Date Night

[Rhiannon Brock]

((Originally posted by Johnny Storm on Jun 22, 2014))

((Cross-posted from Crash and Burn.))

The backyard garden area behind Nicole's Bistro was filled with the sounds of light hearted chattering along with the scents of roses and other flowers that grew around the perimeter. A small waterfall and fountain with a dolphin and mermaids were situated along the back of the garden. During late afternoon and evening dining sessions, strings of fairy lights brightened the place.

Scents from the kitchen wafted out of the restaurant when the doors opened to allow servers and patrons pass through. A table was marked reserved and the group was lead outside to a place near the fountain.

"Goodness, I never even knew this place had a garden," Liv admitted, looking around with quiet excitement as they were lead toward their table. "Isn't it lovely?"

"It is, indeed... one of the highlights, especially on a day like this." Eregor grinned as he held out Rhi's chair for her.

Johnny scrunched his nose and glanced skyward, frowning just a little. "I hope it doesn't rain," he muttered to Liv as they were lead toward their table.

"My sister had the landscaping done ... summer before last. The flowers came later. " Rhi smiled her thanks to Eregor as she settled in. "That's why there are umbrellas on some of the tables, Johnny."

"Oh, shush, I'm sure it'll be fine," Liv giggled softly to Johnny, nudging him toward the seat on the far side of the table from the fountain, in case of accidental splashes. "See? Umbrellas."

Johnny sighed in relief at the sight of the umbrellas and pulled out a chair for Liv, taking his cue from Eregor. "Thank God for that!"

"Besides," Eregor pointed out, "if it did rain, you could just turn it to steam."

"Yes, but do you know how hard it is to turn a rainstorm to steam? That's a lotta water!" No matter what anyone said, Johnny felt it was his duty to whine.

"Or we could use plan B." Rhiannon chuckled as a waiter set the filled water glass on the table.

"Johnny, the umbrella is huge," Liv giggled, slipping into the seat her husband held out for her. "And if you would just let me teach you how to swim, you wouldn't be anywhere near so afraid of water."

"I'm not afraid of water," Johnny replied with a slightly defensive look on his face as he claimed a seat beside Liv and as far away from the fountain as he could get. The man couldn't lie to save his life.

Liv squeezed his hand, and turned her smile to Rhi. "What was plan B?"

"Private room inside?"

Rhi wore a loose fitting dress in a soft lavender color. Her hair was drawn back from her face with a matching ribbon. She nodded to Gory. "Yes, eat inside. There's a big fireplace in main room."

"I'll be fine," Johnny said, a little indignantly. He didn't want to put anyone to any trouble just because he was afraid of a few random raindrops. He returned Liv's hand squeeze as he turned to Rhi to make small talk. "How long has this place been open?"

"In any case, there was no rain in the reports." Eregor gave Johnny a wry grin. "Tomorrow's reports. I checked." He ordered a glass of iced tea from the waiter, then looked over the menu.

"It was open for years as Lasher's, but my sister and mother took it over ... two years ago," Rhi told Johnny. "Nicole's got full ownership, now."

"That's a relief!" Johnny told Eregor, quickly adding, "I mean, good to know. Thanks!" He, too, ordered an iced tea, opening his menu to give it a look. "Seems like a nice place," he told Rhi, though a repeat visit all depended on how the food tasted, at least, in his opinion.

Adding her own drink order - a glass of water - Liv looked over the menu curiously, utterly at a loss. "Everything sounds so lovely," she said admiringly. "What would you recommend?"

"Do those dolphins spit water?" he asked, out of the blue, as he glanced toward the fountains. "You know, like in Vegas." He meant the Bellagio, where there were no dolphins or anything else spitting water.

"Lasher's used to be an Italian restaurant, Nicole did her own thing with the menu. She kept a lot of the Lasher recipes, but added her own. The pizza is excellent as is the veal," was her reply to Liv. "Maggie still thinks her Dad's pizza is best." Rhi grinned as she took a menu from the waiter.

"Well, of course she does," Liv agreed with Rhi cheerfully. "Maybe if I ever manage to teach Johnny how to cook, he'll have a little girl who loves his signature dish, too."

"The fountain does change patterns through the cycle, but," Rhi giggled like a little girl, "I don't know if they spit."

Johnny seemed a little disappointed by Rhi's reply. It would be kind of cool if the dolphins spit water, though he didn't want to get anywhere near them when they did. He arched a brow at Liv's remark though, having to bite his tongue on that one.

"The mozzarella sticks are a good appetizer. You wouldn't think that there's much to be done with that, but I swear Nicole's added something to the breading to give it a bit of kick." Eregor glanced at Rhi. "I've asked her for the recipe, but she refuses to give out her secrets. Your sister is a canny businesswoman, among other things."

"She won't even give the recipe to family?" Liv laughed at that thought. "That's not canny, that's genius."

Mozzarella sticks would just melt too fast if he tried to eat those. And veal was baby cow. There was no way he was eating that. He perused the menu to see what kind of pasta was offered. Otherwise, it was probably going to be pizza. He didn't have much to add to the conversation except for a muttered, "I can cook."

"The lasagna is divine."

"Oh?" Johnny asked, perking up a little at Eregor's remark. "Hmm..." So much to choose from!

[Rhiannon Brock]

"I think a daughter of ours would be raving about chocolate and strawberry everything." She glanced downward a moment and lowered a brow. "Oh, be patient, we'll eat soon enough." She took a long sip from her water glass. "She learned that from Mama, who has only shared two of her brownie recipes. One is in Ariana's hands, the other gets served here."

It was just as well Liv already had her face buried in the menu when Rhi addressed her unborn baby. The menu rose a little to hide her face for a moment, lowering only when she was sure she had control of her expression again. "I don't think we have any family recipes yet," she commented mildly. "Unless you count my sister's disastrous attempt to make Bolognese a few years ago."

Johnny might have asked if they were special brownies, but he got the feeling this was not the time or the place for such a question. You could dress him up, but you couldn't really take him out. He did glance at Rhi when she mentioned a daughter, glancing at Liv a moment a little worriedly, but she seemed to recover quickly enough. "I can make roasted weenies. Do those count?"

"You always forget the ... weenies," Liv pointed out with a faint chuckle.

"You are a weenie!" Johnny retorted, reaching over to tweak Liv's nose. Yes, he really was five.

"Aunt Ariana's specialty is cinnamon buns. If you haven't been to her bakery, yet, you should go there!" Rhi peered at Johnny like a little sister eying an elder sibling with 'Did you make a naughty joke there, bro' expression.

Johnny caught Rhi's glance and just smirked and shrugged, like a kid who just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Well, that's decided!" he declared, slamming his menu closed. "I'm having the lasagna!"

"So am I." Eregor set down his menu, and looked at Liv and Johnny with a grin. "So what have you two been up to lately?"

"Hmm ..." Liv spent another moment or two torn between choices on the menu before making an impulsive decision on her meal. "I'll try the veal." She lowered her menu, meeting Eregor's grin with a quiet smile. "We moved house, does that count as being up to something?"

"Where to?"

Johnny was about to answer Eregor's question when Liv declared she was having the veal and he scrunched his nose in distaste, though he'd never tried the stuff. "Better than being up to no good!"

Giggling at her husband's expression of distaste at her choice of meal, Liv rolled her eyes before answering Gory. "The Grangers have actually allowed us to move onto Maple Grove," she said, still a little surprised by this development herself. "We needed to be a house, really, what with the dog and ... Well, everything else."

"I made sure Nicole had one of the special ice cream bowls for you, Johnny." The waiter was taking down the orders as he heard them. Rhi ordered a pizza with the works. Whether she planned on sharing, remained to be seen. The waiter asked Johnny and Liv in turn if they'd like soup, salad, or both with their dinner.

"Just salad, please," Liv smiled at the waiter, glancing at Johnny as she waited to hear if he was going to run the risk of wilted greenery with his meal.

"Well, then we're neighbors! Our tower is across the main road from Maple Grove."

Johnny beamed at Rhi's comment. It seemed even she knew about his weakness for ice cream. He ordered the salad, along with his meal, hoping to eat it before it wilted. His eyes widened at Eregor's news. "You live there?" he asked, glancing between the other couple. "I didn't know that."

"You'll have to come over for dinner some time," Liv suggested eagerly. "I had no idea we would be so close!"

The waiter, having heard Rhi's remark about the special bowls made a note that cool things should be served in them for Johnny. Rhi grinned. "If you like apples, you can come over and pick yourself a bushel this fall. We have a nice orchard."

"Oh! We could make apple pie!" Johnny said, excitedly. It didn't take much to excite him. "Apple pie ala mode! I bet Fliss would like that," he added, forgetting that they had yet to mention Fliss to their friends.

"There you go!" He grinned at Johnny's excitement, then raised an eyebrow. "Fliss?"

Liv laughed, glad Johnny had beaten her to letting that one slip. "Felicity," she clarified a little for the other couple, looking at Johnny with a certain amount of nervous pride. "We're, um, we've been approved as foster parents."

"That's wonderful!" Rhi had a delighted smile on her face.

Johnny beamed with pride at that and slipped his fingers through Liv's. Someone had deemed him mature enough to foster a teenager. "We're bringing her home tomorrow."

"How old is she?" The waiter was quietly getting drink orders from the group before heading off to place the dinner order. Rhi looked to Gory. "Are we sharing the Kitchen Sink Pizza or are you getting something else?" She didn't recall hearing him order.

"Congratulations!" Then Eregor glanced at Rhi. "I'm having the lasagna as well."

"She's thirteen," Liv told them, squeezing Johnny's hand as a bright, unhindered smile broke over her face. "She's been in care most of her life, too. And ... well, she seems to like us."

Drinks followed by salads, soup, and breadsticks were brought to the table. "Might say she picked you out."

"She's a great kid. She just... She needs a little time, that's all," Johnny added to Liv's explanation. He exchanged glances with Liv, unsure how much to tell the other couple, but they were their friends, and he knew they could be trusted. "She's a... I'm not sure what you would call it. A pyromancer? She's not like me. She's different."

"She accidentally set fire to her bedroom, which is how Johnny came to hear about her," Liv added helpfully as she tucked into her salad.

[Rhiannon Brock]

Johnny pushed away from the table a little to give his salad some space and picked up a fork. If he was careful and did this right, he might get some salad to his mouth before it wilted from the heat.

"Magical?" There was nothing but honest curiosity in Eregor's tone. "That can be tricky, especially when fire's involved. Still, if anyone can help her on that score, I know you can. You certainly have experience on that score."

"She just needs to learn how to control her emotions. That's all." As if that wasn't difficult enough for a hormonal teenager who wasn't a fire starter.

"That's part of the problem, really," Liv said quietly. "They think there's some elvish in her background somewhere, but the fire magic didn't manifest until she hit puberty. She's only been dealing with this for a few months."

Rhiannon tipped her head slightly. "If you feel comfortable with it, you could bring her to Harker's Academy. My sister has a couple of students in a similar boat. Gifted and not comfortable with it, yet. Kids tend to relate better to kids."

Admittedly, Fliss' gifts were different from Johnny's, as he was no mage, but he was confident she could learn to control her abilities, given time and patience. He paused from poking at his salad to glance Rhi's way at her suggestion. "Oh," he started. "I never thought of that."

"She hasn't been in school since she started setting fire to things," Liv said thoughtfully. "We were going to home school her for a while, give her a good run at establishing control over the worst of it, and then find her a place in one of the schools in September. Do you think the Academy would be a good fit?"

Johnny took up a few forkfuls of salad while they discussed the possibility of Harker's Academy. It would be good for Fliss to be with kids her own age who had similar abilities and with teachers who understood her.

"I think the best thing to do is take Fliss over to meet the others and let her decide. It works for some children and not others." Rhi's eyes lit up as she chowed down on a garlic breadstick.

"At the very least, she'll make some friends." Pausing a moment, Eregor chewed thoughtfully before he spoke again. "Lyneth, Piper's daughter, she's been to classes there... I'm not sure if she still does."

"She is, yes." Rhi nodded. "I think Lynnie likes the field trips to the botanical gardens a lot more than class work. Can't say I blame her."

Johnny rolled his eyes at the mention of that name. Lyneth. The one who always called him Burny Man. He wasn't a Burny Man. He was the Torch, for heaven's sake! "That little troublemaker," he muttered to himself, though he was in actuality rather fond of the little imp.

Liv laughed, shaking her head. "I'm surprised you can keep up with that one," she grinned. "I've completely lost the ability to recognise her since she aged up a bit - I have to wait for her to yell at Johnny before I can spot Lynnie these days."

"Tell me about it," he replied, though whether to one or all three was unclear.

"She still hasn't learned my name!" Johnny complained.

Dinner was being served. Lasagna for the gents, veal for Liv and a pizza for Rhi. "It's a matter of what we grow up with. What's normal to one person is likely to cause someone else to question their sanity."

"She probably knows it, Johnny, she just likes to hand out nicknames. I'm still Rerrygort, I think."

"Rerrygort," Johnny echoed, snickering. "Now, that's funny!" he said, waggling his fork at Eregor.

"Yes, it is."

Snickering quietly at the repetition of Eregor's Lyneth-endowed nickname, Liv composed herself as she cut into her meat. "Speaking of growing up," she said, bracing herself inwardly even as she spoke, "when are you due?"

Johnny's expression sobered at Liv's question, which he'd been wondering about, too, but hadn't known how to ask.

"I think everyone that was at our wedding will remember that nickname." Rhi grinned from ear to ear. "End of October, close to Samhain." She paused a moment then laughed. "They probably won't forget Lynnie playing arm chair kissing coach either."

"Halloween baby," Johnny remarked. Whether he and Liv could have children of their own or not, he was still happy for their friends. "Congratulations," he offered with a warm smile.

"Thank you." Rhi smiled brightly. "Our niece has apparently started taking bets on twins."

"Is it twins?" Johnny asked, darting a glance at Rhi's middle, though he couldn't get a very good look since the table blocked most of his view. Of course, he wouldn't know the difference anyway. A pregnant woman was a pregnant woman, as far as he was concerned.

"We don't know, yet."

"Thank you." He looked at Johnny and them Liv, smiling. "To be honest, I wasn't sure it was even possible, given the differences in genetics and all. Still, this is Rhydin." As if that explained anything away.

"Yeah," Johnny replied, purposely shifting his gaze to his lasagna. It was because of him Livvie couldn't get pregnant, and they both knew it.

"Congratulations," Liv told them, careful not to let her smile slip too much at Eregor's mention of genetics and Rhy'Din. "I'm sure however many there are in there, you'll be very happy." She could feel Johnny purposely not looking at her, and very gently reached over to squeeze his hand. It was no one's fault, but she couldn't make him accept it.

Eregor wasn't the empath his wife was, but he'd lived long enough to read body language fairly well. "The two of you?"

"The family keeps asking how many we plan on having," Rhi added. "I keep telling them I'll be happy with however many we're blessed with be it one or half a dozen."

[Rhiannon Brock]

"I can very easily imagine you with half a dozen little ones hanging on," Liv chuckled to Rhi, aware that her laugh was a little brittle, and making an effort to relax.

"We're happy for you both," Johnny said after a moment, and returned the squeeze to Liv's hand. Johnny shrugged. "My metabolism runs too high or something like that." He wasn't exactly sure about the scientific explanation for it all. He just knew they couldn't conceive. At least, not yet, but Lucy was working on it. "Anyway, there are lots of orphans on Rhy'Din who need a good home, so we figured we'd start there." He was sincerely happy for their friends, and anyway, everything happened for a reason, didn't it?

"There are, and a lot of them have circumstances like Fliss," Rhi agreed. "Children with talents and no parents to help them learn to cope with it. She's one of the lucky ones."

"Well, we're hoping that if we can prove that we're capable of handling a teenager with pyrotechnic abilities, then we'll be able to adopt others with similar talents," Liv offered with quiet hope. "I would like to have a big family, no matter how it comes about."

If it was up to Johnny, they'd probably end up with a Baker's Dozen before they were through, but one thing at a time. He smiled fondly over at Liv and gave her hand another squeeze before letting go so they could dig into their meal. As usual, the storm clouds that threatened Johnny's mood passed quickly. He leaned over to curiously poke at Liv's veal with a fork, as if to see if it was edible.

Finding Johnny poking at her veal, Liv chuckled, cutting off a piece and offering it to him. "Go on, try it. I dare you."

"As my mother likes to say 'Welcome to parenting, the biggest joy and trial of your life.' " Rhi offered up her juice glass for a toast.

"You dare me?" Johnny echoed with a mischievous grin, pausing to take up his iced tea to return Rhi's toast. "To parenthood. We're cheating and skipping past diapers." And going straight on to boyfriends!

"Hmmmm." Eregor studied Johnny for a long moment. "If your metabolism is cooking your little swimmers, as it were, then perhaps there are other means. Or, as you say, there is always the family that you choose. Adoption, fostering... family is love more than anything, after all."

Giggling, Liv raised her glass with them. "Parenthood, however it happens."

"Little swimmers?" Johnny echoed and burst into laughter. It was a silly but accurate way of putting his problem.

"Well, I didn't want to come across as all technical and scientific, you know."

Rhi had started to say something, but the little swimmers remark caused a giggle fit.

"Oh, good grief ..." Laughing all the harder because everyone else was, Liv shook her head, taking a deep breath to try and calm down. "Are you sure you're not spending too much time with Lyneth Granger, Eregor?"

"Everything works. They just can't take the high temperature, I guess. I don't know. Lucy is working on it." He found himself name-dropping and assuming they knew Lucy was Liv's twin sister. But at least, they were laughing and not crying. Johnny snatched the piece of veal from Liv's fork, hmmimg quietly as he debated whether he liked it or not.

"If she needs any assistance, let me know," Eregor offered. "Biology--whether plant or animal, sentient or not--is one of my specialties."

"He spends time with Lyneth and our niece, Maggie, the world looks a lot different through the eyes of those kids." Rhi looked toward the heavens. "I wonder where they think up some of the things they do!"

Johnny nodded his head as he swallowed. "Thanks, I'll let her know! Not bad, if you don't think about it too much," he declared to Liv regarding the veal, digging hungrily into his own lasagna. It took a lot of food to keep the furnace fueled.

"Knowing Lyneth, she probably gets a lot of it from her Aunt Vicki," Liv pointed out cheerfully, glancing at Johnny as he passed comment on her veal. "Johnny, you eat lamb without comment, but veal is somehow a mental challenge?"

"When did I eat lamb?" he asked, not remembering that event, though it probably had just slipped his mind.

"In New York," Liv reminded him. "Lucy cooked it, sort of. Well, Steve cooked, Peggy ordered, and Lucy made the gravy."

Using a knife and fork, Rhi started in on her pizza. "Lamb is usually a big thing for Easter."

"Oh..." Johnny furrowed his brows in thought. "That was lamb?" There had been so much going on that day, somehow that detail had escaped him. "Huh." He took up a bit of lasagna on his fork and took a bite. It was one meal that wouldn't matter how gooey the cheese got.

"Lucy can't cook," Liv explained cheerfully. "Married and a mother, and she still has our great-aunt walking her through the process of grating cheese."

"Lucy can't even make toast!" Johnny added with a laugh. "Oh, we should invite you to dinner the next time they're in Rhy'Din," he suggested, wondering how well Steve and Lucy would get on with Rhi and Eregor.

"Cooking isn't for everyone." She held up her hand and waved her fork slightly. "I remember that lecture from my mother!" From her tone it was a fond remembrance."I think I'd like that. What's it like having a twin sister?"

"One that's the same age as you?"

Rhi looked at Eregor as if to say, 'Did I miss something?'

Slightly bemused by the addendum to Rhi's question, Liv chuckled. "I'm not entirely sure how to answer that," she admitted, because being a twin was just something she was. She had no idea how to describe it. Unfortunately for Johnny, she had a back up to answer that question. "Johnny, what is it like having twin sisters?"

[Rhiannon Brock]

"Good, so long as you don't date both at the same time!" he replied with a grin. There was a story there, but one he most likely wouldn't divulge unless asked. "She's married to Steve Rogers," he added. "The Steve Rogers."

"Captain America?" Eregor perked up. "I met him once, during the war. That might have been an alternate universe, though."

"Really?" Johnny asked, his respect for Eregor going up more than a few more notches. "You were in the war?" It was no big secret that Steve was his hero, but he had room for a few more.

"I would think dating twins would get confusing. You and Lucy are identical, right?" Rhi give Liv a smile.

Johnny would have concurred that it did indeed get confusing, but he was busy discussing the war with Ebon.

"Uh, yes, we are," Liv nodded, letting Johnny indulge his hero worship with Eregor, without interruption. "She's about half an hour older than me. I suppose the answer to the question is that ... well, I was never lonely when I was little. I know that even if everything fell apart, I would always have Lucy, and she would always understand without my needing to go into detail. She always seems to know."

"My youngest sisters are like that," Rhi nodded. "Abby and Madison aren't identical, but they have that bond, even at two you can see it in action."

"Well, I don't really know if it's particularly different from a normal sibling bond," Liv admitted. "I don't know my brother well enough to be able to say either way."

Johnny winced at Liv's mention of her brother, who he personally didn't care for very much, but tolerated for her sake. He had a sister, and they were close, but not the same way that she was to Lucy.

"Trust me, it's different." Rhi nodded. "There are a few sets of twins in my family. Some of them even have their own language and don't lose it as they get older."

"I've been in a lot of wars, but yes... I fought for the Allies in World War II, ahead of the front lines as it were. Scouting, espionage... mainly dealing with some of the Nazis' more esoteric schemes." Eregor smiled at the memory. "I assisted the Invaders in a case once. Namor was a pompous ass, but Cap was one of the most likable men I've ever met." He smiled again at the talk of family. "I remember my family often... as Rhi says, I go visit them."

"Steve is awesome!" Johnny agreed, feeling just a little left out, however, though he was obviously not old enough to have fought in the war. He didn't think Eregor was, either, but as he recalled, the man had some sort of time traveling abilities or something. "Do you..." he started, curious but unsure how much he could ask without seeming nosey. "Do you travel through time to visit them?"

"No. I keep them in my memories... that's all I have at this point." Eregor took a sip of his freshly-refilled iced tea. "I don't know whether they're alive or dead, only that they're lost. For now." That last bit put a smile to his face. "One day I'll find a way to visit my home world with Rhi, but until then... it'll have to do."

Rhi sent a fond smile to her husband. "To the rest of the world, he can seem lost in thought, but I know when he's taking those little trips." Her brows did a flip-flop thing as she considered something. "Have you told them about our impending population expansion?" A little chuckle escaped.

"Yes," Eregor assured his wife. "Even though I know I'm only imagining their responses... but they're happy for both of us."

"Population expansion ... oh," Liv laughed as she caught up, though the laugh was a little short. "I understand you're a Time Lord, yes? With so many different peoples on Rhy'Din, I tend not to ask, but I think since we're friends I can dare."

"Oh," Johnny said, understanding at least some of what the other couple was saying. He remembered Eregor explaining it to him once before, but the thought of time travel made his brain hurt.

The waiter had come back to the table periodically to refill drinks and check to see if anyone needed anything.

"Of course you can dare, and yes, I am," Eregor informed Liv. "One of two living in Rhy'Din."

"That we know of," Rhi added. Rhy'Din was like the weather in some places, it changed every five minutes.

"Only two?" Liv couldn't help asking. "I'm going to assume that the other one isn't the Doctor. Or the Master. I hope."

Now it was Johnny's turn to look lost. He wasn't a Doctor Who fan and even if he was, he'd have considered that fiction, but then fiction was never just fiction in Rhy'Din. "I don't mean to sound like an idiot, but you guys just lost me," he admitted, looking a little confused.

"Oh .." Liv smiled fondly at her husband, touching his arm with gentle fingers. "Remind me to show you The Key To Time when we get home. On our Earth, Doctor Who is a fictional concept, but Eregor is of the same race as Doctor Who."

"No, he's a young one, only in his 80's... having picked up a number of monikers, he usually goes by Ven," Eregor offered, looking to Johnny. "You have to remember, Johnny. We're all fictional somewhere. Some of us are in books, or comics, or film and television... I'm sure there are people writing stories about all of us on the Internet somewhere." Pause. "Well, maybe not that last one, that's a bit silly."

"Oh, so you haven't met Silana, then?" Liv asked in surprise. She'd never heard of Ven, but it seemed the Time Lords didn't keep in contact with each other much.

"I'm not fictional!" Johnny pointed out, a little indignantly. He was as real as anyone else sitting at the table. He knew there were some comic books written about him back home, but he wasn't really aware of any realities where he was nothing more than a fictional character, and it would probably alarm him if he did.

[Rhiannon Brock]

Eregor just laughed and finished off his lasagna.

"In Rhy'Din, people often meet beings they never even thought of in their wildest dreams," Rhi pointed out, and her husband agreed.

"This is true."

"Of course you're not fictional, love," Liv assured her husband affectionately. "Eat your lasagna." She winked at him teasingly, finishing her last mouthful before setting her cutlery down. "So what have you two been up to recently?"

"Like Fred Flintstone? I haven't met Fred Flintstone yet!" Johnny pointed out, trying to make a point. The idea of a walking talking cartoon was just ridiculous. Johnny pouted at his wife, knowing he was subtly being told to drop the subject.

"We've been outfitting a nursery," Rhi answered Liv's query. "We have in-house toy testers for the time being."

"Have you picked out any names yet?" Johnny asked, as he worked on his lasagna.

"We haven't really discussed it... although I was thinking," and here Eregor turned to Rhi, "of honoring our parents?"

"Another headache we don't have to contend with," Liv commented softly to Johnny. "Our girl comes with name already attached."

Johnny managed to finish off his lasagna while the other couple was busy discussing names. He smiled over at Liv, as excited as she was to be bringing Felicity home with them the following day. "We'll make her a Storm yet," he whispered back.

"I like that idea and I'd prefer to honor Tass instead of my birth father," Rhi said thoughtfully. "It was Tass that was there for me all those years."

"Agreed." Eregor nodded.

"So you already know it will be a boy?" Liv asked in confusion. "I thought you said you didn't know yet."

"That'd be the either or thing." Rhi grinned. "I have no problem naming a daughter after my mother, my father... though.... a very different ballgame as the saying goes."

Johnny made no comment on that, having his own issues with his father. Anyway, his sister had already beaten him to the punch there, naming her firstborn after their father. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that they didn't have to worry about names.

Blessing or not, it was a pleasant enough way to pass the time over dessert and coffee, coming up with ever more outrageous names until the music and dancing began. It had been a long time since Liv and Johnny had been able to get out and just spend time with their friends, taking their mind off the nervous excitement of the days ahead of them until they were simply enjoying themselves in good company. It might have sounded like the beginning of a bad joke on any other planet - a Time Lord, a demi-goddess, and a superhero go out to dinner - but on Rhy'Din, it was just another Sunday night. Anything could happen, and usually ... it did.

((Many thanks to Rhi and Gory and Liv's players for the above very overdue scene. Much fun was had by all!))