WHO: Vicky & Demelza Robins WHAT: Date night! And Vicky has a ~surprise~ WHERE: Some sushi restaurant WHEN: Friday nightttt WARNINGS/RATING/STATUS: Cuteness inside!/PG/Finished
It was Friday night and Vicky breathed a sigh of relief as she apparated back to the house after dropping the girl's at Mal's. This weekend could not have taken longer to come. "Dem? I'm back." She called out, glancing down the stairs towards Nyssa's room and wondering if the girl was home. She hated the guilty feeling that having Nyssa here caused. Logically, she knew what had happened wasn't in any way her fault. She'd done nothing, aside from be honest with her family about the person that she loved. She didn't urge her sisters to move out, nor had she kidnapped them or brainwashed them or any other horrible thing Dilys had insinuated. And yet, she still couldn't help the pang of guilt. How would she feel if someone took Maddy and Ronnie away from her? A part of her had wanted to write Dilys back, to try and smooth things over, but Demelza hadn't allowed that, telling her it would only end in more problems. Deep down she knew her wife was right, but couldn't help the urge to dash off a quick owl and and least let her know the girls were safe.
Shaking her head, she moved upstairs, searching for the other woman. Tonight was supposed to be about them. No school drama or Dilys worries or kids clamouring for attention. Just Vicky and Demelza. Smiling at the thought, Vicky climbed the stairs to the top floor and Dem's office. Sure enough, there her wife was and Vicky stood in the doorway for a few moments just watching her. God, she loved this woman so much. Every once in a while she was struck by that fact; how happy she was, how perfect her life was, and she had to stop and give herself a few moments. Overcome with love, Vicky crossed the room and wrapped her arms around Demelza from behind, pressing a kiss to the other woman's ear, her smile wide. "Hey you," she managed, her grin evident in her voice. "What's a good looking girl doing in a place like this?"
Leaning over the keyboard, Demelza scrawled a few notions on the sheet music she had spread open in front of her. She replayed the section and scowled, making another edit. Repeating the routine once more she made another change before turning the page of sheet music over and continuing. She was so involved in what she was doing she hadn't noticed Vicky's return or entrance until she felt arms sliding around her. "Hey," Demelza grinned and leaned away from the piano, pressing against her wife. "Just sitting here, waiting, all alone," she lamented dramatically, turning to catch Vicky's lips with a kiss.
Demelza pulled the keyboard cover down and stood up, wasting no time in pressing back up to the other woman. "So, c'mon," she prodded her wife lightly, grinning sweetly in hopes of getting her to spill the plans she'd been holding over her head. "Spill." All she knew was that Vicky had arranged with Mal to take the girls for the night and that she'd been instructed to wear something suitable. She'd donned a new pair of black pants and shirt and was hoping that being ready and waiting, for once, was enough to get Vicky to clue her into the plan.
Shaking her head, Vicky couldn't keep the smile off her face. She was no good at keeping secrets, especially not from Demelza so it was a miracle she hadn't told her wife what she'd managed to do. Several months ago, Mal had given her a heads up about a small solo concert that the lead singer from Dem's favourite band was giving. She'd managed to snag two tickets to the intimate gig and had been hiding them ever since. She was actually fairly proud of herself!
"Dinner first, then..." Vicky started, then made a show of catching herself and pressing her lips together. "Then the rest of the evening." She grinned wickedly, kissing Dem soundly to keep from sharing the plan.
"C'mon, Bug!" Demelza whined, twisting in Vicky's arms not unlike one of the girls. She'd never been patient enough for surprises and wasn't going to stop her attempts to needle the information out now. Of course, years of pulling this routine had only ended in success once or twice, but that wasn't going to stop her. "Okay. A hint? How about a hint?" She raised her eyebrows, watching the other woman hopefully but saw no sign of relenting. "Ok well....what's dinner then?" She could at least have some information.
Grinning, Vicky shook her head. "Nope! It's a surprise!" She insisted again, unable to keep the smile down that Dem's antics caused. Their daughters were so like her at times. She pressed another kiss to her wife's lips and shook her head again. "I've kept this secret for months!" Vicky informed the other woman proudly. "I'm not gonna spill just cos you whinge. And we're going for sushi." She smiled, glancing at Dem's face for confirmation that she'd chosen well, although by this time she knew her wife as well as she knew herself and shouldn't have worried.
Making a face, Demelza narrowed her eyes and pointed an accusatory finger at Vicky. "Oh, there you go. Just assuming I can be so easily distracted with the promise of sushi. HA!" She folded her arms across her chest and made a show of spinning on her heel, turning just enough to mostly block off the other woman. She pointedly ignored the fact she'd asked about dinner in the first place and sniffed indignantly. "Alright, I might allow distraction for unagi but no less!"
Vicky couldn't help but smile at the other woman's petulant face. Nothing Dem did could make her any less cute. Stepping towards her wife, Vicky played along with Dem's act and wrapped her arms around the other woman's waist. "I can offer another distraction..." she murmured, kissing Dem's ear. "But then we'd miss dinner."
"You make that sound like a bad thing," Demelza countered, shrugging lightly as she slid her arms around her wife. "I mean, are you really trying to say you'd rather have sushi than..." She trailed off but waggled her eyebrows to complete the thought. While she wouldn't actually mind postponing dinner for such a great reason she knew how excited Vicky was about whatever her grand plan was and didn't actually expect her to fall for the playful flirting. It didn't make it any less fun.
Swaying her hips, Vicky pressed a kiss to Dem's lips and linked their fingers together. "Trust me, you'd think it was a bad thing too." She tilted her head to the side and tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Once you find out the surprise that is..." The words were bubbling up behind Vicky's lips and she clamped them together, puffing out her cheeks slightly, hoping she would be able to keep the secret. There were only a few hours left! She could do it!
She reached past Demelza and snagged her purse off the table, giving her wife's hand a gentle squeeze. "Are you ready for dinner?" She asked, excitedly. She couldn't wait til they were at the club. Demelza was going to be so happy!
Years they'd been together and Vicky still wasn't any less adorable, and it wasn't even intended! It never ceased to impress Demelza. "Yeah, yeah," she relented in the face of overwhelming perkiness. "You can lead the way, Bug," she said, wrapping her arm around the other woman's waist. "But that doesn't mean I'm giving up." She had a whole dinner to try and wear her down. If she wasn't able to weed it out of her by halfway through she was off her game.
Wrapping her arms around Demelza, Vicky waited until the other woman was ready, then closed her eyes and apparated them to the sushi restaurant. She'd chosen a place down the street from the venue Eddi was playing in and when they materialized, she rushed her wife into the restaurant, hoping she hadn't seen the sign down the block. "Here we are!" She announced proudly, giving the hostess their name and following when she beckoned them to their table.
"Woah, Vick," Demelza couldn't help by laugh aloud, surprised by Vicky's enthusiasm and the way she all but YANKED her into the restaurant. "It's not going anywhere," she teased, following her and the hostess to the table. "Not like the place is going to disappear if we don't make it to our seats in a timely manner. Most likely."
Vicky settled herself into the booth, wrinkling her nose at her wife. "You never know!" She grumped, unable to keep the smile off her face for long. The hostess handed their menus over and smiled, leaving them alone. Vicky didn't bother to open hers, she always let Dem order for the two of them, in all the years they'd been together the other woman had never managed to disappoint her. "I just want everything to go perfectly," Vicky confessed, after a moment, her smile slipping away and a little furrow appearing between her brows.
That hadn't gone over like she intended, Demelza swallowed a sigh and scooted to the edge of her bench. "Well, so far so good," she insisted, aiming to erase the little creases of her brow. "Seriously!" Waiting til she saw the beginning of a smile on Vicky's lips, Demelza folded her arms on the table and stared Vicky down.
Once she was sure the other woman wasn't about to start sobbing, she pulled the paper menu towards her and marked off a sushi order, picking an assorted platter as well as a few of her own preferred ala cart items. "So," she said, her tone nonchalant as she ran the pencil down the options. The way she saw it, if Vicky wasn't going to tell her what the plan was maybe she would tell her what it wasn't. "Is it dancing? We haven't done that in ages."
Taking a sip of her water, Vicky's smile was back. "Well..." she wrinkled her nose and slipped her foot against Dem's, deciding to give her a hint. "We can dance while there." She said definitively, after a few moments. Folding her hands on the table, she clenched her fingers together until her knuckles were almost white, trying to keep the secret inside. It just wanted to be told!
And Dem's pouts and constant questions weren't helping at all! The other woman knew she couldn't say no to her. "And you'll really like it. I promise."
Progress! Dancing meant music, most likely, in some form or another. On top of it she could tell Vicky was exerting a great amount of will power to keep whatever it was in. "Okay," Demelza said slowly, narrowing her eyes slightly and looking Vicky over. "Dancing available but not just dancing. So..." She was going to guess some sort of show when the waiter came by with their miso, giving Vicky a few moments reprieve.
The waiter approached the table and Vicky heaved a sigh of relief. She hadn't thought she'd be able to keep her mouth shut for much longer and she smiled sunnily up at the man as Demelza placed their order. He left for the kitchen and she spooned up some soup, smiling softly across at her wife. They ate their soup in a comfortable silence while Vicky reconstituted herself. She'd lasted for five months already... she could last a few hours longer! It wasn't until the waiter returned with their sushi that Vicky felt ready to answer questions again.
Demelza tasted her miso, noting the way Vicky clammed up and focused almost all her attention on the bowl. Alright, she thought, taking another sip. If Vicky needed to gather herself before she spilled, so be it. Besides, she observed to herself while spooning up more, she most the cutest, most ridiculous faces when concentrating. "So..." she said finally, lifting an eyebrow at the other woman as the spread was laid out in front of them.
"So..." Vicky echoed, paying attention to the sushi. She glanced at her wrist and gave a little excited wriggle. She couldn't wait to see Demelza's face when they entered the club, the other woman would be so excited! "I was thinking we should go away this summer. Maybe back to the islands somewhere?" She grinned, slyly, remembering their honeymoon and hoping to distract Dem from trying to find out her surprise. "Or we could go back to California?"
"Hmm," grinning, Demelza started adding wasabi to her soy sauce, stirring it with the tip of her chopstick. "The islands would be nice," she said slowly, letting her mind wander down that path for a moment. "Or we could just move there instead. Be beach bums. Islanders. I think we are suited for it."
Getting nothing serious from Vicky about her idea, she would totally have gone for it herself, she picked up a piece of yellowtail sashimi and dunked it lightly in her eye-watering concoction. "Nah, Cal will start thinking I like him or something if we go back. I have a strict Once A Year rule for him. He gets too cocky and full of himself otherwise." Which was impressive since his normal state of being included one rather inflated ego.
Trying a piece of the toro this time she eyed Vicky. If there was one thing she knew about her wife, this was the thing she knew: If Vicky had an idea, especially one presented so casually, the odds were that she had already spent hours planning everything out, often in fine detail. "Right," Demelza said, playing along and holding in a smirk as she wondered if the other woman had actually brought brochueres or not, "Any idea where exactly?"
"Actually," Vicky gave a little excited wiggle in her chair and leaned towards Dem. "I was actually thinking a cruise? Maybe a Mediterranean one? Or back to the Caribbean?" Talking about the vacation she was planning coupled with the surprise that was threatening to explode was almost too much to handle and Vicky sat back in her chair. She took a breath and a sip of her water, wrinkling her nose at Demelza's spicy sushi dip.
She snagged a roll and chomped it, grateful for the slight reprieve from speaking, allowing her to gather her wits about her again. "There's a few ten day cruises that I have brochures for," she paused and looked shifty for a moment before speaking again. "I almost brought them tonight." She confessed, smiling hopefully across the table. "But I managed to stop myself!"
Reaching across the table, she picked up Dem's hand and pressed a kiss to it. "I think it'd be an amazing vacation. The girls would love it."
"Does sound fun," Demelza admitted, brushing Vicky's cheek before pulling her hand back. "I've wanted to go on a cruise. I vote for that one." Helping herself to a few rolls, moving them from the platter to her plate, she thought about all the perks a cruise ship was supposed to offer. "Where do they go? What ports?" she asked, very quickly warming to the idea.
Grinning, Vicky used her chopsticks to carefully pluck another roll from the plate before answering. "Oh, all over. Portugal, France, Spain, Italy... Depends on how long you want to be gone." Chomping down on another roll, Vicky's excitement was written all over her face. "The ships look amazing, too!" She paused and took a sip of her water, trying and failing to reign in the excitement. "I was thinking a suite? On the outside of the ship so we have an ocean view?"
"Do they make ones that go the whole summer?" She asked, jokingly, picking at the ginger on her plate. "France would be fun. Or Greece. I think you should check out the Grecian ones." She was sure she'd heard something about how nice the islands were. Or maybe she was just assuming. "Definitely a view. Who doesn't want a room with a view. Worth the extra I'd think."
Demelza popped a piece of pink ginger in her mouth, loving the tangy taste and pushed herself back a little. "Oh, that was good," she sighed, exaggerating the stuffed feeling she had with her facial expression. "Okay, Bug. No more sneaky. What's the big deal tonight? You can tell me now, can't you?" she whined, flashing her wife the best pleading face she could muster.
Shaking her head, Vicky caught their waiter's eye and gestured for the check, trying not to look at Dem, knowing she'd cave if she saw the pout on the other woman's face. "Just a few more minutes," she promised, making the mistake of looking across the table. The voice was bad enough, but coupled with the expression on her face? Vicky couldn't hold out any longer. "I got us tickets..." she started, speaking as slowly as she could to draw the suspense out a little longer. "To..." Reaching into her bag, she dug out the tickets and passed them across the table to Demelza, waiting anxiously for her reaction. "A solo Eddi concert!"
Struggling to wait out Vicky's suspense building, Demelza smiled at the familiar routine as she gestured to their waiter for another round of drinks. She'd turned in her seat to get his attention and missed Vicky digging through her bag, when she brought her head back around she was face to face with the tickets.
"Eddi?" she asked, her grin growing suddenly. She plucked the tickets from her wife's hands and looked them over, just keeping her jaw from dropping in legitimate surprise. "I didn't even know she was giving one," her excitement and enthusiasm took over her almost completely, even overwhelming the small tinge of petulance she felt at not knowing about the show before Vicky. "Bug, this is...fucking brilliant! Wow."
Grinning all over her face, Vicky gave a little laugh. "Mallory told me about the show months ago. I wanted it to be a surprise, so I convinced her not to tell you. It was so hard to hide all the articles about it!" The waiter came, dropping off their drinks and Vicky took a long sip of hers. "Are you surprised?" She asked, smiling widely at the look on Dem's face.
"Am I..." Demelza laughed and shook her head, Vicky never changed. "Yeah," she said warmly. Her grin spread and she hopped up from her own seat, grabbing her glass and sliding it with her as she swung around the end of the table and onto the other booth. "Just a bit," she finished as she landed beside her wife, grin growing at the other woman's reaction. "Quite a bit," she teased before catching her for a soft kiss. "Not bad, Bug. Not bad."