You've Been Talking in Your Sleep

When Haida officially started dating Retsuko, he quickly realized just how right he'd been when he said there was so much about her he didn't know. For instance, today Haida had learned that he drank much faster than Retsuko did.

The red panda was still nursing her first serving of beer while Haida rested his flushed head on the table and fiddled with his third empty glass. This Friday night hadn't been intended to be a date – Haida tried to think of more classy outings than going to the bar after work – but Retsuko had finally accepted an offer to go out for drinks with her two best friends and "Oh no, I just got an urgent text about a thing and have to go to a place. You kids have fun." Thanks to Fenneko, it was suddenly a party of two.

"…You know," Haida heard himself cutting into the awkward silence, "did I ever tell you about this really weird dream I had once?"

"Hmm?" Retsuko looked up from the drink she'd spent more time staring at than actually consuming.

"Yeah. Okay so, like, we were at one of those stupid company parties for some reason."

Retsuko nodded.

"And Ton suddenly gets up in front of everyone and is all," Haida sat up and did his best drunken impression of their boss… was it just him or did Retsuko look nervous? In the back of his mind he wondered if he should just shut up but he was too plastered to yield to his better judgement, "'bluh bluh Retsuko you suck bluh' but instead of just taking it or whatever you," Haida snorted, "you got up and started screaming death metal at him."

"O-oh… really? Uh, yeah, that sounds kind of scary." Retsuko blushed and went back to staring down at her drink, sweat starting to sheen on her fur.

Haida put his chin back on the table and ran his finger along the rim of his glass, not so much figuring out if what he wanted to say next was a good idea but just getting words to come out of his mouth.

"…Actually," Haida finally said, "to be honest, it was kinda hot."

Silence.

Haida's brain finally started to catch up with his words and he shot up from the table, staring over at the equally shocked looking Retsuko, his cheeks burning. "Uh, when I say… what I mean… I didn't… I wasn't-"

"Haida."

"Huh…?"

Retsuko looked around the room, down at her drink, down at the floor, before looking up at Haida with a smile unlike any Haida had seen her wearing before.

"On our next date, would you like to go sing for karaoke together?"

A/N: AKA "That time when Retsuko realized she was probably going to marry her best friend."