[PLOT] Shopping with Lovers (Xoana, Beltan)[FIN]

[Menelie]

Mene

In the tides that had followed their candid conversation about their relationship, Xoana had slowly been spending more and more time at Beltan's apartment until, over the seasons, she was functionally living there. At some point after Quetzal had moved out, they'd decided that this arrangement suited them well, and Xoana had officially moved all her things. Beltan's place was larger than hers, so this direction made sense to both of them.

Xoana loved their comings and goings together, and they fell into a companionable rhythm. She'd never slept better in her life, although she was sleeping less. And, contrary to what she'd always feared about cohabitating with someone, she never grew bored. In fact, she had loved getting to know Beltan even better as they'd stopped having to "perform" on dates.

She'd waited until they'd had coinciding days off from work to put her plan of taking Beltan to the market in action. That day was today. The two of them were sort of lounging in bed, putting off actually getting up. She turned toward him with a mischievous smile. "I have a surprise for you," she said, her eyes dancing.

Elros

Stretching luxuriously in the key of 'I don't have to work today', Beltan pillowed his arms behind his head and kept his eyes closed, seriously contemplating going back to sleep or maybe just not getting out of bed except for necessities. But there was movement on Xo's side and so he cracked one eye open, peering at her.

"A surprise?" he repeated and opened both eyes, rolling over onto his side so he could look her full in the face, eyebrows raised.

Mene

"Mhm," affirmed Xoana, appreciating the view. She propped her head up with one arm and had the other draped across her midsection. "But it doesn't require us to hurry, really. Whenever you're ready to go. Or whenever you get too curious," she teased, crinkling her nose.

Elros

Beltan narrowed his eyes and resisted the urge to kiss the crinkled nose; sure, it'd lead to some pleasant distractions but it wouldn't be conducive to lazing about nor would it satisfy his curiosity (which she'd correctly predicted). "So, not a stay-at-home kinda surprise, but a leave-the-comfy-bed one?" he double-checked, pretending to frown.

Mene

"That's right," she affirmed again. "Although, there should be plenty of time for continued lounging afterward." She hoped she was appropriately piquing his curiosity. "Unless you'd like to do something else first?" She inquired innocently, touching one finger to her cheek and looking thoughtful.

Elros

... Sometime later, they finally managed to find their way out of bed and the apartment. Once through the doorway, Beltan let Xoana take the lead and spent the time gently pestering her with questions about this surprise of hers. His line of questioning, though, was designed to be annoying rather than a genuine attempt to get her to let the catfish out of the net.

 

[Menelie]

Mene

Xoana, for her part, answered said annoying questions with equally annoying vague responses and at least one threat to take him back home.

She led them to the market, away from the food and toward the artesan goods. "Since we have been together for a number of seasons, now, I wanted to get you something special," she began as they began to travel down the rows of goods. It was difficult for her not to stop and examine the jewelry. "And, um, when I moved in I brought a lot of things that I like with me, and while they look lovely, I wanted to get you something that you like."

"For our home."

She steered him toward a row of vendors which sold ornate, decorative weapons. "So, I've brought you here for you to choose something to your taste, and then we can go home and find a place for it." She smiled hopefully. She still wasn't 100% convinced rather she shouldn't have just gotten him something without dragging him on this shopping trip.

Elros

Snickering to himself at her 'don't make me turn this current around' threats, Beltan finally looked around at their surroundings. Ooh, maybe there was a new stall in the food vendor section. Food's a good surprise..

Still marveling a little bit at Xoana's self-restraint in bypassing Jeweler's Row, and also feeling warm and fuzzy about her use of 'our home', Beltan eventually found himself looking at stand upon stand of elaborately embellished weaponry.

Genuinely pleased with her thoughtfulness, Beltan swept Xoana up in a quick hug before setting off to browse with purpose. He recognized that she was already well out of her depth here, so he didn't torture her with rambling commentary. Instead, he limited himself to brief, to-the-point explanations ("Too heavy", "too much filigree", "it'll warp" ) until he came away with a vicious-looking one-flue harpoon that was a clean combo of form and function. It was even light enough for Xo to wield. Not that he thought their 2 bedroom was likely to be attacked anytime soon, but still~

With the new acquisition safely wrapped in layers of kelp and strapped to his back, Beltan took her hand as they navigated back through the market stalls on their way home.

Mene

Xoana was pleased that Beltan was pleased, and happily accompanied him from stall to stall, "mm-hmm"ing along to his explanations. It was true she knew close to nothing about weaponry, but she always enjoyed a good shopping trip, and she was interested because he was interested. She did her best to commit his comments to memory, so that should she wish to surprise him again, she might have at least a chance at selecting something on her own.

She tucked her arm into his as they headed home to select somewhere for his new treasure. She hadn't been able to resist the rows of food vendors, and had picked out something they both liked for lunch.

Once they were home, Xoana prepared them a simple meal so they could discuss the all-important question of where to put the harpoon while they ate. "Would you rather it hang on the wall, or stand in a corner on the floor?" she asked, placing a plate of bright orange salmon and a purple kelp salad in front of each of them.

Elros

Beltan smiled his thanks and pecked Xoana's cheek as she set the table, taking a seat when she was done and looking thoughtfully at the still-wrapped package laying on the clear side of the table.

Beltan took a big bite of salmon and kelp, chewing slowly and swallowing before responding. "Wall-mounted, I think. Safer and easier to grab that way. How about in the hallway by the door?" He suggested tentatively, deferring to her sense of aesthetics and comfort.

Mene

Xoana chewed thoughtfully as she ran through potential other options. "No, I think that sounds perfect," she said at last. "I bet I have some mounting things that would hold it in place but would allow someone to just grab it without having to like, take it out of a thing." She made hook-like motions with her fingers to illustrate.

Elros

"Oh, that'd work," Beltan agreed, smirking at her pantomime. "Let's go ahead and finish eating, then, and we can hang it up. Prolly a little lower than I need it, 'cause you know.." There he paused, holding his hand palm-side down about even with the top of his head then setting it quite a bit lower, his face perfectly deadpan. You know, thinking about it now, he probably should have gotten something Xoana couldn't lift...

Mene

It took Xoana a second to realize he was making a joke about her being short, which then made her gasp and laugh and turn a little pink in the face. She then made a displeased expression at him, raising her eyebrows and folding her arms over her chest. "You," she said pointedly, "are going to pay for that later." She changed her facial expression slightly to indicate just how he was going to pay for that remark...