Maggie Daley Park, Chicago, Late Tuesday Afternoon

[firstofitskind]

The last few days had been pretty packed with stuff- from finding rings, to getting the engraving done, to visiting all the usual touristy spots (and some not-so-usual ones, because cryptozoologists).

Today's agenda included outdoor ice skating on the skating ribbon, followed by dinner in a dome ignore the fact that said domes are apparently closed for the season. THIS IS FICTION AND I CAN DO WHAT I WANT.

There was a party at the Carmichael later that evening, of course, but for now? Liam and Verity were enjoying some time to themselves (well, if you didn't count the crowd at the park.)

"Should we get hot chocolate?" Liam mused, looking at the stand thoughtfully. There was a bit of a wait until it'd be their turn on the ice, and hot chocolate seemed like a good way to fill the time.

[ooc: NFB for distance, for the wiiiiiiife and a heckuva lot of SP.]

Comments

[firstofitskind]

Liam let out a little huff of laughter. "I suppose at least we don't have to worry about anyone trying to break into our hotel room here," he admitted.

Still, he was content to let her do the drinking tonight. Tomorrow, he'd be ready with coffee and painkillers and something greasy ordered from room service.

[arboreal_priestess]

Hey now. She wasn't planning on drinking that much. Though with the amount of ouzo raised in Dina and Manos' honor - and everything she'd have to drink to get the taste of ouzo out of her mouth, ugh - she might end up that way anyway.

"The mice have informed me they want two pizzas tonight," Verity said, very Solemnly. "Since it's a holiday and all. And that, no, that does not count as the traditional cheese and cake."

[firstofitskind]

Hey, it was New Years! Getting Very Drunk was like, a whole thing.

“Of course not,” Liam replied back, tone equally solemn. “Pizza is a pie.”

[arboreal_priestess]

"Don't you start," she said, shaking a finger at him. "They don't need the help."

[firstofitskind]

“Still,” Liam continued, accepting their drinks as the vendor passed them over. “An argument could be made that it at least fulfills the ‘cheese’ part of the equation.”

[arboreal_priestess]

"Nope," Verity said with the long-suffering sigh of someone who had already lost this battle. "The cheese is to be eaten with the cake. Not only is mozzarella the wrong cheese for that, the sauce and other toppings makes it inappropriate."

HER MICE, Y'ALL.

[firstofitskind]

“There is a certain logic to that,” Liam had to admit.

He was, yes, still an absolute soft touch when it came to the mice.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity eyed him. "Just whose side are you on, huh?"

[firstofitskind]

“The kind that would like our first New Year’s Eve as a married couple to go by without being interrupted by the mice making demands of us,” Liam said, sipping at his hot chocolate.

Was he still reveling in getting to say ‘our first [x] as a married couple’ about nearly everything they’d done in Chicago so far? Yes. Yes he was.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Oh, they know better than that," Verity said direly. "...Maybe we should bring them cocoa, too, just to be sure."

[firstofitskind]

“Better safe than interrupted by mice making demands so they can celebrate the holiday properly,” Liam agreed. “Even if it’s not actually their holiday.” Not that that had stopped the mice, oh, ever. The day might not hold any particular significance in their calendar, but they knew an opportunity to ask for more food when they saw it, and damned if they weren’t going to make the most of it.

[arboreal_priestess]

"And it's not like there's anyone else they can bother for at the hotel," Verity sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. "Too many snakes."

[firstofitskind]

“Mmmhmm,” Liam agreed, free hand stroking her hair. “But that’s a future us problem. Right now? Date night.”

First official married date night!

[arboreal_priestess]

"Date night," Verity agreed. "Our first date and On New Year's Eve to boot. Seems like a good precedent for 2020, no?"

[firstofitskind]

Liam was not so naive to think that the coming year would bring only good things, of course, but finishing this one on a high note did seem somewhat auspicious, yes.

"Looks like you were right, last year," he pointed out.

[arboreal_priestess]

"That sounds correct," Verity said with a grin. "...But about what, specifically?"

[firstofitskind]

"That the person you kiss at midnight is gonna be the person you spend the next year with," Liam reminded her, tilting her head up to offer a hot-chocolate-and-whipped-cream flavored kiss to punctuate that statement. Sure, they still had a while to go before that all-important traditional midnight kiss, but he figured she wouldn't object to getting a few in beforehand.

[arboreal_priestess]

How else could they make sure they got the all important midnight kiss right? "Looks like you're gonna be kissing me on midnight for a long time," she murmured against his mouth.

[firstofitskind]

“Not just midnight,” Liam said. “Plenty of other hours too.”

Some hours more than others. There were probably not a lot of 4am makeout sessions in their future, but he wasn’t ruling it out either.

[arboreal_priestess]

She beamed at him. "That's the best New Year's resolution I've heard in a long time."

[firstofitskind]

“I worked very hard to come up with that one,” Liam informed her solemnly. “And am also going to work very hard to keep it.”

[arboreal_priestess]

"That beats my drastically less romantic 'Protect Liam from beau's wrath when she finds out what we got up with without telling her," Verity said with an impish smile.

[firstofitskind]

“I disagree,” Liam countered. “Protecting me from Beau is very romantic. And very brave.”

They were definitely gonna have to throw some sort of wedding-reception-party-thing to make up for running off and getting married without anyone there to see it, though.

[arboreal_priestess]

But no one on the island was going to argue with them about color schemes and that was the best.

"My plan is to just bring back good hooch from somewhere as a peace offering," she said. "And show her that video of you on the mechanical bull from Vegas."

[firstofitskind]

“Verity...!”

Don’t whine, Liam. It was very unbecoming.