It was about time Mirror took his/her girlfriend out on a proper date.
Well, as proper as anything they've done so far.

They had been joking about him taking her out in the middle of the night just to avoid her worrying over her dress and hair and all that stuff girls worry about. Well, Mirror have some thought to the matter, and decided it might have been worth trying. It was not really how dates were supposed to happen, but it sounded fun, and kind of romantic. Yes.

So, instead of Twyla, it was Maya's turn to worry for half a day in advance. About clothes, and stuff. But she came up with a plan, and the plan was good. So.

It was already dark, late at night, but not midnight yet. The lights were out in Twyla's room; that meant she was already asleep, or just about to go to bed. Perfect. The school was dark and quiet. Maya arrived through the mirror, landing silently on her feet, and walking over to Twyla's bed in the dark. She's been there before, she knew the way; she only needed to be careful not to trip over something.

She was wearing Gawain's clothes; the date was bound to go past midnight, and she didn't want to have to change in the middle of it. It's not like Maya and Gawain were all that different anyway. She also had a rose.

Walking over to the bed, Maya stopped, and smiled to herself. Here goes nothing.

"Twyla?" she whispered, leaning down to her "Bubblegum? Wake up, beautiful. We're going on a date."

It had been a very productive day--Twyla had done all of her laundry, she’d signed up for a few college classes that she was taking online at the Mansion, and she’d even managed to keep herself outside long enough to legitimately justify not tidying up her room at all. It was all in all, a pretty good day. She’d even managed to get to bed obnoxiously early with little difficulty ( a rarity, especially during those last dregs of the summer). Obviously Twyla didn’t hear that there was someone else in her room, she didn’t sense a presence, and her dreams certainly didn’t expect to be disrupted by speech coming from outside her head. So when she half heard: "Bubblegum? Wake up, beautiful. We're going on a date." she was quite startled.

“Wha...?” The blond practically flew out of her covers, she sat up so fast. It was more than a little dizzying and disorienting going from a comfortable laying position to sitting straight up in bed. It took some rapid blinking and breathing for the room to stop tilting. “What’s going on...? Maya? What’s wrong? What’s going on?” Of course she’d expect the worst--that would be the safe bet considering precedent and things she’d recently learned from Emerald Lupin. Any playful conversations in the grass of late-night dates were forgotten as the girl panicked slightly.

And then she turned and noticed the something-or-other that Maya was holding and the fact that her girlfriend didn’t appear to be bleeding all over the carpet. She seemed fine...she was smiling even. A few more blinks and the smile was slowly reciprocated. “What’s going on?” She asked in a much calmer and slightly sleepier tone. An eye was rubbed and a hand traveled through her bed rumpled hair. Her bed shirt was a few sizes too big so it hung a bit off her shoulders and Twyla looked like a big green bird when she stretched out her arms to yawn.

Nothing was making sense.

>>“What’s going on...? Maya? What’s wrong? What’s going on?”

Twyla sat up and panicked at her voice; considering how their previous not-dates usually started, Maya could fully understand the reaction. She sat down on the edge of the bed, and turned on the light on the bedside table.

"Shhh, Bubblegum, it's okay, everythin's fine." she smiled at her. Twyla looked adorable as ever, with her messy hair and sleepy eyes and the shirt off her shoulders. Wow. She just looked at her for a long moment, before she cleared her throat and reminded herself why she was there in the first place.

"As I said, Twy, what's going on is that I'm taking you out on a date." she announced with a mischievous smile, and held up the rose to her. In the light, it was pink "Just you and me. Put on something warm."

When the light was turned on there was some more blinkes and some more rubbing of the eyes. Her thoughts were very muzzy as she tried to process the images in front of her and understand Maya’s words at the same time. The other girl’s smile had become more playful when she said something about a date. Date!? Pause. Oh, that’s right... Finally that afternoon on the grass came back to her--they had joked about it. Twyla supposed that it was normal that her first reaction to being woken up in the middle of the night was not ‘I knew you were here for a date’.

The something-or-other in Maya’s hand was presented to her and Twyla’s eyes finally registered that it was a rose, a pink one. A slight blush danced across her cheeks when she took it and brought it to her nose to smell. “Aww...” She smiled through the flower at Maya.

“Warm...right...Hold this.” She handed the rose back to the other gilr. A few more blinks and some wiggling and Twyla had managed to untangle herself from her covers. She was too sleepy to be concerned with much of anything at the moment, so picking out clothing was as simple as grabbing the first of everything she saw: first pair of jeans, first plain green tank top, and first hoodie. After grabbing the necessary undergarments as well, the girl trudged into her bathroom and began to change. There was some clamoring coming from the tiny bathroom as Twyla stumbled into her clothes. More than once there was a bang noise followed by some tired giggles or an ‘ow’. A few minutes later she reappeared, fully dressed except for shoes and blearily running a comb through half of her hair.

“I’ll take that back now.” She said as she carefully unwrapped her girlfriend’s fingers from the stem of the pink rose. Twyla searched her room to find a plastic glass that was big enough for a makeshift vase that was promptly filled with water and placed on her bedside table. “Where are we going?” The girl finally asked after puling on shoes as she attempted to pull the still rumpled and slightly tangled hair into a low ponytail. For some reason she hadn’t felt the need for anymore questions once it was affirmed that they were going on a date--people did that, that was normal, according to her (slowly) awakening mind.

Maya chuckled to herself as Twyla disappeared in the bathroom to change; she made a lot of noise tripping over and bumping into things, but when she finally appeared again, she was ready to go.
Girlfriend survived getting dressed. Check. Moving on with the plan.

>>“Where are we going?”

Howhere was the first thing that came to her mind, but she bit her tongue. She had a plan, and she'd promised her a date, not making out in a room. So. Moving on.

"You'll see" she grinned, taking her hand and pulling her out the door, down the corridor (signalling her with a finger to her lips to be quiet), and out the front door onto the Mansion grounds.
It was a warm late summer night; Maya was wearing a hoodie too, but she didn't really need it. The Mansion grounds were quiet, and most windows were dark. Maya walked with her girlfriend hand in hand until there was no light left to see by except the stars, and then she pulled out a flashlight from her pocket. Walking on in a route she'd discovered earlier she lead Twyla to the place where the Mansion grounds met the woods, and then they walked on for a few more minutes, before she stopped.

"Here we go." she grinned, letting go of her hand. In the light of the flashlight there was a rope ladder hanging from a tree, and above them among the branches there was a tree house. Maya had found it on one of her previous trips to the woods; it was very well built and currently unoccupied, although she suspected is must have been built by some Mansion students.

"Wait here" she told Twyla as she climbed up the ladder, opening the trap door on the bottom, and for a few minutes, she rummaged around inside the tree house. Then, there was more light, and she appeared in the door again, with the flashlight pointed at the ladder.

"You can come up now."

The tree house was small inside, but it was clean and cozy. Mostly because Maya had cleaned it earlier that day. There was not much furniture, just pillows and some boxes, and half a dozen candles providing the light. On one box there was a small tablecloth and two cups, accompanied by two thermos bottles.

Maya smiled at Twyla.

"So. What do you think?"

The entire date thus far had been wrapped in a hazy shroud of mystery that was partly thickened by the fact that as Twyla was led down the corridor and out to the school grounds she was almost sleep walking. It was much easier to snap awake when they were outside and it was quite a bit darker. They headed for the trees and away from the light. The blond didn’t particularly like the dark so it was much easier to become alert when she was stiffening up and then clinging to Maya’s arm at every sudden twig crack. By the time they came to a halt she was awake almost completely.

Awake enough to be confused and super curious. When they stopped at the base of a tree and in front of a rope ladder. She looked up. “A tree house?” There was something childish in her tone as she looked up at the wooden boards of the floor of the building in the tree.

“Okay.” She waited, and looked up, trying to creep a peek at what her girlfriend was doing in the tree house. There was more light a few moments later and Maya gave her the go ahead to climb the ladder. With some careful maneuvering and careful foot placement Twyla managed to climb up the rope ladder. “Oh wow...Maya.” She smiled after she pulled herself up. Crawling over on her knees, she gave the dark haired girl a hug. “This is great.” A hand came up to rub an eye that was fighting to awaken still. “Seriously.” Another hug before Twyla crawled over and sat next to one of the glasses.

>>“A tree house?... Oh wow...Maya. This is great. Seriously.”

Maya grinned. Twyla liked the tree house. The tree house was a good idea. Whoever built it she'd had to find them and thank them. Probably give them some chocolate or something.

"Yeah, I don't really know who made it but it was here, and it was empty, and it was either this, or going to some fancy restaurant. And I kinda promised you no one would see us, so." she chuckled, hugging Twyla back; she took a moment to bury her nose in her shoulder. She smelled so good. As usual.

Once the hug ended, she turned her attention to the cups and the bottles.

"All right, so, this one's chocolate" she pointed at one of them "And the other one's coffe, in case you wanna stay awake for the rest of the night, and prolly the night after that too. It's some strong stuff." she chuckled "I've got milk too."

Once the drinks were poured into the cups, Maya smiled at her girlfriend. She looked... well, she looked like someone who just got out of bed. She was very pretty in the candlelight.

"Soo. Our first official date begins, now." she grinned raising her mug of coffee. Yup, she needed to stay awake. Midnight was not all that far away.

"... that didn't sound very romantic, did it."

For a moment the blond just sat on the floor and blinked, imagining herself in her...current state sitting in a fancy restaurant surrounded by people older than her that were all dressed and groomed appropriately for the occasion. She imagined looks of disdain on their faces. Then she imagined Maya going to the bathroom and coming back Gawain. The looks didn’t go away, in fact, there were a few more the second time Imagination Twyla looked around. Getting her girlfriend to promise her no one would see her? A good plan indeed. Hooray for forward thinking. (Although, for the record, it was the idea that people would see her hair and disheveled clothes that bothered her--regarding her significant other the people in the fancy clothes could, for lack of more intelligent and eloquent terms, suck it.)


There was coffee and hot chocolate and milk. At first Twyla skipped the milk and hot chocolate altogether--she drank her coffee black, always. It was strong, the girl made a face after her first teeny sip, but it was perfect for the situation considering their date would be rather short if she fell back asleep in the next few minutes. It was a real hazard of late night tree house dating, so she’d heard.

The blond raised her mug in a similar motion to the brunette. A ‘toast’ was given, and she snorted...just a little bit. Mostly she smiled. Twyla clinked her glass with Maya’s and said “It was perfect. Very, very romantic.” She smiled into her cup, braving a larger sip. The expression on her face gave away the fact that the young woman was only half kidding--it sounded about right to her. What did people in the movies say at such times? Twyla realized she wasn’t really sure and that led to the train of thought that maybe she was lacking some feminine urge to watch chick flicks and moon over those types of romances. And then she thought ‘ew’.


((OOC: I'm sorry this is so late, getting used to everything is...hard. >_<
p.s. I <3 the new sigi and avis, very nice!))

>>“It was perfect. Very, very romantic.”

Maya chuckled as she drank her coffee in long sips - it was a drinking contest against her own secondary mutation, and she needed to win. She was supposed to be the prince, not Sleeping Beauty. Thank God the coffee was strong. It would have waked the dead.

"I'm confident I'll get better with practice" she grinned back at Twyla "Drink up, I've got something to show you."

Once the coffee (or, at least, the first round of coffee) was finished, Maya stood; the roof of the tree house was not so high, she could reach it easily. Pushing open another trap door she pulled herself up. The roof of the tree house was flat; it was small too, just big enough for two people lying side by side. Once she was kneeling up on the roof, she leaned down, head hanging upside down through the trap door as she smiled at Twyla. She offered a hand.

"Are you coming, or what?"

((OOC: thank you I missed you! Good luck with everything! And most of all, have fun ))

Twyla laughed into her cup at the practice comment. The coffee was sending pleasant waves of caffeine energy through her body, making it warm and more and more awake. She didn’t chug her cup, but she was curious about what else Maya had planned--the tree house had major awesome points on its own, so whatever else the blond was going to be shown would have to be icing on the cake. Late night cake was still cake after all and Twyla liked the fairytale feel of the night.

After they finished their cups Maya climbed up to what Twyla assumed was the roof of the little building via a trap door that she hadn’t really paid much attention to before. It was fascinating to watch and only made the other girl’s curiosity deepen. Another laugh and a slight jump when Maya’s head was hanging from the hole in the ceiling. “You just scared the crap out of me!” Twyla exclaimed.

The roof? Without hesitation Twyla gave her girlfriend her hand and stood up on her tiptoes to get more height so that it would be easier to maneuver upwards (she was a few inches shorter than Maya, regardless of her frustration with her stature). It didn’t take much (with the help) to pull herself up onto the roof. It was a tiny, flat expanse that just fit the two of them. Secretly Twyla wondered if that mean that eventually you get to old (and big) for such things as tree houses. She seriously hoped this wasn’t the case...

“This is an awesome find.” The young woman smiled and tried her best not to look at the edges--while being on the roof was totally cool and all that she couldn’t help but get just a teeny bit nervous at the thought of falling off said roof. Then again, she highly doubted her date had brought her up there with the intent of letting her fall--that was a bit of a mood killer, just saying.

((I missed you too! Thanks, sometimes I really need t, haha! ))

>>“You just scared the crap out of me!”

"I'm sorry." Maya chuckled, pulling her up onto the roof. There was enough room for the two of them; earlier that evening Maya did some planning, and the result was a pile of pillows and blankets on the roof of the tree house, the raw materials for a comfortable little nest.

>>“This is an awesome find.”

"It is, isn't it." the mirrorwalker grinned, scooting back to allow her girlfriend enough space on the roof. Unfolding a blanket she wrapped it around her against the cool night air. She noticed her face as she glanced down over the edge.

"Don't look down" she chuckled, putting an arm around her waist. "Look up."

The sky was clear, and covered in stars.

"Not as great as in the countryside" Maya muttered, tilting her head back. uQite a bit of the night sky could be seen from the roof; they were high up on the tree, and some branches had been cut off by the creators of the house to allow a better view at the sky. "New York City kinda ruins it with all the light. Still, it looks nice, doesn't it."

A blanket? Half a hug? Stars?

It was easy not to look down when there was a reason to look up. Stars were a rarity in New York City with all the light and the pollution and all the craziness on the ground to pay attention to. Twyla leaned her head on Maya’s shoulder as she looked up at the smattering of lights in the sky. It definitely wasn’t as nice as back home, for example, but seeing stars anywhere was always a treat.

“Very, very nice...” Twyla murmured and was quiet for a few moments, just taking in the sight and enjoying the other girl’s company.

“You’ll have to come back and see the stars from my valley.” It was interesting how different things cans seem, the same things, in different places. Like the sky was the same and the stars were the same but they looked less bright depending on where you were and how close you were to a city.

“This is perfect.” The girl adjusted the blanket a bit and enjoyed the view.

>>“Very, very nice... You’ll have to come back and see the stars from my valley.”

"Sounds like a plan" Maya smiled softly, nuzzling closer to her as the both looked up at the sky. If she knew a real date would be this nice, she would have suggested it sooner. Much sooner.

>>"This is perfect."

"I try." she chuckled and pulled Twyla down so they both were lying on their back, looking up at the stars. She unfolded another blanket for herself, and soon they were both wrapped up comfortably.

"You know what the best thing is?" she smirked, wrapping one arm around Twyla's shoulders "Angua can't climb up here."

She chuckled, still looking at the stars.

"... all right, so maybe not the best thing." she added after a few moments, glancing at Twyla. She was trying to bite back a laugh. There was nothing funny about it, really; she was just happy.

Eventually they were both lying on the roof of the tree house and any nerves about falling off were soon forgotten. Twyla felt very small and very safe and very happy. This was a good night, a very good night.

Blink. Blink. While it was true that the crazy puppy couldn’t get up this high unassisted the blond wasn’t totally sure if a lack of puppy was the absolute best thing about the pair’s first official date. She contemplated whether or not to come back with something slightly insulted or joking when Maya caught herself and elaborated on her comment with a laugh. Twyla turned to her and blinked in an overly serious manner before breaking out into a grin herself. A raised eyebrow that was awkward with her head in the position it was. “Nice save.”

She looked at her girlfriend for another moment before turning her brown eyes back to the stars above them. “This reminds me of sleeping outside by the back barn with my sisters and Nathan...” The young woman spoke what suddenly occurred to her. “We used to do that all the time in the summer and we’d like goof off and run around but mostly we just talked. It’s weird I guess, what we used to talk about--mostly it was stuff my sisters heard my parents talking about, like stuff to be worried about.” Twyla was quiet for a moment, thinking. “The last time we did that was after my grandpa’s funeral, I think. Geeze, that was like ten years ago--I remember Miranda was a senior in high school...Holy crap how did we get so old?”

That probably wasn’t the happiest or most logical thing to mention at that point in time, Twyla realized. With a blush she apologized after a second: “Sorry, I was just thinking out loud.” A small chuckle to brush all of the melancholic feelings off.

>>“This reminds me of sleeping outside by the back barn with my sisters and Nathan... We used to do that all the time in the summer and we’d like goof off and run around but mostly we just talked... The last time we did that was after my grandpa’s funeral, I think... Holy crap how did we get so old?”

"I wonder." Maya smirked, looking at the sky "Mom used to tell me storied about the stars. There's a lot of them. Stories, I mean." she chuckled "I still remember some of them. But, since most of them are sappy love stories, I'm gonna spare you the torture." she smirked, glancing at Twyla before she turned back to the sky view "It has been five years. Yeah. I really have no idea how we got so old. I feel ancient."

They were quiet for a while. Maya smiled; the didn't really need to talk all the time.
Just, some of the time.

"This is really all I had for tonight." she murmured "Coffe, candles, and the sky. I thought about dancing, but I don't think we should push our luck with these boards." she chuckled, knocking on the wood below them "Other than that... damn."

Maya shivered, and felt her skin break out in goosebumps. Midnight already?!

Sitting up, she glanced down at Twyla.

"Umm, I'm gonna be shifting soon. I... should... climb down?..."

She didn't mean it to come out like a question. Part of her wanted to let Twyla see how it worked; another part somehow felt it was not decent to propose something like that. It was not like she needed to undress or anything; she was already wearing Gawain's clothes. It was just... awkward.

Get a grip, Maya. Geez.