gʀɑɦɑɱ ɦɑʆɗɑʀ, ɛรquiʀɛ (businesslike) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-04-12 09:48:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, jonathan harker, myrcella baratheon |
Who: Jonathan & Myrcella
What: Visiting with Myrcella to give her souvenirs from his long vacation and catch up
Where: Her place!
When: Post-trip
Rating/Warnings: Naaaaaaaaaah
Status: Complete
The trip overseas has been long, but something that Jonathan and Vlad had planned close to when they first began seeing each other - which was almost a year ago, come to think of it. Time really flew by; it was almost difficult to fathom sometimes - even for an immortal creature who would, in theory, never run out of sand slipping through the hourglass. But it had been a pleasant trip, and Jonathan had so many favorite parts - the patisseries in Paris and the tiny towns nearby, with their whitewashed houses and bicycles everywhere, or the stunning architecture of Vienna, or even the rural villages in Romania where they’d met Vlad’s grandparents (and toured Bran Castle, among other things). He’d liked the tiled houses, the greenery and the haystacks, the horses and carts and the woodcarver’s shops - that was where he’d picked up a few gifts for friends, and he’d chosen things here and there whenever something struck his fancy over the course of their vacation. A woodcarving selected just for her was what he brought to Myrcella’s, in addition to a sachertorte from one of the infamous chocolatiers in Vienna. It was a dense chocolate meringue with a layer of apricot jam and then dark chocolate icing - the freshness was kept for a good number of days, though he wanted to be sure to get the presents to people in a timely fashion. Convenient that Myrcella had invited him over for tea, then. Carrying her gift boxes, Jonathan arrived at the house by the beach - sensitive hearing could pick up on and sense her heartbeat already, before he even knocked on the door. Dragon was also pitter-pattering around from what he could tell, the lively pup he was. But Jonathan knocked anyway, rather than stand outside like a creepy vampire. It was only polite. Myrcella was looking forward to seeing Jonathan, she had missed him while he was away but couldn’t wait to hear all about his trip and to tell him how her business plans had progressed too. Mostly though she wanted to catch up and see where he and Vlad had visited and to make sure he’d had a good time which she was sure he had. She had put the kettle on and was just tidying up a little when the knock came and she smiled, moving to the door she opened it, “Hello” she said, realising she couldn’t quite hug him as usual since he was carrying things so instead she opened the door wider to let him in, “Come in, do you want me to take anything?” she offered. He returned the smile, a genuine one which meant he let his guard down - and also meant a flash of fangs bared, not bothering to hide them with something more close-lipped. Since he’d already been here, and had been invited into Myrcella’s private home before, he could cross the threshold no problem - once was all it took - and so he stepped inside, presenting her with the box of chocolatey delight from Vienna. “This should go with tea?” he suggested. “It’s nice to see you, Myrcella, I missed your company.” That was true. She always had such a sweetness about her, and seemed happy with her lot - it was inspiring to see, especially when things were often dire and catastrophic where they chose to live. Yet it had been quiet for awhile, besides the baggage residents dealt with from their dreams, business as usual. One thing he wasn’t looking forward to was dreaming again after about a month away from the county. “Ooo how lovely” she said leading the way, not reacting to the teeth at all. Jonathan had been open with her about his transformation for a while and she trusted him. “I missed you too. Though I can’t wait to hear all about your trip, I bet you have lots of interesting things to tell me” she smiled. Myrcella was more than happy with her lot, she was very aware of how lucky she was to have what she had. And she was not the sort to take things for granted or to think she was owed anything. She worked hard and had been very lucky. “It was certainly chock-full of adventure,” Jonathan agreed, that smile turning a bit amused as he followed behind Myrcella. There was just so much to go over - he wasn’t quite sure where to start, but the beginning was always good. “We arrived in London initially, to visit his parents. They’d been really wanting to see him and since the main corporate office for Zelda’s office is there too, I scheduled a few meetings.” But only a few. Otherwise it really wouldn’t have been much of a vacation at all. “Then we headed to Paris, and from there worked our way over to Romania - the countryside, and the villages, where his grandparents still live.” Myrcella listened as she sat them at the dining room table and brought over tea, cups and plates, “Oh I’m so glad you got to see Vlad’s parents and I hope you didn’t work too much” she told him with a smile, after all vacation is to enjoy yourself as far as she was concerned. “That sounds beautiful. I do love Paris, we went a few times when I was younger. My mum enjoys it a lot. Romania looks beautiful though, and I bet Vlad enjoyed seeing his grandparents. Were you nervous meeting his family?” She asked as she poured the tea and opened the box he’d handed her gasping at how lovely it looked. “The patisseries were my favorite part - some of them were just so unique, like the rainbow of macarons in different colors and flavors. One shop even had kind of a Japanese flair to their pastries - the black sesame eclair...” Jonathan trailed off, letting that speak for itself, as he sat down in one of the dining room chairs and got comfortable. Maybe he wasn’t in possession of as much of a sweet tooth, his taste for human food sort of waning now that he didn’t need it to survive, but there was no way he could pass up any French patisserie. Myrcella’s reaction to the dessert made him chuckle. “That’s from Vienna. I made sure everything stayed fresh.” Sending delicious things back, through customs, could sometimes be as challenging as smuggling soil from one’s native land but a vampire with a hypnotism ability could make it work; he didn’t use it often, and didn’t plan to. However, this was a special occasion. “Meeting Vlad’s family was nice though. His parents are wonderful, his grandparents too - very superstitious, you could say? I think they were a little worried about how pale he was.” And considering his grandmother said she’d pray for him, as they left, that was...telling. They knew. Or they could sense it, at the very least. “Oh I love patisseries, I can never say no to cake” And the French did pastry and cake like no other country. Black sesame eclair was something Myrcella had never even thought about before but it sounded intriguing. “It’s beautiful, thank you so much for getting it back with you” she said as she retrieved a knife to cut it and place two slices on plates for them. It smelt amazing and she couldn’t wait to taste it. “I’m so glad you got to meet them, being accepted by family is definitely one of the most important things I think” she smiled before adding, “Oh I should have sent you with some concealer like we used for your press interviews. I could have shown you both how to use it so they would be less worried” Concealer would have been a good idea. It had Jonathan chuckling a little, especially at the look on Vlad’s face if his fiance came at him with makeup and a brush. But he had such a great face, it’d be like painting a grand work of art? “At least we made it through rural Romania, the most superstitious of people, without getting attacked with a cross?” He would take those victories where he could get them. “But I’m definitely not done with the press conferences, especially since Zelda’s getting situated with her conglomerate’s offices in Orange County. You’re my favorite makeup artist anyway.” “I am very glad you did, I imagine if you can get through that safely there aren’t many other places you have to worry about” she smiled, before looking delighted, “Oh thank you. My final advanced exams are happening in May, can you believe it? Soon I will be qualified and out there on my own” she was looking forward to it really, it was exciting and she was doing fairly well with clients already so she hoped that would only get better. He sliced into the cake, taking a bite and enjoying the taste - for Jonathan, it was basically like consuming air in terms of how filled up it would make him feel, but he could still taste the various flavors. Which was a perk. “Final exams, that’s great news,” he praised Myrcella. “You’ve been studying so hard too, so I’m glad that it’ll all come together for you. Then you’ll be starting your own business, I presume?” She’d selected the business cards already, and had been doing some self-promotion from what he knew. Jonathan made a note to pass her name around to others he knew also - he had a lot of connections, in his line of work. Myrcella took a bite of her own slice and closed her eyes for a moment, it was absolutely lovely. No wonder Jonathan had brought some back with him, she could easily become addicted. “Thank you” she said, “I’m not even feeling that nervous yet but that might come” she smiled before nodding, “Yeah then I’ll properly launch my business, thank you for all your help there. It felt really overwhelming until I spoke to you, you’ve been so wonderful” “Being nervous is perfectly natural. I was too, for my bar exam.” Pretty much an understatement - Jonathan had been a neurotic mess, but how could you blame him? Most lawyers would rather switch careers than take that horrid test again. “You’ll be brilliant though, I know it,” he encouraged with another smile. “And I’m happy to help anytime, if I can do anything. I’m not a beauty expert, I’ll leave that part to you, but I can handle the business aspects.” The water was set to boil, he could sense it even before the kettle whistled at them - and sure enough, two seconds later, it actually did. “You want me to get that?” The bar exam was way more intense than Myrcella’s exam but that was part of what she loved most about Jonathan, he was never one to trivialise anything another person was worried about. He was a very understanding and caring person. “Thank you. Knowing I can turn to you if I need to does help a lot” Because it was daunting, starting your own business with all the legalities that came with it. Especially with beauty since she was working with potentially dangerous products. “No, you sit. You’re my guest” she said smiling and patting his shoulder as she moved to pour the water into the pot where she had already placed the tea. “Thanks,” he chuckled sheepishly - sometimes having enhanced senses was a little on the annoying side, but while Myrcella was tending to the tea he remembered the other present he had for her. In the box, which he set on the table, was a set of intricately carved wooden eggs - they were beautiful, so detailed, and a prime example of art in Romania, especially around Easter. Jonathan had gotten them for her because they were beautiful, and while some of his friends would enjoy something more functional (it just depended on personality), Myrcella was one to appreciate aesthetics given her chosen career. So, he hoped that she liked them. “And I promise I didn’t go to Europe and just bring back cake for you,” he added, nudging the box toward her when she returned. Myrcella thought that some enhanced senses would be rather handy to have, though she imagined hearing every little thing at night would be annoying when you tried to sleep. It didn’t take long for her to bring the tea to the table along with the pot and milk in case they wanted or needed a refill at any point. She smiled when he pushed the box towards her, “Oh you didn’t need to bring me anything, but thank you” she said before opening it and gasping. The carvings were absolutely beautiful, she ran her fingers over them before moving to hug Jonathan, “Thank you so much, they’re stunning” “You’re welcome,” Jonathan smiled, returning the hug carefully - he was chilly, undead and in possession of a dead heart, a creature of the night, but he still enjoyed the warmth of hugs and affection in general. “I wanted to get something that was beautiful since you have an eye for such things.” Then he added a little bit of milk to his tea, stirring it, the swirl of cream turning the liquid that pleasant shade of taupe. “Well! Tell me all about what happened back here when I was gone? Surely it wasn’t too quiet.” He’d settle in for quite a tale - after all, it was never boring here. Not in Orange County. |