(ง'̀-'́)ง (hairbender) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-05-06 02:53:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, asami sato, lena luthor |
Who: Lena and Asami
What: Valentine's Day
Where: A B&B
When: Feb 14th
Status: Complete
Rating: PG-13
Asami wanted to do something special for Lena. They’d been back together almost exactly three months (if one counted the infernal elevator anyway), and it actually landed on Valentine’s day.
Asami couldn’t remember the last Valentine’s day she’d ever celebrated. School crushes didn’t really count in her opinion. But this one felt important. Except things had been severely derailed by whatever it was that had made her fall in love with herself. She… was incredibly embarrassed by the whole thing. Asami wasn’t one to puff herself up, even if she did take pride in her looks.
But Asami didn’t really do anything by halfsies, as she tried to make up for it. Even though she didn’t need to impress Lena, she desperately wanted her to feel every bit as adored as Asami adored her.
Hence the blindfold, and the refusal to tell her where she was driving her.
Maybe she needed to learn to chill.
Lena was confused. What had been a normal work day that she thought would turn into a normal evening decompressing with her girlfriend had very quickly taken a turn into something decidedly not normal. It had been a break in habit, but not necessarily odd when Asami insisted on picking her up so that they could go out, but the blindfold and the subterfuge? Very strange indeed.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t gathered that this was intended to be some romantic surprise - the set-up had made it very obvious, and she was well aware that Asami’s temporary infatuation with herself had intersected with Valentine’s Day - it was more that neither one of them had even bothered to acknowledge the holiday before now. That, she’d assumed, meant that her feelings of ambivalence about the day were ones that Asami shared. She’d never even thought to consider the possibility that her girlfriend’s silence meant that she was planning something. Maybe she should have. If there was one trait that they shared, it was an inability to pass up any opportunity to be as dramatic as possible.
“As much as I’m loving the scenery,” Lena snarked, blindfold shifting as she lifted an eyebrow in that way that made her thoughts on a matter very clear, “the silence is a little stifling. Surely there’s music you can play, or some sort of safe topic we can breach. The weather? Work? The recent string of nearly world ending chaos that has somehow become the norm in our lives?”
A little subterfuge was fine, even if they weren’t yet back on the blindfold and tying up stage of their relationship. Now that was a thought that Asami had to shove somewhere in the back of her mind. Somewhere, Rita Skeeter was already writing some lewd thing about them probably.
But she wanted to be dorky and romantic but she had to do it her way. “We’re almost there, but that’s actually a good question, how is</> work?”
“Work is fine,” she said skeptically. The two of them spoke nearly every day; if there was anyone that knew just how things were at work, it was Asami. But, she supposed, she could indulge her some. “Construction has begun on our permanent headquarters. Granted, my head architect refuses to let me visit the work site out of fear that I’m going to manage to dislocate my other shoulder, but we manage.” Elsa was decidedly overprotective of her as of late, but she’d admit that her refusal to wear her sling probably didn’t help. “What about you? How did your employees take your exercise in self-love? Oh, and speaking of: Did you by chance have a portrait commissioned of yourself to commemorate the occasion? Because if not, I’d be happy to have it done for you.”
After the earthquakes and everything, Asami wasn’t surprised that construction on the permanent HQ had begun. Hopefully Elsa had woven in some more protections, but this was California and earthquake preparedness was baked in. Asami was just glad her own buildings had come through relatively unscathed.
Thankfully, Lena couldn’t see the blush on Asami’s face. “Have I apologized enough yet? Because I’m so,so sorry.”
They were almost there though and hopefully Lena would forget her teasing.
“You have, and I’ll say it again: You have nothing to apologize for.” She really didn’t. It was hardly Asami’s fault that the town seemed to have it out for her; Lena was just glad that the latest attack was relatively harmless.
That did not mean, however, that Asami would ever live it down, because she absolutely wouldn’t. “Just know that your cry for more love and affection was heard loud and clear, and I’m happy to oblige.” She said, teasing smile tempering the partial truth of that statement.
“I’m not normally that conceited, but I know you know that.” Asami shot her a look she knew she couldn’t see, but she hoped Lena felt it. “Okay, you can take the blindfold off, we’re there.”
What Asami had chosen was essentially a five star vegan restaurant with attached day spa, and an upscale hotel. She’d booked a room too, though wasn’t going to tell Lena that. If she wanted to go home afterwards, Asami would happily eat the cost.
Lena smiled softly at Asami, releasing the grip on her blindfold and letting it drop to the floor as she leaned over the console to kiss her girlfriend softly on the cheek. Truthfully, anything Asami had planned for the night would have likely garnered a similar reaction, but the sleek, warm-looking series of interconnected buildings told her that this night was something Asami had put some thought into and intended to be special. She could have easily tried to assuage her guilt from the Valentine’s Day incident by throwing together something quick and mindless that had the expected bells and whistles that the day promoted, but that neither of them cared for. It would have been simpler, and Lena would have still been grateful.
The restaurant (and bar? Bed and breakfast?) before her, though, was clearly private and notably not crowded - some place that even those with their wealth and notariety struggled to get into on a Friday night, thanks to the insanely high per capita income of the residents of the OC. The Friday night after Valentine’s Day, though? There was no telling when Asami made these reservations, but she knew it had to be longer than a month ago. Set-ups like this were marketed primarily for the ambiance and overall experience they presented; even if the menu’s only item was over cooked pigs in blankets, it’d still be hot until the next thing came along.
Knowing Asami, though, not only was the restaurant absolutely phenomenal, it was also vegan.
“Strange. I know absolutely nothing about this restaurant, what those other buildings contain, or your plans for the night, and yet I still feel the urge to reenact the first forty minutes of our first date.” She was mostly teasing - their relationship had become much more tempered and profound lately, far from their hormone-driven first encounters - but she couldn’t deny that the words carried some truth. That all it took was evidence of heartfelt intent and the promise of a happy evening meant something very significant, and she had a feeling that they’d both find out just what tonight.
Widening her grin so that it reflected more of her open affection and cheer, she reached across the console and grabbed Asami’s hand, looking out the front windshield. “Is this that new place you were talking about?”
Asami paid close attention to Lena’s reaction, half out of worry that this was too much, half out of worry that she’d messed up in some other way. It wasn’t as bad as it used to be, her worrying. Asami had already had some small insecurity issues (thanks Mako) but mostly she kept thinking that one day Lena would decide the whole Korra thing had been too much and Asami Could Never Be Trusted Again.
Thanks Mako.
“Yes, it is. The restaurant is Vegan, and there’s an adjacent day spa. It’s kind of like a B&B too.”
Lena smirked at that information, both proud and amused that she’d been at least somewhat right. “Hmm. I get the feeling that you think that we both are in need of a vacation.” She kept her firm hold on Asami’s hand, content to continue sharing with her the relaxed atmosphere that had settled within the car for as long as she could. She was looking forward to enjoying the reservations that Asami had made, absolutely, but she also couldn’t deny that the idea of staying in their own little bubble a little while longer definitely had its appeal. It was so strange to her, but she was finding that, more and more, just the reminder that they shared something profound and clearly unique - something that meant that casual affection and thoughtfulness like that Asami had displayed tonight was so common that she was beginning to forget what it felt like not to have it - had her submerging herself in the feelings being with Asami elicited in her so completely that she had a difficult time finding it within her to care about anything but being near her for as long as possible.
She wasn’t so naive as to think that this was anything other than love. She knew what it felt like to be infatuated with Asami, because their whirlwind first attempt at a relationship had been bubbling with it. This was not that. Not by a long shot.
Considering that the nastiness that had culminated in broken trust and long-term emotional pain had occurred less than a year ago, Lena knew that it was very unusual that she couldn’t find it within her to feel anything other than excitement and contentment when that realization had hit. When she’d gone to bed that night, an eagerness for a future that she couldn’t quite identify swirling in her chest, she’d been almost sure that the panic would set in as soon a she woke up, and had resolved to bask in her happiness for as long as she could.
That had been nearly three weeks ago. She was still basking.
Looking over at Asami, she wondered for what had to have been the hundredth time in the past few weeks if the feeling was mutual. Even though her heart was stubbornly refusing to feel anything but light these days, she couldn’t help the twinge of fear that the idea that she was fooling herself into thinking that Asami was doing anything but toying with her. It was illogical and unfair, she knew, but fear was rarely rational, and she hadn’t been able to chase it away. She was, after all, almost always much more cautious than she was hopeful.Thankfully, she had been able to ensure that it it hadn’t grown past that occasional brief spike of fear, and focus instead on her own feelings. She couldn’t control Asami’s heart or mind, but she could let herself be happy. Even if it was to be only temporary.
“Do you think that if we drove up to the front door, they’d take our order and bring us our food without us having to leave the car?” She said, joking only because she knew there was no chance of it happening. “I mean, I’m sure the ambiance is to die for, but I’m terribly comfortable where I am.” The ‘here with you’ was technically just implied, but she didn’t think it was possible for it to be any louder in her head.
"I'm trying to save the really big Bahamas trip for something special," Asami joked, barely stopping herself from saying honeymoon. That was getting way ahead of herself, but every time she was in Lena's general vicinity she couldn't help but think that she wanted her always there. Her brilliant smile, the way she laughed, that tender look in her eyes.
Asami had fallen in love with her at some point along the way. More than just wanting to pull her in and snog her in the car (though she did slid her hand behind Lena's head and kiss her rather soundly anyway). When Asami was smitten, it was generally pretty hard for her to hold back her affections. She liked to show, as much as tell, and relish in the feeling.
Playing with Lena's hair after the kiss, Asami replied, "I don't think they'd be happy with that. But we could try."
Lena laughed breathily, not bothering to open her eyes or pull away after the kiss and instead opting to lean in and rest her forehead against Asami’s. “No, no. You made all of these plans, we should see them through.” She said, even as she made no move to leave the car. She’d been too comfortable to leave before, and that was before Asami was running her fingers through her hair, so she certainly wasn’t moving now.
It only took a few minutes for her determination to play out the night as Asami had planned flared up again, though. It wasn’t as if they had any doubts about whether or not they’d be staying together after tonight, so why waste a good night out? They’d have plenty of time to be together like this. That didn’t change her desire to stay within this moment, but it did give her enough wearwithal to pull away and see what other kind of moments lay in store for them outside of the car.
“You really shouldn’t indulge me like that, darling.” Lena said, smile wide as she placed a gentle kiss on Asami’s forehead before swinging herself around to face forward again. Popping the door open, she swung her legs out and stood before turning back around and leaning into the car to address her girlfriend. “Not so soon, anyway. You might spoil me.”
Lena calling her darling struck something inside Asami's chest, and she bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from any premature blurtings. "I can't help it. I like to indulge the people I ... care about."
She reached out, her hand touching Lena's hip as she got out, then it dropped to the seat. "Somehow I think you can't be spoiled. You're too pure."
That was a little much.