sing for you ! [takeru]

[MATTHEW FUYU CHANG]

So, if Matt could be honest and pleased iwth himself, things had been going pretty well with Shakespeare Girl (but apparently not well enough for him to actually remember her name, but it was hard when she was so distracting, what with her stupid pretty smile and citrus smelling hair). He enjoyed her company and had finally crossed that awkward 'just friends in class' line to being actual friends...kind of. It seemed sort of inevitable now that the second semester was underway and they, unforunately, had no classes together. It was also hard that he lived about half an hour away from the university and she dormed like all other normal kids, but he was determined to make this work. At least he got her phone number, and was even on the phone with her this precise moment, even if it was mostly him listening to her speak because he could do so for hours on end. (Was he an idiot? ...yeah. Yeah, probably.) It's not even like he had never had girlfriends before, but it had been awhile. Plus, it was weird dating someone who wasn't an elemental, and starting something off with this giant secret looming over his head, a secret that people he didn't even like knew, wasn't a very healty start, as it mostly just made him paranoid and anxious, worried about slipping up at any moment. It was such a natural part of him that he shouldn't have to hide, really, but he knew why he had to. "I promise you I'm listening,"

he hastily said into the phone when his thoughts had meandered a little and Shakespeare Girl asked him if he was okay. "Anyway, so you were saying about skiing?"

[/color] It was a big family event for her, apparently, every winter. Then again, it's not like you can do much else in the great North.

There was a knock on his door a few minutes later, while they were talking about possibly going on a date -- a date! -- and Matt almost told her to wait a second to go get it when he heard the scratching of a key unlocking the front door and figured it was all right -- it was either just Sandra (and why she would knock he didn't know, but it was just the right amount of random that it would be something she'd do) or someone he and Sandra both trusted enough to tell them where the spare key was. At least, he was pretty sure it wasn't some crazy robber who just happened to know where the spare key was, but why would you rob an apartment in the dead of night when all the lights were on, anyway? If it was a robber, Matthew would have to lecture him on the proper moment to pull a robbery. "You sound like you know the area better than I do, so why don't I just come pick you up and then see where the night takes us?"[/color] Matt said. Usually, he was sure that sort of speech pattern indicated some foul play, or at least less than pure motives, but (maybe a little sadly) Matt was pretty sincere. Spontaneity was a date's good fortune, he truly thought. He was finally about to turn towards the door to see who the person entering his home was when she mentioned something about the college's downtown area -- it sounded a lot like Maple Hollow, and lord knows that Matt always managed to make Maple Hollow a fun place for his Vancouverite self. "Sounds great! I'll see you on Friday, then,"[/color] he confirmed, then they said their goodbyes. Once he hung up, he pumped a fist into the air and let out a triumphant 'Woo!', then spun around and hugged the person who came to visit. Or just came home, if it was Sandra. Now that he thought about it, he really, really hoped it wasn't a burglar.[/justify][/color][/font][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[TAKERU KENTO MATSUZAKA]

Takeru took a bite out his burger. It was his day off and he had just gone to get lunch for himself and his best buddy. He had known Matt since the beginning of their Academy days and they had been great friends ever since. On top of that they were neighbors now as well so they hung out a bit more often now. He walked up the steps to the floor where both their apartments were. First he stopped by his apartment and dropped off his bag. After locking his door he walked a few doors down to the Chang's Apartment.

Like a good neighbor he knocked first. After a second there was no answer so he thought that maybe Matt was busy with something so instead Takeru juggled the food and drinks to get the extra key that was hidden away for the door. The key was actually hidden well, the only reason he knew where it was was because Matt had told him. He opened the door quietly and instantly saw Matt. The water was on the phone with his back turned from him. He quietly crept inside and put the food and drinks on the table. While doing so he couldn't help but overhear Matt's conversation. Who was he talking too? He eyes widened a bit. Was he planning a date? When did this happen? This was exciting for him. If he was right that his friend had just got himself a date he would be ecstatic. He walked up behind Matt when the water got off the phone and was about to say something when Matt surprised him first by hugging him. "I love you too man but why don't you save the hugging for the girl." he said with a grin and sarcastic tone. "I mean you did just land yourself a date right? Come on man you've got to give me the details." he said with the enthusiasm of a child.

[MATTHEW FUYU CHANG]

Well, there really was no going back now -- Matthew was hugging his best friend. It really wasn't an issue for him, because he was happy, and when he was happy he wanted everyone else to be just as happy, and when he was feeling a little down he tended to want people to feel that way, too, just so he didn't feel so alone, but nothing could make him feel alone right now, in this point in time, because he was really pretty stoked at just landing himself a date with Shakespeare Girl and not even feeling like he messed it up somewhere long the line! That was something to be happy about, for sure! And whatever, all right, Takeru could just deal with it. He had a point, though, 'saving the hugging for the girl', but he had a point to make, okay. What it was...well, he was still working on that part.

"Remember Shakespeare Girl?"

Matthew really needed to remember her name. "We're going out on the town on Friday night. I mean, not Maple Hollow, but the downtown area my college is at."

[/color] Really, getting a date shouldn't be such a big deal, but Matthew had lived so much of his life forever alone that when shit like this happened for him, he was really happy about it. Still, he didn't want to get all of his hopes up. It was just one date. Who knew what would happen? Maybe she hated comic books. Maybe she hated cupcakes. Maybe she hated puppies. There was still a lot left to discover about this girl, his Shakespearean sonnet. (Did he really just think that? Wow. He had no words for himself.)

"Unfortunately, that's really the extent of it, but if anything else happens, I'll let you know."[/color] Matt said, finally letting go of the guy, going for a peaceable (and manly) fistbump instead. It was then he realized the bags of food and tray of drinks on the table -- Takeru had brought food! Matthew loved food! Matthew loved Takeru. "Oh sweet, thanks man!"[/color] Matthew said, sitting down and starting to spread everything out, trying to figure out what belonged to whom.[/justify][/color][/font][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[TAKERU KENTO MATSUZAKA]

Takeru was the type of person that could get happy for just about anything. He normally looked for the brighter side in things rather than let himself be brought down by the negative. Life was no fun if you were always worried about the bad things that could happen. On top of that he normally found joy in his friends. So if his friends were happy for whatever reason and their were putting off a good vibe then Takeru would definitely be one to hop on that train and ride along. Right now for instance he could feel how happy Matt was and of course Takeru couldn't help but naturally feel the same even if he didn't know all the details. It was quite amusing. Mattie had just randomly hugged him. The water had no idea really as to who had come in but then again sometimes when you're suddenly filled with joy. He nodded at Matt's question.

He remembered Matt talking about her before. Nothing huge but he did recall a few times that Matt had mentioned this Shakespeare girl. So he had been right, Matt had just landed himself a date. His face lit up. A person would think he had been the one to get the date but it was just he was happy for his best friend here. He return the fist pump with a huge smile. "Congrats bro. Super exciting. And I highly recommend remembering her name. As sweet as Shakespeare girl may sound not sure if she'd like getting called that all night." he said with a wink and sarcastic tone as he teased his friend a bit. "Kidding aside though I'm happy for you." then he placed a hand over his heart and a fake look of being moved. "My best friend is getting out of his bubble. Today is a good day." he said with a slight smile and acted like he was wiping away a tear before starting to laugh a bit. When Matt had spotted the food he just smiled again. "No worries. I thought that it was a good day to hang out, looks like I was right. So I brought you food. I figured Sandra was at school so I just got for the two of us." The water started spreading everything out on the small table. Takeru grabbed the things that were his and then pushed what was Matt's towards him and sat down on the couch. "So you gotta refresh my memory. How did you meet this girl?"

[MATTHEW FUYU CHANG]

Was it a little sad that here he was, celebrating getting a date? Surely an 18, almost 19 year old guy would be treating this rather normally, right, because at close to 19 years old, you probably should have gone on dates at this point. And well, Matt did, but they always felt really forced, and not to mention that most of them were practically blind dates. Since middle school, he'd never actually gone on the prowl, as it were, to find a lady friend, and so this was kind of a major leap for him. And the fact that it was a girl that he got along with, was smart and intelligent and didn't mind all his weird little eccentricities and jesus, he really needs to remember her name at some point, right? He can't just keep calling her Shakespeare Girl forever.

"No, I know her name, it's just a thing between us. She even knows I call her Shakespeare Girl in my mind most of the time."

[/color] She didn't know that that was what he called her in general, especially at the Hollow. It was probably a little shady, now that he thought about it, but he basically had no reason to tell them exactly who she was since he highly doubted that they would ever hang out in Maple Hollow. ...and okay, the thought of running into someone who knew too much about Matthew to potentially embarrass him wasn't very fetching, either. Matthew grabbed some napkins from the napkin holder and handed Takeru a few before plopping down on the couch next to the Earth elemental, burger in hand, carefully unwrapping it to prevent any stray toppings from falling out and onto the couch. "She was in my class world literature course last semester, and she basically just talked about Shakespeare all the time. I deduced that she really loved Shakespeare."[/color] And this was the truth. Every time the class was open for discussion on whatever topic it was, the girl always likened it to something in Shakespeare, or used Shakespeare as examples. Eventually, the class started calling her Shakespeare Girl, and it was fortunate that she didn't seem to mind, even enjoyed it a little and laughed it off, as he probably wouldn't have liked her so much if she had any sort of issue with it. "Her name's Claire, if you must know,"[/color] Matthew added for good measure, trusting Takeru enough not to go blabbing to the newspapers the identity of Matthew's mystery love interest.[/justify][/font][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[TAKERU KENTO MATSUZAKA]

It was rather childish wasn't. Both of them getting excited about the fact that Mattie had gotten a date. At their age it should be something that perhaps they should be used to, or at least shouldn't be so overly excited about it but Takeru couldn't help it. Since he naturally just got excited about almost anything you could expected that off him. Of course Matt could be a different story but considering it wasn't like either of them went on dates all the time so in his mind at least in the comfort of their homes could the be allowed to get away with this little celebration, despite if many would see it as childish. At least Matt had a better chance with them. Takeru was far to aloof to be able to talk with girls in that matter. He's totally a flake when it comes to these kinds of things. He could make friends with girls but when it came to things such as flirting or romance he knew as much as a rock and then it was possiblet hat even the rock knew more than him.

He nodded his head at him. Well, that was good. If the girl knew about the name and obvious didn't mind it very much. That was good right? He didn't know of course but oh well. He wasn't the one going out with her. He was more interested on remembering who this girl was. Of course he had yet to actually meet or see what this girl looked like since she went to the university that Matt went to outside of the Hallow. It wasn't very likely that he would ever really meet this girl unless either he went outside the Hallow or Matt brought the girl here. He kindly took the napkins from Matt. Of course he took careful care while eating since he wasn't in his own house. He wasn't about to make a mess in his best friend's house. He ate silently as Matt talked. "That's a nice name. What are you planning to do? Impress her with poems?" He asked curiously. It wasn't to insult Matt or anything, he was sincerely asking. Takeru was too kind hearted to be insult anyone that he had a special connection with. "So since I was lucky enough to be first to hear about this, are you going to tell Sandra?"

[MATTHEW FUYU CHANG]

"Oh god, no. Can you even imagine me trying to recite poetry? I'll be lucky to stumble through it without stuttering 5 times."

Matthew waved a fry around to make his point. For as long as he could remember, it had always been hard for him to truly impress a girl, in that he knew he wasn't the most suave or smooth person in the world. It sort of helped that most of the girls he ended up really liking always started off as friends first so there wasn't that awkward 'get to know you' period, but for some reason, he always choked once they finally crossed that line. It was like the very idea of having a romantic relationship with a girl turned Matthew into some bumbling idiot, which all right, was kind of cute for like, five seconds, but then got increasingly annoying and irritable. It didn't help that he was a (closet) hopeless romantic, either, but most of the girls he were attracted to were independent and didn't like all that lovey-dovey stuff. It was kind of a conundrum, really, one that left Matt with only one serious relationship under his belt and absolutely no clue on what else to do. Thankfully, Claire seemed all right -- or, at least she wouldn't judge him so hard for being completely fail in a relationship. It was just hard to know what girls wanted. "Besides, I'm not going to impress a girl whose knowledge of poetry puts mine to shame. That's like asking to be critiqued."

[/color] Really, now. Most people would go in, armed with something that she liked to try and forge some sort of connection, but Matt knew that he wouldn't be able to feign interest in poetry for that long, so he was just going to go in and be honest -- he hated poetry. That shit made no sense. (And now he wonders why he doesn't get all the girls. Really. As if it's even a question at this point.)

"Uh...I don't think I'll tell her right away, if that's what you're asking."[/color] Matt replied to Takeru's question about Sandra. He wasn't lying about it, really -- just keeping it hidden. He and Sandra had a rule that if -- if -- they ever brought home someone of their fancy and needed the other's presence, that probably meant it was somewhat serious. Considering he and Claire were meeting up, and meeting up by his college, no less, and away from Maple Hollow, there really was no point in telling Sandra about it. A modicum of privacy was a good thing, after all, and when they already shared the same living space, Matt thought it would be good to have his own secrets for once. "Besides! It's not like she told me what's up with her and that dude that took her to prom. Sketchy shit, man."[/color] All right, from what he had seen at prom, the kid -- Devin or something lame -- was a pretty all right dude, but still. Matt finished off his burger, crumpling up the wrapper and tossing it into the paper bag like it was a basketball net, making it in easy. He turned and glanced at Takeru then, curiosity written on his face. "How about you? Any girl you're interested in?"[/color][/justify][/color][/font][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[TAKERU KENTO MATSUZAKA]

"At least you could put something together even if you couldn't recite it. I would have trouble just getting words to rhyme." he said half serious and half jokingly. It wasn't an odd thing for Takeru to make fun of himself. He actually did it quite often. Since he did this often it made it harder for insults to affect him since he already made fun of himself. "Or she may find it impressive. After all it's the thought that counts." Takeru was just pulling at straws here. He really didn't know anything about girls. Takeru was the last person you'd want advice from. He knew as much as about girls as he knew about rocks. Absolutely nothing. With that in mind he probably shouldn't be giving advice to Matt, sometimes he spoke before thinking. "Then again I have no idea what I'm talking about so please don't mind me." he said with a smile, his usual playful self.

Considering Matt had just been getting off the phone when Takeru walked in it should have been obvious that Matt had yet to tell his sister Sandra. He just nodded his head at Matt's answer and took another bite of his hamburger, making sure not to make a mess or anything. He wiped his face with a napkin and took a drink from his soda. "Gotcha. My lips are sealed." making a zipper motion across his lips. This was something for Matt to tell Sandra, not for the younger water to be hearing from the earth. Matt would tell her when the time was right. Of course Takeru was sure Mattie would tell Sandra something but probably not the full details just yet. "Maybe it was nothing dude. They could have just gone as friends. I don't think you have anything to worry about. At least not yet." he said playfully. Takeru, like Sandra, was the second born child. So knowing that his best friend was the older brother, so sometimes he'd tease him about it. Takeru chuckled a bit at Matt's question as he took another drink from his soda. "Between work, soccer and dancing I have no time to be understanding girls. Besides, what girl would be interested in an airhead like me."

[MATTHEW FUYU CHANG]

"Nah, man, not all poetry has to rhyme."

Matthew shook his head, wiping his fingers on his jeans, even though it was moot since he was just going to start eating his fries right after. He wasn't normally the type to get his jeans dirty on purpose, either, but he had to do laundry the next day anyway, and he knew he had more than enough clothes to last him another week at least, but he was running out of underwear and that was a little necessary. Or a lot necessary. "She's already gone on and on about it once, in class."

[/color] The funny thing was that she was actually criticizing the curriculum in putting so much emphasis on Shakespeare's sonnets -- something about how praising his sonnets and his language was mistakenly making those not too versed in poetry think that poetry had to be about rhyme and scheme or something. Matthew couldn't really remember if she had a valid point -- it was a while ago, after all -- but she seemed so vehemently against the notion of "poetry = rhyming" that it sort of stuck in his mind. "Anyway, if whatever deity up there is on my side, I'll think of something original but fun and she'll be easy going and go along with it."[/color] They saw each other enough at school for her to definitely know that he was kind of a weirdo geek with the best intentions, but girls always changed their minds about stuff like that.

Matthew sighed. He knew there really was nothing to worry about -- this was Sandra, who liked to lay around and sleep on shoes and eat pizza. It wasn't a very clear equation that lead to her being a party animal, that was for sure. But still, he just had a feeling that there were some things you just don't tell each other -- would he want to know she was seeing this Devin guy in a serious relationship? Absolutely. But does he really need to know all the little details that he won't even entertain in his mind right now lest he just vomit all he just ate? No, no thank you. And quite frankly, he was pretty sure the opposite was true, too -- and if Sandra wanted to know all the sordid details of his love affairs, well, then there must be something really, really wrong with her. I know, but like...the possibility is there and I hate that there's even a possibility. I know she can take care of herself but dude. Dude."[/color] He didn't really have anything else to add to that, just a pointed look followed by chomping onto a fry...pointedly. But he didn't really like it when his friends sold themselves short, and Matthew waved another fry at his friend. "Hey man, I'm sure you have tons of admirers from all those dance recital competition things you do, right? It can't just be all guys getting into it. Maybe you're just not paying enough attention."[/color] Truthfully, Matthew didn't know if Takeru was doing the type of dance that would qualify for a lot of girls waiting around and watching, but he did know that what Takeru did couldn't be a male only type of thing. How bizarre.[/justify][/color][/font][/blockquote][/blockquote]