swirling_storm (swirling_storm) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-06-06 18:05:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, elsa of arendelle, gale hawthorne |
Who: Elsa of Arendelle and Gale Hawthorne
When: May (post Memorial Day weekend)
Where: Cafe
What: Lunch and news
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete
Everything about the cafe Gale had arranged to have lunch at, with Elsa, was warm and welcoming - the walls had those little white lights, adorned in kind of a whimsical way, along with the various photos that could be classified as quaint. But it was also right down the block from the studio and the sandwiches were good - really good. The garlic sauce was like crack, if you indulged in it, and the bread was always soft and flaky. Now that he was back in the OC, however, and faced with the usual rigmarole when it came to Reserves training, he couldn’t exactly slack on his proper eating regimen.
But it had been nice, at home in West Virginia. All the casseroles, all the scrumptious breakfasts, all the pies with a mom’s touch. You just couldn’t get that at most places. Probably a good thing - he didn’t want any red flags on his record for being an out of shape soldier.
He texted Elsa to let her know he was here and holding a table by the window (with him facing the door, as always, old habits can’t be broken). A meeting with the rest of the marketing staff had let out early, whereas her own meetings probably ran over a little - it happened. In the meantime, he ordered an ice water and people-watched, through the glass, while he waited for her to arrive.
Elsa missed Gale, while they saw each other for lunch fairly regularly it wasn’t the same as when he’d been her PA. But she was so proud of him and knew it had been the right thing to do. The marketing department was flourishing and easily one of the most productive teams in the company as well as the happiest from what she had heard. They got along well and got the work done. What more could she ask?
She’d needed some of that earlier, all the team in her meeting seemed to do was argue and take ages to decide anything. It was frustrating. In the end Elsa had closed it down and told them to sort out their issues before attending the next meeting.
All in all she was ready for a stress free lunch, entering the cafe she spotted Gale and made her way over. “Hey, sorry I’m late” she said giving him a hug in greeting, “How are you?”
Gale stood when Elsa arrived, returning the hug warmly - she was one of the few people he didn’t mind hugging; gestures like that weren’t always appreciated from strangers, when you were a war-battered soldier, and overall Gale just wasn’t the touchy-feely type anyway. But he was glad to see her, even if they worked in the same place - just with the switch to marketing, he didn’t have a desk right by hers anymore. So he tried to make up for it, by scheduling the important time to steal some stress-free moments, and lunch was a necessity to make it through the workday anyway.
“Good, I’m good,” he smiled, setting back in his seat and beginning to look over the menu. He was pretty sure he knew what he wanted. “West Virginia was good too. It was nice to see my family again, and this time I brought Leliana.”
They’d ‘met’ her over Skype before, but in person was a different story. Still, Hazelle essentially welcomed her to the family with open arms - Rory and Posy adored her too. “And I’ve got some news,” Gale added, after a pause.
Elsa wasn’t a massively tactile person but with those closest to her she was, she suspected it was partly Anna’s influence. Not that she minded much, it was nice sometimes to offer a hug or a comforting hand.
“Oh of course, I’m so glad you had a good time. I’m sure your family loved meeting her properly” Elsa smiled, “Oh? Do tell, I like news. Is it good news?”
“For once it actually is, yeah.” Gale had to laugh, because it seemed like things were dour with people more often than not - bad dreams would do that to you, and even though his had ended he understood. Sometimes his moods had been as stormy grey as the skies in those quicksilver eyes - he wore the brooding look well. “I sort of...”
He sort of ordered half a turkey sandwich on whole wheat, hold the bacon, with a side of soup. Trying to keep it moderately healthy was the idea here. But then he was free to continue. “We took the scenic railroad up, it’s pretty gorgeous in the mountains - and Posy came with us, so when we stopped for hot chocolate she proved she has no subtlety when she demanded if I asked Leliana to marry me yet. I had the ring with me, I was just waiting for the right moment,” he shrugged, looking sheepish. “So that was the right moment? And she said yes.”
Elsa was almost annoyed when the server came to take their order, she wanted to know what Gale’s news was but she placed her own order in a friendly manner and then turned back to Gale to hear the news.
“Oh Gale, that’s wonderful!” Elsa said moving from her seat to give Gale another hug because it was such good news, “I am so happy for you both. I am sure Leliana thought it was perfect even if it wasn’t quite as you had planned”
He may have flushed a little - something that didn’t happen often, not with a hardass like Hawthorne - as he squeezed Elsa gently, but he had really been looking forward to telling her. She was, after all, the first friend he’d made in Orange County - so she deserved to be one of the first people to know the news as well.
“It was definitely memorable, and she’ll have a good story to tell,” he grinned. “I’m not sure when, but I’d kind of like a winter wedding, personally. Maybe it’ll even snow here again?”
Gale wouldn’t put it past the place. But he had a feeling Elsa knew what he meant, understanding the beauty of a wedding which involved soft snowflakes, all that blue - like icicles, the way they captured light.
“Well you know I think I can guarantee that it will snow for you whatever date you chose” Elsa said, “There is nothing more beautiful than a winter wedding, you have me at your disposal for anything you need” she added, because she had not only almost unlimited resources but also an incredible power that would be at his command for the wedding. Ice sculptures, snowflakes that won’t melt and any number of other things you could imagine. She was ridiculously excited and happy for Gale.
That was true, Elsa did have some pretty handy powers in that regard. Gale was flattered that she’d offered - and pretty giddy, no lie. “I’ll talk to Leli about it, and I’m sure you’ll be involved in the planning anyway,” he pointed out, because really, he didn’t know a ton about weddings. Just the basics - but while he didn’t have every detail memorized, he did understand that it was probably going to be a lot more than he was anticipating. So he best steel his shoulders and prepare himself, especially since he and Leliana already talked about how eloping wasn’t going to be a thing. They wanted an actual wedding, maybe something small, but still fun for people to celebrate with them. Something classy.
He sipped his ice water, thinking. “Remember when it was me keeping you calm before you married Kate? Now the tables are turned.”
“I would be honored to help you” she told him, because of course she would offer, Gale was an incredibly important person to her and she wanted to see him and Leliana happy together as husband and wife. She would do anything to ensure that happened for them without incident.
“Oh I remember and I will try to do as good a job for you as you did for me” she promised.
“Just make sure I don’t work myself into a nervous frenzy, or throw up,” Gale teased, though he didn’t think he’d do that. Maybe. He’d turn twenty-three in August, so he was still kind of young in the scheme of things (and Leliana was about nine years older than him) but age had never mattered. They were going to get married, it was the right time, and what they both wanted. It also felt like he’d seen much more than a person his age should have, thanks to his time in the Army. Not to mention dreaming of Panem.
Having a partner for life and potentially children, those were life goals he had - it’s just he’d actually get to achieve them here. “You still like the married life though?” he asked Elsa. “It’s probably not much different than when you were just dating?” The titles changed, and insurance and shit, but if you were already living together, well. At least you had that part down.
“No nervous frenzies or vomiting instances” Elsa nodded, “You got it” she smiled, she knew Gale would be just fine. She’d seen him and Leliana together and had nothing but good feelings about the two of them. And she saw how happy she made him.
“I still love married life. It isn’t much different but there’s a certain thrill in being able to call Kate my wife” she said with a grin, it still made her smile even now.
They seemed happy too, Elsa and Kate - and it was a sweet story, the ‘playgirl’ finding love and settling down with someone. Not necessarily tamed, but they were just partners in everything. It was like that with Gale and Leliana too - with her especially, she hadn’t given much thought to settling, being trapped in the secrets and lies of a career in espionage. Basically running her own wetworks division meant that romance was put on the backburner, but they both had eased out of that type of career. Gale much preferred what he was doing now.
“It does sound better than ‘girlfriend,’ anyway,” he returned the smile, as their food arrived. He started with the country mushroom soup, stirring it with his spoon to make sure it wasn’t going to scald his tongue off. “She was also...burned pretty badly. In the past, I mean. In a bad relationship.” Ended with a literal knife in the back, things got messy. “So I guess it’s just proof that the heart heals, or however the saying goes.”
It was a nice kind of story, in Elsa’s eyes anyway. Finding love and getting out of the troublesome life they’d had before to be with each other. It was sweet and romantic.
“It definitely does” Elsa agreed, as she listened to Gale, “The heart does heal, especially when it finds another to help it” And obviously Leliana’s heart had found Gale’s.
“Nice, nice. You should put that on a card.” It was a joke, but really, he appreciated Elsa’s observations - she had a way of making sense of things, a regal sort of wisdom. “I’ll keep you updated about things though, as we plan some more? I think right now we’re letting the news settle, and telling people, but once we dive in then we’re the type to sort of go full steam ahead.”
Maybe hiring a wedding planner wouldn’t be a bad idea either, but they’d have to see. Surely there was one on Valarnet, like everyone suggested?
“Taking time for it to settle and just enjoying being engaged is a good thing” Elsa said smiling, “It’s nice to just be engaged for a little while before you start planning everything. And when you start diving in don’t feel overwhelmed, it’ll all come together perfectly. I can see it already” she winked at him.
Elsa had psychic powers now too, eh? But alright, Gale would listen to her - she could be his calm, voice of reason this go-round. He wasn’t in any danger of freezing centerpieces to the table or anything, all out of nerves, but he appreciated that someone would be there to soothe any potential anxieties.
He would also try not to get overwhelmed. “I think if everything sticks to a schedule, and there’s a budget, and it’s more...regimented?” he said, because he was the type who lived by a strict schedule, and thrived best like that. “It’ll be good.” Willy-nilly planning wouldn’t suit him. If there was even such a thing was willy-nilly planning.
But alright, guess he better stuff his face before they got back to work. It was a power lunch, not too laden down with carbs, and he’d have energy to get through the rest of the day. Pretty normal, a nice slice of it, all things considered - and chatting about the upcoming nuptials was a good sign for the future too.