A Dinner of Bonds
Nov. 11th, 2010 04:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shexwrites[Continuing... Pt.1, Pt.2, Pt.3.a, Pt.3.b, Pt.4, Pt.5, Pt.6, Pt.7, Pt.8, Pt.9, Pt.10, Pt.11, Pt.12, Pt.13, Pt.14, Pt.15, & Pt.16.]
Chuck was dressed and ready to go with twenty minutes to spare, which was why he was pulling up to Blair's penthouse. He was hoping this dinner was a good idea. Things seemed to be good between Nate and Chuck, but that was mostly because they hadn't really thought on anything between them except the objective of killing opponents on the game, all of which were live people on the other side of the ethernet cable.
He smiles slightly at Dorota before getting her to let him upstairs to see Blair. Part of him is sad she's already dressed, but part of him knew that was the only reason that Dorota let him up. "You look lovely, Blair," he murmurs as he settles on her bed while she finishes up.
She looks over at him with a smile, "Thank you, Chuck." Turning back, she finishes her make-up and then turns from her vanity mirror to watch him sit on her bed. "You're earlier than usual."
He stands and moves over to kiss her gently. "I could say it's my impeccable sense of timing wanting to be spot on, but," he shrugs slightly.
She catches his tie and tugs him down for another kiss. "But you're unsure of how this is going to go, especially considering yesterday."
She gets a smile as he takes her hands and tugs her gently up. She still needs her heels but otherwise she's completely ready which means he's not too early by her count either. "You read me way too well, my dear."
She smooths his tie lightly against his chest with a very soft smile. "Well your tells are there for me to see because I grew up with you." She doesn't say it, but Serena and Nate would know them too if they paid more attention to other people over themselves. It just didn't seem to be in either of them most days, to catch the subtle cues verses the outright obvious ones. "Hopefully tonight will go well though. Nate came to you, you said, which is a good first step," she looks up at him, chewing her lip gently, "right?"
He wraps his arms around her waist to hug her gently, "Not only came over but apologized to me on his own, no asking or provoking. So yes, I would say that's a good step in the right direction." He knows part of it was because Nate finally went to call someone and realized he had no one, but that realization is better than having Nate continue pissed and an ass. It lead to Nate realizing that things needed to change, though Chuck would have saved Blair knowing exactly what had wedged between Serena and Nate. "Now, shall we head out?" He offers his arm to her as he asks.
Blair smiles, "Yes, we shall," and slips into her heels before she takes his arm and they head out of her room and downstairs. "My parents are already on a plane to Paris," she murmurs softly as they head to the car.
He kisses her hair in the elevator, "Would you like to sleep, and I do mean sleep and only sleep, at my place so you aren't alone?"
She blinks up at the question, smiling after half a second. "I told Dorota I was going to stay at Serena's tonight and so I'll have to come back and grab the bag I packed for it, but if you don't mind I was hoping that I could do that."
He opens the door and helps her into the car, once he's settled next to her he tugs her gently into his side and kisses her. "I would love it if you spent the night, Blair. And I'll feel even better about it if it makes you feel better. I never want you to be alone."
She snuggles into his side, deepening the kiss a little. "You're too good to me. And if I promise to not cause you to burn yourself, would you cook me breakfast?" She even has the big doe eyes with the question, hoping he can't turn her down if she does that.
He chuckles softly nuzzling her temple, "Even if I burn myself again, I'll cook you breakfast. Eggs, sausage, and waffles good?"
She chews her lip in thought for a moment, "Can we have pancakes instead of waffles?"
Chuck smiles and nods, "Yes, Blair, we can. I'll even do that flip thing you love watching your father do."
She brightens a little as they pull up outside the Russian Tea Room, "You will?"
He chuckles and slides out of the car, holding his hand out for her. "Yes, I will. Just for you."
Blair takes his hand and slides out before tucking herself into his side. "You spoil me and I love it!"
His chuckling continues as they head inside, "It's good to know now, at the beginning of our relationship that I only have to flip a pancake for you to be spoiled. Who needs jewelry when I can flip a pancake."
She hits his arm with a laugh of her own as they are seated by the hostess, "Pancakes will not work for gifts of any kind, Bass. I expect something beautiful for my birthday, Christmas, and our anniversary."
He laughs as he pulls her chair out for her, ignoring the slightly odd look from the hostess as she sets down the three menus and leaves. "I promise you will get something beautiful for birthdays, Christmases, and anniversaries. Things worthy to be in your presence and things you can't necessarily eat though the macaroons you love may accompany them." Once she's settled in her chair at the square table he moves and sits to her right. If it were just the two of them he'd sit across from her, but with Nate joining them soon he wants to be next to her and within easy hand holding distance.
"You better," she murmurs with a grin. Her grin fades just a little at the edges when Nate arrives, though she smiles politely as he sits to Chuck's right and across from Blair at the table. "Hello, Nate," she greets very softly.
Nate smiles a little hesitantly at both as he settles and picks up a menu. "Hello Blair, Chuck." He fidgets a little, looking down at the menu without seeing anything before he looks back up, unsure how to start so he decides to just get it out there. "I'm sorry for how I've been acting, Blair. I know it's not an excuse but for me the breakup came out of no where and you dating Chuck immediately after made me feel worse. I feel horrible about how I've been treating you two."
Blair's hand reaches under the table for Chucks, squeezing it for a moment. "Your forgiven, Nate, so long as you're going to go back to being our friend."
Nate nods, relaxing some because he thought that would be harder. He's glad that she wants this fixed as much as Chuck did, and as much as he wants to. "I don't want to be a gigantic ass anymore. I miss being able to talk to you and I miss hanging out with Chuck and playing squash."
She chews on her lip a little as she nods, listening to him. "I miss being able to talk to you too." She looks over at Chuck for a moment, weighing if she wants to ask or not. In the end, she does. "What's...going to happen between you and Serena?"
Nate shakes his head before he really does look down at the menu. "I don't know. She won't answer my calls or return them so I guess, nothing." He gives a small shrug, "Everything...was wrong but felt almost right and I must have been the only one to think so."
Chuck reaches out with his free hand to pat Nate's shoulder gently. "Give it time, Nathaniel. She'll come around."
Blair chews her lip, "It might not help that I yelled at her yesterday for...everything." She squeezes Chuck's hand tightly, feeling like she's suddenly screwed up.
He shakes his head, squeezing her hand back. "Like I said, give it time. You had every right to yell at her since she was pushing you at Nate and then doing what she did. You know, Serena. She likes to dish out everything but she can't take it as well, she needs time to cool off."
Both nod at Chuck's words, Blair being the first to speak. "That is very true. I'll call her tomorrow and see if we can do lunch and smooth some stuff over tomorrow." She eyes Chuck slightly suspicious, "How did you know she was pushing me at Nate?"
"I told him," Nate offers as he closes his menu and sets it aside, knowing what he wants.
"And I kind of expected it from her for the first week or so. She's not the most subtle of people after all." Chuck smiles softly, leaning to kiss Blair's temple. "I'm just glad she didn't make you doubt or worry about what we have."
Blair smiles softly, squeezing his hand again though she's not unaware of how Nate looks down at this show of coupleiness. "You've been very good to me, Chuck, and left no room for doubt or worry."
Chuck smiles as the waitress sees that they finally look ready to order and moves to take their orders. The rest of their dinner is spent catching up a little and by the time they leave to go home Nate doesn't even flinch when Chuck and Blair kiss every now and then, though they do keep it to a respectful level of affection in his presence. It's definitely the level of progress that everyone is happy with.
[Continued here.]
Chuck was dressed and ready to go with twenty minutes to spare, which was why he was pulling up to Blair's penthouse. He was hoping this dinner was a good idea. Things seemed to be good between Nate and Chuck, but that was mostly because they hadn't really thought on anything between them except the objective of killing opponents on the game, all of which were live people on the other side of the ethernet cable.
He smiles slightly at Dorota before getting her to let him upstairs to see Blair. Part of him is sad she's already dressed, but part of him knew that was the only reason that Dorota let him up. "You look lovely, Blair," he murmurs as he settles on her bed while she finishes up.
She looks over at him with a smile, "Thank you, Chuck." Turning back, she finishes her make-up and then turns from her vanity mirror to watch him sit on her bed. "You're earlier than usual."
He stands and moves over to kiss her gently. "I could say it's my impeccable sense of timing wanting to be spot on, but," he shrugs slightly.
She catches his tie and tugs him down for another kiss. "But you're unsure of how this is going to go, especially considering yesterday."
She gets a smile as he takes her hands and tugs her gently up. She still needs her heels but otherwise she's completely ready which means he's not too early by her count either. "You read me way too well, my dear."
She smooths his tie lightly against his chest with a very soft smile. "Well your tells are there for me to see because I grew up with you." She doesn't say it, but Serena and Nate would know them too if they paid more attention to other people over themselves. It just didn't seem to be in either of them most days, to catch the subtle cues verses the outright obvious ones. "Hopefully tonight will go well though. Nate came to you, you said, which is a good first step," she looks up at him, chewing her lip gently, "right?"
He wraps his arms around her waist to hug her gently, "Not only came over but apologized to me on his own, no asking or provoking. So yes, I would say that's a good step in the right direction." He knows part of it was because Nate finally went to call someone and realized he had no one, but that realization is better than having Nate continue pissed and an ass. It lead to Nate realizing that things needed to change, though Chuck would have saved Blair knowing exactly what had wedged between Serena and Nate. "Now, shall we head out?" He offers his arm to her as he asks.
Blair smiles, "Yes, we shall," and slips into her heels before she takes his arm and they head out of her room and downstairs. "My parents are already on a plane to Paris," she murmurs softly as they head to the car.
He kisses her hair in the elevator, "Would you like to sleep, and I do mean sleep and only sleep, at my place so you aren't alone?"
She blinks up at the question, smiling after half a second. "I told Dorota I was going to stay at Serena's tonight and so I'll have to come back and grab the bag I packed for it, but if you don't mind I was hoping that I could do that."
He opens the door and helps her into the car, once he's settled next to her he tugs her gently into his side and kisses her. "I would love it if you spent the night, Blair. And I'll feel even better about it if it makes you feel better. I never want you to be alone."
She snuggles into his side, deepening the kiss a little. "You're too good to me. And if I promise to not cause you to burn yourself, would you cook me breakfast?" She even has the big doe eyes with the question, hoping he can't turn her down if she does that.
He chuckles softly nuzzling her temple, "Even if I burn myself again, I'll cook you breakfast. Eggs, sausage, and waffles good?"
She chews her lip in thought for a moment, "Can we have pancakes instead of waffles?"
Chuck smiles and nods, "Yes, Blair, we can. I'll even do that flip thing you love watching your father do."
She brightens a little as they pull up outside the Russian Tea Room, "You will?"
He chuckles and slides out of the car, holding his hand out for her. "Yes, I will. Just for you."
Blair takes his hand and slides out before tucking herself into his side. "You spoil me and I love it!"
His chuckling continues as they head inside, "It's good to know now, at the beginning of our relationship that I only have to flip a pancake for you to be spoiled. Who needs jewelry when I can flip a pancake."
She hits his arm with a laugh of her own as they are seated by the hostess, "Pancakes will not work for gifts of any kind, Bass. I expect something beautiful for my birthday, Christmas, and our anniversary."
He laughs as he pulls her chair out for her, ignoring the slightly odd look from the hostess as she sets down the three menus and leaves. "I promise you will get something beautiful for birthdays, Christmases, and anniversaries. Things worthy to be in your presence and things you can't necessarily eat though the macaroons you love may accompany them." Once she's settled in her chair at the square table he moves and sits to her right. If it were just the two of them he'd sit across from her, but with Nate joining them soon he wants to be next to her and within easy hand holding distance.
"You better," she murmurs with a grin. Her grin fades just a little at the edges when Nate arrives, though she smiles politely as he sits to Chuck's right and across from Blair at the table. "Hello, Nate," she greets very softly.
Nate smiles a little hesitantly at both as he settles and picks up a menu. "Hello Blair, Chuck." He fidgets a little, looking down at the menu without seeing anything before he looks back up, unsure how to start so he decides to just get it out there. "I'm sorry for how I've been acting, Blair. I know it's not an excuse but for me the breakup came out of no where and you dating Chuck immediately after made me feel worse. I feel horrible about how I've been treating you two."
Blair's hand reaches under the table for Chucks, squeezing it for a moment. "Your forgiven, Nate, so long as you're going to go back to being our friend."
Nate nods, relaxing some because he thought that would be harder. He's glad that she wants this fixed as much as Chuck did, and as much as he wants to. "I don't want to be a gigantic ass anymore. I miss being able to talk to you and I miss hanging out with Chuck and playing squash."
She chews on her lip a little as she nods, listening to him. "I miss being able to talk to you too." She looks over at Chuck for a moment, weighing if she wants to ask or not. In the end, she does. "What's...going to happen between you and Serena?"
Nate shakes his head before he really does look down at the menu. "I don't know. She won't answer my calls or return them so I guess, nothing." He gives a small shrug, "Everything...was wrong but felt almost right and I must have been the only one to think so."
Chuck reaches out with his free hand to pat Nate's shoulder gently. "Give it time, Nathaniel. She'll come around."
Blair chews her lip, "It might not help that I yelled at her yesterday for...everything." She squeezes Chuck's hand tightly, feeling like she's suddenly screwed up.
He shakes his head, squeezing her hand back. "Like I said, give it time. You had every right to yell at her since she was pushing you at Nate and then doing what she did. You know, Serena. She likes to dish out everything but she can't take it as well, she needs time to cool off."
Both nod at Chuck's words, Blair being the first to speak. "That is very true. I'll call her tomorrow and see if we can do lunch and smooth some stuff over tomorrow." She eyes Chuck slightly suspicious, "How did you know she was pushing me at Nate?"
"I told him," Nate offers as he closes his menu and sets it aside, knowing what he wants.
"And I kind of expected it from her for the first week or so. She's not the most subtle of people after all." Chuck smiles softly, leaning to kiss Blair's temple. "I'm just glad she didn't make you doubt or worry about what we have."
Blair smiles softly, squeezing his hand again though she's not unaware of how Nate looks down at this show of coupleiness. "You've been very good to me, Chuck, and left no room for doubt or worry."
Chuck smiles as the waitress sees that they finally look ready to order and moves to take their orders. The rest of their dinner is spent catching up a little and by the time they leave to go home Nate doesn't even flinch when Chuck and Blair kiss every now and then, though they do keep it to a respectful level of affection in his presence. It's definitely the level of progress that everyone is happy with.
[Continued here.]
