Private Improvised First Date

Ever since their conversation last week, Jazz had been a little bit on edge. Putting her feelings out there like she had was a massively scary endeavor, and even though Maddie had seemed to take it well, the anticipation of what was or wasn't going to change was kind of a lot.

She had no idea whether Madeline was going to discuss anything with Shir or not, or when, and of course she didn't have any clue how he would react. It shouldn't matter, all things considered. That's what she kept telling herself. She was going to keep being friends with Maddie and they were still going to be able to just hang out and do platonic friend things, so everything was fine.

Then, just as she was finishing up ending the stream, she felt the arm around her. Tensing up a bit, she turned to look at Madeline, her eyes wide and brows raised, overall looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Or, in this case, a bear. Frozen mere inches apart from her by a heavy mix of susprise and confusion, she only managed to quizzically tilt her head a few degrees. "I, ah...um. Y-yes?"

Oh. Oh. Pretty much as soon as she felt Maddie's hands on her hips, she had a pretty solid idea of what she was about to say. The verbal confirmation a moment later hit her like a tiny bomb. She was happy, still surprised, but overall mostly stunned.

It was visible on her face that the bear girl was just trying to process things. She tried to say something, anything, but simply couldn't make the connection in her head like she normally could, a smidge too overwhelmed. In that storm of mixing emotions however, one stood out to take charge of the situation. She felt emboldened.

Without a word, Jazz closed the short distance between them once again, not hesitating even a little. She pressed her lips against Madeline's, softly at first, but then with a smidge more firmness. Her hand naturally drifted to brush through Maddie's hair, and she maintained the kiss, hoping that she reacted well.

Well, that certainly escalated a little faster than Jazz had anticipated, but she wasn't going to argue. Maddie's abrupt intensity took her off guard, but she managed to return it all the same, one hand moving to rest gently on her friend's- wait, no. Her girlfriend's hip? Yeah. That was a nice connection to make in her head.

The break was welcome, giving the bear girl a few moments to collect herself, though she was still breathing a little heavily. "...Um. Wow, uh, okay. So. That felt...really good." Sharing Maddie's laughter, she nuzzled against her in the hug, most likely smiling more than she usually did in a full two days.

"I've been wanting to do that for a really long time too. Probably since I met you, in the back of my head at least. Just...I don't know what to say. I'm really, really happy right now." Looking into Madeline's eyes again, she moved in for one last kiss for the time being, softer than their previous ones, and laced her fingers with hers, giving her hand a small squeeze. "...So, um. What now?"

Jazz absolutely took notice of Madeline's excitability, laughing a bit and hugging her a little closer. "It's good to see you so happy. I mean, I know you've been stressed recently, so. Kinda a relief for me to know you're okay."

Going out did sound nice. Sure, they could potentially just stay at her house and order a pizza or something, but that wasn't as fun. "Okay, umm...I mean, ice cream sounds like a second stop. Or a third, or...I dunno, we have the whole rest of the day, don't we?"

Grinning for a moment, she lead Maddie by the hand downstairs and outside. Twenty minutes or so later, they had made it downtown, surrounded all over by an unbelievable variety of restaurants and other diversions. "So...any ideas? I'm really up for anything, as long as it's not super spicy."

Jazz had noticed it probably was a little bit of a sore spot to mention the negatives that had happened recently, making a mental note to stick to the current, exciting things as much as possible. Giving Madeline's hand a gentle squeeze at the pizza suggestion, she nodded and grinned a little. "Yeah, good idea. It'll be interesting to see how it tastes with a clear head. Er, well. Clear other than the whole, um. Overwhelming excitement bit, or something cheesy like that." She paused, blinking a few times and laughing. "Pizza. Cheesy. Aha. That was awful."

With that, the two made their way to the restaurant, conveniently close by, and within a minute they were at a table, seated across from each other. Jazz chewed her lower lip a little in thought, scanning the menu in her hands, before rhythmically tapping three fingers across the back of Maddie's hand. "Soooo. Any preferences?"