The Second Date Wouldn't Measure Up

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe kept moving, kept her gaze locked on Riley. In some ways, she almost seemed to go into something of a trance. The nerves and shyness just melted off, those brown eyes focused as they took in every detail of the scene before her. Zoe pulled the camera up, her fingers already moving to the various buttons and levers.

So when Riley started climbing, Zoe was right there to take record of it all. The camera shuttered and Zoe walked around slightly, matching angles, getting everything at just the right spot. Of course, she did end up accidentally looking at certain bits of Riley longer than she probably should have, catching herself just before taking a picture of her girlfriend's bottom.

"Focus," Zoe whispered under her breath, adjusting. She eventually ended up bumping into a root of her own. She paused, looking at it, considering, wondering if she shouldn't use it to climb up on her own.

[Riley Forrester]

Seriously, this was fun, and at one part Riley found herself grinning as she paused and looked back over the rest of the forest around them. She was getting pretty high up, considering. And then she glanced down at Zoe, who was taking pictures of her quite determinedly. Riley had spotted her out of the corner of her eye a few times when she was climbing. It was cute to see Zoe so determined to capture this all. My girlfriend is such a dork. I love her for it. Riley thought with a fond smile before she watched Zoe bump into a root herself and pause.

Riley instantly picked up on what Zoe was probably thinking and hurried back down towards Zoe with a smile before pausing on the root and grinning at Zoe, couching. "Hey! You come up here too." She said, holding out her hand to offer the other girl-- her girlfriend-- some help up as she grin turned slightly lopsided. "The view from up here's really nice."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe looked up as Riley looked down, which wasn't particularly hard as both were already more or less facing that way. But Zoe saw the grin and pretty well figured what was coming next even before it happened. She smiled and took the hand, working her way up, scrambling slightly and flailing a good deal, but eventually making her way up onto the branch. once there, she ended up clinging to Riley while she adjusted, getting into a good position.

Then, of course, Zoe had to check her camera, looking it over, tapping it, assuring herself that everything was in good working order and that nothing had happened. She should've handed it up to Riley before climbing up but, well, hind-sight was perfect, as they said. now she adjusted it and looked around. "It is nicer up here," she admitted, taking a deep breath. "It's all just wonderful, isn't it?" Zoe gestured, before leaning back slightly, still keeping a grip on Riley all the while. "And this was with mutants working with nature and doing something wonderful. I wish everyone could realize that this is what we really want..."

Zoe took another deep, contended breath, staring up at the impressive tree and just taking it in, feeling so very, very content.

[Riley Forrester]

Riley helped Zoe up the roots as well as she could, occasionally catching the girl when she stumbled while also watching to make sure she didn't drop her camera, considering how much it mattered to Zoe. Eventually they got themselves up into a branch and sat, Zoe holding onto Riley tightly. Which I do not mind at all. Riley's brain added. However Riley openly stared, awed by the view from their perch with a slight smile playing on her features before she turned her head and looked at Zoe. Her girlfriend was obviously thinking the same thing, both about the view and the tree.

Riley smiled and wrapped Zoe up into a hug, smiling and planting a swift kiss to the girls forehead. "I wish that too Zoe. Because this is absolutely beautiful." Riley said, glancing at the tree before looking back at Zoe and smiling warmly. "Thank you for the date, Zoe. It was..... Well, considering how it all turned out, I can only call it magical." She joked, hugging Zoe close, yet meaning it more than anything. "Because this was definitely unlike any date I've gone on before. Thank you, Zoe." She said sincerely

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Arms wrapped around Zoe and, for the first time in recent memory, she didn't immediately stiffen or try to pull away or anything else. She actually leaned slightly into it, smiling a little as Riley kissed her forehead yet again. The musician certainly did enjoy kissing Zoe there for some reason.

Zoe had to chuckle at the mention of it being "magical," however. "I did try," she said, chewing her lips and looking around for a moment. "I actually thought about purposefully making the date just awful, so we could get that out of the way," she let out a slight smile before looking up at Riley. "I suppose we'll just have to save that for our fourth date?" She said, only half teasing. In truth, the idea of purposefully having everything go wrong, when they could control it, when it wouldn't mean the end of things, appealed to Zoe. Even if it did sound almost humorous.

Though Zoe did have to agree with Riley: she'd certainly never had a date like this before.

[Riley Forrester]

Riley's smile strengthened as Zoe leaned into her, sighing with content. I could stay like this forever. Again. Hell, I could do this whole day again in a loop. Riley thought as she listened to Zoe speak. The fact that Zoe had planned to make their date terrible on purpose just to get it out of the way made Riley laugh. At the mention of a fourth date, Riley grinned and nuzzled her head against Zoe's. The idea of making a date just so they could utterly screw it up was hilarious. "That... actually sounds like a ton of fun." Riley said. "I'd definitely be up for it if you are, considering we are definitely gonna have a fourth date." She said.

Was it a bit much for her to say that? For Riley to just assume they were going to have a fourth date. She certainly hoped not, but part of her felt like it was alright. Because this wasn't just Zoe now. They weren't just two girls going on a random date. They were girlfriends now.

The thought just made Riley beam and hug Zoe close.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

A ton of fun, and, more importantly, the promise of not just a third date, but a fourth date, a relationship hidden in those words. For wasn't that how these things got started? First a first date, then a second, then a promised third, then plans stretching further out into some sort of semi-known future. It all seemed to be aligning just perfectly, filling Zoe with more of that contentment over the whole situation and over her newly minted girlfriend.

Riley pulled Zoe close. Zoe nestled against her. She closed her eyes and took another breath, again taking in her girlfriend through all her senses. Just that feeling, that contented feeling, it always happened whenever Zoe was with someone she loved, loved on some level, and it seemed as if Riley had, as Zoe had expected, wormed her way into that position. And now they were going to have a fourth date.

So maybe the second date hadn't been perfect;
but it certainly would be unforgettable.