Dead Ringer for Love

[skip-stop]

Astrid listened attentively to the words of her new acquaintance, not forgetting to enjoy the beauty surrounding them. Belinda's words really made a lot of sense, she wasn't going to argue with that, especially after Belinda joked about the situation that brought them together today.

"Huh, yes, this is probably not the most reliable way to meet a beautiful woman!" The blonde laughed slightly, fully realizing that another woman in Belinda's place would hardly have gone on a date with her after such an unpleasant incident. "But I think I'll take your advice, in a sense I already did."

Astrid turned her head to Belinda and smiled a little sheepishly. The fact that they are spending time together now, almost without talking about work, is already an amazing rest for her. And while most of her life is filled with stress, today, thanks to Belinda, she felt blissfully peaceful.

[Devastated]

Belinda would let out a comically exasperated sigh at Astrid's words. Then throw a smile the way of the taller blonde. " Probably? You really lucked out~ If it was any other woman they might have punched you in the face. Though, around LAW that seems to happen even if you just look in another person's direction, haha~" Belinda made a joke as she would shake her head a little.

The short-haired blonde would continue to walk along with Astrid on this rather peaceful and nice stroll. She'd look towards Astrid every now and then, smiling at her date. " So tell me Astrid. What has been the biggest differences, you know coming here from Norway right? What's been the biggest culture shock between Japan and your home." Belinda would ask in a sheepish manner.

[skip-stop]

"Right," Astrid giggled at Belinda's words. "That's why I'm grateful that I met you, I get enough punches in the face in the ring, so it would be a shame to get a little more outside of it."

The Norwegian woman definitely liked Belinda's sense of humor. This short-haired blonde was amazing, her openness and honesty literally struck Astrid to the core. Despite the fact that in the beginning it was hard for her to believe that it was so easy for her to have a conversation with Belinda, now she felt as if everything should be like this. It was a great feeling.

"Oh..." Belinda's sudden question stumped her in a way. "I find it difficult to answer." She said. "For the simple reason that I was and still am shocked by many things, of which it is difficult for me to single out the most significant."

She even stopped, putting her free hand to her chin. Life here in Japan and life there in Norway are completely different things. Even though we are all human and we all have common ground, the inhabitants of these countries were too different.

"Okay," Astrid finally said. "This may sound strange, but I'm going to tell you about the very first thing that shocked me." She turned her head to Belinda. "Silence on public transport." She blinked several times, as if trying to determine if Belinda understood what she was talking about. "We don't have any problems if someone is listening to music through headphones or talking on the phone, well, within the bounds of decency, of course." Astrid blinked again, remembering all the amazement she had felt when she first found herself on a train in Tokyo. "But here they don't listen to music, they don't talk on the phone or even to each other... they are silent as if in a library... it's amazing."

[Devastated]

Belinda would look on at her date as she waited to see how she would respond. She wondered what had been the biggest sense of culture shock. She felt that everyone found something different to be the most severe of shocks. When Astrid spoke out and told Belinda what she found to be the most shocking, even blinking a few times as she stared at the short haired blonde rather intensely.

The Swedish-American would think about it for a moment, then she smiled and nodded. " Hah, I get exactly what you mean. Those extremely silent train rides are a bit difficult to get used to." Belinda spoke out with a soft chuckle following her words. "Though I do seem to remember a lot of people reading books or the newspaper. So maybe it's sort of like a library in that sense. Or reading area."

The Swede would take a moment and then let out a small laugh. "I think the first thing I experienced as a massive culture shock was...this is a bit embarrassing in hindsight. Well. I got scolded on my first day here. I was running late so I went into a konbini and bought a rice-ball, which I ate while I was walking. It turns out that's a big taboo here." Belinda shared with Astrid a story of her first day in Japan, which was many years ago now but one she'd remember for quite a while. Point was, you don't eat anything while walking apparently.

[skip-stop]

After Astrid shared her story, it turned out that Belinda was familiar with what the Norwegian woman was talking about. Perhaps this was not surprising, since the short-haired blonde had spent much more time here than Astrid. However, she also had a story to tell. As they slowly continued their walk, Astrid did not take her eyes off her new friend.

"Huh, really?" Astrid was surprised. "I'm not in the habit of eating on the go, but if I think about it... yes, I didn't see anyone crossing the road chewing a hot dog or something..." the blonde looked at the streets and the people around them. "An amazing country..."

The Norwegian woman stopped. This time, not because she needed to think, but because they had reached the end of the alley. The red color began to appear on her cheeks again. She wasn't too experienced in dating, so she wasn't sure what was going to happen next. Did the end of the alley also mean the end of their date? She didn't want it to end, but she also knew for sure that she had a good time and maybe they should end their date right now to keep the best memories.

"Thank you for showing me this magical place..." she told Belinda with an embarrassed smile. "And for the date too, I couldn't even dream of having such a good evening."

[Devastated]

Belinda couldn't help but agree with Astrid as she spoke, releasing a soft sigh as she would gaze out at the streets and the people. "Couldn't agree more. First off, it took a long time for me to get used to how clean everything is." Belinda said in a somewhat joking manner, her eyes trailed back to Astrid. " Not really used to that to be honest." the short haired blonde would shrug her shoulders.

As Astrid came to a stop, so did Belinda, she would look over at the taller woman as she began to speak, seeing the red on her cheeks. Belinda would smile and stifle a giggle, as she would turn fully to look at Astrid. As she finished thanking her for the date, Belinda would place a hand on her hips, " Oh? Date over so soon huh?" Belinda teased as she would lean in a bit closer to Astrid.

"Well, we should probably head back regardless. So we got a bit more time, but..." Belinda would trail off, as she leaned in a bit closer still. She'd plant her lips on Astrid's cheek and give her a quick peck of a kiss. " It's been a great date so far at the very least~"

[skip-stop]

Astrid agreed with every word Belinda said. In her MMA days, she had traveled to different countries, but none of them looked like Japan. In this country, both traditional values and incredible futurism were strangely combined. It was very difficult to get used to it, especially for Astrid, who moved here relatively recently.

The short-haired blonde continued to joke about Astrid, clearly not missing the blush that appeared on the Norwegian woman's cheeks. Damn. She just couldn't help herself. Astrid could be a very passionate woman, but she was almost completely unaccustomed to such nice things, from such a quiet pastime.

“Oh? The blonde was surprised when Belinda took a step towards her.

And then Belinda's lips touched her cheek. They say that fire cannot kill a dragon, but at that moment it seemed to the descendant of the great Vikings that Belinda's lips burned through her skin. It was a short, perhaps even barely perceptible kiss, but it made Astrid's soul and heart tremble. When Belinda pulled away from her, she touched her cheek with her fingertips, mesmerized.

“Didn't think I deserved it, huh...” she said the first thing that came to her mind. “Thank you, Belinda...”

It was only now that she realized that before their date came to an end, they needed to get back to Belinda's car. So the short-haired blonde was absolutely right, they still had a little time to spend together. But the most important thing for Astrid was that Belinda enjoyed her company.

“Shall we go?" Astrid asked, unable to take her hand away from her cheek after the kiss.

[Devastated]

Belinda would narrow her eyes as she stepped back from Astrid, hearing the taller blonde's words as she would tilt her head. She was a bit confused about what she might mean, and part of her felt a bit annoyed. At herself for taking it slow and at Astrid for the comment. The short haired blonde would nod as Astrid asked, she would then begin to walk with Astrid...but after a few steps...

"What do you mean by the way? What you said. About deserving?" Belinda was too concerned and curious, perhaps she had over stepped with the kiss. Perhaps Astrid wanted more, perhaps Astrid didn't think she deserved even a small peck. None of those things sat right with Belinda, and she wasn't the type of person to just let such things lie.

[skip-stop]

The women began their journey back, while Astrid could still feel Belinda's hot lips on her cheek. Even without that she was in a good mood, but after the kiss she seemed to shine. Suddenly it occurred to her that perhaps silence for the rest of the journey was not the best solution, so she tried to come up with a new topic of conversation. But Belinda beat her to it.

“Huh?" Astrid did not understand, turning her head to the short-haired blonde.

She even had to blink a few times. Judging by Belinda's face, she attached quite a lot of importance to Astrid's words, although the Norwegian woman herself did not put any hidden meaning into them. She even had to scratch the back of her head in embarrassment, considering how to answer Belinda's question correctly.

“Well, you know, first of all, I almost hit you with my motorcycle,” she said, being sure that few people would have decided to give her a kiss after that. “And secondly, hmm...” at this point, Astrid decided to look away. “It's been a long time since I've had a date, especially one so calm and pleasant... so before the kiss, I wasn't sure if you really liked my company...”

Astrid did not elaborate on the answer, because in any case it was true. She didn't think Belinda needed to know that in most cases Astrid's dates were much more passionate events, including alcohol, sex, and sometimes even fights. It might even seem trivial to some, but we have what we have. Because of this lifestyle, Astrid, in a sense, forgot that you can have a good time even without it.