aesirprince | rp ☁ love in a foreign place

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rp ☁ love in a foreign place

So Thor is pretty new to this dating game, he's not exactly sure what's expected of him. But from what he's gathered, anniversaries are important, even one-month ones. Which is why he was glad that his suit was finished in time for tonight. He still thinks they're weird, uncomfortable things, but he's willing to put up with it for the way Ele's eyes lit up when he mentioned it. Apparently human women like suits. And, if he's being honest with himself, he looks pretty damn good in this weird earth contraption.

Since they agreed he would come pick her up with one of the SHIELD cars in tow (no, he's not driving, he's got a lowly intern to chauffeur them around, much to the poor kid's combined delight and horror), he took his time getting ready, wanting to look nice for her. He even tied his hair back with one of Natasha's spare elastics; they ended up all over the place. Sometimes he thought she stashed them around just in case she ever decided she needed one but didn't have one handy in her pocket or something. In any case, it serves its purpose, keeping his hair out of his face as he walks up the endless flights of stairs to her door, flowers in hand. He's not sure why cut flowers are customary, they do die, after all, but that's what he's gathered, based on questions he's asked and romantic comedies he's been forced to watch, mostly by Darcy.

Adjusting the weird jacket he's been forced to wear, he knocks on Elenore's door, feeling uncharacteristically anxious.

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the doesn't do this often, she knows way more about restaurants and reservations than he does.

Once they're in the restaurant, Ele starts to pretend that she has done this before. She isn't poor, but Ele doesn't really spend her time in expensive places. She has noticed one tendency among humans. Walk confidently in good clothes and the company of someone potentially scary, and people go with it. Thor qualifies, and so does she.

"Reservation for Odinson," she says with a surprisingly authoritative, if aloof, tone, meeting the maitre d's eyes. Years at a school where weakness led to abuse by other students had taught her how to do that. Besides, it saved her having to see how Thor reacted to her using his name.

Thor has eyes only for her, his gaze sharpening when she gives his name to the man behind the little podium. That's so hot. The casual way she says it is even better, like it's no big deal that she's lumping them together like that, accepting his claim to her like she wanted it all along. He's tempted to duck and kiss her hair again, but the eyes of the other patrons stop him -- despite what others may think, Thor does know how to conduct himself in public. That can wait. Instead, he squares his shoulders and puts on his prince face, looking down his nose at the maitre d' like he was one of his father's menservants whom he didn't particularly like. The combination of Thor's look and Ele's haughty demeanor has the man scurrying to find them their table, all helpful deference that Thor takes in stride.

He practically shoulders the man away so he can pull out Ele's chair for her, tucking it under her with a little wink before sitting opposite her.

She feels the shift in Thor's attention and the subtle shift in his posture when she uses his name. Closer, not pulling away. She stands a little straighter, and walks a little taller then, assuming that he had no problem with her using, and therefore claiming a right, to an association with him and his name. He is a prince who was showing, and she somehow, at least on earth, she wasn't falling short.

Of course, it helped that her date is willing to nearly knock the poor man over just to show her courtesy. Her frosty expression melts for him as he winks after helping her find her seat. Apparently he could cut through her persona with just a look.

"Thank you."

Oh, he doesn't have a problem with that, alright. He thinks that's awesome.

Thor is all about courtesy, and it's his job to look after his girlfriend, okay, that guy can just step off. Despite that little performance, he seems oblivious to the fact that most of the people in the restaurant are sneaking covert glances at them. Honestly, he's just used to being stared at.

"You are most welcome, my sweet."

Ele is getting moderately more comfortable with being stared at, but there is no doubt she'll be minding her p's and q's while they're out. Unless she gets distracted by her handsome boyfriend enough just to relax into things. Which, given the way her insides still flutter when he offers a little phrase, is highly likely.

"So far, so good, though I'm secretly hoping this isn't one of those French restaurants where there isn't a word of English on the menu," she says softly, trying to limit how far her voice carries.

Thor is not so good at modulating his voice, sorry Ele. Just kick him in the shins. "If you but read it to me, I will tell you what it says. Odin created the Allspeak, I can understand all the varied languages on Midgard."

It's a classy enough restaurant, and apparently they look enough like a patriarchal couple that the wine menu gets handed to him to look at. He immediately gives it to her, instead. He doesn't care if that somehow undermines his manliness or whatever, he's not going to try to figure out what the hell all that means. He just likes wine. He doesn't care about the different between a Merlot and a Cabarnet Sauvignon. Whatever.

The corners of her eyes crinkle with good humor at his loud offer. "If it's necessary, I'll ask you to forgive me for my pronunciation. I haven't had a language class in years."

Ele hides her amused smile at the reaction to the shift in menu. Thor is sending some interesting public signals between her taking the lead with the menu, the reservation, and his determination to make sure he's the one who handles her chair. Enough that she's glad she spent the money on the dress.

"A bottle of the Gaffeliere 1975," despite her comment about accent, Ele manages to sound confident as she orders a single bottle that costs more than her entire liquor cabinet.

He smiles at her, his eyes shining with laughter. We've been over this, Ele, he thinks you're the bees knees, even if you mangled the French terribly, he'd still think it was adorable. "I am sure you will perform admirably."

He's a modern man! Or something. Sif is one of his best friends, okay, she's physically beaten a lot of the typical gender-role mentality out of his thick skull. And Ele reminds him of her at times, so of course he's going to treat her like she's utterly capable of being self-sufficient. He just likes to pamper her a little sometimes, hence the chair thing. And pretty much everything else he does for her.

The waiter blinks a little, but since Thor seems unmoved by Ele's order, he nods and zips away to go collect that for them. Whatever. He has a company card, still, he's going to use it as often as he likes. Suck it, SHIELD!

Once they're alone, he reaches across the table and picks up her hand, stroking her fingers with his thumb. "My darling. You look even more enchanting by candlelight."

The bottle isn't the most expensive on the menu, but Ele was more than likely trying to stick it to the man when it comes to SHIELD. They stole hours of her time, and her going rate is obnoxious even by New York super scientist standards. Covering a nice dinner out with her boyfriend is incredibly cheap by comparison.

Her fingers curl gently around his hand, giving a subtle squeeze as she smiles at him. "Thank you, my love." She pauses and the smile grows. "I can't tell if the light dancing in your eyes is yours or the flicker of the candle."

He doesn't even know, nor does he care. It's cool. She can have her rebellion in peace.

"I assure you, it is all me," he murmurs, his smile twitching a little in response to hers. "I am simply overjoyed by your company." He says crazy hyperbolic shit like this all the time, but hopefully she's starting to realize that yeah, he actually does mean it. At least with her, he does.

There's subtle little cues in his expression. Things she doesn't know how she knows what she knows. That tells her he's sincere with his over the top phrasing when he talks to her. Except when he's teasing her. "Then I can only imagine how my eyes must be shining now."

"Like stars in the tapestry of the night sky," he replies, giving her a ghost of a wink. He does love to tease her, but there's generally always a thread of sincerity running through everything he says to her. He does really think she's swell.

That line he walks? Is exactly why she brushes her foot against his calf under the table. Teasing him with the fact their in public only seems fair. "Speak sweet words to me like that and I might have to ask you back to my apartment after dinner."

He lifts his eyebrows at her, his smirk sharpening. "That is no way to dissuade me, you realize," he points out, suppressing a shiver at the feel of her toes stroking along his leg, even encased in her truly impressive shoes as they are.

"Who said I wanted to dissuade you, dear lion?" Her toe traces up a little further, just barely touching the inside by his knee. It's just as well that her leg isn't any longer.

"I am glad we are in accord, then." He's about to do something like reach down and capture her foot when the waiter returns with their wine. He clearly has a mini dilemma about who to show the bottle to and who to offer the first taste, but Thor makes that decision for him by leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. You'll find no help from this quarter, waiter man.

Oh, Thor, you are far too good when you tease the waiters so. Ele can't help but take pity on the man by making expectant eye contact. When he pours, Ele takes the glass, smelling the bouquet and sipping just enough for flavor. She draws it out long enough to make him squirm before she offers a beneficent smile and nod.

The waiter is clearly very relieved to have met with approval from one of them, at least, and he pours their glasses quickly before disappearing. It's probably safer far away.

Taking his cue from her, Thor doesn't drain his glass in one swallow like he would at the feast tables back home, he sips it slowly. It's nice wine. She chose well. He signals his approval with a nod of his own before leaning in a little more. "Tell me of your day. How do you fare with the Backahast corpse? Have you learned much from it?"

Ele is glad he seems to approve of her choice. She practically glows with it, even if she's seen how much and how easily he drinks what's at hand. She leans in towards him, also so she doesn't have to raise her voice.

"Most of the soft parts are currently out being treated so they don't rot any more than they already have. Right now I'm working with the hide and the bones. Comparing them with horses as we know them on earth, and other creatures. Little details, but they're very important. Especially as I reconstruct the skeleton."

He gets more details than she'd give most people, because she trusts him to tell her when she is boring him. Or grossing him out.

He killed the ruddy thing, he's not going to get grossed out by discussing its carcass. "And what have you found?" Okay, so he's partly humoring her because he knows it's important to her, but he also really is interested to find out what she's discovered. There are times their realms seem so similar, but so different at the same time. He wants to know why that is.

Her face lights up and she has to catch herself to remember how to phrase things. "On earth, we've found that our biggest sea animals used to be things that were like wolves, once upon a time. The backahast has striking similarities to these creatures, and to the horse. The horselike attributes are hard to explain, but the way it's like the other? Means we might be able to understand about the history of our world by how this creature lives."

He lets out a whistling breath between his teeth, raising his eyebrows. "Truly?" he asks, clearly impressed. "That is wonderful news."

What else is wonderful news is the implications this brings. He's not an idiot, he knows how important a discovery like this is, what it means to the scientific community as a whole. When Ele publishes her findings, she's going to be very famous. He likes the idea of his girl being successful.

Ele nods and beams at him. He seems to actually understand and consider his response to her. It matters that someone actually gets what she's going to attempt over time. Though she won't be publishing this particular set of information soon. Not too many people would buy her discovery if she didn't manage to get some official recognition for some of her other work. One thing at a time.

"Besides doing those more glorious pursuits, I also made feed for the rats and treats for Steve's dog, Moxie."

Thor's understanding of time is quite different from hers, it seems. Even if she takes years before publishing, he won't get impatient.

"Ah yes, Moxie. A noble hound, indeed." And a rather oddly-shaped one -- they don't have Corgis in Asgard -- but Thor has been quite happy to roughouse with the little creatures, laughing loudly as she barks at him when he steals her toys. Thor likes dogs. "You are too kind, my sweet."

He'll find that she appreciates his understanding of time. People expect science to move faster than it does, and Ele moves just about as fast as they expect, but she does it by working outside the system and the established rules. It's not the most ethical thing in the world, but it's something she has in common more than a few of Thor's colleagues.

Thor steals a little more of her heart with that one. No, liking dogs isn't uncommon, but it's a nice addition to the rest. "I haven't met her yet, but I'm looking forward to it. Baking wasn't any trouble, really. I had most of the supplies out for the rat food anyway, and I have the recipe from when I worked in a veterinarian's office."

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