It's a quiet night, and everyone's gone to bed.
Except not really. Bar patrons are on their nightly crawl, drinking and drinking until they drop, and they're making as much noise as humanly possible. The air is heavy with liquor and smoke, making each inhale-exhale that much more difficult, and Subaru's really regretting not dressing down for the occasion. He's not one for appearances, per se, but a stuffy suit really doesn't suit him nor the crowd he's found himself immersed in.
Had he known where he was heading, Subaru wouldn't have bothered. But when your long time crush gets all doe-eyed, hands clasped together, asking oh so politely for you to go on a date - you say yes. You agree on the spot, hold back those happy tears threatening to ruin your charming persona (as if) and you doll yourself up to the best of your ability.
Full suit, cufflinks, the whole affair. She deserves nothing less, after all. It's the first time she's actually asked him out in that way, and he didn't even have to tease it out of her. He's finally getting noticed for his efforts, getting what he's been dreaming of since he popped up in the capital, and he really couldn't be happier.
Or maybe he could, actually. There's those four little words his heart has been longing for, waiting for the right moment to swear himself up, and propose. Such a simple phrase - he'd know, he's been practising his tone for months in the mirror - but such a difficult line to actually deliver. The timing's never right, with them getting distracted each time Subaru thinks he's ready, but he's certain the right moment will fall in his lap.
Just like Emilia finally asking first, taking the first step in what feels like months. Even saying that allowed makes him swoon a little. Emilia asked him out! The same Emilia who couldn't hold his hand without going a very pretty shade of red. The very very same Emilia who couldn't tell what love was, but let him coax her through the process inch by inch, step by step. It doesn't feel real. Subaru must've pinched himself at least a dozen times since she asked, and it still hasn't sunk in.
Emilia has come so far, and he's so proud he could weep. But that would make his eyes all red and he really doesn't want to mess up his appearance any more than he has to. There's tissues in his breast pocket just in case, but Subaru's man enough to hold it in until he can roll around in bed to the thought of his girlfriend taking initiative. He can twirl his hair and kick his legs behind him when he's alone and (maybe) engaged.
What would their wedding be like?
…he's getting sidetracked. Probably has the goofiest grin on his face too, going off the weird face Emilia's pulling.
He'll blame it on the alcohol fumes if he has to. The night is rife with hedonism, and while he's certain Emilia's not the type to participate in anything like that, it still strikes him as strange she picked a place so out of left field for her personality.
Subaru loves his girlfriend, obviously - but taking your boyfriend to some shady restaurant in the capital? How scandalous. She could've easily reserved a good restaurant with Roswaal's title alone, yet she went out of her way to pull him from their carriage down the different alleyways along Market Street.
Maybe she's familiar with the owner? Could be a restaurant she's visited before while handling business matters in the capital. Any time Subaru had asked about the place they were heading to, Emilia had given some vague non-committal answer, careful not to reveal too much. They had kept quiet on their journey to the plaza, but it's only when they turn down the fifth alleyway that night he tries his luck again.
"I'm taking you to… a place I know well! The, um, manager is on really good terms with Roswaal, and offered a discount if we stopped by."
"How'd they know Ros-chi? I can't really see him as the type to wander around the streets for local restaurants," Subaru replies.
Emilia's eyes widen, in that 'oh, shit' way, and she answers, "Ah, well, uh, they worked at the mansion before…? As a chef. And then started a restaurant business."
Now, he's no mind reader, but there's that telltale glance away from him that he recognises as guilt. She really needs to work on her poker face. It'll be that much harder to negotiate as Queen if she can be read this easily.
But whatever she's hiding from him - he doubts he'll get anything out of her. If there's one person more stubborn than him, it's the girl he's devoted his life to, and he's long since accepted that fact.
"I see," Subaru hums, and lets the night chatter of the drunkards and owl hoots take over for them.
It's not a far walk by any stretch of imagination. Sure, he spends most of their journey thinking about threading his fingers between hers, worrying if his palms would be too clammy or too hot or too cold – but he's happy to bask in the cheers of men far beyond their legal limit, letting the smell of warm fries and overcooked pizza set his expectations for their evening out.
Should he go for something more filling, or would it be better to keep some room for dessert? Would Emilia order a starter, or would she go straight for a main course? Or, or –and this one's the kicker– maybe she'll let him order for her, and they can share a meal! They could go all Lady and the Tramp with some spaghetti, take that one noodle strand only to meet in the middle and–
Just a little peck. Anything more and his heart won't be able to take it.
When Emilia stops walking for a moment, his train of thought naturally follows. Like she can hear about his plans or something. And for that split second, he wonders if she's thinking the same thing too. If she's thinking about him at all.
He (probably) shouldn't be this excited about a date, especially given how out-of-the-way the restaurant is, but he reaaaaally can't help it. Or maybe he can, going off that look still written on Emilia's face. He's not thinking anything indecent, unless your definition of lewd is spaghetti dates and yearning glances at the love of your life.
On second thought, 'spaghetti dates' sounds a lot worse than he intends. Puck would kill him if he was still around. Subaru's almost lucky he's an absent father figure – no need for any shovel talks, or getting Emilia home at a reasonable time. They have the whole evening to themselves (which, saying that aloud, really doesn't help his case.)
"Don't give me that look," he chastises, taking up some arbitrary moral high ground. "I'm not the one being weird today."
"Sure, okay," Emilia nods, like a liar, "I won't ask you what a 'spaghetti date' is, then. Since that's a normal thing that a normal person would say."
Oops. He said that part out loud?
"I promise it's not as bad as it sounds. I just, uh, really like pasta? Yeah, it's my favourite food, that I um, have every so often, as a treat . And – oh wow would you look at the time? Feels like we've been walking for ages. Ha ha."
Okay, so maybe he should've actually laughed instead of saying 'ha ha,' but he's running on fumes trying to dig himself out of the hole he's wound up in. very unsuccessfully, as per usual, but it's the effort that counts. Probably.
"...right," she answers, very sceptical. Which is kind of rude, in his opinion. Subaru's a very trustworthy guy.
They carry on walking, with Emilia glancing back at him every so often to make sure he's following. She has no right being that cute, honestly, but he'll take what he can get.
So he takes her hand in his, and grins like he's fallen in love all over again.
The place looks a lot different to what he expected. In a good way, of course. Each window lattice has a fresh lick of paint, creeping wall vines trimmed away from the storefront, and it feels a lot more inviting than what he'd expect of a reclusive cafe in the middle of the capital. Up above the doorway (is that a sliding door? In Lugunica?) the sign seems hand painted, with careful calligraphy strokes spelling out a word Subaru's not familiar with.
"Shoryu Ramen," Emilia reads to him.
"Kararagi food, then?" Subaru guesses, taking in the sights of things he hadn't realised he missed until it was right in front of him.
"Yeah. When we went to visit Anastasia and Julius, you seemed really happy there. It's a bit too far for us to go for a single night, so I… asked for any Kararagi-run businesses," she mumbles, almost hesitating to reveal that last part.
Subaru's touched. Like really, really touched. He doesn't know how, but it feels like he's falling deeper in love with her each and every second they're together.
"I love you," Subaru blurts out, and flushes a very deep red, "It means a lot to me, I mean. You thinking about me like that."
It's not an exaggeration in the slightest. Emilia's always occupied a certain space in his heart, and it tugs on those heartstrings whenever she does this kind of thing. Thinking about him, wanting to take him on a date, holding his hand. They all mean more than any amount of money in the world, and he wishes he could show how much joy each touch brings him. She deserves so much more than he can ever provide, but he'll do his damn best to give her all he has.
And he knows he's being sappy, constantly waxing poetry and love songs whenever she so much as breathes in his direction. His love is heavy, like a thick blanket in winter, and it's not always what's ideal in each situation. If there's one thing he treasures about his loved ones most – they've long since accepted this part of him. He really couldn't ask for anything more.
Going off the pink tips of Emilia's ears, he's far from the only one affected in this way. She's stuttering a response, too, but it's one that he's tuned out in favour of eyeing up how pretty her eyes look when she's all flushed. It's almost unfair how attractive his girlfriend is.
"Shall we go in?" Subaru interrupts her, putting an end to her awkward um's and ah's at his declaration of love. She nods, eyes full of relief, and leads him towards an empty table by the bar.
The place is surprisingly quiet. He expects the night crowd to be happily downing some sake and karaage, but it just seems to be the pair of them in the restaurant. Maybe he shouldn't be so shocked – it's not in the best spot, and they're clearly short-staffed, going off the lack of waiters in the venue.
Still, Shoryu is dripping in that sweet nostalgia Subaru has for Japan. From the koi fish wall scrolls, to the scattered lucky cats on shelves around the restaurant, the owner must've been a native to Kararagi for quite some time. That, or the owner's also someone sent from earth, and that raises a ton of questions Subaru's not in the right headspace to ask. He'll hound both Emilia and Roswaal for answers later.
"This place seems really quiet. Are we supposed to go up, or…?" Subaru asks, not too sure of dining etiquette. Most of his meals have been at mansions, with everything provided for him well in advance. Emilia seems stumped, too, which doesn't really surprise him.
She gets up for a moment, a little more nervous than Subaru expects, and heads towards the bar, tapping what appears to be a little service bell on the desk.
It takes two rings for someone to appear, and it's the last person Subaru would imagine at a place like this.
"Apologies for the delay, miss. Menus for two, I presume?"
"Julius!?" Subaru exclaims, all fish-mouthed and very much confused.
"Oh? I did not know we were acquainted, sir. May I get you something to drink? It's on the house," Julius, cocky bastard that he is, winks at him. Like they've never met once, and that Subaru's just some knight fanboy who recognised him on patrol.
Going off the sheepish grin on Emilia's grin, he bets this was her plan. Picking such a remote place, with such a specific theme in mind – yeah, there's no way they hadn't co-ordinated this.
Fine. Julius wants to act like they don't know each other? Two can play at that game. Or three, he supposes.
Subaru doesn't order anything extravagant. For one, he's convinced the other knights he knows are in charge of the menu, seeing the wide variation in cuisine. There's only one person he knows who'd name an omurice "Heart-thumping Nyomurice," and it's certainly not the spirit knight himself. The knights are good people, and decent friends, but Subaru would be lying if he said he trusts any of them with making authentic Japanese food.
He's also careful with the amount of food he orders. It's not clear how long the knights have rented out the business, but he doesn't want to run them ragged over him wanting certain starters or side dishes his mother would often make. Emilia seems to have a similar idea, only ordering a main and dessert for them to share. It sounds really silly, but he's hoping Julius forgets to bring a second spoon for the ice cream – they've never actually had an indirect kiss before, and he really really wants to try it.
Julius, for the most part, keeps to himself. It's fascinating how dedicated he is to his role, but it makes Subaru wonder what exactly Emilia had told him while planning their date. He hoped Julius being there meant he could pry what exactly Emilia had planned for the evening, but even bribery was rejected in favour of taking the money as tips.
No matter. Subaru will find out soon enough. He just has to play the long con, if anything.
Which turns out to be a lot harder than he expects. Emilia has been incredibly assertive - directly taking his hand at the table, ordering a drink for Subaru, and even openly making small talk with him. The effort makes him proud, but it's so very apparent that she's clearly working with a check list of pick-up lines and questions to ask someone you're dating.
How does he know this?
He can see the notepad in her lap.
"S-so! Subaru, what's your favourite colour?" Emilia recites, ticking off the question from her book.
"Lavender," Subaru answers easily. "It's a pretty colour, though it doesn't suit me."
Emilia hums, writing his answer down. "We should get you a purple scarf or something. It'd look really nice on you, and we can, uh, match colours!"
"You'll have to wear orange, then. So you're matching with me, too."
"I'd love you. Love to! I mean. I would love to match with you."
It's such a cute answer he can't help but laugh. Of course she gets nervous about saying anything romantic. He's still surprised she managed to get him here without melting into a puddle or something.
The night goes on in a similar manner. Julius brings their orders over, Emilia ends up spilling some udon broth on her precious date notepad, and Subaru openly sighs in relief that he wouldn't have to sit through another round of icebreaker questions she must've gotten from Petra. He stifles the sigh when she looks over at him, clearly upset, but he doesn't take it back.
It doesn't stop her from asking what his favourite animal is, and he restrains the urge to place his head on the table and weep.
It's when they get to dessert that it finally happens.
They've been holding hands for the entire evening, and the mood is perfect. Emilia's been making heart eyes at him for at least 10 minutes. There's no better time for him to make a move.
He's nervous. Fuck, he's nervous. Are his lips too dry? Should he have brought some chapstick or something? What if his breath smells?
No, she's not the type to really care. It's fine. It'll be okay. He just has to go for it, right?
So when they finish their ice cream, he licks his lips enticingly, watching her eyes dart to his tongue. He leans in slowly, just a little at a time, and waits for her to do the same.
When they're inches away, he closes his eyes, and presses his lips with hers.
They're just as chapped as his, thankfully. When the kiss doesn't break instantly, he moves his hand to cup her cheek, marvelling in the high cheekbones and pronounced jaw he's always adored.
Wait, what?
Subaru opens his eyes. It's not Emilia.
The man in front of him chuckles, sweeping a lavender lock behind his ear. He moves closer, nearer and nearer to Subaru's own ear, humming contentedly at the flush across Subaru's cheeks.
Julius nips at his ear playfully, then whispers in his ear, "Never gonna give you up."
Happy April fool's day. It's a little late for FFN, since I had to head out before I could crosspost, but I still wanted to get this fic out. Credit to Reactionist for the fic idea/concept, it was the perfect prompt I needed to break outta writer's block.
Just as a side note, emilia, subaru and julius are in a polyamorous relationship throughout the fic. I'm not really comfortable with cheating of any kind, but the idea of them happy together is cute to me.
Fun lil author trivia: I've had to write this whole fic, A/N and everything, with a broken e key, which is why the AO3 ver has pretty bad grammar. I'll probably edit this more when I'm more awake, but I hope the fluff part was satisfying enough in its own right.
