mythandmagic (mythandmagic) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-05-12 15:04:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, audrey, merlin |
Who: Merlin and Audrey
When: Mid May
Where: Restaurant
What: A date
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete
Audrey had done business with this little, Italian place for years. They bought bread from the bakery wholesale, and used it in the restaurant. Sandwiches, croutons, table bread… it all came from Audrey’s shop. The owner was so excited to hear that she and Merlin were expanding their family that he gave them a voucher for a free meal. He said that with baby number two, mom and dad time is cut even further. So he wanted them to have a date while they still could.
It was sweet. So Audrey asked Merlin when a good time would be to go, got a babysitter, and the pair of them headed out for a lovely, romantic evening.
Merlin loved spending time with Audrey, and now they had Ben it didn’t happen as often as it used to. He wouldn’t change Ben for the world but he did miss being with her alone sometimes. Which is why he was very happy when she had told him about the restaurant giving them vouchers.
Once they were seated Merlin took Audrey’s hand while they looked over the menu, “I’m glad we managed to get out tonight” he said rubbing his thumb over her knuckles.
It felt like it’d been a long time since they’d had some alone time. Audrey squeezed Merlin’s hand, giving him a smile. It was such a romantic evening, everything felt perfect. She was starving, though, and so incredibly glad that the morning sickness phase had passed in her pregnancy. They could actually enjoy a meal together, instead of her feeling queasy and skipping on food all together. Though, she’d abstain from the wine.
“I am, too. We don’t get out much anymore, so… we’ll have to take advantage tonight.” She smirked a little. Whatever ‘taking advantage’ meant.
Merlin was glad the morning sickness was over with too, there was nothing that could make him feel more powerless than being unable to help his wife when she felt bad. But tonight they could enjoy a nice meal together and just relax.
“Promises promises” Merlin teased her with a grin as he raised their linked hands to press a kiss to hers.
“Soooo, what’s for dinner?” Audrey asked, sort of unable to take her eyes off the man she loved so dearly. “Is there anything that’s caught your eye? Pasta or… chicken? Try the bread, I hear it’s fantastic.” She teased.
Merlin chuckled, “Well other than my wife I have been eyeing up the chicken” he grinned, “Best bread in the state I think you’ll find”
Audrey grinned. “You sweet talker,” she said, giving his hand a squeeze. Being here with her husband was pretty much the best thing ever. “Chicken and bread. I can get behind that. And Tiramisu for dessert?”
He squeezed her hand back and grinned, “Sounds like a perfect choice” he nodded, Merlin had never had much of a taste for the coffee flavoured dessert before but Audrey had won him round with hers. It would be interesting to see how this one compared.
Audrey was big on the desserts. It affected her hip and waistline, and she tried to bring everyone along with her. So she’d offered every dessert she could think of to Merlin, to find which he liked best.
But tonight Audrey was excited for the Tiramisu--she was pregnant and hungry. She got to eat whatever she wanted, right? That was her excuse. She smiled for her husband, then sat up a little straighter when the waitress came over to take their order.
Oh she definitely got to eat whatever she wanted, Merlin had no problem with that at all. He didn’t even need the pregnant excuse, he appreciated a good appetite. He had one himself.
When the waitress came he ordered for them making sure to order the dessert too. He’d experienced more than once a case of them running out when you didn’t.
“So,” he said once the woman moved off, “How is Izzy getting on at BB2?”
Audrey loved that so many seemed to be picking up on the BB2 nickname. Her smile spread when Merlin used it, and she squeezed his hand once more. “She’s absolutely Brilliant, Merlin. I couldn’t ask for a better partner.”
“I figured as much. You’ve been a wonderful teacher Aud, she’s been lucky” and he knew Izzy would agree as well. It was nice to see her find such a good protege, especially since it allowed her to worry about the bakeries as much.
“Oh, I think I’m the lucky one,” Audrey argued, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. She was grinning so much that her cheeks were growing warm. “Or maybe we were both lucky to find one another. The stars aligned properly, maybe.”
“A pair of meant-to-be bakers” Merlin grinned, “Maybe you’re right. I’m glad you found each other anyway. It’s good to know you can take a break and things will carry on well”
“I’m a pretty lucky lady in general. I’m surrounded by ridiculously awesome people. Husband, best friend, business partner, employees, customers… I’ve got some really groovy folk in my world.” She beamed over at her husband. She was about to say something else when the waiter brought out drinks and bread and whatever else. Appetizers? Audrey wasn’t really paying attention. She had to release Merlin’s hand so the waiter could fill the table with food.
“We both have” Merlin said before nodding his thanks to the waiter, “Mmm this looks good” They’d brought out bread, olives and other little nibbles while they waited for their main meals. It was impressive. Merlin had a feeling they were being treated especially nicely.
Audrey looked at the spread of olives, cheese and bread and knew that something was up. This was an extra special meal--more food than she’d been expecting. It was nice, really. She’d been working with the man who owned this place for so long, it was nice to know that he appreciated her business as much as she appreciated his.
“It does look lovely.” Audrey said, smiling. “I’m so glad we had a chance to come out and … just be us for a night.”
Merlin nodded, “We need to make sure we do it more often when number two makes an appearance” he said, he felt a little guilty that they hadn’t been doing it more often with Ben. But they just both ended up so busy and tired, it wasn’t always easy to fit in a date night. But they had Gabe and Nina as willing babysitters and a couple of others they trusted now too.
“We’ll have to insist upon an early bedtime, and maybe we can have dates after the kids are asleep.” Audrey suggested. They’d done some of that with Ben, but she had such a strange sleeping schedule for work that it didn’t always work out. She’d fallen asleep on his shoulder on more than one occasion while they tried to watch a movie after dinner. And she would probably do more often now, too, as the pregnancy was making her very tired. “Either way, we’ll make it happen.” She reached forward for some of the bread and dipped it in the olive oil and vinegar.
“We can try, but I remember newborn Ben and the need to sleep when he slept so we could sleep at all” at least in the early days anyway, but he spoke with fondness as he remembered it. Despite sleep deprivation he wouldn’t change it for the world. “We’ll work it out” he agreed picking up an olive and popping it into his mouth.
“It seems like so many people do,” Audrey added, grabbing more bread. She could eat her weight in bread, practically. And possibly did, considering where she worked and the access she had to the world’s most amazing, fresh baked stuff. She gave her husband a smile. “Maybe we can have sleeping dates where we just cuddle up together and catch forty winks!”
Merlin, who had never really been much of a foodie, had gained a love of bread and home baked things. One of the perks of living with an amazing cook. “Mm” he he smiled around the mouthful of bread and olive he had, “That sounds like an amazing date” he told her.
Audrey beamed. “Sounds like the best date ever.” She finished her bread and sipped her water. “You can have wine if you want to. Just because I can’t have any alcohol doesn’t mean you should abstain. I bet they’ve got a glass or something that’ll compliment your meal wonderfully.”
“I’m okay” Merlin said with a shake of his head, he wasn’t the biggest drinker anyway. “I like water with meals, it’s not a problem love” he assured her.
“Are you sure?” Audrey asked. There were other drinks she preferred to alcohol, too. But she wanted to make sure he had the option. Especially if they were out at a nice restaurant, all paid for by an appreciative business partner. She reached for his hand once more and gave it a squeeze. “It’s sweet of you to join me in sobriety,” she added, almost teasingly.
“Positive” Merlin said, he enjoyed an occasional beer or cider but overall he preferred juices and water. Smiling he replied, “Anytime. Just don’t ask me to breastfeed too” he teased back with a laugh.
Audrey laughed, too. “Deal.” She lifted her water glass for a toast, then sipped and set it back down again. “How’s work? I heard something on the internet about Tony Stark putting a garden on the roof of Stark Tower?”
“Yeah, it was an anonymous request and he then wanted to find out who had suggested it so he could make them responsible for looking after it” Merlin said lips curling into a smile as he recalled the meeting with his boss.
“Well, that sounds like a boss-like thing to do. To delegate responsibility for a big project somewhere down the line.” She grinned a little, mostly teasing, though she’d given Izzy a ton of responsibility at BB2. It was a good thing to do, really.
Merlin laughed, “It’s definitely a boss thing to do. But he made his program a little too good and couldn’t crack it so I had to think outside the box to identify the one who made the suggestion” It had been fun actually, a little different to forgotten passwords and accidental deletions.
“Oh… so… how is he supposed to find the person who made the suggestion?” Audrey asked. “I mean, I’m all for gardens. They make the world a more beautiful place--and more oxygen in the air is a good thing, too.”
“I tracked computers who had accessed the suggestion server and who had hit the keys relating to ‘garden’ and ‘roof’. He took it from there and I guess he must have found them” Merlin said, “Oh I definitely agree, I think it might be nice. They could even take the kids in the creche up there to learn about plants too”
“You’re… amazing.” Audrey didn’t understand a lot of the tech stuff. She felt like she’d become worse with tech now that she was married to an IT specialist. Every time she needed help with a computer, instead of having to struggle and figure it out on her own, Merlin was there to save her. It didn’t bother her, though. She loved the way they lived their lives. Her hand reached out across the table and took hold of his. “I can’t wait to see it when it’s finished.”
Merlin chuckled, in much the same way that Audrey didn’t get the technical stuff Merlin had pretty much given up trying to cook. They each knew their strengths. “I’ll make sure you’re one of the first non-staff members to see it” he promised.
“I’m sure it’s going to be spectacular.” With all of the Stark power behind it, how could it not be? She gave his hand a squeeze.
Then the waiter came by with their food. Audrey released Merlin’s hand and sat up a little so she could eat.
Oh Merlin was positive it would be and he had to admit he was looking forward to it.
“This looks great” he said before the both dug in with enthusiasm.
Since Audrey was eating again, the morning sickness phase of her pregnancy was over, she didn’t talk again until her plate was almost empty. Finally, she looked up at him and grinned over the near empty plate. “I am so full. It might be time to take me home and put me to bed.”
“Not even room for dessert?” Merlin teased, though he couldn't eat anymore either. That had been an amazing meal, very tasty and filling.
“There’s always room for dessert!” Audrey said with a laugh. She lifted a hand to flag down the waitress so they could ask for a dessert menu. “Though, I may have to bring half of it home. Unless you want to split something?”
“Let’s split something” he said with a smile, “Maybe something really chocolatey?” he suggested, if there was something like that on the menu.
“That sounds perfect.” Audrey said. She was pleased that her husband knew her so well. Chocolate would make the perfect ending to their dinner.
When the waiter came by, Audrey ordered the double chocolate brownie a la mode. It didn’t take long for the dessert to be delivered to the table with two spoons.
“Oh this looks good” Merlin said, and rather large but then they were being well taken care of. There was something rather unbeatable about melted chocolate baked into things.
“We can take home the leftovers,” Audrey suggested, picking up one of the spoons. “Oh my God, smell it.” The spoon dug through the deliciousness and Audrey lifted it up to her nose. It was chocolate at its best--rich and delicious. Audrey closed her eyes and tried not to moan while she ate it.
Merlin had to do the same, the moment it was in his mouth he had a feeling he and Audrey would finish it. And probably end up in a food coma but it would be worth it.
Audrey hoped that she’d stay awake tonight to have sex with her husband. Pregnancy hormones made her go all wonky when it came to that department--sometimes she couldn’t go without it, and sometimes she didn’t want to have anything to do with him. But she wanted to make him happy more than anything. Hopefully she wouldn’t fall asleep on his shoulder before they had that chance.
“God, that was amazing,” Audrey said, leaning back in her chair. “I can’t fit another bite.”fit any more in!” She laughed, full, happy, and satiated.
It had been a learning curve for both of them when they had Ben but Merlin wasn’t going to complain, he was perfectly happy with whatever Audrey felt like doing even if it was only sleeping.
“Yep, I feel like I could explode but in a good way” he grinned over at her.
Audrey gave him a little smirk. She was going for sexy, but it probably came off as tired. Adorable? Always. But definitely tired. “Let’s see if we can make you explode in a really good way when we get home.”
Then she set her napkin on the table, then pushed herself up to standing. “I’ll go settle up with the hostess, and we can get outta here.”
Adorable was always true when it came to Audrey, it was a good description of her. “Sweetheart I think we’ll both pass out when we get home but I appreciate the thought” he said leaning over to kiss her.
“I’ll come with you, it’s on the way out anyway” he said, holding out his hand for her to take.
Audrey chuckled as she leaned in to return his kiss. “Well, I tried.” She said, then squeezed his hand. “I love you.”
Together they headed out of the restaurant. Audrey was glad they’d had the night together to spend as a couple. After baby number two arrives, they’d have to work harder to have time to themselves.