xp_logs | Meggan and Korvus, Tuesday Afternoon

Meggan and Korvus exchange Valentine’s Day gifts, before he takes her down to the lake for a surprise and they share a first kiss.

Korvus knocked softly on Meggan's door. It was Valentines Day and he had read it was very important for a couple to celebrate. Or whatever they were, I didn't spend too much time analyzing it. He did rock a bit anxiously on the balls of his feet as he waited, though. His t-shirt and jeans suggested that he might not have had anything appropriately special planned but he did hold a vase with a bouquet of... something.

At the knock, Meggan leapt up from where she had been seated on her bed. She had been trying to decide whether or not to wrap a gift, finally going with not. Using massive quantities of wrapping paper just seemed better suited for birthdays and Christmas, not Valentine’s Day. She quickly opened the door, and smiled when she saw Korvus standing there. “Korvus, hi! Do you...maybe want to come in?” Her eyes were then drawn to the bouquet.

Despite having spent a lot of time reading very adult things, Korvus was still a young man. He was nervous and managed little more than a nod before stepping in and offering the vase. "I read it is customary to present a girl... friend... with chocolate flowers on Valentines Day. They are surprisingly difficult to make. I am surprised that tradition has endured." He offered the vase. The bottom was filled with Hershey's kisses instead of water. The 'stems' of the roses were wood wrapped in green paper which he had then tucked plastic leaves in to. The 'rose' was made two Hershey's kisses bound together base to base with bright red cellophane.

“I think it…might have been chocolate and flowers people give to girls. Maybe,” Meggan gently corrected. Going by a couple of the tv shows she had seen, that seemed to be the way it went. “But there’s no way I’m going to complain,” she smiled as she accepted the vase of meticulously made chocolate flowers. “They’re beautiful, and I’m sure they’re delicious, too. Thank you. I love them.” She happily added, “When the two are combined, chocolate flowers never need watering!” No pollen or wilting to worry about!

Korvus laughed a bit, his hands hooking left over right at the thumb in a nervous gesture as she took the vase. He squeezed them against each other a little. "Yes, that would make more sense." He accepted the correction with an appreciative smile. "I am glad you like them."

“I do,” Meggan nodded with a pleased smile. “Oh, I have a Valentine’s present for you, too, just a second!” She carefully put the chocolate down on the desk nearby, and brought him the gift. “I thought it might smell like home for you. If it helps, for when you’re meditating? When it’s lit, it smells like your Paneer Bhurji. Sort of like it had some extra curry sprinkled on. The palm of the hand catches the dripping wax,” Meggan explained. She had searched through so many stores in town, until she had found one that had smelled like what he had made on Thanksgiving. And that wasn’t too big and unwieldy.

Korvus laughed softly and took it with a big smile. "Only in America could they make a candle that smells like cheese and curry." He sniffed it before looking back to Meggan. "Thank you, very much. I will burn it when I meditate in my room."

Meggan smiled, pleased he liked it. She had hoped he would. “You’re welcome. There was also one with trailing vines and a heart at the peak and toward the base, but it was top heavy. This hand’s smaller...so you can burn it in your room, or...anywhere else, if the mood strikes, really.” The top heavy candle was a flaming nightmare waiting to happen, since it couldn’t possibly be safe unless it was bolted to a table. This one wasn't as much of a fuss.

"I would like to return to my room so I may leave your gift there before we leave." Korvus asked politely, if a bit cryptically. He hadn't told her about going anywhere.

“Oh! We’re going somewhere?” She didn’t know he was planning anything, and wasn’t sure if she should pepper him with questions. That would only delay whatever it was they were going to be doing. “I mean, go ahead with the candle, I’ll wait. If it’s supposed to be a surprise,” Meggan quickly added.

"You can come with me." Korvus offered his left hand low for he to take. "We have to leave the mansion. I'd like to show you something Wade and I made when I first arrived."

“Okay. I’ll leave a message for Molly, too—just so she knows that I’m not in,” Meggan explained as she grabbed a post-it note and pen, sticking the former to the mirror as she quickly wrote. ‘Gone out with Korvus, will be back later. Chocolate bouquet is mine—you can have three Kisses for a snack.’ With that done, she gently took the offered hand. “Ready. It’s probably better for me to hold back the questions about it until we get there,” she surmised with a smile.

Korvus slipped his fingers in between Meggan's as she took his hand. It was common to hold hands in India but not quite like that. "It probably is." He agreed with a smile and stopped by his room just long enough to put the candle on the inside table. He began leading her toward the mansion's foyer so they could exit.

“Thought so,” Meggan chuckled. “My lips are sealed, then.” No matter how intrigued she was. She did wonder how far they would need to venture, but that didn't really matter. It couldn't be too long.

It only took stepping out of the mansion for her to start to get an idea of what he had planned. A very modified, old Volkswagen Beetle was pulled up in the roundabout at the end of the walkway. Korvus started for it with Meggan in tow. "It is nothing so special." He said slightly timidly. He was feeling more nervous than he had expected.

“Oh, but it is,” Meggan disagreed. “Because it looks like you’ve done a lot in its favor,” she said as she got a closer look at the vehicle. She was impressed by the amount of care he must have put into modifying it like this. “How long did you say it took?”

"It took us nearly a month, if I recall." Korvus opened the passenger door for Meggan.

“Well, you both did great,” Meggan replied as she slid in with a nod of thanks.

Korvus stepped around to the passenger side, started the Beetle, then they were off. He started for the lake. "It was different to be working on machinery under my own terms. I enjoyed it. We have another project car now."

“I’m glad. Is it a VW, too? Or a different kind?” While Meggan couldn’t help her curiosity, at least she wasn’t asking for details on their destination. She was trying not to make any massively wrong guesses or assumptions as they drove along.

"Impala. It is an American muscle car." Korvus slowed as they approached the lake, shifting down to first gear as the car made its way into the water. He continued speaking casually as best he could while awaiting her reaction. "It is a treat to work on and I have used the scraps to make composite armor for complimentary use with my sword."

“Oh,” she yelped as they went in. Driven straight into the lake without warning, on Valentine’s Day, by Korvus. That was something she hadn’t expected to happen when she woke up that morning. Meggan’s eyes widened in disbelief for a few long seconds, before she noticed that neither of them was soaking wet, and nothing was spurting in at all, nothing threatening to soak them to the bone. She turned to Korvus in slowly dawning realization. “You made it water tight! We could get up close and personal with the fish."

The water came up nearly to the windows before the car leveled out and began to scoot at a decent pace out into the water. "Not so close. It is not capable of submarine travel." Korvus looked at her with a sweet smile. "But not many people get to experience an amphibious car and I know you enjoy the water."

“I do,” Meggan said enthusiastically, as she edged closer, eager to get a better view of everything just outside. “I love the experience of it, thank you so much!” She thought it was almost like a smaller scale version of an aquarium park. More driving of the amphibious car, fewer fish in this case, but still enjoyable.

"It is my pleasure." Korvus was just happy Meggan was enjoying. He made a lap around the lake in a slow pace so as to not rush the experience.

“This was the best surprise,” Meggan said softly. She only had one, half-serious question. “If it ever ran out of gas, would we have to find some oars and start paddling?” Because it was that, or the surreal thought her imagination was providing of Korvus swimming along behind and pushing it however many feet it was back to shore, while someone else steered it along so it wouldn't crash.

"I believe it is more likely to sink." Korvus responded absolutely seriously. "I am not exactly sure."

That made sense. Meggan knew that wouldn’t be good, not after all the hard work he and Wade had put into it. “Oh." Seeing this wonderful car sink like a stone would be disappointing. "So it’s just better to stick to the shallow end if it’s ever inches away from empty? Like if you’re out in it for a long time. To keep you from having to go diving to rescue it.”

"It has hours of fuel. It should be fine for our purposes." Korvus said reassuringly with a smile. "We can also go anywhere you may care to. I do not know if you had anything planned."

“No, there weren’t any big plans for today,” Meggan assured him. “Or small plans, either, so this is a great surprise for as long as we want.” Her plans for today had really only extended so far as giving him his Valentine’s Day candle, and being with him. And, now, taking a tour of the lake, and watching whatever happened to splash beside them.

Korvus smiled. He was comfortable in the silence and let it hang as Meggan enjoyed the ride through the lake. Responsible as ever, he directed the Beetle back for the shore when it was only at half a tank of gas and into the mansion's garage.

Meggan waited until he had finished bringing the vehicle to a complete stop, before leaning over to give him a quick hug. “Thank you. Again. That was wonderful.” She hadn’t wanted to distract or surprise him with it before, and cause them to crash into a wall, or do some other damage to the amphibious car that had had so much work put into it.

The abrupt hug made him laugh softly and Korvus returned her hug. "I am glad you enjoyed it." He didn't embrace her for more than a moment before pulling back and offering a smile.

“I do. I really, really do.” With a small smile, she added wryly, “Might be saying that a little too much, huh?” She knew she was repeating herself by this point, but it was still as true as the first time she had told him that. She really felt like she wanted to return the favor soon, with someplace he loved as much as she loved the water.

Korvus shifted in his seat, pulling his right leg up so he could face her more squarely. In standard American romantic comedy fashion, he brushed his right hand along her left cheek and across the top of her ear. He did not know a better way to initiate a kiss.

Meggan leaned into the touch, briefly brushing a finger against his. She had a pretty good idea as to what was coming next, what she hoped was next. She didn’t want to say anything and ruin the moment. She wouldn’t have known what to say as it was, ‘full speed ahead’ not being anywhere close to right. A Disney song annoyingly flitted through her mind, and she squashed it.

The distance between them closed and Korvus pressed a sweet, affectionate, but very modest kiss to Meggan's lips.

To her, it was what she had hoped for, when it came to a first go at kissing. Meggan leaned her forehead against his for a heartbeat, before pulling back. “This is the best Valentine’s Day ever,” she sighed. Well, for her. She hoped it was mutual.

Korvus was all grins, of course. "I am glad I performed correctly. You are very important to me and so is pleasing you."

“First time ever for me,” Meggan admitted, almost bashfully. “But oh, yes, Korvus. It was very pleasing.” Neither of them had accidentally cracked their heads together as they had leaned in, so she was definitely pleased.

"For me as well." Korvus offered comfortingly. "Would you like to move to the recreation room? It is my understanding the offer of a movie can imply an extended session of kissing. Perhaps we could do that."

Knowing that was reassuring, in a strange way. “Sometimes, maybe. I’m not sure. Okay? In between actually watching it if it’s something new and interesting to us,” Meggan said with some humor. But what could they watch? Or halfway watch, if neither of them took the shy path because of the newness? “Oh, I know! The fourth Indiana Jones movie, we haven’t seen that one yet. We could find out if it’s half as bad as everyone keeps saying...if we aren’t distracted, or anything, I mean.” There was something she’d heard about Indiana Jones lurking in a fridge in the desert, which couldn’t be right. If they weren’t too distracted, she could find out.

"I have also heard bad things. I expect it to be suitably disappointing." Korvus smiled at the idea before getting out and moving around the Beetle to get Meggan's door for her.

“Then, we’ll go find out just how disappointing it could be,” Meggan smiled as she climbed from the Beetle. It was Valentine’s Day. Wasn’t it supposed to be for only half-watching movies that weren’t that great? She’d read something about that.