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[sortileges]

"--a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Is that it? How do I tur--"

Comments

[sortileges]

[ There's a reason for it, okay... ]

Can you prepare something for tomorrow evening?

[psycholawgy]

Leave it to me! It's going to be the best dinner you've ever had!

Oh, and how many people am I supposed to be preparing food for?

[sortileges]

It's probably better if it's something cool, or in a thermal flask? Is that what they're called?

Just two. :)

1/2

[psycholawgy]

Thermal lunch box! Got it!

You won't be disappointed! ♥

[psycholawgy]

Sorry! I meant...

You won't be disappointed!

kills you

[sortileges]

I'm sure I won't be.

The bento boxes so far have been great. ;)

[ Thank you Rock Lee for the introduction to the winky face. ]

what did i do

[psycholawgy]

Wow! You really think that?! I'm so glad. It's only been recently that I've been learning how to cook! : )

[ the next day though, merlin's going to get another text. ]

Dinner's ready! Where should I deliver it? : D

you know what x-(

[sortileges]

You've been improving, of course. Keep it up. :)

[ He doesn't expect anything else that night, but when she actually says it's ready he ends up having to run out of his apartment with a bag of his own. He needs at least ten minutes extra time but he does send back a message, hopefully giving him the time to get there and do... something. ]

20 mins the gardenss

my hand slipped

[psycholawgy]

[ well, 20 minutes is enough time to prepare! the gardens isn't that far, so she takes 10 minutes to herself and... she actually dresses up for something. she puts a red dress on and lets her hair down, and leaves her apartment carrying a huge paper bag with food inside!

she's under the notion that the food isn't even for her to partake of, but she'd at least like to look nice when she delivers it.

and she's there, right on time. ]

"slipped"

[sortileges]

[ Admittedly he'd been ready for a while, it was just a question of knowing when to start. The thermal case should keep anything warm anyway. In the meantime he heads to the gardens. When she arrives she might notice that one particular section looks entirely different. There are vines blocking off a small section, clearly having grown too quickly to not be from his influence.

Still, when he spots her he doesn't exactly expect her to look like that and he starts to wonder what kind of line this is even crossing. Is it crossing a line--

Instead he just smiles and offers: ] Hi. [ Smooth. ] Before you give me anything-- [ He reaches up for his scarf, unravels it slowly. His hands are a little shaky and it's stupid but here goes. ] Can I blindfold you with this?

yes :)

[psycholawgy]

[ she blinks once. twice, then looks at merlin in the eye. what's this guy planning? ]

Okay? [ she's unsure, but not afraid. she at least knows that she can punch merlin in the gut if something bad ever happens from this. but merlin's always been nice to her, so she doubts it.

why does everything have to be about violence with her... ]

sure it did :T also pls don't kill me

[sortileges]

[ He just raises an eyebrow at her when she pauses, but he didn't really expect her to refuse anyway. She's gone along with every stupid idea he's had so far, after all. ]

Right. [ He steps closer, moving around her to place his scarf over her eyes, tying it lightly at the back of her head. ] Here. [ He reaches to take the bag of food she brought with her then, his other hand reaching for hers. ]

This way, it isn't far.

[ Once they're past the vines he's created outside, there's a small-ish sort of "room" he's prepared with a blanket in the middle. The blanket will probably need washing right after this because of the mud (Shigeru will kill him if he brings mud into the apartment again) but it works for this purpose. He leans to put the bag down in the centre of the blanket, but doesn't tell her to open her eyes until he's certain it's all ready. ]

You can take it off now. [ His hand pulls away from hers to give her the room to pull his scarf up, and what she'll first notice is that while it's definitely darker in this space, there are countless of candles lighting the area up. Merlin's even raised the ground slightly in some areas so it's easier to see. The blanket in the middle is purple and a little fluffy, and he even has glasses and the materials to eat it out here, because he didn't know if she'd catch on or not. ]

Surprise?

SHAKES AND CRIES

[psycholawgy]

[ athena quickly takes the scarf off her face as if she was opening a present on christmas day. she doesn't know what to expect of course, so when she sees the candles everywhere-- ]

Woah... [ and then there's a light giggle. she slowly turns just to see if the whole "room" was like it, because. okay. wow. this is unbelievable. ]

This is for us?

CRIES......... i hate myself i hate him

[sortileges]

[ The answer comes out of his mouth quicker than it should to be honest... ]

Well I don't see anyone else standing in here, do you?

[ Wait ] You're hardly the only one who caused problems in that room, if anything I probably made things worse so... [ he shrugs. ] It's only fair if we both brought something to this, right?

[ WHAT "THIS" THOUGH???? ]

I hate you both

[psycholawgy]

[ she pokes at her earring, soon realising that there's nothing dangling by her right ear. she just looks stupid tapping at something invisible, then. oops. she lowers her arms after that. force of habit. ]

This? Dinner?

[ she'll start guessing. though don't count on her to guess the right thing because of her overactive imagination. ]

not you too ........ [cryingcat]

[sortileges]

[ He almost misses that she says anything, actually. His eyes follow the movement of her hand, almost mesmerized for a moment because he gets what is missing right now.

A second later he blinks, looks at her confused. Dinner? What? ]

Dinner?

[ Right. Dinner. ]

Yes, dinner. ...This.

[psycholawgy]

[ then don't mind if she takes off her shoes and takes a seat on the mat daintily. she probably should have chosen something better to wear if she had known about this "picnic" of sorts, but ah... she didn't. now she's going to sit down awkwardly so the skirt doesn't accidentally show anything. this is what happens when you dress to impress... ]

I feel like I should be the one surprising you... [ especially after the whole flamines thing. she could have at least told merlin to keep his card, but nope. she was just so in the moment and wanted to get as much information that she didn't think how it would affect merlin.

but he seems fine with it? and he doesn't seem mad at her, which is more than she could have ever asked for. ]

So I hope you'll like dinner.

[ she looks up at him and smiles, eager to show him what's inside the bag. (just a lot of thermal containers tbh.) ]

[sortileges]

Well I'm sure whatever you have in that bag is going to end up being a surprise in itself. [ He waits until she's settled before he kicks off his own boots and shifts to sit down near her. ]

Besides, it isn't as though I had money back home either. [ He shrugs. ] Rent is free for me still at the moment anyway, so it's just food I really have to worry about.

[ He nods towards the bag. ]

What did you make?

[psycholawgy]

[ she takes out one container at a time and opens each as she says what's inside. ]

Salad Niçoise, Parsleyed potatoes, and mushroom glazed pork chops.

[ they definitely don't look like the bento boxes she's made so far. the food tonight looks vastly different! ]

[sortileges]

[ They really don't. He looks at the box, then back to her as if she's crazy. It looks way more impressive than he'd expected. ]

Did you lose your mind back there?

[ He reaches out for the closest, lifting it up to smell it. She said she was still learning before, and he could even taste the improvements in the bento boxes she keeps making but this... Just how much effort did she put into this...?

It's heart warming really, because it shows how guilty she felt about the credits even if he'd willingly put his card down too. She didn't even have to ask. ]

How much time did you even spend preparing this?

[psycholawgy]

[ um... way to make her unsure now. ]

No? I just wanted to- [ impress you? make you glad? ah...

she covers her mouth as she coughs softly. ] Nevermind.

Anyway, it didn't take that long, actually. [ just the whole afternoon! ] It was easy to make since I followed a cookbook for all of these.

[sortileges]

[ Well it was clearly going too well. He glances up when she says that, stopping half way through. ]

You're kidding, right? There's no way these didn't take a while. [ He reaches out for a fork that he left in his bag to the side, passing her one as well. ]

Can I...? [ He indicates down, at least being nice enough to ask for permission when he's clearly trying to avoid making too much washing up by bringing out plates as well. Rude. ]

[psycholawgy]

Oh! [ she perks up at the question and nods, even pushing the containers closer to merlin's side. ] Yes, of course.

[ she readies her fork, but she'll let merlin try the food first. it's not the best meal ever, but she's been learning how to cook, so it's at least decent!

and now, for the verdict... don't kill her too much with your opinion, merl. ]

[sortileges]

[ It's a higher level than he expected, at least that's the first thought in his mind as soon as he shoves a decent sized helping of the pork into his mouth. He places the container down onto the ground between them as he chews, and at first he purposely looks concerned.

Yes, he's actually attempting to make her worry a little before he gives his real opinion. He starts with: ] Have you actually taste tested this?

[ His face is entirely straight for a whole five seconds before it splits into a grin. He even pushes his fork in for another piece, but this time it isn't for him. He holds it out for Athena instead. ] 'Cause if you haven't, you really need to try this. Here.

[psycholawgy]

[ hopefully merlin likes athena's face when she's absolutely tense, because her expression doesn't change until the food is offered to her. and she moves closer to take a bite off the fork, then moves back to her original spot.

she's silent and demure as she chews, but once she's done, she explodes. ]

I'm going to get you for teasing me so much, I swear! [ she says as she shoves some salad in his mouth. EAT IT, jerk. ]