Hot Babes, I Mean Hot Chocolate

[Erin Hackett]

"Quinn, this is the perfect time for us to find someone. It's winter. Do you not know what that means?" Erin asked as she was practically leaping forward towards where they could get some hot chocolate. Alright, that was a lie. Erin was not leaping at all and in fact she was staying pretty close to her friend, but she did walk in front of him so that was progress. This was still a place with a lot of people. Said people all here for hot chocolate, hanging out, dates, ice skating, and so on.

Erin was here with her best friend; yes she put him in that status by this point, to try and scope them out some ladies. It was winter seasons and she had asked Quinn what that meant. Not that she was going to wait too long for him to answer. "It means people are in the mood to cuddle, sleep with someone, to feel loved for the holidays and the New Year. To not be alone. This is our time to shine." Erin would end up answering, just excited about all of this.

She debated if she was going to let Quinn know that it was during the winter season when she had managed to get rid of her 'innocence', so the plan was full proof! Even if they didn't find anyone, they could at least enjoy some hot chocolate; admire the view, and maybe skate or something.

((Tag: Quinn Wiley ))

[Quinn Wiley]

Winter apparently meant something for them. But what? He was the only lucky one because he didn’t have to wear a woolly hat? Wait, she said them. Uh... “We can buy candy cane flavored beverages?” Quinn saw nothing interesting about winter, other than it was perhaps the season of the year he sweated the least. Somehow, saying you were constantly hot sounded a lot better on the paper. The beverage answer was sarcastic but that was all that came to his mind as Erin was dragging him to someone selling hot chocolate.

She was the one who asked him to come over. He didn’t really see why they should go there and it even sounded odd coming from Erin. She never liked being around a lot of people and many were there to admire the tree they installed or skate or have some chocolate in between the other activities they had in mind for the day. Quinn felt like they didn’t belong. He probably stuck out more, since he was not wearing as warm a coat as the others.

She had another answer to her question. Holidays made people desperate for cuddle and so they could shine and be their cuddly bears. He stared at her. By this point, his expression of disbelief must be pretty common for Erin. When she had ideas like this, it was hard for him not to look at her that way. “Doesn’t that make us sound even more desperate than they are?” So they could only score in winter when people were tired of being lonely during cold nights? That did sound rather pathetic. “What are the chances it will work. Doesn’t sound like a very logical assessment,” he pointed out. Still, being out was... okay. He did like it more than he pretended but he wouldn’t say as much. As for the chocolate, he might admit liking it. And he didn’t mind as much anymore that she paid for him. She had the money, he was not against her spending it on him.

[Erin Hackett]

"No...well yes but not what I was getting at." Erin first responded to Quinn's first comment about what was great about this time of year. She would not even say that was even close to being great things about this time of the year. In her opinion most of those things didn't even taste all that good and who said that you could only get them during this time of the year? That was why you stocked up or ordered offline because then you could get it whenever you wanted to. Besides that point, she figured he would have gotten what she was getting at when she invited him out to hang out with her and get some hot chocolate.

Sure she left it very vague as to what they would be doing but she figured he would just know what it was all about since he was a guy and all. A supposed straight guy, but then again she had to remind herself that this was Quinn and he was not like the average guy. Which was exactly why she wanted to help him score a lovely lady or at least someone pretty enough to score with for one night. That would be good and that was the goal by the end of the day, which she was keeping to herself. For now she revealed why they were actually here and she got the look that she pretty much got ninety-nine percent of the time she came up with ideas and plans and shared them with Quinn.

While he was rarely supportive or praised her ideas, at least he still gave them a shot and thus that was all that mattered. "No, no. You are looking at it all wrong. It makes us the bad guys and chicks did the bad guys. See, here is how it goes. We are taking advantage of the seasons to get a girl, that’s bad." Erin pointed out with a sage like nod. Okay, she didn't want to be bad to women or anything like that but in her mind she would rather be bad then desperate because desperate was pathetic. She moved to get in the line for hot chocolate, already chuckling a little when Quinn asked what were the chances of it working. "Pretty high actually, it's how I stopped being a virgin after all." Erin said, proudly.

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn had figured the chocolate, with special flavour in it or not, was not what she brought him here for. If she was so eager to have chocolate, she could easily make some at home. Or go some place less crowded than this. He wondered if she meant gifts. This season was not one of Quinn’s favourite by far. Why would he like it? It either reminded him of old Christmases with his parents when they were still a family or those with her aunt and cousins when he was there because he had to. He didn’t like Christmas. Gifts were bittersweet to him. A little something to remember someone by when they’ll leave. So he was hoping Erin had not brought him here for some shopping. Or skating for that matter. His balance wasn’t all that great on skates. Well, maybe it was, he never tried. He just assumed that, since he sucked so much with skis...

Erin always came up with the craziest of plans. Who else would consider this the perfect time to prey on girls so they’d have someone to cuddle? Said like that, sure, that sounded a lot worse. What was better though, desperate or predator-like? So the girl claimed they had the perfect opportunity here to get themselves some pretty ladies to snuggle with? Quinn was unsure of this. If he was receiving looks right now, it had more to do with how light his coat was compared to others and not his face, he was certain of it. Maybe he should have gotten rid of his curls for the day? He never understood what the girls liked, if they preferred straight or curly hair. Great, now he was starting to give some thought into her madness!

And she claimed they were bad guys. “Yeah, but aren’t we trying to get girls so we’re not alone either? That sort of makes us like them no?” With that or any other plan, he didn’t see how he could score. Quinn was attracted to girls. He could react just like any other guys. But he also thought himself too plain for them to like him. “So you just want to repeat the exploit. Cannot get the same girl? That didn’t work out well last time?” She was so proud that it worked before for her, but was it really the season that explained why she lost her virginity? Quinn was certain that her geeky charms worked on some girl and it just so happened in the winter. Had it occurred in Spring, she probably would have said that the nature coming back to life made people want to be back to life too or some silly stuff like that.

[Erin Hackett]

It was all about girl. Getting them girls, enjoying the view of the girls, and just thinking about girls. Okay, so hot chocolate, conversation, and the general Erin and Quinn events were expected to happen; at least that is how Erin saw it. It should not have been that hard for her friend to figure out why she would go to a place so crowded when she didn’t really like being around a lot of people. Quinn should have just known the few situations when she would put up with such a discomfort in order to enjoy something far better. There should not have been any new video games, manga, or anything Japan or computer based coming out in their current location so that just left women.

As for the holiday itself, it was just another day to Erin. Her dad often was busy on it over the years so in truth they never actually really celebrated it. If Quinn went back to her house he would see the lack of lights, tree, or well anything really related to the holiday. It was not that she disliked it but she just never celebrated it and people had to keep in mind how it was handled differently outside the USA. After all, she was born and raised in Japan so a good chunk of her culture was wrapped up in that life. Anyways, as for her plan she thought it was great and was certain Quinn would see the ‘good’ and be all for joining her with executing it.

“You are looking at it wrong. Think of it as us being knights in shining armor worried about making sure they are not alone on the holiday. We are basically sacrificing ourselves for them, none of this us actually being despite for it.” Erin tried to explain. Yes, Quinn was right but Erin refused to look at it that way because looking it in the way that they were helping out those beautiful ladies just sounded and felt better. Then Quinn just had to ask about getting that same girl and asking if it didn’t work out so well last time. Erin’s mood quickly changed along with the facial expression she was giving her friend, which was now a glare.

“If it had worked out I would have been your wingman and not your co-piolet in this situation.” Erin muttered under her breath. She was going to leave out the fact that the reason things didn’t work out was completely her fault. She had gotten pretty far in the relationship but as per usual she started to freak out when things got more involved. Erin then shook her head, refusing to think too much about that as she moved to reach out in an attempt to turn Quinn’s head in the direction of their ‘damsels’. “There. You see before you a group of friends, but one is an extra wheel as you can see how she is kind of off to herself in a way. She is the type we are going for.” Erin explained.

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn was not making fun of Erin only because her idea did not interest him a whole lot. That girl had a way to come up with some pretty weird and sometimes crazy plans. Or half-thought ones. Or all that wrapped up in one. It was his impression at the very least and going ‘chick hunting’ certainly fit that category. He didn't think he’d get a girl that way. But he suspected she might have some girl in her sight and just wanted someone around to give her some courage. It was just tough luck that her best friend was Quinn Wiley.

“So first we were the bad guys and now we’re the white knights?” He was making fun of her here. He got what she meant but it was just too easy to do. Plus it was very much like him. She should have expected it by now. “So you want me to go ‘I’m warmer than any fire, wanna hug?’ on girls and see how many I can get, is that it?” Somehow, he had the feeling that if he said it exactly like that, he wouldn’t get a lot. He didn’t mean to do that either. He had to say though, that he didn’t think it was anything that would get him girls. Not that he had tried in the past, mind you. He always kept this side of him secret. Even at Bellefonte, there were only a handful of people who knew what his power was. He didn’t see why he should tell them. He had to admit something too. Having someone for the holidays would be one hell of a gift.

Now that he thought about it, he probably should get her a little something for Christmas. He always sucked at picking gifts. He never knew what people wanted, unless they made him a list. Buying her a game was too obvious, and there was a high chance she had it already. He would have to be a little more creative than that.

He didn't mean to make Erin glare and he got that whatever happened, it didn’t end well. Or she just didn’t want to talk about it. No. Erin was not Quinn, something must have gone wrong. Or she was just tired of his teasing. Yeah, that fitted too. He was about to change the subject and ask her what kind of girls she was looking for when she pointed one to him. A group of them to be precise, but she isolated one in particular. The type of girl they should go after. “Alright, but how will you tell she might be into you? Plus, you must be looking for more than just the left out ones, right? The only girls I know you like are from video games and I don’t think we can materialise them.”

[Erin Hackett]

Erin figured by now that Quin would have been able to just know what kind of plan she was coming up with just from the fact of knowing her so long. She didn’t really do much out of the standard things that interested her. That much about her had remained the same over the years. Girl hunting was something that they both could enjoy and take a part in. They were still young and now were the time to be testing out relationship, trying to find that special someone. Or at least that was the stage where Erin was since she had a pretty steady job and since Quinn was basically working with/for her he was practically there.

At least he was in Erin’s mind for the main sake of there was no way that she could do this on her own without the help of some alcohol. Erin literally face-palmed at Quinn’s question, her hand slowly sliding down her face as she half glared at her best friend. He always questioned her plans to the point that he made her have to doubt, and rethink them or just be really stubborn. Perhaps he did it on purpose, but either way it was very much a Quinn thing he was doing. “Knights are bad guys too. They would kill people all because some King told them to for a reason like the King not liking them.” Erin pointed out.

There, was that good enough justification that they were both good and bad? Erin then looked at Quinn like her was brilliant at the next words that left his mouth. “Yes, you could do just that. It works double as well because of your power…but have to be careful you don’t give away what you are unless you know they are a mutant to or at least like mutants.” Erin pointed out, already thinking about what line she could say that would work with her power and be super flirty as well. She just mostly wanted to focus on the here and now and not on past events, even if she should have known Quinn would ask.

That was her fault for not telling him but things had just short of happened and she didn’t really know how to tell her best friend or anyone for that matter. “Mmmm…valid point.” Erin responded when Quinn voiced words on how to know more about the girls. “Go up to her and ask her if she is okay. Girl’s love when you are caring and concerning. That’s your in. Go for it. I’ll be right here.” Erin said, patting Quinn on the back and gave him a small push in the direction of the group of girls. Worse case, she could go invisible and get closer to try and help him out.

[Quinn Wiley]

There are some reaction, you’d imagine to see only in an anime. Erin was so like one of those characters that Quinn could almost see the drop on her head or the lines crossing on her face to show the extent of her current emotional state. She did not really have a teardrop on the back of her head or bars across her forehead but she did face palm. That was the closest a real person could do. And he still considered her really anime-like. The thought cross his mind to imagine her in a chibi version. He better not say it out loud. She’d find a way to create them both.



She objected that knights could be bad. “Yeah, but that’s the king who’s bad, they’re only following orders,” he retorted. Okay, maybe he should stop, she was glaring already. “You could have mentioned the Black Knight. There’s always an evil one in old tales.” Poor Erin had a way of running away from girls and it was not like he really wanted her to give up on her plan or anything. He was just like that, he always had to point out the flaws or ask why he should bother. The glass was always half empty.

She liked the idea. She understood quickly what he meant by being ‘warmer’ than anyone else. “That’ll be a first. People wanting to snuggle a dragon,” he pointed out. “Well, expect maybe for Spyro. The old version of it. It looked very snuggable.” He might not be a gamer to her level but he still played, or saw games being played by his cousins, so he knew a few things. Erin was not as lucky with her power. Because the only things he could think of were either insulting or too dirty to ever say them, especially when meeting someone. Ugh, meeting someone. They both dreaded that. Why she wanted them to do that?

He hated that even more when she was shoving him to do a solo mission. “Me, why me?” But she had already shoved him. He didn’t want to go. Seriously, he should start and befriend girls who are more sociable than he is. He wouldn’t be the one doing that. “Hm, hi,” he said to the girl with all the awkwardness he had within himself. Of course, after that, he had absolutely no idea what to say. So he got silent for a moment, only to make it even more awkward. “My friend wanted me to tell you she found you pretty cute,” he added quickly, pointing with his thumb behind him in Erin’s direction.

[Erin Hackett]

Erin was very animated in how she behaved, that much was true. It was probably because she watched too much anime and manga as a child that a part of her felt like it was the natural way people acted around one another. Of course she knew certain things would not appear; like her soul leaving her body, but she could emulate the behavior. It was what happened when the only people that you really could watch and observe locked away inside your home were cartoon creations of people.

"Y-yeah...well okay. They are both bad. Knight bad for following orders but if he did not he would be killed. Come on Quinn, that was such a good analogy and you just ruined it." Erin responded as she let out a small huff. Leave it to Quinn, seeing holes in everything that she said...even if he had valid points to create these holes. She shook her head no when he spoke of the whole black knight thing. "I didn't want you to think of Batman, so I left that saying out. How about we go with like Robin Hood, he was bad and good." Erin said, but it came out sort of like a question.

A part of her wanted to pull up all the stories and drawing of women and dragon when Quinn spoke up about people and snuggle dragons. Then talk about Spyro. Why Spyro out of all the dragon choices he had, Erin had no idea but he went ahead and used that cartoon dragon as an example of something to snuggle a dragon. "Quinn, I swear it's like you don't know women. Have you notched watched Game of Thrones? Hot babes love dragons!" Erin said, her voice raising a little from a mix of disbelief and just general shock that Quinn thought that people didn’t want to snuggle a dragon. Hell, Erin would snuggle a dragon in a second if it was not going to kill her. At least they were onto the whole Quinn going up to the girls bet.

Admittedly Erin shoved him over there, but at least Quinn was there and talking. Well...he said hi, followed by silence, and then Erin should have known what happened next was going to happen. She almost used her power, but for the sake of Quinn's sanity in other people’s eyes she didn't and gave an awkward wave as a blush took over her face. "Y-yeah...but you said she was beautiful. Don't try and play this off on me y-you Casanova you." Erin said, very nervous as she came over closer. No doubt they were getting different reactions from the group of girls.

[Quinn Wiley]

Erin could be uplifting but usually not around so many people. It was odd to see her so excited over meeting people, talking to them, potentially touch and be close to them. It was weird how she me be longing so much for someone by her side when she kept running away from them. Then again, the same could be said of Quinn but he would not admit to that.

He was a little sorry to have ruined her analogy. A little. But forcing him to be social... She should have seen it coming. He was not the kind to easily do things when he didn’t want to. He would stand his ground, stubbornly, and show no interest in it, even if there might be some. In this case however, it was more the certainty it would not work that made him reject her plan. He didn’t want to humiliate himself. “Batman?” he let out as she mentioned him. He then realised. Dark Knight. Right. “I was thinking Arthur. You know, the actual knights and that dark knight that always show up against them.” Okay, maybe it was too obscure. Maybe he should update his references. He already had a girl giving him an odd look for bringing up Andy Warhol. He shrugged at the mention of Robin Hood. “Yeah sure. And you want love so I guess arrows are necessary... You know, Cupid.” This time he made sure to explain it, just in case.

Had he watched games of Thrones? Sure, a little, like about everyone in the planet. He didn’t think it made dragons huggable though. But Erin seemed to think differently. He still didn’t think he should bring that up to the girl. Just saying he was hot would bring up the wrong idea in the girl and he looked creepy enough for his taste. Erin didn’t really have the time to disappear that he was talking of her. If she did, eyes were on her and it was not a good idea to use her power under these circumstances. Instead, she joined in and tried to put the attention on him again. “Don’t make this more awkward than it is. You wanted me to tell her she was beautiful or not?” Quinn was barely paying attention to the girl. “Well, obviously, they all are, but she was the one you pointed out.” Right. Not awkward at all.

[Erin Hackett]

Erin knew very well how stubborn Quinn was, she had just not given up on trying to break him of that. It had been three years with barely any luck to the point she was convinced that it was a set in stone personality trait with him. However, she was stubborn as well so she was not going to give up any time soon trying to make Quinn give up with being stubborn with her. Quinn clarified who he was talking about specifically, which made since but of course it was not going to be what first popped into Erin's mind when she heard the word 'Dark Knight'.

"Ah...well those guys were the real deal...minus the whole magic thing. Then again it might have all been real; none of us were alive to say it was not without a shadow of a doubt. Even if most of it we could prove just being like a magic trick." Erin went on to say, rambling a bit before shaking her head and getting back on track. Leave it to her mind to go off wondering things and end up saying them out loud when they were supposed to stay in her head. "Yeah, like cupid...or something like that." Erin responded with a hesitant nod. Only reason why she was hesitant was because of that whole 'love' comment.

Did she even want to be loved anymore? Could she even handle it when she had failed one and ran from it another time? Quinn was being cruel now. Not only did he end up bringing her into the conversation when it was supposed to be for him, he was now putting the attention on her. Two could play at this game, and she was so ready to play the back and forth but a part of her knew that was not going to get them anywhere with the ladies. "Well of course I did want to tell her she is beautiful. All of them are attractive young women, but I think you are confused because it was clearly you that wanted the attention of this lovely lady right here." Erin said, pointing at the girl and giving Quinn a look. Oh, she so wanted to beat him up now.

((Tag: Quinn Wiley ))

[Quinn Wiley]

Erin could call him stubborn all she liked, she was no better. Everyone else would have given up already, understanding that Quinn didn’t want to do anything. She kept pushing, to the point that standing still became more of a pain than simply going along with it. Not a lot of people could pride themselves into being able to make Quinn do things he didn’t want to in the first place. She was one of those people who could.

Were the Knights of the Round Table real? “I thought Arthur was just a fiction, a mix between a Saxon king and a Roman conqueror,” he said but his tone clearly showed that he didn't care whether Arthur existed for real or not. Knights did. If the rest was the stuff of legends, surely some knights were a lot like what you read. If she hesitated about Cupid, he figured it had to do with how stupid it sounded. Then again, comparing them to knights or Robin Hood was pretty silly too. Although he could see Erin as some sort of hacking Robin Hood. That was kind of her style. Maybe she should start wearing green. Or whatever color helped you blend in front of computer screens.

Quinn wanted the attention on himself about as much as Erin did. They should have put it on the girl, or girls, but they ended up arguing over which one of them found them the most beautiful instead. It left them quite puzzled over what was going on for sure. He held her gaze for a moment before turning towards the group of girls they just joined. “Excuse her, she’s shy. You’re lucky she did not vanish already,” he told them. It was a pun, since she could literally vanish, but he did mean it as running away, something else she could easily do. “But yes, you are all very beautiful. Does that make me sound bad to say I find you the prettiest?” he asked as he turned towards the girl Erin pointed at. He was not sure if she was the prettiest and he looked as though he shouldn’t have said it in front of her friends. “She’s the one who pointed you out though. If you’re not interested however...” There. They looked at the girls, they talked to the girls. They could go now, right?

[Erin Hackett]

"I don't know. He might be or he could be real in some ways. I grew up in Japan, remember? I just remember reading about Arthur...thought he was real." Erin responded, her eyes looking down at the ground as she thought about it. Curses, she really did think that was like a real deal story. In Japan they had all sorts of stories and with how things played out she figured they were real. Who was to say they were not? What if the world really did have magic and people just lost it over time because of things or something? She didn't know, but now it was holding her thoughts for a good bit. Erin was certainly going to have to do some research on the matter.

However, knowing herself she likely end up forgetting since it didn't pertain to video games or women. If they were not currently dealing with the pretty girls, then Erin would have dragged Quinn off to get his help to figure out if Arthur was real in any kind of way or if he was one hundred percent made up story. I'm so going to beat you up after this Quinn. Just you wait. Erin thought to herself, practically clenching her fist that were so ready to just hit her best friend for turning things on her when this was for him. "..." Erin's mouth opened to say something, but no words came out. Quinn was actually doing pretty well at the talking, even if he was still using her. She supposed that this was another way she could be a wingman and by looking at it that way she felt a little less angry.

Quinn at least spoke up about how he did actually find one of them the prettiest, which no doubt didn't earn him any points with the other girls. However, the one he said that two was most certainly blushing, which made Erin proud of her best friend and maybe a little jealous. Until he added that last bit. "Hey, don't say that. You have to have confidence." Erin said scolding at Quinn for the whole pointing her out. She was not meant to be a backup; she was the backup in terms of his support. "S-sorry to bother you all. One second." Erin said as she quickly grabbed a hold of Quinn's arm to drag him away from the group of girls, and was outright glaring at him.

((Tag: Quinn Wiley))

[Quinn Wiley]

“Ah yeah, right, Japan. Forgot that.” It was easy to forget, for sure. Erin hardly looked the Japanese type. She didn't have the black hair and the almond shapes eyes. Or the name. “I suppose if we were Brits, we’d know this better,” he said with a shrug. He didn’t really care whether Arthur existed for real or not. He would have died a really long time ago if he did. And so what if he was inspired of actual people but was not real himself? Most of the stories weren’t real anyway. didn’t stop them from having bits in them that could appear real. “I think he’s like Robin Hood, inspired of real people but there’s not like one that really is Arthur. Does it really matter anyway?” Quinn didn’t think it took away the beauty of the stories.

Quinn was not looking at Erin, at least not well enough. If he had, he would have noticed her little fists clenched up and ready to punch. But he did not. She got him into this, she may as well suffer with him. Come to think of it, he didn’t even seem to realise he was actually saying a few right things there to the ladies. In that domain, he was pretty dense. He thought it wouldn’t play in Erin’s favor if they flirted with them all at once and since she picked one girl, he put his focus on her, not realising her friends might be at tad jealous at this. Maybe they’d push her to go and talk to Erin. Provided she was lesbian or bi. Too bad there weren’t a way to recognize them. Maybe Quinn could stop tumbling on the lesbian ones and turn them into his friends.

He gave a little smile to the ladies but was suddenly dragged away by Erin. Caught slightly by surprise, it took him a moment before he could turn and follow her. “What is it? You wanted her, right? Why are you throwing her at me then?” he sort of whispered to her so the girls would not hear them. He seemed to notice now that she was angry. “Hey, that was your plan all along.”

[Erin Hackett]

Erin was not going to make a huge deal over him forgetting where she was raised, since she didn’t look like the ‘standard’ person that came from the area. She didn’t know if one would count that as him living by stereotypes but she didn’t really care that much. “Probably.” Erin responded with a small shrug. She figured that too would not really have mattered much. This just meant that they clearly needed to read or do a bit more research. However such information was not about women or video games, so at the end of the day she did not care about it too much.

She still listened as Quinn explained what he thought that it was, and that made sense. “Yeah…could be something like that but you are right, it does not really matter. Either way, we got this.” Erin responded, trying to motivate Quinn and herself. She didn’t want to be the bad guys, but they also could not be a good guy because the good guys never got the girls. They wanted the bad guys to try and change them and something along those lines. Then again, that could have just been what movies made her feel like was true, but there was research that also aligned with such information. What mattered right now was trying to win the ladies for her or Quinn.

Her goal was to try and win them for Quinn and just be his backup but he kept putting things back on her and ‘fighting’ with her. She wanted to punch him; oh she was so going to punch him when she would get the chance. Erin had no clue what team the girls played for, but that was why you had a guy friend. If they were interested in him, you knew they were straight. If they were not, then it was a possibility that they were gay. Except now she felt embarrassed and upset so she wanted to get away, which was why she took Quinn with her. “I wanted her for you. I’m trying to get you a girl!” Erin said, her voice raising little bit at her frustration.

“We are supposed to be like…I don’t really know how the whole wing man thing works but we are supposed to be doing that.” Erin tried to explain. Okay, she might have needed to think this plan through better and break it down a bit more. That was supposed to be Quinn’s job and while he did point out a few things, he didn’t point out this issue.

((Tag: Quinn Wiley))