Day Four: Date

Day Four: Thursday.

Fourth Challenge: On a date. 

He couldn't keep his eyes off her. A woolen coat with a shirt underneath, black leggings, and knee-high boots was what she wore, with her hair tied in a single braid down her back. Matt remained quiet, thoughtful, and his hand touched hers. Arianne quickly looked up, pink staining her cheeks, and he merely chuckled, gently rubbing her hand and caressing her fingers slowly. She smiled and looked back at her menu, not minding him playing with her hand and definitely not minding the butterflies in her stomach despite the number of times he had touched, kissed, and done so much to her.

"Have you ordered something?" she asked, pausing and looking up at him with a playful smirk. Matt merely shrugged, not seeming to let go of her hand. He gave her a light smile when she frowned at him. "And you say I need to eat. Clearly, you need some food as well." she shook her head and read the menu once more, and then called a waiter when ready.

When the waiter went off, he let go of her hand and instead brushed a lock of hair away from her face. Once more, she blushed (with Matt chuckling at the look on her face) and wrinkled her nose, giving Matt exasperated yet gleeful half-smirks. "Hush. Just eat when your food comes..." a wistful look came to his face. "And don't have dessert. I want to take you elsewhere."

She blinked, mostly in surprise, but complied. 

Dinner went along nicely – Matt urged her to eat and she did, partly because of her hunger and partly because she wanted him to be happy. So she ate while watching him eat as well, and kept a smile on her face the whole time. Meanwhile, he admired her. He liked how her fingers grasped the fork, the cute little faces she made while eating – it was obvious she was hungry and appreciated the food.

Matt knew that Ari wasn’t quite the eater, but couldn’t understand why. For someone her height, she was slim and delicate – fragile, even. Even with his encouragements and easy words, she couldn’t seem to eat more than two pizzas. There was a time when he considered the fact that she was merely a small eater, but after witnessing her thoughts about how she looked…he thought she was doing the minimal eating for another reason.

Hence his taking her to one of his favorite restaurants in Tokyo.

Never mind the probability of burning a hole through his wallet.

It was for her, and that was all that mattered.

After dinner (which she insisted on paying for again, and he refusing again) he brought her to a little ice cream parlor down the road, and she tried backing away. Matt merely gave her a look and brought her in, which proved to be a challenge accepted and accomplished – his girlfriend was already at the counter, almost drooling over the different flavors of ice cream presented in the pastel-designed, chilly little shop.

“Chocolate, kitten?”

“And strawberry.” She looked at him with pleading eyes.

Matt was only too happy to order (a chocolate + strawberry for her, and a cookie dough + mint for him) and pay, and they ended up sitting by the window in the booth. They were the only people there, and he silently watched as she stared out the window, eating at the same time.

He wiped the corner of her mouth with a tissue.

She blushed yet again.

“I could do that on my own,” she argued. He grinned.

“Of course you can.” Matt could only reply, spooning some ice cream into his mouth. She huffed and ate more, soon finishing her own cup ahead of him. When he was done, he was surprised to see another cup before her, this time with the flavors chocolate chip and mango. “You could have asked me to buy it for you,” he scolded lightly.

She poked his nose.

“At least give me the satisfaction of paying for my own meal.” A smile played on her pink lips. “I let you pay for ninety-nine percent of the date. I have some cash to spare, too.”

The man couldn’t help but smile back.

“Of course.” He pressed his lips against hers, not minding if anyone saw. The chocolate chip and mango flavor stained her lips, and he hungered for more. “But only for this night.” He murmured, before fully kissing the woman he loved.