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"So this is what sushi restaurants are like? Damn, why ain't I been to one of these before?" Daren said, seated at our table as he was soaking in the restaurant's Japanese style wall scrolls, paintings and other décor.

Aoi Hana was the name of the sushi restaurant I picked for our date. It's a non-chain restaurant, pretty standard prices, and good reviews on Yalp.com. But what I find really fun about going to Asian restaurants is that lot of the employees are often less common types of furs, like pandas, komodo dragons and leopards to name a few, so it's pretty cool to come and see all the different types of exotic furs and scalies. Wait... that wasn't racist, was it? I swear I wasn't trying to be racist! Well, anyway, Daren's eyes were wide with amazement as he looked around, so I figured I made a pretty good pick, yay me!

The hunky Rottie seemed to be more interested in taking in his surroundings than talking at first, so I was the first one to initiate our first 'get-to-know-each-other date-type conversation' thingamabobber. "So Daren", I asked as him as he was scrutinizing the pair of wooden chopsticks he opened up from the paper container. "What classes are you taking?"

Daren's attention directed to me. "Oh, uh, Accelerated Physics, Weight Training, English Eleven, AP World History, AP Statistics, AP Chemistry and AB Calculus."

Woah, I was not expecting that! My eyes widened in amazement. "Four AP classes, and one of them is calculus as a junior? Holy crap dude, I had no idea you were so smart!"

Daren shook his head dismissively. "Just 'cause I take hard classes ain't mean I'm smart or nothin'. And about being in calc as a junior, well," Daren was frowning as if he were about to say something incredibly uncomfortable. "I was, uh, kinda held back a year early on, so really it ain't nothin' impressive," he said in a sort of low mumble.

...Wasn't expecting that one either. "Wait, you failed a grade?" I asked him in astonishment. "How? ...Why?"

Daren sighed and took a sip from his water. "I wanted to give myself more time to grow and bulk up so the other kids wouldn't give me shit. Believe it or not, I was a scrawny little punk when I was a kid."

That was a strange thought. This muscular god of a Rottie, who could probably snap me in two, a scrawny little pup as a kid? "I have a hard time imagining that," I said a bit taken aback.

Daren shrugged. "Well it ain't me now, so it ain't matter nohow." He paused for a few seconds, and looked downward, seemingly mulling upon something. After a few seconds he looked back up to me. "But what about you though, what classes you takin'?"

"Oh, I'm taking AP literature, regular Physics, Weight Training, AP Psychology, regular World History, precalc and uh..." I coughed.

Let's see... How to break the news to him about that one class... Maybe I should just lie about it? Okay no, I learned my lesson about lying from earlier today. I suck at it and I would probably just end up making up a fake class like "How to Lie About Your Classes 101" or something cringe worthily bad like that.

I bit the inside of my lower lip. "Japanese Three..." I said as quietly as possible, hoping he either wouldn't hear and not question it, or just not care at all.

Unfortunately, he kind of did hear me... "You're studying Japanese? Dude that's really kick-ass," the Rottie said enthusiastically.

I gave an awkward semi-frown. "Yeah but, don't tell anyone... It's like, the nerdiest foreign language you could possibly take."

Daren seemed unconvinced of that. "How's that?" he asked.

Well this one was always a fun (fucking awkward) to break to people. "Well, have you heard of the term 'otaku'?" I asked him.

"Nah."

"'Weaboo'?"

"Uh-uh."

"Uh... 'Anifag'?"

"Nope."

Shit. I was sort of hoping he'd know what I was talking about there; that would have made things easier to explain. Thankfully, I then conveniently spotted our adorably tiny and jolly red panda waitress in the distance coming with our complementary miso soup, part of this complete breakfast.

Daren saw her as well. "Yo, I think our waitress' comin' back. I want to see you talk to her in Japanese!" The Rottie said with a wagging tail, entirely forgetting about my explanations of the dark side of high school Japanese Class.

Yeah, you should totally do it, Rob! Tell her that she's kawaii desu desu, and throw in a few 'uguu's' too while you're at it!

Get back in your cage, Rob's Mind, you're not wanted here...

I scoffed. "No, that's embarrassing! I'm not going to make an idiot out of myself... again."

Daren pouted. "I thought you said you was gonna do anythin' to make it up to me," he said with his lower lip sticking out. And those fucking puppy dog eyes...

"Goddammit, fiiiiine," I said with an exasperated roll of my eyes. Daren smiled and stuck his tongue out in glee. It was uh... kind of cute really.

Our waitress came back and handed us our miso soup. "Hey guys, you ready to order yet?" she said in that peppy voice of hers.

Daren was the first to speak, which was fine because I still needed more time to prepare myself. "I'll have the chicken teriyaki dinner box," he said, casually handing his menu to the waitress as she wrote his order down.

"Sure thing!" she said, her eyes then directing themselves to me.

I gulped. "Yeah um..."

Daren raised an eyebrow and gave me an expecting look.

I sighed. Well, so much for trying to keep up my 'not-a-total-nerd Rob' act. "Hai, doragon rooru wo hitotsu onegaishimasu (Yes, I'll have one dragon roll)," I said, trying my best not to slip up on the pronunciations, but at the same time trying not to sound like I was trying too hard.

The red panda gave me an awkward but still charming smile. "Oh cool, was that Japanese? Sorry though, I'm Korean; I actually don't know what you just said," she said politely.

God fucking dammit.

I hung my head down and frowned in overstated shame. "S-Sorry. I'll just have a dragon roll...," I said in a low voice as I held out my menu for her to take.

The waitress chuckled a little. "No problem. Thank you both! Just call me if you need anything," she said as she grabbed my menu and made her way off.

When she was out of sight I melodramatically thumped my forehead against the table in embarrassment. "You see, shit like is why I don't like talking to people in Japanese!" I said with my paws flipped upward in the air and my face still buried in the table.

Daren seemed amused by my state of humiliation. "Hey man, ain't your fault you didn't know she ain't Japanese," the Rottie said understandingly, although it didn't help him that he was grinning at me.

I lifted up my head and sighed, slumping my right cheek against my palm. "I guess, but I bet I still looked like a grade-A clueless dork for not figuring it out."

Daren was eying the contents of his miso soup, debating whether he should try it or not. "'S'aight, I already knew you was a clueless dork since you apologized to me."

That was a strange thing to say.

"Whaddya mean by that? Wait, when I was apologizing, did I say something weird without realizing it... again?" I asked with a curious gaze.

"Oh yea, I forgot to mention that, didn't I? You were totally apologizin' for the wrong thing back there," he said casually, fiddling around with his Asian style soup spoon.

I cocked my head in confusion. "Wait, what? The wrong thing? Isn't calling a dog bud... uh, anything that you'd name a feral dog like, incredibly racist, or something...?"

The Rottie shrugged, all the while bringing a spoonful of the soup to his nose and sniffing it. "Well yeah, it's pretty racist. I just personally don't care 'bout that kinda thing." He put the spoonful into his mouth and his eyes lit up. "Damn, this shit's cash!" he exclaimed maybe a liiiiitle too loudly for a public restaurant and started eagerly eating the rest.

But how can it be 'cash' if it came free with the meal...?

Goddamit Rob's Mind, do you even slang?!

I perked my ears up curiously. "Wait, you mean you didn't care? Then why'd you get all mad at me and give me the 'Stare of Impending Doom' when we bumped into each other on Wednesday?"

"Sate of Impending Doom...? Oh, you mean this?" Daren said as he began glaring intensely at me, scowling in a way that made him seem like he was about to shove his fist down my throat.

"Nyahhh, stop that! You're freaking me out," I said frightfully, juddering backwards in my seat.

I mean, I knew he was just demonstrating but fuuuuuck that was still scary as balls.

Daren broke the stare and started chuckling. "Well I was still mad with you. It was more about the way you said what you did rather than what you actually said," he said as he went back to work on his miso soup.

I blinked a few times. "Um... care to explain?"

Daren ceased eating for a few moments and then hummed in contemplation. "Hmm... How do I describe it... Well, there's a certain way other guys tended to act back home that I really hate. Like, really loud, obnoxious, and what I hate most is how they pretend that you part of their crew an' shit when really they'd ditch your hide in a second if theirs was on the line. I guess I took you for one of those types at the time, what with you gettin' all friendly with me like that without even knowin' me," Daren said, sounding oddly gloomy.

I frowned. "Oh, sorry I didn't realize..."

The Rottie shook his head. "Man, you don't need to apologize again, that's what this date's for, ain't it?"

I don't know why, but that little comment made me smile. "Ha, yeah, I guess it is."

I didn't say anything for a little bit after that, just quietly drinking my soup. I didn't realize he saw me like that at first, hell I never thought anybody would ever call me out on something like that...

I huffed. "Actually, I know exactly what you're talking about: acting like a 'bro' as some people call it," I said, doing the whole "quote unquote" thing with my fingers. "Most all the guys on the team act like that, like, really talkative and way too friendly and stuff." I started frowning uncomfortably. "Honestly though, freshman year I was kind of shy, so it actually annoyed me when the other guys on the team would start getting all buddy buddy and touchy feely with me. But after a while, I mean, when you end up spending so much time with guys who act like that, it just sort of rubs off on you, you know?"

Daren nodded. "Yea, group mentality an' shit. But why you hang with them if you don't like how they act?"

I scratched the back of my neck. "I mean, it's really not that bad. The guys on the team might be annoying sometimes, but they're not bad guys."

Except that douchebag Sean, fuck that guy.

"And well, doing a sport in high school for all four years looks good for college applications. Also I don't really don't even have to do much; I'm just the team's kicker, I like, don't even need to bother with half the drills coach makes the other guys do."

Daren nodded his head a few times.. "Aight, but uh, why football then?"

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the million dollar question.

I sighed, my ears folding downward. "Because my friend Scott's on the team..." I said, practically moaning the words.

Daren seemed to ponder the name as he took a sip from his cola. "Scott the polar bear, right?" I nodded. "Yeah I know him some; he's in my physics class. He's way loud before class and can't sit still durin'."

I snickered a little. "Yeah, that sounds like your textbook Scott Fenton to me."

"He is hot though, I'll give 'im that." Daren said offhandedly, as he finished off his soup.

I nodded. "Yeah, he is really hot isn't he..." I said with a wistful sigh. For a few seconds there I spaced out and started staring blankly toward the entrance on other side of the busy restaurant. When I redirected my attention to the Rottie, he started staring at me with the stupidest grin.

"What's with that look?" I asked, a bit unsettled.

"You crushin' on him, ain'tcha?" the Rottie said with a chuckle, sticking his tongue out playfully afterwards.

"What?! No!" I said, taken totally by surprise. Daren raised an eyebrow at me in a 'you're so full of shit' fashion. I rolled my eyes upward. "Okay maybe a little..." I said softly with a blush.

He still had that sly grin on his muzzle. "Only a little crush an' you're gettin' all hot n' bothered when I ask you 'bout it?"

Oh fuck me sideways, was I really that easy to read!? I looked around to see if anyone nearby might be able to hear in on what I was about to say. Nope, all the other nearby customers were chatting happily with each other, completely unaware of my conversation with Daren. I sighed. "Okay, a lot. I have a fucking massive crush slash hard-on for my best friend, Scott Fenton. There, I said it. Happy now?" I spoke in a harsh whisper, not too happy about being forced to admit my feelings for the polar bear.

Daren snickered at my reluctant confession. "Yea, pretty much. I'm wonderin' though, how does he feel about you?" the Rottie asked, a curious twinkle in his eyes.

I folded my ears down further, my blush deepening. Christ on a bun, were my idle romanitc fantasies really that interesting? "I don't know, I never told him..."

Daren's smile faded away. "Why not?" he asked neutrally.

I sighed for what must have been the tenth time that evening. "I mean, is that really something he needs to know? We're already great friends so it wouldn't really change anything if he did."

Daren raised an eyebrow. "You know, he might like you some," he stated as if it were the most obvious detail that I just never happened to consider.

I snorted. Why was Daren so interested in my relationship with Scott anyway? "Yeah there's no chance in hell of that. He's banged like, fifteen girlfriends in the last three years. He's about as straight as a ruler made from non-bendable plastic, so there's really no point in me telling him," I said dismissively, in an attempt bring an end to the topic.

"He might still like you," the Rottie replied simply.

I shook my head in firm disagreement. "Daren, I think the chances of him getting weired out by me telling him are much higher than the chance that he might like me."

Daren shrugged. "Fair enough."

Finally, I thought that conversation was never going to end... Wait, now it was was my turn to go on the offensive!

"Enough about me, what about you? Any crushes?" I asked with a somewhat forced grin.

"Hmm," Daren brought a paw up to his chin in contemplation. "From here or back home?"

Huh, which one did I want to ask him? Both seemed like good options. "Uhh... here I guess," I finally settled on saying.

Daren started grinning and motioned me with a finger to come closer. Color me interested, he was going to tell me about a secret crush he had? Maybe one he never told anyone else? Oooh, this was gonna be good! I eagerly lurched forward across the table as Daren brought his muzzle to my right ear. "There's you..." he whispered in his irresistible purring voice.

Aaaaand there goes being on the offensive. I backed up in my chair as my heart started pounding like crazy and I began to blush like a tweenage girl who just got asked out by her favorite boyband member. Fuck, I think I might have just jizzed myself there. Okay not really, but I was pretty damn close!

Daren broke into laughter after seeing me get all rattled up. "Man, you so easy to fluster."

Fucking... why did I always let him get to me like that?! I tried to recompose myself. "You just uh, surprised me was all..." I said, my hackles still sticking up and my eyes nervously flickering around.

"Yo man, know I'm just playin' ya," the Rottie said cheerfully.

Phh, coulda fooled me. He was so good at that you'd think it was natural...

Wait a minute.

I licked my lips and breathed in slowly. "Hey uh Daren?"

The Rottie relaxed his smile. "Yeah?"

Alright, let's do this. "Do you well... maybe uh..." I resisted the urge to start twiddling my thumbs, "maybe, actually have a crush on me?" I said meek but hopeful voice.

Daren seemed uncertain how to respond to the question at first. His smile faded as he pondered the question. "Ain't sure. I mean, I definitely didn't at first, 'cause I thought you was gonna turn out to be a total jock douchebag, but you really just one big dork, ain'tcha?"

I buried my face against the table again.

Well, at least dork was one step up from douchebag or socially awkward...

Daren chuckled and then ruffled my hair affectionately with one of his large paws. It felt really nice, actually; he had strong hands. "But you're a nice dork. You're also cute and ain't loud or obnoxious or nothin' like that." I looked up at him. He smiled at me. "And you know, I'm glad you turned out to be a nice guy." His smile grew wider, warmer, sexier...

"I like nice guys."

My ears folded down as I looked up shyly and I felt that goddamn blush coming back with a vengeance. "You... think I'm a nice guy?"

Daren's smile turned into something a little more mischievous, and a little less 'I'm trying to see if I can make Rob jizz himself'. "Well you payin' ain'tcha?"

Oh yeah, I was paying for him, wasn't I? ...Total mood-killer there, Daren.

"Yeah..." I said unhappily, fixing my posture as I saw our waitress coming over from the kitchen with our food.

Daren seemed to also take notice and turned in the direction of our food, his eyes lighting up and his stubby little started wagging cutely. He then looked back at me with that indescribably hot smile of his.

"You a nice guy."