiculous answers, but the walk was shorter than the last.
“I think here is better,” you said seriously, attempting to not laugh.
“Um…are you sure this is the place?”
“You told me I could choose,” you pointed out, raising a challenging brow. “Are you not satisfied with my choice?”
“Oh no, that’s not it at all! I just…well, this just isn’t what I was expecting, is all!”
“And what were you expecting?”
He stared at the ramshackle pub, missing a door and full of cracked windows, built on a foundation of splintered wood. You could clearly see inside and it was far from clean, taken over by drunk bar fights and cockroaches. It was definitely not your scene, but that didn’t matter. You could make yourself blend in.
But could he? What was he thinking? You took the time to stare at him and his ever moving gears.
After some time of pondering, Finral cleared his throat. “Let’s go inside, shall we? I’m sure it will be lovely if you chose it.”
You coughed to hide a laugh. Good man.
Finral confidently held your hand and entered the pub, taking a seat at the table furthest away from the entrance. The table was disgusting, and even you had a hard time getting comfortable, but you couldn’t let Finral see that. Instead, you put on a brave grin and watched as Finral hesitantly swiped away the debris from his seat and sat down. You laid your basket next to you, silently apologizing to it for placing it on such awful furniture.
“So what is the best thing to order here?” he asked, opening the sticky menu in a manner like it would give him a disease. He probably wasn’t far off.
You tried not to do the same, casually flipping through the pages and trying to not let the grime getting all over your fingers affect you. “Hmm…”
“Oh, there’s some good margaritas here!”
Sending him a side-eye and a smirk, he gulped. “You trying to get me drunk?”
“Of course not!”
“Then what are your intentions?”
“My…intentions?”
“Yes,” you said. “What is your end goal here by asking me out?”
“Do you want an honest answer?” he asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
Oh, here we go. The great revelation. If he said what you know he’s going to say, you were leaving. You’ve had your fun.
“I asked you out because I think you’re beautiful and I want you to have a good time. That’s all.”
You paused, then blinked, reduced to silence. He was chuckling awkwardly, still rubbing the back of his head.
“I see,” you murmured. You could tell he was wholeheartedly honest in his answer. It nearly made you swoon, and it was at that moment that you felt extremely remorseful with how you’ve been treating him. “I’m surprised you haven’t run off with how much I’ve been hassling you.”
“Wait, you were trying to run me off?”
“Kind of,” you admitted. “I was curious to see how far you’d go to get in my pants.”
Finral’s eyes widened. “That was never my intention, I promise!”
You hummed in agreement. “I know now.”
Finral looked very flustered, more than he had been the whole time you'd been together. You rolled your shoulders in guilt, very likely blushing from just how guilty you felt. He seemed to be deeply thinking again whilst the awkward silence pummeled your heart.
“Did you pick this place to mess with me?” he inquired softly, releasing yet another awkward laugh.
“I did a lot of things to mess with you.”
“I see…” he sighed. “I should’ve known a girl like you was way out of my league. I feel bad for even asking you out.”
The guilty expression he held far surpassed yours, and you were utterly confused. He asked you out, you spent the entire time messing with him, and he felt bad? That just made you feel even worse. You couldn’t bring yourself to say anything to his self-deprecating words.
“I’m really sorry for wasting your time,” he apologized. “I’ll leave you alone now.”
He began to get up and walk out, but you grabbed his hand, startling him into stopping. You knew he could rip his hand away and leave if he wanted to, but he didn’t. You didn’t quite know what to say, so, after several moments of him looking at you with a mix of sorrow and confusion, you said, “You’re really gonna leave a girl at a seedy bar by herself?”
Finral’s bewilderment was endless, and you could tell he was rather frozen in place. Therefore, you stood up and pulled him with you out of the bar. The moment you both reached the outside, you took a large gulp of fresh air. The pub smelled like cigarettes and wine and it was utterly suffocating. Finral breathed fine, as though he was used to the smell.
The sun had begun to set, and the crowd died down, so it was mostly just you and Finral occupying the space. As he shyly avoided your gaze, you took the time to muster up the courage to apologize.
After all, it was you who should have apologized the whole time.
“I’m sorry,” you declared, bowing. “I shouldn’t have treated you like that.”
Finral smiled widely, but you could see a hint of sadness behind it. “There’s no need to apologize. I probably deserved it.”
“No, of course you didn’t,” you told him. “I just…well, I didn’t realize how sweet you were.”
“Sweet?”
“Yes. You’re one of the kindest men I’ve ever met. And if you don’t mind, I’d like to do this again.”
Finral laughed lowly, somberly. “It’s okay, you don’t have to force yourself.”
You sighed frustratedly. You obviously weren’t getting to him.
You gripped the front of his magic knight robe and pulled him down to meet your lips. He was surprised, but quickly responded. He politely kept his hands on your waist and let you guide the kiss, like a gentleman. Strangely enough, for someone so flirty and confident, he didn’t feel very practiced or confident.
In fact, he seemed to have an absolutely terrible self-esteem.
But the kiss…despite it being rather clumsy, was the most gentle kiss you’d ever had, even if you had technically taken it. It was tender, thoughtful, and every other sweet description under the sun. You pulled away first, face likely matching the color of the apples you’d never managed to get.
“Oh my, I am so sorry, I didn’t even ask, I just—!” you fumbled, unable to meet his eyes.
He waved it off. “No, no, it’s okay, really! I just didn’t expect it, that’s all.”
You smiled, probably for the thousandth time today. “You know, for someone who seems so confident, you’re really…unconfident.”
“Wow, ouch,” he laughed, blush much lighter than yours, most likely.
You wanted to punch yourself for your bluntness. “I’m sorry, I really need to learn to shut my mouth. What I actually mean is…” you trailed off.
Finral waited patiently for you to finish.
You folded your arms and looked him in the eyes, smirk unfaltering. “I think that you’re out of my league.”
“Not possible,” he immediately denied. “Never have I been so blessed as to kiss such a stunning woman at sunset.”
“Would you like to do something else?” you offered coyly. “Something…better?”
“Something better than kissing a stunning woman at sunset? I can’t even begin to imagine such a thing.”
“Oh, I can think of a couple things.” You wrapped your arms around his neck and brought his nose to yours, lips mere millimeters away. “Things that are best to do at night.”
Finral gulped. “Like…what?”
“Wanna make a bonfire and roast marshmallows?”
“Woman after my own heart.”