First Date Fails
Brendan had been set up on a blind date by one of his coworkers. Despite the stick up his ass, Lucas probably had better taste in women than he did. He felt mildly ill but he supposed that it was probably nerves. Brendan had bothered to dig out his nicer clothes for this. He beamed as he saw the woman that Lucas had brought for him. "Hello, I'm Brendan."
The woman looked him up and down. She blushed prettily before answering. "Lucy."
Brendan made sure to look her in the eyes. So far, so good. This was kind of nerve-wracking. "Your earrings are lovely."
He sat down at the table. Lucy beamed at him. "Thank you."
Brendan did his best not to fidget at the table. He was usually a bit more flippant but Lucas would probably murder him if he screwed this up. "So, where did you meet Lucas?"
Lucy looked thoroughly amused. Brendan decided he was going to go ahead and order the watermelon vodka. It looked like a nice wine list but he liked mixed drinks. "We're cousins. There's a family tradition to only name people names that start with the letter 'L.' It gets a bit confusing when there are legal documents."
Brendan grinned and imagined a bunch of legal documents that were all addressed to L. Brown. He lightly placed the menu back down. "I'll bet. Does the government ever mix you up with your grandmother?"
Lucy rolled her eyes. Okay, maybe paperwork wasn't the best topic ever. "Don't even start."
Brendan felt his smile expand into a smirk. Lucy's eye twitch and Brendan felt a kick land on his shin. "You're mean."
Lucy smirked at him. Brendan pouted theatrically at her. "Lucas said you liked the mean ones."
Brendan huffed. Lucas may have misunderstood him on that point. "Uh, I think Lucas may have had a slight miscommunication on that part. I meant, ah, bedroom practices."
Lucy started giggling into her double shot of scotch. Lucas was doing this on purpose. He was going to make sure that his next round of paperwork all needed corrections just for Lucas. Being mean to him was practically Brendan's hobby at this point anyway. "You can just say BDSM, Brendan."
Brendan resisted the urge to bang his head into the nearest wall. At least she didn't seem offended. That was a plus. Maybe there hadn't been a miscommunication after all? "Ah, good. Um, we can talk about that later if you want?"
Lucy took a sip of scotch. She seemed content to watch him suffer through trying to choose his words carefully. This was worse than the time he'd done cocaine before going undercover on his first mission. Brendan was still shocked he hadn't blown it. "Oh, no. I'd like to talk about it now."
Brendan felt his mouth fall open. Wait, really? Okay, he might proofread his paperwork, then. "We haven't even gotten to appetizers."
Lucy rolled her eyes. She made a come-hither motion with her hand. It was pretty hot even though he wasn't going to do more than kiss her in a public setting. "Fork over the Venn Diagram."
Venn diagrams had been a recent fad in the local community. You carried around a Venn diagram that was halfway filled out and let potential partners fill in the other half. It was a fairly decent system. Brendan felt his face pink ever so slightly as he handed over the paper. Lucy smirked and began filling out her side of the diagram and crossing things out on his side. Brendan was sweating by the time the appetizers got there. Lucy folded up the paper and slid it back towards him. "You have to wait until you get home to read that. Also, my number is on the back."
Brendan immediately typed the number into his phone. He'd had one too many unfortunate accidents with bar napkins and rain or spilled drinks. Lucy's hand brushed against his. Brendan was more than happy to eat the cheese dip for the entire night. "Thank you, Lucy."
Lucy patted the back of his hand. She fixed him with a stern look. "Save room for real dinner."
Brendan grinned at her. This was going to be fun. "Cheese dip and crisps is a real dinner."
Brendan grunted as her pointy heel made contact with the same spot in his shins. Lucy dug in with her heel. "No, it is not."
Brendan popped another crisp in his mouth. Lucy's look of death was hilarious. "Save it for the bedroom, Lu-Ow!"
Brendan was pretty sure he was going to bruise at the rate. Which would be nicer if this was more bedroom and less public. "Real. Dinner."
Brendan resisted a gulp. Drug dealers had nothing on Femdoms. "Okay."
Brendan would deny that there was any squeak to his voice if anyone asked. Lucy released his shin. "Good. Now, what are you going to order?"
Brendan scanned the menu. There were probably some decent options here. "The steak with the brussels sprouts and the mushroom risotto."
Lucy beamed at him. Brendan was just enjoying this date at the moment. "Sounds good, I'll take it."
Brendan was in danger of actually liking this one. Plus, he had opinions about people who ordered anything but steak at a steakhouse. He refused to date another vegetarian after the chicken incident.
Dinner had gone reasonably well. Lucy had been great. Brendan offered her his arm after getting up from the table. She leaned into his chest. Lucy was short but there would be time to tease her about that later. The short ones got stabby fast. "Your hair is very soft."
He was feeling slightly dizzy at this point and very warm. Lucy looked alarmed. "Brendan? Brendan?!"
Brendan woke up in a nice ranch house. This was not his house. Maybe Lucy? "You got roofied on our first date and you also have a cold."
Brendan tried not to laugh but it was pretty hilarious. Lucy swatted him upside the head. "It's not funny. Street grade roofies are dangerous!"
Brendan stretched on the couch. Lucy was standing over him in a very spiffing suit with her arms folded. "They were probably aiming for you."
Lucy gave him the stink eye. Brendan grinned. "You know I'm right. I ordered the fluffy girly drink and you ordered the manly shots."
Lucy pinched the bridge of her nose and stared at him. Brendan beamed at her. "Alright. I called your work and made the hospital send them the forms. You're off for the day and on medical leave. You are going to stay here. You are going to eat lunch. You are going to not cause major property damage or get drugged again. Got it?"
Brendan knew that he was in love at that absolute second. He looked at Lucy. "Marry me?"
Lucy let out a sigh. Well, it wasn't a no. "I'm going to chalk that up to the drugs. I'm going to work."
Brendan was afforded a very nice view of Lucy's backside as she exited the house. He was going to marry her. That was it. He'd found the perfect woman. Lucas was getting the nicest bottle of confiscated liquor he could find.
Fin
Based on a prompt by Zyzyax (see story summary). This is the 81st work in the Winds of Change 2022 Alex Rider Prompt event, where a new prompt (plus a short 1-3K work) is posted every day. For more details, see the AO3 collection :) Want to discuss? Leave a comment beneath, or join the discord (Link on AO3 Fics or just PM me, lol). Want to take part in our Alex Rider anniversary celebrations in September? Join the WoC discord to take part in a fanfic event! Want to showcase your work to your fellow fans and authors? The WoC server has a new feature! Any author who joins can ask to join our authors' feed, which shows all the fics from the authors who opt in, including non-AR fics!