Date night with the White Queen (RP for ice_emma)
Scott likes having a plan.
He can work without one, of course. Part of being a skilled tactician is the ability to improvise on the field of battle. But, given his preferences, he would much rather hear 'everything went aa planned' than 'this brilliant idea came to me at exactly the right moment.' Order is soothing. Spontaneity isn't.
This is a quality, he is starting to suspect, that he shares with Emma. He doesn't think that he would ever tell her this; she probably doesn't want to think of herself as 'predictable.' On the other hand, she's not a person, he thinks, who will ever use the classic, 'you need to be more spontaneous' plan of attack -- the sort of thing that always just made him feel more uptight, because, as far as he could see it, a person was either spontaneous or he wasn't. Just because it took his brain a long time to shift gears didn't mean that personal time wasn't important to him.
Emma, he is pretty sure, understands this. Emma -- he is pretty sure -- is happy about the plan he came up with. He picks a weeknight, when they don't have any classes and can beg, borrow, or trade favors with Hank and Logan to handle chaperone duties. He calls ahead to a local restaurant to get Emma's favorite entree, buys the wine she suggested (and for "suggested," read "left a copy of Wine Spectator on his desk with the page dogeared and the review circled), and loads the CD player with a collection of jazz standards.
He sets the table in their sitting room and, few minutes before the appointed time, takes one last check that everything is in order and thinks in Emma's direction: Whenever you're ready.
God. Please let this go well. They need something nice to happen.
He can work without one, of course. Part of being a skilled tactician is the ability to improvise on the field of battle. But, given his preferences, he would much rather hear 'everything went aa planned' than 'this brilliant idea came to me at exactly the right moment.' Order is soothing. Spontaneity isn't.
This is a quality, he is starting to suspect, that he shares with Emma. He doesn't think that he would ever tell her this; she probably doesn't want to think of herself as 'predictable.' On the other hand, she's not a person, he thinks, who will ever use the classic, 'you need to be more spontaneous' plan of attack -- the sort of thing that always just made him feel more uptight, because, as far as he could see it, a person was either spontaneous or he wasn't. Just because it took his brain a long time to shift gears didn't mean that personal time wasn't important to him.
Emma, he is pretty sure, understands this. Emma -- he is pretty sure -- is happy about the plan he came up with. He picks a weeknight, when they don't have any classes and can beg, borrow, or trade favors with Hank and Logan to handle chaperone duties. He calls ahead to a local restaurant to get Emma's favorite entree, buys the wine she suggested (and for "suggested," read "left a copy of Wine Spectator on his desk with the page dogeared and the review circled), and loads the CD player with a collection of jazz standards.
He sets the table in their sitting room and, few minutes before the appointed time, takes one last check that everything is in order and thinks in Emma's direction: Whenever you're ready.
God. Please let this go well. They need something nice to happen.