First Date

In this Our World story, Calias and Stripes go on a date.

This is a transcript from Discord.

## Story

```
In the same day as the previous tale, around 1 PM, we find Calias the Phoenix at the Dash household heroically… brushing his teeth?

Calias:
*Calias hears someone walking down the hall, but still has a toothbrush in his mouth.* “Hannah? Ish tat you?”

Hannah:
*Hannah pauses in the doorway, staring silently for a second.*
“Why are you…?”

Calias:
“Why am I what?”

Hannah:
“Brushing your teeth in the middle of the afternoon??”

Calias:
“Oh! Right! I forgot to tell you! I have a date tonight!”
*Calias spits into the sink.*

Hannah:
“‘Forgot’ to tell me… right…”

Calias:
“You remember Stripes the Star from Bootstrap Butte, right?”

Hannah:
“Of course.”

Calias:
“Me and her are going to Twinkle Park in Station Square here in a bit.”

Hannah:
“Hm.”

Calias:
“Somethin’ wrong? You don’t look too happy.”

Hannah:
(Stripes… this explains a lot…)
*Hannah glares.*
“Did you really forget already?”

Calias:
“Forget about what? It’s not your birthday. I know that because it’s not my birthday either.”

Hannah:
“What you said!”

Calias:
“About what?!?”

Hannah:
*Hannah does air quotes.* “‘I’ve been too busy.’ Too busy? To even chat for a bit? About something *important*?! That is quite *obviously* a lie!”

Calias:
“Is this about that whole Jack/Eggman thing? I thought you’d be over that by now.”

Hannah:
“The fact that you never told me about it! Claiming you were ‘too busy’ to ever tell me!”

Calias:
“I have been! I only read that page of Grizz’s [journal] the morning before we went to Bootstrap Butte. Then after that, it just didn’t seem like that big of a deal!”

Hannah:
“We went to that man’s wedding!”

Calias:
“And we had the Illumina incident! Not to mention all the cleanup! And… I couldn’t stress you out any more than you already were…”

Hannah:
“...”
“I… see… Then just tell me that. Don’t lie about it.”

Calias:
“...I’m sorry I didn’t tell you… Dad and Flame were both worried about how stressed you were getting, so I purposely kept it from you…”

Hannah:
(Huh, even Flame was worried?)
*Hannah slowly nods.*
“And… I’m sorry for snapping like that… It really isn’t that big of a deal…”

Calias:
“It’s all cool. Now… about my date with Stripes… That I *actually* forgot to tell you about.”

Hannah:
*Hannah smiles.*
“Right. Have fun, Cal.”
*Hannah hugs him.*

Calias:
*Calias returns the hug.* “Thanks sis. I need to finish getting ready. Can you get the comb out of my forehead?”

Hannah:
*Hannah does so.*

Calias:
“Thanks!” *Calias proceeds to try and comb out his feathers.*

Hannah:
“I’m gonna go take a nap…”

Calias:
“Okay! Have fun doing nothing! I’ll bring you home a souvenir!”

Hannah:
*Hannah smiles.* “Thanks.”

Calias:
*Calias watches as Hannah leaves the room.* (...She can’t be in the dark forever…)

Almost 2 hours later… Calias stands waiting at the entrance to Twinkle Park. He is 15 minutes early.

Calias:
*Calias is pacing.* “Where is she? Do I smell okay? Are there stains on my beak? Did I remember to wash behind my nonexistent ears?!?”

Calias sits on a nearby bench next to a large cat.

Calias:
*Calias sighs dramatically.* “Why can’t I calm down!?”

Big the Cat:
“When I feel overwhelmed I take a deep breath.”

Calias:
“Hmm…” *Calias tries taking a deep breath, but chokes on air and coughs.* “GAK! …Thanks, dude.”

Big:
“You’re welcome.”

Calias:
“I’m just gonna rest my eyes for a minute. It’s been a long day already.” *Calias shuts his eyes.*

Calias is woken up by the sound of a car horn.

Calias:
“Whuhuh?!” *Calias shakes himself awake.* “Oh!” *He sees the car.*

Stripes:
“Kept you waiting, huh?”

Calias:
“Not at all! This is one of my favorite nap spots.”

Stripes:
*Stripes exits her car.* “So you know this area, then?”

Calias:
“Yeah. I guess so. I’ve been here like… twice.” *Calias chuckles awkwardly.*

Stripes:
“You know me, I do a lot of travelling around and whatever. But this is always a great place to come back to.”

Calias:
“It is pretty nice. And everything looks so new. I guess that’s because they had to replace all of it after the flood, right?”

Stripes:
“Oh, it was more than a flood. You shoulda seen it. Thunder, rain and lightning! Danger, water rising! It was *cuh-razy*.”

Calias:
“Did you live here back then?”

Stripes:
“Most of my life, actually. Though, I hadn’t been living in the city long when it happened.”

Calias:
“Wow. Y’know, sometimes I wish I could go back in time and witness all those events…”

Stripes:
“Oh yeah, ‘cause you’ve never witnessed anything wild, right?”

Calias:
“Have you ever seen a giant metal beast made out of smaller robots piloted by a cyborg bird fly at supersonic speeds on a collision course with your hometown?”

Stripes:
*Stripes blinks.* “Can’t say that I have.”

Calias:
“Hang with me and you’ll see all the crazy stuff that’s bound to happen sometime.”

Stripes:
“Yeah, well we just gonna stand here yakking or are we gonna have some fun?”

Calias:
“Yeah, let’s go.”

The two enter the park. The ticket bouncer lets them in free in light of the “Cute Couples Get in Free” deal.

Stripes:
“So, what first? You want to get sick on some rides or get beaten on the racetrack?”

Calias:
“That depends. Do you want to be embarrassed by a rookie racer who just so happens to be the living definition of speed?”

Stripes:
“Oh, please. Now why would I feel bad for being the best?”

Calias:
“Ouch! You wanna try keeping up with me? I’ll put you in your place.”

Stripes:
“Ohohoho! Twinkle Circuit it is!”

Calias:
“Prepare to eat my dust.”

Stripes:
“Ha! The only thing I’ll be tasting is sweet victory.”

Calias:
“Only if you can win.”

The ego-ridden duo goes kart racing on Twinkle Circuit. Calias loses horribly.

Calias:
“Heh… Must be an off day for me.”

Stripes:
*Stripes is holding a giant plushie she got for beating the circuit’s high score.* “I tried to warn ya.”

Calias:
“You’re good. Like scary good. Not that I really doubted it.”

Stripes:
“I’ll admit, I was in rare form. That was my own high score I beat.”

Calias:
“Dang. One day, I’ll beat you in a race. Just you watch!”

Stripes:
“Sure. I’ll believe when I see it.”

Calias:
“Wanna hit the roller coaster?”

Stripes:
“Better idea. We load up on snacks first. First one to throw up loses.”

Calias:
“You’re on! I’ll have you know, I can gorge like nobody’s business and still keep it down while going 450.”

Stripes:
“Well then. I think it’s time you put your stomach where your mouth is!”

Calias:
“Wanna bet on it?”

Stripes:
“What are the stakes?”

Calias:
“If I win, we have to hold hands the rest of the night.” *Calias smirks, trying to hide his own embarrassment.*

Stripes:
*Without hesitation, Stripes takes him by the hand.* “You really don’t know how to gamble, do you?”

Calias:
*Calias is really confused, but rolls with it.* “Um, not really? You… um… want to go get those snacks now?”

Stripes:
*Stripes starts pulling Calias toward the snack bar.* “Chili dogs are on me!”

Calias:
“Nice! Betcha can’t handle the ghost pepper chili!”

Stripes:
“You need to stop making bets you can’t back up!”

Calias:
“Prove me wrong. I dare you.”

A few moments later…

Calias:
*Calias is almost literally on fire, but is trying very hard to keep his cool.* “Th-this is sooome chi-chili dog!”

Stripes:
*Stripes is sweating, but otherwise appears fine.* “Mmmmm… Just like” *hic* “back home.”

Calias:
*Calias stares into Stripes’s eyes, trying to see if she’ll break first.* “How often do you eat spicy food?”

Stripes:
“I used to eat stuff like this all the time when I was little.”

Calias:
*Calias is struggling to restrain himself from dunking his head in the nearby fountain.* “That’s… impressive.”

Stripes:
“Shouldn’t a ‘phoenix’ be able to take a little heat?”

Calias:
“You ain’t seen…” *Calias coughs.* “Nothin’ yet!”

Citizen:
*A park employee comes around the corner with a platter full of flaming hamburgers.* “On the house, for our all-time record holder. They’re our hottest dish, so hot, they’re not even on the menu! Enjoy!”

Stripes:
*Stripes looks at the burgers then Calias.*

Calias:
*Calias stares at the burgers in shock, then looks at Stripes.* “...At the same time?”

Stripes:
“You’re on.”

Calias:
*Calias carefully picks up one of the burgers, his comically large eyes already watering from their intense aura.*

Stripes:
*Stripes snags a burger off the plate, looking smug as ever.*

Calias:
*Calias gives a devilish smirk as his feathers stand on end.* “Ready?”

Stripes:
“Born ready.”

Calias:
“3… 2… 1… Go!”

Stripes:
*Stripes takes a daringly large bite out of the burger.*
*She grips the arm of her chair, but chews slowly and steadily.*

Calias:
*Calias smashes down his burger and shoves half of it in his mouth, as he bites down, a teal light begins emanating from his head feathers. His teeth are clenched so tight they could shatter.*

Stripes:
*Stripes’s eyes go wide and she swallows.* “You…” *Stripes pants.* “okay?!”

Calias:
“Is… my head on fire?”

Stripes:
“Hang on.” *Stripes rubs her eyes with the back of her hands and checks again.* “Yup.”

Calias:
“I… think that might be a normal reaction by my standards.” *Calias nervously chuckles.*

Stripes:
“You are something else, Neon…”

Calias:
“Well if I wasn’t, I’d be boring!”

Stripes:
“I can’t argue with that. But now I’m wondering if it’s safe to take you on the roller coaster!”

Calias:
“It’ll go away.” *The teal light fades.* “See? Now let’s get moving! The park closes soon!”

Stripes:
“One sec.” *Stripes downs the rest of her burger.* “I” *hic* “win.”

Calias:
“Ouch. Okay. I’ll give you that one. You are one fiery girl… I like that.”

Stripes:
*Stripes is too busy chugging a gallon of milk to respond.*

Calias:
*Calias waits for Stripes, smiling like a dork.*

Stripes:
*Stripes slams the pitcher down and wipes her mouth on her sleeve.* “Let’s do it.”

Calias:
*Calias offers his hand.*

Stripes:
“Now you’re catching on.” *Stripes takes it.*

After 15 rounds on the coaster, including 6 inversions each at a whopping 95 MPH, the hot-headed couple is… slightly dizzy.

Calias:
“That wahs sooo fuhn…”

Stripes:
*Stripes holds up a finger to say something but before she can her hands fly to her mouth and she makes a beeline to the nearest trash can.*

Calias:
“You good?” *Calias says while trying to keep his balance.*

Stripes:
*Stripes curses between throwing up in the trash can.*

Calias:
“Okay. That’s a good enuf anshwer…”
*Calias stumbles over to try and help Stripes if she needs it.*

Stripes:
*Stripes finally stops and gives Calias a glare before stumbling over to a bench and clutching her head.*

Calias:
*Calias is able to find his footing.* “Um… Star? You gonna be alright?”
(I guess that was too much for her…)

Stripes:
“I’m fine, just leave me alone for one second, okay?!”

Calias:
“Oh… okay.” *Calias turns around and sits on the bench opposite of the one she’s sitting on.*

Stripes:
*Stripes just sits there with her head down and breathing heavy for a minute.*

Calias:
*Calias is tempted to say something, but doesn’t want to make her upset.*
“...Star?”

Stripes:
*Stripes sighs before finally looking up at him.* “Yeah?”

Calias:
“That wasn’t too much, was it?”

Stripes:
*Stripes averts her eyes.* “Nah, I’m good. Just needed to cool down is all.”

Calias:
“Do you need anything?”

Stripes:
*Stripes stands up.* “I said I’m good. Now, what’s next?”

Calias:
“Well…”

Citizen:
*A voice over the loudspeakers speaks.* “Attention Twinkle Park guests! The park will be closing in 10 minutes, please make your way to the exit!”

Calias:
“You… want to go for a walk?”

Stripes:
*Stripes smiles coyly.* “That sounds nice.”

Calias:
*Calias takes her hand as they head to the exit.*
“Y’know… I had fun tonight.”

Stripes:
*Stripes exhales.* “Yeah, me too.”

Calias:
“I gotta say, you’re awesome, you know that?”

Stripes:
“Of course I do. And I gotta say, you’re pretty cool yourself.”

Calias:
“Heh. Thanks. …If you ever wanna hang out again some time, I’m down.”

Stripes:
*Stripes is quiet for a bit.*
*She starts nodding.* “Yeah. You just give me a call.”

Calias:
“I will! And I won’t wait so long this time. Heheh.”

The two of them exit the park and arrive at Stripes’s car.

Calias:
“You alright to drive?”

Stripes:
“Heh. A little nausea never stopped me.”

Calias:
“Just… be careful. I know that’s probably not what you want to hear, but I’d rather you not die.”

Stripes:
*Stripes hops into her convertible.* “You’re cute, you know that?”

Calias:
*Calias blushes, but tries to hide it.* “Th-thanks, you are too.”

Stripes:
*Stripes starts the car.* “Well, until next time Calias the Phoenix.”

Calias:
“Yeah, next time, Stripes the Star.”

Stripes:
*Stripes gives a smirk and a salute before driving off.*

Calias:
*Calias smiles and stands there for a second.* (Hehehe… She said I’m cute.)
*Calias takes a breath then speeds off home.*

And there you have it, folks! A lil bit of fluff never hurt anyone, right? Will these two work out? Only time will tell, I suppose.

```

## Characters

*In order of appearance:*

* Calias the Phoenix
* Hannah Dash
* Big the Cat
* Stripes the Star

## Participants

* Captainclay55
* HannahDash
* Pip9766