[Aidan]

[starchilde_lost]

Valentine's day had almost been a disaster. And since then, Rachel had been trying to come up with some plan to make things up to Aidan. He didn't expect it and she knew he wasn't harboring any deep-seated resentments about it, but she just wanted to do something nice for him. Because she was his girlfriend and could. So she figured a nice candle-lit dinner for just the two of them would be a nice way to start.

It was when she found the outfit backstage at the club that things started to get interesting.

With devious glee she put an invitation that would lead him on a scavenger hunt to a variety of locations. In the boutique, she left him a suit that he could wear, at the Hub was waiting a bottle of wine, at the waterfall was a basket of desserts (with all of his favorites) and as he made his way to her hut, she sprinkled the path with some flowers.

Inside the hut, Rachel waited patiently, her small home lit entirely by candlelight and some jazz playing on her iPod. Dinner was on the table and if she'd timed it perfectly, it wouldn't be cold in the least when he followed her last instruction. Come inside and claim your prize.

Comments

[likesthestooges]

The invitation puzzled Aidan at first, but the more places he went the more he smiled. This was some sort of interesting treasure hunt that she was sending him on. It had been a long, long time since anyone had done something like this for him.

Rachel, generally, was a laid back girl. It was one of the things that he liked about her. That made all this extra effort that she was going through all the more special. By the time he got to the path with the flowers his face hurt from how much he was smiling.

He didn't knock, according to the last instruction he didn't need to, and whatever the prize might be Aidan already felt like he had won the girlfriend lottery. Inside, the light was low but warm, the candles sending him back to a time in his life before light-bulbs and electricity.

"I think I've got a prize somewhere in here?" he said.

[starchilde_lost]

"You do." Getting up from her chair, Rachel crossed the room to take the basket and wine from Aidan. The basket of desserts was set on a counter for later, but the wine she opened, pouring them each a glass. She also made sure she turned her back on him at least once so he could get the full effect of the dress she was wearing.

"I've made a nice dinner, some pasta with boar sausage and a salad, we have wine and desserts and music and absolutely no distractions or worries for an entire night. Basically, what I should have done on Valentine's Day, but kinda forgot to."

[likesthestooges]

Aidan was pretty sure that he should say something, just as he was equally sure that he was incapable of words as he took in Rachel's dress. He also took in the part of the dress that wasn't covering Rachel. It was... not her usual sort of outfit at all. The fact that she did something like this for him was overwhelming.

"Wow."

It was all he could think to say of and even then it didn't begin to cover everything.

"The notes, the flowers, the dress, the meal, the dress. Wow."

[starchilde_lost]

"I can work with wow." Wine poured, she took Aidan's hand and started leading him to the table. Just in case he'd forgotten how to walk along with how to speak properly. "Sit, eat, have a drink, remember how to breathe, then we'll have... dessert."

And she was pretty sure Aidan knew what to do after dessert. She knew the dress wasn't exactly subtle.

[likesthestooges]

"Rachel, seriously, this is amazing," he told her as he let her steer him toward the table. The food looked and smelled amazing enough that he was able to forgo the urge to immediately skip right to dessert. She had put a lot of work into the meal and he didn't want it to go to waste.

"How long have you been planning this?"

[starchilde_lost]

"Few days, not too long." She pushed him gently into his chair and picked up his napkin. With her arms around him, she tucked the cloth into his collar as she pressed her lips against his cheek. "Finding this dress was somewhat inspirational, the rest fell into place after. Dig in."

Taking her own seat, she dished out the pasta and the fresh bread, elated that her plan seemed to have worked perfectly.

[likesthestooges]

"The dress is definitely inspirational," Aidan admitted. It was already inspiring quite a few thoughts with him. First though, he had to find a way to get through dinner. The fact that she had done all this was still shocking him.

"And the rest... thank you. I love it all, this is amazing."

[starchilde_lost]

"You're worth it to me and I wanted to show you." It was the simple truth, more so since she was struggling with what to tell her about what she really felt. She didn't want to dive in too far and what she felt scared her.

Instead, she devoted herself to her dinner plate, letting her nerves indulge in the food she'd made. She was kind of proud of it, the red sauce she'd made from scratch, staying out from under the feet of the night's kitchen crew and the pasta she'd help make with their help. The sausage was a bit beyond her ability, but it had been in the fridge, so she'd claimed it. A fresh loaf of bread, butter and garlic and she was set.

[likesthestooges]

For having lived for such a long time, Aidan was finding himself unsure what to say quite a bit already this evening. This sort of thing wasn't completely out of character for her, it wasn't like she didn't do things for him, but this was more traditionally romantic than he was used to with Rachel.

"I'm glad you think so," he said, smiling at her before he took a bite of the meal. "Wow, this is delicious. Who made this?"

A heartbeat later, he realized who probably made it.

"Aaaand the answer to that would be that you made it, didn't you?"

[starchilde_lost]

"I didn't bake the bread, but, yeah, kinda." Blushing a little she reached for her wine to take a sip. "I've been learning how to make things on my own so I'm not as dependent on the whims of the kitchen crew and I want to start doing this kind of thing a little more regularly. Even have family dinners and the like. If you'd be interested in that kind of thing." Which she hoped he was because introducing him to the family of sorts she'd built on the island was starting to become less of a luxury and more of a necessity.

She really didn't want Doc just hunting him down someday, not that they didn't already know each other, just... it was different now, she guessed.

[likesthestooges]

"Well, I think what we should take away from this is not that I previously imagined you incapable of making something like this, but that you're so good I assumed someone who cooked full time did this?"

He was glad she was blushing instead of getting offended, not that he expected her to actually get offended but he was sure she would give him crap about it sometime. The family dinner question caught him a little more off guard.

"Family dinner? Yeah, that would be- that would be fine. I mean great, that would be great."

[starchilde_lost]

"I just freaked you out, didn't I? I promise, I'll make everyone behave themselves." She paused. "As much as I can, I mean." She took another sip and laughed a little. She knew she had zero ability to prevent Doc from grilling Aidan a little and Nathan... well, she had no idea how he'd react to this whole thing.

"It won't be a big deal, I swear, just a nice dinner. Doc will probably bring his Captain, there will be you and me and Nathan... might bring his attack dog. But we'll keep the dog outside, that I can promise."

[likesthestooges]

"No," Aidan said, shaking his head. "You didn't freak me out, I promise. Surprised? Absolutely. Freaked out? Not at all. It's just been a long time since I've been asked to meet someone's family."

Even longer since he was asked to meet a girlfriend's family. It was a very surreal thought, trying to take the normalcy of it all in.

"And I'd love to do family dinner with you."

[starchilde_lost]

"That's a relief." She took another sip of her wine with a light sigh of relief. "I kind of already started planning it. I mean, I wasn't going to spring it on you or anything, and if you said no we wouldn't, but Doc's been wanting it, and I know Nathan wants an excuse to glare at you for awhile, and..." She was rambling. About things she didn't need to be rambling about tonight.

"Sorry, but yes, thank you, I promise you won't regret it, or at the very least I'll be sure to make up for it." With a slight smirk, she slipped her foot from her shoe and ran her toes along the inside of his calf. Screw subtlety, if she got in hot water with the dinner thing, he already knew exactly how she'd make it up to him anyway.

[likesthestooges]

Aidan was glad that she believed him about not being freaked out by the dinner. He didn't want her to think that he was always trying to placate her, that wasn't a good basis for a relationship and she didn't really need that. Rachel was a big enough girl to handle things.

Which was proven by the way that she ran her foot up his leg. It was a tiny gesture that served to get him even more worked up than he already was.

"Can I fake like I regret it horribly just so I can get the making up?" he asked.

[starchilde_lost]

"I think I might appreciate it more if you genuinely enjoy it." She hoped he did. She really wanted everyone in her life to get along. For once. From what she'd read about home, it seemed like that part of her life was going to get worse before it ever gets better.

[likesthestooges]

"I don't think that will be too much of a problem," he reassured her. Even if he wouldn't normally get along with everyone she invited he'd had a lot of experience being diplomatic when he wanted to.

"If it's half as good as this dinner everyone will be in a good mood just from the food alone."

[starchilde_lost]

"Really? You like it?" It was silly, but that simple compliment meant a lot to her and she knew she was blushing as she reached for her wine again. She'd never seen herself as... domestic, but she had to admit, it had its appeal. She'd never do it full-time or anything, but it was something she should probably do more of.

[likesthestooges]

Aidan had to chuckle at the blush to her face, especially considering the dress that she was wearing. Being so full of interesting surprises was one of the things he liked best about her.

"You would have made a very excellent 40s housewife."

[starchilde_lost]

"That's good, because I'm not sure I have many other marketable skills. It's housewife or soldier, I guess." There wasn't much in between where she was concerned. She wondered if, in some other world, she got to go to college, be a normal woman.

[likesthestooges]

"Both of which, you're very good at," he said, leaning forward to reach out and take one of her hands in his.

"Which means you'd probably be good at most anything you tried, that's just where you directed your talents. You should take up something else, I think you'd surprise yourself."

[starchilde_lost]

"I have no idea what that would be, but I guess I'll keep my eyes open." Taking another bite she smiled at Aidan, refilling his wine.

"What about you? Do you have anything you want to try? Work-wise, I mean." She smirked.

[likesthestooges]

"I like being a nurse," he said with a shrug. He wasn't sure that there was much else on the island that he was really interested in that he hadn't already done.

"A stunt car driver career might have been fun, but not very practical to pursue here on the island."

[starchilde_lost]

"Stunt car driver?" It made her smile, imagining him behind the wheel on a movie set. Something flashy and incredible, high speed and dangerous. Going out with starlets after hours and attending premieres. "I can see that."

[likesthestooges]

"I've had a lot of jobs over the years though, so generally only new ones interest me," he admitted. Either that, or jobs he had done in the past but you couldn't really do now.

"I guess I could join one of those Colonial, historical villages and be really good at that."