Yuriko was feeling great for once in a long time. She had done phenomenal work with her term paper, and no one had asked for her help recently dealing with any magic shenanigans, which meant that she and Ben were able to get some alone time to themselves in her dorm room.
"Ah, now this is what I call a good day," Yuriko sighed as she and Ben sat together on her dorm room couch under a blanket. Ben now took a moment to browse the streaming service, trying to find something on Netflix for the pair to watch.
"No one calling you up today?" Ben asked.
"Nope, and if anyone calls, unless it's an emergency, I'll just tell them that I'm busy." Yuriko chuckled as she and Ben leaned in for a kiss. The sound of someone knocking at her dorm room door made Yuriko groan in disgust. "Just ignore," she thought as she and Ben nuzzled closer. A second, louder knock now aggravated Yuriko, the young woman leaping to her feet.
"God damn it! Leslie, if this is about you wanting to borrow my lipstick again, I swear!" Yuriko said as she stomped over to the door only for her anger to drop when she saw it was Tom on the other side of the door.
"Oh, hey Tommy, what's up?" Yuriko said in a now friendly tone.
Tom fidgeted, annoyed by Yuriko's nickname yet needing some sisterly advice.
"Uh....it's not important if I'm interrupting anything," Tom said looking at Ben on the couch. "Am I interrupting anything?" Tom asked.
Yuriko looked at Ben who just shrugged as he grabbed a soda can from nearby.
"Ugh, no, not really, come in." Yuriko sighed letting her brother inside. Tom now made his way inside, Yuriko closing the door, perhaps a bit harder than she meant. All Tom could do is offer a meek wave towards Ben before turning to Yuriko once more.
"So what's going on with....Leslie, was it?" Tom asked now a little curious.
"Huh? Oh, nothing, it's a stupid thing really. But what's going on? I thought you were on that....'Seraphim' assignment? I do hear things you know." Yuriko asked crossing her arms.
"Uh....no, I kind of got assigned other stuff to do now that Seraphim's identity has come to light. Temporarily at least. Anyway, I wanted to ask you about.....when you know you connect with someone?" Tom asked casually looking over at Ben.
"Huh, okay, it's not usual that you come to me for this kind of advice. But why not go to mom or dad? Or even Mia and Zack?" Yuriko asked raising her eyebrow at her brother.
"Because all four of them would probably just tell me something cliché like 'follow my heart' or something like that. You and Ben have had a really great relationship in my opinion," Tom complimented.
"Oh, thanks, that means a lot." Yuriko thanked as Ben also gave a smile and a nod to that.
"So I'm a little bit....conflicted about something at the moment. See, while I was on the 'Seraphim' case, I got to meet my new partner, Alexa Ross. She's a nekomata..." Tom began to explain.
"A what now?" Ben asked a little confused.
"Basically she can become a cat girl." Yuriko explained quickly as Ben nodded his head.
"Anyway, while we were getting information, we stopped at this bar for the supernatural. It was run by a troll woman, and she would only give us information if I....went on a friendly date with her daughter. She's half-human, and a really nice girl too. But she....gave me this inkling that Alexa might like me and the crazy thing is....I think some little part of me is starting to like her. I can see her face when I close my eyes, I can see her hair, the funny little way her ear twitches when she hears something." Tom explained before seeing Yuriko was holding back from laughing.
"I'm sorry, do you find my conflict about my dating life funny?" Tom asked his sister raising his eyebrow at her.
Yuriko practically swallowed her laugh down her throat before recomposing herself.
"No, no, I'm sorry, it's just that....oh my god Tom, you can be so hopeless sometimes when it comes to romance. I can count the number of women you've gone out with since Lynne on one hand. Why not try dating this girl? What's the worst that could happen?" Yuriko suggested.
"Because we're colleagues, and workplace relationships don't usually work out." Tom said.
"What about that one woman at S.P.E.A.R.? What was her name, Michelle Wong? Don't she and her husband work within S.P.E.A.R., and isn't that where the two of them met?" Yuriko pointed out.
"I mean....yeah, but....I do like Alexa as a friend, and she is....pretty attractive. She's got a cute hairstyle, cute glasses, a cute ass.....damn it, I probably should've kept that one to myself." Tom said now turning red in the face as Ben and Yuriko now laughed at Tom.
"Oh my god, take my advice big brother, why don't you ask Alexa out for dinner somewhere, but don't say it's a date, and have a talk with each other. Remember to talk about anything but work. If the two of you feel some kind of connection, I say let it play out and see how it works." Yuriko suggested to Tom now.
"Yeah, that....sounds like a good idea, maybe I'll try that." Tom said as he headed towards the door.
"Great, and if you two end up marrying one day and have babies, I want one of your little kittens to be named after me." Yuriko joked as Tom stepped out of her dorm room.
"Yuki!" Tom shouted at his sister just as she closed the door on him.
Yuriko went to sit back down over by Ben as she now took a drink from some soda too while looking back between her drink and the door.
"Something wrong?" Ben asked curious.
"Not really, but damn it, now I think I do kind of hope it works out, I want to see those kitten babies." Yuriko said as Ben laughed a little bit putting his arm around Yuriko's shoulder as they sat together.
"Quick question," Ben said as the pair settled on a movie. "But, isn't your brother usually pretty confident about this kind of thing?"
"Usually yeah," Yuriko sighed. "But, lately he's kinda had a crisis of confidence. Lynne broke his heart and then being placed on A.L. for no good reason, it hurt him deeper than I think even he knows. Hopefully, this Alexa girl can kind of help him get his confidence back."
"I'll keep my fingers crossed," Ben replied, the couple settling under the blanket. For a moment all was quiet, Yuriko gazing at her boyfriend who appeared deep in thought.
"One more question," he said.
"What's up?" Yuriko asked.
"When you said kittens did you mean ACTUAL kittens? That's not actually possible right?"
Yuriko laughed, placing a gentle peck on Ben's cheek as she rested her head on his chest. Outside, Tom now entered his car, taking a moment to remember his college days.
The sounds of college life echoed through the quad. Music a bit loud, small parties occurring in various resident halls, it made Tom think of simpler times, happier times. Maybe he was overthinking things? It was just a date, he'd done this before. Taking a breath, Tom started his car, determined to see if Alexa was as interested in him as he was in her.