lowtohigh | [log] pleased to meet you

[log] pleased to meet you

It isn't easy, planning around Argine's health. Now and then, after all, she simply can't keep an appointment, simply needs to stop and sit, simply stops being a Ten and a mother and becomes a woman struggling against her own mortality. There's a good deal of hoping when it comes to setting dinner dates. A good deal of hoping in general.

But tonight was going to go well. The date had been set a week in advance, and was going to stick. The former Queen has been resting all day, her former Ace hovering and attending with nervous energy. The kitchens had been more than happy to pull together an early meal for three, to drag a table up to Argine's quarters and find a comfortable chair for the woman to rest easy in during an extended conversation. Everything is falling into place. Eileen should be ecstatic.

Is, in some ways. And is also starting to get ridiculously nervous, the way a young person gets when introducing their significant other to their only living parent.

So as the hour draws near, Eileen worries. Frets. Helps her mother pull herself properly into the semblance of the regal woman she used to be and get her settled in at the table. Argine's tsk is soft as she smooths her daughter's cheek, tells her to run along and get ready, not worry so much about an old woman.

She barely sees herself in the mirror as she throws on a bit of makeup, runs her hands through her hair ineffectually and calculates that she doesn't actually have enough time to change out of her usual fare.

Goes to loiter nervously at the door and wait for CJ to arrive. Maybe stealing a kiss before bringing him in will soothe her jangling.

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He strokes her cheek with his knuckles "She was born the year that I met you..." He nods and starts eating again, now that she's eating too.

But he looks at her sidelong "You want to babysit her?" He sucks air "I'm ... not sure if my parents would let a girl they don't know or like very much yet take care of my sister all afternoon." His tone is teasing as he adds "What if you spout anti-catholic propaganda or something?"

"But after they see you're not the devil, if you offer to babysit so they can have an evening out, that may get you all kinds of bonus points."

Amazing, really, that they've only known each other five years. Feels almost like a lifetime. An important five years, clearly.

"It just seems easier to sell a five-year-old on the fact I'm not devil-spawn than full-grown adults." Still. Long skirt. Classical music. Complementing food. Nothing outside of her skill set.

Particularly since she's brilliant enough to steal a fry with a spoon. Clearly a sign of genius.

"Probably better to get it all... settled before you start getting ready to go to Sevilla, right?"

He laughs, and grabs ice cream with his fork, tit for tat, even thought it was getting drippy he managed to grab a melting clump which he whisked into his mouth at lightning speed.

"True, which is why trusting you with her right away is not a viable suggestion. Little kids are easier to manipulate, usually." He smiles "But be nice to my sister, their baby, and that may help you too."

He looks at her and sighs, "Yeah, a year is going to fly by." He looks almost sad, 4 years without Eileen's face every single day is going to be hard. So he kisses her cheek and leans close "The sooner the better. Because if I can have you over, for a change, without sneaking you in... It's going to be a better year than otherwise."

"Nice I can do," she hums, licking carefully at the spoon to get all the spice off before digging it into the ice cream again. And, really, children she could do--now that she wasn't one anymore.

Besides, she had a whole year, really, if she needed it.

Her elbow nudges his ribs slightly. "How soon is soon, then?"

He beams "I know that." He scrapes hard cheese and chili with the fries that didn't get coated in sauce, looking at her "Whenever you're ready, Eide. You just say when."

This wrinkling of her nose isn't thoughtful at all, simply exaggerated displeasure at having the decision foisted onto her own shoulders. She gives the spoon an experimental twirl.

"How'd you know you were ready to meet my mother?"

He blushes, and peeks at her "Remember when you asked me?"

Edited 2012-10-29 15:33 (UTC)

"Mmhm." There's a pleased arch of her brow, an amused quirk to her smile, as she sets the spoon down again. "Is that the master plan? Wait until you've rocked my world and see if it feels right?"

He laughs, pulling her in to kiss her lips "No, but I knew before then... how I felt about you. Your mother liking me is important to you, so it was important for me. That was enough to make me ready to do it. When you're ready, you'll know. You'll want to meet them too."

Kisses help, keep the smile on her face even as she huffs an entirely over-dramatic sigh at him. "I do want to meet them. I just... want to meet them right. So they'll approve."

Cupping her face he kisses her gently "Eide, you can't do it wrong. I'll talk to my mom and try to convince her to have you over for dinner ok? We will go from there."

A stroke to get her hair behind her shoulder "Besides, if you don't wow their pants off the first time, you can always try again." And the a tug on her earlobe "You're a perfectionist, but just 90% is good enough, you know?"

The shake of her head is instant. "It's not good enough. I can't imagine a world where 90% is good enough for something this completely important."

This, after all, is going to be her future, isn't it?

Whether or not she can admit she loves him, whether or not the idea they'll be married someday is utterly petrifying, CJ is clearly a part of her life. Now and forever.

He grins, murmuring "I love you... so much. I hope you know that. I'd settle for 70% the first night and you slowly growing on them, if that is what it takes. But if you want to score 100%, I won't stop you."

He kissed her softly then, whispering "My beautiful perfectionist."

"You'd settle for 70%?" She can't help that this makes her sound genuinely aghast before he's kissing her and everything falls away all over again.

He's good at kissing the anxiety away.

"It's a passing grade, one that can always be improved upon." He can't help but grin as he nuzzles her mouth, whispering "But aim for 100%, like you always do, always achieve. They'll be unable to do anything but love you once they actually meet you."

"If you say so." She even believes it when she can murmur it against his lips. Everything's easier to believe when they're close like this.

One last peck against his lower lip, and she leans back, pulls one last soupy spoonful of ice cream to her lips.

"Walk me home?"

"Of course, someone has to defend you in that little skirt you're wearing." He places money on the table to cover everything and a tip, as he ushers her out of the booth, pushing his arm around her waist and holding her close as he waves goodbye to the waitress.

"I do say so, you will do great." he strokes her hip through the mini, and walks with her outside, back towards the castle. He wished they were older, that they had their own place. Either of them. That home meant they were going together, to the same place, the same bed, the same alarm clock. But all he could do was wait, and take her to her mother's suite, and say goodbye at the door.

There's a pleased hum for that. So much is lovely, after all--him taking her out like this, his arm around her waist, the cool night air and the warmth of being pressed against him.

This will be a good year. Her mother likes her boyfriend. Before long, she'll meet his parents and maybe that will go well too. She'll challenge up again and move into her own quarters. They'll have the final conversations about whether or not they could really make their relationship into a long distance relationship.

And they'll be happy. She's absolutely certain.

"I believe you, nn? Promise."

"Good, you should. I don't lie." And as much of a temptation as her thighs are, and that skirt, he remains a gentleman, holding her waist, just inches from sinning, as they walk, tied to each other, held together like being glued at the hip.

He slows down, because he doesn't want to stop seeing her just yet, taking it slow as they walk, caressing her skirt, taking the long way, resting his head close to hers.

"So, how long before you're Ace you think? Who are you challenging next?"

Edited 2012-10-30 08:51 (UTC)

Wandering slowly is good. If they take the right route through the Green, there will even be a bench to settle down on for a bit. Anything to just enjoy this a little bit longer.

The smile does drop from her lips at his question, but that's to be expected. She takes the topic entirely seriously. Can't not. Inevitably chews on the inside of her cheek while talking about it.

"I'm still on track to be back up to Ten by nineteen. Then it's just a question of Elisha deciding I'm ready." Her sigh is slight. "I'm still trying to figure out who to challenge next. I wanted to try something... less violent, but... it's hard to think who."

He finds the bench, he pulls her down into his lap as he sits, and kisses her shoulder through her shirt, nuzzling as her mood turns serious. He just holds her close, pinning her hip to his stomach, keeping his eyes on her face.

"Elisha knows you have everything it takes, I'm sure once you get to 10, if the spot is free, its yours." But it hurts to see her suffer, to see her sigh. "Use your wits instead of your dagger Eileen, you'll find the right person."

Settling against him, arms pulling around his shoulders to stay nestled, is almost enough to make her smile again. Her lips, however, stayed pulled down in serious contemplation, legs crossing comfortably and one hand briefly tugging her skirt down a touch more modestly.

"It's just so much easier, you know? I've been working with knives since I was six." And with her mind, true. One just tended to come a little more fluidly than the other when she went into challenge-mode.

Bad early influences, likely.

He watches her hand, doing that little tug, and feels that's probably his influence, though a slightly regrettable one. And yet her warm weight on his lap is not remotely chaste-making. But he's focusing, he swears.

"And? You're the smartest person I know. You have been brilliant since I met you. Probably longer than you've been using knives you've been training your mind. It's your best weapon Eide, don't kid yourself."

He rubs his face against her collar bone, whispering "Pick something you love to study. Your brain is like a sponge about facts. Have an... ancient greece trivia contest, you could dominate in that."

"Yeah, but who would accept a trivia contest against me?" she sighs, resting her head against his. "People think they stand a chance when it's hand to hand. There's a lot more luck involved in it. But information, literature, that sort of thing..."

Not since her challenge to Three. And that was currently a few challenges ago.

"It's hard, CJ. Trying to be a new person when all anyone does is remember the past."

"Chess? Cards? We know you mop the floor with me at cards. Something that involves strategy as well as luck then?"

He smiles, sighing against her "You will find a way, I am sure of it. You don't have to fight in order to make it to 10. You don't have to. There is so much more to you than skill with a blade."

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