xp_logs | Doug & Darcy

xp_darcy posting in

With their free time finally matching up, Darcy and Doug go on a date.

Thanks to Laurie's boost, Darcy was minimally jet lagged and fairly well rested when she knocked on the door to Doug's suite Saturday afternoon. She gave him a wide smile as he opened the door, stepping into his space and wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug with a happy sigh. "Missed you," she said into his chest.

"Missed you too." Doug had managed to keep busy with work and the like, but this little trip had brought into focus just how quickly Darcy had become a fixture in his life. "Glad you're back." He stroked her back soothingly and just enjoyed having her wrapped around him. "How was the trip?"

"Hope I don't see the inside of another plane for a while, otherwise fine. Short. The retreat area is really serene, I wouldn't mind visiting again for myself someday." She pulled back slightly, looking up at Doug. "Didn't really plan anything concrete, but I was thinking find something to do for a while, dinner, cuddling? Maybe a hayride if we want to be a little extra cheesy? It's a good day for it."

"Hayride, huh? How very suburban couple of us." Doug's tone was lightly teasing and his eyes twinkled. "Throw in hot chocolate and you're on." He very grudgingly let go of Darcy in order to go find a warm outer layer, finally settling on a padded flannel jacket that he draped over one arm as he nudged Darcy toward the door. "Dinner awaits!"

***

"Admit it, you love the cheesy coziness of this just as much as I do," Darcy said with a laugh, sliding her left hand into Doug's right as they stood in line for drinks. "Warm drinks, chilly night, easy excuse to keep me close."

Doug chuckled and squeezed Darcy's hand. "You got me, this hand is actually made of one hundred percent cheese." Not that it was a huge secret, Doug's dorkiness was well established around the mansion by this point. "Cue Kristen Bell to pop up and tell me 'ya basic'."

"Oh, should I get you something with pie spice? Maybe some chunky fleece boots?" She dug an elbow gently into his side, beaming at the person behind the counter. "Large hot chocolate and a large apple cider, please." She paid for their drinks, stepping to side as they were prepped, and let go of Doug's hand just long enough to grab them and hand his over. "Your hot chocolate, dear, and now.... our chariot awaits!"

They found seats on one of the haybales around the edge of the wagon, and Doug wrapped his arm around Darcy for her to nestle in close as he sipped his hot chocolate. "I feel so teenaged, like we're going to go to a pep rally after this or something," he murmured. It was nice to be out without any need to be doing anything.

"Well, you do make me feel about as horny and desperate as a teen sometimes, so it fits," Darcy murmured back, leaning up to kiss Doug's cheek. "You didn't bring your letter jacket though, so I guess we'll have to skip the pep rally and go straight to the diner for malts and burgers," she teased, leaning her head against his shoulder as they started to move.

Doug (barely) resisted the urge to make a stupid Austin Powers joke in reply to Darcy's admission. "I mean, you definitely make me feel that way too," he admitted instead. "All teenage and everything turned up to eleven." The letter jacket comment brought back amusing memories. "So if you've read through back reports, there was this time in New Mexico where I was 'Joe Crockett Jr', college letterman in hockey at the University of Michigan." He puffed himself up like a clean-cut kid from the 50s, but could only hold it for a few moments before collapsing into giggles.

Darcy hid her grin behind her apple cider, taking a long sip as she tried to imagine it. "Can you even play hockey?" she asked, slightly skeptical.

"I mean, I know my way around skates and a puck, but definitely not letterman material," Doug told Darcy with a shrug. "I grew up in Denver, the Nordiques became the Avalanche when I was like 8. Prime hockey nut age." He would neither confirm nor deny the existence of any youth hockey pictures.

"So somewhere there's probably a picture of you with the poorly frosted tips or stripes and I need to find it, is what I'm hearing. And that we're going ice skating this winter, if you'd like." Darcy was curled against Doug, ignoring the other occupants of their ride to focus on their quiet conversation. "No hockey though, I'm terrible at it."

Doug grinned. "Let's go ice skating at Rockefeller Center and accept that we are going Full Romantic Movie Cliché." He lowered his voice in an attempt to sound like the trailer voiceover narrators. "This December, a spy loses his hand but can he find something more important?"

Darcy blushed, poking him in the side with a pointy finger. "Little early for me to bring you back to my hometown to meet my Bubbe and the rest of the family as we combine holiday traditions."

Doug winced away from the finger. "Just saying that if we're going to be Peak White People Aesthetics, that's the next one on the dock." Mention of family always made him feel a bit wistful for his self-enforced distance from his own, but it was hard to stay too mopey around Darcy.

"The cliché avoids mentioning how crowded Rockefeller normally is, but I don't mind being a little romcom with you." She tilted her cider towards him, a silent invitation to taste. "Besides, everyone needs a little softness in their lives."

Doug took a sip of the cider and made an appreciative noise. Of course Darcy would find a way to articulate his own vague thoughts about what she brought to his life. He leaned over against her. "My life has been a bit short of that lately, so thank you."

"Just call me the cozy queen.. wait, no, do not actually call me that. Doug, I see that mischief twinkle." Darcy laughed at her own ridiculousness before settling into something more serious. "You could've been having it all along, I just kinda dove hard into law school once the science labs didn't need me instead of reaching out to the friends I still had. I mean, it wasn't all me, but I should've been paying more attention."

"I don't always notice, myself," Doug told Darcy gently. "So maybe we could've been having it, or maybe we both needed to be at the point we were at." Her email nickname was definitely going to come up as 'the cozy queen' next time he sent her a message, though. That was just a given.

The ride was almost back to the main area, so Darcy reluctantly moved until she was sitting up instead of leaning on Doug, giving the arm around her shoulder a pat. "I can be a little sad at missing out for so long and still be happy that at least we have it now."

Doug nodded. "Absolutely." That was why they worked well, after all - similar thoughts and understanding each others' approaches to things. "Now, I believe I was promised dinner and cuddling," he said as he hopped off the wagon and offered her his hand to step down.

"Such a gentleman," Darcy teased lightly, taking the offered hand as she stepped down. "So diner, somewhere else, or get something to go and head home?"

"Diner? We really -are- going steady. Can we get a malted and two straws?" Doug teased.

"Well, if we're already being a little ridiculous..." Darcy trailed off with a laugh. "Of course we can."