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.
Post A Comment | 54 Comments | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend | Link
"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.
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
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."
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
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."
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
"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."
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
"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.
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
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.
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
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.
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
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.
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
"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.
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
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."
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
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.
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
"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.
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
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.
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
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."
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
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?"
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
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?"
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
"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."
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
"Yeah, this October maybe? I mean, I don't want anything that would take more than a few months to plan," Iden said, rather amazed at himself for saying it. He hadn't planned on a terribly long engagement, but he knew that Hannah would tell him he was cutting this planning very close. Of course, she had only a few months to plan due to ... extenuating circumstances.
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
"I'm okay with that. It's probably best for it to be a small affair," he said, smiling.
He finished his dessert quietly, thinking. Then he said, "I should talk to my dad this week about figuring out the, er, legal stuff."
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
"Yeah, it's a good thing we know a good lawyer," Iden said with a chuckle and banished Michael's dessert plate. A thought popped into his head, and he smiled widely, "Ollie is going to be so pissed that his little brother beat him to the altar."
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
Michael snorted. "I didn't realize that it was a game," he said, mock accusingly.
"Have you heard from him lately? I read that Nott Commodities had some HOUR troubles recently. I'm sure he's been kept really busy."
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
"Mum said he's been busy, but he sure as hell hasn't talked to me. We weren't close before the holidays and we're even less so now. I don't anticipate hearing from him for at least a year," Iden said frankly. "Maybe if he got a promotion he'd be too busy and proud of himself to be an arsehole for a few months."
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
"Well, maybe he'll come around enough to be pleasant at the wedding," Michael said. He finished off his wine and poured himself more. Then he crossed around the table to Iden and topped off his glass, leaning on the table next to where Iden was sitting.
He smiled mischievously for a moment. When Iden looked at him questioningly, Michael answered, "I was just picturing you in dress robes for the wedding. You'll look amazing. I've always heard that wedding planning is stressful. I don't know if it's possible, but let's try to make it fun. We're both sentimental, but I don't think either of us have illusions about the perfect wedding. Do we?"
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
"I've heard that if you manage to plan a wedding with someone and still want to get married at the end, then being married is easy... But I'm certainly not aiming for perfect. Perfect is boring," Iden joked. "Hey, do you mind is Hannah is my matron of honor- I mean Best- er, whatever, my head attendant I guess?" Terminology it seemed might get weird around this wedding.
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
"Of course not," he said. "We should have her and Fred over for dinner sometime."
It occurred to Michael, that he didn't know who he'd ask to be his Best Man or Matron (or whatever). He figured that asking Mandy was right out. She didn't seem too fond of Michael and Iden's relationship. But he really hadn't kept in touch with many people.
"I guess I better start thinking about my own Best Man or whatever."
Reply | Parent | Thread | Link
|
|
|
|
|
![[info]](https://www.scribbld.com/img/community.gif){kind=small}
![[info]](https://www.scribbld.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}