RP Log: Padma Patil & Simon Capper Who: Padma and Simon When: Wednesday, July 1st [backdated] Where: Simon and Terry's flat What: Simon and Padma enjoy a night in and decide that it might be time to fess up that they're dating again. Rating: PG
True to his word, Simon had made steak, potatoes, and had imported beer chilling in the icebox. Padma wasn't necessarily a beer drinker, but thankfully he'd remembered one of her favourite sparkling wines and tossed it in as well. The steaks were well-cooked (or at least Padma's was; Simon's was less cooked and more seared), but they were flavoured well and lightly peppered. He'd lit some of Su's candles she'd left around the place. It was a romantic little setting, if one discounted Terry's DVD collection that was spilling out from the shelving, and the screaming neighbour's children.
"Thanks for coming over," he said a little shyly, which was ridiculous because they'd known one another so well all those years ago. But things were still tentative and new, and as Simon cut his steak into another little bit his eyes dropped to his place, his lips curving into a quiet sort-of smile.
"Why are you thanking me?" Padma asked, generally curious. Did he think so little of himself that he had to thank people for spending time with him? Or was he just trying to fill in dead air? There had been a time where they hadn't needed to fill dead air; silence had never been uncomfortable. This was sort of strange. Not necessarily bad, just different. "I should be thanking you! You made all this food and even remembered I don't drink beer all that much!"
He rolled his shoulders; whenever Simon was a little nervous he was always moving, always fidgeting. He grinned at her. It wasn't a bad sort of nerves. Just butterflies. "I'm just glad to see you, is all. You went running away to France, and now you're going to Greece, and I'm just going to have to grab you whenever you're on the island and force you to spend time with me, right? I'll even passive-aggressively pout." He demonstrated accordingly.
"Oh! Don't do that!" Faux or not, Padma was a sucker for that pout, and Simon knew it. Her eyebrows turned down as she bit her lip. "That's hardly fair, and now I'm going to wonder if you're really upset! I promise, I thought about you the entire time I was in Paris!" Especially at the Musée de l'érotisme where Dean was forced to twist her arm to get her to go inside. "And I won't be gone to Greece for very long!"
Simon laughed, the pout disappearing. "Oh, I'm only taking the mickey. I don't mind that you're traveling everywhere. You work so hard during the school year. Must be nice to get away from it all!" True, there was a slight twinge that he needed to register several months ahead of time every time he went abroad, but he wouldn't begrudge Padma her fun. "What are you and Lisa planning to see in Greece?"
"Lisa wants baklava, and not just any baklava. Baklava from the little place around the corner from their holiday home. Somehow I got wrangled into going with her," Padma smirked. She really didn't mind; she loved Lisa, after all, and any time she got to spend with her... Well, it was time well spent in her book.
But France and Greece had been scheduled before she and Simon had sort of resumed their... romance? What was it considered anyway? That was sort of a difficult thing to sort, especially when it had happened so quickly, and the history was as sordid. If she'd had it her way, she would have drug Simon along with her.
"Baklava so notable must be delicious indeed." When Simon grinned, he scrunched his nose. He enjoyed hearing about the Finnigans' exploits involving the future Teacake. Finished with his meal, (and since Padma hadn't gone for seconds, she was finished with hers), Simon collected the plates and went for a second beer before sitting on the couch, patting the cushion next to him. "Give her my best. You'll only be gone for an evening, right?"
Steak, while delicious, was one of those things that Padma could never quite keep eating after the suggested 3 ounce portion. She'd feel full for the whole rest of the evening, as if she'd just eaten. Nodding, she slunk onto the couch, tucking herself under Simon's arm. There were just some things that were automatic.
"Yeah, just an evening. I think Lisa wants to go before she can't travel anymore. Teacake and all," she explained. That nickname was simply the cutest thing ever, and Padma knew she was going to have a hard time actually calling Diedre by her real name. "Think you can go that long without me?"
She pulled back just enough to look at him with her lips pressed together to keep from laughing. He'd spent how many years without her?
"Think I can," Simon said, "but I reserve the right to take up too much of your time when you're back."
They'd not acted like this in years. It had even been a while when they had been dating that they had acted so lovesick, so schmoopy, so goddamn drippy. Simon loved every moment of it. Their friends could stand to be alienated once in a while.
Although that reminded him. "Hey. Think there's a group of people meeting up this Friday. Drinking, the usual. Want to come with?"
It was a double-edged question. Simon wasn't ashamed of Padma by any stretch of the thought, but he was ashamed of how he'd once treated her. Plenty of people wouldn't have plans to let him forget it, either.
Padma was insanely pleased that where she'd only thought of touching him or kissing him, she was now allowed. She could say all the cute things she wanted to, slip her fingers between his, and press her lips to the side of his neck, like she did now.
But his question startled her. How to broach the subject of their reunion had been taunting her. She'd spent earlier that very day, wondering how to bring it up. It had only been a week -- if you didn't count the time she was in Paris -- so it wasn't as though she was keeping the relationship hidden for very long. And it wasn't that she wanted to keep it hidden, per say; it was more that she knew people who have a few choice words, and she'd end up snapping at them. Was she ready for all the fighting? She sort of just liked the idea of being with him, without having to think about other people's opinions for once. Like Simon, she wasn't at all ashamed of him (Hello, anyone with eyes wouldn't be); it was just the backlash she wasn't looking forward to.
Still, there was a certain amount of relief that she had had to bring it up. "Are you ready for that?" She slipped her arms across his middle, pulling herself tighter around him. "I just know that some people will be arses because... well, they just like to be arses, and I don't want you to be uncomfortable. Especially when I end up having to shove my foot down throats."
Simon chuckled weakly. "As much as I like to watch you shoving your foot down people's throats, I'd prefer us both not to have to deal with judgment. I suppose some of it is going to happen regardless." He nuzzled the side of her face, but his own expression was far away. "I... silly to say, but I enjoyed the last week and a half. Felt like the outside world wasn't getting in, you know? All good things come to an end, though. We'll have to deal with the outside world eventually."
"If it's silly to say, it's just as silly that I was thinking it," Padma told him. She hadn't felt this warm and wanted in years, or as... whole. She supposed that it could have just been the way things had ended, but that had still happened. "I'm not going to let them -- get in, I mean. I'm going to keep this little bubble around us, and all their rubbish can just bounce right off it."
Padma sighed. If they were going to this pub thing, she needed to talk to Parvati and Adrian before hand. If they just showed up and Parvati happened to be there? The shit would hit the fan. She could almost see that eerily sweet smile on Parvati's face, and she shuddered. "I've handled worse..." she said, almost instantly regretting it. Hadn't she been referring to Simon's attack, the awful things that people were saying about them then? "Not that it's... Simon, it's worth it. You're worth it."
He winced just a tad, but no, he understood what she meant. Simon drummed up a sideways smile and pulled her close. "Nah, I get it. You're worth it too, love. I just don't want to see you hurt. Your sister..." He bit his lower lip, but he'd already brought it up... "Your sister spoke with me a few weeks ago. Said she was watching. It was rather horrifying. I don't think she'd... she'd be upset so long as I ensure that I don't screw up so magnificently this time around. I don't know if the same can be said for her husband," he added dryly, thinking of the loose canon that was Adrian Pucey.
"Parvati what?!" Padma sputtered, nearly wrenching herself from him. "Why would she do that! I told her that we were friends, and that it wasn't as though -- oh, well, I..." Padma laughed under her breath, nervously. "Suppose she sensed it. At least from me anyway. Oh dear. Yeah, I definitely need to talk to her. The sooner the better."
She hissed through her teeth a little, clearly not enthused by this prospect. "If I come back without a head, well... make sure you bury me in something in pretty."
"I'd be most put out if you didn't have a head," Simon mused. "I'm attached to it. There are all sorts of interesting parts to it, you know." He demonstrated by kissing her cheek, her temple, and the base of her throat. "Don't worry. I'll be there, with you. Not when you talk to your sister, I mean, but at the pub. We'll... get through it. And if it's uncomfortable, we can always go home - to yours or mine."
"Simon..." she warned, though she was smiling in a haze of kisses. Clearly she couldn't be that put off by it. "I can't think when you do that..." Puckering her mouth a little, she finished, "Not that I want you to stop either..."