Beltane Birthday

[Olivia Storm]

1st May, 2013

It finally seemed as though spring had won the battle against winter and arrived on Rhy'Din, bringing with it sunshine and brighter days. Liv was always happiest in the sunny months, preferring heat over cold. It was just luck that she'd fallen in love with a man who could heat an entire city's water supply just by taking a bath in a reservoir. Spring meant her heavy winter coats were stuffed to the back of the wardrobe, even if it wasn't quite warm enough yet, and the always popular dresses were back. But it was still a relief to get in out of the cool wind when she reached Luks after work, leaving Jon and Vicki to coo over their baby girl in privacy as she made her way home. The keys jangled in the lock as she stepped into the condo, her nose buried in a sheaf of paper that might have been Jon's mail. "Honey, I'm home!"

Johnny was in the kitchen cooking dinner as evidenced from the smell of food cooking - spaghetti sauce and garlic bread from the smell of things. Hopefully, he was not literally burning the kitchen down. "In here!" he called, though if Liv followed her nose, she'd have found him soon enough on her own. Cooking was just one skill Johnny was in the process of mastering since his arrival in Rhy'Din and his eventual marriage to Liv.

Dropping her heavy satchel on the floor by the door and kicking out of her shoes, Liv dragged her eyes from the paper in her hand with a wide smile for what she'd walked into. Johnny was a whizz when it came to searing steaks, but the more complex side of cooking had been a work in progress for a while now. She padded barefoot into the kitchen, hanging her keys on the mug tree, and leaned around his arm to kiss his cheek. "Spoiling me tonight, hmm?"

She found him standing in front of the stove, stirring spaghetti sauce, a smile sent her way as she smooched his cheek. "Why should tonight be any different?" he remarked, enjoying spoiling her as much as she'd let him. "Here..." he started, scooping up a bit of sauce onto a spoon and turning to offer it to her. "Taste this. Tell me what you think."

She hadn't let go of the paper in her hand, leaning on it to rise onto her toes and taste the sauce on the spoon. It was good - a little more tomatoey than she was used to, but really not a bad effort for someone who'd had to be taught how to slice vegetables not so very long ago. She smiled again, nodding. "It's good," she assured him. "Maybe a bit more oregano? But not too much." She patted him fondly on the behind as she twisted to lean back against the counter, watching him thoughtfully. "Sweetheart, are you on shift this Friday night?"

He frowned thoughtfully, a little disappointed, having hoped the sauce was perfect as it was. He reached for the jar of oregano and sprinkled a little into the sauce as he stirred the mixture. "Friday?" he asked, furrowing his brows. "Friday's the bonfire. I'm on call, I think. Why?" But being on call wasn't a big deal. If he was needed, they'd, well, call him, and with it being the night of the bonfire, who better to have on call but The Human Torch?

It was just his luck to have married someone who had a keener sense of taste than he did, at least when it came to cooking, but he was going to end up being a better cook because of it. Eventually. Liv bit her lip, shrugging one shoulder up and down, looking as thoughtful as him for a moment. "I, um, I got a copy of the Beltane King and Queen nominations through this morning," she said, waving the piece of paper in his direction. But she chickened out of actually offering the pertinent point. "Rhi and Eregor are on there. Maybe we should go along and support them."

He stirred the oregano into the sauce and took another taste, not really sure if it was too much or too little. It tasted good to him, but then so did spaghetti straight out of a can. "Oh, yeah?" he asked, not having paid too much attention to the Beltane nominations this year - or last year either. "What about Jon and Vicki?"

"They're not on the list this year," she told him with a faint smile, eyeing him for a moment before taking the plunge. What was the worst he could do, right? She had practice at clearing up after momentary fireworks these days, after all. "Um ... we are, though."

"Oh, well, they probably won't have time to go anyway with the new..." Pause. Blink. Did she say they were on the list? No, he had to have misheard her. He chuckled. "You know, for a second there, I thought you said we're on the list."

If she'd been joking, or if he really had misheard her, she would have chuckled with him. As it was, Liv's smile was only just short of a grimace, her shoulder rising and falling once again as she showed him the list. She had no idea who could have nominated her, at least, and frankly, the thought of being included on such a list of eminently beautiful and intelligent women was more than a little terrifying to her. "I did say it," she admitted awkwardly, showing him the list itself. "Right there. Johnny Storm. Olivia Storm."

He didn't believe it either. "What?" he asked as he set the spoon down and leaned over her to find both their names clearly listed in the nominations. "That can't be right. Why would anyone nominate me?" He considered quietly a moment, before the patented Johnny Storm smirk formed on his face. "You did, didn't you?" He chuckled.

"Believe it or not, you're a popular guy," she laughed at his disbelief, shaking her head. "I don't know, maybe one of your former conquests decided they'd like to see you in the running, or maybe you're just the subject of more private fantasies around here than you thought." His smirking accusation made her giggle softly. "Sadly, no. If I'd thought you might like it, I would have nominated you, but you never mentioned it."

"What former conquests?" he asked, furrowing his brows. "My only former conquest is... Lucy!" he declared, snapping his fingers as he realized it must have been Lucy who'd nominated them, but then he realized almost as quickly that Steve and Lucy were back in New York, so it couldn't have been them. He took a lean against the cupboard, looking puzzled. "I never said I'd like it, and I'm not really that popular, Liv."

"You're more popular than me," she pointed out, hugging her arms about herself as she shrugged yet again. "Not that it's hard to be more popular than me, seeing as I don't really have any friends beyond the Grangers and Rhi and Eregor ... but that's not the point." She shook her head, laughing a little at how she'd distracted herself. "I just thought you'd like to know you'd been nominated, and since you're on call, we could go along. In case the magic dryads or whatever they are choose you."

He frowned, feeling bad that Liv thought she had so few friends. He didn't really have many friends in Rhy'Din either. Most of them were just acquaintances. "I don't have that many friends either, Liv." Other than Liv, the people he felt closest to were back home in New York. Yes, they had a few friends here, and the Grangers had sort of adopted them, but he didn't really think he was much more popular than her. Except maybe for being known as a superhero, but that wasn't the same thing.

Her head tilted as she looked up at him, the soft smile on her face counteracting his frown. "Don't you start feeling bad again just because I'm shy," she warned him in a gently amused tone. "I'm always going to be shy, I can deal. So no brooding, sparky." Her hand rose, one finger booping the end of his nose.

"I'm not brooding!" he insisted, turning toward the fridge, but thinking better of it. Food tended to go bad if he went in and out of the fridge too often. "Can you get out the lettuce and tomatoes? I want to make a salad," he asked, thinking better of foraging in the refrigerator. He opened a drawer and pulled out a knife and cutting board, mulling over this latest development. "Okay, so if it wasn't you or me or Steve or Lucy and assuming it wasn't Jon or Vicki, who was it?"

[Olivia Storm]

She pushed out of her lean, rolling the sleeves of her cardigan up as they stepped around each other in the kitchen. "Well ..." She considered the question for a moment as she opened the fridge, investigating the interior for the requested items. "The only person I can think of who might have done it is Rhi, but then why would she nominate you when Eregor's on the list? No offense, love, but in this, you're competition for her Time Lord."

"Not necessarily," he countered, putting on his invisible Sherlock Holmes thinking cap. "Assuming they didn't nominate each other, maybe she's hoping someone else wins, in case she wins, so she can make him her Greenguy... or whatever it's called." He had deduced fairly well, he thought, up until his little faux pas.

"Green Man," Liv corrected gently, closing the fridge and turning to lean around him, laying the lettuce and tomatoes on the board in front of him. "You could be right. I mean, wouldn't it be awful if they both ended up as King and Queen? Rhi would have to choose someone else to be her Green Man. Although she does have a lot of friends and family to choose from." She shrugged lightly, brushing a soft kiss behind Johnny's ear as her arms wrapped about him from behind. "It's all in fun, sweetheart. Don't give yourself a headache trying to work it out."

"I don't get it. What's a Greenman anyway? Only Greenman I ever heard of was this dude back home with anger management issues who hulks out when he gets pissed." He reached for the lettuce and started coring and chopping, pausing a moment to glance at her over his shoulder. "I'm not. I just... What if we both get picked and you have to pick someone else for Greenman?" It wasn't likely to happen, but you never knew.

"In the highly unlikely situation where that happens," she said with a wry smile, refusing to believe she had a snowball's chance in hell of being chosen as May Queen, no matter what Johnny thought, "then I'd pick Eregor. He's a gentleman, and more importantly, he's practically inseparable from Rhi. So you wouldn't have to get jealous." She stroked his chest fondly for a moment before releasing him, stepping away to lean against the counter once again. "The Green Man is, well, he's sort of a mystical representation of the masculine side of nature. It's all very pagan."

"Like the Jolly Green Giant!" Johnny exclaimed, helpfully. The only green men he could think of were The Amazing Hulk and a cartoon giant who peddled canned peas. He'd never really understood much about Beltane. All he remembered from last year was making marshmallows at the bonfire. "I bet he's pagan!" Whatever that meant.

Liv laughed, wondering whether it was worth it to try and explain the concept of the Goddess and the Green Man to her exuberant husband, or whether to just leave it as it was. She loved him, but you had to pick your moments when entering discussions like this. "Honey, do you have any idea about Goddess worship, or modern witchcraft?" she asked with a grin, wondering what this was going to throw up as a response.

"So, is he like the spring version of Santa Claus?" Johnny paused in his chopping to flash a smile at Liv. Of course, he knew the difference, silly girl! "Of course, I do. You're a Goddess, and I worship you." Cheesy grin.

"Oh dear lord ..." Liv dissolved into giggles. She was definitely not onto a winner with this conversation, unless she somehow managed to work the explanation into the direction he'd managed to send them off in. Chuckling, she made an effort. "Alright, if I'm your Goddess and I represent all the feminine side of nature - good and bad - then you're my Green Man. You're like a mirror image of me, representing all the masculine side. And you are very masculine." She growled teasingly, flickering a wink in his direction.

He paused in his chopping again, glancing at her as he tried to take this all in. He wondered if he should take a class on Rhy'Din Pagan Rituals 101. He'd never been overly religious or spiritual - not since his mother died anyway. "You're feminine all right. I won't argue that." He smirked, waggling his eyebrows, but it didn't last. He was soon frowning thoughtfully as she continued. "Well, yes, I am..." he readily agreed. "But then... Why would you want to pick Eregor?"

She laughed again, rolling her eyes. "I'd only pick him if I got chosen May Queen and you were the King," she assured him. "If you don't get King but I get Queen, you're my Green Man, no doubt about it. And we'll definitely be celebrating the spring the old-fashioned way."

"By dancing naked under a full moon?" he asked with a grin, taking a stab in the dark. He really had no idea how to celebrate the start of spring, other than dancing around a Maypole, and he could count on one hand how many times he done that - none!

"Well, it is a fertility ritual," she teased sweetly, brushing her hair back off her face. "People celebrate something on the first of May all over Earth, and very little of it is Christian. Everything from jumping over a fire - which you have an unfair advantage at, by the way - to shagging like rabbits under the stars."

"I never celebrated the first of May," he remarked with a pout, but that didn't last either. "We should totally do that. Shag like rabbits, I mean." That decided, he went back to his chopping, tomatoes this time, since the lettuce was all chopped and ready to go. He had to be quick and careful or the lettuce would wilt and the tomatoes would get mushy under his heat. "So, if I get picked for King, what does that entail?" Not that there was a chance in hell it would ever happen.

"I have absolutely no idea, I've never actually heard of a May King before." It was honest, but hardly helpful. She shrugged lightly, investigating the fridge once again for a drink. "I'd imagine it's the same sort of thing as the Queen, lighting the fires and laying a blessing on the people who're there. And besides, you did celebrate the first last year. You gave me a frog, remember?" She'd been hoping not to mention her imminent birthday to him, but there were some things she wasn't going to allow him to forget. Like her sister's birthday.

"I remember," he said, attempting to hide a smirk. He hadn't forgotten her birthday, but he wasn't going to tell her that. "I thought I was your frog," he said, smiling warmly at her, before turning to collect up the tomatoes and dump them into the bowl with the chopped up lettuce.

"You're my prince," she corrected him fondly. He was lucky; she'd missed his smirk entirely, too busy pouring a couple of inches of juice into a glass to wet her throat. "Or I was the frog or something twisted like that. Because you're definitely transforming me." Her smile was all kinds of loving as she leaned close, this time aiming her kiss for his lips. "Do I have time to grab a quick shower? I don't want to spoil your plans for the evening."

"Plans? What plans?" he asked, as innocently as he could. He had a few surprises up his sleeve yet, though he was nervous about whether she'd like them or not. "I just thought I'd practice my new-found cooking skills." Yeah, right. And it wasn't anyone's birthday or anything. With any luck, she'd survive the night without his fire-writing her name in hearts in the sky all over Rhy'Din. "You have time for a shower, so long as I don't join you," he teased, smiling against her lips.

"Well, you don't usually go all out cooking unless you're planning to do something deliciously wicked to me later on," she giggled, lingering in the kiss for a long moment. She thought she'd managed to distract him when it came to the big b-word, assuming he'd forgotten and was just practicing his cooking. "Okay, I'll be as quick as I can," she promised, leaning back. "Unless you ambush me while I'm naked, in which case, it's all your fault." Laughing, she poked her tongue out at him and stepped away, heading for the bathroom with a last swat at his behind.

[Olivia Storm]

"In which case, dinner will burn!" he called over his shoulder as she headed for the bathroom, a smirk at the swat. He felt a little nervous at the evening ahead, though Liv had always been pretty easy to please. He didn't think there was any way he could top her last birthday, and felt like he was just about out of surprises. He mulled all this over while he stirred the sauce and considered cheating at making garlic bread. Who needed an oven when Johnny Storm was around?

Her giggles filtered back to him as she wandered back and forth from bedroom to bathroom, stripping out of her clothes and turning the shower on. She wasn't going to be long; just long enough to wash the chill off her skin and feel fresh again after walking through the city. Leaving the door open, she flicked the radio on and began to sing along, thankfully a good deal more in tune than her whistling ever was.

He couldn't help but take a peek out of the kitchen to see if he could make out what she was doing. He had a surprise hidden somewhere and he didn't want her to find it yet. Once he heard the shower in the tub, he stopped worrying, going back to debating over the best method of making garlic bread, deciding finally to use the oven, which was probably safer anyway. He smiled as he listened to the sound of her singing. It was a happy sound that filled him with that same happiness. So far, marriage was working out well for them.

Liv was as quick as she'd promised she'd be. Two songs later, the water had stopped, and she was sliding into the clothing she only ever wore at home with him - shorts and a tank - too shy to bare quite so much outside the privacy of their own space. Shaking her hair out over her shoulders, she padded back into sight on bare feet, offering up a relaxed smile. "See? Am I, or am I not, a woman of my word?"

In the meantime, he was puzzling over the oven settings for the garlic bread. "All better now?" he asked, as he closed the cookbook he'd been looking at and shoved it back into a drawer, hopefully before she could catch him. He leaned over to pull open the oven and slide the garlic bread inside, before setting the temperature. "So, how was work?" he asked, just as he did every day when she arrived home.

If she saw the cookbook, she didn't give any hint of it, leaning against the doorframe with an easy sigh. She always relaxed when she got home if Johnny was there, and relaxed Liv was often easier on the eyes than alert Liv, who radiated tension from every pore. "Mmm, mostly all better," she smirked faintly, looking him over with a familiar expression in her eyes. "Work was work, you know? Arranging accommodation for Jon and Vicki while they're on Earth in a month or so. I'm double and triple checking everything I do this time around." Because the last time she'd booked accommodation for her boss, he and his wife had ended up going head to head with a ghoul.

"On Earth?" He repeated, forgetting her boss still had two more parts of a trilogy to film before he completed his contract. "They'll be fine, Liv. The Grangers have more security than the President." That was not quite true, but it sounded good anyway. He'd go along to watch over them if she asked him to, but he didn't really think it was necessary. "He hasn't gotten any more threatening letters, has he?" He finished stirring the sauce yet again and set the spoon down, scooting around her to set the table.

"Yeah, he's still filming the Fifty Shades... stuff," she explained with a faint yawn. "Two more films, but it's the PR campaigns that are the big nightmare. And I have to keep Emily safe too, this time." She sighed again, shaking her head. "I'll work something out. No more threats, no. Doesn't mean I'm not going to be paranoid about it, though."

"Does that mean we're going along?" he asked, as he set two plates on the table, along with cutlery and glasses. He'd bought a bottle of wine that he'd been told goes well with pasta, but he wasn't sure if she wanted it. "You know, I'm something of a celebrity, too. Maybe you should be my P.A," he suggested with a smirk.

His smirking suggestion brought the smile back onto her face, and she turned, wrapping her arms about him and pressing her face into his back as she squeezed. "Oh, I love you," she moaned happily. "And yes, we can go along if you'd like. Jon's not really likely to need me, and he can always get hold of me by phone if necessary, but maybe a few weeks out of Rhy'Din would be good. I don't know. You decide."

He wasn't quite sure how he felt about the prospect of going along. This trip and the PR campaign that went along with it weren't about him, but he didn't care about that so much. As much as he hated to admit it, he'd become fond of the Granger couple and would feel better knowing he was along to keep a watchful eye on them, even if he couldn't watch over them 24-7. "Are they filming in Seattle again?"

"Mostly. There's a week where they'll be outside San Francisco for additional location shots, but they're mostly in Seattle again." Reluctantly, she let go of him, leaning back against the wall again. "Is there anything I can help with? I feel lazy just watching you do all the work here."

"You can do dishes," he said with a teasing smirk, though he wasn't going to hold her to that, especially not on her birthday. "So, have you spoken to Lucy today?" he asked, wondering what Liv's twin was doing for her birthday. All they were waiting for now was for the garlic bread to get done. Johnny set the salad on the table, along with a bottle of dressing.

"Yeah, she rang me at work," Liv admitted, blushing faintly as she realized she wasn't being quite as obtuse about what day it was as she had hoped. "Steve's taking her out to dinner tonight, something about a posh place that does real pizza." She chuckled. "She wanted me to tell her what kind of lingerie looks best on a woman seven months pregnant. Like I'd know."

He chuckled, actually a little relieved that Steve wasn't doing anything too fancy. Though it wasn't a competition, Johnny still sometimes felt like he wasn't good enough when compared to his idol. "I'm sure Steve wouldn't care if she wore a potato sack to bed!" The oven beeped, letting him know the garlic bread was done. "Dinner's ready!" he announced with a grin, hoping she like the first of several surprises. Though he could have opted to take her out for a nice dinner, he had a feeling the effort he had put into cooking for her would mean more to her.

He'd guessed absolutely right. As much as she liked the romance of an evening out, Liv much preferred their nights in. To realize that he must have spent much of the afternoon cooking this single meal for her was enough to make her day, god alone knew how touched she would be if there were any more surprises. "Where do you want me, sparky?"

He knew where he wanted her, but that would have to wait until later. For now, he pulled out a chair and waited for her to take a seat before serving them both dinner. In the end, he decided on breaking open the bottle of wine. It was a special occasion, after all. Dinner consisted of spaghetti and meatballs, a garden salad, and garlic bread, all of which hadn't turned out too bad for his first attempt at cooking. Thankfully, he'd followed the cookbook to the letter. This cooking thing wasn't all that hard, after all.

Being waited on was as much a treat as being cooked for, and Liv was practically glowing with quiet delight as they ate, sharing mild small talk back and forth across the table. The food was delicious - better than she had come to expect from Johnny, to be honest, but she was never going to admit that - and the wine a pleasant surprise. She was careful not to ask what the occasion was, knowing exactly what he was up to. "That was gorgeous, Johnny," she complimented him, tucking her bare feet into his lap as she set her cutlery down. "You should cook more often."

[Olivia Storm]

"Maybe I will," he grinned, reaching to rub one of her feet, warmth radiating from his hands to massage and soothe any soreness. "Who needs a grill when the Human Torch is around?" Now that dinner was over, he was feeling nervous again about the rest of the surprises. "I, um... don't suppose you want dessert yet."

She stretched, groaning in quiet delight as his warm hands smoothed over her sole. "Mmmm, that's nice ..." Blinking, she opened her eyes to look across at him with a sweet, not very innocent smile. "Well, sparky, that all depends on what you have planned for next. I could go for dessert, so long as I get to eat it off you."

He laughed. "It would melt!" That mostly gave away what he had planned for dessert. Besides it was no big secret that they were both crazy about ice cream. He smiled, blue eyes sparkling with mischief. "I haven't forgotten what day it is, you know."

Triumph showed itself off as he gave away dessert, though it was as much a favorite of hers as it was his. Liv giggled, wriggling her toes against his palm, and let out a muchly exaggerated sigh at his last comment, rolling her eyes. "I didn't think you had," she admitted with a rueful, affectionate smile. "I don't like making a fuss, but ... it's sort of nice to have you making a fuss of me. So long as it's only once a year."

"I'd make a fuss over you every day of the year if you'd let me," he admitted with a grin. "Do you want your birthday present now or later?" he asked, unsure which should come first - ice cream or the gift. She had already hinted that she could wait for dessert and he had a feeling once she had her gift, it would be a while before they got to it anyway.

She eyed him teasingly, sensing his excitement at the prospect of both dessert and this mysterious present he seemed to be itching to unveil. "Dessert's in the freezer, right?" she asked, just to make sure, poking her big toe into the dent of his navel. "It's not going to melt all over the kitchen counter if we get distracted?"

"No, it's in the freezer," he confirmed. She knew as well as he did that anything cold wouldn't stay that way for long around him. He tried to withhold a chuckle at the nudging of his navel. Liv knew where all his ticklish spots were and she knew that was one of them. "Don't start something you can't finish."

Soft brown eyes lit up with laughter as he tensed under her poking toes, always deeply happy when she managed to tease him the way he was constantly teasing her. "Oh, baby, you know I can finish it," Liv purred to her husband with impish mischief of her own, stretching her arms up above her head for a moment before relaxing once again. "But, you know, I think I'm going to behave. In the words of my darling sister ... Pressie. Gimme."

"You think?" He chuckled again. "You don't sound too sure." He reached for her hand to draw her up out of her chair. "Come with me, O Impatient One." He led her toward the bedroom, leaving the clean up, as well as dessert, for later.

Strange, the difference a year could make. On this day a year before, she had only been living with him for a couple of weeks, only with him for that long, and he had still been worried about the specter of his relationship with her sister getting in the way; now they were married, sharing a high-end condo, both of them employed in ways that suited them almost perfectly. She'd been shyer, more nervous, less easy to be around, and the improvement over the months was entirely down to the warm man leading her now by the hand away from the table through their apartment. She lifted his hand to her lips, teasingly circling the tip of her tongue around his knuckle. "Should I close my eyes?"

He would have disagreed, claiming it was Liv who had changed him, rather than the other way around. A year ago, he'd still been fairly new to Rhy'Din, confused, unsure about why he'd come to Rhy'Din and what to do with his life. Being with Liv had changed him. She believed in him, and she'd encouraged him to pursue his dream of becoming a hero, putting that dream to practical use. It seemed that everything in his life had finally come together, and he knew it was directly because of this lovely, gentle woman who'd stolen his heart and agreed to become his wife.

He smiled as she teased him, blue eyes sparkling with affection and amusement. "I don't think that will be necessary, unless you want to close your eyes while I take my clothes off." He pushed open the bedroom door, but there was nothing out of the ordinary to see there, other than the fact that he'd cleaned and straightened. The bed was made, the pillows fluffed, all his laundry - dirty and otherwise - had been picked up and put in its proper place. As if that wasn't unusual enough, there was a carefully and brightly wrapped package sitting on the bed waiting to be opened.

"What, you mean I don't get to unwrap you, too?" Last year's Liv would never have said that aloud, much less with the provocative smile that flickered across her face as the words came out. Her eyes fell on the bright package, and she paused, turning from wicked to shy in an instant as she clung to his hand. "Is that for me?"

"Oh, well..." He chuckled at the thought. "Maybe I should have wrapped myself for you instead." He smirked as she stated the obvious and gave her hand an affectionate squeeze. "Well, it's not for Lucy."

She blushed, giggling a little. It was endearing how even the prospect of a small present that was just for her could revert his increasingly confident wife back to a shy child once again. For a long moment, she just looked at the package, drinking in the effort that had gone into making it so attractive to the eyes. Her fingers squeezed Johnny's as she leaned into him, her smile a shade more excited than before as she looked up at him. "Can ... can I open it?"

"No, I thought maybe I'd just let you stare at it for a while," he replied sarcastically. "Of course you can open it!" He chuckled at her again, finding her childlike shyness and enthusiasm adorable. It was one of the traits that had endeared her to him. "It's-it's nothing too exciting," he added nervously, hoping she liked it.

"Don't be silly," she said instantly. "It's a present from you, that's plenty exciting." Bouncing up on her bare toes for a moment, she pressed a kiss to his cheek and jumped onto the bed, scrambling around on her knees to gather the bright package in close. "I almost don't want to spoil all the effort you put into wrapping this."

He shrugged his shoulders, looking nervous again. "I can't really take the credit for that. The girls... I mean... I had help wrapping it." He actually blushed a little at his faux pas, nearly slipping and revealing more than he wanted her to know about her birthday present. He followed her over to the bed, taking a seat as he watched her with the package, his stomach twisting into nervous knots.

"The girls?" Liv cast a teasing smile at him as he sat down, settling onto her backside as she drew the present into her lap. "Have you been flirting to get people to help you buy things again?" she teased, carefully picking at the tape with a fingernail. It was always excruciating to watch Liv opening anything that was wrapped - she was painfully careful not to rip the paper, to remove all the tape and ribbons. But eventually, she got the wrapping off, investigating the contents curiously.

"No, but once the girls at the store found out who I was..." He trailed off, not wanting to get himself into more hot water. "Let's just say they helped me pick something out." Yeah, that was it. That was all she needed to know really. He nodded his head at the package, impatient for her to open it. If it had been him, he'd have ripped the package open in seconds, as excited as a kid at Christmas. Watching Liv open a package was sheer torture.

[Olivia Storm]

She even folded the discarded wrapping, setting it to one side before lifting the lid of the box that now lay on her knees. Tissue paper crackled under her fingertips, and her mouth fell open as she lifted out her present. It was satin and lace, deep blue and ivory, a delicate slip that was as sweet as it was sexy. Something she would never have bought for herself. "Oh, Johnny, this is ... it's beautiful," she beamed, her smile impossibly soft as she looked over at him, pushing the box aside to crawl close and kiss him tenderly. "Thank you."

It wasn't a fluffy kitten or an expensive diamond, but it was something he knew Liv would never have bought for herself and something he thought she'd look lovely in. He wasn't about to tell her that the sales girls had modeled several items of lingerie in the store - many of them skimpier than the one he'd bought - before he'd settled on this one, knowing her favorite color was blue and thinking it would look lovely on her. "I know it's not much..." He bemoaned with a frown.

"It's from you," she cut him off, the lovely slip in her lap as she straddled his, brushing her lips over his frowning mouth with a loving smile. "I don't need presents, expensive or otherwise, love. But everything you give me is wonderful. Starting with you." She nipped the end of his nose, soft eyes sparkling happily.

He slid his arms around her waist as she climbed across his lap, a soft smile on his face, feeling a little relieved. "You, um... want to try it on?" he asked, curious to see what she'd look like in it. "Or do you want to wait until after dessert?" He knew what he wanted - he wanted her for dessert, but it was her birthday, not his.

"Hmm ..." It was a teasing delay, evidenced by the grin on her face as she looped her arms around his neck, plying his lips with soft, brief kisses. "I think dessert just got relegated to midnight snack," she murmured, drawing back with that familiarly shy cast to her smile that was swiftly burning away under the influence of her more minx-like side. "Be back in a minute." One last kiss nipped to his lips, and she scooted off his lap, giggling her way across the hall and into the bathroom, the slip in hand.

He still had his Kiss the Cook apron on, but not for long. He smiled into her kiss, moving to his feet as she slipped away from him to get changed. He fumbled with the apron, tugging on the sash only to find it had knotted in the back, muttering profanities under his breath. He could have easily ripped the thing off, or even more easily burned it off, but he had grown attached to that apron and didn't want to ruin it. Besides, he was wearing his favorite Captain America t-shirt underneath it, and he didn't want to ruin that, either.

In the bathroom, Liv hesitated, looking at herself in the mirror. The dark silk and pale lace were stark against her luminous skin, startling her with quite how feminine she looked, even to herself. Biting her lip, she considered her next move. Out came that scent, just to make absolutely sure Johnny knew what was coming, and off went her panties. After all, he'd only given her the slip, hadn't he? Meeting her gaze in the mirror, Liv almost didn't recognize her own smirk, realizing that this was as close to seducing her own husband on purpose as she was ever going to get. But it was going to take another couple of minutes to work up the guts to come out of the bathroom.

"Livvie!" Johnny called, getting frustrated with the apron and his inability to get it off. Though she might want to seduce him, and he totally had that in mind when he'd gone shopping for lingerie, his frustration at being unable to get out of the apron was quickly dampening his mood for the inevitable.

So much for attempting an entrance. "What's happened?" she called back, slipping into view with a curious look on her face. It wasn't like Johnny to skip from amorous to annoyed without good reason. Seeing him struggling with his apron, she bit her lip, utterly failing to stifle her smile. "Oh ... turn around."

He turned suddenly serious at the sight of her in satin and lace. What a lovely sight to behold, his frustration almost immediately forgotten. Almost. "Oh, my god," he muttered as he took one very appreciative look at her. "You look... amazing."

She blushed, seemingly fluctuating between his shy Liv and the more confident Kitten as she looked down at herself, not really seeing what he saw. But he obviously liked the view, and she wasn't going to argue with anything Johnny liked. "You look frustrated," she countered with a teasing lilt to her voice, twirling her finger in the air in a silent command for him to turn around.

"In more ways than one," he replied, turning his back to her so she could help him out of the apron. It wasn't just the apron that was frustrating him, but the sudden flare of desire at seeing her dressed - or barely dressed - in Victoria's Secret. She looked even more lovely than he'd imagined, like a present waiting to be unwrapped. The blue set off her pale skin and dark eyes, the fall of her hair brushing her shoulders. Victoria's Secret models might be known as Angels, but Liv was his angel, and no one else even came close.

If it had been a simple case of just untying knots, she would have added kisses to the back of his neck. As it was, his attempts to pull the apron off had tightened the knots in the cord, forcing his wife to focus all her attention on getting him out of it without tearing or burning the thing. She laughed as the material slowly started to give. "What were you doing to make it so tight?"

"I was trying to get it off!" he exclaimed, a little exasperated. He'd been tugging and tugging on the sash, and instead of loosening the knot, he'd tugged it tighter. He tried to look over his shoulder to check her progress, but couldn't quite manage it. Unlike Reed, he lacked the ability to stretch his body like an elastic band - and thankfully so. That would have just been too weird, in his estimation.

"Don't get pouty, or I'll leave you in it," she threatened, and just from the husky tone of her voice, he could be fairly sure she would do just that. Liv wasn't above teasing him beyond the point where it should have been dangerous to tease the Human Torch, knowing that he would never hurt her. There was a creaking sound as the fabric came loose under her fingers, the sash falling open as she stepped back. "Freedom!"

"I thought I was going to have to burn it off!" he exclaimed further, sounding relieved. Of course, it would have been simpler just to cut it off, but when had anything involving Johnny Storm been simple? He just about tore the apron off and tossed it aside, turning to face her and capturing her around the waist to toss her onto the bed with him.

She let out a low shriek of laughter, utterly unprepared to be hoisted off her feet and tossed bodily onto the bed, scrambling to somehow protect her modesty from a man who had seen it all anyway. Blushing once again, Liv pressed a hand over her mouth as she giggled, her soft eyes trailing over her husband with covetous heat of her own.

He slid a hand up her thigh, grinning when he realized she had no panties on underneath the slip. "You know what I like best about your present?" he asked, fingers sliding against smooth, warm flesh. "You don't even have to take it off." He covered her body with his, leaving a trail of too-warm kisses against the lovely line of her neck.

He earned himself another giggle with his lascivious comment, her body arching into his already as he covered her, aching at just the briefest touch of his hand against her skin. "Anyone would think you've been planning this, Mr Storm," she teased in a low murmur against his ear, drawing her fingertips through the shorter length of hair at the back of his head as her own fell back, thrilling to how much he wanted her.

"Maybe I have, Mrs. Storm," he returned, halting his kisses to smile down at her. "Happy birthday, Livvie," he told her softly, all the love he felt for her shining in his eyes of blue. "I love you."

She lay back, sweetly still blushing a little under his tender gaze as she smiled up at him, drawing her fingers softly over his jaw, down his chest. "I love you back," she promised, each word and look an echo of the adoration he bathed her in so often. Then, with a little hitch of her body, she rolled to bring him underneath her, leaning down to kiss him deep before she sat back once again. "So ... can I unwrap my best present now?"

He smiled up at her as she rolled him onto his back, unable to resist teasing her, even as she teased him. "What present would that be?" he asked, though he knew she was talking about unwrapping him, which, in a way, she sort of had, freeing him from the clutches of his apron. "Should I tie a bow around my neck?"

She leaned over him, drawing her fingertip from the dip in his chin, down his throat, and over his chest, her smile rising with inviting wickedness. "Oh, I like the wrapping just as it is," she murmured playfully, sitting back on his thighs to pull him up against her, hands smoothing down his chest to tuck beneath his shirt and draw it slowly upward. "And I love what's inside."

He followed her lead, helping her to get rid of his shirt, tossing it aside carelessly, even if it was his favorite shirt. He slid warm hands beneath the hem of her slip, up against her thighs, and around to her hips, not wanting to relieve her of the pretty wrapping just yet. She looked too lovely, and he wanted to savor the moment.

As his hands slid beneath the delicate hem of the gorgeous slip he'd bought for her, Liv almost purred with delight. She'd never made a secret of how much she loved it when he let his hands wander over her skin, drawing her own arms about his neck as she teased his lips with her own, nipping tenderly with a smile. "Thank you for my birthday dinner," she murmured to him lovingly between those kisses. "And for my present." Kiss. "Love you."

He lost himself to her kisses, savoring the warmth and softness of her lips and her body against his. He still had his jeans on, but even so, his desire for her was obvious. He slid his arms around her waist to roll her onto her back, moving off her so that he could finish what she'd started and unwrap himself for her, before her eyes. "Not as much as I love you," he murmured, kissing her in return. He had one last present to give her and this one wasn't anything he could buy in a store. It was the gift of his love.

[size=9]((Something tells me that May Queen and King or not, these two are going to enjoy celebrating Beltane like hot-blooded pagans! Loads of love and thanks to Johnny's player, and to whichever one of you cheeky folks nominated us!))[/size]