An Elegant Weapon from a more Civilized Age (OPEN)

[Nancy Panic]

Nancy kind of wished her demon heritage made her out of tougher stuff, but she froze and blinked at the cosplay suggestion…yeah, that…that’s a little gross and creepy and… oh thank GODS, Gaston caught himself, okay, good… She let out a weak chuckle. “I’m sure someone’s thought of it though, some people get a little weird in their attempts to have a unique cosplay…but yeah, let’s move on.”

“Thanks! Mom’s more likely to use guns or some hand to hand combat, but she taught me a thing or two about swordplay…I mean, like I said, I could probably just shift into an animal and be done with it, but it helps to be prepared, y’know? Plus, well, these things are a lot lighter than most swords….” At his last comment about why he was sent here, she frowned. Well that’s a little narrowminded of him… she wanted to say, but she knew better than to throw shade at someone’s parent. It was one of the few things that would drive her to get really mad, and she wouldn’t want to do that to her new friend…least of all since she was starting to like him.

Instead she said, “Oh my folks were the opposite. I really had to convince them. I played the, “I’d have a way easier time fitting in there” card, though, and Mom couldn’t argue with that. She’s pretty “normal” by alum standards and still felt like she didn’t really belong anywhere until she came here…” She paused, pondered and then added, “But I don’t know. You don’t seem like you need to “man up” to me…”

For about a hot second, she was thinking that she was RIGHT on the money in her instincts, and was just about ready to answer ‘Oh that’d be lovely, I’d love to go out with you’, because how often was it THIS easy, right? Hell, her parents took three years to even admit they had feelings for each other, and…

…and…wait, he wasn’t talking about asking her out…

…he was trying to set her up with his friend.

Oh.

Well she couldn’t imagine why he would be doing that if he was interested in her…she supposed she was glad that he squashed that idea pretty quickly. And, well…she thought about what he said, managing to not look disappointed, and said, “Well I’d have to meet him first…but maybe?”

[Gaston Jr]

Wow, sounded like Nancy’s mum was quite the warrior, and because it was Gaston Jr and he was brought up to respect things like that he said, “Wow…sounds like your mom is pretty bad ass.”

He smiled when she said that she didn’t think he needed to man up, it wasn’t often that he heard that one. It’s why he liked the Summer Country, ‘man up’ had a very different meaning there and it was one that suited him a hell of a lot better, again, much to his father’s disappointment, but his mother’s delight. It was really nice of Nancy to say and for a moment, well, for a moment he actually started thinking…maybe…maybe she won’t ask Eddie out…maybe…she’d ask…me

But then she was talking about meeting him and Gaston Jr pulled himself out of that thought.

Oh yeah. Silly Gaston Jr. Girls weren’t interested in him.

“You really should, Eddie is like…one of my favourite people in the world, he always has my back,” said Gaston Jr, continuing to promote his friend, “you’d probably find him down in Todd’s comic book store, he’s there a lot, have you been? I love that place!”

[Nancy Panic]

Nancy beamed upon hearing Gaston Jr. compliment her mother. Oh yes...yes, Mom would love hearing that (even if she still had this nagging feeling that when her mother mentioned that name it wasn't a happy story, but she couldn't place it...), and she definitely loved hearing it. "She really is, she's totally my hero, I'd give anything to be like her...not that my dad isn't great. He's been through so much that it's kind of a miracle he's managed to make a happy life for himself, let alone all of us, and that's a whole different type of strength, you know? And they kind of mesh well together because of it, even though I'll bet no one would have guessed they could make it work."

It was hard to not smile back at him when she saw his reaction to her saying he didn't need to man up...what a silly thing to tell someone, and borderline cruel to say to your child. Like, who's to say what's manly or womanly? It seemed to Nancy that there would always be people who liked to do the more "manly" things regardless of gender, and same with "womanly" things, so SURELY that was enough of a balance?

Then he asked about the comic shop, and even if it was involved in his attempt to play matchmaker, she perked up just a tad. "Oh I've been meaning to visit. I've heard really good things...but yeah, I mean, if I meet him and decide I like him, sure..." She tried to sound enthusiastic, but when you were looking right at someone you already were kind of into, it was hard to get excited about meeting someone else. "I tend to be pretty cautious with these kinds of things...I mean I've never really dated anyone, so that's pretty obvious." She could sense the word vomit coming, but maybe it was because she was holding back on things, other feelings had to come out.

"I just mean...I need to see if there's a connection..." And coincidentally, their sabers collided again...and she moved her gaze up to his face. What she didn't know was that her eyes were turning a very slightly darker shade of blue to match his. "And, y'know, if he's into it too. Even if it makes sense based off of what we like, you know...chemistry. It's a thing..."

[Gaston Jr]

That was a shame about her dad and Gaston Jr nodded sympathetically, but was happy that the guy had managed to work it out in the end. He just wished his parents could do the same. It was obvious to anyone that saw them together that they loved each other terribly, however after any amount of time together the two of them inevitably ended up arguing and fighting, and going their separate ways once more…only to get back together a few years later…it was hard to keep up, right now he was pretty sure they were together…actually…they had been together for a lot longer than they had previously…which was saying something for those two. Perhaps it was because Lancelot was away, whenever he came back things got super complicated and awkward.

“You mean you haven’t been yet?!” he said excitedly, “oh Nancy! Nancy, Nancy, Nancy,” He quite liked saying her name, “you have been missing out. You must go, we must go, it is truly the cave of wonders, a treasure trove of untold…uh…treasures, and they have a sale on right now. Even if Eddie isn’t there it would be worth going. Oh! They have this new Leia statue in which is amazing and have you been reading Red Hood and the Outlaws? It’s so good right now!”

He was so busy off on one of his comic book geek outs that it took a moment to realise that her eyes had changed colour, but he did when the lightsabres connected again, and the light from them highlighted them even more. It was weird, there was a strange sort of feeling in his stomach, like…butterflies…why did he have butterflies?

“Well…yeah,” he said wondering where that little jolt of energy came from that went through him, it made him all tingly, “chemistry is very important, I mean, not worth pursuing something if there’s no chemistry…I’m sure I heard mum mention that once…although…not quite sure what she meant by it…I guess it’s if two people sort of…click, right?”

[Nancy Panic]

Gaston Jr.’s enthusiasm was infectious, and what had previously been a place of curiosity was now about as exciting as your average theme park to a child, especially with what he was describing was there (she could so easily get Christmas shopping done for her mom on top of getting herself something)…but more importantly, the fact that he suggested they go together even if Eddie wasn’t around.

It was silly, of course, he clearly wasn’t interested if he was setting her up with someone else, but…it would be nice to have him there…and if she didn’t feel anything with Eddie, maybe she could pluck up the courage…maybe…after all, if this was a comic shop, she could invoke some of her favorite heroines’ strengths. Leia might have been in denial of her feelings towards Han, but then she marched in there to save him, and Diana would NEVER be nervous in pursuing someone, right? And Doreen…well Doreen was probably not afraid of anything, she was just hyper and squirrely. Yeah…yeah, that was a good plan…show she was hearing Gaston out but then hopefully helping him see…if she didn’t lose her nerve first.

Like how they clearly lost their train of this lightsaber fight when they met eyes, and she was in no hurry to get back just yet.

“Sounds about right. Just a little spark when you’re with them. That feeling when you meet someone and it’s like you already understand each other, or already want to be around them all the time…”

[Gaston Jr]

“Yeah,” said Gaston Jr, a little distractedly as he stared into her eyes.

The two lightsabres hung in the air, the two of them connecting in the middle as they stared at each other. He should move, or he should at least say something else but for some reason he was rooted to the spot, staring at her…and he was comfortable that way…

…only now he felt that it might have gone on a little long and quickly shook himself out of it, dropping the lightsabre to his side and smiling sheepishly at her.

What was that? Why did he just stare like that? What was wrong with him? He hadn’t done something like that in a while, not since the feast last year when Meredith had come down the stairs with the Leia hairstyle and she had just looked amazing and…oh…yeah…that feeling…it was like that. That…was…interesting…but…He was setting her up with Eddie for goodness sake! He shouldn’t be having these feelings, bad feelings, go away feelings. It was bad enough he had to endure them around Meredith but not with the girl he was trying to set his friend up with, that was a big no! And she’d love him the minute she met him, they all did, he was a great guy, why shouldn’t they…

But it was ok to still hang out right? Oh this just got so much more complicated…

Retreating to what he knew Gaston Jr bowed and said, “Well…you are truly a Jedi Master, I am honoured to have fought with you.”

[Nancy Panic]

...oh gods, did that actually work? Was she just imagining the way he was looking at her? Her little heart felt like it was doing a rapid-fire tap routine in her chest...should she go for it? It wasn't too late, after all...oh, but what if she was totally misreading it? Maybe she needed more time...that was it. Like she planned, they'd go to the comic shop, and she could get a better feel for his feelings either way and she could work on it from there...

A part of her realized that she would probably find a way to talk herself out of any sign that he liked her no matter how long it took, but she was just going to ignore that inner naysayer for now, okay?

She returned his sheepish smile, which warmed into a more genuine one when he pulled a little bow like they were actual Jedi. Gods, he really was just...right on her wavelength. Whatever happened, at least she knew that. She returned his bow. "I could say the same thing." Then she rose up, pondering what to say next...she wanted to hang out some more, but what to suggest...

Suddenly she felt the phone in her pocket vibrate...oh...oh, she had class, didn't she? She had almost forgotten in all the excitement...and while some people skipped class whenever they pleased, she liked to save those for actual emergencies...

...did this count?

She thought about ignoring it...but what if she was wrong and someone at home was calling?? Mentally groaning, she checked, and yeah, it was just a class alert. She glanced at Gaston Jr. and in a rare stroke of improvisation and boldness, she asked, "You want to meet up again later?" She set up a new contact and handed over her phone. "I'll text you, especially if class turns out to be super boring." Look at you, you even managed to make a joke here! "Or, I could give you mine and you could text or even call me, whatever you'd prefer..." Annnnnd there goes the word vomit again. Why not just quote the Carly Rae Jepsen song while you're at it?

[Gaston Jr]

She was checking her phone, was that a good sign? No it was probably a bad sign right? People only checked their phone when they weren’t interested didn’t they? So she might be bored, she might be checking the time to see if enough had passed that she could leave without appearing to be rude? Maybe he had pushed too hard with the whole potentially dating Eddie thing, or perhaps he had been a little too obvious about his own…his own…whatever that was…

…then she was handing him her phone and wondering if he wanted to meet up later.

He grinned happily and took the phone from her and said, “Yeah, sure I’d love too, this was great fun, be a shame to leave it too long before we did something like this again.”

He typed in his own number and then briefly pressed ‘call’ before hanging up, a few bars of the Star Wars theme played before being cut off, “just wanted to make sure I hadn’t typed it in wrong, and I’ll save yours, just so I don’t get confused when I see a number I don’t recognise, not that I get confused often, just…uh…yeah…we’re covered.”

He handed her phone back to her and said, “but yeah, give me a call and…and we’ll meet up and go to Todd’s, or you know, if you’re bored you’re welcome to text, cause you have my number and…yeah…coooooool.”

He put both his thumbs up.

He immediately felt like an idiot.

[Nancy Panic]

Nancy nodded almost too eagerly when Gaston Jr. said it'd be a shame to not spend time together soon. Oh you have no idea...or maybe you do. I'm not really sure, but that's part of the goal here, to find out...and just hang out, of course, she thought. It was funny how her manner of speech, her "word vomit" moments, as it were, seemed to reflect in her inner monologue too. You'd think it'd be easier to sort out there...or even more crazy, with unfiltered thoughts flying everywhere...

When she heard the Star Wars theme coming from his pocket, she had to giggle and murmur, "Of course," in the fondest possible way. It was silly to think, but she couldn't help but imagine just how much her mother would approve, which would definitely help calm her father's ever present nerves. That was what Mom was great at in their relationship, after all, and how could she object to Nancy dating a fellow Star Wars fan?...you know, if she got the chance to actually date him. Friends worked too, of course. Friendship was underrated...but it was hard to fully believe that when a crush hit you so hard so fast.

He babbled a little, and while some would just laugh it off or maybe find it strange...she found it weirdly comforting. Maybe just because she did the same thing, so it would be IMPOSSIBLE to weird him out with it, so that was an extra point. "Definitely," she agreed. "Like, yes to all..." And with a grin that communicated the very best possible version of anxiety, she offered two thumbs up as well just before grabbing her phone.

"But...yeah, unfortunately I should go...but we're definitely doing something again soon. I might honestly pop over to the store once class is done, if you're not too busy! But...like I said, we'll talk!"

The urge for a hug came, but no, no, no that was WAY too bold...so she grabbed her lightsaber (who cared if she brought it, it wasn't the weirdest thing anyone ever brought to a Tintagel classroom), and patted him on the arm, unable to hold back on a sharp intake of breath entirely, oh GODS she hoped he didn't notice and get weirded out...

"See you soon!"

And after a bit of a longer lingering moment than she was proud of, she started to head off.

[Gaston Jr]

“See you soon!” he said waving at her, watching as she left.

He stood there for another few minutes, looking at the empty doorway that she left through, just…staring…

What had he been thinking?! Why had he jumped immediately to setting her up with Eddie?! Well, because Eddie was a great guy and he just really wanted to make sure he was happy and he imagined that Nancy would make him very happy. Besides, she would have asked him out right? If she had been interested in him? But she didn’t…only…she kind of did…they were going to meet up soon, that’s what she said right? Was she asking him out? No, of course not, she was just being friendly.

A good friend…that was him.

Only he wasn’t a good friend, because he was secretly hoping that his best friend would make a bad impression and maybe…maybe Nancy might change her mind…

Shaking himself he realised that he too was now late for class and raced out of the gym.

-fin-