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

[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.

[arboreal_priestess]

"I think Beau would be very supportive of your new hobby," Verity tsked.

[firstofitskind]

“I think she would laugh her ass off,” Liam muttered, scowling.

[arboreal_priestess]

"That's what I said," Verity laughed.

[firstofitskind]

Scowl shifted into a confused frown. “No, you-“ he stopped, sighed.

Every so often, he still took things a little too literally. At least this time he figured it out relatively quickly?

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity was still smiling at him. "See," she said softly. "You figured it out."

[firstofitskind]

“Yeah,” Liam said, after a beat. And if she could be concerned about how he’d deal with the weird that came with being a Price, well. Here was one of his little niggling insecurities.

“That’s going to keep happening, you know,” he told her. “I’m not always gonna get there right away. Or you’re going to have to explain the joke.”

[arboreal_priestess]

"Well duh," Verity said casually, trying to get a submerged marshmallow. "Humor is context. There is no humor without shared context."

She didn't see it as anything to be insecure about.

[firstofitskind]

“That’s kind of my point,” Liam muttered, watching her fish for that marshmallow. “Bet there’s plenty of guys out there that already share that context.”

[arboreal_priestess]

"And there are plenty of guys who would expect me to cook them breakfast," Verity pointed out. "So?"

She fished the marshmallow out (success!) and popped it into her mouth, looking at him as she chewed. "Liam. Before you, do you know how long my longest relationship lasted?"

[firstofitskind]

He shook his head, one shoulder lifting up in a sort of half-shrug. “No idea,” he said.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Couple of weeks," Verity said. "Not quite three."

[firstofitskind]

... And they’d been a couple of years.

“Right, okay,” he said sheepishly. “So you’re saying I’m being an idiot.”

[arboreal_priestess]

"See, look how fast you picked up on that one," Verity teased. "I don't have to hide my life from you. That's worth a hundred missed jokes, easy."

[firstofitskind]

Liam wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “Bet you could’ve found some nice boy who’s into cryptozoology, if you looked, though. Maybe even one who doesn’t... doesnt dissociate,” because thanks to those regular therapy sessions, he had a word for that now, “every so often.”

Did that maybe bother him more than the ‘not getting jokes’ thing? Yeah. Yeah it did. They’d had that discussion about him not having something ‘wrong’ with him because of it, and he’d taken that to heart, but... it was still there.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Maybe," Verity said, shrugging again. "So? I found this one. And I love him. And disassociation and bad at my kind of humor isn't enough to make me stop. I love your kindness, your compassion, your excitement at learning new things. The way you let the mice boss you around. The way you like it when I boss you around. Those are the things that matter to me."

[firstofitskind]

"So we're circling back around to be being an idiot," Liam said with a sigh. "Good thing you put 'tell me when I'm wrong' in your vows."

[arboreal_priestess]

"Almost like I know you enough to make those vows about us," she said, winking at him. "And not about some kind of hypothetical perfect relationship."