[ COLLEGE AU 2 : GYRO+JOLYNE ]

[rettangolo]

[ So. After all this time, all the apartment invasions and willful mooching and the constant annoyances that Gyro's posed to Jolyne, he thinks it's high time he actually gives back a little: that is, he finds now as good a time as any to take Jolyne out on a date. A real one, one that doesn't start with him shooting her a text that says 'u busy rn, want pizza ?'.

He shows up in front of her apartment at a reasonable hour— 7 is fine, right?— with no hat, no tacky belt, and his hair swept to the side, over one shoulder. No flowers— overkill— but with a full wallet and some semblance of actual effort in his overall presentation.

Miraculously, he rings the bell instead of knocking the door down, waits until she answers before speaking up. ]

Hey. I'm early for once, where's my medal?

[ nailed it. ]

Comments

[rettangolo]

[ It's a commonality, he supposes— Jolyne has her issues with her father, the way Gyro has some contentions with his. But he lets it roll off his shoulders, doesn't comment on it because he's cagey that way, sometimes. ]

Good. Because I wouldn't ask.

[ And he grins because he's being truthful, and he downs the rest of his drink with a flourish. ]

The subject begs the question, then: worst date you've ever been on?

[stringmealong]

[ She drains the rest of her mojito to keep up as she considers that. ]

Hmm... One time I was out with Romeo, and we were killing time before dinner and stopped by this car dealership. He was like, hey, let's pretend we're shopping and get them to let us take some for a test drive! So we went in there acting like some rich couple shopping for a BMW or something. He told me to try to look respectable, but it didn't even really matter, the guy just ignored me anyway.

Thing is, the one Romeo was eyeing was a two-seater, and of course they weren't just gonna let him drive off with it alone. So they left me behind so the sales guy could ride with him, and I spent like an hour sitting there in the muggy office while he drove all around town getting sold to. We missed our dinner reservation too.

Romeo was just like, "well, I couldn't let him know I wasn't really interested!"

[ She sets her empty glass back on the table with a bit more force than necessary. ]

[rettangolo]

[ His expression transitions from casual to vaguely bleak as he listens to this story; he doesn't know what he was expecting, really.

And as always, he's fairly blunt about his assessment: ] I'll never know what you saw in that guy.

[ Maybe it was what Gyro didn't see and never will, but. That aside... ]

Note to self, then: the only car ride I'll ever take you on are bumper car rides. Deal?

[stringmealong]

[ She's a little grim about it herself; with perspective it's easy to tell what a douchebag Romeo had been to her, but somehow it had all seemed worth it at the time, and not just because of the sex. ]

That sounds fair.

[ But after a beat, she smirks at Gyro again. ]

I mean, I like riding in actual cars too, as long as it's the actual riding part. But I dunno about your driving.