I actually don't know if I will include this scene in the fic but it was so much fun to write to just get me into the story again because I was Stuck and I love thinking about Iceland El who is really compelled by this cute guy she met one night at the Christmas market but also very much In Love with Mike
El strolls back to the car with Jonina’s friend from college, the one she met a few weeks ago at the Christmas market. The conversation is easy - almost too easy, especially for someone she’s only spent a handful of hours with. It usually takes her days to warm up to someone, sometimes even months, but this guy is so handsome and funny and kind and special. A warm feeling glows in her heart, in a feeling she hasn’t felt since - since… well, you know.
As they pace closer to the car, they take equal turns talking and listening to each other - El about her job at the radio station, him about his research on healthcare systems that El doesn’t really understand. She likes how passionate he is about justice and fairness, and how deeply he seems to care about El’s unhappiness at her job even though he hasn’t known her for very long. He listens and remembers details about her she herself forgot she told him, like how her boss makes lewd, inappropriate jokes that she often rolls her eyes at.
El takes one last look at the crater from the parking lot. She’s been here several times since late winter of 1994, the most memorable of the hikes. It was in the height of El’s fury and sadness, when she, Dagny, Anna, and Kristin got tipsy and decided to stumble to the summit, dragging their heavy boots through the trail of melting snow. Anna, their designated driver, fastened headlights to their foreheads so they could discern the darkness of the path from the night. When they reached the top of the crater, they cheered and hollered as they encouraged El to chuck the ruby stone ring.
Now, the volcanic spatter looks like smashed bits of charcoal peeking under a glistening white coat. The wonder plunges deep into the earth, like a forceful vortex is sucking the ground down to its center. She smiles, thinking of her friend Dustin, who would describe the phenomenon in complex physics terms if he was here. She misses the patches of woolly moss, vibrant and lush against the black rock, but she loves this time of year too. It’s early enough in the season where the cold weather seems magical, the world illuminated in white wonderland in the sparse hours of daylight.
Her date already has his hand on the car door handle. He’s shivering with his jacket zipped up and his hood sitting atop his head. El shouldn’t find him as cute as she does - his nose and the cheeks above his beard are flushed red, and he’s been shivering for hours, but he still refuses to complain about the cold, no matter how much El asks.
“And you’re sure you’re not cold?” El checks once again, lifting her right eyebrow.
“No, no,” Neel clutches at his sides, trembling as he rocks on his feet. “I told you, I’m fine!”
El smirks and unlocks the door with her mind. With the click of the lock, Neel immediately scrambles into the passenger seat and groans with relief.
“My god, it’s frigid outside,” Neel finally lets out. El giggles as her will switches on the blazing heat.
Neel turns to her, stunned.“You know I’ll never get used to that.”
“Trust me, you might,” El laughs. She and their friends headed to their usual pub after wandering the shops in the cold for another hour. She and Neel were huddled up in a corner table by themselves, talking softly under candlelight, when Jonina and Dagny swept in like a drunken tornado, yelling for El to use her telekinesis. El had rolled her eyes. This was typical drunken behavior since she had opened up to them after entering the settlement case a year ago. They slurred together some nonsensical background about El’s time with the government. To shoo them away, El quickly floated their glasses above the table. They exploded into a clamorous “WHOA” before scattering off to play darts with the rest of their friends. In a way, El was grateful for their intrusion - it gave her a chance for Neel to ask about her background and powers. She liked the way he showed he was interested in her, leaning in and listening intently as he sipped his third beer.
As she watches Neel rethaw in the hot blast, El feels this floaty feeling tingle again inside of her.
“Um, I’m sorry I didn’t let you know the proper dress,” El manages shyly, studying her fingernails spread out on the steering wheel. “I’m usually good at planning surprises for my friends, but I guess they live around here and usually know where we’re going.”
“It’s okay,” Neel smiles cheerily. Behind him, the foggy windows of El’s car slowly defrost.
“No, you’re nearly frozen though,” El shakes her head, apologizing properly. “I thought this would be a fun date idea, and I nearly got you a frost bite.”
“Hey, without being freezing, you can’t appreciate the warmth like this. That’s what my grandma always says about summers in London,” Neel holds his fingers above the vent. “Besides, I was only cold for a couple hours.”
“A couple hours is a long time.”
“It’s only the length of a Hindi movie before intermission.”
“Half?” El repeats, thinking Neel must be joking. “They’re four hours?”
“Yes!”
“How do you sit that long?” El continues laughing at Neel’s spirited answer.
“Oh, you usually have to eat an entire meal in the middle. In the theaters in London, they serve all kinds of snacks like samosas and momos and chaat.”
“Um, sorry.” El admits sheepishly, “I don’t think I know what those are.”
“It’s okay,” Neel reassures, a large grin spreading across his face. “You can teach me how to hike in native like a winter and I can tell you all about how to eat like a Londoner.”
“I’m not a native Icelander.”
“More native than me,” Neel shrugs.
“Okay, that sounds good,” El agrees. Their eyes meet in the fresh warmth. Her heart skips a beat as El catches Neel softening, his eyes twinkling in the heat of the car. Oh. Her instincts weren’t wrong. He likes her just as she likes him. She wonders if she hurt him by not calling him for so long.
“I’m happy that you came today,” She chews on her lip. Below the dashboard, her legs quiver nervously.
“I’m happy you asked me,” Neel affirms kindly, growing nervous again as he quickly averts his gaze down, then back up again. “Um, mind if I ask you something?”
El nods silently. She’s pretty sure she knows what’s coming.
“Why did it take so long for you to call?” She’s surprised his voice seems to glide along the question, unaccusatory, no hurt masked whatsoever.
El sighs, looking back down at her hands, slightly chapped and dry from the harshly cold air.
“Um, I’m sorry,” She stutters. She takes another breath to ground herself. She knows that Neel deserves a better explanation, she just doesn’t know how much she should share. “My last relationship ended badly a long time ago and I just kind of freaked out.” The truth is, she cried in bed for days after ice skating on their first date, for how nice it felt to enjoy spending time with someone and not want it to stop, that she felt feelings like that for someone wasn’t Mike. She always imagined ice skating with him if they ever reunited, and it felt wrong to have so much fun with someone that wasn’t him. The guilt only ended once Dagny sat on her bed and told her it was okay to let herself love again, she couldn’t torture herself with the absence of Mike forever.
El brings herself back to the moment and flits her eyes back up to Neel’s understanding gaze. He nods, as if she had experienced the same thing himself.
“I know what you mean,” Neel nods pensively. “My last relationship was ages ago and wasn’t the best either.” He gives El a small smile that sends a flutter through her heart, one that she no longer feels guilty about.
“Thank you,” El says softly. Their eyes lock on one another. God, El thinks as heat rushes down to the space between her thighs. She doesn’t want this date to end. She likes being around him, talking to him, laughing with him. Maybe she can convince him to come over so they can roll around and make out on her bed. On the intermittent breaks, they could give their kissing lips a rest, tracing each other's palms while they talked endlessly and learned more and more about each other. “Um, well, since I made you so cold, maybe I can help warm you up? We can watch a normal length movie and I can make you some hot chocolate.”
“Do you have tea?” Neel waggles his eyebrows. “I am English after all.”
“I have tea,” El giggles, registering the expressive movements in his face. She makes a note to herself to buy him tea for next time.
“Okay, then sounds good,” Neel smiles to himself, and El can tell he’s revelling in the mutual attraction like she is. “Maybe I’ll see if I have a tape of a movie from home we can watch on for our next date on Thursday.”
He remembered that she didn’t have a show on Friday morning. El’s heart rate quickens.
“Thursday is good,” She rubs her sweaty palms on her dark green thermal hiking pants while she bites her lip.
