My apologies, I've taken some liberties since the details I require do not currently exist in the canon.
Also, when rereading this, it might seem a little naughtier than I intended, but /shrug. All shall be revealed in due time?
Chapter 3 First Date Jitters
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Al had sent me back to my room three times already to change into something he considered more appropriate. I'm sure he would have tried to pick something out himself, but I'd already discovered the user interface for my room, which I wasn't completely sure whether it was a very advanced charm or just high tech, and had blocked him from entering. I would almost swear I could hear him bitching up a storm, even though I wasn't sure how literal things like doors and walls were yet since Al's "doors" consisted of more local line travel. But at least I'd figured out to change the ugly glyph that designated my door into Al's space; instead of the screaming face I now had a nice, orange geometric design that looked like part of the decoration of the room.
I yanked open the closet door and scanned the contents hurriedly. My growling stomach was the only thing keeping me playing Al's control game. I was hungry but also curious, and while I'd seen the demon mall once, Al had never brought me out to eat. I was on the fence about ever after food in general; the coffee Al made was rank, but the cheese sandwiches had been tasty. Hopefully, Al was bringing me some place where the food was actually edible; I'd brought some snacks, but they wouldn't last if I had to rely on them everyday.
Al had already rejected me in jeans, my working leathers, and these black silky pants I'd thought were damn nice. The closet had some casual stuff, but most of the space held dresses. I sighed, most of them were okay, and a far sight better than what I'd found in the dresser. I reddened just at the memory of drawer after drawer of silk underwear, lingerie, and things more easily defined by their lack of material. I'd opted for a pair of my normal cotton undies, not because I didn't like silk and lacey underthings, but because I sure as well wasn't going to wear ones Al had picked out for me.
I cocked my head to the side, listening to the strange melodic beeping. I turned, and saw my room interface blinking like an answering machine with a message. Thankful for the respite from trying to pick out something Al wanted and I would actually wear, I pushed the glowing button, wondering if I had a message from the ever after welcoming committee or something like that.
"Student?" Al's unmistakable voice filled my room. Damn it. I scanned the control panel but didn't see any useful buttons marked "end call."
"Al, where's the hang-up button on this thingy?" I asked sweetly.
Al's growl sounded like it was coming from all around me. "Take my name off the banned list."
My witty reply was lost to Al's icy calm, "Now." Damn, he really was pissed.
"I'm not sure how," I said, which was mostly truthful.
His colorful swearing made me even more nervous. I glanced helplessly at the room interface again before heading back into the closet.
"What are you doing?" Al demanded, and I jumped.
"Um, looking for something to wear," I said, and suddenly had the terrible paranoid idea he could see me as well as hear me.
Al's anger evaporated as quickly as it had come. "The purple silk one, love, with the slit skirt."
I found said silk dress in the front of the closet and let it fall into a puddle of silken decadence on the floor. No way. It was more empty space than dress. "Hell no, try again," I said, feeling a bit of smile tug at my face. Al was a pain in the ass, but it was kind of funny having him try to negotiate with me while he was locked out.
"If you'd just let me back in…" he huffed.
"You don't need to be in my room. I can dress myself," I asserted, running my hands over another dress, this one gray, which seemed to be a popular color in the closet, damn Al. I unzipped my pants and started trying to shuffle into the dress, deciding it was nice despite the crap color.
I froze suddenly, my naked back feeling glazed with ice. It was too damn quiet.
"Al?" I asked, concerned. I was understandably worried about what he might be up to if he wasn't throwing temper tantrums outside my "door" anymore.
"Yes, love?" he purred back, and I flushed despite myself. Damn it, I knew he couldn't see me, he was just listening, but that was still weird, listening to me getting dressed. I pulled the dress the rest of the way up and strode over to the interface, smacking the lit-up button with a bit too much force. It winked out, and I waited, hearing nothing and glad for it.
There was a mirror in my extravagant closet, and after I finished adjusting the dress, I must admit I looked damned good. Maybe too good for going out with Al, but I honestly couldn't remember the last time I'd dressed-up to go out somewhere nice that hadn't ended in an attempt on my life. And it could be interesting to see what passed for a restaurant in the ever after, as long as Al would behave himself. Which I had to admit was just as likely as it raining little blue butterflies in July.
I pulled a bit a my hair, giving up trying to make it look tidy but at least trying to make it look artfully untidy. Oh well, Al was always bitching about my appearance, if he wanted my hair tame he could damn well stir up the charm for it. Ready, I hesitated, unsure what sort of reception was waiting for me. Was he really pissed I banned him from my room? Would me all dressed-up help alleviate some of his general pissiness? Or would he not approve of this dress too, and send me back to try again? I shook my head, tired of trying to figure out what Al would do. It didn't matter that I saw him every week, had to deal with him almost constantly while dodging the coven, and now was staying in a room adjacent to his own; I still had no idea what to expect from him.
I used my door glyph to jump back into his rooms. At least he hadn't been inspired by my own childish display and banned me from his rooms in return. I was back in his library, the firelight dancing energetically across the walls and making the shadows seem thicker in the circular space that held his many books. I scanned the room, but his tall, muscular figure was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he was in his own room changing? I'd never seen Al's bedroom before, and though recklessly curious, I knew I didn't really want to see it either.
I shrieked like a ten-year-old girl when his heavy hand clapped down forcefully on my bare shoulder.
"Finally, I swear, Rachel, you're worse than…well, I guess you are a primping debutante?" Al leered down at me, his wide grin showing his big, blocky teeth.
I slapped his hand away. He hadn't sent me back in though, so I supposed I passed? His red goat-slitted eyes were taking me in, his gaze traveling up and down and lingering enough to make me blush despite my irritation.
"Well?" I finally asked. I told myself I wasn't going to change anyway. I was done with dress-up for tonight. If he sent me back to change, I'd lock myself in and spend the night reading one of the Nancy Drew books I'd commandeered back from Ivy and munching on yogurt covered raisins. He'd really be pissed then, but it would dash this control fantasy of his into bits of pixie dusted crap.
"You look exceptionally lovely, Rachel," he said, and my mouth popped open into a giant, unflattering "o" of surprise. Of all things, I hadn't been expecting that.
"Uh, thanks?" I managed weakly, my gaze darting to everything but him now. He hadn't changed, exactly, but he was dressed to the nines in his pristine green velvet and lace, his boots freshly polished and the little buckles winking in the firelight. I dared bring my glance to his face, saw his hair looked softer somehow, and curled slightly near his ears like he'd run a hand through it once too many times. He eyed me speculatively over his ubiquitous glasses, and I looked away, again. Damn.
"Let's depart then, we don't want to be too late, or they'll give our table away," Al said crisply, offering me his velvet-clad arm in a seemingly proper and gentlemanly display. Not that I believed that for minute. The knowledge he'd made a reservation sat heavy in my stomach. Just what had I gotten myself into? When I'd refused his arm for long seconds, he huffed and grabbed a hold of me anyway. I huffed in return. He was a pushy bastard. Then we were in the lines, and I tried to keep my thoughts and roiling emotions to myself.
Then we were there, and I was blatantly disappointed. It wasn't in the mall, and we were already apparently underground again, so I wasn't going to be getting any better an understanding of how these buildings actually worked. It looked like a restaurant that had once been damn fine but had fallen on hard times and was only still attracting its more devout customers. I felt my interest perk up again, maybe Al had history here? If he did, would he ever tell me?
The long, sunken, oval room was dim, and crowded with demons and their familiars. I already had imagined the headache I could have from the stink, but when I breathed in, tentatively, I was surprised and relieved. The burnt amber was there, but not overpowering, and I worried I was getting used to it until I saw the censers burning throughout the room. I sniffed again and could clearly make out sage and patchouli. It actually smelled kind of nice.
We were seated immediately, and despite my anger at him, I stuck close to Al as we navigated past the filled tables. I also attracted way too much attention whenever Al dragged me to parties, and it was just as bad here. I didn't even bitch at him when he pulled my chair out for me. I sat down, curiously looking around until Al brought my attention back to him but pulling his chair too close next to mine. Our legs brushed under the table, and I pulled away, glowering at his grin.
But I did want to kick him when he ordered for me, but I was afraid he'd take it as an attempt to play footsie. Some demon I was fairly certain I hadn't met caught Al's attention from a nearby table, and they exchanged words in strangely discordant language. I hunkered down in my chair, forgetting about any idea that this was going to be fun. I just wanted this night to be over, and then I could go back to hiding in my room and trying to dream up plans for getting the coven off my ass.
Al said something that made the other demon chuckle darkly. I tried to hide the shudder when both demons turned their red eyes on me and settled instead for not sinking to hide under the table.
A man, not a demon, I learned with a quick glance at his eyes, brought our food damn quick. It figured, no demon would want to play waiter. I sipped at my water to postpone trying my dinner, but grimaced at the mistake. The water here was always bad, thick as it was with the stink of burnt amber. Al was watching me with uncommon interest, and I stared back down at my mystery meal. It looked like chicken, and I hoped it was. God, this was going to be a long…week? Hopefully not month, and I knew I'd never last the three months before the witches' conference.
Al watched me debate over my food, and sighed with something like relief when the waiter came back with two glasses and a wine bottle.
"Try this, love. It'll put the shimmer back in your eyes," Al said, carefully pouring me not even half a glass. I took the glass carefully, frowning slightly at his high-handedness. I swear, if he tried to cut up my vegetables for me, I was gonna deck him one with the wine bottle.
"Cheers, love," Al said, and downed his full glass, his making it seem as if it were in fact edible. I wasn't convinced, and sipped at my glass, not feeling too sure about it since I couldn't even read the label on the wine bottle. It wasn't English or Latin, and that was pretty much the full extent of my linguistic abilities.
But it was nice. Sweet like wine but stronger and smooth going down. There was also something vaguely fruity about it, blackberries, I thought. Okay, the ever after had decent alcohol, which I knew I couldn't indulge too much in, but damn, it made my outlook much less bleak.
Al murmured something that I didn't catch. I was glaring a bit at the ceiling, just now noticing there were no lights up there. But there was certainly light in the room, but I just couldn't pin down the source. I had the silly urge to check under the table, but stopped myself just in time.
"Rachel?" Al asked again, and I could just hear his concern through the sudden warm glow that had come out of nowhere and saturated the world with its golden mellowness of goodness. O crap, I was wasted five minutes into dinner.
"Hmm?" I asked, not really trusting my tongue with words. I thought about trying to sit up straighter, decided it wasn't worth the effort, and seriously thought if I said little to nothing Al might not catch on that I was drunk on half a glass of whatever it had been he'd given me.
I focused in with ridiculous attention to his lips, trying to hear what the hell it was he was saying. No luck, everything was one pleasant buzz of unremarkable background noise. Al's red eyes narrowed, and I giggled a little, I couldn't help it. I put a hand over my mouth to keep from saying anything else, but then suddenly didn't care so much about staying quiet when the table collided with my forehead. Ouch.
Al's hands were on my bare shoulder in moments, pulling me up. I jerked back in surprise, almost falling out of my chair. His hands were hot, almost uncomfortably so. I studied the dark skin so close to my face for what felt like long minutes, wondering again if he really was the big naked scary demon man he had used to scare Treble, of if it was all show. Maybe he'd tell me, if he had more to drink. It was damn good after all. I tried to gesture towards the bottle, and Al, totally misunderstanding, snatched it away from me and awkwardly got me to my feet. I could feel the red eyes from all over the room focusing in on us, but for once it didn't make me nervous.
I was giggling like an insane hyena when Al finally pushed me into a line, and when we came back into our bodies, all I found feel was the warmth of him pressed up behind me and his arms wrapped tight around my middle. I had the vague feeling I might puke, but Al's too warm hands were pulling my hair aside and he was whispering in my ear. I shuddered and tried to turn away, his warm breath tickling my neck enough to induce another fit of giggles. I didn't remember closing my eyes, but soon there was only the soft trickle of his voice in my ear and his warm hands and strong arms cradling me against him.
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This fic is going to be more chapters than I'd originally planned, which is both good and bad. Good, cause yay, more Ral fun, bad because I no longer have a clear ending in sight. I am open to suggestions, and also still offering trades for a time machine.