Personal Voicemail

[deathsmajesty]

"You have reached the personal voicemail of Liliana Vess. If you don't know what to do next, you likely shouldn't have a phone. This call probably could have been a text message anyway."

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[chef_chocobro]

There was a part of Ignis that was asking himself why, exactly, he seemed to be particularly insistent on playing at this sort of dance right now, and there was a part of him that had the answer as to why firmly on hand. And there was a part of him that was telling him he should wait for the chance to catch her at her shop, instead, and another part of him that already felt he'd waited too long already.

But he did wait, at least, until the early hours of evening that Sunday to pull up Liliana's number on his phone, hesitate on it for far too long, then scold himself for being absurd. And when it started to ring, he found himself both hoping and dreading that it would just land him in her voicemail.

[deathsmajesty]

Sorry and/or you're welcome. Except Liliana never actually said sorry, so it was just 'you're welcome' when after three rings, the call was picked up and Liliana's cool, amused voice came down the line.

"Hello, Ignis."

Liliana was purely pleased he'd reached out. Because, obviously, she couldn't have. That had been illegal and absolutely not allowed. For reasons.

[chef_chocobro]

Well, far be it from Ignis to expect anyone to engage in disallowed and illegal activities on his behalf. Especially when such prohibited actions could be circumvented by him finally not being an absolute waffle and actually being proactive himself.

"Hello, Liliana."

And a moment, perhaps, to just sort of linger on the deceptive simplicity there before continuing.

"I'm not interrupting anything too important, am I?"

[deathsmajesty]

She had made the last two overtures. And even if one of those had been accidental, it was what it looked like. And felt like. Urza forbid it looks like Liliana Vess were chasing after a man.

Regardless of any internal feelings she may (OR MAY NOT!!!) be feeling about days passing without a visit or evenings spent with no attempt to call.

Anyway, they were both doing excellently.

"Well the contractor Dr. Lector suggested just left," she said. "The man may be a giant slug, but he understands the importance of aesthetics and quality building material and that's enough for me. If he's as competent as he seems, I should have a functional ballroom to host a harvest time ball in." She sounded quietly satisfied and a little excited at the prospect.

"And you, Ignis? How did this fine weekend treat you?"

[chef_chocobro]

There was a soft, faint smile there, as Ignis listened, recalling how when they discussed the possibility of such an event in her hands, there had been a reluctance there that seemed to have all but dissipated entirely. There was a droll joke in there, somewhere, about looking forward to seeing it, but he didn't ache pine over delay this phone call just to spend it reaching for low hanging fruit.

Instead, he gave a somewhat dramatized sigh. "Rather dull, I'm afraid," he admitted. "You see, with visitors from home being quite the impossibility at the moment and no ballroom of my own to tend to redecorating and preparing for grand festivities, my time has been spent with little more than the usual rote occurrences: a bit of training, a bit of cooking, and a lot of...thinking. Pondering. Contemplation, if you will..."

[deathsmajesty]

Time and memories could weigh heavily, particularly when there were so many. And who didn't liven up a bit with an actual project in front of them?

"Oh?" Liliana asked, almost audibly perking up. "Contemplating? Pondering? Whatever has been been weighing so deeply on your mind to require so much thinking, darling?"

[chef_chocobro]

"Well," said Ignis, "everything, really."

He...wished he was just being dramatic just then.

"But," he amended, "most relevant to your interests, I should think," he should hope, "a two things. I've been thinking about how much I want to cook for you again, and I've been thinking about incompetent Stitcher."

[deathsmajesty]

"You make it sound like I wouldn't be interested in the everything, darling," Liliana said in a voice that was meant to be archly curious, so that's what she sounded like, okay, and certainly not sincere.

"But I can't say that I'm not particularly interested in the latter two topics. What has all your pondering brought to light about those, Ignis?"

Sometimes she couldn't help but say his name. She liked the way it felt in her mouth.

[chef_chocobro]

"Mostly," Ignis said, "that the former should occur much sooner rather than later, and, assuming your offer to narrate the text still stands, perhaps we could combine the two of them. A little reading to go along with the cooking. And, with consideration to the inevitable rants and asides," and no doubt other unrelated distractions, "I figured that we might be able to get through the first page by the time the meal is finished."

[deathsmajesty]

She laughed, a low caress over the phone. "I'm certain we can get further than that," she protested lightly. "...So long as I can give you a thorough grounding on necromancy beforehand, that is."

Otherwise, he might be right.

"But you're correct, much sooner than later. Were you thinking of any day in particular?" You know. Casual. Just asking.

[chef_chocobro]

"Well," said Ignis, very lightly and casually himself, certainly with nothing remotely akin to foresight and previous considerations, entirely off the cuff, truly, "you can't get much sooner than tomorrow, really...unless, of course, you're otherwise engaged that evening."

[deathsmajesty]

"Unless you decided on tonight," Lili pointed out. Solely because of their love of technical correctness, obviously, and for no other reason. "But that sounds lovely. What does go with a long-winded rant about necromancy?"

[chef_chocobro]

"That's the thing," Ignis mused lightly, "I haven't quite decided, and then there's the matter of fetching ingredients, which does make tomorrow the soonest time and the most reasonable."

And if that sounded a bit like an argument that had been quite a few times in a very short amount of time to an audience of one, well, then...

[deathsmajesty]

"I will grant you the most reasonable," she allowed with a laugh in her voice, "but I still do not grant you that it's the soonest. If, for no other reason than because you are ignoring the art of improvisation, which potentially could have made tonight viable."

[chef_chocobro]

"I wouldn't say I'm ignoring it," Ignis insisted, the coolness of the statement tempered by the warmth of amusement, "merely recognizing its flaws as the least optimal of our options."

There was a pause, surprisingly deep in its hesitation for how short it was.

"It does have the undeniable benefit of spending time with you tonight, but I quite suspect we could do that regardless."

[deathsmajesty]

That statement was followed by a hesitation of Liliana's own, one flavored by surprise. She opened her mouth to declare that she had simply been arguing the technical point, certainly not trying to convince him otherwise, but closed it again. That impulse was rooted in the same place as the idea that seeking him out again would be illegal until he reached out to her; a stubborn, prideful place that refused to make allow her to chase. Or even give off the impression that she wanted to.

But she did want this.

The pause went on long enough to be noticeable, perhaps even nerve-wracking, but when she finally did speak, that customary archness had been lessened, replaced by a soft pleasure.

"I quite suspect you're right. And you're welcome." A smile. "If you wish."

And then the archness returned, unable to be chased away for so long, especially for something as unfamiliar as sincerity. "Though, if you do, you will be subjected to takeout, so gird yourself for that. Unless you mysteriously have some responsibilities that necessitate your absence until after I've finished my dinner."

[chef_chocobro]

"Well, I will be needing to pick up a few things for breakfast..."

Well. Brunch. But two meals should easily make up for whatever inferior food she was left having to subject herself to this evening.

"But I shouldn't be too long," he said, the faint, pleased smile that came easier with the privacy of his own bedroom spilling over, unbeknownst to him, in his words

[deathsmajesty]

I like hearing you smile.

Liliana wasn't sure where that saccharine bit of treacle had come from, but she was pleased that she'd managed to bite her tongue on it before it actually had been born into the open air. For a moment, she considered whether it was a sign that they were, in fact, spending too much time together, but managed to dismiss that as nonsense as well - a far easier task, since it involved convincing herself to do the thing that she wanted to do anyway.

"It will give me time to start polishing up all my very best notes and lectures on necromancy," she said. "I would hate to disappoint you with a subpar rant, especially on this topic. I'd have to find my old Witherbloom robes just to return them in shame."

[chef_chocobro]

The several arduous days filled with near-torturous calculations in deducing when might be the most optimal time for pushing a few buttons on his phone would like to make a very emboldened case against too much time together being an issue here.

"You've yet to disappoint in any arena thus far," Ignis pointed out, "and I would be rather shocked if this were to be the subject to change that."

Especially when he was fairly convinced she could just prattle off the listings in a phone book and he'd still be entirely enthralled.

It helped, though, that he imagined such a thing would be persued with liberal commentary, as well.

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana Vess was not given to sentimentality or sweetness, unless it were a menu at a local confectionary, so when she found herself tending towards such activities, it was clearly a sign something was amiss. But, no, too much time was likely not the problem. Spending too much time led more to frustrations and annoyances, not vapid thoughts about smiles and they way they lifted an entire countenance, softening the lines and creeping into the voice to--

Ahem.

Never mind.

Again, clearly, something else was at play here that was not related to the concept of too much time.

"It does seem rather unlikely," she conceded, because modesty was a gown that looked better on other people, and false modesty even moreso. "Are you not worried that I'll end up being so entertaining that you'll lost track of making dinner entirely?"

[chef_chocobro]

If a mere smile in one's voice could shake up such troubling discourse, then what about a small, faint laugh?

"That is a risk," he assured her, "that I am quite willing to take."

Which might, for most people, be just some rote standard line, but Ignis Scientia never took risks lightly.

[deathsmajesty]

'Troubling' was precisely the correct term. Which was why Liliana was doing what she did best when facing certain realities she did not like:

She was ignoring it.

Not his laugh, of course not. Her inability to ignore it was just one of those certain realities she was eschewing, in fact.

"Careful," she chided with a laugh of her own. "That kind of challenge is how you end up with me reading and ranting to you stark naked."

[chef_chocobro]

"I should only be so lucky," Ignis said, that smile on his voice now fueled by now familiar thoughts of delicately placed pins, the whisper of fabric, and its then subsequent silence. "I'll be sure to avoid anything that may involve any splattering hot oils or other unfortunate consequences."

[deathsmajesty]

Good. Those thoughts had been a dual-purpose trap. Once in the moment, as he'd seen, while also burrowing deeply into his mind, to bloom at any opportunity.

"It is a fine line I will have to walk," Liliana agreed. "Between distracting you enough to satiate my pride, but not so much that dinner is irrevocably destroyed."

She did like his food best of all.

"You know, this reminds me. You mentioned stopping to purchase supplies for brunch, is there anything I should have my Steward pickup the next time he's doing shopping?" Totally normal question and also shut up. "Anything you'd like for me to have on hand? To make impromptu breakfasts easier on you to manage?"

[chef_chocobro]

That trap had bloomed so effectively that his mind had become a veritable garden bursting with vibrant recollections.

And some might fall into the trap for making the argument that such an offer would seem to negate the spirit of impromptu, but Ignis was certainly smart enough to avoid getting ensnared by that.

"Well," he stated, instead, "so long as you maintain your excellent taste in wine, everything else will likely fall easily into place."

But, since it was a very practical question, and he did have a bit of a weakness for practicality...

"But you can't go wrong with fresh fruit on hand, either. Some of the basics: milk, bread, eggs."

None of which did well when just left lingering and unused...practically speaking.