Ice cream you scream

"Oh, I was always wondering. Is the Cheshire cat like, a cat named Cheshire that smiled too much or just a cat species?"I asked confused. "And, by the way. If we're really going to do this,"I trailed off, signaling the space between her and me, "I want to know the amount of contact you're comfortable with. Cause, as you may have noticed, I like hugs"

"A fictional cat." she was counting her fingers one by one. "Good notice, It was destined to be pointed out sooner or later. I dislike touchy people who invade my private bubble. No hugs that is. Also, I'd prefer for you to stop saying 'I like you' so randomly. It's
A)Embarrassing and
B) It looses its meaning at some point." Ida carefully looked somewhere in his direction, but still avoided eye contact.

"I can't do without hugs though"I explained, taking care to chose my words wisely so as not to upset her again. "I can compromise and lessen the amount but you have to give me something in return. And, the only reason I'm saying it is because I have this feeling you don't believe me"

Ida was too tired to rile up a new fight about how her body was her property. "How much are we talking about?" she sounded like a salesman. "How many hugs satisfy your needs for attention?"

"It's not a need for attention."I explained patiently. "I'll give you as few as I can. And I'll ask first. Is that fair to you? I don't want to intimidate you and I'm sorry if I'm doing just that. We're just too different and I don't know how to handle this. I haven't handled anything like this before"

"If it's not need for attention then what is it? I'm really curious." she said with a sarcastic voice. "Fine then. You'll ask from me. It's not like it's a big deal, just brief physical contact." Ida took a quick glance at his eyes and then back at the wall. "Well then, that makes two of us. I have never negotiated about hugs."

"No, silly."I chuckled and ran my hand through my hair to keep myself from touching her again. "I meant, I haven't done this before as in a relationship. I don't know about you but, if you have, give me some pointers. I want to make this work somehow, put our differences aside"

"Relationship? Right. I'm not going to even question anything you say anymore." she crossed her arms. "Give you some pointers? Well, I'm stubborn, brutally honest, intimidating, I dislike touchy people, I like people who do the talking for me. There's almost nothing we have in common." Ida crossed her legs like a fine lady does, but it was mostly to create more space between her and him.

"We do have something in common after all"I laughed at her inaccurate description of herself. "We like each other!"I giggled, the last part said half-jokingly half-truthfully.

"Well, that's one way to get me to shut up." Ida was almost speechless, except for one detail. There was no moments she wouldn't express her opinion. "I'm assuming you don't mean what you say."

"I do, of course!"I let out a sort laugh. "Come on, would we even be having this situation if you didn't like me?"

Ida was cussing under her breath. Probably because he was right and that was her way of showing defeat. "No, we wouldn't." she managed to finally say.

"Thank you"I nodded with a small smile. "I really appreciate you giving me a chance, you know"

"Tch, call it whatever you want." she shrugged. "Well, that escalated quickly from eating ice cream to this, don't you think?" the girl looked at her already melted ice cream.

"Yeah, but I'm afraid we have one more thing to discuss. When are we going on our first date? I promise, no funny business"I added quickly and raised my hands up in surrender.

"D-date? We were talking about hugs not dates! I'm not that kind of a person." Ida huffed and tightened her arms around her waist. Just when she thought her blushing was over, it came back stronger and healthier than ever.

I stared at her, puzzled at her reaction. "B-but that's how things work. We go on dates and then we decide if we want our relationship to be official. Please, just give me one date. Then you decide if you want any more, deal?"

Ida thought about it for a painfully long, awkward and silent time. "One date." she lifted her index finger up and sighed. "Your persistence is admirable, so I'll give you one date." Ida said making every word sound heavyweight.

"Thank you, my fair princess"I chuckled as I stood up to give her a small bow. "Be ready tonight at about 9. And be well rested, you'll need it. I'll pick you up from your cabin, see you then"I waved and quickly disappeared into the shadows, already planning ahead.