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

[arboreal_priestess]

"And if that feeling's lasted past my attempts to cook, I must be doing something right," Verity said.

Then, lowering her voice like she was afraid she might scare something off, she added, "Don't look now, but we might have made our way into the area of normal people beds."

This bed was still pretty weird, but it was explicably weird in that someone-has-a-hard-on-for-modernist-furniture kind of way.

[firstofitskind]

"It's a little too 'trendy boutique hotel where the shower is probably open to the rest of the room' for my tastes," Liam said. "But you're right, at least you can sleep on that."

[arboreal_priestess]

"See if I try to convince you to get an en suite shower then," Verity said, snorting a laugh. "You're killing all my dreams here, Liam."

[firstofitskind]

"My roommates are pretty laid back, but a renovation project like that might raise a few eyebrows," Liam pointed out. "Though there's nothing to stop us from spending a night or two in some trendy boutique hotel, I suppose, sometime." Eventually. Maybe if they ever slept together in a way that wasn't either literally just sleeping, or floating and turning incorporeal.

[arboreal_priestess]

Hey now, they'd managed to progress to the point where 'floating and incorporeal' still left Verity feeling really good.

"Mmmm," Verity said happily. "You know what that means? Room service and no mice."

[firstofitskind]

"You pick the time and place, and I'll book us a room somewhere," Liam promised. And between Portalocity and his shuttle, it wasn't like they were even limited to what was nearby on the mainland.

[arboreal_priestess]

And after this summer, they were going to need it. "You ever think about showing me your world?" she asked, nudging him with her shoulder.

[firstofitskind]

"Aside from the rainforest, you mean?" Liam asked.

[arboreal_priestess]

"If there are trendy boutique hotels in the rain forest and you haven't brought me there yet, we're going to be in a fight," Verity teased.

[firstofitskind]

Liam grinned. "No, no trendy boutique hotels," he assured her. "We only just got the rainforests back, nobody's actually in a hurry to destroy them all again."

The grin faded as he considered her original question. "But going somewhere populated on my world could... at best be weird, at worst end kind of badly."

[arboreal_priestess]

"Everywhere?" Verity asked, resting her head on his shoulder in sympathy. "I'm sorry. Ignore that suggestion then."

[firstofitskind]

"I had one of the most high-profile jobs on the planet, and I'm supposed to be dead," Liam said with a shrug. "I dunno. Maybe we could make something work, as long as it wasn't too central. And anywhere in North America especially is probably right out."

[arboreal_priestess]

"We don't have to decide now, huh?" Verity said, taking a second to fold her arms around him. "We're supposed to be deciding on a bed for you anyway. We'll find some trendy boutique hotel to visit another time, when I can do research about what kind of cryptids I can expect nearby and you can look up cliffs to climb and make me do it right, huh?"

[firstofitskind]

"It's a plan," Liam laughed, leaning in until their foreheads touched. "Although if it's cryptids and good climbing you're after, there's a supposedly-haunted out-of-the-way castle in Scotland that I've a standing invitation to."

Supposedly-haunted because Liam's version of reality didn't actually have ghosts, not the way Verity's reality did.

[arboreal_priestess]

"You have an invitation to a haunted castle in Scotland and you're trying to foist a trendy hotel on me?" Verity demanded, trying to sound outraged. Her expression was pure fondness, so it was a little tough, but, hey, points for trying. "Ghosts, Liam. Scottish cryptids! A castle!"

[firstofitskind]

There were... probably no cryptids, either. But no harm in looking, anyway.

"And also a curmudgeon of an old man who owns the place... which, fair warning, you might be drafted to test out a genetically-modified herbal cure or two."

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity waggled her eyebrows at him. "Since you're the sheriff, do I have to convince you I didn't inhale?"

[firstofitskind]

Liam laughed. "Not that kind of herbal cure. And besides, being legally dead means I don't actually have any sort of authority anywhere that's not the island anymore."

[arboreal_priestess]

"Oooh, so I have to wait until we're off the island to say that you're not the boss of me," Verity said with a thoughtful nod. "Though I can think of all sorts of times where it could be fun to have to be the boss of me, now that you mention it."

She gave him a saucy wink, heading over to inspect another bed, waaaaaaaaaaay too much swing in her hips for that to have been an innocent comment.

[firstofitskind]

"Really now," Liam drawled. "Good to know." He followed her over to the bed in question. "I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a bed or an entire living room furniture ensemble," he admitted.

[arboreal_priestess]

"I'm trying to figure out if it's supposed to fold up when it's not in use," Verity said, ducking down to look for springs and detachable pieces. "So, what kind of herbal remedies does your friend experiment with, if they're not the kind that gets you hungry?"

[firstofitskind]

"Last we spoke, he was working on mutating arnica to use as a cure for indigestion," Liam explained, watching Verity's investigations with amusement.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Eeesh," Verity said, giving up and standing. "I know arnica is good topically, if you have arthritis, but it's also toxic. I wouldn't ingest it. What's wrong with slipper elm and celandine?"

[firstofitskind]

"I don't know," Liam admitted. "I'm not sure where he gets most of his ideas, honestly. But I'm assuming the toxicity is why he's trying to mutate it."

[arboreal_priestess]

"I'll see if my mom has anything in her notes," Verity offered. "She's pretty much the closest most cryptids come to a doctor, at least those who can't send one of their own to med school. So she knows a lot about herbal treatments and stuff."