2 - It's Friday

Carleen held back a smile, but held Horknath's jacket around her shoulders. "Thank you. But are you sure? I wouldn't want you to catch a cold because of me." She leaned back against him, however.

Horknath was evidently trying not to be a bumbling, flushed mess - a beautiful woman was walking at his side, so close to him he could feel her pressing against his arm, wearing his jacket and smiling at him. Give him some credit, at least he wasn't screaming in his hands. That's progress, baby - as he awkwardly raised his arm to carefully, slowly wrap it around Carleen's shoulders, to keep her even closer. "Don't worry, it's alright", he answered. Maybe more to himself than her, honestly. He was surely feeling plenty of warm enough with her around.

Carleen smiled and walked quietly by Horknath's side until they got in front of her building. Once there, she hesitated for a bit. "I'd offer you to get up and have a drink before you go, but I'm afraid my brother wouldn't get that we'd like some privacy this evening," she told him with a shy smile, while shrugging off his jacket before she could hand it back to him. "But- thank you. I had a lot of fun."

Horknath chuckled. "I get it, don't worry. Maybe next time, if we'll get the chance", he reassured her, taking his jacket back. "I..." He hesitated as he got his jacket back on as well, fumbling with the buttons to try and gather the words. "I enjoyed myself too, so - thank you, as well. For... dating me. I'd really love to do this again soon, if you want?" Thank you for dating me? Oh my God. Why couldn't he just disappear on the spot, liquefy, be swallowed by the ground, SOMETHING.

Carleen chuckled a bit. Horknath really was too adorable for his own good! He could deem himself lucky though, for she knew a few of Selena's friends who'd want to eat him alive. But she felt lucky, too. And a little bold. So she took his hands in hers, and carefully climbed the few steps of the front porch backwards, to get on an even level with him. Then, she leaned forward, and softly pressed her lips against his, in a chaste kiss. "You've got my number. Feel free to invite me on another date as soon as you wish. I'll start worrying by Tuesday if I don't get any news from you, alright?" She gave him a kind smile.

Horknath looked absolutely dazed when Carleen broke that tender kiss. He only caught half of the words she said afterwards, and now he felt like his brain was filled with cotton. He wetted his lips. "I-I'll text you tomorrow", he interjected, throat dry. "To. Ask how your show went." Well, he wanted to know if she thought she had been successful. He cupped her face with both his palms, though, and leaned in again for another soft, but equally chaste kiss. He threw her a little, embarrassed smile afterwards. "Goodnight, then."

Carleen's face flushed a little, and her smile grew wider. "Thank you. Then... I'll talk to you tomorrow!" She finally let go of his face and pressed her lips together, looking very happy. She was reluctant to let go of him of course, but she was getting cold without his jacket around her shoulders and, well, it was late and he still needed to walk home. "Actually... text me when you get home? Just so I know you got there." She brought her wild strand of hair behind her ear again.

Horknath smiled. "Alright. I will do that." He glanced fondly at Carleen, then took a step back. "Goodnight." He waved at her one last time, made sure she got inside the building before starting to walk to his own apartment, feeling so much like he was floating up in the air that he actually stumbled on some trashcans just behind the next corner, making one hell of a noise and also mess.
But he was so happy he didn't even manage to feel embarrassed.

AWWWWW!!! CUTIES !!

Let's be honest, from that night on Carleen wouldn't refrain from sending hearts to Horknath from time to time whenever they texted. She was desperately in love, sue her.
She even sent him a picture of her looking stunning in an evening dress side by side with Dean wearing the outfit she had designed for her. Any other guy might have gotten mad at her for it, but she trusted Horknath not to feel stupidly jealous by now.

Meanwhile, someone else texted Selena back on the dating app on that Saturday night, after days remaining silent - and clearly not finding peace after that awkward, stiff exchange.
"Hey," Raphael texted her. "Is it too late to apologize for being a stiff idiot?"
Gabriel might have dragged him out of his room that night to drink a bit, resulting in Raphael being a little tipsy. Alright, he was drunk-texting Selena.

Horknath always felt extremely giddy any time Carleen wrote to him - and he punctually sent her hearts in his messages as well, only to cover his face and scream a little bit any time she sent some of her own.
When she sent him that picture, all he really did was gush for a while about how incredibly gorgeous she was before texting back, "Wow the outfit you made looks amazing!! Great job! And you're very beautiful", with a little heart on the side.

Selena had, luckily enough for Raphael, no programs at all on that particular Saturday. She was supposed to meet with her friends, like every week, but one of them had gotten sick, the other was visiting her grandma's in another city, so... She opened up the app and scoffed noisily when she noticed who had written to her. Ah. Mr. I'm-too-good-to-message-you-by-my-own-volition. Great. "Well. You've been pretty rude, so I don't know if apologies will cut it, honestly. You can try, I guess, but I definitely promise nothing", she answered, maybe a little curtly but hey. Her pride was still stinging a little bit.

Carleen beamed. "Thank you!" And added a little heart to it. Oh, she was in love, alright. She let out a dreamy sigh, and looked over at Dean. "Hey. Thanks again for covering for my stupid brother." She threw a glance at Theseus who was wearing one of her dad's creations - thankfully Sakrish always managed to make any visible wounds on his son's face work with the general look he was giving to his outfits. And, well, thankfully they had an army of talented makeup artists and hairdressers to help them. Theseus looked like he had just stepped out of a TV-series post-apocalyptic world, given how neat his 'disheveled' appearance looked.

"Yeah, I figured," Raphael replied bitterly. "Listen. Thing is- my brother set this up. He knew I find you attractive and way out of my league. I panicked. I was mad at him, and as a result I took that anger out on you, which was def uncalld for." Ah, shit, he was beginning to forget letters now. Now she'd think of him as an illiterate idiot. "Im sorry," he typed again.

Dean grinned. "Hey, you're welcome. You know I'm always ready to step in for you - and this goes out for last-minute fashion shows and also in case you need to pretend I am your actual brother", he joked. "Thank you for making me look even more handsome than usual! Now that's a feat." He raised an eyebrow at her though, his smile becoming cheeky. "Sooo... writing to the boyfriend?"

Selena's eyebrows arched. Oh. So it wasn't that actually this guy thought he was too good to be writing to her - he just thought she was out of his league? heh. Well now, that sat better with her, admittedly. "Hm. That changes things a little. I have to be honest, I thought you were trying to make me believe you were the one out of my league, so I got quite pissed off." She merely tilted her head seeing the couple of typing mistakes he had made. Well. Maybe he was writing from a phone.

Carleen chuckled at Dean's jokes, but she really was grateful for him to show up on such a short notice. She held back a pleased smile when he mentioned Horknath- or at least, she tried to. She could barely hold all of that giddiness her new relationship brought in front of her own father. "Yes. I've sent him the pic dad took of both of us. He's so sweet, Dean, and so honest with me. He's not even playing tough with me. He's so different from the guys I usually date!"

Raphael scoffed. Him? Out of Selena's league? "No offense but have you seen yourself recently? You're a queen. And I'm a guy studying accounting whise face reads 'i'm studying accounting'." Damn, his head was spinning a little. He'd better prop himself on the side.

Dean struggled to hold back a smile - Carleen looked so gleeful, so happy with this freshly-blossomed relationship that he couldn't help but feel glad for her. "That sounds great", he commented sincerely. "I'm really happy. You deserve a boyfriend who's not complete trash." He almost felt bad to rain on her parade a little bit when he reminded her, "Remember the trial of the Three Dates, though. If after the third time you go out with him he feels entitled to ask for more, dump him." Some previous boyfriends of hers had played that kind of trick with her - acting kind and proper up until a certain moment, then starting getting handsy. "I mean, this guy honestly seems like the real deal, but. You know. Better safe than sorry", he added then.

Selena held back a smirk this time. At least he seemed to have some self-irony. My, a queen, hm? Well. Surely that wasn't nearly enough to woo her, but this awkward guy had definitely gained back some points with that. "I'm aware of how I look like, yes", she answered, quite confidently. "On the other hand you might be advantaged here, Accounting Man. You know my face, but I don't know yours - and I'm pretty sure I know nobody in the accounting department. Besides, I am in the Psychology department, and nobody to this day has ever managed to guess that just from my face."

Carleen sighed. "Yeah, I know. You're right. I don't think I should actually fear something like that coming from someone like him, but- yeah. Better safe than sorry." She gave Dean half a smile, before her face lit up at some thought. "Say- according to you, did yesterday count as our first or second date? I mean. The first time we had two chaperonnes each: our bffs and then our brothers."

"You got me indeed. All I could tell was that whatever you must be studying, you must be nailing it." He hesitated. "I don't know about a picture. I don't have much, and I look silly in all of them."

Dean laughed. "Oh my god, your brothers too? That's a lot of chaperones", he commented with a grin, before assuming a thoughtful expression. "Hm, I wouldn't make it count as a date. It was just... a meeting between interested parties, to make sure you weren't frauds." Then he frowned a little. "Wait - your brother, too? He knows you're dating?"

Selena snorted. "Despite my icy appearance, I don't mind silly pictures. But I understand if you don't feel at ease with sending one." She reflected for a little bit. "Would you mind giving me your name, then? That's another thing you know of me that I don't of you, I guess."

Carleen scoffed. "You forget we're talking about Theseus. Horknath went to pick me up last night for dinner with a suit on, with flowers, and he didn't catch on. I'll wait to see whether our 3rd date ends on a positive note or not before I break the truth to him."

Raphael hesitated. Giving his name felt less scary - and scarring, for that matter - than showing one of those terrible pictures of himself. "Raphael", he ended up typing. "I'd rather not give out the rest. My brothers are known out there, and not for the best reasons.". Michael was a major prick, Lucian was known for having gone to jail quite a number of times, and Gabriel... was the heart of parties around campus, even though most of them were organized by that Dionysus guy.

Dean snorted. "Well- I remember why he can't keep a girlfriend now", he commented, rolling his eyes. He was amazed someone would actually be attracted to that loudmouth to begin with! Not that Theseus wasn't handsome, don't get him wrong - but by now he knew him for enough time to be able to see beyond the dashing looks and straight to the annoying man behind. "He's too oblivious. Or maybe he's just not interested in any of that." He smiled to her. "But yes, wait until after the third. Keep me up to date with how it proceeds, okay?"

Selena raised a brow. "That really doesn't help me much in understanding who you are, but fine. Do I know that brother of yours who played you, perhaps?" She scoffed. "What, is your family in the mafia?", she asked, more seriously than one could guess from the text.

Carleen chuckled, and elbowed Dean. "Sure. I'm glad Theseus is that oblivious, though. I can't imagine what it'd be like with two protective brothers," she teased him lightly. "But thanks for watching over me like this, Dean. I appreciate it." He was always supportive, always kind with her, never imposed his point of view to her and was just as ready as her own brother to punch any guy who'd disrespect her. She felt quite lucky to have them both, in fact.
And Selena. Let's never forget Selena.

Raphael scoffed. Eh, wasn't Lucian in some sort of gang? Anyway... "Fine. You do know him. I mean, if he wasn't making fun of me when he said so. His name is Gabriel." He hesitated. "Don't know if he goes by 'Christensen' anymore or definitely chose 'Novak' around uni." They had kind of agreed to take their father's new last name - Chuck and his wife Sarah had practically raised them after their parents divorced, since Rachel wanted to have nothing to do with them.

Dean smiled at her. "Hey, you're welcome", he answered, gently patting her shoulder. Carleen - and to some measure Charlie as well he guessed - were like the little sisters he never had. He had a little brother, sure, but Sam could very well fend off for himself, and even though he sometimes still liked to mother-hen him, it was mostly out of habit and for the sake of a laugh.
And yes, let's not forget Selena, who had most likely kicked at least one of Carleen's exes straight in the nuts and then had proceeded to verbally assault him so harshly the guy had straight up started crying while still rolling on the ground.

Selena's eyes widened. Gabriel? As in Gabriel Novak? This was Gabriel Novak's brother? No way. The world sure was small. "Wait - Raphael, so you're Gabriel's twin brother? I can't believe this. But yes, I know Gabe. He's fun." She paused, and then added "Sometimes. Some other times he needs to be reminded where to draw a line." Good thing she was quite good at that.

You go, Selena

Carleen smiled at Dean, and didn't take much longer before she dragged him towards the buffet. She was actually so relieved on that night that she eventually fully forgave her brother for letting her down. Especially after Theseus had drunk too much champagne and was busy sobbing over Dean's shoulder.
Only for him to try and wrestle her best friend for 'his righteous title as her one and only big brother', but that was just Theseus being himself. Nothing too weird.

"Yeah, well. Talking to a beautiful girl in my stead and leaving me to poorly deal with the consequences of it was definitely not fun." Raphael sighed. So she knew Gabe. And she knew him. Gabe's infamous 'boring twin brother'. He wasn't dumb. He was noticing at some parties that a few people tried to ask Gabe to stop inviting him every now and then. There was a reason for which he didn't like to go.

Nothing too weird indeed.
Horknath on his side limited himself in sending a last little "Have fun at the party!!" message to Carleen before going on with his own evening routine - study a bit, getting Spike on his evening walk, ordering pizza with Asterius and watch a movie on tv.

Selena's smirk could be felt even via message. "Oh, I don't know. I am having fun right now", she answered. It wasn't a lie - Raphael sounded stiff and embarrassed, but that was definitely her favorite kind of men. And let's be honest, the fact that he evidently found her attractive wasn't half bad either. "He was right on one thing, though. You really can't sell yourself out. You should try wearing some confidence, that helps a lot."

Later on that night, Carleen would text Horknath again once she got home to tell him that she had gotten home. And she wished him a good night, along with a little heart emoji.
She had never really used them a lot, but it felt right to do so with Horknath.

Raphael scoffed lightly. Thankfully, he was drunk, so he was a little more snarky than usual. "He also says that I'm better with numbers than people." He paused for a bit. "Are you saying that because I refused to send a picture?"

And Horknath wished goodnight right back at her, with hearts of course.
While trying hard not to gush and hide his face in the pillow.
They are cute


Selena rolled her eyes. "Partly. But I'm saying that mostly because you keep undermining your value with mean-spirited comments", she answered. "Pretend that you're selling something to someone. Would you go on and on about what the defects of the product are or play on the good things? If I was a customer, I'd be already looking in another shop." She paused, just to make him panic a little. "Good on you that I find awkwardness and social ineptitude endearing."

So cute aaaahhhh

Raphael scoffed harder. "Social ineptitude. Wow. I should add that on my curriculum, it almost sounds professional." He actually paused for a bit.
Maybe he was a little too drunk for his own safety. He barely registered that he had turned on his phone's camera. He started back at his own reflection on the app, and snapped a picture, which he sent to Selena. He was lying on his bed, face a little red from too much alcohol, his hair messy for once, and a slight smile on his face.
"There. More confidence has got to start somewhere, I suppose."