Fandom to Route 1, Maine, Wednesday Afternoon

[deathsmajesty]

The problem with surprises was that there were so many finicky little details that one had to handle before the surprise proper could go off. This was, of course, made all the more difficult when the person being surprised was as perceptive as Ignis was. Fortunately, however, Liliana was just as inventive when she needed to be, wheedling the promise of tasty treats from him to reward her for her industrious cleaning up of her office, since she wouldn't be teaching next semester. And with Ignis busy in the kitchen and not offering assistance she absolutely did not want, that left her free to take her scheduled portal to Maine to handle the last of the paperwork that a car rental required (yes, Dean had said California, which meant she had immediately began looking at places on the East Coast) and lugging with her the extra-special surprise Summer had passed along yesterday, placed carefully in a cooler and, once the paperwork was handled, placed carefully behind the driver's seat, well within reaching distance for someone sitting in the passenger seat to grab.

After delivering instructions about exactly where she wished the car to be waiting and at what time, Liliana portaled home (and sent her steward to actually pack up her office, it had been a convenient excuse but actually it needed doing), and announced that she had changed her mind, it was too lovely a day to spend it cooped up inside an office, and that he should pack up his treats and come with her, for there was a lovely open-air market that she'd heard about and she wanted to visit it. Whether he was motivated by the pleasure of her company or the concern that she would buy every single thing that caught her eye, Ignis had readily agreed.

And so once more through a portal and back to Maine, though this time ending up in a small rest area right on the side of Route 1. Any questions Ignis voiced were met with a finger over his lips and a promise that soon, all would be made clear. Less than five minutes later, the first (or second, or even possibly third, considering Ignis, sigh) puzzle piece dropped in the sound of a car approaching them, engine purring softly beneath the hood. The driver pulled to a smooth stop directly in front of where they were standing, shut off the engine, and stepped out, leaving the key in the ignition and walking away without another word.

"My, isn't this convenient!" Liliana said, giving Ignis a bright smile. "Well, I suppose there's nothing to it but for us to continue on our way, hmm?"

Welcome, Ignis, to your perfect day.

[For the dreadfully modded gentleman and NFB for distance]

Comments

[chef_chocobro]

It wasn't exactly the insistence on treats that had set the suspicious wheels of Ignis' brain into motion, really, although that was the first spark to the ignition. What really got the cylinders fired was the reason. Sure, every so often Liliana was one to crave particular morsels of his creation for the most menial of tasks, but he understood those demands were, on occasion, a convenient way to keep him busy, though, at times, they were genuine desires. But for cleaning her office? Now? A day before when she would normally hold her office hours and two days before the official end of the semester? Not even remotely last minute, with a lead-up of the whole break week to mewl and pout about the arduous task ahead of her?

He supposed he could finally be causing an influence on her on the benefits of getting a task done swiftly and without dragging one's feet, but he greatly doubted that.

So, yes, he had quite the impression that something was up, an impression made even stronger with this sudden, albeit it not at all uncharacteristic, switch in foucs from work to play, but he was certainly intrigued. And while it was tempting to try and sort out exactly what was in store for him, he supposed that Liliana was causing an influence on him in just allowing himself to be swept along by her whims, helped along by the fact that he quite often had no idea where to even start.

And he'd found that he rather liked that. Well. When there was a certain lilt to her voice and an airiness in her movement, like she was practically floating weightlessly on her own excitement and eagerness to reveal some big thing that she knew he'd appreciate or approve of or adore. And perhaps that was why he wasn't so concerned with figuring it out first; because it almost didn't matter what the end goal was, when he enjoyed how pleased she was in just the build-up.

Almost.

But then they were being whisked off by the portal, and he, of all people, was being told to be patient, while the smell of the sea air instantly pushed those ever-working cogs in his head into high-gear. An approaching car, and quite a fine one, too, by the sound of it, and those gears shifted, slightly, to confusion, especially after such a presumably excellent vehicle was apparently just abandoned to them by its departing driving for their....as Liliana had said...

"Yes," he drawled, somewhat distracted, as he felt every single piece of that puzzle fit neatly into place except for one very crucial detail that made him wonder if he'd arranged them all wrong after all, "convenient, indeed..."

He'd drifted forward, toward the car, letting a hand drop to its to feel its warm metal, trace one of its curves.

"Except, of course, one trifling detail, darling," he said, turning toward her again with the expectation that she might follow where he was leading, because surely, as flippant about some details as she could be at times, even she would understand that a car wasn't much use to two people who couldn't very well even drive it.

A piston chugged in his brain. But, no. Surely that couldn't be it...