week two | dates

[showhost]

You worked up your courage and asked someone out on a date! Good job!





Now you have to hope the producers are kind re: where they send you.

Comments

[newlugers]

[ at that, he snorts. ]

You got it. Even if one of the bears came at you, they wouldn't stand a chance against me! Snakes are nothing compared to the stuff I've fought.

[ talking big, but he also seems to entirely believe what he's saying?? He's nothing if not confident. ]

[makeine]

[ wow. that's so attractive, it's too bad she's into will. it won't stop her from the usual romcom tropes when they get there though. unfortunately. ]

Oh yeah? Like what?

[newlugers]

Just some zombie freaks. There was a big outbreak in the j - uh, the place where I was staying. Basically, everyone other than me ended up getting turned.

[ he says this casually - but he's clearly doing so because he thinks he was really cool for it. ]

Me, though? I grabbed some guns and blasted my way out.

[makeine]

[ whoa.



she wishes she could call bullshit but they have a literal demon among them so. ]

Weren't you scared? I mean, zombies aren't like, super terrifying or anything in the movies, but being the only person sounds pretty frightening.

[newlugers]

[ he shakes his head. ]

Nah, I wasn't scared of them. They're slow and dumb. Stressed out, though, sure. [ this is a lie; he was definitely scared, but he's not about to admit that to a cute girl. ] I did end up running into another survivor, so I wasn't totally alone.

[makeine]

[ steve!!!!! your gap moe!!!!! we have to remember your gap moe!!!!!! ]

Was it a girl?

[newlugers]

[ why does he suddenly have the feeling that this is a trap...? ]

Uh, yeah, but what's that got to do with anything?

[ thinking about Claire right now... he can't do that. He's not that terrible of a person! Or maybe he is for being on this date at all?? Steve does his best to keep any doubtful thoughts from entering his expression; results are mixed. ]

[makeine]

[ oh, he's like cute-cute.

anyway. they're at the sun bears now. look at their dopey fucking faces. anna's enamored even as she talks. ]

Because that's totally how end of the world romance stories go? You and a cute, cool girl against a bunch of brainless brain-eating dead people! Having each other's backs in the heat of battle...

[ so cool. so good. ]

[newlugers]

[ meanwhile, Steve suddenly doesn't seem very interested in the bears, staring out at them with an expression that gets stonier as Anna speaks. ]

Yeah, well, real life's not like the stories, [ he replies, a little terse. ] You don't get a happy ending.

[ this is why he didn't want to think about Claire!! ]

[makeine]

[ oh.

she's staring at him quizzically before a sort of understanding dawns on her and she pats his shoulder. ]

We've all been there, buddy. It's pretty rough being dumped, huh?

[newlugers]

[ at that, he sighs, exasperated, and sounds even more terse. ]

I didn't get dumped, I died.

[ he has no idea if she felt the same way about him - he never got to hear what she said. And now he's on this dumb show, and if she's watching, she probably thinks he's some kind of playboy. It makes his stomach sour to even consider. ]

Whatever. I don't wanna talk about this.

[makeine]

Oh, right. Ryuji-kun said something like that before.

[ but her hand lingers anyway before it drops, and she crouches down by the glass to stare at one sun bear that's rolling on the ground. oh, to be a bear...

crazy how he's here now. hm. not thinking hard about it. ]

Look at its chest. See the spot there? That's why they're called sun bears, because they have a sun spot on them. Moon bears have like, a kind of cresent-y one, so that's why they're nicknamed that.

[ she's

trying!! ]

[newlugers]

[ not thinking about it rules and he recommends it. Grumpy Steve huffs through his nose, trying to do the same - he's been fairly successful not thinking about Claire up until this point, so he might as well try to keep up his streak. What he hasn't been succeeding at is emotional regulation. He forces himself to look at the bears and tries not to glower. ]

Their faces are kinda creepy.

[ it's the eyes... ]

[makeine]

You're totally mistaken. They look like melted ice cream.

[ is



is that cute???????? ]

[newlugers]

[ IS IT??? it's such an absurd thing to say that he looks back over at her, brow furrowed quizzically. ]

Melted ice cream? What kind of ice cream are you eating?

[makeine]

The melted kind, duh. When you're too into the person you're on a date with and the heat begins to damage the sweet in hand, and when he points it out to you and you hurry to lick up every drop...

[ a sigh. ]

It's romantic.