route_1065 | MAKE UP YOUR OWN CATCHY LYRICS

Entry tags:

MAKE UP YOUR OWN CATCHY LYRICS

Who: Kay Faraday and Johan Andersen
Where: Azalea Town
When: Tuesday, August 3, late afternoon/evening-ish
Summary: Kay didn't want her first date to be with a Pokémon kidnapper. Johan is a good friend. Date GET.
Rating: G, most likely!
Log:

Had anyone told Kay Faraday that she'd be going on her first date in a world not her own, she would have laughed.

... Or maybe she would have been intrigued first, and then she would have laughed. But at the moment, Kay wasn't laughing. She was instead waiting outside of Azalea's Pokémart, shoulders for once free of Pokémon after a long talk with them about staying in their balls this time. Just for a little while, she'd promised, and they were more than welcome to stick close to her for her eventual date with 777, but this wasn't him, it was Johan, and for Johan's sake, it was only going to be the two of them.

Plus, she didn't think a date with anyone would go well with a jealous Zubat trying to bite whatever he could reach.

With her limited knowledge of what one was supposed to do/look like on dates, Kay had done her best with the minimal resources she had. Namely, she'd let her hair down, had a minor moment of panic upon realizing that her only other outfit was something reminiscent of a burglar, and had been on the verge of convincing herself that this was Johan and he wouldn't care if she wore a sweatsuit and baseball cap until the inn's owner had taken pity on her and found her a dress to borrow (she missed her regular outfit already).

"Okay," she said aloud, sucking in a breath and doing her best not to fidget. So maybe this was a first date, but at least it was with a friend, and just because she'd never gotten any dating advice except "Not until you're thirty" from both her father and Uncle Badd, that didn't mean she couldn't pull this off! This was practice for a mission! "This'll be easy!"

Or so she hoped.

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"Ah..." Well, now he had to come up with something to say to her, didn't he? His own face having a splash of confusion, or perhaps it was surprise at his own actions, he stared at her for a moment, contemplating just what he would say and do to her now that he had her in his grasp.

He loosened his grip slightly, now that he had her, but not enough so that she would be able to let go. Finally, he managed to get something out, though it didn't quite express just what was going through his mind - what was going through his mind, anyway?

"It's... a little early, isn't it?"

If Kay hadn't looked flabbergasted before, she most certainly did now. Randomly surprising people was her thing, and she hadn't expected Johan of all people to steal her tactic, and yet here he was, doing things and saying things that she hadn't expected from him at all!

"I'm just changing before it gets cold," she reminded him, still very much puzzled. "It's not like I'm calling it a night entirely." Except it did sort of feel like that. Changing back into her clothes would make her feel more like herself, and less like... how she'd been feeling, which was probably a good thing, but it was also a note of finality.

Was that why he'd stopped her? Kay honestly didn't know, and met his eyes with a silent plea for something to start making sense.

Honestly, Johan was full of uncertainty as she looked at him, with a face that said that she was just as confused as he was right now. Even so... When he looked into her eyes and caught sight of something else, something that quickly helped him sort through what he needed to sort through to be able to give her a proper answer.

At least, Johan hoped it was the proper answer.

"That..." Starting off with a trailing off sentence wasn't going to do him any good; clearing his throat and shaking his head, Johan looked at her firmly and began again. "What I mean is, that would kind of end it, wouldn't it? We could go somewhere else if it's cold, but doing that... It'd make things... back to how they normally are-- Not that this isn't-- I mean, this is normal too, I think, but--"

... Well, if he could say anything, he could say he'd tried.

No, Kay thought immediately. This isn't normal. Maybe it wasn't supposed to be, because if dates were normal, then they wouldn't be some sort of special event that everyone made them out to be. And this was a date, but the reasons behind it weren't normal, either, because most of the people she'd spoken with had made it overwhelmingly clear that you usually had someone in mind that you liked before you went on a date, and here she was batting 0 for 2. Kaito asking slyly if she was excited for this date had made her confused at the time, but she was starting to understand. She'd never even considered Johan as someone other than a friend, but this situation had forced her to do so, and she was stunned to realize that she...

But there was no way--

Of all people--

Maybe she was wrong. For both their sakes, she really hoped she was, but the fact remained that Johan didn't want her to leave, even if just for a little bit.

"... I won't end it, Johan." The words surprised her as she said them, but Kay once again couldn't regain control of her honesty, nor could she look away from his eyes. "Not until you want to, anyway." She grimaced good-naturedly, adding, "Besides, I'm sure the waiters will let me have it for not packing enough romantic gestures and sweet nothings into one night."

Completely oblivious to what was going through Kay's mind and mostly just glad that she was staying, a sparkle returned to his eyes, and soon after, a mischievous grin followed it. The good natured grimace, combined with the fact that she was looking right at him, just added that much more to him. Either he could turn the grimace into a grin, or at the very least, lighten the mood just a little bit.

"Well, since we're not ending it..." He started innocently, though the look on his face spoke volumes about what his intentions were, even if his voice didn't do so much. "We could always give those waiters just what they want, couldn't we?"

Giving them just what they wanted had Kay picturing some weird version of Lady and the Tramp while aforementioned waiters whipped out accordions and Italian accents out of nowhere, and she had to struggle to hide her grin.

"I guess so," she replied, raising an eyebrow at Johan. "What did you have in mind?" Because if it involved having to sit inside that restaurant and pretend that a bunch of candles were making her swoon, she was putting her foot down.

Seeing Kay having to hide a grin, if that was indeed what she was trying to hide, he decided that this was a good idea, might even be fun somehow, and, his grin as un-Johan as it could be, continued with that in mind.

"Well..." At that, Johan had to pause. Truthfully, he did have a few things in mind, but half of them he didn't even understand that well, what with his lack of prior dating experience and all, leaving only a select few things he could suggest that made sense to him. First, though, he gave his friend a silly grin and continued. "You said something about 'sweet nothings' and 'romantic gestures', right? We could put on a show for them!"

Oh, she had definitely rubbed off on him. If there was one thing Kay delighted in (and there were many), it was being theatrical. Of course, that was mostly in a way that didn't make people (barring Mr. Edgeworth) stare in disbelief and/or horror, but this was practice, too, wasn't it? If she could convince a bunch of strangers that she and her date were actual lovebirds, who knew? It could be that much easier to keep others from guessing at her identity later on.

And really, it just sounded like fun. The stars weren't going anywhere. With this in mind, Kay finally matched Johan's grin with one of her own and nodded eagerly. "I say we go for it!"

"Hehe, then it's settled!" Now that it seemed like Kay was on board with Johan's possibly ludicrous plan (ludicrous, but still fun sounding all the same), Johan stood up suddenly, bag that had had the food in hand, and walked over to the edge of the roof, giving Kay a playful grin. "Last one down has to propose!"

Of course, as Johan leapt off the side of the house, it didn't even cross his mind that Kay had already done her equivalent of that earlier and he'd already accepted, but that didn't seem important in the grand scheme of joking around.

Regardless, after his landing, he turned and held out his arms teasingly. "Okay, now let's start! You jump, and I'll catch you!"

"Hey, that's not--!" Kay began in protest, but Johan had already leaped, leaving her perched on the roof with a pretty laughable expression, had anyone actually seen it. Wasn't it supposed to be the guy who proposed? At least, that's what she had been led to believe, but considering how they'd already turned the aspects of a normal date completely upside-down, the rules of the evening felt more like "anything goes."

"You just want me down on one knee," she grumbled, not loud enough to be heard but peering over the edge of the roof anyway. There were a few curious passersby who had been startled by the appearance of a boy from above, some of who were just starting to notice the girl still on the roof.

Except she wasn't on the roof anymore, because teasing or not, a challenge was a challenge, and Kay had risen to it magnificently and leaped off without a second's hesitation.

Johan never did hear what he was doing "wasn't", though whether it was because Kay didn't finish or because he was too far away to hear her by the time she did was something he would probably never find out. If he had to guess, though, Johan would have put his money down on that last word being "fair", or any other similar word to that one. He had just pulled a fast one, or a semi-fast one, on her after all.

Johan turned as he waited for her, which was only a moment or so knowing Kay, to wave at those walking around good naturedly, informing them that he was "waiting for my... Ah, my sweetheart!" with a chipper grin as ever.

However, just as he expected, Kay had followed soon after he'd landed, leaving him just enough time to get into position to catch her, still wearing that grin of his. Making sure to give the people around one final look, he turned back to her, trying not to laugh, and declared: "I've been waiting for you!"

Kay rewarded him with a look that silently stated that he was going to pay for that little stunt of his, but had to quickly alter it when she realized just how many people were staring at them. Okay, fine. She could do this. All she had to do was emulate the attitude of a lovestruck--

But then she remembered Lauren Paups losing the glorious ability to inner monologue, and Wendy Oldbag being... well, just plain scary. So much for that, time for improvisation.

With a straight face (much better than Johan's, for that matter), Kay wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed a hand into his hair to smooth it back into place. It was no wonder Byrne liked it so much, she couldn't help thinking as she did so, being that not only was it thick, it was soft.

"I'm so sorry to keep you waiting!" she proclaimed, staring into Johan's eyes with what she hoped was adoration or something close to it; it was getting progressively harder not to start laughing, so she conceded to grin as she added, "Was I worth it?"

Johan couldn't help but grin at her first look, which, if anything, probably helped their little show more than it hurt it, but truthfully, that grin was completely honest. It was just so... her. That thought struck something in him, though, to the point where he had to blink a few times to realize what it meant, at which point an even wider grin followed. It looked like he was starting to get his answer after all.

In the meantime, however, there was a show to perform, and Johan wasn't about to let himself lose out to Kay in terms of... well, anything she threw at him, ultimately. Maybe it was his duelist's spirit, or maybe it was just the effect Kay's own competetiveness had on him, either way, he wasn't going to be going down tonight. Making his face that much straighter at the sight of hers (which almost ruined it, sadly), he did his best to not laugh at "They're so cute!" that erupted from one of the onlookers so he could stay... in-character? He supposed that was one word for it.

"I could wait all night for you!" was Johan's declaration, and he batted his eyes once or twice for extra effect. In any case, he pulled Kay closer now that she had wrapped herself around him, giving her a look that he sincerely hoped mirrored hers without betraying any snickers, and continued, "Must you ask..." He trailed off, then finished with--

"Darling?"

Kay almost lost her composure at that, half-amused and half-horrified that the word "darling" had just left Johan's mouth. It made them sound so... old. Old and sappy, for that matter, and she could only be glad he hadn't tried to pull a 777 and call her "babe", but still--

Judging by the little sighs and awwws coming from the people (who should really have been more inconspicuous), at least they were fooling the populace, and Kay's eyes danced while her face remained earnest. If Johan thought he could keep this up, far be it from her to be the one to break the illusion.

"Ohhhh," she sighed, drawing it out as though his very words had touched her heart or-- something. Once she was satisfied that Johan's hair had been neatened, she lowered her hand and placed it on his cheek instead. "As I thought, the place I truly belong is in your arms..." And with a mental grimace, she added, "Dearest."

Johan had to fight back an outright laugh when Kay added her "Dearest" after declaring how she belonged in his arms, and though he managed to keep it together, he also noted that he would have to avenge his hair, whatever she did to it, as soon as they were alone again. In the meantime, though...

"I've known since the moment I met you!" Johan informed her, perhaps a bit too dramatically (though for those who had seen him duel, they would find it normal) but filled with emotion, of... some kind anyway, all the same. Luckily, he got at least one ooooh out of it, at which he mentally sighed. Was it really that convincing or was this town just really lacking in people like them? ... People like they were pretending to be, rather.

Deciding he'd better add in more, for good measure, Johan lowered his voice and leaned closer to Kay-- Giving her a wink so she could be prepared, just in case his next line was out of line. Not only was he running out of ideas, but he wanted to be more... current? with them as well - and there was hidden meaning in it as well. "I'll never let you go, my love. Consider me your unbreakable support."

This was steadily becoming more and more ridiculous and, if they hadn't made this into some odd competition, Kay would have burst out laughing from the onset. It was a miracle that neither of them had broken character yet, but she braced herself when he spoke again, half-expecting some kind of flowery nonsense after that wink he'd given her.

Johan's next words, however, caught her entirely off-guard, and Kay made a soft noise of surprise-- one unheard by the too-nosy townspeople, the majority not even bothering to pretend like they weren't listening in. She could never blame curiosity as a motivating factor, but this was just disturbing.

Kind of like how what he'd just said almost rang true. There'd been sincerity in part of it, and Kay gazed at him for a moment and tried to figure out a decent response without ending the... game. If he'd meant that part, then...

Her eyes softened and there was an entirely different smile on her face when she answered him, tipping her head up to lightly press her forehead to his-- because they still had to keep up appearances, after all. "Only if you let me remain in your heart, extending my wings to shelter you." She'd have to remember some of these for later Yatagarasu entrances. Then, in a lower voice, she continued, "I'll never let you be alone."

Johan had been enjoying the game, there was no doubt about that. Thus far, he'd been doing excellently in keeping up his mask of a caring, loving... boyfriend? lover? Well, he'd been doing well in keeping up the face of whatever he was supposed to be, for the most part anyway. He'd expected that it would be able to continue for a little longer too, at least until one of them lost - and, in losing, burst out laughing.

... But then Kay had gone and said that, at which point it felt like time froze for Johan. In fact, for a moment, Johan froze, his eyes widening in a wide array of emotions, emotions which he could barely process as he was going through them all. He'd said something truthful, he should have expected something truthful in return, but-- Juudai had said things like that to him before, right? And his family? So why...

He swallowed, momentarily forgetting everything about their little game, and even about Kay - he nearly dropped her until he caught sight of her eyes again, regaining himself when he realized he was still holding her.

At someone's "Look how touched he is!", Johan finally snapped back to reality, and with a few blinks he repositioned the girl in his arms, just in case he lost it like that again. It took him a few more moments, but he finally regained his composure enough to look at her, his eyes revealing nothing and his expression trying to go back to the way it had been before she'd spoken. Though it looked to the crowd like he had just been struck by Cupid's arrow, had someone been close enough to really look at him, they'd be able to tell what really happened.

Regardless, he was also a friend, and never one to ruin another friend's fun, so with a shaky breath, then a deeper one following it, he offered a hesitant smile to Kay, trying to find the proper words to reply with-- Eventually, he settled for a quiet "Thank you", deciding that, at the very least, they could try again later if he'd gone and spoiled it now.

She'd realized her mistake the minute his eyes widened, but there was little Kay could do except watch and try to determine all of the emotions flashing in his eyes at the moment. If she acted concerned, that would end this, but worry won out over pride and she opened her mouth to speak--

-- and then Johan's eyes cleared and met hers and he shifted her into a more secure position. How the crowd hadn't caught on to that little lapse was beyond her comprehension, but Kay had other things to take care of now, and there was a way to kill two birds with one stone.

Maybe he'd closed himself off, however temporarily, but she gave him an unreadable look of her own, one that turned to determination, and then the loving expression was back in full force.

"Take me away," she requested sweetly, fluttering her eyelashes in what was meant to be an appealing manner and (cringing inwardly the entire time) nuzzling his jawline. "Somewhere where it's just the two of us, so I can drown in the ocean of your eyes!"

Okay, that one she was never going to use again, but the meaning was clear: she'd noticed that what she said, however truthful, had affected Johan, and at the moment, it was better to beat a retreat gracefully and figure out what had just happened.

Away from everyone else.

Recognition appeared on Johan's face, but it was even more present in his eyes, where he wasn't still holding a mask, followed by a look that all but screamed the two words he'd told her just a moment ago. He couldn't exactly say that to her now, though, not if they were going to make an escape anyway.

He wasn't sure how well she could see the look though, with what she was doing to his jaw down there (to his surprise, he'd nearly blushed, but then, not even Juudai had ever done something like that to him, even if he was no stranger to physical contact) but hopefully the change in his demeanor would make it clear that he got her message. If not, at least his following actions would.

The first of which being him hoisting her into another position, one that would make it easier to dash off into the night carrying her.

"Come, my raven!" Johan declared into the night, taking a few steps forward. To his amazement, the crowd practically parted instantly, as if they were the Red Sea and he was Moses. "I'll take you to a nest where you and I can be alone for as long as you wish to drown in my eyes, so long as I can do the same to you!"

And, extremely glad he was never going to have to talk like that again, at least not in this town, Johan ran and then he ran some more, torn between dropping all pretenses of smiles and just bursting out into laughter at the sheer insanity of what had just transpired.

Bonus points for him using raven and not crow, she thought absentmindedly, remembering how annoyed she'd been at Lang's nickname for her. It was no offense to Crow or Murkrow, but the symbol had always been a raven and there was a definite difference.

Kay only thought about it for a few seconds, too busy holding on to Johan's neck as he took off to dwell on it for any longer than that. She remained silent until she'd deemed it far and safe enough to drop the act and shift herself enough to look at him steadily. The thought occurred to laugh it off, or to change the subject entirely-- two tactics Kay had often employed when a topic was too serious for her. But she didn't do either of those things.

"If you don't want to talk about it, I won't go for the truth this time."

Johan was silent as he ran, the only sounds he made were breaths. His main focus, for now, was keeping a firm grip around Kay while he carried her away from their mob of fans. His thoughts, for the most part, were centered on that; keeping her steady, keeping her close, keeping them away from anyone and everyone who would get in their way. It was rather unlike him, but then, he'd been finding all kinds of things out about himself since he'd arrived in this world. Maybe he was just still upset.

He didn't answer Kay immediately, in fact, he didn't even look at her or so much as move to look like he'd heard her. He wasn't ignoring her, or even thinking about how to respond to her. He knew how he was going to respond her already, he was just... waiting. Waiting until they were in the right spot to do it. Waiting until he was sure he was ready.

After a few more moments, he spoke quietly.

"Just a little bit more. Then we can talk."

Kay hadn't been carried since she was a little girl, and the last time she'd been carried like this, it had been when Byrne had allowed her to stay up late (ten o'clock had been late for a ten-year-old) to finish watching a movie and he'd carried her to bed. That had been before everything had changed. She was older now, and for as many piggyback rides as she'd claimed from Johan (and Juudai), she was fine carrying her own height. Most days, she preferred it. But this... she didn't mind it. For that matter, she might have said she enjoyed it, being toted around so carefully, but that was something else to think about later.

There were a lot of things to think about later, and all because she'd gone and asked for a first date volunteer.

She sighed, not due to any sense of irritation or annoyance, but just as an acknowledgment. She'd let Johan have his say, whenever he chose to... well, say it.

He was almost there. He could feel it. They were past the outskirts of the town now, and he knew his directional abilities, at best, were rather... awful, but even so, something in Johan's gut told him soon he would be in the right spot. Soon he would have to stop. He gave Kay a glance as she sighed, nodding at her as she did, before looking back up and picking up the pace--

They were on the very edge of town now, only a couple of buildings still in sight, and the view of the sky was still as pristine as ever, if not moreso. This, Johan decided, would be the spot. With that in mind, he began slowling down, until before he knew it, he was gingerly letting Kay down back onto the ground.

"I..." Johan didn't feel awkward often. Was it because he had never been close enough to someone to? Was it because he had always had his Gem Beasts there, stopping him from even being able to in the first place...? Was it... their fault...? At that thought, he darkened for a moment, but it was gone as soon as it came, and in this light, it was possible it had been missed completely.

"Do you want to sit down?" he asked after a few more moments. She said she had been getting cold, and here he'd run through the whole town. ... Oddly enough, though, she'd felt very warm in his arms. Maybe because there wasn't a breeze there.

In this dress? was Kay's first thought, and a suspiciously prim and girly one at that, but she was already envisioning the inn owner's horror when she returned the dress with smudges. And roof bits. And dirt.

She was never going to take her regular outfit for granted ever again. Or wear something like this on another date. ... With 777, she reminded herself. That was the next one.

"I'm fine," she assured Johan, crossing her arms over her chest and nodding for emphasis. Sure, maybe the temperature had dropped a bit, but this felt like a California night so far. It wasn't anything she couldn't handle. Not that she even knew he was concerned about that, since sitting down was synonymous to her legs being tired to her, and Kay's energy level scarcely allowed that to happen. "Go on."

"It's... I'm sorry, I'm still trying to gather my thoughts, truthfully." Johan wasn't sure where to begin. Quite frankly, he wasn't entirely sure what had happened to begin with. One moment they'd been having fun, leading every nosy gossip in the town on for seemingly no reason whatsoever, other than to have a good time anyway, and then--

"Only if you let me remain in your heart, extending my wings to shelter you."

"I'll never let you be alone."

Why had that bothered him so much? Why had that had the... the effect it had had on him? Was it because he didn't think she could keep her word, like his family hadn't? Or... was it because he thought she would?

... He had so many questions, and not nearly as many answers. It was so-- So frustrating! He did have one answer though. He knew Kay, so he knew as long as she had the power to, she would be keeping her word. Just remembering those words though, they gave him a... clenching feeling somewhere. In his throat? His stomach? He couldn't tell.

It wasn't like he and Juudai had never said things like that. Sure, Juudai had never been in his arms, but Johan knew that had nothing to do with it. Johan suspected, if anything, it was because unlike Juudai... Kay wasn't from his home. Those ties, everything about it, those things he wanted to see if he was able to exist without-- She knew him, and then she really knew him, all without them. Maybe it, because of that... Felt more sincere? Or it was able to hit deeper, without eight monsters getting the brunt of it before it could reach him...?

... Still so many questions.

The more he thought about it, though, the weaker his resolve became, to the point where he felt like sitting down. Instead, he gave her a weak look, a defeated look, and finally managed to ask her something. "What you said... Did you mean that?"

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