Who: Teddy and Evie What: Surprise! Where: Wasington D.C. When: BACKDATED to the 4th. Warnings: Argument and confessions of LURVE
Standing outside the immense building, Teddy looked up and up until he guessed he was looking at the floor that, presumably, Erato was currently housed in. Many emotions were in him, but he tried to push them aside and, swallowing, called her cell.
Val was enjoying a smoke on the balcony when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She frowned for a moment, wondering if it was one of her sisters in need of her help. She dug it quickly from her pocket and checked the name before flipping it open. "Teddy?"
"No, it's Santa Claus." Duh~ He smiled and laughed. "Yeah, it's me."
"Hi...what's up? Is everything okay?" Now she was worried.
"Nothing much. Just calling to see how you are," he said with a vocal shrug. "How's DC? I hear it's nice this time of year." It was, in fact.
Phew! That was a relief. "Really pretty! The architecture here is sooo beautiful. It reminds of home...y'know. How things used to be." She leaned over the balcony railing again, taking a deep drag from her cigarette.
"Yeah? I hear there's creepy guys out there. Big tall guys who like to stand outside of buildings and talk to their girlfriends on the phone."
Erato glanced down, down, way down to the sidewalk below. "Wha...but...hey!"
Teddy grinned and waved up to the little V figure above him. Hello~
"What are you doing here!?" She squeaked into the phone, not sounding entirely pleased.
"Talking to you, it seems." He shifted his hidden hand behind his back, holding a small bouquet of yellow roses. His elbow was starting to go to sleep already. "Come down, please?"
"Umm...sure. Just gimme a sec." Y'know, to put on shoes and maybe something wearable out in public. Erato clicked the phone shut rushed back into the condo to rummage through her things. When she thought she was somewhat presentable, she made her way down to the ground floor and out of the building.
He was there to meet her at the front door; the guards wouldn't let him in any father than that. Once she was outside, he smiled and held out the flowers. "Hey." Oooh, romantic.
"He--oh!" Flowers! Look at that. Erato smiled, reaching out for the bouquet. "This is...unexpected."
"You like them?" He chuckled with a shrug. "I couldn't remember what kind you liked... I'm glad you do, then."
"They're pretty," she nodded, smiling brightly, but her curiosity remained. "So...:
"So, how's D.C.?" he asked, filling in the increasingly uncomfortable silence but only for a moment. Oh jeez. He hated this sort of stuff. But, he didn't feel like he could just rush into the deeper conversation before this one was completed. Not yet...
"Beautiful!" Val chimed, not sure of how to proceed into more awkward matters either. "The architecture is just amazing...it looks like home. Well, how it used to look."
Teddy nodded in slight interest, taking a look around. "Real different from Miami. It's weird how used to it you get."
...
"Um, you wanna go get a drink somewhere, maybe?"
"Uhh..." Well Freyr was out, so she didn't have that as an excuse. Plus, the guards probably wouldn't let her back in without him. "Umm yeah. Maybe a bite to eat or something."
Teddy immediately brightened and offered her his arm. "I saw a Starbucks on the way here."
Val nodded, placing one of her small hands on his large muscular trunk of an arm. "Coffee sounds great right about now."
Huzzah! Step one, get her away from the Norse god, complete. Maybe now he'd actually have her attention... He locked his truck and began to walk down the street, leading her down only a few blocks to the large coffee shop, and located them a table in the back corner. It was under a stereo, so any words they said would be fairly drowned out to anyone else trying to listen in.
Valentine settled in, leaning her elbows onto the small table. "Can you get me a pumpkin spice latte?"
"Sure. But, can I ask you something first?" he asked, shifting a bit to try and fit himself into the small wire chair.
"Of course," she replied, flashing him a toothy smile.
"... How do you feel about me? Really?"
Wow. Heavy. Val frowned, glancing down at the table. "You know I love you, Teddy..."
Not quite enough. He swallowed and asked, "Like a family-type love or something else?" He didn't like how she couldn't look him in the eye when she said that... not one bit.
Val's eyes snapped up to meet his. She was frowning. "I wouldn't do the things we've done if I didn't..." She sighed in frustration. "Cut the crap. This is about Jarrod isn't it?"
He blinked in obvious surprise. "I..." Oh, what the hell. He sighed, "Yes."
Her eyes darted back down to the floor. "You shouldn't be here..."
... Ouch. The hurt of her words showed easily on his face. "I wanted to come," he rumbled quietly, looking away as well, "to tell you how I feel."
"Fine. Then say what you needed to say," she muttered, wringing her hands. She hated jealousy.
His hopeful face was quickly falling into a frown. "I love you. And I really mean it. You're beautiful, you're smart, you're sweet, you deserve the world. You made me feel important and needed. I liked takin' care of you. I just never said it, 'cause I didn't want to scare you off after all that Nate shit. But I'm sorry if it's provin' inconvenient for you."
There. His piece was said. Clearly, this was not going the way he had hoped... maybe it was just going the way Freyr had. Standing, he started to make his way to his truck.
Val sighed, calling out behind him. "Where are you going, you doof?"
"To leave you alone, like you apparently want," he gruffed. "I said what I needed to say."
"Get your ass back here, goober," she grumbled, tapping her finger impatiently on the table.
He frowned back at her. "Why?" She hadn't been happy to see him. Why didn't she want him to go? But... he relented, and sat back down, ignoring the few stares that followed him but quickly decided to go back to their own conversations.
Val reached out for one of his hands, her palm face up on the table. "I love you too...why isn't that enough?"
Huh? Teddy blinked. "I never said it wasn't..." He squeezed her little hand gently in his own big one.
"Then why couldn't you wait for me to get home?" She asked softly, turning his hand over and tracing circles against it. "Why all this? Flowers and...suddenly showing up out of the blue?"
... Did he want to give Freyr away? Or would that only open a whole other can of worms? "I just thought this was the best time. I didn't know when to do it, before."
"So you waited until I was in another part of the country..." Yeah that made sense. She leaned across the table. "You already admitted that this is because of Jarrod. Why are you getting jealous?"
"You're not as sneaky as you think you are," he murmured, his meaning clear; he saw her budding feelings. Even Herakles was not so dense. "You really like him, don't you?"
"I...I do," Val nodded, sure of herself now. "But it doesn't affect how I feel about you."
"Except for the part where you're annoyed with me for flying out across the country to see you, but you don't mind doing the same to see him," Teddy pointed out.
"I don't get to just drive over to see him like I do with you. It's different. You know it is..." Something in Val's voice was pleading for Teddy to understand.
He was trying! But he wasn't this sort of emotional guy... "Why him?"
"He...he broke through the fog," she murmured, shrugging her shoulders. "What can I say? [I'm a muse...] We like to be inspired..."
Teddy blinked. "So I don't inspire you."
"You take care of me... you let me feel safe again." But inspire? No. He'd never done anything to inspire her.
The hulking god felt his heart clench just a little. How could Freyr think Herakles could keep her love, when he couldn't even give her the thing her sort craved the most. Now it was his turn to look away to the floor. "M'sorry."
"What are you sorry for, silly goose?" Val laughed lightly, reaching out to rub at his forearm. "You've given me so much."
"You're a muse. You without inspiration is like me without... I dunno, the gym or something." He glanced up from the floor and out the window to the building that Freyr lived in. Maybe... this was for the best...
"I'm a muse of love, and you've given my plenty of that," she reminded him. "There's beauty in plain simple truth, Teddy. Not everything's in the spark of imagination."
"But you just said I don't inspire you. He does." Ow, his head hurt.
"Doesn't mean I don't love you," Val murmured, frowning deeply.
But she loved him, too. "So, what are you going to do, then?" he asked.
"Stay here...I need to see this through," she murmured.
"Okay." Now his face flushed and he realized he had probably made a mistake by coming here. No, not just a mistake. He'd made himself a fool. "I'm gonna go home, then."
"You're....you're not going to want to see me when I get back...are you?" The words made her weak.
"Huh?" He stared back down at her. "Of course I do." What had he just said? He loved her.
"But you're upset by my choice," Val murmured.
"I..." Gulp. "I think I have a lot to process."
"Maybe we both do," Val nodded, giving his hand a squeeze.
He tried to give her a smile, and actually managed it, leaning in to give her a strong kiss. "I'll miss you. Think about what I said? Please?"
Val doubted very much that she'd be able to get it off her mind for the next few hours. She pressed her lips eagerly against his. "I will. Promise."
He nodded and smiled a bit more hopefully. "Okay. Um, call me when you're home. Oh, here." He pulled out his wallet and handed her a small wad of bills. "For your pumpkin-whatever latte?"
"Thanks," she giggled, tapping another kiss on his lips. "Love you, Teddy."
"Love ya, V." And he meant it.
Summary: Teddy surprises V in D.C.! Only, she's not too happy to see him.