I'd Give Up The World For You

Valentine's Day was on a Wednesday this year. As such, Rukelion forced himself to get through the workday then hurried home to freshen up and get those flowers before Daisy picked him up. Their reservation was at seven. 

They had exchanged numbers earlier in the day so she could let him know when she arrived. He already had it, of course. But if she knew that she would probably get freaked out. 

She didn't know he had tracked her down using a private investigator and he planned to keep things that way. In case she never remembered her life in Mirea he needed her to think that they had met naturally. 

Rukelion lightly spritzed himself with cologne as the internet had recommended and fussed with his hair for a moment in the mirror. He was nervous. If tonight didn't go well everything would be ruined! He could NOT let that happen!

His phone buzzed with a text. She was here. 

His heart flipped in his chest and he grabbed his wallet and room key, shoving them into his pockets before grabbing the vase of flowers he had gotten for her and heading outside. He could do this. He was going to be fine. 

Daisy rolled down the window to wave at him and her eyes widened when she saw the flowers. "Are those for me?! I've never seen such a fancy bouquet!" 

Rukelion nodded and cleared his throat. The sight of her had momentarily taken his breath away. She had worn light makeup at work plenty of times but tonight she was wearing red lipstick to go with her red dress. Her very short red dress that ended on the tops of her thighs clad in black tights. She hadn't worn this to work!

He knew that the fashion here was different after seeing what people wore over the past several months but that didn't prepare him for the sight of his wife in a miniskirt. He needed to pull himself together. 

"Y-yes," he stammered. "Where do you want me to put these?"

"The floor of the backseat is fine. I don't want them to fall over. They're beautiful!" Daisy exclaimed.

The bouquet was made up of white daisies, these red flowers he didn't know the name of, smaller white flowers, and assorted greenery. He got it because he thought she would like it best out of all the arrangements he saw online and it seemed he had been right. That was reassuring. 

"I'm glad you like them," Rukelion said sincerely as he opened the back door to gingerly set them down. "So where are we going?"

"I got us reservations for this steakhouse I've seen good reviews for. After that I got some movie tickets. You don't mind action movies, do you?" she asked. 

"Not at all."

He hadn't watched any movies since coming here. He had been too busy with other things. But he didn't care what they would be watching as long as he could do it with her. He would do anything to make his wife happy.

Rukelion got into the car and felt his throat close. Daisy was so, so beautiful and she was right there next to him. It took considerable effort not to reach out and caress her face the way he used to. 

He didn't know what he was supposed to say but didn't end up having to say anything before a song she liked came on the radio. She turned it up and began singing along. He was momentarily stunned. He had always enjoyed hearing her sing because she seemed so happy when she did it but her voice as Veronica was nothing compared to her real one. 

Daisy sang the song far better than the person on the radio did. Rukelion sat there entranced listening to her until the song ended. She realized he was staring at her when they were at a stoplight and turned bright red. 

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean—I usually drive alone—it's a habit! Forget I did anything, okay?" she pleaded. 

"Don't apologize. You have the most beautiful singing voice I've ever heard," he said honestly. "Why would I want to forget something so lovely?"

If her face was red before that had nothing on how it looked now. "…you're a real sweet talker, aren't you? That's a massive exaggeration. I'm not that great. I was in choir in high school but never got any solos."

"Then whoever was in charge of assigning solos was deaf." 

Daisy burst out laughing. It was the first time he had heard her truly laugh in this world. This wasn't a small muffled snort. This was a full-on peal of laughter that made her shoulders shake and her head rest on the steering wheel. She was laughing so hard that she didn't notice when the light turned green until the person behind them honked at her. 

This was not the sort of dainty laugh Veronica had. It was much heartier and much more contagious. Rukelion didn't know what was so funny but he couldn't help but laugh along with her. 

When she finally got a hold of herself she looked over at him and grinned while shaking her head. "You're ridiculous, you know that?"

"How exactly am I ridiculous?" he asked in a daze, stunned yet again by the force of her smile. 

Her lips were stretched in such a way that all of her perfectly straight teeth were visible. She had a dimple in one cheek and her sparkling eyes crinkled at the corners like they wanted to join in on the fun. They may be a different color and shape now but they had the same light in them when she was happy or amused. 

"You can't compliment people like that!" Daisy insisted. 

"Why not?"

She didn't seem to have a real comeback for that. "You just can't. It's too over-the-top."

"How is honesty too over-the-top?" Rukelion asked with a raised eyebrow. "I don't say things I don't mean, Daisy."

"Everybody says things they don't mean."

"Well, I don't." 

At least not when it came to her. He had lied a lot over the years but never about his feelings for the woman he loved. Even back in the beginning when they weren't anything but friends he was sure to tell her how much he appreciated her company. 

Daisy eyed him skeptically. "So you're the straightforward type, huh? I haven't met too many of those."

Rukelion may have been straightforward when he was a child but since the fall of Katalya he had been rather secretive about most things. His straightforward nature didn't come out very often as a matter of safety. 

"Is being straightforward a bad thing?" he dared to ask. 

She shook her head with half a smile on her face. "Nah. I don't think so. Honestly, it's kind of refreshing."

The conversation ended there because they had arrived at the restaurant. They were seated almost immediately since Daisy had made a reservation. The hostess had wanted to seat them at the bar but after checking Rukelion's ID they weren't allowed since he was a couple of months away from turning twenty-one, which was the legal drinking age here. 

She had mentioned before that there were different degrees of adulthood where she was from and that twenty-one was one of the benchmarks. He never thought he would have to deal with those kinds of restrictions. 

"You're only twenty? You look older," she noted after the hostess left. 

Rukelion shrugged. He certainly felt older. He had been through more in his twenty years of life than most people went through in eighty. 

"I believe life is measured in experience more than years," he said mildly. "That isn't a problem, is it?"

"Not really. No one here will believe you're younger than me at a glance so it's not a big deal. We're both in our twenties anyway."

He was relieved. His age had always been something he couldn't control and for a while it had been an agonizing obstacle in their relationship. He hadn't wanted to deal with something like that ever again. 

Daisy didn't order wine to be courteous since Rukelion couldn't have any (which was ridiculous since he had been a king!) and they both sipped at their water seemingly at a loss for what to say. This wasn't good. He had to keep the conversation going but about what? 

She ended up solving that problem for him but not at all in a way he liked. "So what brought you to Cincinnati? I don't think you ever said."

How was he supposed to answer that?! SHE had brought him to Cincinnati but he definitely couldn't say that. It would totally freak her out and that was the last thing he could ever do. It would ruin his second chance with her. 

"I wanted a change of pace and this was where I happened to find a job," Rukelion lied.. "I had heard a lot about the area so it didn't seem like such a bad place to go. What about you? How long have you been here?"