Home and Hot Chocolate

[Gwen Myles]

Gwen lay fast asleep on the sofa, one of many wedding magazines folded over her chest, the rest were precariously teetering on the edge of table in front of her or strewn across the space between their large coffee table and the sofa. A half-finished cup of hot chocolate made various rings on one of the magazines with a blushing bride on the cover. Gwen had arrived home late last night and hadn’t wanted to wake Samuel, knowing he had probably had a very eventful day from what he had described earlier to her.

Instead she had decided to curl up on the sofa however her lack of ability to sleep drove her into the kitchen to make her favorite: hot chocolate. Finally in the wee hours of the morning she drifted off to sleep. In was a rather unsettling sleep but at least it was sleep. She was so deeply asleep that she didn’t hear someone enter the room.

((ooc: Anyone? Samuel, or someone can be popping over to see her, maybe they had plans of some sort? Lots of people? Anyone?))

[Samuel Michalka]

((ooc: Couldn't resist throwing Samuel in here again. Should they be pretty close to the wedding date now or-? I mean still having to plan little silly things all the time but not that far away from being married by this point?))

Samuel woke up, starting up in bed suddenly, and quickly becoming confused as to a) why he’d woke of his own accord before his alarm (he was not a morning person who sprung out of bed at the crack of dawn) and b) why Gwen wasn’t beside him in bed. Yesterday had been the sort of hellish day he’d gladly rather forget, everything that could possibly go wrong had gone wrong in the space of a single day, and the Minister had been off on a foreign visit, meaning it had been the Minister’s Office (i.e. Samuel) that had had to deal with all of the issues on his behalf. A day of flitting between communicating in English, French and German had confused his brain well and truly so, all in all, he felt he earned the day of ‘working from home’ that he’d decided to take that day. Yawning, he ungracefully stumbled out of bed, just about, and padded with bare feet and top and his long pyjama bottoms into the living room. It was there that he discovered Gwen, sound asleep, amongst scattered wedding magazines and the remainder of what he discovered on closer inspection was a cup of long-cold hot chocolate.

With a soft sigh he looked around the room and retrieved the throw blanket from on the armchair, moving to place it gently over Gwen’s sleeping form and lightly tucking it around her body, his hand hesitating fondly by her face which was smoothed into a peaceful expression. Realising then that she’d been disturbed by the noise and her eyes were beginning to flutter open Samuel waited, perching by her on the arm of the sofa and then smiled as her gaze met his finally, “Good morning, sleepyhead,” he murmured quietly, bending down to kiss her tenderly. “Why did you sleep out here? Was I snoring that horrendously?” he joked easily.

[Gwen Myles]

((ooc: Please! I want her to be Mrs Samuel Michalka!!!)

Gwen felt a soft warmth upon her cheek urging her to wake up. She did so slowly. Her eyes fluttered open as she rose as if out of a deep pool of water, her consciousness rather foggy. She blinked a few times as the vision of her soon to be husband came into focus. He was perched on the arm of the sofa and she smiled sleepily at him stretching her arms over her head with a wide yawn, “Yes, yes you were,” she said mid yawn. Then grinned over at him properly. “I got in very late and didn’t want to wake you. “ She said as she pulled a leaf from her hair. She hadn’t taken a shower either. At least she hadn’t been the one to get slimed by that magical creature. She smirked at the memory of her partner Jack. The only thing she had to do was have a tussle in the leaves with the owner of said beast (mad scientist with a healthy appreciation for defensive spells was more like it). There had been more to it than that really. The man had set a maze of magical traps Gwen had to traverse through. It was in its own way rather hellish. She distinctly remembered saying, “And here I was hoping to have a simple assignment and go home early to my almost husband,” she laughed, “But no, you just had to be complicated,” while her leg was stuck in some magically grown thorny vine.

Gwen glanced over at the clock on the wall and squinted for a moment, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. At the time she asked, “Are you working from home today?” It was later than Samuel usually got up, at least if it wasn’t on his own accord.

[Samuel Michalka]

((ooc: Me too! They could be having a winter wedding? Or on New Years’ Eve? Given that they were panicking about their wedding plans in a scene we did in May… they should probably be getting married soon-ish haha.))

Samuel’s grin grew as she claimed, yes, he was snoring that badly and shook his head, “You’re terrible, Ms Myles,” he claimed suggestively as she yawned widely and then explained the real reason she’d neglected the bed in favour of the sofa. “Do you really think I would have been irritated at my wife-to-be coming to bed? On the contrary,” he remarked with a hint of an impish smile at the implication of this suggestion before he straightened where he was perching and looked down at her as she started to wake up properly.

Noting the leaf he picked it up and held it between his fingers, “Do I want to know or is it best not to ask what you were doing at work yesterday?” Samuel asked light heartedly. Then, following her gaze to the clock, he nodded, “Well since the rather trying day I had yesterday and the fact the Minister is away on his foreign tour, I thought I’d earned the right to work from home for once. There shouldn’t be too many issues in the office today, I fielded most of the outstanding work and messages yesterday, but mostly I just hoped to have a quiet day,” he admitted sheepishly, stretching his arms above his head as he stood up. He looked round at the mess of magazines in a thoughtful manner, “Is this all going to be going on right up until the wedding?” he asked in confusion – surely there couldn’t be that much left to plan?! It had been months of random question and decision after random question and decision, to the point where he’d had to admit that as much as he loved her he just couldn’t see what life-or-death importance the colour of the bows tied to the chairs at the reception dinner really held.

Making an effort to tidy up he began to collect the discarded magazines into a tidy pile which he plonked on the coffee table before collecting Gwen’s half-finished hot chocolate and turning back to her, “So, what would you like for breakfast? I might as well be a decent house-husband if I’m dossing about and practically taking the day off!”

[Gwen Myles]

((ooc: A winter wedding sounds lovely! Should we say December?))

Gwen smiled over at him pleasantly. She loved the fact that she didn’t have to hide anything from him anymore. “Well, if you want to hear about a mad scientist and his magical animal’s then yes,” she teased.

Listening to him a sassy almost suggestive smile parted her lips, “Is that so? I could always call in sick and take the day off with you, I mean, work from home,” she added knowing if they both did neither of them would get much work done. Gwen couldn’t wait to be wed and whisked away on their honeymoon. It wasn’t very far away and she wasn’t worried at all. Instead she was continually overflowing with joy and excitement. Sometimes she wondered if she was the worst bridezilla ever because she was constantly telling her friends how excited she was about the wedding in an enthusiastic manner. She couldn’t help it. Gwen also couldn’t stop smiling for the life of her.

That’s when she glanced around at all the magazines, “Oh,” the looked perplexed for a moment, “I have no idea anymore,” there wasn’t really anything else they needed to do just the very few odds and ends, but truly it was all well and done. Now all they needed to do was wait for the big day.

As he got up and asked her what she wanted for breakfast Gwen smiled again in that suggestive manner and reaching up a hand she cupped it around his cheek to pull him down to her level, “A kiss,” she said as she kissed him. “And whatever you want to make sounds good to me love,” she added rising from the sofa, “I am going to take a shower,” she said, “Be out in a minute,” she kissed him again before she scampered off.

A little while later Gwen immerged with wet hair and fresh change of clothes. She sauntered into the kitchen to find Samuel and stood in the doorway just watching him for a moment, a warm smile on her features.

[Samuel Michalka]

((ooc: That sounds good to me/Samuel! Shall we say before Christmas then, Saturday 15th? Random date picked there haha.))

Samuel’s smile mirrored hers, “Well I quite like that I can hear about this sort of thing now so feel free,” he joked light-heartedly about the fact they could now talk much more openly about what they actually did every day.

“Hmmm you certainly could ‘work from home’ for the day,” he agreed, pretending to be talking about something entirely more innocent rather than the idea of spending (pretty much) all day lazing about in bed together, productivity levels at zero. As he bent down to straighten the pile of magazines on the table he looked thoughtful, “There surely can’t be anything else to do. The ceremony is sorted, the rings, the dresses and suits, the flowers, the honeymoon, the reception has everything sorted, I’ve told Lewis not to be a dick in his speech… I really can’t see what else needs deciding. Please don’t take offence and allow me to say ‘thank god for that!’ ” he exhaled in relief as he realised that, really, there actually wasn’t anything major to sort out. It was quite a liberating feeling.

Turning back to face her as she moved he smiled into the kiss she stole, cupping his face to pull him back down to her level. “So demanding,” he joked sarcastically as they parted, suddenly stealing another of his own before he straightened up once more and resumed his journey to the kitchen when she scurried off to shower. He quickly filled the coffee machine with water, its filter and grounded coffee beans, and left it to do its own magic whilst he dug around in the fridge and cupboards for the ingredients for pancakes. He set to mixing the customary plain flour, eggs and milk, whisking deftly into a batter and then heated the frying pan ready for the batter mix when Gwen emerged from the shower. Whilst waiting, Samuel cut up a variety of berries to top the pancakes and set the little breakfast bar with plates and several pancake toppings options, the berries, lemon and sugar and such.

Suddenly very aware of someone’s gaze on him he glanced up to see she’d returned fresh from the shower and had been watching him silently. Blushing slightly as he realised she’d been watching his rather OCD setting of the table, “Madame, your table awaits,” he joked, sweeping into a flourish towards the stool with a cheery smile, in the same moment handing her a cup poured from the now-freshly brewed jug of coffee. Turning back to the hob he poured the pancake mix into the frying pan, repeating the process easily and soon finishing a stack of them which he piled onto a dinner plate and brought with him to the table. “So… what’s the verdict… do you think I could give up all the politics and become a house-husband, if I was so inclined?” he joked good-humouredly, sitting down with her at the breakfast bar and helping himself to some pancakes after she had taken some first.

[Gwen Myles]

((ooc: YAY the 15th sounds great! Woo I can’t wait for them to be all happy and couple-y, officially married that is. And not that it matters but Gwen is wearing something like this I sort of can’t remember what her style was supposed to be like but I’m thinking she is getting more into soft floral prints with the wedding just around the corner.))

“Aren’t we supposed to be,” she said jokingly of women or perhaps brides, but smiled at him nonetheless unable to act at all serious. Gwen kissed him in return, almost not wanting to stop but she knew she had to breathe at some point, as did he.

Whilst he was preparing breakfast Gwen made a call into work. Jack and the others were fairly kind about her taking a day off. She had done enough overtime lately to warrant one.

Returning from her shower she stood in the doorway and watched as Samuel set the table with careful detail. She couldn’t be marrying a better man she thought as she watched him. A broad smile curved her lips as he finally noticed her. She took the cup gratefully and began to sip her coffee. “If the coffee is anything to go by I think you would make a wonderful house-husband,” she said sitting down and then took a bite of his delicious pancake with barriers on top. “Mmm,” she smiled over at him, “Yes, I can without a doubt say that you could give up politics right now and there would be no complaints coming from me,” she laughed.

[Samuel Michalka]

((ooc: It’s a date then. ;) I think before Gwen’s style has been sort of tomboy-ish-leaning but her finding she likes softer, more floral prints after looking at wedding stuff sounds plausible to me.))

Looking momentarily thoughtful, he nodded, “Mmm I suppose you are, but you and demanding really doesn’t fit in my head, love,” he explained. “You’re hardly going to turn bridezilla on me, of that I am certain.”

“Well the coffee machine did most of the work, unfortunately I can’t really claim credit for that,” Samuel reasoned with a growing smile as he helped himself to pancakes and generously applied lemon juice and sugar atop them. “So the pancakes pass the test too. I’m slightly worried by how viable of an option this is seeming right now in my head. Don’t tempt me to leave behind the life of paperwork, diplomacy and office politics in favour of making breakfast for you every day and having your supper ready on the table when you returned home every night. Actually… why would that ever be considered a disturbing picture?” he joked easily.

There was no future in which Samuel could actually envisage managing to give up work completely – the idea of working from home more often was more appealing, admittedly, but he would steadily go crazy if he didn’t have a schedule and a daily working routine to slog through, that was just the kind of person he was.

[Gwen Myles]

Gwen simply smiled at him. As she sat and watched him generously apply lemon juice and sugar on his cakes she leaned over the table and kissed him. “Have I told you I love you this morning?” she asked and then smiled returning to her seat, “Because I love you.” She smiled amused at the picture, though admittedly in said picture Gwen was imagining a child or two with curly blonde hair like two little rambunctious cherubim’s running around.

She tucked into her pancakes letting the thoughts drift to the back of her mind. After a while however she realised if they were to get married this subject was one that had to be broached, sooner rather than later. “Samuel,” she began hesitantly. “Since we’re getting married,” she continued still unsure of how to put it delicately, forward always seemed to work best for Gwen and so she came right out and said it, “What would you think about having children?” Then knowing this might be an alarming question she waved her hands in front of her like raising a white flag, “I’m not pregnant. I am only asking would you want to have children?” she clarified. Gwen wanted children but she knew that she would marry Samuel no matter his answer. She loved him and all she needed in her life to be happy was him. Then before he could answer she added, “If your answer is no, it doesn’t change anything, how I feel about you or our marriage. You are the only thing I need in this world to be happy. I figured that it was one of those questions that needed answer nonetheless,” she said with a small shrug and a hesitant smile.

[Samuel Michalka]

After he applied lemon to his pancakes and cut his first piece he became aware of Gwen’s gaze on him and his fork paused, halfway to his mouth, “What? What’s wrong?” he asked, his brow immediately furrowing in confusion before smiling as she leaned over to kiss him. “It hardly matters, there’s nothing wrong with hearing it multiple times, eh?” Samuel grinned, momentarily leaning back over the table to kiss her back, before he settled back in his seat again and finally took a bite of the pancakes. “Mmm?” he prompted curiously as she broke the comfortable silence that had settled over them by hesitantly broaching some kind of subject.

“Children… well… I certainly can’t have them myself,” he began, in a more light-hearted manner, whilst he swallowed a mouthful of pancake and put his knife and fork down, looking across at her seriously. “Look, Gwen, you don’t need to backtrack, you know?” he reached across to hold both her hands in his, “I love you, we’re getting married, I’d love to start a family with you, it’s as simple as that. So you don’t need to persuade me, by any means, if you’re happy to carry our child, I’m happy to have one, two, three, as many as you wish, children!” he assured her with a growing smile.

((ooc: Okay I officially love the image of Samuel being a stay-at-home dad with two cherub-like children, I kinda want him to quit his job now haha.))

[Gwen Myles]

A wide grin broke out over her features, “Really?!” Gwen was ecstatic. She kissed him deeply and then went back to her seat. She continued to eat her pancakes all the while sneaking cute glances over at him “If you want six or seven children I suppose?” she giggled, “But I was thinking more along the lines of one or two,” she teased.

Then as she finished her breakfast she smiled over at him, it was a rather adorably suggestive smile. “Since our wedding is in two weeks and seeing as I have the day off how would you like to start now?” she couldn’t hold back an amused laugh.

((ooc: Is it wrong that I kinda want him to as well? hehe ))

[Samuel Michalka]

“Of course, come on did you really expect me to freak out over the possibility of children?” Samuel asked rhetorically, his brow furrowed in confusion at this hesitancy on Gwen’s part, before he grinned into the kiss she initiated. Eating his own pancakes he smiled even more in amusement as she clearly thought she was being sneaky, keeping glancing over at him when she thought he wouldn’t notice, and then paused, “Ugh, alright, if we must,” he joked as if such an ask would be horrendously horrific for him.

Finishing off his pancakes he picked up his mug of coffee and took a sip, almost choking on it as he was not quite expecting such a suggestion to be proposed right then. Spluttering slightly, he tried to recover and couldn’t help but laugh, shaking his head, “Remind me again… why do we still have clothes on?” he asked in a faux-serious tone, as if utterly confused at the answer, as he purposely abandoned his coffee mug on the table and looked at her as though waiting for her explanation.

((ooc: Probably haha. I guess he could work from home for a while considering the nature of his job is communication (which he could do via owls, email, phones etc.) and then take on a different, less-demanding role in the Minister’s office?))

[Gwen Myles]

“Well, I dunno,” she smiled over at him. “No every man is as easy going and excited at the prospect of having children or more importantly a pregnant wife running around life a crazy woman, as you seem to be,” she chuckled at the idea. She hoped if she were pregnant she wouldn’t be one of those terribly demanding women.

As he spluttered the seductive smile only increased. Abandoning her now empty plate Gwen rose from her seat and walked around the table. Sitting in his lap she brushed a hand over his cheek and into his hair, “Mmm I don’t know,” she leaned in to kiss him gently yet passionately. “Why do we still have our clothes on?” she asked as their lips parted and she gave a small giddy laugh.

((ooc: Hehe, aww cute. Samuel doesn't have to quite his job if he doesn't want to, they could make it work. ))

[Samuel Michalka]

Samuel shrugged his shoulders easily and looked thoughtful, “Well… I must not be ‘every man’ then, must I? Besides, I don’t see why I wouldn’t be excited at the thought of you being pregnant, you would be carrying our child, crazy woman tendencies don’t come into it. If I had to… I don’t know… sit up with you all night because you felt unwell or do a midnight run to get you fish fingers and custard you were craving or, when the baby came, change them every 2 hours… I’d do it, do it without a second thought. For me, that seems a normal thought process to have. Maybe I’m just oddly broody about children and didn’t realise?” he suggested, adding a bit of levity to the situation.

“Mmm…?” he prompted in a show of curiosity as she perched on his lap, trying not to smile so obviously then as she did continue her thought process, which was with a very-much-welcome kiss, as it happened. “I don’t know either,” Samuel said, in a faux mystified voice at this, as though genuinely rather confused, “I am in pyjamas, technically that’s slightly more undressed than yourself but still… very odd,” he agreed. A beat, then, “It’s an anomaly that needs to be rectified, clearly,” he proposed reasonably, the mischievous smile then winning out as he dipped his head to capture her lips, his arms wrapping around her waist to pull her properly onto his lap.