for Stefan

[talesuntold]

Maggie spends the first part of the evening on her laptop, liveblogging in one chat window and using the other half of the screen to monitor threads on her section of the After the End Times forum. Maggie's good with people. She never minds a turn on forum duty, and as a beta on the site, she pays her dues just like everyone else who isn't a department head. It's a refreshing change, actually, to have an entirely merit-based system where her last name doesn't mean a thing.

As the first movie winds down, Maggie sets aside the computer, standing up and stretching. She did look around enough to take stock of the room. Almost everyone here is a regular. She knows all of their food and drink preferences, and she fully expects a couple to stay for half the week.

So of course it's the newcomer who caught her attention. He seemed amused by the movie, and she agreed with him on this one. Funny how a horror movies aren't scary at all when the world has turned into one.

Whoever invited him probably pointed her out to Stefan. Maggie got his name from the security scans at the door, but she isn't especially worried about strangers in her house either way. She tosses the remote to another Fictional, letting him take over and set up the next movie.

Stefan's the only one who needs to tell her what he wants, which makes him the logical choice for help fetching it. Maggie makes her way across the room, leans over one arm of the couch, and and introduces herself, probably unnecessarily. "I'm Maggie. Help me carry snacks from the kitchen?"

Comments

[stefanged]

He blinks back genuine surprise as he takes a moment to realize that he sure had accidentally given himself a compliment. (At least she'd taken it well!) Stefan opens his mouth, then decides better against it as he helps himself to his order.

"I hadn't," he admits in-between bites. "My mind was solely on the food."

[talesuntold]

"I know it was," Maggie assures Stefan with a very light nudge to his shoulder, still amused. "The food is good too. Feel free to try a bite of mine."

Note the 'too' there. Maggie is entirely too careful with her words to slip that in by accident. She's quite satisfied with her taste in date, thank you.

[stefanged]

"Thanks, but I'm plenty satisfied." He holds up his plate, unable to fight the grin tugging across his lips. Even if Stefan's less careful than Maggie in this moment, the inference wasn't lost on him.

"I promise, you'll know when I want a little more."

[talesuntold]

A slow, suggestive smile spreads across Maggie's face, then she takes another bite and licks her lips. "Is that a promise?"

Flirting back is very much appreciated.

[stefanged]

"One I'll take to my grave," he promises, reaching for a fork and digging in with great gusto.

Let it be known, here and now: there really is no date like one with Maggie Garcia.

[stefanged]

Light Me Up – Ingrid Michaelson

Tonight, Maggie and Stefan were ostensibly setting up for her next movie festival. Ostensibly, because in true Maggie fashion, she had dropped hints that she wanted him to spend the night, and Stefan couldn't deny his instincts any longer. He felt something for her, and maybe it was time he told her the truth. Before either of them fell in deeper. Before he couldn't ignore why he wasn't aging any further, let alone why he often moved and resettled.

As they're organizing the list of movies to play, he leans over her shoulder and murmurs, “If you're taking suggestions, maybe we should hold off on all the Sherlock films.”

When he's a living mystery, it becomes a lot less fun to solve someone else's.

[talesuntold]

Maggie assumed that he'd spend the night if he came, but she certainly hopes it will be in her room rather than one of the guest rooms.

She takes a very tiny step backward, leaning into Stefan. "I don't always take suggestions, but that's easily managed. You aren't fond of mysteries, or is it Sherlock himself that you have an objection to?"

[stefanged]

It would've been easier to claim that he didn't like Holmes and Holmes' rather brash and abrasive style of deduction, but Stefan has a sneaking feeling that Maggie would see right through him.

So he relaxes into her touch, trying to fight the smile on his face. "A bit of both, I think." He pauses, for half a second. "But if it's that important, maybe you could convince me otherwise."

[talesuntold]

"I don't feel any need to. Not tonight, anyway." Tonight she wants Stefan as happy and comfortable as possible. She shifts and turns her head to crane around for a kiss to his cheek.

"I wouldn't want to risk chasing you off or spoiling your night." She says it lightly enough that it at least seems like a joke, but she's also serious. Maggie knows it would take much more than a poor movie choice to make Stefan leave, but she wants this to be a very good night.

[stefanged]

"You'd have to try a lot harder to keep me away," he teases, yet his eyebrows furrow with unspoken concern.

Sure, they've had a few dates by now, and more than a few raunchy emails, but when he's with Maggie, he feels a safety and comfort he hasn't found anywhere else. He would know: he's scoured the entire country, before and after the Rising. Even his beloved Church can't still his heart like one of her kisses.

(He supposes, there are worse altars to worship than Maggie's.)

"In all seriousness, what theme should we stick to?"

[talesuntold]

"Good. Is this the part where I admit I'm more interested in you than the movies?" Maggie asks, smiling and reaching down to take Stefan's hands and interlace her fingers with his. She wraps his arms around her. "What's your tone preference? I veto anything too depressing. Serious movies that end as well as can be expected in the genre, or something mockable."

[stefanged]

“I could go for something romantic,” he says with a laugh, turning so he can lightly wrap an arm around her waist.

Had it been anyone else, Stefan might've refrained. Post-Rising, most people weren't into physical affection. Mere handshakes made them flinch – but Maggie had been different. Maggie didn't shy away from touch, and Stefan was more than willing to hold her close. In fact, he kind of liked that feeling.

“Should we compromise and go with trashy romcoms? One time only deal, Garcia...”

[talesuntold]

"That sounds more relevant to your interests than to mine," Maggie protests mildly, but the fact that she leans in to kiss Stefan as she does means she'll go along with it if he insists. "Though if we carry that over into the movie festival once other people arrive, the looks on their faces would be priceless. I think that's one genre I've never covered."

[stefanged]

He grins into that kiss, losing his train of thought. (Probably a good thing, considering how he's ranted about the merits of romantic comedies.)

"I'd ask how you managed that, but most of them are... draining," he has to admit when they let go. "And I've seen more than I care to count."

Thanks to ex-girlfriends, Zara, and of course, his own sappy self. He could probably still quote bits from the Notebook if he really, really tried.

[talesuntold]

"Tell you what, I'll let you choose all the movies tonight, and I promise not to mock any of your choices until I've given them a fair chance." She pecks him on the cheek. "Unless you start it, of course. Deliberately mockable movies are another matter."

Maggie doesn't generally give up control in her own home, but it's alright once in awhile. "Keep me company in the kitchen for a bit?" Most of the prep is already done, but she has brownies coming out of the oven soon, and popcorn to make.

[stefanged]

"I thought you'd never ask."

Stefan follows her into the kitchen without a second thought, kind of like a lovesick puppy following his faithful master - but it hits him, right as he enters, that Maggie had acquiesced control in favor of his trashy rom-coms.

If that wasn't a sign of trust and faith, he wasn't sure what else was.

"You want me to make the popcorn tonight?" He grins, flexing a muscle. "I happen to know a foolproof way to make it on the stove."

[talesuntold]

"Sure," Maggie agrees, grinning at the silly gestures. "Pans are in the cabinet to the right of the stove, and popcorn and oil in the one above that." She lets him get started, and when her timer goes off, Maggie steps up behind Stefan and wraps her arms around him.

"I'll need to get to the oven for a moment, though," she requests, resting her chin on his shoulder.

[stefanged]

"You can't simply walk to the oven," He recites with an almost deadpan tone, as if the oven were Mordor and he were the gatekeeper between the fiery hot flames and his beloved.

Yet Stefan can't quite help laughing as he glances over and lightly pecks her cheek. The popcorn can honestly wait; he hasn't done much besides heat the oil, let the kernels pop, and let the corn cook as long as necessary.

(He's nothing else if old-fashioned; no microwave bags for him.)

"Buuut I think I can slide over, now that I've gotten my payment."

[talesuntold]

Maggie usually makes popcorn the old fashioned way too, or with a popcorn popper. It just isn't the same from a microwave bag.

She kisses his cheek as she reaches for pot holders. "Just in case, I'd better pay passage again."

She pulls two large batches of brownies from the oven, setting both on waiting cooling racks. "Thank you for coming early. It's nice to have you to myself awhile before the crowd descends."

[stefanged]

The extra kiss certainly didn't hurt. Stefan grins, lowering the heat just in case.

"I wouldn't have missed this for the world." These quiet moments, he means. Film festivals are fun, but he way prefers Maggie's company to a large crowd's. "It's a lot easier to talk about myself - er, to talk in general - when no one else's around to overhear."

[talesuntold]

That was a fairly obvious slip. She turns away from her baked goods and leans against the counter.

"Something weighing on your mind?" Maggie would be fully willing to abandon movie night and find somewhere quietish to talk later if need be, but it's just as well Stefan came early. "We have awhile before anyone starts arriving. Nobody to overhear but the dogs."

[stefanged]

"Just a bit," he teases, pinching his index finger and thumb together just a tad. "But it's not exactly pressing, just... something I wanted to talk through before everyone else came in."

He might as well start by asking her, "So uh, when Zara brought me over, or went through all the paperwork, how'd she introduce me and get me vetted?"

[talesuntold]

"I'm pretty free with invitations," at least for first time visits, with recommendations from anyone she likes. Maggie decides herself who gets to come back. "She said you were a family friend. Safety and logistics are the gate guards' job."

She tilts her head. He sounds like a person with something to hide, but she withholds judgement until she finds out what. "Why?"

[stefanged]

"I don't have the greatest track record," he explains, with full honesty, and wincing a little at himself. "Honestly, I was a little worried when Zee said she wanted to drag me along."

Actually, that's a bit of an under-exaggeration, but he'll deal with that when he gets to it.

"Look, Maggie - I like you, and it's because I like you that I don't want to lie anymore. Or at least hold back about who I really am."

[talesuntold]

She listens calmly, letting Stefan wind down before she speaks.

"Are you about to tell me about your secret life of crime?" Maggie asks, voice so light that it's clearly a deliberate choice of tone. Whatever Stefan is about to tell her, if it were easy, he wouldn't be this serious. Her first line of defense has always been a cheerful front. "And should I be sitting down for this conversation?"