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."

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[arboreal_priestess]

It was hard for Verity to not just get lost in it, but the thumping of the bass and the promise of the floor were too much. "C'mon," she murmured against his mouth, tugging him further along. "I can't wait to see what you've learned."

[firstofitskind]

It was nothing fancy, just a simple two-step to start, though he was managing to keep his movements to the beat and looking loose and natural.

"Am I passing muster so far?" he asked.

[arboreal_priestess]

"I mean, you're on beat and you don't look half-panicked that your hips are about to fling themselves off of your body because you're moving them," Verity congratulated. "You're already blowing half these guys out of the water and you've barely even started."

[firstofitskind]

"Glad to hear it," Liam said, his hands finding her hips and pulling her close. "That was a surprisingly accurate description of me the first time we danced together," he admitted.

[arboreal_priestess]

"You weren't that bad," Verity said with a laugh. "I mean, your partner seemed to think you were quite the treat!"

Really, Verity? Really?

[firstofitskind]

"Ugh," Liam groaned. "That was terrible. You're terrible," he informed her, his tone one of complete and utter fondness that made the word seem like a term of endearment.

[arboreal_priestess]

"I'm a motherfucking delight," she told him, removing what little space between the, there had been. "And you looooove me. You said so. You chose this."

[firstofitskind]

"Hm, did I?" Liam pretended to think about it. "I suppose you're right," he said, after a moment, leaning in to give her a quick kiss. "I did choose this." There was nothing quick about the kiss he punctuated that last statement with.

[arboreal_priestess]

There weren't literal stars in her eyes as Verity looked up at him, but damn it was pretty close. "So you think the mistletoe knew?" she said, still moving to the beat. It would take more than some kissing and delightful conversation for her to lose that. "Or just random luck?"

[firstofitskind]

"I dunno," Liam mused. "I'm not sure I believe in 'random luck', but I find the idea of a prescient plant a little unsettling, so let's go with that."

[arboreal_priestess]

"I dunno," Verity said, grabbing his hand and twirling herself beneath it. "Maybe it's the island that prescient and the mistletoe was just a tool in a very long game."

...Was that any better to think about?

[firstofitskind]

"Not actually sure if that's better or worse," Liam said with a laugh, pulling her close again with a flourish as she finished that twirl.

[arboreal_priestess]

"You don't think 'Matchmaker Island' has a nice ring to it?" Verity asked, stealing a kiss as he pulled her in.

[firstofitskind]

"Mmm, sounds like a cheesy reality TV show," Liam replied.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Yeah, but look at our lives there and tell me they don't half resemble on," Verity pointed out. "That or a super-weird soap opera."

[firstofitskind]

"Maybe a little," Liam admitted. But then, even his life pre-island would probably be considered weird by a lot of people's standards. Verity's too, for that matter.

[arboreal_priestess]

And she'd been on a reality show already.

"Matchmaker island," Verity said. "I'm putting my money on it now. Using plants to do its sinister shipping."

Like the pollen flowers! It all added up!

[firstofitskind]

"Sinister, huh?" Liam said teasingly. "You'd call this particular outcome 'sinister'?" Liam, you'd just admitted yourself that the idea was unsettling.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Yup," Verity said, looping her arms around his neck and pressing herself against him. "You might just be after my sweet, sweet knife collection."

[firstofitskind]

"I do enjoy taking them off you," Liam mused.

[arboreal_priestess]

Okay, yeah wow. That was both really smooth and really sexy, Liam. Verity had literally no choice but to lean in and give him the kind of greedy, ardent kiss that comment deserved. The kind that was definitely more in line with the later, private part of their evening.

[firstofitskind]

Oh god. She was intent on making it really difficult to keep to the agenda for the evening, wasn't she?

Not that Liam was complaining. Oh no, that noise he made was no complaint at all.

But he was seriously considering asking if Verity felt like booking it to that hotel right about now.

[arboreal_priestess]

"You know," Verity said, whispering in his ear, lips close enough to graze over the skin, "we could just as easily dance by ourselves. Maybe a slow dance, even?"

To, say, a bed?

[firstofitskind]

"That sounds like a fantastic idea," Liam said, voice low and full of desire. "Let's go find ourselves that private dance floor."

[arboreal_priestess]

His tone of voice made Verity's knees go weak and a deep ache between her thighs. "Yeah," she said, too turned on to be clever. "I'll give you a dance like you've never had."