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[insteadofwords]

He gives their first date a lot of thought. He talks to people. He does research. Finally, he manages to settle on a little Italian place that's got great ratings and reviews, that's fancy without being overbearing. He wants to give Rapunzel a chance to dress up, if she wants to. He doesn't have a suit made by her, yet, but he goes shopping again and finds a dark suit and shirt combo that he thinks works.

He's inexplicably nervous as he climbs the stairs to her apartment and knocks. In his hands, there's a bouquet of flowers, carefully chosen -- he'd gone with wildflowers in pinks and purples, flashes of yellow. They'd seemed more fitting for her than something more formal.

God, he wants this to go well.

Comments

[fatesdesign]

"Bubbles it is," she says as she lifts her foot to rest her heel on the top of his shoe. It doesn't escape her notice how big his feet are compared to her, but all of him is big compared to her. When Keys says that he'll pay, Rapunzel nearly protests. Despite old-fashioned manners, she doesn't think one person in the relationship should have to pay for everything, and she likes being independent. She wants to share the cost of their dates, but she knows how hard he's trying to make tonight go well, so she doesn't bring that up. She only nods, because there will be time to argue about it later. He can pay for this one, the first one, because she knows it'll make him happy.

"The fettuccine looks good," she says after glancing at the menu, lifting her gaze to see him doing the same thing. "Everything looks good. Do you want to get two entrees and share?"

[insteadofwords]

It's barely contact, just her heel resting against the leather of his boot, but it's something, and he doesn't pull away. "Yeah," he says, nodding, his hair tumbling across his forehead. He lifts one hand to push it back. "Fettucine is good. And maybe. Hm. Vongole is good? It's clams in white wine and tomato? Or we could do like...a meat entree, maybe?"

[fatesdesign]

"Clams remind me of home," Rapunzel says, and it's clear by her tone that she doesn't necessarily consider that a good thing. "Gothel would bring back buckets of them."

She wrinkles her nose at the memory of cleaning them, slicing her hands on the shells only to watch the cuts heal over, and then looks up at Keys again. "I don't mind them, but I'm fine with skipping them, too. What about something with chicken?"

Their server comes over and brings warm bread and butter, and Rapunzel slides the wine list over to Keys to let him order.

[insteadofwords]

"If they remind you of that, then we'll get somewhere else."

He only knows part of the story, but he knows enough that he knows that reminding her of Gothel is not something he ever wants to do. He orders them a bottle of good champagne. When the waiter goes away, he goes back to the menu. "What about...this?" He leans closer to her, indicating a dish with one finger -- it's chicken, white wine, mushrooms. "I'll basically eat anything."

[fatesdesign]

Rapunzel gives him a grateful smile and when he leans over to show her the menu, she takes the opportunity to put her hand over his, curling her fingers around his index finger and giving it a brief squeeze.

"That looks fantastic," she assures him, squeezing again before settling back into her seat with a dusting of pink on her cheeks. After taking a sip of her ice water, she picks up a piece of bread and spreads a little butter on it before holding it out to him in offering. "The free bread is one of my favorite parts, it I'm being honest."

[insteadofwords]

It's not quite holding his hand, but it's close, and the way she blushes is echoed in his own cheeks. He bites his lip over a smile and then takes the offered bread, biting into it. It's still warm from the oven and, honestly, it's really fucking good.

"Good bread is the best," says Keys, glad that they agree. "Do you want to get appetisers to share, too, or are we saving ourselves for dessert?" He glances over at her, knee brushing hers under the table. "Or both?"

[fatesdesign]

Rapunzel means for him to take it with his hand, but instead he leans over and bites into it with his teeth to take it, and she finds herself utterly charmed. This is a nice place, and in nice places she worries that she isn't polished enough, but Keys has eased her fears, even if he didn't mean to. She giggles softly and then butters another piece of bread before taking a bite for herself.

She shakes her head as she chews, then swallows and licks the corner of her mouth. "You can get whatever you'd like, but I'd prefer dessert. Pasta and bread are enough to fill me up, but there's always room for dessert."

[insteadofwords]

There's something about being her around her that makes him feel light, like he wants to goof around. He takes the bread out of his mouth, chewing the bite he has. His mouth is open to answer but he's utterly distracted, for a moment, by the way she licks her lips. God, okay. He's got to get it together.

"Yeah, I think you're right," he says. "Dessert definitely sounds like the answer."

[fatesdesign]

"It usually is," she says with a giggle, smiling at him and taking another bite of bread. The server comes back with the wine and two glasses, pouring a little into each. Rapunzel thanks her and sets the bread down, wiping her fingers discreetly on her napkin before picking up her glass.

"Should we make a toast, you think?" Her smile goes a little shy. "It seems like a pretty good time."

[insteadofwords]

He just loves watching her and he has to sort of shaking himself out of it when the server arrives. She pours them both wine and, before she steps away, Keys orders the entrees they've decided on. When Rapunzel mentions a toast, he picks up his glass.

"Definitely," he says. "What shall we drink to?"

[fatesdesign]

"To us, silly," she says fondly, holding up her glass as she looks at him. He really does look beautiful in this lighting, so much so that her fingers itch to draw him. Perhaps she will later, when she's alone. For now, she shifts her braided hair over her shoulder and lifts her glass, smiling playfully. "To taking new paths."

[insteadofwords]

"To us," he echoes, tilting his glass and touching the rim to hers, producing a musical note. "And taking new paths. Together." He takes a sip of his champagne, bubbles bursting over his tongue. "I know I've told you this already, but you really do look beautiful. I feel...kind of pathetically lucky right now."

[fatesdesign]

Their glasses gently clink together and Rapunzel takes a sip, humming in approval at the wine. She's by no means an expert, but she likes the crisp apple note to it. Keys compliments her again and Rapunzel blushes, smiling against the rim of her glass before taking another small sip.

"Thank you," she tells him, feeling both giddy and a little like she wants to squirm. She's not great at accepting compliments, but she finds them so flattering all the same. He seems to really mean it, too.

"I feel lucky, too," she assures him, reaching across the table for his hand. "Very much so."

[insteadofwords]

She reaches for his hand and he takes hers, curling his fingers around hers and squeezing gently. Happiness bubbles up in his chest and he can't contain the smile that spreads across his face.

"What did Pascal think about staying home this evening? I don't want to end up on his shitlist or anything."

[fatesdesign]

"Oh, he's fine staying home," Rapunzel assures Keys, leaving her hand in his as she takes another sip of wine. "He likes to stay home on his own from time to time when I go out. Did you chameleons are not really all that social? Pascal is kind of a special case." She giggles a little and sets down her glass. "In more ways than one. And he knows that I-- well, I need alone time sometimes."

She blushes a little, because there really are only certain things that she doesn't want him around for. "He likes you, Keys. He's just protective."

[insteadofwords]

He tries not to think of the connotations of Rapunzel needing alone time and it's not enough -- he feels his cheeks flush. He squeezes her fingers, taking another sip of his wine. "Yeah. I...guess he'd need to know that." He smiles at her. "Hey. I'm almost as worried about his good opinion as I am about Sweeney's, okay? They mean a lot to you. I don't wan to screw this up."

[fatesdesign]

"The fact that you care so much means a lot," she admits, taking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "To me and to them. I know they're an unconventional one, but they're my family."

Their food comes then and Rapunzel lets go of Keys' hand as she straightens up, clasping her hands under her chin and gasping in excitement as the plates are set down in front of them.

"This looks so wonderful. Thank you," she tells the server, grinning at her as she leaves and then looking at Keys again. "I'm just now realizing how long it's been since I've had a nice meal like this."

[insteadofwords]

"Well, I get family," he says. "If we were back home, you'd have my sisters to meet, so...I guess I can deal with Pascal and Sweeney."

The food looks -- and smells -- amazing, and Keys finds himself grinning at the way Rapunzel reacts to it. ""Want to do half and then swap?" he asks.

[fatesdesign]

"I do hope that they'd like me," she says sincerely. She would love to meet his family, but that isn't possible. She doesn't want to linger on the topic, not when they're having such a nice time, so she's glad that the food comes out at just the right time.

"Oh, I doubt I can eat that much," she says with a laugh, but she nods as she reaches for her fork, digging it into the noodles on her plate and twirling it slowly. "But yes, we can swap."

Lifting the bite to her mouth, she cups her hand under the fork and takes a big bite, eyes widening as she chews and lets out a pleased hum. "Okay, that's amazing."

[insteadofwords]

"They'd like you more than they like me. Definitely."

He takes a sip of his champagne, picks up his knife and fork. He's about to take a bite but then he gets sidetracked watching her taste the pasta. He actually blushes, faintly.

"I love how much you love food," he confesses.

[fatesdesign]

"Oh, I don't know about that," she replies, but she's quietly pleased by the sentiment. Halfway through slurping up her pasta, she realizes that Keys is staring at her and she blushes, nose crinkling as she finishes the bite.

She lifts her hand to shield her mouth as she chews, then wipes at at the corner of her lips with her thumb. The comment makes her giggle a little, and she looks up at him from under her lashes as she sticks her fork back into her pasta.

"My meal options growing up were severely limited," she tells him with an easy shrug. "I still can't get over how many options there are here. I made myself sick a couple times when I first got here. I had never had anything fried. Never had ice cream."

[insteadofwords]

He also loves when she blushes like that, but he keeps that to himself.

"Wow. Seriously?" He digs into his own food, carefully cutting the portion in half first so that he doesn't accidentally eat too much like an asshole. "Yeah, no wonder you just want to try everything. What's your favourite flavour? Of ice-cream?"

Part of him sincerely hopes it's not bubblegum.

[fatesdesign]

"No electricity, remember?" She says, smiling fondly at his disbelief. "It never even really got cold enough for water to freeze. The tower was high enough that I could see snow in the distance sometimes."

She takes another bite as she ponders his question, and licks the corner of her mouth before answering. "I actually really like vanilla. It's complementary to pretty much anything, you know? I can add in whatever I'm in the mood for, like brownies or candy. What about you?"

[insteadofwords]

"I always forget," he admits. When he's with her, talking to her, they have so much in common -- they fit so well -- that it's easy to forget the fact that they grew up in places that were so wildly different. He blushes, faintly, reflexively, when she licks her lips, and he disguises it with a sip of his wine and a bite of his own food. "Mint chocolate chip," he says. "Is definitely the best flavour. Objectively."

[fatesdesign]

"Mm, it depends on how it's made for me," Rapunzel admits as she takes one last bite of the pasta. "Sometimes the mint tastes too fake. But real mint? I'm all for it."

After eating about a third of the plate, she realizes that her hunger already feels pretty satisfied, so she sucks the tines of her fork clean and pushes the plate forward a bit. "I'm ready to swap when you are." Her eyes dart to the bread and she grabs a piece, dabbing it in the sauce. "Okay, now I'm ready."

She grins at him and then takes a bite of the bread, shifting her hips in her seat in a happy little wiggle as she reaches for her wine.