OOM: Moving Day

[ami_imperfect]

It's a bittersweet day as, with the help of her new family, Dani moves all of her belongings out of her Milliways apartment and into her new quarters at Fenton Works. Each possession she uncovers and packs away brings back memories, mostly happy but some sad.

And then, of course, are the ones that she's not sure she'll be able to explain to Jack and Maddie...

Comments

[a1enzo]

"Yeah. It's gotta be turned into matter before you take it home or it'll fall apart."

[ami_imperfect]

"Hey, too bad we don't have time for one last race around the lake," Dani remarks as she pulls her zipboard out of the closet.

[a1enzo]

Enzo smiles at her, possibly a little too warmly. (At least, too warmly for here and now.) "Why's it gotta be 'last'?"

[ami_imperfect]

Dani bites her lip and shrugs, not wanting to give voice to her ever-present fear that once her door closes, it's closed for good.

Now, as long as she doesn't start to cry, they're good.

[a1enzo]

Enzo sees her expression and tries to push down the lump of fear in his own stomach. Averting his gaze from her face, he stares at the zipboard.

As he does, the familiar pattern on the disks jolts his brain into action. Everything's been happening so fast, he almost...

"I have something for you!" he blurts.

[ami_imperfect]

"Oh? What?"

Fear is temporarily forgotten in favor of curiosity and anticipation.

[a1enzo]

"Just a nano, Bar's keeping it for me..."

Enzo bolts, footsteps receding down the hall, and returns quickly with a small leather pouch.

"I, uh. I had it made a while ago. At the forge. So I'd have a gift for you, when it happened."

Shooting nervous glances at her family—but it's too late to put off, and they'd see it later anyway, might as well get it over with—he shakes out the content of the pouch and presses it into her hand.

[ami_imperfect]

Eagerly (but not too) Dani opens her hand - and her mouth forms a little 'o' of surprise. It's a pin, designed to look like an icon.

"Enzo...it's beautiful!" she gasps. "Thank you!"

She leans over and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek.

[a1enzo]

Enzo tries not to react too much to the kiss, as they're being watched, but the effort just makes him blush harder.

"'M glad you like it."

[amity_npc]

Danny leans over to see. His eyebrows vanish into his forelock.

"Is that real gold?!"

[a1enzo]

"Um... yes?" He coughs and tries to act as though this is no big deal. "It's matter and everything, so you don't have to get it converted..."

[amity_npc]

Danny swears under his breath, but the emotion behind it is unclear.

[ami_imperfect]

"Whoa." Real gold? Dani looks at the pin again. "Enzo, how...?"

She wants to ask how he could afford to have it made, but the words don't come.

[notjustcookies]

Maddie has no such problems.

"And how were you able to have such a...nice gift like this made, young man?"

[a1enzo]

Enzo doesn't care for the sound of 'young man'. 'Young man' never bodes well.

"Wrapping presents for people at Christmas," he answers promptly. "And Bar asked me to tend, too."

He doesn't mention that before he discovered these lucrative enterprises, he fully expected to be paying it off for months.

[ami_imperfect]

His girlfriend lets out a short laugh. "So that's why you were tending on Christmas!" she exclaims.

[notjustcookies]

Maddie shares a Look with her husband. They actually let children behind the bar in this place?

[a1enzo]

What? It's not like he was drinking any.

"Yeah. I mean, I was tending 'cause she asked. But it helped a lot."

[passthefudge]

Some things do get through to Jack. Eventually. He looks suspiciously back and forth from the pile of digital goodies to Dani's new bauble and back.

"Looks like you've been getting a lot of presents."

[ami_imperfect]

"Well, most are from Christmas or my birthday," she explains.

Then her eyes go wide, and she foreheadpalms. "Jeez, I almost forgot! Today's our anniversary!"

[passthefudge]

"Anniversary?!"

It's okay, Enzo, you've got a few seconds to escape before the shock wears off.

[notjustcookies]

"Anniversary?!"

[a1enzo]

So much for breaking it cautiously. Since it's out, though...

Enzo looks defiant. "Yeah. I'm her boyfriend. Have been for a year now."

He turns a sheepish smile on Dani. "Can the pin double as a present for that, too? Things got so buggy, I forgot..."

[ami_imperfect]

"Sure," she agrees (ignoring Jack and Maddie for the moment). "Especially since I didn't get you anything. But, like you said, things got so hectic..."

And don't worry; she totally feels bad about not getting him anything.

[a1enzo]

"Aw, that's okay. We don't celebrate 'em as often, remember?"