MHA #6, Wednesday Evening

[firstofitskind]

To say the last few days had been busy for the two of them would be one hell of an understatement, but that didn't mean Liam was going to let Verity's birthday just go by in the aftermath. He did, however, call JGoB and have them make a last minute change to the cake he'd ordered. Which was sitting in a non-descript cardboard box in the kitchen for now, waiting for the reveal later.

(Yes, he'd promised the mice a not-insignificant portion of said cake in return for their patience, as well as their assistance in holding Verity to her promise not to peek prematurely.)

All they needed now was dinner, and Liam was just about finished taking care of that too- or at least, taking care of paying the delivery person from Outback Steakhouse.

"Food's here," he announced, having finally managed to send said delivery person on their way.

[ooc: for the birthday-haver!]

Comments

[arboreal_priestess]

"So other than saving time by not having to manually import the information, what's the difference?" Verity asked, taking a sip of her wine.

She wanted to know everything about him--not because the cryptozoologist in her was fascinated, but because all of her was.

[firstofitskind]

“Encryption,” Liam replied. “Most of my cards were limited-use.”

[arboreal_priestess]

"So--what? You give me your calling card and I could use it for like a week before the information vanished?" Verity asked. "Oooh, we'd be in such a fight if I ever found you again."

[firstofitskind]

“And that’s why you just have my number,” Liam grinned at her. “But yeah. It just made more sense, from a security standpoint.”

[arboreal_priestess]

"I suppose I can see that," Verity said, thinking of times tech like that could have come in handy. It beat their current method of 'unlisted number and hostile greeting whenever anyone answered the phone.'

"So, what did you do when there was someone you wanted to keep calling you, huh? Give them a handful of cards to keep using after the last one ran out?"

[firstofitskind]

“Nah,” Liam shook his head. “Anyone with Companion Services could contact me at any time, and Resistance cell leaders used rotating ID keys.” There hadn’t really been anyone else, in other words.

[arboreal_priestess]

"But what if you'd met someone pretty?" Verity asked. "Say, some sexy cryptozoologist with killer legs and a tango that can make men weep?"

[firstofitskind]

“That seems like an extremely specific scenario,” Liam grinned at her.

[arboreal_priestess]

"I don't know what you mean," Verity said loftily. "It's just a hypothetical scenario that leapt to mind out of nowhere."

[firstofitskind]

"Mmhm," Liam said, arching an eyebrow at her over his glass of wine. "Well. Hypothetically. For the right person, I could whitelist their number."

[arboreal_priestess]

"And in those days," Verity said, trailing her foot up the inside of his calf, "before you were stuck handing out your number like the rest of us barbarians, what would it have taken to become that right person?"

[firstofitskind]

There was a sharp intake of breath from Liam at the contact, and he took a moment to answer.

"... Be a sexy cryptozoologist with killer legs and a tango that can make men weep."

[arboreal_priestess]

He'd said they couldn't have dessert yet, but he hadn't said anything about an amuse-bouche.

"Mmm, good answer," she said, saluting him with a wine glass. "You have a type, then?"

[firstofitskind]

"I suppose I do," inasmuch as Verity was the first person he'd even considered pursuing a relationship with, let alone actually dated.

(Or had sex with. Joining was another matter, although even that had been purely out of necessity.)

[arboreal_priestess]

"Wanna know my type?" Verity asked, cutting into her steak. Mmm, warm and red and rare, just the way she liked it. "Dependable. Trustworthy. Competent. Tall, though compared to me, that's not saying much." She flicked her eyes up to his, filled with amusement. "Sexy helps, too. And..."

[firstofitskind]

"...And?" he echoed, going still and giving her a considering look.

[arboreal_priestess]

"I can't resist a guy who can banter," she admitted, bringing a small triangle of meat up to her mouth. "Someone who can stare down danger with enough presence of mind to spout a witty quip? I love...that."

And then she was chewing on her steak, unable to say anything else.

...And maybe kicking herself a little, shh.

[firstofitskind]

Liam's eyes went wide at the mention of that particular l-word. Even if it was in the context of things she loved about someone, that was the first time he'd heard her use anything stronger than 'really like'.

"Well," he said after a moment. "I guess it's unfortunate that Ryan's taken, then."

... She did say she was fond of the occasional witty quip.

[arboreal_priestess]

"'Stitches and britches' was not clever," Verity said, swallowing her meat still in a large enough chunk to hurt going down. But, hey, certain things needed to be clear. "Besides, even if I were interested - and I'm not - Ryan has a thing for Istas."

[firstofitskind]

Well, yeah. That much had been clear, even in the comparatively short time that Liam had known them.

"So... anyone around who fits that list of criteria, then?" Liam wondered, super-casually, as he reached idly for a piece of the bloomin' onion.

[arboreal_priestess]

"You'd be surprised at how few there are," Verity said. "Sure, a lot of competent people around here, but the banter is surprisingly weak." She flashed a smile at him. "Or maybe there just aren't a lot who mesh with my style of humor."

[firstofitskind]

"I think we... mesh... pretty well."

Also said super-casually.

[arboreal_priestess]

They were both just having a completely normal, totally casual conversation!

Just--what had seemed so easy in the moment now just seemed completely awkward now. So, hey, I'm pretty sure I fell in love with you some time over the last few months and your stupid joke about traffic made it impossible to ignore. That was so--ugh.

She had no experience with this kind of thing. Hell, she barely had experience with relationships. 'Casual' was the way to go when you were lying about who you were, where you were from, or even what your name was.

But she didn't have to hide from him. Too bad that didn't make being honest about...certain things...any easier.

"I think so, too," she said, because that wasn't the kind of comment you let hang. "Even if you still owe me that lecture on getting kidnapped."

[firstofitskind]

"D'you want the whole thing?" Liam asked. "Or I could give you the, ah- Cliff's Notes."

[arboreal_priestess]

"It's my birthday," Verity said. "Cliff's notes."