Elijah Mikaelson (agentleman) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2020-06-11 06:34:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, elijah mikaelson, william laurence |
Who: Elijah and Laurence
What: A reunion
When: Shortly after Laurence returned
Where: Elijah’s place
Ratings/Warnings: Low/none
Status: Complete
Laurence took a few days to settle back into daily life in the Orange County before he had called Elijah to inform him of his return and to ask if he would be interested in meeting up. His first night back, he had been given another new dream, but in the nights following he hadn’t had anymore. He knew that it was only a matter of time, though he wasn’t too concerned. While he wouldn’t always call his dreams pleasant, they certainly weren’t as horrific as some people’s were. And they had never changed him, like Elijah’s had.
He picked up a nice bottle of wine on his way to Elijah’s place, yet he still arrived five minutes early. He waited, watching his watch, and as the second hand ticked over to the appointed minute, he knocked on the door.
He had been cooking- nothing too fancy, but at the doorbell, Elijah moved to answer it, dish towel thrown over one shoulder still and shirtsleeves rolled up.
Greeting the other man with a smile, he stepped back to allow him space to enter. “Hello Laurence, good to see you again. I trust your travels went smoothly?”
Laurence entered, offering his free hand for a handshake. “As smoothly as they can, when one must deal with pirates in the South China Sea,” he said. “I am glad to be home again, however. How have you been?”
“How thrilling.” Elijah’s dreams were rarely filled with that level of swashbuckling. “I’ve been well, thank you for asking. Hayley and I are doing well.” He was well and truly completely in love.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Laurence said, stepping inside. “I thought you could use some wine,” he said, offering the bottle with both hands. “How is Miss Marshall? Will she be joining us tonight?”
Elijah accepted the bottle with a smile. “Thank you for the thoughtful gift. This will go quite well with the meal. And she has a class so unfortunately not. We’ll have to plan to get together another time.”
“That’s too bad,” Laurence said. He did like Hayley’s company, though he was glad that he could just spend some time one-on-one with one of his closest friends as well. “We certainly will. I trust your family has been well too?” He recalled that Elijah had a rather large one, and that a fair amount of them lived in the area.
“They have, thank you for asking. My older sister’s work has taken her out of the country and everyone else has been quite busy also. But happy, I think. One of my brothers even has been dating. It’s good for him. You also missed some excitement here with quarantine.”
Elijah led Laurence into the kitchen, gesturing for him to take a seat at the island while he got out a corkscrew and two wine glasses.
“That is good for him.” Laurence had always had trouble finding the time to date, and since Mary had returned back home to England, he had trouble finding the inclination to make time. “Was that Kol, or Niklaus?”
“I heard of the quarantine,” Laurence said. “Though I was thankfully at sea for most of it, and we were luckily able to avoid an outbreak on the ship.” He knew he’d been luckier by far than some other captains. “I hope you weren’t too negatively affected?”
“Not very,” Elijah shook his head. “Luckily it merely boiled down to a few days spent together with Hayley. There are much worse ways to pass the time.”
“I’m sure,” Laurence smiled. For all the time he’d spent confined to a ship, he never did do well with being locked up in a single home, away from companionship and society. He really was happy on multiple levels that a cure had been found so quickly. “Hopefully it was a chance for you two to deepen your relationship.”
There was a part of him that wanted to ask after any marriage plans, but the question seemed quite personal, and so he bit his tongue.
“I think we’d already taken one step by that point…. she moved in with me.” And Elijah couldn’t have looked more pleased if he tried. He was glad that things with Hayley were progressing so easily. Especially after all of the drama within the dream world.
“Congratulations!” Laurence exclaimed, feeling suddenly like quite the cad. “If I had known, I would have brought a housewarming gift of some sort.” Already, he was mentally going over a variety of possible gift ideas.
There was a small yet persistent of him that regretted the fact that he continued to miss such momentous occasions in his friends’ lives. It was something he should have grown used to in the nineteen years that he’d been in the Navy, and yet somehow it only grew more unpleasant.
“It isn’t necessary in the slightest “ Elijah assures him. “It wasn’t such a big step after all.” Hayley had been spending the night more often than not prior to the actual official move-in. And it made sense from both a personal and a financial perspective. Why pay for two domiciles when only one was needed?
“But thank you for the thought. Your good company is all the gift we need so that is another point in favor of a dinner or lunch with the three of us.”
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist,” Laurence said, a bit of a laugh in his voice. “But don’t worry, I’ll be sure that it won’t be anything too ostentatious.” He took a sip of his wine. “Though yes, dinner with the three of us is entirely necessary. “Perhaps I can cook something for the two of you at my place sometime soon.” Elijah had never said anything, and Laurence had the impression that Elijah rather enjoyed eating actual food, but he was always keenly aware that out of the two of them, he was the only one that actually required solid food, and he’d always felt very boorish when Elijah cooked for his benefit.
If Laurence insisted, Elijah wouldn’t push further. It would be rude to do so, and so he acquiesced with an incline of his head.
“That sounds lovely indeed. I’m sure Hayley would very much enjoy it as well. Thank you.”
Laurence smiled, and took another sip of his wine. “So, Elijah, you must tell me everything that I’ve missed.”
“As long as you promise to do the same, I will happily do so.” A sip of his wine before Elijah began. After all, he had missed quite a bit in his absence.