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xp_logsTerry's a little surprised, Kyle's a little sneaky, and Marius abetted the whole thing from afar... (No Mariuses actually contained within this log...)
Terry sat on the couch in the suite Kyle and Marius shared, her knees drawn up so she could rest her latest Hindi-learning textbook on them. The language had taken a backseat to everything else going on in her life for long enough. She'd decided to get back into it, though that did mean covering things she'd previously learned, given the length of time it had been since she'd last properly put her mind to attempting to master the language.
Kyle paced like a zoo animal along the hallway - down the hall to the elevator, back to the stairs, and then back again - and then caught himself before his claws scraped along the floor. He braced - and tapped his phone against the door, barely waiting for the electronic lock to click and whirr before pushing it open with his knee. Backpack, helmet, flowers, bag of dry cleaning - if his balance hadn't been impeccable, this might've been a challenge.
If it'd been anyone but Kyle, Terry would've gotten up to open the door when she heard the various noises that went along with carrying far too many things. However, given it was Kyle, she just marked her place in her book and set it aside, pushing the sleeves of the forest green sweater she'd stolen from him up to her elbows despite the futility of the gesture. The sweater was huge on her, obviously, but soft and warm and comfortable... and she could use the little coin trick to make it fit her a bit better about the waist. She smiled when he opened the door, toes wiggling. "Heya, love. I know y'don't need any help, but would y'like some?"
"Well." Kyle would've rubbed the back of his head if his hands hadn't been full. "You could take these flowers I got for you off my hands." He wasn't sure why he brought the helmet up, it could've stayed in the garage with the bike. But he hadn't exactly been thinking clearly.
Smile spreading over her face, Terry reached for the flowers and hummed herself upward so she could give Kyle a kiss after taking them. "Thank you, they're lovely." She allowed herself to drop back to the floor and moved to the kitchenette to see if there was a vase she could put them in. Casting Kyle another smile, she asked, "Have y'got big plans for the evenin'?" She nodded toward the drycleaning bag. He wasn't typically one to need clothing drycleaned, though she knew for a fact he was too handsome for his own good when he put on a suit. Terry let herself get distracted with memories of the last time he'd decked himself out, then refocused on filling the vase she'd found with water.
"Well. So." Kyle set the backpack and helmet down, and then fussed with the hanger of the dry cleaning bag. "I. Okay, well not I, Marius really. but I. Because now I owe him a favor. So we'll go with I. I got reservations for one of those garden tables at Palma. Which is - I mean." He paused and visibly settled himself. "We could go in nice casual, or, we could be pretty, and so I kinda got that one dress of yours dry cleaned. Also the suit I wore to that gala that one time."
Eyes widening, Terry paused for just a moment to listen to the slightly elevated rate of Kyle's heartbeat and take in the stops and starts in his speech. She grinned, walking back over to him so she could take the bag with her dress in it. "That sounds wonderful," she said. "I've heard the garden tables there're gorgeous an' you know how I feel about y'in that suit. What time's the reservation?"
"Couple hours. Enough time to get all cute and drive into the city. I am not." He paused. "Doing the train. Like. I mean if you really wanna we can, but if you don't wanna, then you can wear whatever cute shoes you want. There's like eight places to park nearby and whoever put parking apps on phones should be given a nobel peace prize. Love reserving parking way before I gotta worry."
"Excellent," Terry said, her smile softening. "And I've no need t'take the train when I know you'd rather not. Plus, Jeanie and I went shoppin', so I've new shoes t'wear with this." She tugged the collar of Kyle's shirt until he'd bent down far enough for her to give him another, firmer kiss. "So I'll be ready in an hour, if no' a little before. Meet y'back here, or at mine?"
"I'm probably done before you?" Kyle offered. "I just have to shower and shave and suit. up? Be suited? None of those work. It sounded better in my head." He ducked said head a little. "Traffic was ass, I got cut off by that one bio teacher in the goddamn compensator truck in the lot and you know." There, nervousness covered. Surely.
"I dislike that biology teacher on your behalf," Terry said, still half-smiling. "But I'll meet y'back here, then, soon as I'm ready. An' I'll even mind m'hands so's no' t'leave y'all wrinkled before we arrive at Palma." She'd have to work out a way to thank Marius for the reservations without actually thanking him. A favour owed was enough, so far as she was concerned. Standing on her tiptoes, Terry kissed the the side of Kyle's neck and finished, "See y'soon, boyo."
Kyle had really pushed the boundaries of how far he could work on the idea that parking apps and the ability to reserve a parking spot ahead of time deserved a Nobel Peace Prize on the drive in. But there was a -pinecone- in his jacket pocket, and if he chattered about both that and the social psychology theory that America's car culture contributed to a weird lack of empathy, he didn't think about the pinecone.
The winter chill was still biting, even in an overcoat and scarf over his suit, and the walk from the garage to the restaurant was a blissfully short handful of minutes - and all of that too was a nice distraction from the pinecone.
The pinecone was a metaphor. Also it was slightly sharp, even through his jacket pocket and shirt.
Terry wasn't the biggest proponent of vehicular travel in general, but she could also fly, so she'd nodded along with Kyle on the drive into the city and agreed with him about the lack of empathy. She'd also pointed out that it probably contributed to the lack of interest in nature that seemed to plague a lot of people.
After being seated, she waited for the maitre'd to leave before truly looking at the restaurant around them. "Lord, it really is lovely here." She couldn't think of any anniversaries or special occasions that would call for this sort of evening, but Terry also hadn't really thought about them much after they started the drive. "Are y'goin' t'give me a hint about what's brought us out tonight? No' that we need a reason, o'course."
Instead, first, Kyle drank his water. "No reason for tonight, I guess, but not no reason?" Water was great, he took another drink. "I've planned this a lot. So much. Ter, you have no idea how many times. I am so glad you don't see how many times Marius has made fun of me. Including this weekend."
He paused. "I was gonna do it this weekend, and then I couldn't be that much of a cliche. I couldn't. Valentine's Day is a ..." He fumbled a little, and went into his suit pocket and brought out the little pinecone, wrapped so carefully in white tissue paper shot through with gold. "You see me. I mean. You know me, and you've seen me at my worst, and you know me at my best, or the best I am right now, and you make sure I'm not running myself into the cracks, and you never hesitate to tell me I'm neglecting myself, but you also - you get why I do what I do, teaching and the institute work and the team." He nudged the little pinecone, fingers stiff with sheathed claw. "You tell me when I'm doing good work and you believe in what I'm doing and you give like, so much of your time to people, and you jump both feet right into caring for people and you make me a better person. That's really what it is, we make each other better people. We're a team. I mean, we're on the team but we're a team."
"So. I wanted to make this us, and not because of the date, or a holiday and don't ask me how many times I had this pinecone in my pocket and ready to just ask, and couldn't make the words come out, and today felt right. So." He pulled on one delicate edge of the tissue paper, to show a glint of metal. "The first time we met, this pinecone was in my pocket and I couldn't tell you why I saved it then, but I've been saving it for years now, so that I could have it when I asked you to marry me." Getting down on one knee was not something a person rehearsed, except one billion times in their head. "Will you marry me?"
Terry had been teasing, sort of, about why they'd gone out to such a posh restaurant, but then Kyle had started talking and her eyes had widened. They'd continued widening until she'd needed to blink and when he said he'd kept the pinecone for years so he could have it when he proposed -- tears welled up in her eyes as her hands covered her mouth.
Then he'd asked and he was on one knee and he'd -- his claws were retracted and the way she loved him was just the same as breathing, natural and easy and so, so necessary. "Yes," she said, standing up from the chair she'd so recently sat down in. Reaching for his hand, Terry cupped his in her palms and stared at Kyle with bright, happy, teary eyes. "Yes, yes -- I'll marry you, y'wonderful tree of a man." Then she tugged on his hand until he stood. "I love y'so much."
"Okay, but there's a ring on the pinecone." Kyle's voice came out quiet and a little rough, deep baritone with nervousness and emotion. "A really good one. I had help. I don't want to rip the paper though." He wiggled his fingers against Terry's hands. "I love you so much."
Terry uncupped her hands and held her left out for Kyle so he could put the ring on her finger before actually looking at the ring because while it was lovely and beautiful with knotwork and diamonds, it was a thing and not even the most important part of the evening. She was excited and adored it, of course, because her man knew her well enough to pick a ring she'd never want to take off, but looking up at Kyle left her feeling breathless and that was silly given her powers but she couldn't help it.
"C'mon, love, I want t'kiss y'like y'deserve, you're just -- this is. This is the most beautiful night and I just..." Terry's voice trembled slightly, the tears finally overflowing. "Christ, you're just... I said 'yes', didn't I? Because I'm... Kyle Tyler Gibney." She had to restrain herself as the other restaurant-goers were watching and clapping, otherwise she'd most certainly have simply jumped him and wrapped herself around him where he stood.
"You did." Kyle was nodding more than he was talking. "You said it, and I asked it and you said yes." He bent so Terry could kiss him as promised, and kept glancing between her face and the ring and her face and the ring. "You said yes. We're gonna get married."
Terry looked from her finger where Kyle'd slid the ring on, then back up into his eyes and kissed him again before using her free, non-beringed hand to wipe the tear streaks from her cheeks. Then she whispered, "I'm goin' t'marry y'so hard, a rúnsearc."
Terry sat on the couch in the suite Kyle and Marius shared, her knees drawn up so she could rest her latest Hindi-learning textbook on them. The language had taken a backseat to everything else going on in her life for long enough. She'd decided to get back into it, though that did mean covering things she'd previously learned, given the length of time it had been since she'd last properly put her mind to attempting to master the language.
Kyle paced like a zoo animal along the hallway - down the hall to the elevator, back to the stairs, and then back again - and then caught himself before his claws scraped along the floor. He braced - and tapped his phone against the door, barely waiting for the electronic lock to click and whirr before pushing it open with his knee. Backpack, helmet, flowers, bag of dry cleaning - if his balance hadn't been impeccable, this might've been a challenge.
If it'd been anyone but Kyle, Terry would've gotten up to open the door when she heard the various noises that went along with carrying far too many things. However, given it was Kyle, she just marked her place in her book and set it aside, pushing the sleeves of the forest green sweater she'd stolen from him up to her elbows despite the futility of the gesture. The sweater was huge on her, obviously, but soft and warm and comfortable... and she could use the little coin trick to make it fit her a bit better about the waist. She smiled when he opened the door, toes wiggling. "Heya, love. I know y'don't need any help, but would y'like some?"
"Well." Kyle would've rubbed the back of his head if his hands hadn't been full. "You could take these flowers I got for you off my hands." He wasn't sure why he brought the helmet up, it could've stayed in the garage with the bike. But he hadn't exactly been thinking clearly.
Smile spreading over her face, Terry reached for the flowers and hummed herself upward so she could give Kyle a kiss after taking them. "Thank you, they're lovely." She allowed herself to drop back to the floor and moved to the kitchenette to see if there was a vase she could put them in. Casting Kyle another smile, she asked, "Have y'got big plans for the evenin'?" She nodded toward the drycleaning bag. He wasn't typically one to need clothing drycleaned, though she knew for a fact he was too handsome for his own good when he put on a suit. Terry let herself get distracted with memories of the last time he'd decked himself out, then refocused on filling the vase she'd found with water.
"Well. So." Kyle set the backpack and helmet down, and then fussed with the hanger of the dry cleaning bag. "I. Okay, well not I, Marius really. but I. Because now I owe him a favor. So we'll go with I. I got reservations for one of those garden tables at Palma. Which is - I mean." He paused and visibly settled himself. "We could go in nice casual, or, we could be pretty, and so I kinda got that one dress of yours dry cleaned. Also the suit I wore to that gala that one time."
Eyes widening, Terry paused for just a moment to listen to the slightly elevated rate of Kyle's heartbeat and take in the stops and starts in his speech. She grinned, walking back over to him so she could take the bag with her dress in it. "That sounds wonderful," she said. "I've heard the garden tables there're gorgeous an' you know how I feel about y'in that suit. What time's the reservation?"
"Couple hours. Enough time to get all cute and drive into the city. I am not." He paused. "Doing the train. Like. I mean if you really wanna we can, but if you don't wanna, then you can wear whatever cute shoes you want. There's like eight places to park nearby and whoever put parking apps on phones should be given a nobel peace prize. Love reserving parking way before I gotta worry."
"Excellent," Terry said, her smile softening. "And I've no need t'take the train when I know you'd rather not. Plus, Jeanie and I went shoppin', so I've new shoes t'wear with this." She tugged the collar of Kyle's shirt until he'd bent down far enough for her to give him another, firmer kiss. "So I'll be ready in an hour, if no' a little before. Meet y'back here, or at mine?"
"I'm probably done before you?" Kyle offered. "I just have to shower and shave and suit. up? Be suited? None of those work. It sounded better in my head." He ducked said head a little. "Traffic was ass, I got cut off by that one bio teacher in the goddamn compensator truck in the lot and you know." There, nervousness covered. Surely.
"I dislike that biology teacher on your behalf," Terry said, still half-smiling. "But I'll meet y'back here, then, soon as I'm ready. An' I'll even mind m'hands so's no' t'leave y'all wrinkled before we arrive at Palma." She'd have to work out a way to thank Marius for the reservations without actually thanking him. A favour owed was enough, so far as she was concerned. Standing on her tiptoes, Terry kissed the the side of Kyle's neck and finished, "See y'soon, boyo."
Kyle had really pushed the boundaries of how far he could work on the idea that parking apps and the ability to reserve a parking spot ahead of time deserved a Nobel Peace Prize on the drive in. But there was a -pinecone- in his jacket pocket, and if he chattered about both that and the social psychology theory that America's car culture contributed to a weird lack of empathy, he didn't think about the pinecone.
The winter chill was still biting, even in an overcoat and scarf over his suit, and the walk from the garage to the restaurant was a blissfully short handful of minutes - and all of that too was a nice distraction from the pinecone.
The pinecone was a metaphor. Also it was slightly sharp, even through his jacket pocket and shirt.
Terry wasn't the biggest proponent of vehicular travel in general, but she could also fly, so she'd nodded along with Kyle on the drive into the city and agreed with him about the lack of empathy. She'd also pointed out that it probably contributed to the lack of interest in nature that seemed to plague a lot of people.
After being seated, she waited for the maitre'd to leave before truly looking at the restaurant around them. "Lord, it really is lovely here." She couldn't think of any anniversaries or special occasions that would call for this sort of evening, but Terry also hadn't really thought about them much after they started the drive. "Are y'goin' t'give me a hint about what's brought us out tonight? No' that we need a reason, o'course."
Instead, first, Kyle drank his water. "No reason for tonight, I guess, but not no reason?" Water was great, he took another drink. "I've planned this a lot. So much. Ter, you have no idea how many times. I am so glad you don't see how many times Marius has made fun of me. Including this weekend."
He paused. "I was gonna do it this weekend, and then I couldn't be that much of a cliche. I couldn't. Valentine's Day is a ..." He fumbled a little, and went into his suit pocket and brought out the little pinecone, wrapped so carefully in white tissue paper shot through with gold. "You see me. I mean. You know me, and you've seen me at my worst, and you know me at my best, or the best I am right now, and you make sure I'm not running myself into the cracks, and you never hesitate to tell me I'm neglecting myself, but you also - you get why I do what I do, teaching and the institute work and the team." He nudged the little pinecone, fingers stiff with sheathed claw. "You tell me when I'm doing good work and you believe in what I'm doing and you give like, so much of your time to people, and you jump both feet right into caring for people and you make me a better person. That's really what it is, we make each other better people. We're a team. I mean, we're on the team but we're a team."
"So. I wanted to make this us, and not because of the date, or a holiday and don't ask me how many times I had this pinecone in my pocket and ready to just ask, and couldn't make the words come out, and today felt right. So." He pulled on one delicate edge of the tissue paper, to show a glint of metal. "The first time we met, this pinecone was in my pocket and I couldn't tell you why I saved it then, but I've been saving it for years now, so that I could have it when I asked you to marry me." Getting down on one knee was not something a person rehearsed, except one billion times in their head. "Will you marry me?"
Terry had been teasing, sort of, about why they'd gone out to such a posh restaurant, but then Kyle had started talking and her eyes had widened. They'd continued widening until she'd needed to blink and when he said he'd kept the pinecone for years so he could have it when he proposed -- tears welled up in her eyes as her hands covered her mouth.
Then he'd asked and he was on one knee and he'd -- his claws were retracted and the way she loved him was just the same as breathing, natural and easy and so, so necessary. "Yes," she said, standing up from the chair she'd so recently sat down in. Reaching for his hand, Terry cupped his in her palms and stared at Kyle with bright, happy, teary eyes. "Yes, yes -- I'll marry you, y'wonderful tree of a man." Then she tugged on his hand until he stood. "I love y'so much."
"Okay, but there's a ring on the pinecone." Kyle's voice came out quiet and a little rough, deep baritone with nervousness and emotion. "A really good one. I had help. I don't want to rip the paper though." He wiggled his fingers against Terry's hands. "I love you so much."
Terry uncupped her hands and held her left out for Kyle so he could put the ring on her finger before actually looking at the ring because while it was lovely and beautiful with knotwork and diamonds, it was a thing and not even the most important part of the evening. She was excited and adored it, of course, because her man knew her well enough to pick a ring she'd never want to take off, but looking up at Kyle left her feeling breathless and that was silly given her powers but she couldn't help it.
"C'mon, love, I want t'kiss y'like y'deserve, you're just -- this is. This is the most beautiful night and I just..." Terry's voice trembled slightly, the tears finally overflowing. "Christ, you're just... I said 'yes', didn't I? Because I'm... Kyle Tyler Gibney." She had to restrain herself as the other restaurant-goers were watching and clapping, otherwise she'd most certainly have simply jumped him and wrapped herself around him where he stood.
"You did." Kyle was nodding more than he was talking. "You said it, and I asked it and you said yes." He bent so Terry could kiss him as promised, and kept glancing between her face and the ring and her face and the ring. "You said yes. We're gonna get married."
Terry looked from her finger where Kyle'd slid the ring on, then back up into his eyes and kissed him again before using her free, non-beringed hand to wipe the tear streaks from her cheeks. Then she whispered, "I'm goin' t'marry y'so hard, a rúnsearc."
