Fly Away to a Cafe

[halfbread]

Who: Everyone who wants in!
What: The V-Day Café! (Yes, that's what we're going with, no, you can't make WWII jokes.)
Where: The Big House
When: Valentine's Day, mostly evening but various times
Warnings: I have no freakin' clue, it's probably going to depend on individual threads

At 6:00 sharp, the doors are officially open on the first ever Camp Half-Blood Valentine's Day Café. The two biggest rooms on the first floor of the Big House have been turned into dining rooms, one decorated in a much more traditionally "romantic" oeuvre for couples and the second into a relaxing place to hang out just among friends. Both rooms are serving the same menu, and both have a good number of tables set up to accomodate visitors. As people finish eating, the waiters and waitresses will roll around a dessert cart for people to make selections from. Enjolras will be incredibly reluctantly providing serenades in the romantic dining room with some assistance from Cosette, while Chiron's boombox has been borrowed and tuned to the local pop station for the casual dining room. Have fun, everyone!

Comments

[lefthandedgenius]

And Lydia does so love winning.

Kissing Gale back is a natural thing of course, but there's the extra understanding that's entirely because he wants to, and the only persuasion on her part was entirely mundane.

"When we're finished with dinner," she purrs contentedly when their lips part, "There's something I want to show you. My favorite place in camp."

[ensared]

He raises an eyebrow, intrigued. Now where in camp would a girl like Lydia gravitate to? Gale's favorite place is the woods, of course, and any child of Mars would say they love the arena. But a daughter of Venus?

"Am I allowed to ask what it is, or is that another surprise?" he asks, a clear tone of amusement in voice.

[lefthandedgenius]

Lydia is highly tempted to keep it a secret, but she feels like she ought to give a little.

"There's an overlook not far from the Fireworks Beach." she says. "It overlooks the Sound, and it's my favorite place at night...but maybe not for the reason you think. That will be the surprise."

She picks her truffles for dessert when it's time. After all, she wants to sample her own work. But she doesn't eat them right away; instead she folds them up into a napkin, perhaps thinking to take them to the aforementioned spot and enjoy them there.

[ensared]

'Not for the reason he thinks'? Just where is it that Lydia expects his mind to go? Gale raises an eyebrow, but doesn't ask anything more. He can wait. A surprise could be a good thing.

Following her lead, Gale wraps his own dessert up to save for later. If they're both ready to leave, he'll gladly leave. This place still sets him on edge, just a little. He'll probably never get used to fancy things like this, though with Lydia, he supposes he'll have to try.

[lefthandedgenius]

Of course, someday he's going to bring in a squirrel, stick it in a stew, and expect her to eat it, right? They can both learn to give a little.

Clutching her little makeshift package in one hand she takes Gale's hand in the other when they're prepared to leave and start to make their way to the overlook that offers a view of the sound. Lydia has to be a bit careful in her heels, but she's determined and not willing to let them stop her. But when they get there?

"Can I share your jacket?" she asks. "Instead of doing the melodramatic shiver that is the universal sign demanding a guy give it up for the girl, I think body heat is smarter."

Well, it is February. It's cold, but the view is spectacular. They're far away enough so that the light pollution is minimal, the sky is cloudless, and night sky is filled with stars.

[ensared]

With her hand in his, Gale tries to help her balance as they head up to her overlook. It doesn't take much effort and certainly isn't an inconvenience, and his mother would probably kill him if he doesn't at least try to catch her if she falls. Holding her hand will make that easier, in case he needs to do it. It's practical, but it's a nice, simple touch, no pressure behind it from either of them.

At her question, he cracks a bit of a smile. "I don't mind. Here." To be fair, it isn't Gale's jacket. It fits him surprisingly well, though, so he has to slip his arms out of it to allow for room. He wouldn't mind having Lydia close at all, but he also wants her to be comfortable.

[lefthandedgenius]

There are a few moments where her grip tightens in his hand, but she never actually falls. Once they're situated on the overlook and she's pressed against him, she wriggles her hand between them and points up at the sky.

"Look." she whispers. "You see those three stars? That's Orion's belt. And there..." her pointing finger strays up and to the left Canis Minor," down and to the left, like a vee, "Canis Major."

Lydia looks up at those stars like they're the most beautiful things in the world.

[ensared]

Instinct would have him slide his arm around her, but he doesn't. Gale is content to just be close to her for now, looking up at the sky with curious eyes. His father has shown him some of these things before, but it's been a good, long while and by now, he's forgotten a lot of it. It's interesting, endearing really, to watch Lydia point out all the constellations like this. There's a light in her eyes as she does, one that has nothing to do with her powers as a daughter of Aphrodite, and Gale finds himself fighting not to fall into it, directing his eyes instead to follow where she points.

"You like looking up at stars, huh?" he asks simply, looking up at them with mild interest. "I haven't really stopped to look at them since my dad died."

[lefthandedgenius]

"I like everything about the stars." she says, her gaze still tilted back. "How they're created. Their heat. Their light. The way the move, and they live and they die. I want to study them."

It takes her a second to process what he just said. It diverts her attention from looking at the stars to looking at him while he's looking upward at them.

Her hand fits into his, squeezes tight. "I'm sorry." she says. "I know it's not the same, but you can look at them with me anytime you want."

[ensared]

"I wasn't saying it as a bad thing," Gale assures her, not taking his eyes off of the stars she'd pointed out as Canis Major, one of the brighter constellations in the sky. "I just haven't gotten the chance."

It's not a lie - being the man of the house meant he's had a lot to worry about, and unfortunately, stars had never made the short list. But maybe now, knowing that his family is safe and sound without him, there will be more time to slow down and appreciate things like this.

"I'll have to take you up on that," he decides finally, squeezing her hand in return.

[lefthandedgenius]

She likes observing him when his attention is occupied by other things, she finds. Such as the stars.

But there's also on so much observation one may indulge in, and while Lydia has a decent amount of willpower, she also has less inclination to curb her instincts if she feels occasion calls for it. She's unencumbered by inhibition, and that's why she rises on tiptoe and presses her mouth to Gale's throat, leaving the softest nip before kissing it. In a way it's more intimate than their previous kisses.

Making out with Gale under the stars? A perfect way to end the evening.

[ensared]

Inhaling sharply, he turns to look down at her, wondering if he shouldn't be surprised. Lydia is the daughter of the love goddess, after all, and they did just go on a date, even if neither of them had expected it. They are still on that date, if he looks at it that way. They're still together, and Gale is finding that he likes to be with her more and more. He likes her, and they've all but confirmed that it's not a byproduct of her powers.

What's one kiss, when they've decided that? The mistletoe from a few months ago - that happened as friends more than anything, friends who simply trained together. This is very different, as Gale leans down to catch her lips, somehow more intense and yet more tender than it was then. It's slow, not quite reaching passionate, though there's a hint of the fire he holds deep in his heart. It's not easy to get him to open up, but once Gale does, he doesn't bother holding back, and Lydia will discover that soon enough.

It's a good thing, though. He remembers that even when it was just for the mistletoe, that she makes her mother proud with the way she kisses, the memory lingering for a while afterward. One more like that, with a little more meaning behind it, would be an unquestionably good way to wrap up the night.

good ending?

[lefthandedgenius]

Lydia seems to think so. She can't tell if they spend a minute or ten or twenty kissing under the stars, but it's okay because she really doesn't care. But when both of them have finally had - if not enough, then at least, enough for now, it's close to harpy hour and she spends the walk back to the cabins with what she desperately hopes is not a foolish grin on her face and another kiss once they're in front of Cabin Ten. Wisely, her siblings inside, if they are watching, do not offer up the usual hoots and hollers. Goodbyes exchanged, promises made to spend time, and she's back inside, back against the door and smiling dreamily.

Only then does she realize she still has Gale's tie draped around her neck.