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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"You're hilarious," Liam deadpanned. "You know full well I'm talking about you."

"I am funny," Verity teased. "I'm glad you noticed."

She felt warm all over, though, and flattened her palm against his, fingers spreading like a starfish. "Can you feel what I'm feeling?" she asked.

Liam's eyes closed for a moment as he focused on the energy that radiated out through his palm, connecting him to Verity.

"Yeah," he said, amused smirk transforming in to something softer, warmer. "I can. It feels- like coming home." He vaguely remembered doing something like this the other night, but then... his recollections of pretty much everything after they'd made it back to Sarah's were hazy at best.

Hopefully he remembered how hard he'd tried Verity's morals and how stubbornly she'd clung to them. He had not made staying good easy, dammit, but she had persevered.

"Coming home, huh?" she asked. "I--I like that. And actually, that makes me think of something, hang on."

She stood up, taking her hand back with a small flare of regret, and disappeared into her bedroom for a second. A minute or so of rifling around later and she was back, hand curled into a fist. "I know I'm doing this backwards, considering it's my birthday and all, but I got you a present." She held her fist out.

"You did?" Liam said, eyes going wide with surprise. "What is it?" He had a sneaking suspicion, of course, but didn't want to voice it just in case it wasn't correct.

"Don't pretend like you don't know," Verity said, poking him with her free hand. "I know how smart you are."

Still she couldn't help smiling at the little piece of metal she dropped into the palm of his hand. So small, so little value, but it meant so much.

"Figured now that I've discovered that dragons aren't extinct, I'm too good to be answering doors," she lied.

Liam's heart skipped a beat as his suspicions were indeed confirmed. "I don't know," he teased right back. "I was thinking maybe it was a mail key, and you just wanted me to run errands for you every time I came over."

"That key is just so you can go grocery shopping for me and cook me dinner," Verity insisted. "Think less 'run errands' and more 'do chores.'"

They were such trolls.

"... I don't think you want me cooking you dinner," Liam pointed out. "I'm happy to order it for you, though."

"Fair trade," Verity said. "I expect plastic containers on my table at six pm sharp. After a long, hard day of cryptozoology-ing" totally a word "and dancing, I get home starved."

“Six pm sharp, huh? I’ll note that down,” Liam said, trying to keep a straight face. “Wouldn’t want you to starve, after all.”

"I do so love a man that can bustle around a kitchen," she said. "Even if it's just setting out food containers for me to eat."

"And I don't bustle for just anyone," Liam said solemnly. "That's a privilege reserved for a select few."

"Well now I feel all kinds of special," Verity said, mopping a last piece of bloomin' onion through the au jus her steak had left behind.

They were teasing but you know what? She did.

"It's your birthday," Liam said reasonably. "It's practically required. And speaking of things required on birthdays, I do have a present for you." That was neither the cake nor what he'd promised would happen after said cake.

"Oooh, beyond the cake?" Verity said. "Can I open that now or am I waiting for that, too?"

"I dunno," Liam said, pretending to think about it. "I guess you can open it now, if you'd like," he 'decided', taking a small black velvet jewelry bag out of his pocket and handing it over.

If Verity paid close attention to his expression, she might see the moment that his grin faltered and became something almost... nervous... before he carefully schooled it back to amusement.

Verity's brow furrowed as she opened it, wondering what it could be--then cleared as she pulled out the necklace. "Oh, how lovely!" she said, dangling it over her palm to examine. "Simple enough I can wear every day and even under my costumes sometimes."

She examined the symbol more thoroughly. "Does this symbol mean something? Or...?"

Liam nodded. "Sowilo," he said. "The sun rune. It symbolizes, um. Guidance. Purpose. The realization of a goal."

He'd first gotten the idea a couple months ago, during their trip to the isle of Ikea. When she'd mentioned feeling somewhat like she was treading water with regards to the cryptozoology vs. dancing career choice.

This particular rune was also fairly important to Liam, for reasons unrelated to its actual meaning. Hence the nervousness.

Verity raised an eyebrow. Because that explanation did not match his body language. "Norse, right? I thought it looked familiar."

She handed it to him, then pulled up her hair and turned his back. "Put it on me?"

Liam undid the clasp and settled the chain about Verity's neck.

"Yeah," he said. "It was also... it was my mother's protection. The rune, I mean. Not this particular necklace."

He re-did the clasp and then went silent and still as he waited for Verity's response. Was this weird? Oh god, it was totally weird.

"What do you mean, your mother's protection?" Verity asked, fingers brushing over the metal.

Didn't seem weird to her. Familial protections were an important thing.

Well, yes. He was more worried about the fact that they'd just admitted they were in love, and here he was giving her something that held importance to the one blood relative he'd actually felt a true connection to.

"She placed great stock in the runes," Liam explained. "Looked to them when she had to make important choices. She felt as long as she kept this one close, then her path, her purpose, would always be clear."

"I could use some clarity of purpose," Verity murmured. "My path is anything but."

She looked up at him, understanding some of the reasoning behind this: the connection to his mother, the difficulty she was having with her purpose. And she was touched by it.

Liam let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Also," he added, teasing grin reappearing, "each rune has a number of different associations. With flowers, stones, plants... that sort of thing. The plant associated with Sowilo? Is mistletoe."

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