Anything But Normal [MellowYellow & Somikat]

"It looks great," Charlie confirmed, smiling as she pulled her eyes from wandering about her surroundings and focused them on Jeremy. "I love the decor! You have good taste, Mr..." Here she laughed. "I just realised I don't know your surname. Mine is Rebroff—my dad is Ukrainian," she explained before her date could ask. Judging from her lack of an accent, the girl had never lived in Europe herself, and this was true: she'd been born in the United States, and had never left. When the waiter returned to take their orders, she requested duck with plum sauce, with noodles and vegetables in place of rice.

"We could get a bottle of wine, if you like," she told Jeremy with a half-grin. "It won't be so expensive if we split it..." Aside from going well with the food, alcohol might also help to settle her nerves, which were still tingling inside her, though she did her best to hide them.

Oh duh. How could they have known each other this long and not even know each others surnames? Sometimes even the most basic things could skip your mind. "It's Fleischer. My dad comes comes from a German family, came to America before the second world war. Things were just pretty crap in Germany after the first World War so they had to go somewhere. My mom is a French immigrant but she speaks very fluent English," Jeremy explained.

When it came time to order he picked some Beef Noodle Soup for himself. "Wine eh? Sure why not, let's live a little. I'm more a fan of red than white personally," the older male said with a small smile. "Well... That one there, the Heng-Zhao red sounds pretty good. Wanna go for that one when the waiter comes around again?"

It didn't take long for the two to procure a bottle of the Heng-Zhao, and it proved to be an excellent choice. Red was a favourite of Charlie's, and this would go perfectly with the plum sauce which she imagined being drizzled over succulent, crispy duck, somewhere towards the back of the building, where the kitchen lay hidden behind the walls of the restaurant.

"I'd love to travel to Europe," she was telling Jeremy when the food arrived. "There's so much history there, and so many different cultures and—"

"Excuse me, madam." The waiter appeared by her shoulder, steam rising from the dishes in his hands, and also from the hot, metallic tray held by a short, slender waitress who had accompanied him. The tray itself was set neatly into an ornate slab of wood, which allowed it to be carried and to sit on the table without destroying that which it touched.

"Oh, sorry."

"Not at all, madam—you're the duck and noodles, yes?" asked the waiter in perfect but heavily accented English. The plate of noodles was before Charlie almost before she could confirm her order, and Jeremy's soup before him. Between their plates, the tray was placed on the table, showing its contents to be slices of tender duck and vegetables, all shining a plum purple beneath the light.

"I guess I have to put it together myself," she said when they were alone again. Was that a Chinese custom? Or was it merely so that she could choose the ratio of duck to vegetable to accompany her noodles? She wasn't sure, but she liked the tray, and it all brought a smile to her face—the cuteness of the tray and the novelty of its presentation, the smell of her food...and Jeremy, of course. He was handsome, he was nice, and she was sat just across the table from him. God damn it he's cute, a voice purred inside her.

Jeremy smiled over at his girlfriend as she surveyed the large portion of exotic food laid out before her. He had to admit he did like the sense of freedom he got out of eating here, the way to eat the way they wanted. "Well, it's so you can test out the different pieces and then decide what kinds of combinations you like to try," Jeremy explained, recalling the New Years event and the kinds of food they ate there.

He took up some dumplings in his chopsticks, able to wield the two with a grace and efficiency that indicated his experience. He took up some dumplings up and slowly dunked them into his soup. He took one slow bite and drank in the flavour. Nice stuff, made with all manner of exotic spices and flavours. "So what do you think Charlie?" he asked before sipping at his wine glass.

So what do you think, Charlie? God, she loved hearing him say her name—something which had become an everyday part of her life, but which sounded so fresh and novel in his voice. "Perfect," she replied, and for the time-being at least she felt swept away from her worries. "The food and wine... the company, of course." She smiled warmly—spontaneously—her brown eyes lingering on his, and then she fell to trying her food. The option of choosing how much each she wanted of each ingredient was nice but unnecessary, as she dumped it all in on her noodles.

"It's not like they'd re-use the noodles if I didn't finish it all anyway," she joked, shrugging and laughing.

"In any other place I'd say you'd be surprised, but this is a classy joint. I know they wouldn't be doing anything like that..." he took a cursory glance at his own side bowl of noodles and gave a small shudder "Or at least I sorely hope they don't..." Jeremy remarked before letting out a small laugh. There was something about Charlie, the way she spoke and her general attitude just serving to excite him.

The time came when they both finished their meals, or at the very least ate as much as their stomachs were willing to handle. Jeremy finished off the last sip of wine from his glass and then gave Charlie a quick smile before he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet "Well, that was nice. I'm gonna pay up and walk back with you to our building."

"Really, you don't have to pay for everything," his date remonstrated, and even that had a sweetness to it. "I can pay for my share." Her offer was met with reluctance, and Charlie wasn't determined enough to stop Jeremy's paying for everything, so her pockets were none the lighter as they left the restaurant, though her sails couldn't be fuller. It had been a wonderful night, and only the thought of home—and of Jeremy's apartment beside hers—reminded her that she had to tell him something. Didn't she? Could she get away with not telling him today? It really had been a perfect night—or close to it, at least—and she wanted nothing to spoil that... So why was it so important that she told him?

She looked up at him as they conversed and passed beneath a street light, and again was taken by how handsome he was—more so than ever, for his personality had failed to ruin his good looks, and attracted her to him all the more. Why?, why did she have to tell him? He was cute, and she enjoyed his company, and lord knows she'd been short enough of that in the past year. She liked him, and she didn't want anything to upset her chances of furthering things with him...but she did want to further things. Internally, she groaned. I have to tell him.

"And so anyway, he made the mistake of going in through one wrong door in the Zoo, because the back entrance to the cage was unlocked. And that's how Jenkins from the office wound up stepping in gorilla dung," He let out a quick laugh as he rounded off his tale, and by the time he had they were walking into their building. Jeremy supposed he was simply trying to lighten the mood, Charlie seemed troubled by something.

They came up another flight of stairs and reached their mutual floor, and Jeremy walked with his girlfriend to where their two doors met. The question was, who was going where tonight? He gave an awkward laugh and scratched his neck, unsure how to really make this kind of proposition "So ah... I guess we're here. I mean... do you wanna come in? Maybe grab something to drink?"

"I'd love to," Charlie replied, a lump swelling in her throat. She smiled, Jeremy turned his key in the lock, and then the two of them were stepping into his apartment. She didn't know what—if anything—he was expecting tonight, but she knew what she wanted. She wanted at least a taste of his lips, but first...

"Thanks again for tonight," she told him when they were seated, drinks before them on the table. "I had such a good time. You're fun to hang out with, and I definitely approve of your taste in restaurants, haha." She smiled up at him, blushed and averted her eyes in a way which only made her seem cute; she was smitten with Jeremy, and it wouldn't take a genius to figure that out.

"Oh hush now, don't be complimenting me so thoroughly. I'm really not anything special, I simply want to make you happy," the attractive male replied, laughing nervously. He wanted to suggest something, but... well Jeremy could tell she was more than a little nervous. Over what, he couldn't quite guess. "Are you... okay?" Jeremy asked, tilting his head slightly in a curious fashion. "I mean... you know... we don't have to do anything if you don't want to, we could just... talk if you want."

She laughed nervously, and again her eyes darted off towards some corner of the room—as though her thoughts were there to be gathered and brought back to her—and then they returned to settle on his face. Such an attractive face it was, bearing the promise of an end to the loneliness Charlie had felt slowly growing within her over untold months. She could only hope that his response would be as pleasing as his looks.

"I'm...fine—just kinda nervous." One slender hand came to her shoulder, and her fingers twirled the ends of her hair about themselves. "I...there's something I wanted to tell you," she went on, forcing herself to look at him, her gaze pleading with him to accept her. She knew not what was going through his mind now, but she hoped he was imagining something worse than the truth—that might soften the surprise. "I like you, Jeremy, and I...well...I wanted you to know that...I'm transsexual."

Jeremy seemed to become mildly worried when Charlie began to acting so skittish, and he honestly didn't know what to say. So he simply stood and waited, listening to what she had to say, mildly curious and still with that sense of worries. And then the revelation came out, and it seemed to take a moment for the words to actually impact against his brain.

"Oh!" he said finally, seeming to be more... surprised than anything else. He didn't seem angry or betrayed, or even disgusted. It just seemed like Jeremy didn't know how to act about it. "That's... quite a bombshell Charlie." He could tell she was dead serious, and he supposed he had to try and keep her happy. Jeremy held her hands and gave a small sigh "Look I... This is kind of something that I need a little time to adjust. I really like you and... I want this to work, but I will need to wrap my head around it. But I do really appreciate that you told me."

Relief washed through her body, the quake's epicentre located at the spot where he held her hand. He hadn't freaked out, nor had he thrown her out or told her that this would no longer work—his reaction was all she could have hoped for, and despite her still-prevelent nerves, the young woman relaxed a little, and smiled at Jeremy. She nodded.

"I understand...I...I didn't want things to go any further without telling you. I guess you can understand why I was nervous?"

She sighed, and let more of the tension seep from her body. He still wanted to be with her! Or—at least—he was prepared to consider it. Her smile grew a little wider and her grey-blue eyes rested upon his.

"God, I'm so glad you took it well. Thank you, Jeremy."

"Well it does mean a lot to me that you did come clean about it. I mean it couldn't have been easy. It'd be like if I said I used to be a woman," Jeremy said in an attempt to lighten the mood slightly "I'm not, by the way. I'm ah... a guy. Through and through," he added to make sure there was no misinterpretation to what he was saying. Honestly he didn't know what else he could say.

He cleared his throat and gestured over his shoulder to a stack of coffee bags "Well...look I do still need to think on this before we get intimate or whatever... but we could finish the evening with some actual coffee. You know, if you wanted," Jeremy said, giving her a warm smile. Hard to imagine a bombshell like that had been hidden from him all this time... but he wasn't exactly offended by the revelation.

"Haha, thanks for assuring me," Charlie replied jovially, and her spirits seemed to be rising by the second. She gave Jeremy's hand a gentle squeeze, and all of the pent-up tension continued to seep from her muscles, relaxing her. She had told him what she had to tell him, and now—she hoped—everything could proceed as normal. The prospect of perhaps being his girlfriend filled her with optimistic joy, though as yet she didn't know if he was a boyfriend kind of guy, or more apprehensive of relationships.

"Of course," she smiled in reply. "I'd like that."

She relaxed into the couch and smiled to herself as he went to fix them a beverage, and took some time to gaze about his apartment more closely this time. If he decided that her past was no problem, then she could be seeing an awful lot more of this place. He hadn't asked any follow-up questions either, and she decided that this was a good thing. She had once had the experience of being rejected not specifically for being transsexual, but for being pre-operative, and if Jeremy wasn't inclined to ply her with questions, surely that implied that he looked beyond genitalia when seeking a partner.

"Thanks again for being so cool about this," she said sweetly when he returned with their drinks. "You really are a great guy." She said it sincerely, and her smile backed up the sentiment.

"Well, you know... There wouldn't be much point in me having a problem, would there? I mean it's who you are. Granted, this is something that I've never really experienced before..." Jeremy shrugged and finished up preparing the coffee for the two of them. The same specifications that Charlie liked. Hell he could hardly not think of her as an attractive woman after all their time spent together.

Jeremy finally headed to the couch and handed Charlie her coffee, before taking a spot beside her on the couch "I have to admit, your operation is really damn good. I never would have thought you were trans if you didn't say anything." Jeremy took a long gulp of cofe and then breathed out a steady sigh "Sorry if I seem weird right now, I'm just still stunned is all."

"Don't worry about it," Charlie assured him in a soft voice, "I'm really happy you've been so accepting so far—I don't want to rush you."

She smiled, and now it seemed that it was Jeremy who was the more uncomfortable of the two—a fact which lifted much of the weight from her shoulders. She almost felt at ease now, and having been the one who was worried but a few minutes ago, it was now he who was in need of careful dealings, and that comforted her.

"I guess it's a bit of a shock, eh? I don't mind taking it slowly—I'm really not that different from other women."

Well...there was one thing which was very different about her, but she wasn't about to bring it up right now, not with Jeremy still coming to terms with the fact that she had been born with a boy's body. She was still a little tomboyish to this day in ways, though innately feminine in others. Holding her coffee in both hands, she blew gently on the surface of the liquid—her lips pursing as she did so—and took a testing sip from the cup, smiling when she found that it was just how she liked it.

"You high five like a guy does," Jeremy snorted, recalling the last incident that led to his palm stinging for the better part of an hour. She did seem to be decently strong... agh he shouldn't be thinking on her more masculine traits, that was just gonna get his head all messed up. he really did like her, and he shouldn't be letting something like this distract him. Jeremy didn't want to give her the wrong impression here and now.

But... well it was still going to leave him confused for a little while longer.

"But on the other hand, I honestly dunno anyone who can sway their hips the way you can. They are... really fun to watch." Jeremy laughed nervously and then scratched under his nose and then looked back at the girl he was so close to. "You... wanna watch anything or crash here with me? We could... sleep together. Not like... a sexual way, but... intimately, you know? I still want to be close to you?"

Intimating the masculinity of her high-five was hardly the smoothest thing Jeremy had ever done—in fact, it was by far the least suave thing he'd ever said to her—but Charlie had to remember that this must be weird for him, and she did like hearing him talk about her hips. It was clear that he was attracted to her, and right now, that was enough. That and the fact that he was willing to entertain being with her despite her past would have been all she could have hoped for, but sleeping together? How could she say no? She smiled a giggled a little nervously.

"Um...sure. I'd like that," she nodded. "Maybe you can tell me more about my hips, and how much you like watching me." She giggled again, and though he had claimed it would not be a sexual affair, she felt a certain rousing in her loins, and found that the simple thought of laying with him was arousing. She did want to hear more about how much enjoyed watching her go about herself, though she now suspected that would do little to stem the hormones that he sent coursing through her body. She realised that she might have to be careful with that.

"Oh boy, I just know I won't be hearing the end of the whole 'hips' thing..." Jeremy remarked, feeling slightly stiff right about now. He usually liked to think of himself as decent at talking to women, but with this new revelation thrown his way he had been thrown off his game significantly. With any luck though, he would be able to adjust soon enough and flirt in a more proper way with Charlie.

He rose up and led the way to his room. Much like Charlie's neighboring apartment, the bedroom was a fairly modest part of the structure, offering little in the realm of free space. Jeremy stepped out of his shoes and hug his coat up before moving into the incredibly tidy bedroom. He laid down on his side atop the navy-coloured duvet and beckoned Charlie over.

The young woman's pulse quickened as she set foot into Jeremy's bedroom, and her throat suddenly felt dry. For all the nerves she had conquered tonight, there was a wholly new set awaiting her within his room, though the very fact that she was here made them a lot less troublesome than those of earlier tonight. Besides, she was in high spirits now that she knew Jeremy had not been scared off, and she had laughed before the left the living room, assuring him with some humour that he would indeed not be hearing the end of the whole hips thing.

At his behest, she walked to his bed and at its foot slipped off her shoes before laying down before him—also on her side—facing him. She smiled, and in her chest her heart continued to race: the door was closed, sealing off the outside world, and it was just the two of them now, alone in Jeremy's room.

The next two days seemed to progress in a normal, if lackluster fashion. Jeremy had a lot to grapple with here, and he made a point of heavily researching what he could about the whole transsexual thing. He'd answer any texts or calls Charlie sent his way, and talk to her whenever they passed by, just to let her know he wasn't avoiding her or anything. That was the last thing Jeremy wanted to make her think.

So finally, Jeremy made up his mind on what he wanted. He really liked Charlie, regardless of her past or gender. She was fun, cool, attractive, and always seemed to listen when he had a problem. Okay so she was trans, but it meant a lot that she told him. He knew that Charlie had headed out for some groceries, so he waited just outside her door for her return so they could talk.

He didn't have wait too long before he heard the door between the lobby and stairs open and close, and gentle rustle of plastic bags preceded Charlie's appearance at the top of the steps. Her hair tied back today—her bangs hung freely, framing her pretty face—and she wore tight blue jeans and a black t-shirt bearing a Led Zeppelin logo. Her taste in music had been influenced as a youngster by that which her dad listened to: Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Genesis, even Black Sabbath. She was pleasantly surprised to see Jeremy waiting by her door, and smiled when her eyes fell upon him, raising her free hand to wave cutely.

"Hey, how are you today?" She'd kept in touch with him since the innocent night they'd spent together, and had she had to wait any longer before seeing him again it would have become a test of her patience, albeit one she would have passed easily. She was not the most patient of girls, but she liked Jeremy a lot and understood that she had to give him time to come to terms with her revelation of a couple of nights prior. Just the sight of him now brought a nervous warmth to her chest.

"Sup?" Jeremy greeted politely. Honestly it was so hard to believe she could have ever been a guy seeing her like that. She was remarkably pretty, and she could clearly dress and move as well as any female. It certainly fueled his resolve for what he was to say to her. "Need a hand with those bags?" he began in the same polite tone, wanting to start things off slowly and smoothly, ease into this conversation. It would be a little difficult...

"So, I've been doing a lot of thinking these last few days. Even researched the whole trans thing a bit." Jeremy took a step back so she had full access to her door "... I'll be honest, there's this part of me that's still kinda scared. Like, venturing into uncharted territory. I'm afraid of making some kind of misstep and offending you, and screwing up what we have. But... there's this larger part of me that really likes you, and knows how much fun we've had together. I guess... what I'm saying is it doesn't matter who you were in the past. You're a beautiful woman, and... I'd really like to be with you."