Sweethearts, skirts, and small talk

[Dr. Nic†]

[Sorry for the delay. Computer issues.]

"And you look absolutely beautiful," Joshua said with a smile as large and genuine as any he'd ever given her. He watched her walk down the drive and hurry on over to the limo, and he almost picked her up when they hugged, but his lack of height made that a little difficult. He was standing a couple inches taller than he normally did, but Bianca still had a good bit of height on him. He admired her, standing there in her black and white gradient dress. It wasn't exactly what he had imagined, but it was beautiful, and Bianca was absolutely radiant in it. For a moment, he almost felt like a hobo in his borrowed suit, standing there before the most beautiful girl in the world wearing something he dug out of his uncle's closet the night before. She seemed to like how he looked though, and he certainly liked the way she looked. He still felt like she was so much more than he deserved, but feeling like a hobo eventually passed.

He straightened out the black jacket, and made sure the cufflinks on his sleeves were still in place, and stepped over to the back door of the limo. He flashed Bianca that smile of his, and held his hand on the handle of the door. "I've got a surprise for you," he said with a smirk, and pulled open the door. Piled high in the back seat, with some of them even pouring out of the car when Joshua opened the door, were flowers. Dozens if not hundreds of them. Calla lilies and white roses, white tulips and magnolia, chrysanthemums and red rose bouquets tied with satin ribbons. Carnations and gerbera daisies, stargazer lilies and poinsettias, all tied together in bouquets and corsages with red and white satin ribbons. When he said he was going to make it up to her, he meant it. He stood there holding the door open for her with that ever present smile on his face. "I didn't know exactly what to bring, so... I brought all of them."

All that nervous energy he had before Bianca came out slipped away when he opened the door. He watched Bianca to see the look on her face, but he was confident. He promised to make it up to her, and he felt that he had done that.  The last bundle of flowers he brought for her died in the back seat of his car, so he felt that he had to do something better, and bigger, than a bouquet of dead roses. An entire limo full of flowers to go with her dress felt like the right thing to do. He knew it was showy, but he couldn't help it. It was his job to spoil her, after all. At least, according to his uncle.

[Arscapi†]

((GMing approved by Dr. Nic))

Bianca stood still for a moment enjoying the look on Joshua's face. It was nice to have her work appreciated. Then he opened the door to the limo and she had to force her mouth not to drop. "Joshua, this...this is too much. I can't believe that you did all this. They're beautiful. Thank you so much for this."

Bianca closed the space between them and dropped a quick kiss on his lips, before leaning forward to look at all the flowers. "I feel like the princess from a fairy tale." She ran her hands over the flowers gently. "They're all so lovely; I don't know which ones to pick."

She glanced over her shoulder to see that Jacqui had followed her to the door. "There's no way Zubin's ever going to be able to top this," she told him smugly. "Did you know that he and Jacqui are only going as friends?"

She leaned down and selected a corsage of two red roses, three white tulips, and two miniature red and white mums. Slipping the corsage around her wrist she held out her hand to Joshua. "Well, my handsome prince, are you going to help me into this carriage so we can make it to the ball," she said smiling at her statement.

Joshua helped her into the limo, and then climbed in after her. Joshua closed the door, careful not to crush the flowers. The limo pulled away as Bianca launched into her story about getting ready for prom.

((Bianca Howard and Joshua Edwards continued elsewhere))

[decoy73]

Zubin sat inside the limo as it pulled up to the desired address. He looked himself over once again in the mirror. His suit was on properly, his hair was combed, his chin and neck were smooth, and the hair on his upper lip was neatly trimmed. He looked in the box he held in his hands: in it was a wrist corsage, with red and white flowers on it.

The car pulled up to her place. Zubin looked at the other two guys in the car as he opened the door.

"Wish me luck, guys."

He stepped out of the car and shut the door behind him, taking a deep breath as he walked up to the front door, camera in pocket and box in hand, and rang the doorbell.

[umop-ap!sdn†]

Jaquilyn flew down the stairs to beat her parents. She quickly double checked to make sure she had everything, and reached for the doorknob. It was too late. She heard the steps behind her and rolled her eyes. Her wrist rotated, and her elbow pulled back to open up the door.

She was surprised by the gentleman before her. Zubin was dressed sharply and even holding a wristlet in a plastic box. She felt her mother's judgmental eyes behind her, but her silence indicated satisfaction at least.

"Hey Zubin!" She looked at the corsage, "This looks great! Dad, can you get the boutonniere out of the fridge?" She turned back to Zubin and smiled, glad that they'd both been thoughtful.

Ms. Locke now spoke. "Jaq, let me get a picture of him putting it on you!"

[decoy73]

Holy shit

Zubin was able to maintain a cool, confident demeanor exterior, however, he was actually taken aback by the appearance if his prom date, although, truth be told, this was, being Jaquilyn Locke, not a very big surprise - she'd have been able to rock a potato sack with approximately zero effort.

"Hey, Zubin! This looks great!" Jaquilyn called for her dad to bring to bring the boutonniere.

"Well, thanks. I do admit it was hard to find one that does you justice." Okay, hopefully Jaquilyn wouldn't see that as being too corny. It was at that moment that he heard a female voice, presumably Jaquilyn's mother, calling for pictures. He glanced over at the source of the voice.

Holy SHIT

Zubin's eyes immediately went back to Jaquilyn as he nodded.

"Actually, I brought my own camera. Same reasons, pretty much. Parents insisted."

[umop-ap!sdn†]

(GMing approved for the sake of time!)

Mr. Locke returned with the flower. He handed it to Jaq, who held it up to Zubin, who handed Mr. Locke his camera. It was a bit of an exchange, but everybody had what they needed. Jaquilyn turned around to set down the boutonniere. She lifted her wrist, and Zubin unpackaged the corsage. He gently took her arm and pulled the wristband over it, blinking away the flashes. She turned it over a few times in admiration.

She picked up her down decorative flower. It too had red and white roses. She was dissapointed to see black roses did not exist in nature, but whatever. She tucked the flower into his pocket, standing very close to him now. She took out the first pin and carefully stuck it through the fabric, into the stem, and then back out. So far,  so good, no blood. She pulled his pocked away from his body to give herself more space. Zubin's eyes crept towards Ms. Locke once again before he remembered his date was armed. He looked back down to see the needle end poke back out of his pocket.

Mr. Locke handed Zubin his camera back and shook his hand firmly, "Have a good time, kids." Ms. Locke just smiled and waved. Jaq opened the door and followed her date outside towards the limo, only for her parents to come chasing them outside with the camera again. Jaq's eyes rolled as she turned around for what would hopefully be the last shot. She put her arm around Zubin, and her other arm on her hip. Zubin's arm wrapped around her, and placed itself on her hand. Unsure to move up or down, it just stayed there until Jaq lifted her hand and put it over his, confirming it was fine.

The camera clicked, and she turned around as fast as her heels let her. Zubin quickly got the door, and the two climbed in to join the rest of the group. Jaq smiled as the car began to pull away, ignoring the fools who would be waving at the car behind them. As Zubin introduced Jaq, she smiled, realizing that Prom was offically underway.

(Zubin Wadia and Jaquilyn Locke continued elsewhere.)