rated; AU
(the first half of this was written over a year ago, oops lol)

Ever since they'd gotten together, Lightning had been more than happy to keep her dates with Hope casual. Ironic, since their relationship was anything but - she just had no desire for anything fancy, or for grand gestures, and assumed Hope felt the same way.

That was before she finally managed to listen to her voicemail during a late lunch, however.

"Hey, Light," - she had to smile at how his voice seemed to automatically soften when he spoke her name, even after all this time - "I know this is probably ridiculous of me, but I realized that our six month anniversary was coming up and I though we should do something special."

Lightning quirked an eyebrow. She hadn't even been keeping track of the time they'd been together, though she wasn't at all surprised that Hope was. She wondered what he had in mind for a celebration.

"Please don't be mad or anything, but I, uh, got us reservations at the Blue Lagoon."

She nearly dropped her phone. The Blue Lagoon was an upscale restaurant in town with a fairly long waiting list and a consistent five-star rating. The fact that Hope had managed to get them on that list was impressive, but she'd had no idea he'd even be interested in going to a place like that. Most of their dates so far had consisted of them ordering something out and eating on the couch while streaming a movie.

"Let me know if you're not up for it. I'd understand," the voicemail continued. "If you are, I'll meet you there around seven, okay? I might be ten minutes late or so since I'm tied up with a work thing, so if you get there before me, feel free to sit down and get some wine, okay?" There was a pause, then some muffled speaking from someone who she assumed was a colleague of Hope's. He ended the message with a quick, "Love you," before hanging up.

There was a moment where she simply stared at her phone after pulling it away from her ear. A huge part of her was confused at this gesture of Hope's - neither of them had ever had any desire to do the things typical of most relationships…such as go out on anniversaries she wasn't even aware of. However, she had to admit that she was pretty touched, as well. She knew he'd gone through a lot of effort to get them to a restaurant like this. Maybe he just wanted to be typical for once and show her a nice night.

Well, slightly nicer than usual.

She smiled to herself, sending her answer in a text since she knew a voicemail probably wouldn't get listened to this time of day.

See you at seven.

There were several hours until then, but Lightning managed to fill them pretty quickly. She'd never been a particularly girly girl, so she imagined it took her twice as long to do all the normal getting-ready tasks - showering getting dressed, doing her hair (though there wasn't much she could do with it, she figured), and even putting on a bit of makeup.

When she was finished primping, she stepped back and stared at herself in the mirror, wondering if Hope would even recognize her. She barely recognized herself - her hair was a little smoother than normal, her features a bit more enhanced by the makeup she'd used (which, admittedly, had all been leftover stuff that Serah had given her), and of course, she wasn't dressed in her customary uniform. Instead, she'd unearthed a dress she'd bought a long time ago for an occasion she didn't remember - a dark blue, sleeveless one with a wrap-around waist and a pleated skirt that fell to a couple of inches above her knees. She hoped it was appropriate enough for a five-start restaurant.

After the pairing the outfit with a bit of jewelry - again, mostly things Serah had given her - and slipping on her nicest pair of shoes, Lightning grabbed her keys and started to head out. She gave herself one last glance in the mirror, though she was mentally chastising herself by the time she started up the car. She looked fine. Probably. Mostly likely.

The restaurant was in a ritzier part of town, but she had no trouble finding it. Despite the fact that the parking lot was fairly crowded, she still tried to find Hope's car. She didn't find it, and didn't see him when she went inside. At first she wanted to wait, but the maître d' was staring at her, so she approached him anyway, feeling completely out of her element.

"I believe you have a reservation under Hope Estheim," she said in her usual confident tone, despite everything. "He isn't here yet, but he told me to take the table if I got here before him."

"Very well, then." The maître d' spoke with a slight accent she couldn't quite place. At any rate, he sounded less than impressed. "If you'll follow me, ma'am."

Lightning wasn't used to being called 'ma'am' and contemplated on remaining where she was simply out of stubbornness…but she decidedly that it was ultimately best not to cause any scenes.

The table she was led to was near the back of the restaurant in a fairly private spot. She wondered if Hope had requested that on purpose, since they'd both be so out of their element, and again had to wonder on why he'd bothered doing this.

The maître d' held out her chair and she obediently sat down. Before she could think to thank him, he was immediately replaced by a waiter who held a slim menu in his hands.

"Good evening, ma'am," he greeted, and she wondered if she'd have to get used to this the whole night. It was kind of annoying. "Would you care to see our wine list?"

She was about to decline, wanting to wait for Hope instead - honestly, her drink of choice, on the rare times she did indulge, tended to lean more towards the side of vodka - but she remembered the instructions from the voicemail to order some if he was running late. "Sure," she finally answered, quickly scanning the list.

It didn't really help. Truthfully, she knew shit about wine.

"…This one, I guess," she said, pointing to one with an unpronounceable name. The waiter didn't seem at all surprised or impressed and simply nodded. It was only moment later when he returned with a bottle, then proceeded to pour a bit into her glass in an elegant fashion, then returned the rest of the bottle to the container on the table.

"Shall I fetch you the menu, or perhaps you'd like to hear our specials?"

She shook her head. "Not now, thanks." She cleared her throat. "I'm expecting someone else."

"Very well." The waiter nodded and left. Finally, she was able to breathe in relief. Lightning had never thought she'd admit to herself that she needed someone, but in all honesty, she would have felt a lot less out of place if Hope was here.

Then again, if it wasn't for him, she wouldn't be here at all.

The seconds ticked on, and Lightning grew increasingly uncomfortable sitting there alone in a place that was completely out of her element. People were staring as though she'd gotten stood up, but she knew better. Hope would never do that to her - worst case scenario, he'd be a little later than planned, but that was it. He never let her down.

After another minute of looking around like she was waiting for Hope to appear out of thin air, she sighed and picked up the wineglass, swirling the liquid around before taking a sip.

"Light?"

She coughed and quickly swallowed at the familiar voice, her eyes darting up. Sure enough, Hope was suddenly standing there as though he had appeared from thin air and he looked….he looked…

"Oh shit," she muttered as the wineglass slipped out of her hands. Luckily, it just tipped over and spilled on the table - or maybe unluckily. Did she call someone over or use one of those fancy napkins to mop it up or - ?

"Hey." Hope's hand were suddenly on her shoulders, stilling her body and mind. "Are you all right? I tried to get here as soon as I could. Were you waiting long?"

Waiting? He thought that waiting was the problem? The thought almost made her laugh in his face. Instead, she just stared. How the hell had he learned to clean up so well?

And she didn't meant the spilled wine.

No, there was just no real explanation as to how Hope had learned to fill out a suit so well. His chest was at eye level from where she was seated and he was leaning over her, hands still on her shoulders, so it was all too easy to see how his dress shirt stretched across him like he'd been sewn into it. The jacket was perfectly pressed and hugged his broad shoulders like a second skin. She let her eyes rake a bit downwards and - no, no, she was not going to think about how those pants made his legs look a mile long.

Surely she could blame this on the sip of wine, right?

"Uh," she finally responded, needing to clear her throat a couple of times. "No. I wasn't waiting long. You look…." Her eyes roamed over him again. "…Nice."

Hope cocked his head a bit, looking confused. "Thanks…?" He stood up fully, much to her chagrin. "So do - "

"Excusez-moi," came a dignified-sounding voice. The other two jumped a little, only to see that it was the waiter. "I could not help but noticed the unfortunate spilled wine. Perhaps, Mr. Estheim, you and the lady would prefer another table?"

Hope glanced at Lightning as though in confirmation, nodding when she stood up. "Yes, thank you."

"Follow me." The waiter walked off, though before they could follow right away, Hope took Lightning's hand in his own and lifted it to his lips, kissing her knuckles.

"This isn't how I wanted tonight to go," he admitted, "but at least one thing's totally right."

She curled her fingers around his, suddenly relieved that he was there. "What is?"

He leaned in and pecked her lips, smiling against them. "How beautiful you look."

In the back of her mind, Lightning wondered if this was why he'd gone through so much trouble to set up something so fancy for their anniversary…because he wanted to see her dressed up like this.

But as they finally started following the waiter to their new table, she was able to let her eyes roam over Hope again, further appreciating how incredibly handsome - even more handsome, really - that suit made him look, and knew one thing.

Tonight's effort was completely worth it.