Dating Advice for an Absolute Beginner?

[itmeanstruth]

Minoru had spent a good part of the day freerunning. With the American Ninja Warrior qualifiers coming up soon back home, he needed all the training he could get. But really, he did parkour because he loved it. It helped him clear his mind.

Usually, it helped him clear his mind. But not today.

He arrived in the plaza, just as frazzled as he left it hours earlier. He slumped down (upside down) on one of the benches.

“I give up! Does anybody know how dating works?!?”

Because Minoru now had a koibito... err... girlfriend... and a first date he wanted to do something really special for. And the absolute beginner had absolutely no idea where to start.

Comments

[angelic_asshole]

They say advice from angels can be....heavenly? Or not.

"Always invite them for a romantic dinner, a few rose petals, a drink or two underneath the stars. Perhaps from another dimension if you're really into it. But, seriously? All you need is a good sense of humour, which I seem to have, but if you haven't? Go with your wit and good looks. That I also have. Just do what seems natural if it's a first date. Also, don't push it. See what they like and then go with it."

At least this had worked for him in the past. As for trashfire dates? Well, him and Jack's carnival date was....quite action packed put it that way. Young love though? Ah, to feel young again.

"Are we talking girl or boy here? Or both? I don't want to judge, darling."

[itmeanstruth]

He looked up to a familiar face and smiled a little. “Hey Balthazar.”

Then it occurred to him - Jack’s partner would definitely have some ideas! The smile turned into an excited grin and he flipped back rightside up.

“Both! I mean, well, Anthean hybrid. So that’s how it’s both. And Ziggy already has the romantic dinner part covered. He got a reservation for some really exclusive place in his world. He’s even making me a suit to wear. And uh... I’ve never done this before. Ever. With anyone.”

[angelic_asshole]

"Good to see you again, Minoru! At least you're not falling off the back of a skateboard now."

A sly wink and then the angel was watching the parkourist performing a jump. He always seemed to land back on both feet perfectly which was an achievement in Balthazar's eyes. Ah, a hybrid. He knew exactly what Minoru meant by those, having Ziggy's brother as his partner.

"Ah yes, Antheans. Well, it sounds like he's got you covered, love. What's not to like about a fancy date in a swanky joint? I should know, having experienced this more than a few times myself. The last place Jack and I frequented was a rather nice sushi place. The food was divine! Jack nearly ate the whole place but then we got rather----romantic and had to leave promptly if we weren't to be kicked out."

A little trashfire had started of course. How could it not?

"Just relax. Be yourself and I'm sure Ziggy will understand. He seems a nice enough fellow like his brother. A bit of fun but has a big heart like all Antheans I've met so far. You'll have to show me this suit sometime, love."

[itmeanstruth]

“Nah, totally on foot today.” He at least got a laugh in.

“I... don’t really know what to like or not like about it. I’ve never gone on a date at all before. And I’ve never been anywhere this... well, this place is swanky enough that he needed to make me something to wear. I don’t have anything that even comes close to nice enough. And on top of that, we’re going by limo, too.” Minoru explained. Any advice from Balthazar’s past experiences would be eagerly welcomed. “I want to do something special too, but compared to all of that? I don’t even know where to start!”

Well, aside from trying not to destroy the suit five minutes after putting it on or something. He did ask Ziggy to make it loose enough to really move around in, just in case.

[grouchy_trashmonster]

"You want my advice? Don't."

This is coming from a guy who lives in a trashcan and stinks like well...um trash. He doesn't like friends or company so sorry Minoru. His advice won't likely help you but Oscar thinks this is advice anyway. He's trying to save your feelings just in case the whole thing doesn't work out. That's his excuse anyway.

"Love is too overrated in my opinion.

As for loving trash? Well, that was something else altogether.

[itmeanstruth]

Minoru definitely wasn’t expecting someone to pop out of the trashcan! Startled, he rolled right off the bench. It took a moment to register he was indeed looking at a real live grouch. But as soon as it clicked, he laughed.

“Well, I already did.”

[grouchy_trashmonster]

"You did, huh? Well, can you back out? That's if you actually want to go through with this whole dating thing in the first place. Too much effort if you ask me. All the cleaning that you have to do before hand. Ungh. I prefer to stay in my trash can and accept weeds off anyone who might like me. Not people do like me though and that's fine because friends can be annoying."

This was a date for Oscar. Sort of. If anyone did happen to like him he'd offer stinky weeds as a substitute for nice smelling flowers. Stinky weeds smelled nice. Of course they did.

"Have you got her chocolates or some other human thing you do? Let me guess, you're going to go out and spend a load of cash on perfume you only use once? I've seen it happen to some other guys I knew once."

Oscar know some humans believe it or not.

[the_rebel_son]

Lucifer was out, in fact getting chocolates for his own partner, a regular occurrence to dote on his sweet toothed partner. He thought it was the young man from the cliff that he glimpsed as he walked by but it was the voice and question that stopped him.

He turned slowly and looked down at the upside down human on the bench. "I do not believe there is one way for dating to work. Relationships are very personal."

It wasn't the best answer but it was an honest one from Lucifer's perspective. He had, and did, date people in different ways over time. Probably not unexpected with how long his life has been.

"You sound uncertain or stressed?" He says it but the tone comes out more as a question than a statement.

[itmeanstruth]

He glanced up at his friend with a softened expression.

“Yeah... sorry, it’s just that I’ve never done this before. I’ve never even really thought of doing this before. But I’m doing it, and yeah...”

By doing it, Minoru meant simply being in a romantic relationship. While he was asexual, and deep in the part the spectrum that was sex-repulsed, he was actually demiromantic. Something he didn’t even know prior to growing close to Ziggy. And while Minoru had done many things for the first time without even bothering to look where he was going, this, somehow, felt very different.

[the_rebel_son]

Lucifer sits on the other end of the bench, pitched sort of sideways so his wings can hang over the arm without being in the way. "If it is any consolation, even I had a first date though that was a long time ago by your standards."

Then his mind goes back to the original question, thoughtfully and quiet for a moment. "At the most basic a date is a way of showing you care enough to know a person. It is more about finding something that will make you happy together, rather than a set rule."

Lucifer had no juagement as he maintained all sorts of relationships over his lifetime, some had been romantic alone without the physical, though that was not what the devil was known for in any creation he had heard about. He motions toward the fancy bag in his hand from one of the high end Nexus chocolatiers. "I am a traditionalist, perhaps by human standards, but I think my brother shows his affection by fighting his partner in a sparring circle. Neither is better or worse. What makes them good choices is that they can be enjoyed equally and together."

[chiaro_oscuro]

"It's complicated. I'll need to know a little more about your situation, if you feel comfortable sharing it, of course." A gloomy-looking young man looks at Minoru curiously, a dark blue cape sweeping behind him as he approaches.

Ben's situation is complicated even by complicated relationship standards, but he's picked up the sense that even more typical relationships have their share of messes and pitfalls. And every Nexus relationship he's heard about has its share of difficulties.

Frankly, a lot of the advice he can offer is along the lines of what not to do. He clears his throat.

[itmeanstruth]

Minoru looked up at Ben with a soft smile. Of course, it would be complicated.

“Okay...” he thought for a second about where to start. “Um... I’ve never dated anyone before. Never even thought about it, really. But now I am. And for a first date, he got reservations for this really fancy restaurant in his world. He’s even making me a suit to wear! I’m excited... but nervous. I want to do something really special too, but I have no idea what. I don’t even know what you’re supposed to do on dates.”

Minoru wasn’t kidding about being an absolute beginner.

[chiaro_oscuro]

"Would this date of yours be someone I know? If it is, I might be able to help."

It's the Nexus, and the chances are fifty-fifty. With the mention that the person's making a suit, Ben already has a guess. He's glad that, if the person is who he thinks Minoru's date is, that things have progressed.

"What sort of things does this person like?"

[dontpetmeibite]

"Dating can work any way you want it to," Ravage says, and stretches out, yawning, before he jumps up into Soundwave's lap (which he is really too big to be doing, but never mind that.) "After all, all people are different. Are we talking about Ziggy?"

"Minoru: of course thinking of Ziggy," Soundwave said, with an expression of fond disbelief. "Also, that will work better if your forepaws are in my lap, but your aft is on the wall, my love. You don't fit in my lap." He is, after all, sitting on a wall looking down into the Plaza. (He may also be running his Favourites playlist on shuffle. There is certainly music coming from somewhere.)

Ravage rolls his optics but rearranges himself as requested.

Soundwave pats Ravage's flank. "Conjunx: he/him today."

((Primarily this will be Ravage you're dealing with. Big bot does not give Minoru advice; we both know that never ever ever ever works.))

[itmeanstruth]

Even from the awkward upside down angle on the bench, he could see the pair of giant robots clearly.

“Yeah. Talking about Ziggy.” He confirmed. The phrase, while it made him happy deep inside his heart, still didn’t roll off the tongue very easily. “We’re... dating...”

[dontpetmeibite]

"I'd gathered." Ravage curled his tail, rather smugly, around both his aft and Soundwave's wrist. "Darling, you leave this to me," he told Soundwave.

"So, if being married for humans is the counterpart to being conjunx, what's the counterpart to being amicae? Because that's what it's called if you're courting someone and don't want to have sex... unless you're Megatron, who always wants to have sex with people he likes."

[mr_enterprise]

The cold weather suits Kirk better than it does his husband, but only relatively speaking. Age has taken its toll on the old captain, and while a younger Kirk might have enjoyed the opportunity to spend time outdoors, today he's bundled up in a thick coat, a fleece hat pulled down to cover his ears. His gloves are a little thinner than he'd like, but that makes it easier for the warmth of the coffee cup in his grasp to soak through and warm his fingers.

He peers at the young man, faintly amused. "Very carefully, usually. It depends on both people, in my experience. First time?"

[itmeanstruth]

Minoru looked up at the older gentleman, and then flipped back rightside up.

“... yeah. First time.” He admitted sheepishly to the stranger. He had no qualms with talking, though. Any advice would be good advice at the moment, and strangers were only friends you haven’t met yet. “I don’t know what to do. Or what you’re even supposed to do.”

[mr_enterprise]

Kirk smiles softly at the young man. Ah, young love. Those were the days. Yet he doesn't regret them being behind him, content with domesticity in a way he never thought he would be. "In my experience, the best thing to do is talk to your partner, find out what they like. Sharing a meal is the traditional setting, but it's not strictly necessary. Find an activity you both enjoy. Chess, nature walks, that sort of thing."

[coffee_elf]

Rondo is immediately excited by this question. Or relieved. Or some emotion that's a blend of the two. "Oh my gods, I have no idea and I was thinking maybe it was cultural thing so I'd just have to stumble through it?? But then I thought of watching some human media to see if there were any ideas I could use but most of it is really stupid--"

Wait, that didn't come out right. "I mean! I'm not saying human media is all stupid, just the romantic comedy movies I've been watching make no sense, and the magazines are even worse. The only thing that has made sense was the Valentine card he made me."

And it was adorable and touching. And Rondo doesn't think he knows how to be adorable and touching back. This is a dilemma!

"Uh...sorry, I should've...you're Minoru, right? I'm Rondo." They haven't met face to face before, but he has a pretty clear idea what he looks like, from Ziggy.

[itmeanstruth]

Minoru was just as excited to hear that he wasn't the only one with absolutely no idea. He flipped back around immediately.

"Yeah, I am. OH! You're Rondo! You're dating Ziggy too!" he exclaimed. "Or something like it. I mean... yeah... it's all really confusing and no, none of those movies make a lick of sense. Romantic comedy. Yeah, right. They're not even funny. And definitely not romantic."

He laughed a little to himself.

"I thought I was the only one confused by all of it..."

[coffee_elf]

Whoa! Quick movements! Rondo hops back a step, but recovers from the mild startle fast, because the conversation is vastly more important and he feels he has found the perfect person to sympathize with. "That's right! Yeah, dating or...courting or something. See, that's the problem, I'm not even sure what the right term is but he's so sweet."

There is zero sense of rivalry here. He's just happy to have found someone he has something in common with. "So the movies don't make sense to you either? That makes me feel better. There was one I watched where some man got injured at a train station and got amnesia, and the woman that found him pretended to be engaged to marry him because he was so handsome and she felt bad for him, I guess? Except then she fell in love with his brother and it all just came off as creepy to me."

Every species writes bad stories sometimes, humans and elves included.

"I've never actually courted anyone before," he admits. "Not seriously. I kissed a girl and a couple guys under the stairwell at my secondary school but that was mostly just curiosity."

He steps up to stand on the seat of the bench and sits on the arm of it. It makes him feel a little less short to position himself that way. "But you've been by Ziggy's side through some awful things. I know because I was there for part of the time, but not as much of it as you, I don't think. That's got to count for more than knowing how to date him."

[losthunter]

Sitting on the other end of the bench, with a sketchbook in his hands, and a pair of sunglasses on, was Hunter. He looked over to the young man, before setting down his sketchbook to collect his thoughts.

"It depends on the people in the dating relationship, in my opinion. What works for some people... is not going to work for everyone else."

"Me for example... I am unable to even see my boyfriend in person."

[Appearance notes for Hunter: he is bald, and any exposed flesh is covered with tattoos. He has a large silver tree piercing on his forehead. And scars on his face and neck. Safe image link: here]

[itmeanstruth]

Minoru heard the voice and glanced over at the artist. The piercings and scars didn't bother or frighten Minoru. (He was generally flustered at the moment, but that had everything to do with his own thoughts.)

"What works for you, then?" he asked, honestly.

[losthunter]

"We have been writing letters to each other. And video chats." Hunter notes softly.

"It has been a while since we had a date-date. But we have had private dinners."