Isle of Ikea, Sunday Evening

[arboreal_priestess]

"So we're not leaving without getting a bed and some meatballs. Everything else is optional, but definitely those two things."

Verity had been threatening to drag Liam to Ikea ever since the giant snowstorm and she'd seen the empty expanse he called a bedroom. Honestly, Liam? A chair? If their physical relationship ever moved past the whole 'glowing cloud of purple light' thing, Verity figured they'd sometimes want a place to retreat to where they didn't have to negotiate with mice for a bit of privacy.

Which they couldn't do with just a chair.

"Also, considering the size of the store, maybe we should have brought along a couple of guide ropes and maybe a GPS," she added as the doors opened and she took in the sheer size of the store. Though maybe having the entire island being named for it should have given her a clue. "Uhhh...excelsior?"

[For the guy!]

Comments

[firstofitskind]

Possibly! Or that could just be his regular resting face. Sometimes it was hard to tell.

"I hadn't realized your lease was ending so soon," he admitted.

Okay, definitely pensive.

[arboreal_priestess]

"I mean, I still have until the end of the year," Verity said, giving him a slightly flattened smile. "That's not too awful, right? Just--by then I should really have more of my life figured out. Either I'll know I can make it as a dancer, or...that I can't."

Either way, it would be time for a major decision.

[firstofitskind]

"Okay," Liam said, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Just- when you said a few months, I was thinking the end of the summer, which just seemed... really close, all of a sudden," he admitted.

[arboreal_priestess]

"It's still a few months beyond that," Verity assured him, though the suddenly it didn't feel quite as long as it always had, now.

For some reason.

[firstofitskind]

"Good," Liam said with a small, albeit genuine, smile. And yes, selfishly, there was a part of him that hoped whatever choice she made would be one where they could continue the relationship they'd built over the past six months. "And if you ever wanna use me as a sounding board while you try and figure that stuff out, you know I'm here for you, right?" Because selfish desires aside, he cared deeply about Verity, and wanted whatever choice she made to be the one that would make her happy.

[arboreal_priestess]

"I know," Verity said, reaching for his hand to give it a squeeze. "Right now though, it's mostly just...waiting. Practicing. Working."

She sighed. She was dancing three hours a day and it still didn't seem like enough.

"But there's an audition for Regionals coming up in a few months and that will hopefully get stuff moving so I feel less like I'm just...treading water."

[firstofitskind]

"Also willing to come cheer you on obnoxiously loudly while you're competing," Liam added, twining his fingers with hers.

[arboreal_priestess]

"You'll be the only one, at least at the Open," Verity said, grinning. "The people who show up to watch competition ballroom dancing are sorta like the people who show up to watch really high-stakes tennis: completely silent, never gasping, applauding, or giving any sign they're not all dead. You cheer and you might end up giving someone an actual heart attack."

[firstofitskind]

"Oh, I can do that too," Liam assured her. "After all, being in charge of Companion security involved a lot of standing around stoically. I'm pretty good at it."

[arboreal_priestess]

"It was different on Dance or Die," Verity said, smiling a little wistfully. "There, the audiences went nuts. Hell, if they were quiet, it meant that something terrible had happened. You would have liked watching those tapings a lot more, I think."

[firstofitskind]

"I'd like watching you dance any way I could," Liam admitted. "Though that second option does sound more lively."

[arboreal_priestess]

"Well, maybe when we finish getting you some furniture, we can curl up at your place and I'll show you the episodes from my season," Verity said. "Be warned, they come with technical explanations for everything and the occasional attempt to show off."

Especially if beer was involved in the proceedings.

[firstofitskind]

"It's a pl..." Liam started to say as they turned the corner to the bedroom furniture section.

"That might, uh. Be harder than you think."

And that was only the tip of the confusing-bed-iceberg.

[arboreal_priestess]

"...No."

Sure, it was going to be Liam's bed and she didn't really have a right to unanimously veto something, but if he ever wanted her in it, he was going to listen to that judgment. Because no.

[firstofitskind]

"Trust me, there's no argument here," Liam said, shaking his head. "Birds are fine, but I'm not sleeping in a giant metal one."

[arboreal_priestess]

"Reminds me of the rooster outside of Dite's," Verity muttered, shaking her head. "And--also no," she decided, looking at the next bed, though it kind of resembled a sleeping bag more than an actual bed. "Okay, this whole place is officially weird."

[firstofitskind]

"Are food-shaped beds popular now or something?" Liam couldn't help but ask.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Maybe?" Verity said, pointing to another. "I'm starting to worry that I misjudged your chair."

Because, no, it wasn't something they could really cuddle in--or whatever--but at least it wasn't weird.

[firstofitskind]

"Maybe I should've just bought something online," Liam said, making a face at the sandwich-bed. "Oh look, there's one that's not food." Was something that looked like a toothbrush better or worse?

[arboreal_priestess]

Worse. Infinitely worse. How many makeouts was Liam expecting with giant foam tubes springing up between them. "I'm starting to think you'd have had a better luck finding something comfortable at least," she sighed, refusing to even dignify the bed next to toothbrush with a look.

[firstofitskind]

"What the hell is- how does one person even fit on that?" Liam had to ask.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Nope," Verity said, with her head held high, walking past it without stopping. "We're pretending it doesn't exist. It's offensive."

No, it wasn't the compensating-so-hard bed so NSFW over there, but at least you could sleep on that one.

[firstofitskind]

"Well, this is- more." Liam said, eyebrow raised as he got a good look at those bed posts.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Doesn't that just put you in the mood?" Verity asked, eyebrows waggling at him hard enough her face might start hurting.

[firstofitskind]

"Yeah," Liam said with a snort. "Maybe if I wanted to tempt fate and invite some sort of... fertility god... to participate or something."

Which he did not, for the record.