[IC] Dragged Into the Darkness [Leysos & Damiann47]

[Leysos]

In a clear sky on a frigid day, The sun was shining down on the college campus where Jeremy attended classes. His breath misted in front of his face which held a rather blank expression. Nothing eventful was happening in front of him; it was a Monday afternoon. Most people had classes at the moment, but Jeremy's schedule was perfectly crafted according to him. He had one class on Monday mornings, leaving the rest of the day to be spent in the library working on classwork or playing games. If only the coffee vending machine wasn't so far away from the library. Oh well. At least it gave him some time to finish it before heading back inside. The librarians were very adamant about having no food or drink in their library.

The brown-haired man took one last swig of his coffee before tossing it in the bin next to the library door. As he did, though, a student walked out of the building with a laptop in his arms. The unique stickers on it popped out and caught Jeremy's attention. They were almost identical to the ones on his own laptop, which was even the same color. That's when he realized the scared-to-death expression of the other student. The second Jeremy looked at his face, the student took off running. The connection was instantly made.

Jeremy's brow furrowed as his expression erupted into anger. "Hey asshole, that's my laptop!" sprang from his mouth as he began to sprint after the thief, who was already much further ahead. Jeremy was good at a lot of things, but running wasn't one of them. He cursed himself under his breath as he was already beginning to feel winded. 'Damn it... I can't even use my magic in public, and this bastard's going to get away because of it...' He was losing hope fast, but he had to keep running. At least he got a glimpse of the thief's face.

[Damiann47]

It certainly was a frosty day, now while the cold wouldn't have really bother her, in the end Rena opted for a winter coat, navy blue which was a nice color by the way. Since it was Monday her only classes were in the morning, so that left her with two options; go home, or stay to catch up on some studying. Now typically heading straight home would've been the answer, after all she felt pretty secure with her grades, plus studying later would always be an option. This time for whatever reason, on just a whim really, she thought to herself. 'You know... I haven't seen the library for a while... yeah... a change of pace might be nice.'

Then so it was, Rena was now set out on a different path. After navigating through and past buildings, she caught sight of the library; it was it's own structure, and pretty impressive at that. She was too caught up with marveling the library's architecture to notice the student thief barreling from the entrance, that is until the student actually collided with her, throwing himself and her off their feet.

Rena was the first to recover, and to stand back up, although clearly still dazed from the clash. "Ow..." she inhaled sharply. She then looked to the guy, "Oh, hey you alright? I can-" Naturally she was a little concerned, but at that moment she recognized him. His name was... uh... Dmitri, that sounded right, however it wasn't his name that was important, rather his reputation. Dmitri was just a two-bit thief, and a thief who was just on the edge of being kicked out of university.

In the distance she spotted Jeremy straining to catch up to them... combine that with the the laptop in Dmitri's arms, well Rena was anything but an idiot. Her expression didn't noticeably shift, actually she started smiling, but the whole time her gaze pierced right through Dmitri's, she wanted to convey that she knew. "That's a nice laptop you got there, a pretty unique laptop actually." He was getting one chance to surrender, and hopefully he takes it.

[Leysos]

Dmitri's spirit completely shattered as he collided with the woman and fell to the ground. He let in a sharp inhale of his own and squinched his face up as he scraped his knee. The injury wouldn't be the last of his worries, though. When he overcame the pain, he realized the girl began talking to him. Her voice... you'd have to be living under a rock not to recognize Rena Falkren's voice. Dmitri began to tremble as he looked her way, as she was now looking at him with a smile and piercing gaze. When she then commented on the laptop, he knew the jig was up. Jeremy might have been a nobody, but Rena could probably talk to the right people to get him expelled having caught him red-handed. He exhaled deeply and shoved the laptop into her arms. "Shit! Just don't tell anybody!" he pleaded before getting up and taking off like a cockroach about to be stomped.

Jeremy watched this whole affair through blurred vision as he became even more winded. When he was certain his laptop wasn't moving any further, he began to slow down and gasp for glorious air. By now, he was close enough for his attire to be in clear view. He wore a beige overcoat, snug brown wool gloves, navy blue jeans, generic chestnut-colored sneakers, and a white scarf that was beginning to fall off of his face. Jeremy was relieved that this girl somehow managed to stop the thief, but was still too shaken up to ask her once he reached her. As he did, he hunched over with his hands on his knees, continuing to gasp for air. It didn't take much longer for him to calm down, though. When he did, he stood back up and sighed in relief.

Jeremy looked the girl over, only to realize it was Rena Falkren. She was nothing short of a celebrity on campus, but Jeremy figured he'd be long gone from this school before he got a chance to actually meet her in person. What was she doing so close to the library, though? Well, before all of that, she was on the ground. He extended a hand towards her to help her up. "You're not hurt, are you?" he asked, sincerely hoping she wasn't the stereotypical 'holier-than-thou' type to those outside of her clique.

[Damiann47]

Rena couldn't help but be a little satisfied with his reaction, it was just as she expected that Dimitri would crumple without much of a fight. She watched the delinquent take off with surprising speed, there was no doubt he had the athleticism just he lacked the skill, and maybe the luck as evidenced in this case. Next it was time to deal with the victim, now while she saw him earlier it wasn't until then she truly recognized Jeremy. To her knowledge he was a pretty secretive, isolated individual, nothing particularly negative, but he also didn't exactly hold a fantastic reputation; a neutral guy by her reasoning.

She wasted no time in taking his hand, after all when someone offers their help you should take it. With a grunt and Jeremy's assistance, Rena rose to her feet. She flashed a grin, not like the intimidating glare from earlier, but that goes without saying. Before responding Rena shoved Jeremy's laptop right back into his possession. "Shouldn't you be more concerned about your laptop?"

After a purposefully awkward moment she then waved a hand dismissively. "Na, your priorities are straight, thanks for your concern. Anyway I came out without a scratch, but I doubt he's too happy getting caught like this you know?"

Rena stretched her back then turned towards where Dimitri ran. "I'm not going to report him this time, best case scenario he takes this as a learning experience and turns it all around." she clicked her tongue. "Worse case, he gets himself in an even worse situation and basically self destructs, either way it's up to him, right?" Rena nodded then returned to face Jeremy. She again was smiling. "In the end though, your laptop was saved, and all the valuable gigabits on it. A turn of good luck, isn't that right Jeremy?" Her grin grew even wider when she dropped his name, just to punctuate on the effect.

[Leysos]

Somewhat startled at her reaction, the chestnut-haired man gave her a puzzled look when she shoved his laptop into his hands and asked why he isn't more concerned about the laptop. Was she crazy? Just how bad of a reputation did he have? Still, he sighed a little once it was obvious she was joking. He just let her talk, nodding when she was explaining what Dmitri's deal was. He adjusted his glasses when he spoke her name; he really shouldn't be surprised that she knew his name. His roommate did have a lot of friends. The fact that he was friends with Rena, too, shouldn't surprise him. Who knows what sort of cold rumors he's been blabbing about.

Either way, it felt good to have one of the most well-known faces on campus recognize him by name. Jeremy wanted to take the opportunity to try and dispel any rumors that were floating around and do something brave. He was indebted to her anyway. "I'm surprised you know about a loser like me, Rena..." he began while shutting his eyes with a smile. "I wonder what Douglas has been saying about me." He opened his eyes and blinked, his expression turning back to neutral.

"Well, anyway. That could have been a lot worse if he actually had a backbone, so thank you for stepping in," he lauded, beginning to get nervous at what he was going to say next. He exhaled a bit through his nose as he broke eye contact with her. I guess I, uh... Owe you a bit. Do you want to... get some food or something? he offered, covering his lower face with his scarf. 'What the hell am I doing? Why am I offering to spend time with her,' he thought, lashing out to himself. Disregarding the fact that she would think he's even weirder than before, he swore that he'd avoid getting too close with other people in case someone found out about his ability. That didn't stop the loneliness from eating away at him, though. He had the opportunity... what was one small outing going to do? He kept reasoning with himself as he awaited her answer.

[Damiann47]

Rena cocked her head, a curious expression occupied her features. "Almost sounds like you're hitting on me... or maybe more like on a date, take your pick." She took a few steps closer, then leaned forward far enough that she was practically in his face, well more or less given how she was slightly shorter than him. Rena didn't move, both people could easily feel each other's breath, then after what could've seem like forever she backed away, although her face was completely neutral. The whole process was as if she were sizing him up, well actually that could have very well been the case. Rena was considering what to do, Jeremy definitely was lacking in the confidence department...

At first her mouth twisted into a smirk, then into a proper wide-open-teeth-showing-grin. "I want pizza. Was her ultimate declaration. "I'll be upfront, I like you Jeremy." She then let out a gentle chuckle. "But to make sure we're on the same page, I don't mean it a romantic sort of way, like we're in a Romcom movie or something. Nope I mean I think you're a pretty interesting guy, I got no idea why so let's just say it's because of your face."

The cheery long haired girl pointed towards the nearest exit off campus. "So here's the deal, my dear Jeremy. As my reward for thwarting the nefarious Dmitri in his plot to steal your prized piece of hardware, you get to treat me to pizza. You better pick the best place you know, just saying." There's one thing she knew, this lonely guy named Jeremy needed some way to boost his self-worth. Perhaps making friends with someone, anyone really could be just what he needed. Plus as a bonus this took care of her own problems, well those "problems" being bored with nothing to do.

[Leysos]

Hitting... on her? ... Date? Was she okay? Did she take him for a fool? Surely she knew he didn't mean it in that context. ... Right? The confused boy turned to look at her, but she was suddenly invading his personal space to the extreme. Their faces were close enough for him to feel her breath, and vice versa. Jeremy was trembling with a beet red face, and his eyes were wide open. It was a miracle he didn't accidentally let some of his magic set off, as he was completely out of it. By the time she pulled her face away and explained herself, it took him a few seconds to register what had happened.

Jeremy sighed before taking off his glasses and de-fogging them with his scarf. 'I don't know what's worse; this demeanor, or a more uptight one,' he thought to himself as he returned his glasses to his face. "Please don't misunderstand me, Rena. I don't like you like that; to be honest, I think you and I both know just how out of my league you are. It's just, not repaying you would be rude. If you want pizza, that's fine," he declared, readjusting his laptop in his arms. "Don't expect it to blow you away, though. I don't get out much, and I only know of one place."

What was she even doing near the library anyway? She didn't seem like the type to read for leisure. He's clearly been wrong before, though. "Can I at least get my bag first...? I don't sit too far from the entrance," he asked as he nodded his head towards the library, secretly not wanting to blow this chance he's stumbled upon. Half of him was dumbfounded she took a liking to him, but the other half was worried he'd screw up and upset her. Jeremy quietly cursed himself for being such a shut-in.

[Damiann47]

Rena nodded without hesitation. "Oh yeah, no of course you can grab your stuff. Sort of goes without saying don't you think?" He was probably being polite, but hey she couldn't be too sure. She motioned towards the library doors. "After you." Rena waited until Jeremy took point and followed closely behind him. There wasn't much to say, well actually there was plenty she wanted to talk about. 'Say, you're not a really open guy are you?' 'You should try cheering up once in a while.' 'You don't have a lot of friends... if any huh?' There was a difference between being friendly, and just being socially inept. Rena liked to bargain she was the former.

Well after some additional thought, Rena found something that probably could nudge him into talking a bit, although it really was a probably. "So, Jeremy... got any hobbies, or interests, or whatnot? If Jeremy were to look at her Rena would be characteristically smiling, clearly expecting any kind of answer. Her reasoning was if she could get him sharing something about himself, it could help the guy relax, you know start opening up.

[Leysos]

Jeremy nodded at her and headed into the library while the insides of his mind were exploding. Anybody could tell he was extremely on edge, definitely not used to this kind of thing. As uncomfortable as she made him, at least she wasn't being rude. He could respect that much at least. He covered up the lower half of his face with his scarf as they walked towards the table with his bag. He swiftly slid his laptop into it and snatched it from the ground before turning around, slinging it onto his back.

It was then when Rena asked him a question about himself. Hobbies? Magic. Lots and lots of magic. Interests? Trying not to get hunted down because of it. Whatnot? .... Hm. What else? Jeremy supposed he was into nerdy stuff, like games and anime and stuff. He wasn't sure how well it'd go over with Rena, though. Still, she was the one who said she was interested about him. Maybe if she found him to be boring after all, she might end up leaving him alone and this nightmarish day would be over. If not, who cares. It's not like she'd intentionally seek him out again after this, and Jeremy would most likely faint before getting close to approaching her assuming he'd even want to.

"Just... video games and a little anime, I guess," he explained, trying not to let his internal exploding seep out too much. 'Magic, too. Did I mention magic? Magic's the shit,' he thought to himself. There was a side to himself that'd be so much more interesting to talk about than just... video games, I guess. Overcoming social boundaries was one thing, but having to put a handicap on himself on top of that was pure hell for Jeremy. He almost couldn't take it.

Jeremy continued to walk towards the campus exit and eventually to the pizza place he had in mind. Well, it wasn't a pizza place per se. "The Ground Bean Cafe." Jeremy knew there'd be some explaining on this one. "So... good news, this place sells pizza," he explained, holding the door open for her. "The bad news, I've never actually had it before. I'm not much of a pizza fan." Four-eyes instantly bit his tongue in regret, anticipating a 'how could you not like pizza?!' from her.

[Damiann47]

Rena knew it! She had her suspensions, but now she heard it from the man himself, well now she found her way in. At Jeremy's mention of not liking pizza she slowly shook her head. "Aw, not a pizza man? That's sort of rare you know, but hey to each his own. Still, why not give it a try? Experience is the mother of all teachers after all." While Rena hasn't expressed as much, she has noticed how seriously uncomfortable Jeremy was becoming, guess his reputation truly preceded him in that way. For that reason however, she decided it might be time to start dialing it back, at least by a little.

They stood in front of the cafe, it wasn't a pizza place, but hey if Jeremy said it served pizza then it counted. Before they entered the building was when she chose to make her move. "What sort of genres do you play anyway?" Rena started. "Personally I don't like MOBAs, actually the last and only one I remember playing was Aeon of Strife from waaay back when. Now a solid RPG is something I can get behind, it's all about the relative freewill."

"I'm into warriors myself, the good old sword and board combo really. Just something about the personal, up-close badassery is... awesome." As Rena rambled on, it wasn't clear if she was actually addressing Jeremy anymore. "People call the sword 'generic' but I say it's symbolic. Think about how many heroes are known by their swords, Cloud, Link, hell what about War from Darksiders? He was pretty badass right? I... alright that's a bad example but you get my point. Then the armor, man... plate armor just looks cool, and of course I'm not talking about the flimsy, fantasy, female armor. Na think Dark Souls although guess I'm not talking about a specific set, but just the style in general."

Rena stopped to take a deep breath before launching into another rant, but perhaps fortunately she instead remembered where she was. She looked to Jeremy and blinked. Didn't she want to dial it back? Wasn't that the plan? "Oh uh..." She coughed lightly into a closed hand and reached up to rub the back of her neck. "I sort of get spirited about... uh... this kind of thing. You didn't need that tangent. Sorry." Rena's cheeks were blushed, she was genuinely embarrassed about the whole affair.

However that didn't last long, because out of nowhere it seemed Rena had regained her composure already, and then pointed to the cafe entrance. "Right! With all that out of way, let's get us some food!

[Leysos]

Rena's talking almost winded Jeremy himself. He was absolutely dumbfounded- video games could be enjoyed by popular people, too? In such detail as well! She clearly knew what she was talking about, which surprised him. Well, at least he accepted that he could be wrong about her. Needless to say, there was a lot he needed to learn, but he at least felt more comfortable around her now that he was certain they shared common ground other than "we go to the same school" and "you saved my laptop, good job." The only thing that would make this better would be if she used magic too, but its scarcity meant that would be extraordinarily unlikely.

He couldn't help but chuckle when Rena was clearly embarrassed. "Relax... I know what it's like," he consoled, stepping into the cafe. "I'm more of a mage guy myself," he began, relishing in the irony about to come from this conversation. "You've had to have played the Elder Scrolls games if you're into RPGs. Magic has way too many uses for it to be overlooked, from unlocking doors to turning invisible, or even making your enemies explode," he explained, going on a tangent himself as he approached the counter. "You could craft all sorts of spells in Oblivion. I just wished that remained a feature in Skyrim, but hey, mods brought it back."

Jeremy sat upon one of the stools lining the counter. The cafe had a very mellow atmosphere to it; most of the furniture was wooden, the seats all had green cushions on them, and the walls were lined with all sorts of artwork and newspaper headlines about the cafe. The worker behind it was staring at the two like she saw a ghost. "Weren't you just in here, shoog? and I sure as heck never seen you in here with someone else before," she teased while wiping the counter. Jeremy waved his hand around in dismissal.

"I'd like my usual meal, Anna. I'd appreciate it if you could get her a menu, too," he ordered. Jeremy came here often enough to where he and Anna knew each other, but he wouldn't exactly call them "friends." Just enough to respect each others' limits and boundaries.

"Sure thing, shoog," Anna nodded, grabbing a menu from a shelf under her side of the counter and placing it in front of Rena. "Let me know what you want when yer ready to order, sweetheart," she said before walking off to wait on others.

"I don't know what kind of toppings you want, but I figure you'd want to decide on a drink, too," he explained, setting his bag down in front of his stool and resting his arms on the counter.

[Damiann47]

The cafe had a strong "hipster" feel to it, although that's not saying Jeremy himself was a hipster, just a general observation she made. Now the most curious nugget of information was how he actually seemed to know the waitress, just whether or not they were friends wasn't too obvious. Rena took her place on the leftmost adjacent stool where Anna left the menu, the college student didn't feel the need to look at it however, pizzas weren't the most complex food ever and neither was her choice of drink.

"I'll put my order in when she comes back around, not like we're in a hurry or anything. Rena explained. "Besides I'm lot more interested in some chit-chat." Rena scooted herself to the right so her entire body was facing Jeremy, then she leaned in a little as if trying to show she really was interested.

"So where were we... right, magic. Yeah, you don't need to explain how magic works and all that, I'm really familiar with the Elder Scrolls games. I used to add Destruction, or Restoration into my builds, maybe sometimes both. Tried to go for a lite battle mage, and I say lite since most of the time I'll forget I even have some magic in the first place." Rena leaned back in her stool, she was looking to find some comfort, wooden stools are a pain to sit on... "My typical character is a heavy armored swordsman/archer, I do like using bows because having the ranged option is nice."

Rena rested her arm on the counter, her head laid on the palm of her hand."You know I've been thinking about going for a pure mage, shake things up a little. Probably could find some good magic overhauls off of Nexus." She then smirked, her eyes suddenly lit up. "Say, you should try playing a pure warrior sometime, from the sounds of it I'm guessing you're really all about the magic right? Melee may not be all that fancy, but it sure is satisfying... especially with some great blood mods. Vanilla splatters don't have enough... uh, how should I put this? Brutality? Yeah let's go with brutality." Like earlier Rena's smirk morphed into a full on grin, what that meant was left to interpretation on Jeremy's part.

[Leysos]

"That's not demented," Jeremy teased with a chuckle. He was surprised she even knew about mods; the Nexus to boot, too. Rena's playstyle was almost entirely foreign to him, but he was sure she felt the way about a full mage build. This allowed for some leverage. "Alright, I'll humor you and make a burly warrior. One condition, though," he began, adjusting his glasses. "You have to follow through with your mage character." Jeremy smiled, as if he had an ace up his sleeve and was thoroughly enjoying this.

"I realize a lot of the vanilla spells are pretty boring, but there are so many great magic mods out there, even if you don't count the ones that make you needlessly overpowered. My favorite one is the Apocalypse, Magic of Skyrim mod. I suggest you check it out, since it adds several new spells to each magic tree that make it much more interesting," he explained with a twinkle in his eye, not having felt this way in a long time and hoping he wasn't missing any details that would be important for her to know.

Luckily, by the time he finished talking, Anna had made her way back to where the two were sitting. "Alright, you decide what you want to order?" she inquired, pulling out a small notepad and a pen brandished with the cafe's logo.

[Damiann47]

Jeremy was loosing up, seems talking gaming was a seriously good call on her part, and of course she was having fun herself which was a nice bonus really. Now before continuing there was her order to take care of, Rena utilized her most polite smile then started. "Right, just the personal pizza, pepperoni and if it's not too much trouble some extra mozzarella shredded on top. For the drink, water would be fine." She waited until Anna had her order written down, then returned to Jeremy.

After a moment of thought she remember exactly where they left off. "Yeah I've seen it, thought it looked pretty cool, but I never used magic plus wouldn't have the skills to use them anyway, so I never bothered." Rena yawned, then leaned back far as she could short of falling off the stool. She was felling tired, on a typical day she would've been home around this time, probably napping, but she wasn't about to skip out now. "Hmm, I don't have any specific mod suggestions for you... so how about some general advice?" Rena held up one finger. "First, block is broken as hell with Quick Reflexes. Around level fifty you can pick it up, it basically allows you to dodge any power attack, especially if you grab Conditioning from heavy armor." Then two fingers held up."Second, you want smithing. Upgrades are well worth it, and you can forge say Daedric armor well before you'll naturally find it. Plus legendary gear is seriously good, you will want the extra damage and defense." Guess how many fingers she held up next? That's right, three. "And finally third, with your level ups makes sure you strike a balance between health and stamina, especially stamina. More power strikes means faster kills, and you get to to chug less of those stamina potions, so a win-win."

As expected from Rena she grinned widely, then perhaps less expected she slapped Jeremy on the back, admittedly after some reaching however. She obviously didn't intent to hit hard, rather it was a friendly slap. "Ah, but whatever, I think you'll figure it out as you go, you're a smart guy so I wouldn't be worried." Rena sat there, absolutely beaming... she really was having a great time at this point.

[Leysos]

Anna nodded and swiftly wrote her order down; it was simple enough. "Alrighty, we'll have yer orders ready in just a lil' bit. Y'all sit tight, okay?" She gave them both a smile before walking off to relay their order to the kitchen staff. Meanwhile, Jeremy was still astonished that Rena knew so much about the game, even things he didn't know himself. He quietly listened to her advice, nodding here and there to show his interest.

Jeremy was too focused on her talking to notice her reaching for him, but the slap on the back certainly came as a surprise, since more physical contact among friends was a very foreign idea to him. He flinched out of confusion, but chalked it up as "Rena being Rena" upon her compliment and smile shortly after. He returned the smile; he was enjoying himself too, something quite rare when compared to some of the rumors floating around campus. "Well, smart or not, I appreciate the advice," he started, shifting in his stool to find some comfort. He was more of a booth guy anyway.

"As for your mage build, I have a feeling you'll try to hug the destruction and restoration trees. Don't be afraid to branch out a little, especially into the alteration and conjuration branches. Magicka is your stamina. If you feel confident or reckless enough, you could go for a glass cannon setup and invest most of your points into Magicka, blasting spells from a distance or letting your conjured minions do your bidding, but I'd still recommend building health and magicka fairly evenly. Restoration's still good for restoring chunks of health on cast if you level it up enough, and I'd still suggest the Apocalypse magic mod and the Spell Crafting one. Jeremy figured she'd need some level of guidance as well, but perhaps not too much. "You seem to be pretty smart yourself, so I'm sure you can figure out how to best play your mage. I also think you'll come to appreciate watching your enemies fly off into the horizon in a huge explosion," he admitted with a chuckle.

Rena certainly liked to talk a lot, but Jeremy felt at ease now that he knew they had some strong common ground. He really never met anyone like her before, and maybe he she'd help him clear up any misconceptions he had of the social world. Maybe, according to Jeremy, starting this warrior build was a symbol, albeit a lame one, for branching out himself and trying new things. All this taken from a talk about video games, something he was ashamed to even mention before now. If only he could afford to tell her about his actual magical prowess.

[Damiann47]

Well... Jeremy's advice was pretty basic for the most part, even she knew all of this already. Still it's the thought that mattered, and she was more than able to recognize that. Rena was somewhat stuck on what to talk about next, she could keep going on about Skyrim, but what else was there to say? Then she realized, Jeremy was probably a fan of Bethesda games in general, hell who wasn't? "I know I'm smart, thanks for feeding my ego!" Rena looked properly smug with herself. For such a loner guy, he can be quite relaxed around her even if she was still effectively a stranger, sharing a major interest like this really does wonders doesn't it? Anyway she knew they'll be waiting for a good deal longer, so perhaps it was time to add some drama to the conversation.

Rena's mood shifted dramatically, despite the fact that she almost always smiles, for some reason out of the blue she adopted a very solemn expression. She was serious about something now. "Jeremy..." She spoke slowly and deliberately, wanting to tread carefully as not to mince your words. She then waited, the air around her felt stagnant, only adding to the effect. "I have a extremely serious question to ask you..." Rena stared Jeremy directly in the eyes, an ironclad, unblinking stare. "On a scale of ten to ten, how much do you love Fallout?"

[Leysos]

Brushing aside her remark as just "Rena being Rena" again, he suddenly found her being serious for once. Oh lord. This could be anything. What was it? The suspense was absolutely killing him; he almost asked her what she was going to ask. Then it hit him, like the atomic bomb that blew up Megaton. Do you like Fallout. All the suspense and fear led to that? Well, shoot. Jeremy almost felt embarrassed for expecting something serious out of Rena's mouth... maybe she just took Fallout very seriously? Regardless, he had some bad news.

"Ahahah... Sorry. I get a lot of shit for this, but I could never really get too into Fallout," he admitted with a nervous chuckle. I can see why other people like it, but I just feel so out of place when playing it... I just don't enjoy post-apocalyptic settings too much I guess." Jeremy frowned a little, expecting himself to be coerced to play the game further from what he's gathered about her so far. He secretly hoped she wasn't that extreme, but waited for her to react before changing the subject.

[Damiann47]

---

It was about a good half an hour later when the pair finished eating and were standing outside the cafe. Rena had to admit the pizza wasn't nearly the best she ever had, but hey it was passable, plus she doubted it was something people typically ordered there anyway. During the rest of the time she kept the conversation rolling by talking about whatever gaming topic came to mind, it was pretty nice being a very casual discussion. Whatever the case was, it was time to wrap up the evening.

Rena with her hands behind her back, rocked back and forth on her balls of her feet, while of course grinning at Jeremy. "Gotta say, as far as dates go this one wasn't bad at all... although I don't go on dates in the first place." She knowingly teased, by now he should know she wasn't serious. "Seriously though, it was pretty fun, and I know you had a good time yourself, don't lie to me." She mockingly accused him with a pointed finger.

Coming into this she honestly didn't see it exactly ending up like this, before Jeremy just seemed like a lonely guy who needed a pick me up, least before something were to happen. Now after getting to know the barest about who he is... well he might actually be a potentially great friend, she had to lock him in. "Right, well I'm thinking you should pick where we're going on our next 'date' after all isn't that the guy's job, hmm?" There was going to be a next time, she'll make sure of it.

[Leysos]

Unlike the pizza whose mediocre taste was unknown to Jeremy, his regular choice of soup and hot chocolate graced his mouth more as the two talked for a while. Well, Rena did most of the talking, but he was still enjoying himself knowing she took interest in a lot of the same things he did. Despite Rena's intrusive nature which the shy man wasn't used to, the thought of actually having a friend was rather calming and made him forget about the fear of being persecuted.

The two were outside now, and Rena was talking about how much fun she had. This only reaffirmed his feelings about the "date." By now, the awkwardness that came around being with Rena was only faint, so obvious jabs didn't really do much to him anymore. "I won't lie, Rena. I might keep secrets, but I'll never lie. I don't think I've ever had this much fun with someone else before," he softly admitted with a smile.

Jeremy then kept to his thoughts a bit before answering her last bit. "Well, uhm... I really don't know of any other places," he meekly admitted before turning to her. "I'd much rather see what your idea of a good pizza place is! They don't normally get orders for pizza here, so I'm sure it didn't blow you away... but it still looked good enough to make me want to try something you think is good." The difference was already night and day. Rena was surely rubbing off on him now, and Jeremy felt like it could only seem to get better.

[Damiann47]

Rena shook her head, "Na, I chose pizza and I got pizza, that was my go." She paused for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, that's it... I want a mutual relationship here, meaning the both of us give and take. So, you get to make decisions too, think of it as exercising your autonomy. Rena smiled reassuringly. "Just pick wherever, I'm sure it'll be fantastic." Jeremy seemed like the kind of guy who goes with the flow, nothing wrong with that but...

Before she could take off there was one last thing to do, "Anyway, I'm about ready to call it a day, but first you're gonna need this." Rena slipped a small piece of paper in Jeremy's hand, it was a number. "Get in touch later, alright?" She waited for Jeremy's response, of course not wanting to be rude, then turned away, and gave a curt wave. Hopefully she'll actually hear back from him later.

---

Rena checked her wording once more, now satisfied she sent the text.

[Hey, let's meet up in the library like usual, I'll be here.]

It's been a month since the couple's fated meeting, there were high and lows, still with everything considered, she felt things were going pretty well. Certainly others noticed how much time she was spending with Jeremy, absolutely she wasn't ashamed to seen with him... although why would she be? Over the month Rena made a point to keep a constant presence in the guy's life, well while also trying to get too annoying about it. If there's one thing she learned about Jeremy, he's an introverted person, getting too intrusive would do far more harm that good.

For the time being Rena had to wait, so she picked a nice sitting area with quite fluffy chairs and coffee tables at just the right height to rest her legs on, it was one of her favorite spots in the library. She reasoned it shouldn't take too long for Jeremy to arrive, and he should know where to find her, so that wouldn't be a problem.