10. "That's today?"
"Ray, I'm back!"
Liz hangs her purse on the coat rack, steps forward to move towards the kitchen, and promptly walks face-first into something hanging from the ceiling.
"What the –"
Liz jumps back, throwing her arms up instinctively to bat around her head, hitting the mysterious obstruction and making it swing back and forth in the air with an odd fluttering sound. She frowns, squinting up at it for a moment before making out the shape of a large banner covered in curly, pink font, spelling out the words –
Will you be my valentine?
Liz lets out an incredulous laugh before she can stop herself, putting a hand up to cover her smile.
"Red?" she calls out again.
There's no response but she doesn't wait for one, crouching under the sappy sign to head towards the kitchen, turning the corner to see –
Every surface is covered with…things. The marble countertops, the dining table, the kitchen island, all covered with colorful flowers, boxes of chocolates, more cheesy decorations of streamers on the chairs and balloons resting against the ceiling, even stuffed animals propped up against produce and utensils and holding over-sized hearts. And everything, everything is a blinding shade of either red or pink, all completely garish items clearly bought in bulk from the nearest drug store Valentine's Day display.
It's all ridiculously, hilariously, purposely over-the-top.
Liz loves it.
And there's Red, leaning nonchalantly against the counter next to the stove, the only space not taken over by tacky love-themed items, where there's a small fondue pot, a bowl of fresh strawberries, and a bottle of champagne already poured in two beautiful glasses.
Liz lets out another joyful laugh, beaming at him, before working hard to switch gears, playfully crossing her arms and trying hard to contort her face into a frown.
"So," she begins, casting a critical eye around the kitchen and sauntering slowly towards Red. "What's all this for?"
Red just looks at her, his eyes dancing.
As she passes, Liz runs a hand over the soft fur of nearest stuffed animal, a cheerful-looking sloth leaning against a bunch of bananas and holding a heart proclaiming, 'I love you slow much'. Gag-worthy. "This wouldn't be in celebration of any particular…day, would it?"
She passes a red balloon and a box of truffles to come to a stop in front of Red, who hasn't moved from his spot against the counter. "Not…say…Valentine's Day?"
Liz raises a playful eyebrow at him and watches closely as his face slowly transforms into a ridiculously attractive smirk.
"That's today?"
His would-be innocent response, absolutely ridiculous in the face of the sheer amount of merchandise cluttering their kitchen, makes her laugh out loud and throw her arms around his neck, ignoring all the sickeningly cute decorations in favor of kissing him thoroughly. His arms wrap around her waist with no hesitation, taking her weight and letting them both lean against the counter while he plunders her mouth and sneaks his hands under her blouse.
Liz lets herself get carried away for a blissful moment before, without warning, she reaches behind him to turn the fire off on the fondue pot, proceeding to wrap her arms around his waist and push, steering him easily towards the stairs. He goes without protest, letting her lead, his eyes dancing and his face smiling lovingly.
(He's ridiculous. Ridiculously perfect. And she's ridiculously in love.)
The kitchen is nice, decorated so absurdly with cheap expressions of affection, but they have more interesting things to get up to.
In their bedroom.