I'm lucky to be in love with my best friend. Lucky to have been where I have been.

[uberboned]

Who: Gabriel and Jinx
When: Friday the 13th.
Where: A fancy restaurant- specifically the same fancy restaurant they had their first date at.
Summary: It's Jinx's lucky day and Gabriel has a surprise for her.
Warnings: None for the start of this. BUT I CANNOT PROMISE IT WON'T GET RACY. Will update.


Never let it be said that Gabriel didn't have a good memory. The last time he recalled a Friday the Thirteenth, he and Jinx had both been powerless thanks to a Core hiccup and absolutely nothing about that had really been lucky, but he learned enough from that to know what the day meant to Jinx and how important it was supposed to be. It was like Christmas for a sorceress of bad luck, culminating in the only day where things are guaranteed to go right. In that particular instance, things had been less than stellar and Daddy knew there hadn't been much cause for real celebration since... Well, since.

And this was bound to happen. Gabriel had put it off and put it off for various reasons- it wasn't the right time, she might misinterpret his intentions, she might say no... Everything he could think of, but right now he couldn't think of a single reason. Now was good. Now was perfect, really. Jinx would be riding a high from her luck all day, so of course she'd be thrilled by a nice, romantic dinner to end it all with.

And if he suggested the restaurant they had their first date in? Well. That's purely nostalgia, right? Plus they make a mean creme brulee.


The true miracle of Jinx's luck was that the waiters didn't recognize Gabriel and Jinx on sight. It may have been a year since the last time they stopped in on that fateful Valentine's Day, but you don't forget two people who skip out on a bill that size and annoyed a waiter to near tears. Obviously the staff had changed since then and Gabriel prided himself in the belief it was all his doing.

As soon as they were settled and had ordered, Gabriel began dipping the complimentary rolls in strawberry jam, smirking to himself. "I think they remodeled in here," he said casually, glancing around. "That's definitely a new piano."

Some people babbled when they were nervous- Gabriel did so because he was a showman, vamping until the main act was ready to go on. If it meant making small talk about pianos and new chandeliers and that bar that wasn't there a year ago... So be it. 

Comments

[unluckyinlove]

It might not have been Jinx's luck. The last time they were here, they were a couple of dumb kids on a first date. He had no manners, she got tipsy off a single glass of wine, and there was a huge denial of mutual attraction going on. While he still lacked manners, she wasn't touching alcohol and they were so in love there should have been a daytime movie about it.

Sentimental as always, she had on the same diamond necklace she wore on their first date here. Which happened to be the same one she wore the first time they met. There was no way she could pull off the same dress, though. Her body had filled out in multiple way that she just couldn't seem to shake. A larger chest, much wider hips, thicker thighs. The sorceress was dressed much more elegant for the evening. Her long, black gown was strapless and held up with a lot of wishes. Her shawl was draped over the back of her chair, leaving the swan tattoo on her bicep uncovered. The lazy curls in her hair bounced around her face as she looked over the refurbished restaurant. Everything in Siren's Port was always changing.

Today had been incredible. The smile had rarely left her face. While everyone else was avoiding the cracks in the sidewalk, she was lucky. Friday the 13th was her special day. She had spent most of it getting approved for bank loans, finding all the perfect sales, picking money up off the ground, and just having an all around good time. When Gabriel decided to invite her out for dinner, it was just another fun thing. Maybe they could convince the place it was her birthday and demand they sing at her.

She took a sip of her water, leaving an imprint of her violet lipstick on the brim. Her catlike eyes glanced to the piano and she grinned, crinkling her nose. "It would be a shame if that chandelier came loose and fell on it."

[uberboned]

Gabriel put a hand to his mouth in mock surprise. "Y'know, I was just thinking that." He glanced at it, like he was admiring every inch of the craftsmanship. "They just don't make those like they used to." The temptation was strong, but the pianist was still playing and he seemed a decent guy- also he was playing a 80's medley, which he was pretty sure was another bit of Jinx's luck at work. Normally that would be cause for piano murder, but if they were going to be romantic to the elevator music version of 'Take My Breath Away' then he could deal with the pop standards.

"Eh. Later. Hard to keep up an appetite when everyone's running for the hills," he shrugged, going back to his bread. "Besides, I think I can handle being mature and responsible for a few more minutes." He paused. "I know, I'm scared too. This is really new for me."

So was actually caring about someone enough to ask... This. He'd loved before, intensely, deeply, passionately, but never anyone he could lose easily, but that wasn't what made the commitment easy or even factored into the decision at all. He wouldn't have a life here without her. He'd just be drifting- it would be a place he stayed at, because he couldn't go home. But... Now it is home and she was the main reason.

[unluckyinlove]

The sorceress had her fingers primed and ready for mischief and there was a grin on her face like the world was her oyster. Then Gabriel pulled back. Sure, the pianist was playing something nice, but wrecking this restaurant was the nostalgia. Right? The archangel didn't even order everything on the menu this time. With Jinx swearing off alcohol and him being conservative, their bill would probably be under a hundred. This was unacceptable. Where was the catch? He didn't even hit on the damn hostess this time!

Putting down her hand, she gave him a very uneasy look. She recrossed her legs beneath the table and fought the urge to peak under there for a confetti cannon. Chewing on her bottom lip--a nervous tick which Gabriel was probably far too used to by now--she looked him up and down.

"Okay. I'm calling body-snatchers. Who are you, where is my boyfriend, and how stupid are you to think I wouldn't notice the switch? Because I have never heard the words 'mature and responsible' leave that mouth before in my life."

[uberboned]

"Hey, you're the one who said you'd like a dinner where we actually paid the bill and didn't run out because we set the fire alarms off to avoid getting thrown out. I can be a nice guy sometimes." When there was a catch involved. Right now, the catch was digging into his thigh, waiting for the opportune moment.

"And I was totally mature and responsible. Once. In Heaven." He craned his neck around, trying to see where the rest of the band was playing. "Maybe I'll find the guy on the French horn and knock him out. I bet I can play 'Bella Notte.'

All right, so now he was playing with her. It was terrible, but he knew the more paranoid she got about this, the bigger the surprise would be when he got to the real point.

[unluckyinlove]

And she was getting very paranoid. Her claws rapped nervously against the table and she kept shifting herself around in her chair. Crossing and uncrossing her legs, smoothing out her dress, tugging at it so it wouldn't fall off her breasts and flash the world. Yes, Gabriel could be a nice guy sometimes, but that wasn't the reason she was with him. They started out their relationship having fun, and despite the very rough patch they went through, she still expected fun out of him. The moment he talked about knocking out the guy on the horn, she vigorously nodded her head.

"You knock him out, turn this place into a jazz club, I'll dance on the piano, and we'll make the front page tomorrow! That's your plan, right?" Her eyes grew a little desperate. "Right?"

[uberboned]

Gabriel had to fight very hard to keep his face perfectly straight- considering how naturally expressive he was, it was a feat worth mentioning, but it gave him a manic glint in his eye that told her that he was dead serious, more than a grave expression might.

"Nah, I think I'll take you dancing. Ballroom- not the saucy Latin kind. You can waltz, right?" He raised an eyebrow and dropped a hand down into his lap to fight the little black case out of his pants pocket while she likely proceeded to freak out all over him. Now was good. She'd be at the end of her rope and about to throw down on him until he told her.

[unluckyinlove]

Her shoulder dropped when he denied her that bit of reassurance. Looking more confused that when Bernadette had one of Jinx's shoes in her mouth and was getting screamed at, the sorceress stared at the man across from her. Then he asked her if she could waltz. She looked as though she might flip the damn table.

"Can I waltz? Can I waltz?" She looked offended. "Do you think Sander Cohen would have ever let me set foot on his stage without knowing how to waltz? I've been waltzing since I could walk, 'briel! Hell, you and I have waltzed together. You would know that if you weren't a body-snatcher!"

People were beginning to stare. As she ranted, she waved her arms around. She was at her wits end.

[uberboned]

Gabriel grinned wide enough to show his teeth and let the moment hang there. Years from now, Jinx is going tell this story and it's going to make her and everyone else laugh. And she'll slap him on the shoulder and call him an asshole and he'll grin much like he's doing now. And he'll realize that he actually has a story that's worth telling, not splattered with the blood of his family, or tales of torturing hunters, or lies shared unknowingly with gods. No, this would be his story with its own happy ending.

He pulled the box from his pocket and held it up, snapping it open and letting her see the ring, the way it flashed in the lights from that chandelier so she can appreciate him not breaking it. Meanwhile, the pianist has moved on to tickling the ivories to something that sounds like elevator music in the style of Cyndi Lauper.

And if Gabriel had to breathe, he'd find himself unable to. It took a lot of effort to finally, "Tell me, Jinxie. Would a pod-person do this?"

[unluckyinlove]

There was no past, there was no future, and Jinx could barely comprehend the present. Her arms fell when he pulled out the little black box and her eyes grew wide. The moment it was opened, her jaw dropped and she covered her mouth with both hands. She could think of nothing clever to say. She was frozen to her seat. Her big, hopeful, terrified eyes went from the most beautiful piece of jewelry she had ever seen to the person she was going to spend the rest of her life with...

And they started to tear up.

[uberboned]

Gabriel was just dumb enough about the spectrum of human emotion to think that maybe he'd done the wrong thing... That maybe he should have said something standard, instead of rambling about pod people. He froze for a second, before happy tears occurred to him and he internally breathed a sigh of relief and reached across the table to touch her hand.

"I think... You're supposed to say 'yes.'" He paused. "No, you're not. 'Cause I only asked a rhetorical question. Hold on. Lemme do it over." He held up the ring box again. "Jinx. Lucky. Will you marry me?"

A few people had craned their necks over to observe the moment and all of them suddenly needed to get to the bathroom right now, so between the sound of stampeding feet and 'Time After Time' on the piano, it was all a perfect soundtrack to this moment. So... them.

[unluckyinlove]

They were in public? Because Jinx honestly couldn't wrap her mind around there being other people in the world right now. She was deaf to everything but the sound of Gabriel's voice, and even that was taking awhile to catch up to the movement of his lips. The touch to her hand was a reminder that she should be doing something. Saying something. It wasn't until he said her real name that she even made a noise.

The sorceress choked out a chuckle and took her left hand away from her mouth. Keeping the other one clamped firmly down, she nodded her head. A smile broke through the iron grip and she managed a shaky, tearful, but very definite, "Yes." She held her left hand out to him, smiling brightly beneath her palm while tears recalculated their routes from her cheeks to her fingers.

"Yes," she told him again. "A million times: yes."

[uberboned]

Gabriel internally breathed a sigh of relief and leaned over the table to kiss her- just once, quick and desperate, and thankful, and then he pulled back enough to slip the ring on her finger. "And before you ask, I bought it, so the rock's a little on the tiny side, but at least you can see it. And the band's not too shabby, if I do say so myself.."

He held her hand up to his face so he could examine the way the diamond shone and the way the silver band caught the light, suddenly lost in the moment, aware of what had just transpired. It was a good thing angels didn't dream, because Gabriel would be convinced of this being one.

"It looks good on you, babe," he finally said, punctuating the sentence with a kiss on the top of her hand.