firstofitskind | MHA #6, Wednesday Evening

MHA #6, Wednesday Evening

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!]

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"Okay," Liam took a deep breath and put aside his cutlery, for now.

"Okay," he said again. "When I had that vision of you strapped to that table, the thought that kept running through my mind was... what if we couldn't get there in time? What if I lost you? I know you've been getting in to- and out of- trouble since before I was even born, so maybe... maybe things would have turned out okay regardless of whether I was there or not. I don't know." Considering he'd had a day or so to work on this, this was coming out a lot more disconnected than he'd wanted it to. And also not all that much like a lecture, come to think of it. "I can't actually ask you to never get kidnapped again, as much as I hope it doesn't happen. But I hope you know, now, really know, that you don't have to do things alone out here. That I'll always have your back."

"I was scared," Verity admitted. "I mean, I wasn't going to stop fighting for as long as I could breathe, but I was so scared. And--we're trained not to expect rescue. There are too few of us and too many of them and, well, neither the Healys nor the Prices have ever really died peacefully of old age. We know that every fight we go into could be our last and, if we're lucky, it's ours alone. We make peace with that."

At some point, her eyes had dropped to the table. With difficulty, she raised them up to meet his. "So, I didn't expect anybody to come for me down there. Dave had betrayed us, you'd gone to save Carol, Istas was out, and Sarah too far to hear. But still, I--I'd hoped. I didn't know how or when, but I'd hoped you'd find some way to come for me. And then you did."

She gave him a weak smile. "You came for me and you made a joke about traffic and I realized that, uhh, I was pretty much in love with you. Or, well, that I had been for awhile, but I really had to, umm, cop to it then."

OH WOW LOOK AT THIS DINNER. SHE WAS JUST GOING TO APPLY HERSELF TO THIS DINNER NOW OKAY YUM.

...Look, she didn't know how to do this. It hadn't been among the lessons she'd gotten growing up!

Liam didn't exactly have a manual either. So they were both kind of winging it!

He reached across the table, fingers of one hand brushing against Verity's wrist in an effort to get her to pause and look back up at him again.

"That's what I was trying to say, as it happens," he said, a soft smile spreading across his face. "That I love you."

Her fork went clattering against her plate as she looked up at him. "Wait, really?" she asked. "I mean, really really?"

Why were you so surprised by this, Verity, the man battled sleestaks for you.

"Really, really," he nodded. "I'm absolutely crazy about you."

"Well...yeah," Verity said. "I never doubted that. But...love? You sure?"

She'd get over this in a moment, her brain just had to catch up.

Look, it had been a very long week.

"Of course I'm sure," Liam said firmly. He'd never been in love himself, before, sure, but it was one of those things that... it just felt right.

Look, she had just been giving him an out in case he'd misspoke or had gotten caught of in the moment or something! This was a big deal, after all.

"I..." Verity shook her head, clinging to the hand he'd slid across the table to her. "Maybe I didn't need to spend all this time worrying about how to bring it up."

"Maybe," Liam said softly. "But it's not like there's a manual or anything, is there?" he added, making the narrative text.

"Wish there was," Verity admitted with a wry chuckle. "I've never done this before. Hell, you're my first relationship that's lasted beyond the six-week mark."

And Verity's was his first whatsoever, but she knew that already. "Well, we'll be figuring it out together," Liam promised.

He was only six, he couldn't possibly have that much experience!

"Any thoughts on what comes next?" Verity asked, taking a forkful of mashed potatoes.

Oh god, this tasted so much better when she wasn't stressing over emotions.

"Well, I had some very specific plans for tonight," Liam said with a grin.

That wasn't at all what she'd meant and he knew it.

...You know, she was willing to be distracted.

"Oh?" she asked. Purred, really. "Do tell. I love specific plans."

"Dinner, dessert... an invocation of the Sacred Law of Food for Privacy," Liam said. And then he was sliding his chair over so that he was sitting next to her, and whispered in her ear just what he'd planned for once the bedroom door had shut.

Verity's cheeks flushed during his, uhh, rather lengthy and explicit recitation there. Not embarrassed, no, just very turned on. As he pulled away, she turned, hooking the front of his shirt with her finger and pulling him back in for a kiss.

Look, after an explanation like that, she needed to do something.

And Liam was more than happy to deepen that kiss.

"I take it my plans pass muster?" he asked, pulling away slightly as the need for air finally (temporarily) won out.

"I'm thinking about climbing into your lap and straddling you in that chair to get a start on them," Verity told him. "So...yeah, I'd say so."

"Mmmm," Liam said, lips curling up in to a smirk. "I'd be lying if I said the idea didn't hold a certain appeal." A beat. "On the other hand, there's something to be said for anticipation, as well."

"You're a brat, Liam Kincaid," Verity announced, tempted to do it anyway, just to see how long he clung to the idea of anticipation. "I was so nice to you on your birthday."

...That wasn't actually what happened, Verity.

"... You got me a birthday cake with children's toys on it," Liam reminded her.

Verity laughed, still highly entertained by that. "I got you a cake appropriate to your age!" she protested. "And I let you see it!"

It would have been hard to troll him with it without that, after all.

"And hey," she said, grinning cheekily at him. "You love me. So, clearly, I'm doing something right."

“That is true,” Liam grinned. “I do love you.” And he wasn’t going to get tired of saying so any time soon. “And you’ll get to see your cake. In due time.” Because yes, not letting her see it was absolutely returning the trolling favor.

... Sometimes, love meant knowing precisely which buttons to push.

"You know," Verity said, one hand curling around his, the other still wielding the fork because dinner was really tasty, "of everything that's happened since I arrived at this island, falling in love is probably at the top of the list of things I didn't expect to happen."

She paused, considering it.

"Okay, no. Finding a male dragon that was still alive is at the very top. But it's a close number two."

Liam huffed out a soft laugh. "Who would've thought being coerced into making out by overly aggressive mistletoe would lead to this? But to be honest... same here." Although he had his suspicions that the people who'd pushed him to come to Fandom in the first place had at least been hoping he'd try dating.

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