paixaorpg | You'll Find Enchantment Here [Completed]

Entry tags:

You'll Find Enchantment Here [Completed]

Character(s): Urd and Genie
Content: Genie treats Urd to dinner.
Setting: St. Destino
Time: Night
Warnings: None

Was his Mickey Mouse tie too formal? Maybe a bowtie would be more appropriate. Or perhaps it would be wiser to leave his neck bare. After all, he didn’t want to pull all her attention to his neckwear. Not unless the food he had prepared turned out to be undesirable. Then he wanted to use everything possible to direct her attention elsewhere. Genie looked at his reflection in one of the dinner plates thoughtfully before he carefully placed it back down on the table. He checked his watch over before going over a checklist in his head of everything required for the evening.

In the little time given, Genie had made every effort to insure that Urd’s night would be enjoyable. Admittedly, he felt a little bad for asking her back to St. Destino but there were few other romantic – no, enjoyable. Yes, that’s what he meant. There were few other enjoyable views within the city. Outside they could gaze out at the stars and rest assured that there would be no interruptions during their outing.

The djinn looked over the table he had set up on the church roof. He would have set out a bottle of wine but struggled to decide whether to offer white or red. What if he put out something she didn’t like? The genie snapped his fingers and summoned a card listing his finest wine. There, that solved it. He set it down beside her plate and quickly lit the table’s candle. Observing the scene, Genie nodded in approval of his handiwork. Perfect.

Genie flew down to the doors of St. Destino where he had told Urd to meet him. He could not help but glance at his watch again, worried that he was late. But there were worse things than being late, for one forgetting your pants. Genie stared in horror to discover that he had done just that. Luckily he had noticed before the goddess had arrived. He gave a sigh of relief at that thought, summoning a pair to match his dark dress suit. That had been a close one.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She'd surprised him by requesting a short time to prepare, but she was more than happy to oblige. To be honest, Urd probably would have done almost anything for him at this point, so secretly thrilled was she that he made his move. Sure, it'd only happened thanks to Belldandy's interference, but she certainly wasn't going to complain. Of course, she mused as she headed towards St. Destino, flying low over the eerily glowing field, it was more than possible this was just a friend thing. A friend thing with just the two of them. Better to lower any expectation and just enjoy the night.

She landed several yards away, wanting to make a less sudden entrance than usual. She was considering if perhaps she should have changed outfits after all when she caught sight of the djinn...pantsless. Clapping a hand over her mouth, she stifled the laughter that threatened to burst out of her. However unintentionally, this little mishap on Genie's part served to relax her by quite a bit...though it was obvious by his sharp attire (complete with pants now) that she'd need to change after all.

After a few moments, Urd glided out of the field in front of the church, smiling at Genie. The previous outfit was replaced by a black, elegant strapless dress, a slit up one side baring her leg. Compared to the usual flash of her outfits, it was shockingly simple but it flattered her impressive form nonetheless.

"Hey. Sorry if I made you wait."

Genie was more than relieved to find he had not overdressed, however this had not been the first thought to reach his mind when he saw Urd. No, that had been ‘whoa!’ and, for the longest time, nothing else. It was not as though he had never seen the goddess in dress before but on this particular night it felt different. He had never seen her like this. His smile widened when she joined him and all his previous worries seemed to melt away. What he cooked, what he wore… It was of no concern. All that mattered was her. He looked into her eyes, lost in thought before he realized she had actually spoken to him.

“Hu? Oh!” the genie shook his head in realization. Somehow he must have zoned out. That was weird. “Oh, no you didn’t. I was worried I might be late.” He laughed and took Urd’s hand. “But, Urd, you look outstanding. Please, follow me – no peeking! It's a surprise”

Her smiled widened as she took his hand, silver bracelets twinkling. "Thank you, handsome. You don't look too bad yourself." That was an understatement on her part; she found him very handsome at the moment. She always knew he looked good in a suit. Of course, she liked the way he looked all the time. Well, when he was being him, anyway, and not any of his millions of impressions.

Urd arched an eyebrow at him and closed her eyes. "Alright. Don't let me run into anything, okay?"

“I promise.” He assured her with a chuckle. “Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye… Or was it in my mother’s eye? I suppose it doesn’t really matter, seeing as I intend to keep my promise.” Genie smiled and turned to face Urd again. “There won’t be any needles in anyone’s eyes tonight.” Or so he hoped. Last thing he needed was to accidently stab himself in the eye with his cutlery. He was a nervous wreck, anything was possible.

The genie waved his hand in front of Urd’s face curiously. He wanted to insure she wasn’t looking before he brought her up to their table. When she did not react his smile furthered across his lips. He placed his free hand over the top of hers, clasping her hand in both his own before he rose from the ground. As promised, he guided her carefully to the roof, sure to avoid any obstacles which the goddess could run into. When they arrived, Genie placed his hands over her eyes to assure himself she wasn’t peeking.

“Alright, open your eyes!” he said, lifting his hands from her face. The scene before them was no different from any romantic dinner. A table for two completely set with silverware, plates, wine glasses, flowers and candle surrounding the table. It was perfect – except for the fact the table was on fire. Genie gasped in horror and summoned a fire extinguisher immediately to put out the flames. The foam from the extinguisher succeeded in ridding of the fire, however, it also succeeded in ruining the complete set up.

Genie sheepishly turned to face Urd and laughed. “Oops! Forgot the most important rule of fire safety: never leave a fire unattended. Let’s pretend that didn’t happen.” He tossed the fire extinguisher aside and snapped his fingers. Instantly the previous scene, minus the fire, returned. The genie pulled out a seat and gestured for Urd to seat herself. “Care to sit down?”

Urd trusted him implicitly. Even if he did manage to accidentally run her into a wall, though, it wouldn't do any actual damage. As they landed and his hands went over her eyes, she grinned. It'd been awhile since anyone had done something like this for her. Not since her test for becoming a first class goddess. That it was Genie that had gone through the trouble just made it all the more exciting.

"Er..." she uttered as she opened her eyes and the fire was displayed. Then she burst into quiet laughter -- it just wouldn't be an evening with him without some chaotic mishap occurring. She looked on at the repaired set up, glancing at him curiously. It looked wonderful...and romantic. Had that been the intention?

"Thank you. Always the gentlemen, huh?" she asked with a wink, sitting down. She turned and looked out over the fields, towards the city in the distance. It was the perfect night for something like this. "This is amazing, Genie. The view is gorgeous."

Genie was thankful to see the fire incident had of all things made Urd laugh. Of all the possible outcomes, he seemed to have imagined the worst for some reason. He let out a quiet sigh of relief as he pushed the goddesses chair in. Hopefully all would go well tonight otherwise their new living arrangement would not go as well as planned. The genie took a deep breath and quickly flew to his own seat across from the goddess. Quickly seating himself, he propped his elbows up on the table and rested his chin in his hands.

“You think so?” the djinn asked. “I thought it made a nice change from inside the city.” His eyes travelled up to the stars in thought. No sign of pigs playing croquet yet. “It’s not often you get to see the real stars and the way the moon lights up the fields…” Genie gave another sigh. “Beautiful. Funny how you can learn miss something as strange as massive, luminous balls of plasma held together by their own gravity, hu? I remember King Mickey referred to each star as a fragment of a specific world... Maybe that is why most here are so drawn to them; they remind us of home.”

"Sounds like a wise king." She placed an elbow on the table as well, making herself comfortable. "Do you know what a miracle is for each star to exist?" Urd asked with a soft smile, meeting his eyes over the candlelight. "Like with people, the odds of that plasma being held together and shining brightly enough for us to see are very low." She grinned, glancing up at the sky.

"The universe isn't as random as some people think. It's a work of carefully crafted art."

He could not help but laugh. “Judging by the sky, I’d say miracles are more common than most have been led to believe.”

Genie carefully ran his finger around the rim of his wine glass in thought before it occurred to him to offer the goddess something to drink. At that he immediately flew out of his seat and beside Urd. “Could I interest zee belle mademoiselle a drink?” he asked, gesturing to the wine menu placed on the table in front of Urd. “I would suggest Chianti Classico, Casina di Cornia but…” There was Dragon Dance sake listed at the very bottom of the menu in case the goddess failed to see anything she enjoyed. He remembered Belldandy had told him the goddess had a particular liking to the sake. “There’s always sake should you be interested.” He continued with a smile.

She arched an eyebrow as he jumped up and handed her a drink menu. Glancing up at him briefly, Urd looked through the list. And, there, just as he said, her favorite brand of sake. How did he know? She gave a short, soft chuckle, impressed at his foresight. But...oddly enough, since he'd asked her out to this dinner earlier in the evening, she'd felt charged and energetic. So, while it was tempting to have some sake just for the taste of it, she decided on something different.

"Chianti Classico," she said with a grin, handing him back the menu. "Thanks. You thought of everything, didn't you?"

“Well, I had a little help.” Genie admitted but he left it at that. He couldn’t take all the credit but did not necessarily want to give it all away either. That would turn their conversation elsewhere and, in the worst scenario, possibly even lead to Urd suspecting people of plotting behind her back. Belldandy had already pulled a surprisingly sly move. No, there was no point in getting Urd upset, especially tonight. He would tell her later, including his plans to help the couple in distressed Almaz and Sapphire.

He summoned a bottle of Urd’s wine of choice and removed the cork with ease by hand alone. “Excellent choice! Chianti Classico it is. Did you know Casina di Cornia is a small estate situated in the heart of the Tuscan hills of Italy? The vineyards facing the southwest are planted with the grape varieties of the Chianti: Sangiovese and Canaiolo for the red wine, and Trebbiano and Malvasia for the white. Since only nineteen eighty, the estate has been cultivated according to the methods of organic agriculture. In order for the wine to maintain its genuine quality and perfume, intervention on the grapes and wine are kept to a minimum. This begins with a pruning policy which reduces the average yield to just fifty hectare or six hundred acre. During harvest, in order to avoid bruising the fruit, grapes are collected by hand in small crates. In the cellar, the vinification is conducted with accurate control of temperature and oxidation.”

Genie paused in realization. He was talking an awful lot about the wine but nothing her. Was he just being nervous? Why, he hadn’t even poured anything into her glass yet. The djinn laughed nervously and filled her glass part way, then filled his own following. He cleared his throat before seating himself again. “Ah, enough about the wine though. I’d like to know more about you. I don’t think we’ve had the chance to talk like this in, well, ever! There’s something I’ve been always meaning to ask.” The genie leaned in closer. “Where is Waldo?”

She watched him ramble with growing amusement. If she didn't know any better, she'd think he was actually nervous! But what did he possibly have to be nervous about. As he continued on, Urd put her chin in her hands and gazed at him with a smile and moderate interest; she didn't know how he knew all this, but she wasn't surprised. He'd no doubt had a lot of time to read up on all kinds of things.

Chuckling as realization hit him, she held out her glass for him to pour the wine, then took an appreciative sip. She froze when he seemed to turn to more personal matter, slowly lowering the wine glass to the table. As he leaned closer, she felt her heart-rate increase a bit.

Wait. Waldo? She blinked a few times before laughing, leaning back in her chair with her arm resting over her stomach. "That's the eternal question, isn't it?" she replied, lifting her glass with a wink. "Waldo is inside all of us, handsome. We're all looking for him, but isn't the search the point?"

Hu. Well there was an interesting concept. “I had never thought of that.” He replied thoughtfully. Inside everyone was a happy-go-lucky adventurer whose hobbies included reading and collecting things from his many travels around the world, through time, and distant magical lands. Genie stopped to consider this. Did this mean they all had a trusty dog by the name of Woof too? Maybe they weren’t talking about the same Waldo here. Maybe they were discussing Odlaw, Waldo’s opposite… No, probably not.

Genie grinned and lifted his own glass. “But let me ask you the ultimate question: Coke or Pepsi?”

Urd scoffed, eyes dancing with mirth. "Obviously, Coke! Pepsi's the back-up when there isn't any of the good stuff." She leaned forward as well, setting her wine glass down. Resting her arm on the table, her smiled widened with mysterious and mischievous amusement. "As long as we're playing this game..." She reached out around the centerpiece and the candles, lightly walking her fingers over his free hand. Chuckling, the goddess tilted her head coyly, the flame of the candlelight flickering in her heavy-lidded gaze.

"Mario or Luigi?"

Game, what game? Genie looked questioningly at Urd before the answer to his question occurred to him: they were playing ‘which do you prefer?’ Funny, he never thought of it as much of a game but what else could she possibly have been referring to? It certainly could be a game in the event that it was used to simply pass time – not that he was using it for that purpose here, of course. He simply wanted to know the goddess better. For example, he now knew to place Coke products inside their refrigerator and not Pepsi. He enjoyed where this little game was going and eagerly longed to ask her more.

The genie hummed softly in thought when it came to Urd’s question, completely oblivious to the hand sneaking across the table toward his. At least, it looked that way. Genie’s gaze seemed distance and never once drifted back to the table during his process of thought. It was this that gave the illusion that his hand in fact had some sort of mind of it’s own by jumping up on two fingers and shuffled back nervously when Urd’s fingers drew near. Shyly it lifted one of it’s ‘legs’ and brushed it against the other before it slowly approached Urd’s hand.

“That’s a hard one.” He spoke up after taking a sip from his drink. “I don’t think I could pick a favourite. They’re both delightful stereotypes. One relies as greatly on the other as the other relies on them. Hm?” Genie looked down at his hand in confusion to find it poking at Urd’s.

Urd blinked and watched Genie's hand with mild surprise. Well, he always did keep her guessing. Raising an eyebrow, she glanced up at his face to see he was glancing away, apparently oblivious to his own hand. Breaking into a grin, she placed her chin in her free hand and had her other hand "wave" with her thumb. She began to laugh quietly as Genie's hand poked hers.

"Mm hmm. And what's your favorite food? You can't just say 'everything.' Bell will want to know what to make you, after all." As she talked, Urd made her hand inch closer, extending one finger to trace along his thumb. Apparently, her hand was just as bold as she was.

He wasn’t sure what his hand had been doing unsupervised but whatever it had been up to it could not have been that bad. I did somehow seem to amuse the goddess. Genie slowly turned his gaze away from his hand again and concentrated on Urd’s question. Why she got to ask him two questions in a row was unclear, to his knowledge this game was turn based, but he did not argue. The genie simply quirked an eyebrow at the goddess and grinned.

“But there are so many choices! Gumdrop pizza, brownies, ice cream sundaes, cherry pie, strawberry cheese cake…! I can’t just pick one. Besides, that’s hardly necessary. After all, Genie’s don’t really need to eat.” Had he made desert? Genie’s sweet tooth had only reminded him of this now. It was far too late to ask anyone over the journals now but maybe he could whip something up last minute after he discovered what she liked. He smiled at the goddess and returned the question. “What’s your favourite?”

While he spoke, his hand stood steadily, as though watching Urd’s finger trace over his thumb before it began mirror it’s actions. Slowly his hand inched closer and reached to embrace hers.

So he had a sweet tooth, huh? Somehow she wasn't surprised. Maybe she could have Belldandy teach her to make cookies...something from scratch, anyway. Even as that thought entered her head, Urd smirked at herself: how unlike her to want to do things the hard way! But if her sister taught her anything, it was that something homemade, the human way, would have more meaning.

She was brought out of her own thoughts entirely by the actions of their hands. "Goddesses don't need to eat either, but..." she trailed off, feeling the heat blossom on her cheeks as their hands "embraced." She smiled softly, lost in thought again, growing silent as she laced their fingers together.

"We like to eat sometimes too!" Urd finished her sentence suddenly, taking away her hand and grabbing her wine glass. Avoiding Genie's eyes as she took a long drink, she tried to will away the blush that was a sure sign of her mental state. When she felt she had herself in check, the goddess leaned back in her chair. "I'll try anything once. Though the really fattening stuff, things that are fried and whatnot...that seems to always taste the best. Snacks that go great with alcohol, of course," she added with a smirk. "Since we don't need to worry about heart disease or diabetes or anything like that, I like food that has a lot of flavor and elegance."

She paused for a minute, setting down her empty wine glass and blinked. "Wait...did you say gumdrop pizza?"

Whoa! What was that about? Genie stared at the goddess when she suddenly withdrew her hand from the table and guzzled down her entire glass of wine. His eyes continued to follow the glass when she placed it on the table where they remained for a good few minutes in disbelief. Did she just… How did… Wow. What did his hand do?! He pulled his hand away and placed under the table where it rubbed nervously against his other. Maybe letting his hand act out on it’s own wasn’t the best idea.

“O-oh, yeah.” The gene spoke up when he realized Urd had asked him a question. Wait, did she say fried foods had elegance? He did not comment on it but could not help but question it. “Me too, though I still appreciate a well balanced diet. I’m going to have to start working out again after this world tour is over, especially when I hope to indulge in all the great food the globe has to offer. And yeah, I did say gumdrop pizza! You’re telling me you’ve never tried it?”

And now he was looking at her like she was crazy. Urd mentally berated herself; she was acting like an idiot. She wanted to explain why she snatched her hand away, but...how could she, without revealing far more than she wanted to? It had seemed like a game to him, like everything he did. She was the one taking it far too seriously, but then, his touch seemed to bring that out of her.

She simply smiled a half-smile, eyebrow arching. "Can't say I have. Would you use the usual tomato sauce, or something sweeter?" Her gaze slid down from his face to the upper-half of his torso before glancing back at him, grinning wider.

"By the way, I don't think you need to work out, big guy. You seem pretty fit to me."

“The gumdrops usually just replace pepperoni but I do make my own sauce. It’s definitely sweeter than most.” Genie tapped his chin in thought while he ran though a list of ingredients in his head. “Two tablespoons of brown sugar, one and a half tablespoons of honey, half a table spoon of minced carrot, ground pepper to taste… And, of course garlic, who could forget salt, dried parsley, dried thyme, dried oregano, onions, basil, and the usual suspects like a can of tomato puree?” Having counted his ingredients out on his other hand, Genie found it had sprouted eight extra fingers in order to follow along. He gave it a simple shake to return it to its proper state of six -the genie frowned and shook his hand again- five fingers before he placed it in his lap once again.

He laughed at Urd’s complement and waved his hand at her modestly. “Thank you, thank you. I do try.” Genie replied with a blush. He then noted her empty glass again. “Oh, would you like more to drink? All this talk of food reminds me that I haven’t even served dinner yet! How can you eat without a drink? I hope you’re not starving. I should have asked sooner! I’m sorry. I was just so wrapped up in our conversation I… Kind of forgot - even though it was the point of the evening. Out to dinner without dinner? Genie, were is your head these days?” Genie slapped his hand over his face in embarrassment.

Urd laughed, leaning back in a more comfortable position in her chair. "It's fine, it's fine! Talking to you like this is the best part of a...dinner like this. Though I can't wait to see what you've made." She'd almost said "date" there. She lifted her glass, holding it out for him to pour more wine.

"Gumdrop pizza. Sounds strange, but I'd be willing to try it." She smiled wider, almost slyly. "I like the unconventional in life. Make it for us sometime, will you? I'd make it worth your while." She shifted in her chair, brushing her hair off her shoulders with the typical challenging arrogance.

"I'll let you win at Jenga next time."

Talking ‘like this’ was really the only point of a dinner between the two. After all, neither of them actually required food to sustain them. Cooking was just a hobby, though Genie liked to consider it more of an art. An art he had still yet to master after his many millenniums of practice. He was good, really good, just not nearly as good as others. There were those he had encountered during his world tour who had mastered cuisine in less than half a century! Of course, there were those born with the talent but it was none the less impressive for them to flourish in their gift in such a short period of time. Genie was getting too carried away with this thought though. Appearing at Urd’s side he shook his head and poured more wine into her glass.

“I’m hoping I won’t disappoint.” He replied and pulled at his shirt collar as though it were suddenly too tight around his neck. “Not that there’s any pressure.” The genie laughed. She either liked it or she didn’t, it was as simple as that. Although, she did appear to show a particular interest in his gumdrop pizza… Perhaps that would have been a better idea to make that instead? No, no. He would stick to the advice he had received over the journals. “It would be my pleasure to cook for you and Belldandy. You can count on a pizza from me.” Genie assured Urd.

Hang on. Did she just say what he thought she did? “Let me win?” Genie repeated. “You can’t just let me win! I have to win on my own. And don’t think I can’t tell when you’re not trying.” He narrowed his eyes at the goddess. “I can. I have to win on my own. No cheating.”

Urd laughed a bit nervously, holding up a placating hand. "It was a joke, big guy, a joke! Definitely no cheating." Which was odd for her, the one goddess in existence who really had no qualms about lying or cheating now and again. But, against someone like Genie...it just seemed too wrong.

"How could we determine who has the stronger power if we cheat?" she added, reaching up to fiddle with his tie teasingly. "I'd never cheat on you." This last bit was said with flirtatious smirk.

"So what's for dinner?"

So she was challenging him, was she? Genie’s frown instantly became a surprisingly devious grin. If there was anything he loved it was a good challenge every now and then. This was neither the time nor place to feel the competitive edge but when Urd had dared question who was stronger he could not help but feel overcome with excitement. Had they not been in the middle of dinner he would have declared a duel right there and then.

He cleared his throat and briefly adjusted his tie before he presented dinner. With a simple snap of his fingers their plates instantly were filled with the Italian classic spaghetti and meatballs. It was a little cliché but Genie had simply fallen in love with the idea when someone had mentioned Italian. It was quick, it was easy but the time he put into creating the perfect sauce made it so much more than just any regular plate of pasta. In many ways, it tasted just like what nona (grandma) made. Still by Urd’s side, Genie held a rotary cheese grater beside her plate with a smile.

“Any cheese for you?” he asked.

Oh! Pasta! It'd been a long time since she'd had anything that wasn't Belldandy's baked goods or traditional Japanese cooking. Urd clasped her hands together eagerly. "This looks amazing, Genie!" she said happily, leaning forward a bit to inhale the complex scent of the sauce. She turned her head to grin up at him; he was playing the part of a waiter to the T, wasn't he? "Cheese would be great. Not too much, though...I really wanna taste this sauce."

She pulled her hair over her shoulders (how embarrassing would it be for the long white locks to trail into her food) and picked up her fork. "Did you really make this by hand?" She lifted an eyebrow, her voice teasing. "No fair using magic, now."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 3

You'll Find Enchantment Here [Completed]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject