Tonight's the Night (Ohkara)

[Ethan Snow]

It had been months coming, but finally the night Ethan had been putting off had arrived. The teen had recovered from his injuries in the fight for Central City and had brought his boat back to the city so that Brandon wouldn’t be stranded for the evening. Further arrangements were also made thanks to Mr. Brown. So at long last, without any excuses to put off what the teen could only imagine would be an awkward evening, Ethan sent Ohkara a message from his computer reading just a few words.

“Tonight’s the night. My boat’s parked in Central. Meet me at six and be ready to be swept off your feet.”

In some ways, sending that message was even more stressful then the day he sent his first radio address for the resistance. Back then all he was doing was declaring the Earth’s total opposition to a murderous, power mad dictator. Today though was infinitely more dangerous then taking on the war queen of the Saiyans, he was going to go on a date with the umbrella wielding young lady he’d known for almost a year. He only hoped what he had in mind for the evening would prove to be to Ohkara’s liking, as he’d never actually been on a date before and was unsure if his arrangements would be so.

Sending the message had predictably left the boy a sweating mess and with just an hour before Ohkara was supposed to arrive, he had to get his figurative butt in gear. True it was a little short sighted of him to only give her little more then an hour’s notice, but Ethan was in many ways still a kid and didn’t consider how much preparation time the young lady would need. So without that consideration, the boy went through his closet and laid out his suit. The garments were still as immaculate as the day they were tailored for him, mostly because Ethan never wore the thing unless at an official function. Once his presidential blue and white suit was laid out over his bed, the teen turned to his private bathroom and started up the shower. As usual he lathered, scrubbed and did goofy things, this time adding making a shampoo Mohawk to his repertoire. Finally all clean and no longer smelling like a gym, the boy turned his attention to dressing, first slipping on a fresh pair of undies, then into his navy-blue slacks. After that same a pair of suspenders, also blue, not that he needed them of course. Then a black leather belt and matching socks. Ethan didn’t know which was worse, the dress shirt and jacket, or the dress shoes, so until Ohkara arrived, those three would remain off.

[Ohkara Minamaru]

Ohkara was training in her ship, per usual; her regiment a rather intense one, to say the least. However, a sudden beep on the ship’s monitor beeped in, breaking her focus. Stopping, the young green haired girl put her hands on her hips, “Computer, read new email!” she barked loudly though a slight pant.

“One new email. Sender, Ethan Snow. No subject. Contents are as follows,” said the computer, reading the message outloud:

“Tonight’s the night. My boat’s parked in Central. Meet me at six and be ready to be swept off your feet.”

Ohkara rose a brow, kicking out her hips, ”Swept off my feet, huh?” she mused humored, a giggle of excitement leaving her, ”Ooooooh, I like the sound of that!~”

Reading over the email once more as it was displayed on the ship’s monitor, Ohkara’s eyes grew wide as she realized the time-frame, ”Wait, whaaaaaa?!” she roared, scrambling to gather up her things and head for the shower inside her ship, ”Doesn’t he know that a girl needs time to prepare!?”

After a quick shower, Ohkara headed for the bedroom, rifling through the closet as she ran a brush through her thick green hair. Not long after making the date-bet with Ethan Ohkara had purchased a special outfit; of course, that was before she’d moved into her ship. Once found, Ohkara quickly slipped into it. For the most part, the outfit was blue. A low-cut blouse with corset-like cutaways at the sides, a set of matching blue leggings and sleeves, and a blue skirt; To top it all off, the outside was adorned with pink bows, giving her a cute, playful bubblegum-look. Putting her hair up in high-pigtails with matching bows, and even wearing a set of smaller heels, Ohkara had put the top on the metaphorical cake. She was sure Ethan would absolutely adore her.

Lastly, the cutely-dressed, green-haired girl stood at the mirror and did her make-up; by this time she’d be dangerously close to running late. Gritting her teeth as she checked the time she gave a light curse, ”Dammit, Ethan! Why do you gotta put pressure on a girl!” she growled, grabbing up her eyeliner and applying the appropriate amount.

”Well, you best not expect me to be fully made up!” she growled again, tossing the eyeliner pencil away and snatching up her mascara. With a careful whip of the wrist Ohkara’s rather dark eye makeup was finished. Capping the cosmetic, she tossed it aside and took one final look at herself in the mirror. With a playful spin, she giggled and blew herself a kiss, ”That’s right girl!” she complimented herself, ”knock him dead!”

With that, she rushed to the cockpit of the ship- slapping around the controls, Ohkara quickly made her ship lift off and rocket into the sky. Luckily for her, she knew just where Ethan always docked his boat, and it wasn’t all that far from where she liked to train. The ship would make even quicker work of the distance than the girl could on her own, and she’d arrive just after the timer hit one hour.

Her ship made its presence known loudly as it carefully landed on the harder ground nearby. As soon as the feet touched the ground the door opened and Ohkara stepped out. Striding over to the ship, she cupped her hands and loudly cooed up to him, ”Eeeeeethaaaaaan!~ I’m here for the daaaaaate!~”

[Ethan Snow]

With the remainder of his suit laid out, Ethan was just about to head out into the living area and await Ohkara’s arrival when her spacecraft’s engines rather loudly announced it for her. Strolling out of his bedroom and then turning right to the front entryway, the shirtless young man stepped out onto the forward deck of his boat while Ohkara did her own bit of announcing. The way she announced that she was there for their date though was enough to make the teen want to turn back and run away, but that wasn’t an option now. Walking to the railing, Ethan looked across the dock to Ohkara and literally took a double take. The normally yellow clad girl was decked out from head to toe in blue.

“Wow…” the teen gasped. “You look great.” the boy continued and waved the young lady down. “Come… Come on board, I was waiting for you to get here before I finished putting the rest of this on.” Opening up the gate on the forward deck railing, Ethan waited for the young lady to step aboard before leading the way back to his bedroom. Once there, the young man took his suspenders back down and started to slip on the crisp, white dress shirt of his former, presidential suit and tuck it into his pants.

“So, you remember this awful thing?” the teen asked as he got dressed.

[Ohkara Minamaru]

His complement easily brought an even bigger smile to her face; she was dressed to impress, and it seemed to worked!

”Thanks!” she said with a giggle, striding on past the gate and onto the deck of the boat, ”I knew you’d like it! It’s your favorite color!~” although that wasn’t hard to guess from his normal choice of clothing, Ohkara wanted him to know that she knew it. She took great interest in the young boy, as one in a prospective relationship would.

Casting a sideways glance at the young man’s attire as she passed him she let out a small giggle, ”Oh really?” she replied, raising a brow and ideally meeting the boy’s gaze with her sparkling yellow orbs, ”Yeah I remember that. It’s the suit you wore during your presidential ceremony!~”

With a giggle, her hand rose to cover her mouth, and the blush that rushed to her face, ”That’s for very important events…”

Suddenly her tone shifted to a more mischievous one and she giggled once more, kicking her hip to the side a placing a hand on it. Judgingly, she pointed her left index finger at him and smirked, ”That means you must think I’m pretty important!~” she teased him, sticking her tongue out and giving him a wink.

”Awwwwwww!~ You’re so sweet!~” She exclaimed, rushing forwards to give him a big hug when he finished dressing, ”And so cute too!~"

[Ethan Snow]

“Heh, and every press conference, state dinner and any other official function I had to go to.” Ethan added, responding to Ohkara commenting that she recognized the garment. Of course she went on to tease him, inferring that he felt the evening was something super special and making every effort to make it sound a mushy as possible. At heart, Ethan was in many ways still a kid and to him, all of this lovey-dovey business was for grownups. He really didn’t want to attach significance to this date, after all, he’d never been on one and it was again something people older then him did. Still he enjoyed Ohkara’s company and the activities they engaged in, especially during training, so he naturally would have agreed to spend time with her regardless. But this date business had been forced on him by the bet he lost so he wasn’t really sure how he should feel about it.

He accepted the hug, dramatic though it was, rolling his eyes at the silliness and only squirming a little bit, though mostly because of the shirt. “Errrr, sure…” the boy responded, giving the young woman a smile and then pulled his suspenders back up once his arms were once more free to do so. Collecting his tie, the blue haired teen hung it about his neck but didn’t bother actually tying it, he never could get it right, then picked up his jacket and held out his free hand for Ohkara to take. From there his intention was to lead her out to the bow deck once more and form his surf board. The hand holding was less so for the hand holding’s sake and more for being necessary to allow the craft to carry her. Since skin contact was needed to transfer the necessary energy and being he was now wearing a shirt, Ohkara couldn’t get that contact by putting her arms around his waist as a passenger normally would.

“Ready to head out for our first stop?” he asked, helping her aboard.

[Ohkara Minamaru]

As perceptive as Ohkara was when it came to other people, it wasn’t hard for her to see the disinterest in Ethan when she teased him. Still, that wouldn’t damper her spirit. It had been years since she’d been on a real, honest date- and even longer since she’d been on one with someone as pure as Ethan. Something about the young-teen’s innocence made the woman feel at ease. There was no pressure for the “ending of the night”, no pressure for kisses, or affections; no, it was a simple date with someone that she cared deeply about. Perhaps it was too soon to go putting labeling on whatever chemistry the two had, but Ohkara couldn’t just pass up an opportunity to make the teen squirm.

She inspected him as he finished dressing, and took his hand when he offered it to her, a bright, bubbly smile plastered on her face, “For sure!” she exclaimed excitedly. She wasn’t sure what to expect of the boy’s plans, but whatever it was she was sure it would be fun. Preparations were something Ethan was very good at making; unlike the much more sporadic green-haired girl.

”Whatever you have planned, I’m sure it will be perfect!~” she added cutely, trying to make the blue-haired teen feel just a bit more confident, just in case he had any doubts.

”Oooooh!~ I’m so excited!” she very bubbly added, quickly stripping off her heels and stepping up onto the surfer boy’s energy board, ”Lets goooooo!~”

[Ethan Snow]

Helping Ohkara up onto his board, Ethan was sure to keep hold of one of her hands so that the board would remain solid for her. Once she was up and placed her other hand where ever she liked, though it was now carrying her shoes, Ethan lifted them both aloft, soaring into the evening sky and towards the city proper. He was glad she had such confidence in his plans, he only hoped that confidence was well placed as they flew along.

Before long their first destination was coming into view. Cruising at a moderate pace, Ethan guided his board down one of the main boulevards of the city, this particular section of the street populated by nothing but the poshest of restaurants. The ornate outdoor signage, lighting and awnings made the street look like the Las Vegas of dining districts, if Las Vegas was high class that is. They didn’t stop however, Ethan kept on gliding along as they passed row after row of fancy restaurants, then lower scale diners and then finally, in what could barely be classified as part of the city’s commercial district, the blue haired teen slowed and descending to the ground.

Setting down on cracked, unmaintained pavement in the run down section of town, Ethan held out his free hand and proudly declared “Tah dah!” The two stood in front of a shabby looking but still obviously open eating establishment, it’s garishly colored neon sign labeling it as Tommy’s Taco Palace. “What do you think? Great place eh?” the teen asked as the board beneath them dissolved, allowing the two to stand on the ground itself.

[Ohkara Minamaru]

Ohkara was quick to tuck her heels under her arm, her left hand gripping Ethan’s waist, as they two soared away. Though it was indeed her first time riding with him on his board, he would (probably not) be impressed with her balance; naturally he knew of her acrobatic prowess, having seen- and experienced- her in battle plenty of times. Still, the cutely dressed green-haired girl couldn’t help but giggle as she tucked in close to the Surfer-Boy, ”I can see why you always use this thing now!” she told him happily, ”This is fun!~”

Ethan seemed to know exactly where he was headed, as would be expected from someone of his level of confidence. Though their journey wasn’t exactly what she expected, her confidence didn’t waiver; even as they landed at a rather ran down restaurant. His introduction was rather enthusiastic, and Ohkara couldn’t help but let out a giggle. As the board vanished, Ohkara stayed levitating in the air, just long enough to slip her feet back into her heels, then landed with a quiet “click”.

Casting an eye over her surroundings, she sniffed the air loudly, her lips pursing, then forming a bright smile, her eyes fluttering rather cartoonishly, “MmmmmmM~” she exclaimed, “Well something ‘round here at least smells good!~<3” though she was teasing, she gave no hints she didn’t approve.

Her stomach grumbled loudly, her mouth watering already; turning her attention back to the blue-haired boy, her expression that of a smile child begging their parent to go into the toy-aisle of a store, ”Well then, let’s go inside already!” she told him, then rushed for the door.

[Ethan Snow]

Having landed in front of Tommy’s Taco Palace without issue and presented it to Ohkara with as much fanfare as he could, Ethan chuckled to himself as the young lady delayed her contact with the ground in order to put her shoes on. While anyone else might have been impressed with the display, as Ohkara surmised, Ethan knew well her level of skill. That skill though was unnecessary when riding with him on his board however as it was essentially an extension of himself. As long as they maintained skin contact, the pair could fly inverted the whole way and neither would fall from the board unless they intended to, and although also unnecessary, the hand around his waist wasn’t unwelcome during the trip. The blue haired teen was also happy she enjoyed the ride as they would be flying a few more times before the night was done.

“Hehehe!!! Oh it more then smells good.” Ethan replied to Ohkara’s statement about the scent emanating from the building. “And sure, that was the general idea anyway!” the boy chuckled and held out his hand again if Ohkara was inclined to take it. Regardless they would quickly be inside the eating establishment. It’s interior shared an equally garish paint job as the neon sign out front, though in spite of this and the surrounding town, the place was clean and looked well maintained.

“Evening kids.” The man behind the counter announced himself. “What can old Tom get for you?”

[Ohkara Minamaru]

Of course, Ohkara would be quick to snatch up Ethan’s hand as he offered it to her, her fingers entwining with his, her thumb gently running against the skin of his hand. Surprisingly, in this formal situation, the small gesture was enough to bring a shade of light pink to her cheeks, and a smile to her lips. Regardless of their surroundings, in that moment there was nowhere Ohkara would have rather been.

Taking her seat opposite of the blue-haired surfer-boy, Ohkara beamed brightly, “Oooh, I can’t wait!~” she said, playfully rubbing her hands together.

Her attention was pulled away from the boy as the man behind the counter spoke. Her ears perking, Ohkara turned to the man and gave a small giggle. Although she’d never been there before, she knew just how to start at a Mexican restaurant, ”How are the chips and dip here?” she asked. The level of spiciness would help determine her drink of choice; however, she had very little plans to order anything else for herself. Ethan was the one that knew what was good here, so casting him a rather unsure glance, she’d silently hint that she wanted him to pick her food for her- and see if he caught it.

[Ethan Snow]

Watching the pair make their way to the closest table rather than order at the counter, the restaurant’s proprietor shrugged and followed them to said table. Smiling at the young lady’s question, the older gentleman replied while her blue haired companion seated himself. “Ach aye lassy, we have the finest dipping cheese this side of the border.” the man replied, his accent now decidedly more obvious, the owner of Tommy’s Taco Palace was, of all unlikely things, a Scotsman. Though one thing he did not do was to answer the young lady’s somewhat indirect question. Sure he’d assured her that his nacho cheese was the best around, but as to how spicy it was, well that was still a mystery.

Ethan meanwhile looked on, trying not to chuckle since Thomas’ accent always amused him. The blue haired teen did though catch Ohkara looking at him strangely, though for the life of him he couldn’t understand why. She was so much more experienced in this dating stuff than he was, so perhaps he was neglecting something or maybe he’d done something wrong, there were just too many possibilities for him to know what she wanted, other then his company of course.

“That sounds good.” Ethan finally piped up after a few moments of indecision. “Yeah, let’s start with a big bowl of nachos and a cola for me.” he went on and sat back in his seat, adjusting what he considered his strangling tie.

“Excellent choice laddy. And for you lass?” Tommy asked, digging a pad and pencil out of his apron pocket.

[Ohkara Minamaru]

“Oooh-hoo!~” she cooed at the Scotsman’s claim. To state such a thing was a very bold claim, one that Ohkara would be sure to judge for herself. She’d had plenty of queso throughout her years, and had a pretty decent reference when it came to quality.

Ethan made his order, and it brought a small tinge of annoyance to the green-haired girl’s face. Resting her elbows on the table, she pressed her hands against her cheeks, covering her mouth with her fingers and letting out a small sigh, ”Well, seeing as mister clueless over there suggested the nachos, how about we make that a double,” she said, shooting him a quick look before turning her attention back to the owner and giving him a kind smile, ”And I’ll have a root beer to drink, a smothered burrito, two tacos with everything on them, two pork tamales, a side of pico de gallo and guacamole, an empanada…” she said, beginning to prattle on an order that might catch everyone off guard; when it came to eating, Ohkara was a metaphorical bottomless pit.

”Oh, oh, oh, and do you have any of those little cinnamon sugar things?” she asked cutely, sticking the tip of her thumb into her mouth in thought, ”Uhhh… I think their called… Um, churros, or something?” Turning her glance to Ethan, she gave a nervous smile. Hopefully she hadn’t made a mistake by ordering so much- and if she did, maybe he’d learn his lesson to order for her the next time they went out.

[Ethan Snow]

“My you're a hungry one aren't you lassy?” Tommy replied as he concentrated on taking down the order and Ethan looked on with a raised eyebrow. “Ah, but I think the handsome lad here meant to share those chips with ye. This big bowl is for a group after all. Tell you what, I'll bring one out and if you're still hungry after all of that, the second will be wait'n.”

With that Tommy was in motion towards the kitchen and Ethan was still looking on, chuckling a little more audibly. “Hmhmhm. Hungry much?” the boy asked and put his own elbows on the table, mimicking her posture. “Is something wrong? You look... ticked off. Is it Tommy? I know you were probably expecting a Mexican guy.”

[Ohkara Minamaru]

With both her date, and the chef commenting on her appetite, Ohkara’s cheeks turned pink, and she looked down with embarrassment, ”I… Uh… I haven’t eaten today…” she said, although not a lie, it wasn’t exactly the truth behind the overabundance of her order. She always ate a lot, though normally she wasn’t as self-conscious about it as she was now.

When Ethan asked if something was wrong, Ohkara simply gave him a small shrug, ”Oh no, it’s not him…” she stated, dropping her hands to the counter. Slowly one would snake over and gently touch Ethan’s arm, her fingertips gently tracing over his bicep, ”Tell me something, Ethan…” she started, the pink color remaining bright on her cheeks.

”H-have you ever been on a date before?” she asked with sparkling eyes, her tone soft; her annoyance from a moment ago seemed to fade as she looked at him. There was nothing judgmental about her as she eyed him. She was pretty sure he hadn’t, but he’d never exactly vocalized such to her. The thought also brought more questions to her mind as she awaited his answer.

[Ethan Snow]

Sitting right across the table from Ohkara, even as clueless as Ethan could be at times, he couldn't help but notice her shift in mood as he commented on her appetite. 'Yeesh, is she really THAT self conscious? She can kick my but and is worried about something like that?' Ethan though to himself and shrugged mentally. 'Girls.' Thankfully, Ohkara issued a plausible excuse, one Ethan had no reason to question and then changed subjects before things got too awkward. Unfortunately for the blue haired boy, they just hopped from one puddle of awkward to another. Ohkara had reached across the table and was tracking the contours of his arm through the fabric of his jacket, which of course had been bothering Ethan from the moment he put it on. As she touched him she asked the poignant question that he'd somehow managed to avoid until now, had he ever actually been on a date. For a moment Ethan considered going with the typical answer one might expect from a teenager, 'Sure, hundreds of them.' But Ethan was no typical teenager and besides, she'd probably know he was lying, she always did.

"Errr... Well... Technically?" The boy struggled, looking for qualifiers and technicalities that would help make his response sound less pathetic but found none. "N... No, not really. You can't really go on dates with family..." the boy added, realizing that he had probably never actually told Ohkara much about his life before coming to Central City and the brief war with the Moon's former occupiers. In fact, as far as she knew, he had always lived in Central or on Metropolis Island, one would after all never expect that the outgoing, blue haired, surfer boy had come from a practically cultish family compound in the mountains.