Simmer Dim

Eden likes having David sleep over, but likes a lot less the part where he has to call his brother beforehand and in the morning, constantly checking in with him to ask permission and make sure he isn't needed. In a way it feels like being chaperoned, the two of them carefully monitored by this guy she hasn't even met.

But at this point in the evening it no longer feels like a big deal--the two of them are curled up under a blanket on the threadbare couch, half-naked, halfway through a twelve-pack, looking at pictures of Orkney on the laptop. She's feeling lazy and warm, David's arm around her shoulders and her settled in his lap, laughing at the way his accent gets thicker when he's tipsy. Giggling makes her shoulders shake and she leans back against him, closing her eyes, with a little hum.

"I love you."

Left alone, David goes back to his own room, swearing under his breath. He picks up the coffee he brought back, lukewarm now, and downs half of it; any inclination he had toward actual food is gone. After a minute he goes hunting for his phone, and dials Eden's number with a slightly shaky finger.

David manages to alert Greig and Claire to his plans, while avoiding the others -- Gareth will be blithely amused, Andrew obnoxiously so, and he really isn't in the mood for either. At seven sharp he's in the hotel lobby, freshly combed and trying not to bite his fingernails. (She is so pretty, she is so clever, and how is he going to pull this off without fouling up again?)

Eden has the day off, but even on her days off she tends to visit the aquarium (in her private fantasies she owns the aquarium and she has to check on her exhibits to make sure the tropical fish, seahorses, and gorgeous jellies are doing okay). Thom always lets her get in without paying, since it does make that big of a difference anyway.

It's about three, and she's finally breaking for lunch. Usually that means getting something to do and walking down the street where all the nightclubs and venues are, checking the marquees to see whether any of the bands sound worth going to. She has a salad in a plastic box, and she's studying the two-inch high letters announcing Simmer Dim. It is, in her opinion, not the most enticing name she has ever heard.