MHA #6, Valentine's Day Evening

[arboreal_priestess]

It was Valentine's Day and while it wasn't their first Valentine's Day together, the last one had still been early enough on that neither of them had really known what they were doing. As a couple. This time, however, 'I love you's' had been exchanged and so had keys, he'd met her family, he hadn't run screaming from her family, and he'd even rescued her from a snake cult. Those were a lot of relationship milestones right there, even if some were Price-exclusive.

So tonight she'd sent the mice off to gorge on cake and cheese in their closet in the spare room, turned the lights to dim, turned some slow music on, and started cooking dinner. The one flaw in her holiday plans so far was that she'd naively assumed that 'an ability to cook basic food' meant that she was fully qualified to cook elaborate romantic meals.

She was vastly learning that this was in error.

"What? Emulsify? I've got a spatula and a slotted spoon, how the hell am I supposed to do that?!"

[For the boyfriend!]

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[arboreal_priestess]

Verity sniffled again, nodding, and tossed the paella in the trash. And also the pan, as the paella was horridly burned and stuck to it.

"Gotta dry off my weapons," Verity said and slunk, more than a little embarrassed, into her room.

[firstofitskind]

Liam got to work tidying up the kitchen, putting away the dishes, wiping down the counters, and mopping up the floor.

A rush of fondness spread through him as he did so, because yeah, it was a mess, and hadn't at all turned out the way Verity had wanted, but she'd still done so much work to make something special for them, for him. God, he loved her so much.

Cleanup done, he made his way over to the bedroom, rapping lightly on the door. "You decent?" he called out.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Yeah," Verity called. "Come in."

The Verity that was waiting for him in the bedroom was not the Verity that had greeted him from the kitchen. She was sitting on their her bed, oiling one of her knives that had gotten wet. Her hair was pulled back, her makeup was gone, and she was in a tank and a pair of sweatpants.

"Hey," she said, looking up at him.

[firstofitskind]

Still gorgeous, in his opinion. He went to sit next to her, bumping their shoulders together lightly.

Not saying anything just yet, just enjoying being in the same space with her for a moment.

[arboreal_priestess]

She finished oiling her last knife and set it down next to the rest of them on the mattress. "Sorry about dinner," she said with a sigh, leaning into him.

[firstofitskind]

"I'm sorry too," he replied, one hand reaching up to idly play with her hair. "Looked liked you'd worked really hard on it."

[arboreal_priestess]

"I did," Verity sulked. "Paella is hard and stupid and we're never eating it again."

Wait...

"I am never making it again," she corrected.

More accurate.

[firstofitskind]

"Sounds fair," Liam agreed. "Though I wouldn't object if you wanted to try cooking something nice again sometime." Not tonight, though. And... maybe just one dish rather than an entire multiple-course meal.

"For tonight, though, wanna go take a look at the takeout menus and see what appeals?" he asked.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity sighed and nodded. "Yeah," she said with a sigh. "Even if we wanted to scrape salad off the floor, the water ruined it. Anything appeal to you?"

[firstofitskind]

"... Not floor salad," Liam deadpanned. "Could go for Thai, though," he admitted.

[arboreal_priestess]

"I like Thai," Verity said, perking up. "Tom Yum soup and massaman curry?"

[firstofitskind]

Liam nodded. "Maybe some Yam Nua, too?" he suggested.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good. And, hey, at least dessert's still good."

[firstofitskind]

"Glad to hear it," Liam agreed. “C’mon,” he added, moving to get up and tugging her gently with him. “Find something good on Netflix or whatever while I place the order.” He had no illusions that they’d actually watch whatever was picked out from start to finish, of course, but it was possible they’d get like... halfway through a movie, maybe.

[arboreal_priestess]

"So, you may not know this, but there are exactly two acceptable genres to watch on Valentine's Day," Verity said. "Rom-com or horror. Gentleman's choice?"

He decided genre and she figured out movie. That sounded fair, right?

[firstofitskind]

"You're right," Liam said. "I did not know that." He briefly contemplated the idea of asking if there were any films that somehow combined both. But honestly, when it came down to it? "You know? I'm feeling romantic comedy is the way to go."

[arboreal_priestess]

"Mr. and Mrs. Brown?" she suggested. "Married assassins who don't know the other one's an assassin."

[firstofitskind]

"Haven't seen it," Liam said. Verity was probably shocked. "So it's good with me."

[arboreal_priestess]

"There's a really good tango scene in it." Liam was probably shocked. "And it kinda reminded me of a few of my relationships with people I couldn't tell about cryptozoology."

[firstofitskind]

"Yeah?" he grinned. "Think they also had some secret life they were hiding from you?"

[arboreal_priestess]

"Like I didn't thoroughly research the heck out of them before I started dating, just to be sure," Verity sniffed. "...Which was my my first boyfriend broke up with me. He thought I was a stalker."

Okay, well, he wasn't wrong. Just not for the reasons he'd thought.

She leaned up to kiss him. "I'm really sorry about tonight."

[firstofitskind]

"You said that already," Liam reminded her, but he wasn't about to turn down a kiss.

"Fancy dinners are nice," he acknowledged. "But all I need for tonight to be great is you." A beat. "And the mice to be too occupied with their cheese and cake to interrupt."

[arboreal_priestess]

"I know, but..." She was disappointed, so it was hard to imagine that Liam wasn't, too. She shook her head. "At least we still have Iceland to look forward to. I'll find a way to make it up to you there."

Oh. Oh Poor Verity.

[firstofitskind]

Well, he hadn't been the one who'd put all the time and effort in to planning the surprise. Mostly, he was upset that she was upset.

"Mmm. You, me, and the Northern Lights... worked out pretty well last time," he said. "Can't wait."

[arboreal_priestess]

Next week was going to be a lovely time, nice and relaxing, no cares in the world.

"Did you look through the brochure and everything I sent you?" Verity asked, finally getting up and taking his hand to lead him into the living room. "he hotel looks amazing."