sayshazam | (no subject)

Billy wasn't going to puke. He 100%, positively, definitely, wasn't going to throw up because he was so nervous. Probably. He had faced super scary supervillains so he could totally show up at Isabelle's door and ask her out on a date. That was it. No biggie.

Except it was big because rejection would totally suck. No matter how much he told himself he would survive the rejection it would still suck. You could still be friends with someone if they turned you down for a date, right? Yeah, he was sure you could.

Plus, Alec had told Billy it was okay to ask Isabelle, which meant she wasn't currently dating someone or secretly hated Billy and would laugh in his face if he asked her out. At least he hoped Alec would have warned him about that.

Earlier he had texted Isabelle to ask if he could come over to her place and hang out for a bit and she had agreed. Now he was committed and there was no turning back from this. He had actually debated on bringing flowers but that kind of seemed like the sort of thing that he should bring on the actual date. If it happened.

Stopping outside her door he did a smell check of his breath and armpits before he did his best to calm himself. He probably still seemed nervous but not as nervous as he was earlier. He had fought the Crime Syndicate, he could totally ask out the most amazing, fun, gorgeous girl ever.

"I'm so doomed," he mumbled to himself before knocking on Isabelle's door.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Ummmm, probably not when I'm a school or work unless it's like... an emergency or something," Billy said, giving it serious thought. He couldn't see why he wouldn't want to give her a shoulder or back rub but the way she looked at him and then laughed had him a little worried.

"Yeah, well, I like that about you," he said, smiling and bumping her shoulder back. "Why would I want just a little bit of a good thing?"

Isabelle frowns at him. "But that ruins all my fun." She'd already been planning faking an emergency and dragging him out of school. She still didn't really understand why he went in the first place. She could kind of work it out if she squints, but the whole concept of mundane schooling seems pointless to Isabelle. She'd rather be learning how to stab things.

"People usually do," she counters, but she doesn't pause on the fact for long. "So what do you have planned for this date, hm?"

"So the back rub itself isn't fun at all, huh?" he asked, giving her an amused look. It absolutely wasn't fair that the way she frowned at him was completely adorable and she didn't even seem like she was pouting or anything. Billy also really, really didn't want to ruin her fun. "Alright, fine. You can sometimes do it during school. Just try to keep that to once a month or something, okay?"

To be honest, Billy hadn't really thought about what to do on the date. He hadn't ever expected to make it this far, really. There were a few ideas floating in his head but that was about it.

"It's a surprise," he finally said. "Sort of. I was thinking casual dinner at my place and then a kind of... semi-formal going out?"

"Once a month," she promises, crossing her heart. "I swear."

She doesn't know whether a surprise means he hasn't worked something out or if it's an actual surprise, but she's happy either way. Isabelle likes surprises well enough and she likes Billy. She trusts that he knows what she might like, and that he won't drag her around to the library or something. She can only hope he hasn't gotten dating advice from Alec beforehand, otherwise she's doomed.

"That sounds fun," she says honestly. "Can you cook?" Isabelle definitely can't, but she's always willing to try.

"You can ask outside of school and work anytime you want though," Billy said, feeling his face turn a bit red at that. He kind of thought maybe he should explain to her that just because he got all awkward about things like that didn't mean he didn't want to do them. It was kind of the opposite of that, actually. Billy just liked being around her.

"I can sort of cook? I'm still learning, this is the first time in my life that I've been able to buy my own ingredients and stuff. Before it was whatever I could steal or any place that was all you can eat."

"Why?" she asks, not stopping to think about whether it sounds too blunt or not. She doesn't know why Billy would have to resort to stealing - he certainly doesn't strike her as the type. She thinks he'd probably blush and apologise too much to be any good at being a thief, so the information surprises her.

"You used to steal stuff?" She's not judging, she's just confused. It's a side of Billy she hasn't ever seen before and she finds it interesting.

"When I lived on the street if I didn't have enough money to buy food or I couldn't find any then I had to steal so I didn't starve," Billy said with a shrug. It wasn't something he was proud of but he wasn't ashamed of it either. Steal or starve was actually a pretty easy choice even if at the time he'd had a pretty bad attitude about it. If he had to do it all over again he'd still steal, maybe just not be such a jerk about it.