Iden had taken the day off at the shop, but hadn't told Michael that. Instead, he had spent the better part of the day whipping up a four course northern Italian meal. When Michael arrived, he would find most of the living room magically cleared, Inky away at Moira's house, a fire in the fireplace, and a beautifully set table near said fire. Iden closely monitored the panna cotta as it cooked and poured it into its dishes to set. It looked suspiciously like everything was just about ready... not that he actually knew exactly when Michael was due in from work.
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"I don't think the Head will go for it. But I might bring it up to him sometime. And the Hogsmeade library has loan privileges for most of our general collection. Of course, they might not tell their patrons that," Michael said. He tried not to go into too much detail as the politics of Britain's library system didn't make for particularly interesting dinner conversation.
"And if I keep eating this Bruscetta, I won't make it through all of dinner."
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"Best press on, then," Iden said, hopping up and taking the bruschetta with him. He came back with salads and placed them gently on the table. They were rather small, as if Iden had known that he was making too large of a meal and so cut back on the least exciting course. Iden sat down again and took a bite before making conversation. "Mum was hoping we'd pop round this weekend. She says it's been too long since we deigned to have her around or some such silliness."
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Michael nodded. "That sounds good. I've been meaning to thank her for taking mum along with her to Italy. She had a blast. The way she was describing everything, I started getting antsy to take a holiday abroad soon. What do you think?"
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"Sounds good to me. Do you have any place you'd like to go?" Iden asked, finishing his rather small salad and banishing the plate to the sink. It was lazy, he knew, but they were mid conversation. "Lots of places are really nice in the spring, after all. Well, maybe not Russia."
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Michael ate his salad while he thought about Iden's question. "Well, mum can't quit talking about Venice. That might be nice," he responded. "Where would you be interested in going?"
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"Italy would be nice. We could pop down to Sicily for some sunbathing," Iden suggested before getting up to fetch the entree. He was pleased to find that the warming charm worked perfectly and he dismissed it before bringing the plates to the table. He seemed to be a bit more antsy than before.
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When Iden returned to the table with the next course, he looked a little nervous. Michael noticed him playing with his lip ring. Something must be up, Michael thought. He hoped nothing was wrong.
"Sicily sounds like a great idea. Maybe Milan, if there's time."
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"Sure, when did you want to go? How long? I just hafta work around one of the lads at the shop taking his girlfriend for a weekend in Paris. I think he trying to make her believe he's much more rich and important than he actually is. Course, once she sees his flat that'll be all over," Iden babbled and stopped himself by taking a bite of food. At least, while eating he couldn't give away his nervousness.
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"Hmm...I'm not sure. It would have to be at least a few weeks from now. I need to get through my current project at work before I could arrange holiday time. Maybe at the end of April or beginning of May?"
Michael finished his salad.
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Iden banished Michael's salad plate and floated his entree were it had been. "Beginning of May sounds nice. I'll owl an agent tomorrow and get some estimates," Iden offered helpfully. "So, er, how's Steven liking this term? Still brilliant, I assume."
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Michael tasted the entree and said, "Oh, this is great, Iden."
He wasn't sure that Iden had ever asked about his brothers before. "Well, uh, mum says he's fine. He's excited about some girl."
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"That's got to be good for his revision schedule. Maybe he'll bring her round at next Hogsmeade weekend," Iden said. "I got him an autographed hat from Puddlemere's seeker that's waiting for him at the shop."
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"Oh, well, make sure that you give him a hard time and embarrass him in front of her. I can give you dirt on him if you need it, and I'm sure I can track down embarrassing photos," Michael said, recalling Christmas dinner.
The entree was delicious. Michael enjoyed it, probably too well, because he shoveled it down quickly.
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Iden laughed and said, "I don't think I need photos to embarrass him. Just asking if the chick with him is girlfriend will probably turn him a few shades redder," before he noticed Michael was done. He still had half of his plate left but seemed like he didn't care to finish it. Instead, he took both of their plates into the kitchen.
"Just a sec. I'm checking to see if dessert has set properly," he called from the kitchen. Luckily, it had. Carefully, he drizzled the raspberry sauce across each serving of panna cotta and placed a few raspberries on each. He opened a drawer, reached all the way to the back, took out a small box, and placed a very simple platinum ring on top of Michael's raspberries. Taking a few deep breaths, he walked out with the plates, placing them accordingly on the table and waited a split second before kneeling next to Michael.
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When Iden set the plate down Michael saw that something unexpected was on top of the raspberries but it took him a brief moment to realize what it was. When it occurred to him, he opened his mouth to speak, but then Iden knelt beside him. Michael's words got caught in his throat and his eyes started watering.
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Iden knew this was his cue to speak. He wanted to, only his mouth wasn't really cooperating. He took a quick breath, thought very hard about not starting his sentences with um, er, well, or so, and said, "Michael, will you marry me?"
He'd said it. He hadn't stuttered. This was going better than he thought it might.
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"Yes," he breathed, barely vocalizing. He was floored. He'd spent more and more time thinking about their relationship and whether they would get married or have kids or whatnot in the last few months, and he knew that Iden had been thinking about it too. He hadn't expected Iden to propose, though.
Michael placed his hand Iden's cheek and repeated himself more audibly, "Yes!"
Then he stood, pulling Iden up into a hug and following that with a long kiss.
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Iden's face was taken over by what could only be described as a big dumb grin. He had the strong urge to happy dance, but that could wait. For now, he was quite happy in Michael's arms.
After a few moments, Iden said, "My mom told your mom, so if you owl home, I think your dad might be surprised, but your mom definitely won't be. Actually, if there aren't two impatient owls here in the morning making sure I haven't wussed out and demanding answers, I'll be amazed."
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Michael laughed excitedly and looked around as if he was lost. He couldn't think straight. A pen and parchment were in the writing desk, but, of course, that didn't occur to him.
He took a deep breath and looked down at the table, seeing the ring. He picked it up, careful not to get sauce all over it and held it up between them.
"I suppose I shouldn't wear it on my left ring finger or everyone will think we've already run off to get married. How about the right hand?" The question was rhetorical. Michael put the ring on his right ring finger and held his hand up for Michael to see.
Michael kissed Iden again and said, "Right, so, owl." He walked over to the desk and jotted a very brief note to his mother. It read "I said yes." He walked it over to the kitchen window and woke up the owl.
"Take this to mum," he said, holding up the note. The owl took the letter from his hand and flew out the window.
Michael returned to Iden.
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"Well, now there will only be one impatient owl," Iden joked, playfully dragging Michael back to the table and sitting him down. "You really should eat your desert," he teasingly chided and sat back down. Now, that the alarming part of the evening was over, he was rather hungry again. Still, the big dumb grin probably wouldn't make eating very easy.
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Michael sat back down. Now he was filled with nervous excitement. Dozens of questions kept running through his head, most of which were things that he needn't think about for weeks or months or longer.
He took a bite of the panna cotta. "Oh, this is fantastic. You better be careful, or I'm going to expect this kind of cooking forever."
"So, when do you want to, er, have the wedding?" Michael asked. If they decided on an early date, they'd have to get straight to work planning.
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Iden's eyes went wide and the fork paused midway to his mouth. He had been taking this one step at a time. He knew he wanted to marry Michael, but he had no idea when. "Er, I don't know. I hadn't really thought terribly far ahead... We need to find out if we can even legally do it under British Wizarding Law or if we have to go the muggle route or to some other country... I haven't really done the research."
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Michael laughed at Iden's sudden concern. "Don't get all concerned on me now. We'll figure it all out. I was just wondering how soon you might be thinking. Late Spring is on top of us, so that would probably be unfeasible. Summer might be okay. Fall is lovely. Any opinion?"
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Iden thought for a second, taking a bite of his panna cotta. Did he mean this Summer or this Fall? That didn't leave much time. That was really soon. Not in a bay way, but soon. "Well, uh, I like the Fall. It's really nice out and less likely to rain. Do you have an opinion on indoor versus outdoor?"
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"An outdoor ceremony sounds nice, but I would be happy with either. If we wanted something small, we could have it this Fall," Michael said.
He was quick to add, "But there's no rush. If we wanted to wait until next Spring or next Fall, that would be okay."
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