A Club in Baltimore, Monday Night

[arboreal_priestess]

Between snake cults, dragons, and now singing fish going evil for a lack of participation trophies, it had been awhile since Verity and Liam had had anything resembling a real date. So Verity had skipped out on her shift at the Devil's Nest and headed out to the mainland with him, dressed to kill (both literally and metaphorically), and looking for a good time.

The club they'd ended up at was a lot smaller and quieter, one where they could have dinner the second floor up and actually hear themselves talk. "Oooh, good call," she said as they were led to their table. "Dinner and dancing. It's like you know how to show me a good time."

Comments

[arboreal_priestess]

"We could always ask for this to go..." Verity wheedled.

Someone was clearly Not Feeling Helpful.

[firstofitskind]

"We could," Liam said. "But I wanted to show off how much I've been practicing the whole dancing thing." He was finally at the point where he didn't look, well, like an alien attempting to behave like they thought a human being might.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Oh really?" Verity asked. "And just who have you been practicing with, hmmm?"

Goddammit, he'd been practicing dancing. For her. Was there something beyond love you could confess to somebody?

[firstofitskind]

“I might’ve gone to, uh, a few handwavey classes over at the gym. General basic dance stuff.” Not that Verity hadn’t been a great teacher, but he’d wanted to surprise her.

He was working his way up to tango lessons, and those he wouldn’t be trusting to anyone else, naturally.

[arboreal_priestess]

Yeah, Verity was definitely surprised. And leaning over to give him several happy kisses to prove it.

"So I should stop trying to seduce you here and wait until we're on the floor to do it?" she asked, all bright smiles. "So you've at least got a chance to show me what you've learned?"

[firstofitskind]

"Exactly," Liam said. "A chance to impress you with my... performance... is all I ask."

[arboreal_priestess]

"Mmm, you know, in the name of getting to have you move with me, I'm willing to be good for a little while," Verity said, still looking utterly delighted. "Just promise me you'll keep some impressive moves for later once we're off the floor, too."

[firstofitskind]

"I promise," Liam grinned. "There are some moves I have in mind that are not for public consumption. Your eyes only."

[arboreal_priestess]

"Tell that to my mice," Verity said, laughing.

Wasn't the first response that came to mind, but she'd just promised to be good. And that comment had been anything but.

[firstofitskind]

"And that's why we're getting a hotel room tonight," Liam said pointedly. "No prying eyes."

[arboreal_priestess]

"Without having to resort to bribery, even," Verity remarked, shaking her head in disbelief. "This evening is turning out to be magic."

[firstofitskind]

“I suppose technically speaking, we are paying someone for the privilege of having a room to ourselves with no interruptions,” Liam pointed out. “But magic sounds way better.”

[arboreal_priestess]

"Yeah, so don't you ruin my illusion of magic with your logic," Verity said, pouting at him. "Also, we can go to any hotel in the city except the Ivy."

And not just because it was far too rich for Verity's salary.

[firstofitskind]

"I did say 'no prying eyes'," Liam reminded her as the server dropped off their food. "That goes for your cousin too. I'll book us a portal to a completely different Baltimore if I have to."

Liam's own salary was hardly exorbitant, but he did through the magic of handwavey when it came to dimensions have access to a certain CEO's corporate account. It came in handy sometimes.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity laughed. "I think a perfectly reasonable hotel at least a few miles from the Ivy should be fine," she assured him. "Though I'm keeping that alterna-Baltimore plan in mind for later if necessary."

[firstofitskind]

"We wouldn't be us if we didn't have a backup plan," Liam pointed out with a grin.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Backup plans are how you manage to survive when your first plan inevitably explodes," Verity agreed.

The 'explodes' was also meant to be taken literally, not figuratively. Because their life.

[firstofitskind]

"Hey now, things don't always explode. Sometimes they implode," Liam pointed out. Reasonably.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Fair point," Verity agreed as the waiter brought out their meals. "And rarely, it's some other kind of catastrophic failure. That's when things get really exciting."

[firstofitskind]

A statement that got them something of an odd look from the waiter, but Liam just smiled and shrugged.

“Not the kind of excitement I’m hoping for tonight,” Liam said.

[arboreal_priestess]

"I dunno," Verity said, pretending to give it some thought. "Fireworks count as explosions, don't they?"

[firstofitskind]

“Controlled ones, I suppose,” Liam said slowly. Were they still being literal, or was she now talking about metaphorical fireworks?

[arboreal_priestess]

Fair question. She was talking metaphorical ones, but his confusion was understandable.

"Controlled explosions are a Questing Beast of another color," she said, grinning at him. "Those are signs that everything is going exactly as planned."

[firstofitskind]

"Well, I have no literal controlled explosions on the agenda, personally," Liam admitted.

The metaphorical ones, on the other hand...

[arboreal_priestess]

"Well, if you're just gonna say no to all my fun ideas," Verity said, cutting into her roast. "I guess I'll just have to expect metaphorical ones."

They were on similar wavelengths, yeah.