(no subject)

[nina-drake.insanejournal.com]

Characters: Nimue and Ascpleius
Date/Time: (backdated) Sept 4-5
Location: Around Seattle at first then Nimue's
Rating: Let's start with R
Warnings: Cuteness and sexual content
Summary: It's somebody's birthday!



It was Asclepius' birthday. It wasn't his weekend to have his daughters, and Nimue had plans. Plans within plans, if you want to be cliche about it. But just in case something had changed and he did in fact have his daughters her plans included a bit of work on his part. If he was too occupied he would be able to refuse, but if not...

The plot began with an email to him that went as so:

Go here and talk to Lydia.




[*lyrics: Happy Birthday - Marilyn Monroe]

Comments

[ieter-amumon.insanejournal.com]

It was his 34th birthday. The girls weren't with him this weekend, so they would do the joint birthday for him and Haley both next weekend. Asclepius wasn't surprised to get the birthday email from Nimue, but the contents were a bit puzzling. Still, he had nothing else planned for the day.

Hopping in his car, he headed to the location she had named and walked in, admittedly feeling a little at a loss.

"Excuse me," he said to the nearest staff member, "I'm looking for someone named Lydia...?"

[nina-drake.insanejournal.com]

The young woman turned with a polite smile. A pentacle hanging at the level of her collarbone became immediately apparently as that polite smile changed to a bright smile. "Oh! You have to be the doctor." Something about that made her giggle a little as she beckoned him to follow her with her fingers. "I'm Lydia and we have been expecting you."

She walked to the counter with the register and a jar of church keys, crouching down behind it. "We have everything ready." When she stood she held a basket wrapped in transparent seran wrap of a dark red color. It contained two bottles of wine, one Pinot Noir and one Reisling, along with some blocks of cheese. "This is for you. Further instructions are in the envelope."

Said envelope was tied to the basket with a ribbon. Inside was a photo with a note:

Go to the customer service desk here.



"Happy Birthday!" Lydia offered in a pleasant if chipper voice.

[ieter-amumon.insanejournal.com]

"Oh, thank you," he said, a bit bemused by the basket, but he was nonetheless gracious. "And that is a lovely necklace, by the way."

Looking inside the envelope didn't help his confusion, but he went to the location specified, and, leaving the wine-and-cheese basket in his car, walked up to the customer service desk.

[nina-drake.insanejournal.com]

Pike Place Market is a bustling place of high activity, but if you are looking for it, you could find it here.

At the customer service desk was a rustic looking man who seemed to have stepped right off of a crab boat. He nodded to Asclepius as he walked up to the counter. "Doc. Gotcher stuff all set."

He turned to a desk behind him and came back with another gift basket from the Perennial Tearoom (http://perennialtearoom.com/index.aspx) containing a box of loose Golden Lily Oolong tea, a box of loose English Breakfast tea with a smiley face drawn on it and a couple of owl mugs. (http://perennialtearoom.com/images/products/display/BrownOwlMug.JPG) In his other hand he had a box of chocolate cheesecake truffles (http://www.theconfectional.com/cheesecake_truffles/) from The Confectional. Another note was attached to the basket of teas.

"Happy Birthday, doc." The man smiled and a Thor's Hammer could be seen on a leather thong around his throat.

The note had another photo and another note:

Now find this, darling.

[ieter-amumon.insanejournal.com]

"Thank you."

He was practically juggling packages as he looked at the last note. He checked the time--the store would be closed by now, so he assumed Nimue would be home.

Loading everything up, he headed over to her place and rang the bell.

[nina-drake.insanejournal.com]

When she opened the door it was with a clever smirk on her face and the smell of smoked salmon wafting out from behind her.

"Oh good. You ran the errands."

[ieter-amumon.insanejournal.com]

"Is that what you call it these days?" he teased. "I didn't know I'd be delivering my own presents."

Asclepius grinned.
"It's good to see you, Nina."

[nina-drake.insanejournal.com]

She chuckled as she leaned forwards to place a kiss to his cheek around the gift baskets. "Happy Birthday, Galen."

She was nice and took the wine basket from him then stepped back to let him in. "You can put those anywhere."

Inside she had decorated with candles, late Summer flowers and garlands. Her place was small, especially compared to his, but it was homey and warm.

[ieter-amumon.insanejournal.com]

"Well, isn't this lovely?" he remarked, finding spots to put the remaining baskets. "You really went all out. Thank you."

This time, he bent to kiss her properly.

[nina-drake.insanejournal.com]

She gave a soft hum into the kiss, lingering in it for a moment before touching her fingers to his cheek. "Now what manner of girlfriend would I be if I didn't give you a good birthday?"

She smiled up at him, caressing her fingers across his cheek then stepped back. "Could you open the Pinot Noir to let it breathe? The Reisling will need to be chilled for later."

[ieter-amumon.insanejournal.com]

"Of course," he said, "We don't want the tannins overpowering things. Where do you keep the corkscrew, my dear?"

[nina-drake.insanejournal.com]

"Right there in that drawer." She pointed to a drawer next to the oven which she opens letting out more of that salmon smell. "And dinner should be done soon."

[ieter-amumon.insanejournal.com]

"Thank you." He fished out the corkscrew, and carefully opened the bottle, letting the oxygen get to the wine. "There we go. Give it about 20 or 30 minutes and it should be good to go."

He smiled.
"You're planning to spoil me, aren't you?"

[nina-drake.insanejournal.com]

Bent before the oven like she is he got a pretty good view down the front of her dress as she lifted her head to give him a sly look. "Oh you have no idea."

She chuckled, looking back at the salmon steaks then slid them back into the oven before straighting. "The timing should be perfect."

[ieter-amumon.insanejournal.com]

Ok, he looked. He was a healthy, red-blooded man and she WAS his girlfriend after all. But he did try to be discreet about it.

"Excellent. So, what do we do for the next twenty to thirty minutes?"

[nina-drake.insanejournal.com]

She brushed off her hands as she approached him with a little extra sway to her hips and a small but mischievous smile curling her lips. She didn't stop until she was well within his personal space and rested her hand lightly on his chest.

"Oh I'm sure we could come up with something."

[ieter-amumon.insanejournal.com]

"Well, aren't you the little minx?" he teased before drawing her into a soft kiss.

[nina-drake.insanejournal.com]

She smiled against the kiss, feeling herself grow those warm fuzzies that were humiliating to admit to, and found herself with a touch of pink to her cheeks when she pulled back enough to look at him, a soft smile on her face.

"Can I get you anything?"

[ieter-amumon.insanejournal.com]

"I think you've gotten plenty for me already, haven't you?" he said, "Not that I don't love every bit of it."

[nina-drake.insanejournal.com]

She chuckled and tapped him on the nose with that sly smirk of hers reappearing.

"Oh my dear, Galen. The night is only beginning."

[ieter-amumon.insanejournal.com]

"Is that so? Well, I suppose we haven't had the cake, nor have you sung to me yet," he teased.

[nina-drake.insanejournal.com]

"That," she wrinkled her nose as she tapped his nose again, "comes later." Somehow the way she inflected those words made them seem slightly innuendo-ish.

[ieter-amumon.insanejournal.com]

"Ah, very true. Dinner comes first, doesn't it?" he said.

Just then, his phone went off. "Oh. One moment..." He picked it up. "Hello?"

A smile broke out on his face.
"Hi, Emmy. Oh, thank you, sweetheart. Yes, Daddy's having a good birthday. How are you and your sister? Behaving yourselves? That's my girl. Is Haley there too? Can you put her on? Hi, Haley. It's Daddy. Yes, sweetheart, I got the card. Did you pick it out by yourself? Well, it's beautiful. Yes, just like you. Of course I haven't forgotten! We'll do your birthday when I see you next. You're getting to be such a big girl! All right. Listen, Miss Drake is making Daddy dinner, so I have to go. Be good. Love you, too. Bye-bye, sweetheart." He snapped the phone shut.

"The girls just wanted to wish me a happy birthday," he explained.

[nina-drake.insanejournal.com]

She had taken the moment to go back to the oven and check the salmon. Judging it just about finished she brought it out to start brushing it with a maple glaze, smiling as she heard the conversation.

It lifted when he hung up and she began portioning the fish onto plates. "They are exceedingly sweet."

[ieter-amumon.insanejournal.com]

"That they are," he agreed, and noticed her serving up the fish.

"Ah, I take it dinner is ready?"