Changing Strider's Life Ch.9

I am Dave Strider and I finally got Sollux to shut up for a moment after getting out the house. "Sol, shut up." He nods and when I remove my hand he stays quiet. I kiss him gently on his lips for just a moment. "I want to say that I'm really looking forward to this date."

I watch Sollux as he starts going red and smiles at me. I smile back slightly and take his hand. Sollux leads me to his car and he opens the door for me before getting in the driver's seat. He starts driving off straight away.

"I've never done this before. And now this feels awkward," Sollux says. I glance over and smile.

"We're in the same boat then. Oh crap, that did not sound cool," I say, realising just how cheesy and stupid that sounded.

Sollux laughs and I frown at him. "Dave, you don't have to be cool all the time."

"You clearly haven't hung out with us Striders long enough yet," I say, leaning back.

"Yet?"

"If you're dating me, then you're going to have to learn to deal with the Strider way… Crap. I keep sounding cheesy," I say, cursing in my head to myself. Okay, I know I ramble when I'm nervous but I don't recall sounding cheesy.

Sollux laughs again. I hit him on his shoulder playfully while he continues laughing. And he doesn't shut up either. "Do you ever stop laughing?" I ask, slowly getting more annoyed now.

"Not if it annoys you," he replies and grins at me. Right now I want to punch his face. But at least he stops laughing not long after that and pulls into a car park for a classy restaurant, not too classy but it's not exactly a fast food at least. He gets out quickly and opens my door for me. I sigh at him and get out and he takes my hand. He leads me into the restaurant and swiftly gets our table. Yes, our. He made a reservation apparently.

Let's just say he has to drag me to our table because I am in complete and utter shock and I feel extremely nervous now, and I'm afraid I might actually start rambling and shit I'm rambling now.

"Dave?" I hear Sollux say as we arrive at our table.

"Shit, sorry," I say and look at the table; our candle-lit table. How did this guy become so romantic so quickly? Sollux yet again takes the lead and pulls out my chair and I sit down. He sits opposite me and takes the menu from the waiter. I take my menu as well and then the waiter leaves as to decide. "You picked a real nice place, Sol," I say, looking around.

The restaurant is slightly dimmed and each table is candle-lit with flowers. The walls and carpet and simply but beautifully decorated. The table clothes are simple cream satin and the chairs are just the comfiest furniture I've ever sat on.

"Well… I actually…" Sollux stutters over his words. I raise an eyebrow over my shades at him to try and get him to go on. He sighs and continues. "I actually phoned here saying that I might need a table at short notice. I really wanted to ask you on a date but you reacted at the hospital in what I thought was a bad way so I just thought… and then today at college. I decided I wanted to just make things right and be friends but no. You kissed me. And then hinted at a date which I accepted. So here we are at my short notice reservation."

"You didn't have to explain everything you know," I say, laughing a little.

"If we're dating, we should be open right?"

"Well… I actually don't know. 'Cause I've never been on a date or had a boyfriend or girlfriend."

"Dave Strider has never had a girlfriend or boyfriend? Wow, I'm shocked. Wait, was I your first kiss then?" Sollux asks, leaning forward, curious.

"No, actually. John was," I laugh a little as I remember. "We were 13 then, when we first got interested in the idea of boyfriends and girlfriends and we just got a little… experimental?"

"Really? Well, I'll have you know my first kiss was AA. I mean Aradia." Sollux corrects himself and then smiles at me. I can't resist smiling back.

"I know her. Well, I've met her once or twice because of Vriska and Karkat but we're not friends or anything."

"Well, anyway, she was my first girlfriend and we were quite happy together actually. That was until Equius. But I have no quarrels with the two of them; Aradia for dumping me for him, and Equius for, in a way, taking her from me. But we were young then too," Sollux explains.

I then realize something. "Hey, you've met my family, even though it was in a weird way, but what about your family?"

Sollux freezes up a little. "Might I suggest we avoid my family for the moment…? I have no problem talking about my older brother but my parents…"

"Oh, sorry," I say, instantly regretting bringing it up. "Though you have a brother as well?"

"Yeah, he's not much older than me. His name's Mituna. He's not exactly… sane or stable. He has bipolar disorder and he can get really violent. But he's my brother and I love him."

I smile a little wider. "Of course you do. Of course…" I say. "So shall we actually look at our menus?"

"Yeah!" Sollux and I open our menus and I see the prices and I close the menu quickly.

"You realize how expensive this place is, right Sollux?" I think my jaw has fallen down onto the table.

"Yeah. I may not be on good terms with my parents but I have a lot of money. I can pay, trust me."

I just stare at Sollux. "I honestly can't let you pay for me if it's this expensive. Especially not on a first date."

"Well, too bad," Sollux says simply and all I can answer with is a stare. I mean, c'mon. I'm not going to complain but wow, those prices are high. Maybe I should just order something cheap and keep the price low. Yeah, that should do. But… he's offering right?

…

You know what? I, Dave Strider, hate dates. You heard it alright. Now back to reality.

I open the menu back up and stare at the choices, trying to ignore the prices. Sollux must notice that I really don't want to make him pay, and that my poker face has slipped completely, because he's laughing at me from across the table. I kick him under the table lightly and he traps my foot between his feet. I feel my face heat up and I look down at the menu quickly.

I feel nervous, especially with Sollux rubbing my foot, which is incredibly embarrassing. And by Sollux's laughs, I think I'm also very red. I finally decide what I want for the starter and main course and put the menu down. But I now have nothing to look at but Sollux. Although I do try to look around the restaurant at everything but Sollux. Like the couple just a few tables away from us, laughing and kissing occasionally. Or the family to my left that's having a nice dinner out.

"Dave, I know you're not looking at me, even with your shades."

I continue not looking at Sollux. I'm too embarrassed to. At least the waiter comes to take our orders.

"Your orders, sirs?"

Sollux orders his starter and main course quickly and I follow suit. The waiter asks if we want any drinks and Sollux says yes. Sollux orders some honey coffee for himself, which doesn't sound nice but okay, and apple juice for me.

When the waiter leaves, I finally look at Sollux.

"So, you're looking at me now." Sollux smiles sweetly this time. It looks different from the rest of his smiles. I swear my heart stops for a moment.

"I'm just…" I start, looking down again.

"Nervous?" Sollux finishes for me. I nod and look at him again. "Dave, I was nervous to meet you. Why do you think I hacked your pesterchum? I wanted to talk to you. But the day after we talked, I found out you were in my class and I was surprised. And then of course, because I was too scared to tell you who I was, you found out and walked away."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that still. Why did you come to the hospital anyway? After what had happened?"

"Wait, you had concussion didn't you?" Sollux says.

"Yeah, I did. It was mild. I actually remember nothing of that day. I know I probably woke up but the thing is I don't really remember anything after. Not even what I got dressed in."

"Well, Bro told me that you asked for me yourself."

"I what?" I stare at Sollux, shocked.

"You asked for me. Most likely unconsciously as you don't remember. But that means something then. Right?"

"Right," I look down again. It's so annoying not remembering.

I look back up as our drinks arrive with our starters. Most of the dinner goes in silence as we are eating, but we do have a little chit-chat. Finally we finish. Main course arrives swiftly after giving Sollux and me no time to talk so we finish our main course quickly and decide to not have dessert. At last it's time to leave for the movie.