Luke's Diner; Tuesday [02/04]

[chef_chocobro]

It was a good thing that Ignis couldn't see the betting board in action that Tuesday, as all his lovely coworkers speculated on just how long he'd stay on his shift this week, especially since it had somehow been leaked to them (Prompto, probably) that he had a birthday
this weekend.

They would have to admit, hiding the cake they were making for him, too, was a lot more difficult than anyone would have anticipated, but it made for quite the comedy of hijinks in the kitchen to keep it from being detected.

Today's Specials
Bacon Egg Avocado Breakfast Sandwich with Root Vegetable Hashbrowns
Harvest Bowl with Maple Dijon
Nanaimo Bars

Luke's is open.

Comments

[deathsmajesty]

Between this and that (and more this than that, though she certainly wasn't saying), Liliana had been away from the island far more than she had been present. This weekend, she'd gone to Lorwyn to speak to Oona, and see if the ancient faerie queen knew anything about the Chain Veil--and then back to Innistrad to demand that sniveling little geistmage try one of his vaunted experiments to force the spirits in the Chain Veil into obedience. It hadn't worked and Liliana had staggered back to Lorwyn and then spent much of yesterday sleeping off the consequences of his failures in the bower of Glen Elendra.

(With the occasional bleary awakening to teach this new generation of faeries that even a sleeping necromancer was a poor target for pranks.)

But thanks to Glen Elendra's magic dewdrops, she'd awakened clean, refreshed, fully healed, and absolutely ready to come home.

Which was why rather than striding through the doors as was her normal wont, Liliana arrived in a swirl of inky black tendrils and frigid air.

"Hello, my darling. Miss me?"

...Funny how 'home' had become a person, not a place.

[chef_chocobro]

That drop in temperature and shift in the energy in the space around Ignis brought a soft smile with a sigh of relief, so much so that he barely even noticed the excited rush for the betting board behind him in the kitchen. His focus was entirely on going to meet Liliana as she arrived, slipping an arm around her and pulling her in for an equally frigid kiss that would no doubt warm significantly by the end of it, especially when it was seemingly trying to make up for all the kisses misses between this one and their last one.

"Always," he said, eventually, the word deep and rumbling from having been gathered in his throat this whole time. And as much as he desperately wanted to ask how things had gone (what better birthday gift could he have possibly asked for, than making headway on liberating her from that accursed Veil?), he instead asked his own question that they both already knew the answer to, and a vitally important one after any given prolonged bout of traveling:

"Are you hungry?"

[deathsmajesty]

"Always," Liliana said, fervently. "And moreso than usual right now."

Not that she had let him go yet. Her arms were still wrapped around him, body twined with his.

"For once, I regret not waking earlier." She kissed him again. "Perhaps if I had arrived home before you left, I could have convinced you to stay..."

[chef_chocobro]

"Oh," Ignis said, the word riding on a husky breath of a laugh, "there's no 'perhaps' about it. I can assure you that I would insist upon it myself. Though it's heartening to me that you're beginning to appreciate some benefits of being an early bird besides the proverbial worm."

His smile softened a certain way as his hands began to drift a little, brushing gently here and there, not only to just revel in having her there beneath his fingertips again, but also in the subtle search for concerning injuries. But she smelled intoxicatingly of herself and not her blood, so that alone was already encouraging.

One hand found its way to brush fondly against her cheek and into her hair, with another kiss for her lips and one landing gently on her forehead.

"But since you're here now," he said, "we'd best take advantage of it and get a good meal in you before heading home."

[deathsmajesty]

"I assure you, love, it won't last," Liliana said with a soft chuckle. "I look forward to embracing late morning indulgence once again." Her fingers were tracing over his cheeks and jawline, down his throat. "So you'll be coming home with me? Were you so dreadfully bereft in my absence, love?"

You don't have to sound so pleased with that, Liliana.

[chef_chocobro]

"Beyond bereft," Ignis informed her,and it was only slightly hyperbole. The amount of treats awaiting her from there sheer amount of stress baking that had been happening was honestly quite impressive. "And I'd be utterly useless in that kitchen, if I were to stay, knowing you were back. That is a level of torturous longing too extreme even for me."

In fact, there had already been too much time talking rather than kissing her, an error he sought to fix both immediately and thoroughly.

[deathsmajesty]

Yet another scramble for the whiteboard that Liliana was only partially aware of, her boot sliding through the slit in her gown to run along the inside of his calf, while her arms twined over his shoulder. His kiss was followed up by one she initiated immediately after, slow and leisurely, like they had all the time in the world...

Ignore how tightly she was pressed against him when she finally pulled away, lips rosy and blooming. "Hungry?" she asked, her voice full of promise.

[chef_chocobro]

"Famished," Ignis murmured in response, his head already bending for her next in a bid to start satiating that hunger with one of his favorite amuse-bouche. "To think I started my day with a proper breakfast, and yet suddenly, it feels as though I haven't eaten well for days."

That spark of insistence that she have lunch, first and foremost, was very quickly waning into nothing.

[deathsmajesty]

It wasn't like they were lacking for food at home. And those aforementioned stress-baked treats could surely tide her over until he made her something more nutritionally balanced.

Later. Much, much later.

...At least, so long as she didn't mention that her breakfast had been honeysuckle nectar, a handful of nuts, and candied violets. For once, not even her fault! Oona was the Queen of Faeries, not humans, regardless of the position Liliana held in her court.

She caught his bottom lip between her teeth and grinned at him before flicking her tongue across it in a conciliatory gesture. "We might have to delay our departure until tomorrow," she murmured. "I'm not sure I'll wish to leave the house until my hunger is well and truly satiated."

[chef_chocobro]

Hearing such a thing would have Ignis all but firmly setting Liliana down at their table until more substantially fed, especially after 'walking, so yes, it was very much to her benefit that she instead indulged in pulling a soft groan out of him with that little nibble, instead.

"And I know for a fact," he stated, "that I'll insist upon not even thinking of leaving even a second before it is. Thoroughly," it was his turn to catch her lip between his teeth, "and exhaustively.

"And as loathe as I am to delay us any further, my love," he added...eventually, "I must also insist upon at least taking our lunch to-go. As deeply as I love you, 'Iana, as desperately as I have missed you, I simply refuse to let a good paella go to waste."

And he would be starting that process of drawing himself away from her to go get it...aaaannnny minute now.

Luckily for both of them, Greg had recognized an opportunity to score some points with his particularly prickly coworker and started to pack up some of it to bring out to them.

[deathsmajesty]

Anything else you wanted to grab from there, Greg, now would be a great time.

"Ooooh, paella?" Liliana glanced back to the Specials Board to ensure she hadn't accidentally been about to eat what had been suggested for others. "How truly..."

She leaned in again, but this time, instead of a kiss, she bypassed his mouth for his throat. "Delicious.

[chef_chocobro]

Please. Ignis would never, except perhaps in the most dire of circumstances. He'd made it with the hope that she would, indeed, return at some point today, as if the dish itself could manifest her arrival. And if it didn't? Well, at least he'd have an excellent paella to enjoy sadly by himself, or, st the very least, he couldn't imagine it would be an unwelcome addition to the Argentum's freezer, or Nell and Gladio's.

But clearly, he would much rather it be shared with its intended recipient, even if the groan pulled out of him this time was clearly in tandem with the sound of a stubborn stance slowly dissolving.

And just as he was about to suggest that Liliana go on ahead of him while he fetched it, there was a bag being held out with a cheerfulness "Here you go, Chef! All ready to go."

"...ah," said Ignis, with the jarring reminder that other people existed. "I...thank you, Greg."

His bet had been the one closest to this time of day, hadn't it?

The bag still hung there for a moment, because removing even on hand from Liliana was a tough sacrifice to make, but he eventually did so and took the bag.

"Well, then," he proposed, "shall we, darling?"

As soon as they left, there would be new bets made on how far they actually managed to get, probably.