route_1065 | MAKE UP YOUR OWN CATCHY LYRICS

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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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"Good job," she commented, almost sleepily, but her eyes were wide open and fixed on the stars overhead. It really was a beautiful sight, one that made her regret all those nights wasted just curling in her sleeping bag and passing out immediately. Right now, she felt more aware... oddly enough. Or more like acutely aware of Johan's presence; Kay could feel every breath he took, every time he shifted, and it was... new. Way different than him curled up sleeping a few feet away, or just sitting beside her on the roof.

"So I'll give you a reward for Good Spot Finding." Kay wasn't exactly paying attention to her mouth, though she really should have. She was just so used to saying whatever came to mind, always merrily, with no regrets whatsoever. "Whatever you want." Except her Pokémon and Little Thief, even if she trusted him to watch them. But she didn't think Johan would ask for that, anyway.

A reward? Johan rolled his head slightly to the side lazily, unaware what was going through Kay's mind just then - if anything was going through it at all. And anything he wanted at that? ... Did he really want anything? With her like this already, nothing really came to mind that he wanted from her. ... Not that getting her in his arms and on his lap would have been high on his list before he'd gotten her there, but it might have moved up some now. ... Strictly for teasing purposes, of course. ... Not that he was doing that now, but he might next time. Maybe.

... Still, he couldn't exactly let this chance slip him by, could he? Even if, as far as he knew, he didn't want anything from her, he could still do something with it, right? Surely, in all his experience and wisdom, there was something he could think of.

"Whatever I want?" Johan repeated quietly, testing the words. Most boys, with that kind of option, surely would go for something perverted or dangerous, even if they didn't expect it to happen. Johan, on the other hand, well, those kinds of thoughts, in all his wandering mind, didn't even come up. Instead, he smiled a lazy smile up at a star that had begun to twinkle at him - at the two of them, maybe? - and shook his head a little. "I've got everything I want from you right now, I think."

... He'd meant to word that better, really he had, but once again, there was nothing to be done about it now.

Kay blinked at that, pondering that wording carefully. Right now? But right now, all she was doing was... well, nothing. Johan had been doing the carrying, and the holding, and all she'd been doing was... enjoying it? That shouldn't have surprised her, considering how affectionate she was by nature, but she hadn't done this sort of thing with anyone close to her own age. Especially a friend as good as Johan was.

"I'm not doing anything right now," she said after a moment, clearly not sure what he'd meant, but still a little too drowsy to go into type of histrionics or gesturing. "I didn't even pull off any good speeches..."

Johan was well aware of those facts. In fact, he knew full well that there was probably something he could probably come up with. If he tried, that is, but he didn't particularly feel like trying. He was perfectly content as he was now, truth be told, and the prospect of having her do something for him, while normally extremely appealing (well, to most, it might be more intruiging to Johan), at the moment, it felt like it would ruin the mood.

... The mood? What did that even-- What did that even mean?

Blinking that thought aware, Johan just shook his head, finally settling on a thought that he deemed an appropriate response. After everything they'd talked about, even without the odd things he'd been feeling, it still would have rung as true. "You're here, aren't you?"

"... Yeah." The thief was quiet, having accepted this answer without feeling the need to question it. She'd felt Johan's sincerity in those four words without even having to search for it, but she rarely had to with the duelist in question. Still, she felt like she needed to add something to that, although she waited until she'd readjusted herself and drew her legs in closer. At this rate, she really would fall asleep out here, which kind of put a damper on the "stealing the night" thing. But there were other nights for that. She'd do her best to stay awake, though.

Kay tipped her head up slightly, only enough to look Johan in the eye. "So are you." And just saying that and it being true seemed to bring her a very content smile.

He didn't respond to her at first, though at the same time, he wasn't sure if he needed to respond at all. He'd said what he wanted to, he'd meant it, and as he looked at Kay smiling up at him, meaning what she said, he decided that he was right in his earlier decision. He didn't need anything from her, not right now anyway. That was kind of a nice feeling, especially after all the worry he'd been putting into this lately.

He eventually settled for not responding at all, not with words at least, instead choosing to give her a simple, content smile of his own.

It was coming to a close, wasn't it? Kay didn't think she could get "too wound up", as Mr. Edgeworth had called her, not after this, but she was loath to just say that was that and end it. No decent protagonist in any good television series would have done it, and Kay wasn't about to do it either, not without leaving her own decisive mark on the thing.

And hey, this happened in the movies, only this wasn't a movie, and Kay was neither a swooning love interest or a... well, she wasn't like the majority of movie heroines anyway. However, there was a tiny spark of mischief in her eyes, and she was close enough that it didn't take much effort to lean closer and--

... plant a kiss on Johan's cheek.

Almost immediately, she dropped her head back down, not at all flushed or embarrassed-looking, but rather pleased that she'd done at least one part of the date right... in her own special way. But she wasn't finished, if that playful smile of hers was any indication.

"Well, I had to steal at least one thing before the night ended, or I wouldn't be much of a thief."

Johan had also begun to feel that things were starting to wind down, no matter how much both of them didn't want it to, and he'd begun to ponder something he could do to prevent that, or make it last longer (there he went again with vague terms like "it" and "things" and whatnot), but nothing was immediately coming to mind.

He supposed that it didn't matter. It wasn't over yet, he still had plenty of time to think of something, and in the meantime, he and Kay could just sit back and--

... Did she just--

Johan blinked. Her eyes had been twinkling up at him, almost mischievously, one second, and the next she'd suddenly leaned over and kissed him.

Johan blinked again.

... He didn't even know Kay knew how to kiss people. Not that he exactly had much experience in the area, but it was still a bit of a surprise.

At least, as Kay dropped her head back to his shoulder, it did finally give him an idea, and one that made him grin playfully at that. No, this wasn't over yet, not quite; at least, not if Johan had anything to say abou it. And as it happened, he did.

"Who says I didn't just let you steal it?"

She knew that grin as acutely as she would have known her own. This was Johan at his most playful, which usually meant she had to tread cautiously-- were she not Kay Faraday, and she definitely was. So Kay didn't so much as falter, instead gazing at him inquisitively. Until he spoke.

"Hey!" she said indignantly, pressing a finger into his chest for emphasis. "You couldn't have expected that, so don't give me that! I totally stole that!" It was her victory! There was no way he could take that away from her, as far as she was concerned.

Johan was expecting a response like that, even if there had been more than a little truth to it. But he'd gotten started now, there was no way he could stop now, right? He was a duelist, he couldn't just surrender a victory like this, not could he? Even if he'd done so only a little earlier, this situation was completely different, and if he played his cards correctly, he'd definitely be the winner-- Or at least, that was what his gut told him.

"Not only was I expecting it, I was waiting-- No, I wanted you to do it. In fact, I knew you would...!" Nodding to himself, Johan even gave his chest a little puff, as if to prove his point. Surely, if she understood that she had fallen right into his hands (which she hadn't, but he'd hopefully been convincing enough) then this would be his victory, without any doubt in either of their minds.

That was a lie, she was sure of it. The possibility of Johan wanting something like a kiss was almost laughable, and the look on his face hadn't said "Yeah, I saw that coming." In fact, it was the polar opposite of that! He was just trying to make up for his earlier loss, no doubt-- though truth be told, Kay had pretty much forgotten about it until now. It wasn't like he'd provoked her into doing this.

With a huffy sigh, Kay folded her arms over her chest and chose not to reply. Not because he'd won, no. In fact, one look at her face just showed that she knew she'd been right and he was wrong, and she was just too dignified and mature to respond to such a ridiculous claim. She wasn't the sore loser here!

Outside of duels, and Pokemon battl's, the times when Johan got like this were normally rare, though they had been happening a little more often lately. Even so, there was one fatal flaw, one Achilles' Heel in the whole thing that could still make it fall apart as easily as it had been thrown together. It was because of this deadly weakness that Johan found his grin fading slightly. What was this weakness, you ask?

That he happened to be Johan Andersen.

Normally, he might be more eager to keep the game going, even as he had been earlier that very night, but after the night, and everything that had happened, his defenses had been... weakened, somehow. If the fading grin and deflated look in his eyes was any hint, and this time, it was no act.

But would could he say after that? That he changed his mind, that she was right? That would just make him look silly, even if it was likely she already knew that. No, he had to think of something... But what?

In the meantime, Kay was keeping up her dignified and mature stance... never mind that it looked more sullen and sulky than anything else at the moment. As much as she thrilled in a challenge and the prospect of something new and exciting (though dates had never struck her as either one of those), she hadn't even considered this a challenge until Johan had spoken up.

She'd done it to pay homage to how dates were supposed to go, she'd supposed. But was that really it? Had she challenged him subconsciously? Had it been just to surprise him? Or had Kay just once again given into a whim that she hadn't really understood?

Her expression remained in place, though her eyes had since clouded with confusion, so that she failed to notice that Johan's competitive spirit had flagged considerably. Just when had this all gotten so complicated?

As Johan watched Kay, pondering what he would do to right the situation which he had seemed to have wronged, something occurred to him that he'd completely glossed over when he had been attempting to "win" against Kay. Just... what had he been trying to win? His second response had been poor, at best (though had he really been expecting it and really had a countermeasure, then it would have been a completely different story) as well as just untrue, so what was it?

It hadn't really been a challenge from her, had it been? No, that didn't make sense. There was nothing about her demeanor that had suggested that... So what was Johan trying to goad her into? For the life of him, Johan couldn't figure it out.

... And more importantly, now that she was looking so confused, he really needed to focus on what he was going to do to fix things, not wonder why he had really gone and botched them up in the first place. Deciding to take it slow and steady, he hesitantly nudged Kay with his arm, just a little. "Kay?"

It took a minute for Kay to respond, having been far too deeply entrenched in her own thoughts and not getting anywhere. However, she gave her head a brisk shake, almost like a dog dislodging water and looked back up at Johan. She looked a little blank at first, as if she wasn't sure exactly what response to give him, and then decided on... wary. She wasn't going to let him catch her by surprise this time.

"... What?"

... The look she gave him didn't help Johan's growing weakness (his Johan-ness?) any, that was for sure. Deflating even further, but not to be put down just yet, he offered a weak, sheepish smile. He hoped she didn't think he was trying to catch her off guard with something now, he couldn't even think of anything at this point to do that with, if his failure to egg her on was any indication. Instead, he just gave her that pitiful look for a moment.

"Listen, how about we start over?" he offered. A moment later, he realized what he'd just implied, and quickly shook his head. He didn't want to do that. "I mean, from a few minutes ago. Pretend that didn't happen. And I won't challenge anything you do after, if you want to do anything at all. Does... That sound fair?"

Kay's expression changed from wary to almost hurt, though she caught it just as quickly as it took for Johan to clarify his meaning; hopefully he would have missed it entirely. She didn't want to think about reversing the events of the whole date, not after... well, everything. There had been too much that rang of importance... she didn't want to lose a bit of it. But since that hadn't been what he'd meant, that gave her some time to think over his proposition.

And it didn't take much time at all for her to slowly nod. She doubted she'd be doing anything like that again, even if he wasn't going to challenge it (and she still didn't know why he would have), but Kay didn't want this to end on a sour note. Gradually, her frown faded. "... Yeah, it sounds fair."

Johan nearly missed Kay's expression, that hurt face staring back at him for a brief instance, but he stopped shaking his head just as Kay caught herself. He'd only caught a glimpse of it, but it was enough for Johan. He didn't say anything, but he knew what he'd unintentionally proposed, no, just the thought of what he had unintentionally proposed hurt her like that. And as he thought about it a little more, he agreed with the sentiment. Way too much had happened to simply erase and start over.

As Kay agreed with him, Johan's smile, still pitiful at the best description, still didn't grow. He'd... made things awkward somehow, hadn't he? First with his "challenge", then this. He definitely had to make it right somehow, and though he still hadn't spoken, one look in his eyes would tell anyone that something was going on in his head. He still hadn't forgotten that look of hers either.

The silence was different, she thought absentmindedly. It was the kind of awkward, uncomfortable silence she hated, the kind she usually tried to end as quickly as possible with some over-the-top statement-- but something cautioned her not to do that this time.

She did notice the look in Johan's eyes, as well as the fact that he didn't look any more reassured or cheerful. That was a warning sign right there, and she balanced herself carefully to move a little closer in order to decipher his expression better. "... What is it? You still look like someone stole your cards."

"-- Stole my cards?" Johan blinked a few times, the most confused, stupefied look he could possibly muster on his face for a few moments, temporarily replacing the one that had been there. Laughable as it was, it wasn't there long, for the one that had been there just before soon replaced it again.

He shook his head, realizing Kay meant it as an example, and smiled awkwardly.

"Did I mess this up somehow?" he asked quietly. He hadn't come up with anything to save the day, so all he could do, he supposed, was ask for the simple truth and go from there. It worked for some people, himself included, right?

"No!" It came out slightly more vehemently than Kay intended, and she winced and quickly shook her head. She really wanted to tell him that it was because of him that things had actually gone this well, and that she'd been comfortable (if just a little odd-feeling) with this whole thing because he'd been there. She'd had fun with him, and there weren't too many people who'd willingly go along at her pace without having to pause at least once to catch their breaths. But Johan had been there the whole time, always smiling and encouraging and there, and to hear him potentially blaming himself was something she couldn't allow to continue.

"You didn't," she added belatedly, as unnecessary as it was to say that after her initial outburst. She'd turned in his arms to grasp his shoulders, green eyes locked onto green eyes. "You didn't do anything wrong, okay? If anything, I was the one who messed up." If she hadn't kissed him, it wouldn't have led to this, but even then, Kay couldn't say truthfully that she regretted having done it. She paused, somewhat lost without her muffler to grasp or her gloves to tug at, then flexed her fingers on Johan's shoulders and continued. "I'm sorry. I might've been a little too..."

... What? She didn't even know what word she was aiming for. Affectionate? Stubborn? For someone who had blithely insisted that a prosecutor needed to get more wound up, Kay was dealing with an unusual dilemma now, unsure if she really had gone too far at some point.

Maybe she'd had it easier before she'd started meeting boys close to her age. She could grin and tease the adults just fine and drag them around on joyous chases, but she couldn't understand boys at all.

Johan's eyes widened at the sudden eruption from Kay, which soon passed instead of continuing onwards. Still, it had nearly made him jump, and his heart had skipped a beat, hearing her cry out like that. She'd stopped, for now, but to Johan, that one cry of denial had already spoken a lot, enough to soften his expression for the moment and wait for her to continue. She looked... not fired up now, but she definitely had a lot of emotion in her eyes now, that was for sure.

He blinked, only once, as she turned towards him to look into his eyes, because after that, he found he couldn't blink or look away while she was talking. He felt her fingers flex, like she was trying to hold on to something, but her grip was already more than enough to keep her held on. So what...

Her muffler? He'd known Kay long enough to know that that was a source of comfort for her at times like this, and here she was, almost naked in a way, having to use him instead.

That thought struck something in him, in that place that, while having been rarely (if ever) struck before, kept getting struck tonight. Pushing that thought away, he unknowingly began to have a similar set of thoughts to those that Kay had just had.

She had messed up? She had messed up? After everthing she'd done for him? After all the things that had happened? She hadn't messed up, and he wasn't going to let her think that even for a second. Not even the kiss had been messing up. While it might have been the spark that lit the fuse to the bomb known as awkward, as far as Johan was concerned, it still hadn't messed anything up. In fact, it had been kind of--

In any case, it was Johan's turn to say something now, and he started by shaking his head.

"Neither did you. You've been just the opposite all night, so don't apologize," he began, offering a pensive smile down at her. "It was... Well, the point is, you weren't too anything. You're Kay, remember? That's all that counts for me, so don't change that. Too something or not enough something, it's, uh... Well, it doesn't matter!" With that, he gave a very firm nod, finally a sense of normalcy coming to his words, completely missing the increasing volume of them. "We're partners...! We can't mess that up, even if it gets weird a little, but we can get past it-- No, we can work with it! So let's leave it at that and enjoy the rest of the night! Does that sound good?"

... Typical Johan, and the thought came several times as Kay listened-- and tried not to look too startled when he decided to amp the volume of his words. She didn't blame him for it, since the content sounded like some speech the Jammin' Ninja would have given with some orchestral music swelling in the background... or maybe electric guitar, that would have been more fitting, and maybe there had been an episode like this. And yet, as big a fan as Kay was of the show, Johan's words had a greater effect than any of the lines she'd heard delivered a thousand times (and that probably wasn't an exaggeration). That was saying something.

Besides, he had a point, and it was Kay's turn to look pensive as she mulled it over. They were partners. They'd been partners from the beginning, even if it had just been as fellow travelers and trainers. And now they shared the same relationship that her father, Uncle Badd, and... Calisto Yew had shared, only she was sure Byrne had never gone on a date with either of his partners. She hoped. Whatever had happened, whatever would happen, whatever this was, there was enough mutual trust and determination to get them through it. Or work with it, as Johan had said. And Kay believed it.

"No," she said at last, with a crooked smile to show that she wasn't flatly vetoing the idea. Far from it, actually, and a split second later, her smile softened into a genuinely warm one. "It sounds great."

He raised an eyebrow at Kay's cheerful denial of his new proposal. He could tell she wasn't just tossing it out the window, and not a moment later, he was smiling broadly at her as she clarified why she had said what she had. It wasn't a lot, certainly not as much as what he had said, but it had a large enough effect on him regardless.

Large enough, in fact, for him to suddenly, but still gently, set her lower half down on the bench so he could use that arm to now pull her closer into a hug. An odd hug, mind you, seeing as she was still mostly in his lap, but it was a hug all the same and one he found himself really wanting all of a sudden. Besides, she'd practically been giving him one herself most of the night, being wrapped around him and all while he was carrying her, it was only fair he got a turn to return the favor.

And there was no better time than now.

She wasn't sure what she'd expected, but it certainly hadn't been this new positioning, in which she had absolutely no time to adjust herself before Johan had roped her into a hug. Kay didn't mind it at all, despite the first rush of surprise, and grinned affectionately, returning the embrace as best as she could in this position. It wasn't easy, but she managed. She'd never seen hugging anybody as a chore, least of all Johan, who actually hugged back within a second's notice.

"It's okay," she told him, her voice a cheery singsong. "Nothing burned down, no Centers were destroyed, there weren't any jealous vengeful ex-whatevers, or bad guys showing up, and we didn't get food poisoning! All in all, I think we've done pretty well on this thing!"

MAKE UP YOUR OWN CATCHY LYRICS

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