Liam's Shuttle, Fandom and then beyond, Tuesday Evening

[firstofitskind]

So this time last year, Liam and Verity had woken up together for the first time. Yeah, much like this past weekend, it had been after being small children for a few days. But they'd decided that since that first weekend had involved sharing (toy) weaponry, then the morning after ought to count as far as anniversaries went.

Look, it made sense to them, just go with it.

A few months ago, Liam had promised Verity both flying lessons and a look at the Northern Lights, and tonight seemed like the perfect opportunity to make good on that promise, and so he'd worked out a flight plan to guide her through and packed a picnic dinner for when they got to their destination. Now all he needed was, well. Verity herself.

[ooc: for the giiiirl.]

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[arboreal_priestess]

"Yesssss," Verity said, punching air with her free hand. "Let's open her up and see what she can do!"

...That's what she said?

[firstofitskind]

Liam laughed. "Somehow, I knew that's what you'd say."

[arboreal_priestess]

"It's why you love me," Verity said, laughing as the ship sped up.

[firstofitskind]

"Not the only reason by far, but it's on the list," Liam agreed.

[arboreal_priestess]

"I'm always up for hearing more of that list you keep mentioning," Verity teased, keeping one eye on the display.

[firstofitskind]

"Hmmm," Liam hummed. "Well, there's your modest nature, of course..." he teased right back.

[arboreal_priestess]

"One of my very best qualities," Verity assured him. "I'm great at it!"

She leaned up, gesturing him to come down for a kiss.

It was a pretty far distance, to be fair. Verity was less capable of hiding how tiny she was in chairs.

[firstofitskind]

Liam obliged happily enough. "Also, you've got a wicked sense of humor," he informed her. "... Suppose you're a pretty good kisser as well."

[arboreal_priestess]

"Suppose?" Verity gasped in mock-outrage. "How dare! I taught you everything you know!"

...Sorta?

[firstofitskind]

Mostly! There'd been a kiss or two in his life before Fandom, albeit nothing with real feeling or desire behind it. And then of course there were those inherited memories, and who liked to think too much about that aspect of their parents' experiences?

"And we're right back to your modest nature," Liam said fondly.

[arboreal_priestess]

Nobody. Literally nobody. Verity had herself and her siblings as proof that her parents had experience and she still pretended otherwise.

Verity grinned up at him. "You're going to have to add 'amazing pilot' to that list soon, too," she told him.

[firstofitskind]

"You are pretty good, for a beginner," Liam said cheekily.

[arboreal_priestess]

"I'd thank my teacher, but he's decided to be an utter brat this afternoon," Verity retorted. "So I'm just going to have to credit beginner's luck. And a reservoir of general talent."

[firstofitskind]

And before Liam could think up a witty retort, the HUD flashed, letting Verity know they'd arrived at their destination.

"Oh, look, we're here!" Liam said cheerfully.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Okay, that really was fast," Verity said, surprised. "Does using ID space count as teleportation?"

[firstofitskind]

Even with conventional drives, the shuttle was far faster than anything purely Earth-based. In this time period, at least.

"No," Liam shook his head. "ID travel crumples the space between two points, making it shorter," meaning that while their trip out had taken minutes, the return trip would be mere seconds, "teleportation- quantum displacement- involves atoms instantaneously jumping from one point in space to another." And had the potential to be extremely messy, unless you knew exactly where you were jumping to.

[arboreal_priestess]

She'd been half-teasing, but Liam's explanation was still fascinating. "So, teleportation was used in your world then?"

[firstofitskind]

"'Used' is maybe not the right word," Liam said. "Someone did develop a working teleportation device. Unfortunately, there were... complications, that led to his death." What a nice, cheerful topic for a date night!

[arboreal_priestess]

"Charming," Verity said, with a small shake of her head. "See, that's why I stick to leaping off of buildings like a sane person."

[firstofitskind]

"Let's just say it's not pretty when you don't know exactly where it is you're teleporting to," Liam said, making a face.

And also pointedly not mentioning how useful Portals could be while leaping off buildings. Because he didn't want to get her hopes up when he wasn't even sure they'd work in her world.

[arboreal_priestess]

Because if she found out she could have been running around, using Portal technology to get into places, she would be incredibly upset.

"Ewwww," Verity said, thinking of all the ways that could go horribly wrong. "On that note...dinnertime?"

[firstofitskind]

"Dinnertime," Liam agreed with a grin, reaching in to the HUD and executing a complicated series of movements that resulted in the shuttle being set to 'hover' mode.

Dinner wasn't anything terribly fancy; pasta and garlic bread from Il Pollo, chosen mostly because it was easy to keep warm with the use of a well-insulated basket. The food wasn't meant to be the centerpiece of the evening, but was a picnic, though, so Liam took a moment to spread a blanket out on the floor before he gestured for Verity to sit.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity grinned at the basket and the blanket, and when she sat, it was cuddled up against Liam, her back against his chest. Would that make it a little tough to eat? Yeah possibly. Did she care? Nope, not at all.

"Anniversary dinner on a spaceship," she murmured. "Damn, I lucked out."

She wasn't a nerd like her brother and sister, but even she had to admit that was damn cool.

[firstofitskind]

Yeah, Liam wasn't exactly complaining, wrapping his arms around Verity.

"Oh, now the truth comes out," he teased. "You're just dating me for my ride."

[arboreal_priestess]

"Sorry to break it to you," Verity said, leaning up to give him a kiss. "But can you really blame me?"