MHA #15, Monday Evening

[pocketpretzels]

The weekend had been successful, Watts couldn't help but think. He'd finally gotten to meet Layla, who Steven spoke so highly of and Marc was typically close-lipped about. George had met Steven (albeit not Marc, which was unfortunate, but there had been a desire not to complicate things considering George was only here for the weekend) and Layla as well, and had even ended up with an idea for a new novel out of the experience. And there had been other interesting people he'd met as well, including Annie's friend Kimiko, who despite her inability to speak managed to communicate quite well in a way that Watts frankly found refreshing because it was just so... honest. Less successful had been the pumpkin-carving he'd attempted yet again, so the less said about that the better.

But now it was date night, which Watts also hoped would be successful. Everything was laid out on the table: apples and honey, butternut squash soup, seven vegetable couscous, brussels sprouts with pomegranate molasses, honeyed carrots and roasted chickpeas and vegan challah.

Had he prepared any of this himself? Absolutely not. He'd not even sliced the apples; those he'd picked up from the store pre-sliced, and everything else had been picked off a list of suggested menu items when he'd stopped by Luke's to place the order. And then there was of course whatever Steven was bringing for dessert. Was it likely way too much food for two people? Yeah. But hey, who didn't like leftovers, right?

For after dinner, Watts had his speaker queued up with a waltz-appropriate playlist that he'd compiled for dancing lessons. Now, of course, all he needed was the boyfriend.

[ooc: for the dance partner!]

Comments

[pocketpretzels]

"Mmm," Watts hummed. "On the topic of that, I've something to show you later," he told Steven cheerfully.

[hasaknightjob]

"A gift?" Steven asked with an intimate smile. What? It had been a long weekend.

[pocketpretzels]

"Yes," Watts nodded. "Nothing fancy," in fact it was the complete opposite of fancy, but that was the point, "but I hope you'll like it all the same." There was a slight undercurrent of nervous hope to that second part of his statement there.

[hasaknightjob]

"Oh! Actual gift," Steven said, as he realized. He smiled again. "I'm sure that will be wonderful as well."

[pocketpretzels]

"Oh... oh!" Watts said, as he realised what Steven had been implying. "That too, as well." It had been a long weekend, after all.

[hasaknightjob]

"That's two for me then," Steven said. "Great start to the year already."

[pocketpretzels]

"And I suppose one of those is just as much for me as it is for you..." Watts mused. Well, both were, in the long run.

[hasaknightjob]

Steven's smile turned shy. "Hope it is. Don't want to be disappointing."

[pocketpretzels]

"Impossible," Watts said firmly, and then was pulling him in for a kiss.

[hasaknightjob]

Steven was more than happy to kiss back, both for the reassurance and because they still had so much to catch up on. "Do I get to unwrap them both as well or just the one?"

[pocketpretzels]

"Mmm, I'd say one of them is not so much the unwrapping kind of present," Watts admitted.

[hasaknightjob]

"Well I know which one you are," Steven said. "I've no idea what you could mean for the second then. All the more of a surprise I suppose."

[pocketpretzels]

"You'll see soon enough," Watts promised. "After dinner."

[hasaknightjob]

"Tease," Steven said, but he didn't mind it. "So how was the rest of your weekend then? Meet anyone interesting?"

[pocketpretzels]

"Some of Miss January's friends from home," Watts told him. "Mr. MM," which yes, he knew those were the man's initials and not his actual proper surname, "and Miss Miyashiro. I attempted jack-o-lantern carving with the latter." And if the attempt he'd made which Steven had bore witness to had been bad (in Watts's opinion), his earlier attempt was much worse. At least the second one had ended up with a sort of recognisable face.

[hasaknightjob]

At the mention of the name Steven perked up. "Oh! Your friend Annie gave me useful information. Did I tell you?"

[pocketpretzels]

“You mentioned that you’d met, but not that part, no,” Watts shook his head.

[hasaknightjob]

"Right, you know that one I told you about in my class on Wednesdays? Turns out Annie knows him as well and he's from a world like mine, yeah, but years ago," Steven said. "No wonder he thinks I'm mental."

[pocketpretzels]

Watts took a moment to puzzle that out. “Oh,” he realized. “Because there are things that happened in your world that haven’t happened in his yet. I do know what that’s like.” Though at least he knew to expect it.

[hasaknightjob]

"That's it in one," Steven said. "Lucky thing that, her having the missing puzzle piece. Now I know where I went wrong. Major relief there."

[pocketpretzels]

"I'm glad that's a load off your mind, then," Watts said with a soft smile.

[hasaknightjob]

"Think the lesson learned is you can't assume anything," Steven said. "Even if it sounds or looks like they're from the same world. Marc says it's amazing how similar it seems like until it isn't. Like everything sounds one to one and then out of nowhere a whole country's gone wrong. They've not heard of Madripoor or something that's in England in your world is in France in theirs. Can't be too careful, turns out."

[pocketpretzels]

"I've certainly not heard of Madripoor," Watts pointed out. "Whatever that is." A city? A nation?

[hasaknightjob]

"It's a country near Singapore," Steven said. Then, since the point of the example was to remember how entire countries could be different between worlds, he added, "Southeast Asia. Marc thought coming here was going to be like that, actually. Place that's, erm, used to people who might not be welcome elsewhere."

Many of whom were not welcome because they were outlaws, but it wasn't limited to that.

[pocketpretzels]

Well, Marc wasn't entirely wrong, either. Fandom had seen its share of residents on the run from the law throughout the years.

"Hm," Watts mused. "I suppose it's possible it just doesn't exist yet in my own world." But the truth was he suspected there were much bigger differences than just the century-and-change between his own world and Steven's.