6 Unicorn Street; Wednesday Evening [02/14].

[special_rabbit]

It should absolutely be stated, for the record, and with absolutely no uncertainty, that anything that was to potentially occur in this apartment this evening had nothing to do with the date on the calendar. Well. Okay. It maybe had something to do with the date on the calendar, but only because the arrival of...that mushy holiday...meant the apex of business for Irene, and, as a result, that meant she'd earned a little something to celebrate making it through the rush, because while no one better talk to Amaya about all those hearts and chocolates and romantic notions, she would always be here to celebrate capitalism and the power of the shiny gold coin.

Or, well, American dollars, in this case, but, anyway, you understood what she meant. This was about love of money and sales and the bottom line, and not about love of...

...other things. It was just about Irene coming over and getting the chance to unwind somewhere that wasn't right above her shop to celebrate a successful sales period. Over some food that neither of them had to cook. And some celebratory champagne. And maybe....some....other things. Later....

Shut up.

And Amaya pouring some rum one for her and one for the squirrels was clearly just a sudden bout of her generous nature, really.

[[ oh, you know who it's for, and NFB, s'il vous plaît ]]

Comments

[begmetwice]

Oh, sure. What a very, very random day to spend the evening together!

Tempted though Irene had been to adhere to the theme and show up in head-to-toe red, she had shown some restraint and was instead knocking lightly at Amaya's door in a wool minidress and stockings under her coat. It was a light knock primarily because that was Irene's style, to command attention without making a fuss -- but also because her hands were quite full.

Not only had she taken her assignment to bring dinner over quite seriously, but she had not shied away from theme here -- or, rather, was content to rely on the classics, and thus she was holding a carrier bag with an appetizer, several entree options, and dessert.

She had also brought over a small cactus, which she was handling in her opposite hand with significant care, and had a fairly large overnight-style bag over one shoulder. Was it because Irene entertained ideas about staying the whole night?

Well, yes. But that didn't have all that much to do with what was in her bag, except inasmuch as she planned to keep Amaya too busy and tire her out too much to object to a sleepover.

[special_rabbit]

At least Irene's discretion in the clothing department had saved Amaya the crisis of having to just turn her straight away from leaning too heavily into That Which Shall Not Be Named Except Perhaps in Conversation about Strictly Business, though answering that light knock to reveal an Irene positively laden with things did give her a moment of not entirely knowing what to go for to help with, at first, but, clearly, she would help with the most important.

"Well, let me take the food at least," she offered, reaching for that and deciding to ignore the other bag for now, although she certainly did have some eyes for that cactus for a moment before greeting Irene with the customary staunch nod. "Good to see you managed to survive the week."

Because that's what this was all about, right? Her survival and the subsequent sales and the fact that she could relax in the finale of the holiday and nothing else.

[begmetwice]

"Only just," Irene told her cheerily, handing over the bag of food without any protest. All the better for her to find an out-of-the-way spot near a window for the cactus, which she would be placing without comment unless invited to do so. (She had a thought of placing it in the greenhouse, but even Irene was not so bold as to venture in there without being explicitly invited and accompanied. There was playing with boundaries, and then there was outright disrespecting them.)

She, meanwhile, had happily placed the unsigned roses she'd received today in a vase and wondered very little about whom they'd come from.

"You haven't run yourself entirely ragged with steel roses?" she checked, the other bag going...somewhere. She'd need to get into it, throughout the night, for various things. And amidst all this unloading, keen eyes might notice that when Irene's dress rode up the slightest bit, the tops of her stockings and the lacy, black scaffolding keeping them in place peeked out.

Surely -- surely -- there wasn't anything more interesting than basic structural garments under Irene's dress. Banish that thought immediately.

[special_rabbit]

"Oh," Amaya said, waving a hand in the air to brush such an idea aside, "no more so than usual. In fact, I probably could have stood to be run a bit more ragged, a little disappointed with the sales this year, but overall I suppose it wasn't too bad..."

There would be no comment on the placement of the cactus, though it was noticed, just as there would be no comment on any particular details of Irene's wardrobe, although those, too, were noticed...

The commentary (for now) was going to be entirely focused on the food.

"So," she stated, setting the bag down on the table and getting ahead of her own question by taking a look inside, "what'd you bring?"

[begmetwice]

"What do you think?" Irene asked, lightly tracing her fingertips along the small of Amaya's back, so casual as to maybe not have happened, in her quest to stow that overnight bag both handily and out of the way. "I figured I'd save us the dishes as well as the actual cooking."

Your culinary preferences were as convenient as they were adorable, Amaya.

(And Irene was privately pretty smug about sneaking skewered strawberries into the mix, after all.)

[special_rabbit]

Sorry, Irene, but Amaya's skin was going to give away the game a little, the way it seemed to jump at the chance to shiver a little at even just that light touch, though you did still have an ally there in her brain, which was just going to decide to turn a weekend project into checking for drafts that had clearly sprung up out of nowhere.

"Save us the dishes?" she asked, but, again, she was already going about answering her own question as she pulled out one of the boxes (already breathing in a scent that left her feelings like her suspicions were already being confirmed) and opened it up.

"Ah." The pleased, unsurprised, and not at all privately pretty smug grin was almost immediate. "Perfect!"

Convenient, no dishes, they allowed you to move around and multitask. Tell her foods-on-sticks were not the most perfect food known to mankind. Go on. She'll wait.

Only she wasn't waiting to scope out what else was in that bag, especially once it became clear that they were all on sticks and Amaya was starting to feel an outpouring of....something in her chest that was, really, very unfair, getting heartburn at a time like this before she'd even eaten anything!

[begmetwice]

This place was apparently riddled with drafts, if that gentle shift of Amaya's hair from behind, and subsequent feather-soft kiss against her neck, were anything to go off of.

But again Irene -- who had had to stand on her toes to accomplish that feat without further bodily contact, thank you, she was practically some kind of sexy spy with maneuvers like that one -- had shifted away quickly, not wanting to be caught in the act.

(And, moreover -- maybe trying to inspire something of a frustrated chase in return. There were few things as fun as teasing and teasing and teasing until that simply wouldn't do any longer.)

"You've converted me," she supplied, by way of explanation for the food -- though it was, of course, more than that. "They're so damn convenient."

And when someone you loved had such an open, naked appreciation for something as simple as food on sticks -- honestly, Irene would have felt remiss neglecting that.

Even if it was just Happy Making a Lot of Money Halfway Through February Day.

[special_rabbit]

There were few things that could really pull Amaya's attention away from a veritable smorgasbord of various foods on sticks, even (or perhaps especially) on Making a Lot of Money Halfway Through February Day, but that rogue little draft had certainly managed to pull it off. Her shoulders pulled back a little, breath catching in her chest, which was already struggling a little in that moment, and by the time she was able to turn toward it, she would find a swell of disappointment at having been just a touch too slow.

"Well," she said, trying very hard to not have to clear her throat just then, but she discovered that it was impossible to speak otherwise, "should we dig in, then?"

[begmetwice]

Well, that was the thing, Amaya. You were too slow that time, but it was hardly likely to be the last flirty little touch of the evening, and Irene's self-satisfied little smile basically said as much.

"I brought a bit of everything," Irene shared, now moving over to peer at the food with Amaya. "Including dessert, which I think'll keep nicely."

You know, if it had to. All of it could probably keep if needed, really.

"Are we drinking rum with them, then?" And again, Irene's smile maybe let on that she knew rum was for other things, too, but she didn't need to go pointing out Amaya's thoughtful bent towards discretion tonight.

[special_rabbit]

One of those other things had been to sort out some nerves that Amaya had been feeling for no particular reason, especially since this was just an unremarkable Wednesday in every sense of the word with no additional connotations other than just making it through a bit of a holiday-related slog, but if anyone asked, it had definitely been just for the squirrels to mind their own fuzzy-tailed business.

"We could," Amaya said, because, let's face it, she hadn't met a liquor she didn't like yet, and rum was not nearly as bad as some of them, either, "but I did pick up something a little ...." She seemed to waffle, just a moment, between two potential word choices, "...fancier," and she went to grab the bottle of champagne by the neck to prove it, "if you'd prefer that."

Or both! They could definitely do both, surely there was no negative outcomes if there was to be both!

[begmetwice]

It was just as well Irene had made squirrel-ward assumptions towards the rum, then; the prospect of nerves would likely inspire some sort of knee-weakening, smile-softening feelings, and no one wanted that.

Especially here on the near-midpoint of February, a day that held no meaning for anyone!

"Oh, fancy indeed," Irene commended, spotting the champagne she'd been top busy flirting to notice before, her eyes lighting up with interest. "Please and thank you, yes, that looks fun."

No one ever got drunk and sentimental off champagne, after all! And potentially adding spirits on top of it would only lead to greatness, too!

[special_rabbit]

Amaya hadn't been too concerned about the champagne meeting Irene's approval; with how much she paid for it, it had better be impressive! But, nonetheless, there was a whole new swell of pride in her for just how Irene approved. It made her own grin float to her face much easier, and took almost any reservations she may have had about her next suggestion right out of it, as she went to grab the fancy champagne flutes to go with the fancy champagne itself from the cabinet.

"I've got raspberries, too," she said, "to plop in there. Make it a little extra...fun."

And not, mind you, because she saw anything online suggesting that it could be a thing you did with champagne in the middle of February! It was just that she happened to have some, and, well, you know, with fruit in winter, you never knew how good they'd be for how long, so it was just a fun way to make sure they got used up before they had a chance to go bad!