literature

Out To Dinner

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The gentle blue glow of the digital clock on Conrad's desk was the only light in the room, filtering across the pale carpet as Toni opened one eye, slowly. Conrad's wrinkled oxford sleeves were wrapped around her waist, his dreamless sleep punctuated by the occasional little rush of habitual breath, exhaled lightly against the curve of her neck.

The sudden rush of noise made her jump as his iPhone, set discreetly beside his laptop, began clamoring a rather tinny rendition of a song she decided was familiar, but decidedly too soon after waking to recall the name. Quietly disentangling herself from the safety of his arms, Toni slipped from the sofa and darted over to the desk, feet still slightly numb from several hours' disuse.

Toni quirked a sleep-filled glance at the clock; at six-thirty in the morning, it was rather early for anyone to be calling. Maybe it's important, she thought, scooping up the blaring iPhone and hitting the "Talk" button before the din could wake him.

"Achenleck residence," she hummed into the phone, her eyes flitting across the length of Conrad, legs tangled with the comforter on the couch, his head slumped over slightly against his chest. Black-rimmed glasses were splayed carelessly on the coffee table, and his arms wrapped around the space where she had fit so comfortably, moments ago.

"Conrad, duckie--" The voice on the other end halted suddenly, and a sharp intake of air was punctuated by a nasally exclamation that Toni couldn't quite catch. "Who is this?" The voice on the end of the line was high-pitched and peppered with a familiar accent--though different somehow, heavier-- and a slowly-sinking feeling began to drag her stomach in the direction of her bare feet.

Casting a sympathetic look at the sleeping form sprawled across the sofa cushions, Toni swallowed hard and gripped the iPhone with both hands, attempting to quell the rising uneasiness with a deep breath. This is normal, she told herself. It's not like you weren't expecting this.

But she wasn't, really. Especially not right now, mere moments after slipping from the sleepy arms of the voice's vampiric son.

"I'm--I'm one of Conrad's friends," she managed, hoping her voice sounded as appropriately composed as could be under the circumstances. The voice on the other end gave no quarter, demanding an answer nearly before Toni had finished.

"Are you his girlfriend?" Searingly British, pitched to the whine of nails dragged across a chalkboard, and impossibly direct-- Toni nearly dropped the phone, wincing at both the voice and the question. Conrad had... neglected... to mention several things to his mother, his recent transformation and Toni among them. She hoped he wouldn't be too upset...

"Well, I suppose you could say that, yes." Toni bit her lip, then added, "My name is Toni, by the way."

Ignoring such pleasantries, the impatient voice demanded her answer. "Where's Conrad?"

"Um, he's--" A cool hand on her shoulder nearly gave her cause to drop the phone again, and Toni clapped a desperate hand over the mouthpiece as she spun to see him, blinking at her curiously in the haze of shadows, near-blind without his glasses.

"Who?" He mouthed, and Toni shook her head furiously as he slipped the phone from her fingers, swallowing an unnecessary breath before speaking, pitching his voice a bit deeper as he took the call.

"Wha-- yes, hello, Mum." A moment of bewilderment, then a sudden nod as he recognized the speaker. "No, I--" His brow furrowed, his free hand began waving wildly before him as he tried to get a word in edgewise. From the muffled sounds on the other end of the line, Toni had the feeling that his mother was doing enough speaking for the both of them.

"Well, sort of-- I was going to, but I haven't-- No, that's not why--" His pale face hardened, his temper flaring as he stepped away from the desk and began pacing before the sofa. Toni winced as he shook his head vehemently, as if the action could be registered by the woman on the other end. "Wait, you're WHAT?!"

"Dinner? Yeah, I know where-- Well, no-- I mean-- Tomorrow?!  Holy--" The abrupt cessation of screeching jabber on the other end announced the end of the conversation, and Conrad nearly pitched the phone through the heavy window shade, still drawn from the early morning sunlight he now dreaded. Instead, he settled for dropping the iPhone back on the desk with a pained grimace and crossing the room, Toni on his heels.

He dropped to the sofa, his face buried in pale hands. "Bloody hell."

Toni sank to the cushion beside him, her gentle arm brushing his sleeve, concern and guilt fighting for prominence in her expression. "I'm so sorry I answered."

"It's not your fault," he said at once, looking up from his hands. "I just... didn't think I'd have to tell her about..." He winced as he glanced down at his unnaturally pale forearms. "This."

Cringing a bit, she inched closer to him on the cushion (a feat, their elbows were already knocking together) and brushed the back of his hand, her tanned complexion appearing darker than usual against his ivory skin. "I'm coming with you."

The suggestion caught him by surprise, he caught her hand in his, threading his fingers through hers. "No. No way. I would not do that to you." Conrad shook his head desperately, unconsciously squeezing her fingers. "I'll lie. Tell her you have a show or something."

"Conrad." She hardly ever used that tone, even when coaxing him into doing something fun that he'd eventually enjoy but wanted no part of (like every time they hung out with Hanna). "I want to." The serious edge caught his attention, as she hoped it would; it said Like it or not, darling, you're not going to win this one. After a long moment of casting a tired and blurry glance her way, Conrad sighed defeatedly and nodded, groping for his glasses on the coffee table with his free hand.

"Okay." At his admission she set her smaller hand over his on the table, tugging him away from the search for his glasses and back to the warmth of the couch. Wriggling back into the blanket, she curled up against his side, tanned fingers stroking the back of his hand as he gave in, settling back against the cushions until getting up was deemed necessary.

Tomorrow could take care of itself.

------

Toni was already waiting in the hall when his gentle rap sounded, bouncing from one foot to the other as she flung open the door, one arm half-tangled in the sleeve of her jacket as she struggled to pull it on.

He stood outside, looking altogether handsome and more than faintly nervous in a black suit jacket and matching trousers, and wearing her favorite crimson-grey tie. Eyes widening, she let out a low whistle and leaned casually against the doorjamb,  grinning at the slight flush in his otherwise-pale complexion. "Hiya, handsome."

Gnawing on his lip and remembering that such an action tended to let blood these days, Conrad carefully unraveled the sleeve from her arm and helped her on with the jacket, taking in her navy blue sweater dress with an appreciative look. "Hello."

She smiled up at him as Conrad's eyes flitted quickly to her mohawk, and she felt her stomach flutter nervously for the first time all day. "I guess I shouldn't have put it up, hmm?"

"No..." He reached out slowly, brushing back a cobalt-tinted curl that had escaped her updo, pale fingers trembling slightly. "You look perfect." Toni winced at his obvious discomfort, but he forced a weak smile, single fang jutting out as he shrugged helplessly. "If we're going to Hell, we might as well go all the way, huh?"

Tugging gently on his tie, Toni reached up to press a kiss against the corner of his lips. "That's the spirit." He sighed against her cheek, running cool fingers down her tanned wrist as she straightened his tie and quirked a teasing brow at him. "Just don't forget to breathe."

-------

Mrs. Achenleck was everything Toni had expected, and a few hairpins more. Ebony hair, the same shade as Conrad's, tucked back into a severe bun; thin, tortoiseshell-rimmed glasses worn over a wan smile as the woman rose to clasp her hand in welcome. Introduced herself as Mrs. Achenleck, no courtesy of a first name and a firm, no-nonsense handshake for Toni; a cordial nod and detached pat on the arm for her son, who was looking less pale than usual thanks to the fashionably-dimmed lights of the restaurant.

An attentive young server had taken their orders, promising a short-lived wait as he whisked away with the menus and Mrs. Achenleck's strict sequence of "tomato soup, served at room temperature with four soup crackers, and no, Saltines will not do, those are perfectly dreadful for your health; and the sole fillet without rosemary, for that provokes coughing fits." Toni raised a brow minutely at this precision, while Conrad stirred faintly at her side and mumbled his request for a Caesar salad that she knew he couldn't eat as his mother admonished him for speaking indistinctly.

Instead of replying, Conrad had coughed and whispered a pleading "Mum..." that went quite ignored as Toni ordered her steak, and then the waiter was gone, leaving Toni to wonder if conversing with this woman would even be possible.

She chased the lemon slice around her glass with the plastic straw, glancing over to see Conrad taking tiny sips of water, spitting his drink back through the straw every time his mother looked away. That was easy enough to hide, although when the food came... No. Not thinking about that right now.

"So, what do you do, Toni?" Mrs. Achenleck deigned to glance at her from across the table, beady eyes narrowing behind thin glasses perched on a grecian nose, far more angular than her son's.  The note of disdain was clear, though covered with a taut smile that made Toni's skin crawl. Ugh. No wonder Con was so uptight, growing up under the thumb of this... this dragon woman.

Thanking the heavens for making her convincing actress, Toni pasted on a cheerful smile and beamed brightly at the woman. "Oh, I'm working with a theatre company," she offered, her tone more assured than she felt. She felt Conrad twitch instinctively beside her, and gritted her teeth to keep the pleasant expression in place. Come on Con, work with me here.

His mother merely tilted her head, brown-tinted lips pursing in thinly-veiled disapproval. "A theatre company?" Toni inwardly rolled her eyes, nodding ingenuously as she pretended not to hear the blatant I knew Conrad was keeping bad company in the woman's tone.

"And I attend school as well," she added, waving a casual hand, explaining before his mother had a chance to snipe another question. "At the university nearby."

The lift of a single penciled brow was the only reply to this clarification, along with a similarly eloquent "Ah." Conrad cast a quick glance up from his water glass, his eyes meeting Toni's with a brief apology as he feigned a concentrated study on a passing waiter.

She blinked once at him, her eyes softening in reassurance as she turned back to Conrad's mother, perched silently across the table as she scrutinized the punk girl beside her son. "And I suppose you expect such an itinerate pursuit will earn you fame?" Referring to the theatre, of course.

Alright, that's it. No more nice wolf. Toni bared her teeth out of second nature, matching the woman's even tone with a forced smile of her own.  "Oh no," she demurred, spotting their server returning with dinner in tow. "I just enjoy it, that's all."

Conrad's mother made some sort of deprecating comment about the theatre being a dreadful way to earn a living, but she barely heard as the beginnings of a perfectly wicked solution became suddenly apparent. Conrad mumbled something in reply, his face falling at the sight of the approaching food he'd have to find some excuse for not eating.

Toni took a deep breath, inched the tip of her suade boot out from beneath the tablecloth, delivered a profuse mental apology to the hapless waiter, and cast her gaze back to Mrs. Achenleck as if her horn-rimmed glasses were the most fascinating sight in the restaurant.

A split-second of nothingness, and then everything was happening at once.

The startled jolt as the suited server plowed into her ankle, while Toni unconsciously clutched at Con's sleeve beneath the safety of the table and held on for dear life as the heavy-laden tray dipped dangerously close to their heads, before tipping sideways and splattering three dinners' worth of assorted dishes across the opposite side of the ivory tablecloth. The resounding crash was prolific.

Forgetting for half a moment that she was supposed to be unwitting in the incident, Toni nearly choked back a laugh as the terrorized waiter drew back, stuttering apologies, to reveal a seething Mrs. Achenleck. The woman was drenched in tomato soup, flecks of mashed potato smeared across her glasses, and the rare steak Toni had ordered lying unobtrusively in the lap of her starched grey skirt. Conrad gaped at his mother, mouth falling open in shock to reveal one very conspicuous fang.

Fortunately, the remnants of dinner dotting Mrs. Achenleck's vision kept her from noticing the obvious anomaly in her son's mouth, instead bringing a trembling napkin to wipe her glasses as Toni elbowed him under the now-dripping tablecloth. Conrad shot her a startled glance, then quickly clamped his jaw shut as understanding widened his eyes behind black-rimmed frames.

Venturing a hesitant "Mum, are you... alright?" Conrad flinched as the woman's tone was at once quiet, deadly in its murderous composure.

"Conrad, do I look alright?" The question was flung at him with that same lethal calm that had Toni scrabbling for his hand out of his mother's sight, and the horrified server scurried about in a panic.

"Ma'am I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-- I mean, I apologize for the mess, I-- it's all my fault, and I'll replace your meal--"

"Do you expect me to eat in this?" Mrs. Achenleck stared at the waiter as if he'd grown three additional heads, motioning to the mess spattering her attire with a lofty hand. Allowing no time for the fellow to stumble over another apologetic answer, she provided an acidic reply. "I should think not."

"And furthermore, I expect that my clothes will require cleaning. I trust that your employer will pay for this." The boy nodded mutely, wringing his hands wretchedly, and Toni felt a pang of guilt for sending another poor innocent into the clutches of Conrad's mother.

The woman in question punctuated her orders with a conclusive retort, biting out the last word as if it were a particularly distasteful dish. "I have no desire to finish a meal here, as I am presently wearing several."

Stammering out a final apology, the wide-eyed waiter fled for the kitchen. Conrad stared helplessly at his mother, who was dabbing relentlessly at the food staining her blouse. Without looking up, she snipped at him. "You see what happens when a nervous disposition is permitted to interact with the public, Conrad? I've always told you that a job like that would be abominable for your health, and here you see. Uncoordinated lout, ought not to be allowed in public."

-----

Outside of the restaurant, Conrad helped his mother to her car, mostly standing by awkwardly as she swatted his hands away, unlocking the door with a sharp flick of her wrist. Exhaling tiredly, he retreated a few steps backwards.

"We'll meet up with you later, Mum-- just call me once you've changed clothes." Mrs. Achenleck huffed something about the appalling service at the restaurant, possibly nodded an affirmative in between, and shut her sedan door with a fierce click. The engine revved, and Conrad was hustling Toni into a cab as his mother's auto sped past them, out of the parking lot and vanishing into the night.

After giving his address to the driver, Conrad sank back against the leather seat as Toni eyed him cautiously.

"You didn't mean that, did you?" She peered sideways at the vampire, busy securing a seatbelt across his chest, and tried to ignore the irony of the action in favor of focusing on his answer.

Twisting to face her, Conrad's expression was a blend of bemused and horrified, mostly at the thought of returning to his mother for more of the same torment. "Are you kidding?"

Thank God. She stole closer to his side, neglecting a seatbelt in favor of curling her warm fingers in his larger, colder ones. "So we're playing hooky?"

"Got lost in traffic," he supplied, nuzzling her forehead as he slid an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close in the back of the cab like they always did in old movies. She beamed up at him, their noses touching as he suddenly froze, then gave her a tiny snaggletoothed grin as he withdrew the iPhone from the pocket of his jacket and pressed it into her free hand.

"A shame your battery's dead," she noted, thumbing the power button to shut down the phone that still held a day's worth of charge. Conrad nodded seriously as she slipped it back inside his pocket, settling back in his arms with a happy sigh.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled against her ear, and she twisted in her seat so she could press a kiss against the cool underside of his jaw.

"So make it up to me," she challenged, thumbing his nose with an impish grin. "Dinner at yours."

Conrad grinned despite himself, at this wonderful woman and her ability to make the second worst night of his life not only bearable, but actually enjoyable. Leaning forward, he murmured against her cheek, just before his lips found hers for the remainder of the ride. "Deal."
My fic for =MrPuddleDuck, who requested something with Toni and Conrad "going out to dinner with his mum." Hope it's acceptable, love! :heart:

And SO. It's four AM over here, and this damn thing is finally done, so I might as well talk about it for a second. I based my Mrs. Achenleck slightly off of this great RP [link] , certainly in appearance. Erm... this is obviously brain crack, as the pairing is not canon and such, although I did have fun writing it. I do hope I didn't ruin Tessa's characters for the millionth time, AGH. Also, so many #$%$#%#$ italics to format, why the hell did I use italics...?

But anyways. To keep myself up I watched the first half of "Gone With The Wind" and listened to this beautiful song. [link] A lot.


Characters belong to the lovely :iconvert-is-ninja: and her delicious webcomic which EVERYONE should read.
Gosh, she is so kind to let me abuse her characters like this, really...

*Crashes*

G'night, world.
© 2010 - 2024 silverhelme
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athenakt's avatar
D'awww, you managed to make Tonirad with realistic behavior (especially in the first part).

Man, they seem to nap on his couch a lot... ;)