Fitzwilliam Hotel, Dublin, Friday Evening

[stykera]

Stark had been distracted all through his class and up until it was time to catch the portal to Dublin. But class had been fine, there had been no nonsense with any phone messages today, and now he and Summer were in a hotel room in Dublin that Stark had researched and booked himself and managed, somehow, not to spoil any surprises. It had been difficult but somehow he'd restrained himself.

He had opened up his bag and was unpacking. He held up a shirt, metallic black. "This will work for tonight, I think. For when we go out?"

No, he hadn't told her where they were going yet. He was waiting for that reveal. He was very proud of the destination he'd found for the evening, after the whiskey tasting.

"I couldn't ask my stylist for her opinion ahead of time. But I think it works."

[for the girlfriend who just had a birthday]

Comments

[somethingwithturquoise]

"You worry too much," Summer said, and he knew that, but hopefully another kiss would help him worry just a little bit less.

"And more surprises," she said. "I like surprises. I'm really excited to see what you've got planned."

[stykera]

"I'm trying to be better," Stark said, leaning his forehead against hers for a moment. "But you know that."

"And I know you like surprises. I wanted to tell you about the club as soon as I found it but I didn't want to ruin the surprise. It's been hard not telling you about all of the things I've found."

He wanted to tell her everything, most of the time. She was his favorite person.

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Yeah, but now," Summer pointed out, "you get to see me react in real time to the things while actually doing it instead of just telling me about it. And that's so much better.

"Are we coming back here after the whiskey tour?" she then wondered, starting to feel the excitement that was to make it hard for her to just linger here in the hotel for too much longer. "Or straight to the club afterwards?"

[stykera]

"Mmm, they've all been very good reactions so far," Stark said with yet another grin.

"I thought we would stay out, unless you want to wear something different to the club than to the distillery? We can come back if you like. I don't mind."

Of course they did run the risk, then, of not making it out back out of the room.

"It is your birthday. Still."

[somethingwithturquoise]

Who was to say they'd even make it out of the room in the first place?

"I feel like whiskey clothes and club clothes are very different outfits," Summer noted. "But I could totally roll up to the distillery in sequins if I have to."

With all the surprises on the agenda, she came prepared for pretty much anything, but was feeling particularly glad that she actually was going to have a good excuse to pull out a particular one.

[stykera]

It would be a shame for all of Stark's planning to go to waste!

"You'll look wonderful no matter what you're wearing," Stark assured her in a totally unbiased fashion. "But we can come back for you to change. There's plenty of time. It's open late, the club. I checked."

He was going to love that dress. A lot.

[somethingwithturquoise]

Yeah, Summer kind of had a feeling he might.

"Let's do that, then," said said with a nod. "I'd like that, coming back to change, so I can really look the best for the club."

[stykera]

Unfortunately, Stark had nothing with sequins to match. It was truly a tragedy that the Great Mask Bedazzling had never come to pass.

"Very good plan," he said. "Do you need to change now, too? You look good. You always look good. Should I wear something different now or put the shirt on?"

He'd picked out the shirt for the club but he thought it would be fine for drinking whiskey as well.

"Or if you're too tired from yesterday we could skip the whiskey. But there's plenty of time to sleep later. We don't have anything to do early tomorrow. I promise."

He wouldn't do that to her! Definitely not on a birthday trip.