Bonjour! You have reached Antoine D'Coolette! How unfortunate, but I am not available at zis moment! Please be leaving a message, and I shall be returning to you, A.S. C. P.!
[He is so subtle and stealthy. Seriously. Who'd ever suspect him of anything more than genuine curiosity -- which he also has plenty of. Asbel can't help but smile once again as Antoine recounts the time he spent with her.]
Many different forms, huh?
She sure sounds like an amazing, strong woman, Antoine. I can see why you'd admire her so much. It's hard to imagine someone having the will to go on after all that, but she did it anyway...
[Learn more about her, make her happy, help her achieve her dreams...]
And she...really confessed her feelings to you first?
[Another pleased chuckle, almost breaking into laughter as he recalls.]
I didn't think she'd ever fall for someone like me. I knew we were close, but... I guess I thought she deserved someone better. I was actually een ze midst of feeling sorry for myself, doubting eef anyone really cared about me, when she suddenly told me she cared.
And eef I thought she was just being nice, she got rid of that idea with a nice ksis on ze cheek.
[Uh, Antoine. You do know you have an audience, right? All these giddy lovey-dovey vibes... They're, uh, kind of embarrassing.]
[And the mention of a kiss only makes it worse. Asbel can feel his own face heat up with shame as he recalls a certain moment from a certain performance back home. K-kissing, huh? Yeah, that. That would be part of it, huh?]
[Asbel will uh, just zone out for a bit as he thinks all this over. Antoine deserves some time to relive those happy memories again, after all. Hmmm... Okay. He thinks he gets it, maybe?]
So it started with friendship, then admiration, and then...more than that? Both of you saw something in each another that you wanted to support and protect. And in the end those mutual feelings brought you closer together...?
Well.... it all started when we were playing that flower chase game and our flowers turned purple. Uh--that's supposed to mean you want to date someone. So we decided, hey, since we're already friends and everything, and dates aren't so different from spending time together like we normally would, why don't we try going on one?
Except, uh, I told her if it was too weird to call it a date we could just call it "hanging out".
Wanting to spend time with you no matter what, not caring what eet eez called as long as she can be with you... I say zat goes pretty well een your favor.
[Also, those balloons? pretty romantic, but he won't say that.]
Did anything else happen while you two were up zere?
Sure! We actually did a lot of talking up there in the balloon. About our friends, things we want to do, card games...
["No matter what?" With him? It makes Asbel happy to think that, makes his chest flip-flop in a way he doesn't really understand yet. But, there's still...]
[A sigh.]
It's just that, it seems like every time she's around I start acting like a total idiot. I get all jittery, Antoine. Half the time I can't even think straight.
I really hope she doesn't just feel sorry for me...
... I think you're already like zat to her. How could you not be? You're always helpful and kind to all you meet. You always want to be zere to lift people's moods and fight by zeir side. She simply must see zat already... I can't imagine her being blind to all your great traits.
[Wow, Antoine, you're embarrassing him. Why would you do that?? Asbel flusters, but a few mumbled syllables over the connection at least sound a little like a "thank you"?]
I...I don't know.... [He could ask her, but he doesn't have the nerve to come right out with it.]
It's not that I'm not confident? I've just...never really thought that much about it before. I don't even know what I should say the next time I see her.
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Many different forms, huh?
She sure sounds like an amazing, strong woman, Antoine. I can see why you'd admire her so much. It's hard to imagine someone having the will to go on after all that, but she did it anyway...
[Learn more about her, make her happy, help her achieve her dreams...]
And she...really confessed her feelings to you first?
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I didn't think she'd ever fall for someone like me. I knew we were close, but... I guess I thought she deserved someone better. I was actually een ze midst of feeling sorry for myself, doubting eef anyone really cared about me, when she suddenly told me she cared.
And eef I thought she was just being nice, she got rid of that idea with a nice ksis on ze cheek.
[Heheheheheh. He feels young again.]
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[And the mention of a kiss only makes it worse. Asbel can feel his own face heat up with shame as he recalls a certain moment from a certain performance back home. K-kissing, huh? Yeah, that. That would be part of it, huh?]
[Asbel will uh, just zone out for a bit as he thinks all this over. Antoine deserves some time to relive those happy memories again, after all. Hmmm... Okay. He thinks he gets it, maybe?]
So it started with friendship, then admiration, and then...more than that? Both of you saw something in each another that you wanted to support and protect. And in the end those mutual feelings brought you closer together...?
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Er... yes! We just let eet happen naturally, we weren't necessarily trying to win ze other over.
But... I am thinking, ze fact you are even asking about "how to tell" tells me you've already noticed something different een your heart, no?
1/2
[Asbel's still thinking on everything Antoine's already said, so it takes a few seconds for him even to respond to his friend's question.]
Huh? Something different in my...
2/2
Hey, hold on! I--! I don't remember asking it like that??
[He specifically wondered how Antoine knew when he fell for Bunnie, right? He's almost sure he did. This obviously has nothing to do with him at all!]
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Asbel, as good a boy as you are, I doubt even you just suddenly felt like asking about how I fell een love with my wife out of ze red.
[he means out of the blue.]
Nobody "randomly" brings up such a topic unless zey're trying to find answers for zeir own questions.
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Nah, Asbel's the stupid one here.And, well, Antoine's not wrong either... When he puts it like that, Asbel can't help feeling a little guilty.]...Sorry. You're right, Antoine. I guess I was hoping to learn something from hearing about your experiences.
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[And yet he, uh, isn't exactly bringing up said awkward subject despite the open invitation.]
[Asbel is a pretty hopeless case when it comes to love.]
[Hrrrrgh...]
So I... I kind of went on a date with one of my friends during the flower festival. And I don't really know what I should do now.
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What do you mean "kind of"?
Oh boy here we go...
Except, uh, I told her if it was too weird to call it a date we could just call it "hanging out".
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[Because of a flower.]
Oh, but she said she'd be happy no matter what we called it. And that we didn't have to decide right away.
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Sounds like she was very pleased, so you've got zat going for you. Eef she enjoys spending time with you zat much, things don't have to be weird.
What did you do on zis... not-date?
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[Eleanor's always nice and pleasant to be around, though. He's never even seen her get mad before. Does that really mean she enjoys his company?]
So you saw the giant balloons, right? We went up in one of those. I figured the view from way up there would be pretty awesome to see, and it was!
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[Also, those balloons? pretty romantic, but he won't say that.]
Did anything else happen while you two were up zere?
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["No matter what?" With him? It makes Asbel happy to think that, makes his chest flip-flop in a way he doesn't really understand yet. But, there's still...]
[A sigh.]
It's just that, it seems like every time she's around I start acting like a total idiot. I get all jittery, Antoine. Half the time I can't even think straight.
I really hope she doesn't just feel sorry for me...
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Let's focus on why you are so jittery. What are you afraid of?
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If you compared it to a dangerous situation or someone being in trouble, it's a different kind of jittery.
[He's just nervous.]
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Hm... are you, perhaps, afraid of making a bad impression on her?
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I don't know.
She reminds me of how you described Bunnie -- she's selfless, and she keeps moving forward. She said she wanted to spend her time here helping others.
So I guess it is true I'd like to be someone she could rely on if she needed to, since she's helped me out so much already.
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You must be more confident een yourself.
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I...I don't know.... [He could ask her, but he doesn't have the nerve to come right out with it.]
It's not that I'm not confident? I've just...never really thought that much about it before. I don't even know what I should say the next time I see her.
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How about... "Would you like to go on actual date"?
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