Since their return to the academy, everyone had been busy. Cordelia had been busy planning on how to exact justice for John Henry, Myrtle assisting in the process. Zoe and Queenie had been busy teaching their classes, also partaking in their Council duties when necessary. Mallory had been busy perfecting her craft and learning about what all entailed the Supremacy, Cordelia giving small private lessons when she could. And Angel, well Angel had been busy planning a small date for her and her girlfriend. She had told Cordelia of her plans, the Supreme happily allowing the girl some time off in order to put her full focus into her self-assigned task.
Mallory had told her before to be herself, naturally and authentically, and while her idea wasn't extravagant and expensive she believed it was perfectly them. A way for the two to escape from everything for a few hours and allow them to be alone. She wandered around the school, looking for the girl in question but finding no such luck. She chuckled to herself and shook her head as she finally pieced together where the witch currently was.
She entered the greenhouse, which had inadvertently become their place. It was often the place where one could find the other and Angel chastised herself for not looking here first, you could say her brain was a little scattered from all the nerves. She watched for a few moments as the girl was caught up in helping a lavender plant that mysteriously wasn't blooming, despite it being in the right conditions for it to do so.
Angel approached and knocked lightly on the wooden tabletop to alert Mallory of her presence which she still hadn't noticed yet. The brunette jumped in her spot and spun around to face her intruder.
She laughed breathlessly when she saw who it was, bringing a hand to her chest, "Who's scaring who now?"
"Sorry." She apologized, shrugging her shoulders. She wasn't really sorry, though.
"It's okay." She dismissed, "Can you help me with this?" The witch asked, gesturing to the plant.
Angel nodded and stood closely beside her, "What are you tryin' to do?"
"I was trying to use my powers to make it bloom but it won't work."
"Ah, one of the girls went a little crazy with prunin' this plant earlier in the year. That tends to harm the plant more than help it." Angel replied, giving the girl a mini-lesson unintentionally. She placed her hands at the base of the plant and took a deep breath in. Within a few moments, the picturesque purple flowers began to bloom all over, a bright and vibrant color. She looked over at Mallory to see her disheartened expression. She had no idea how long the brunette had been in here trying to do what she accomplished in seconds. She turned and grabbed a small pair of shears and cut off a handful of stems. She used some twine to wrap them together and stepped back.
"Now, help grow back what I just cut away." Angel prompted.
Mallory dejectedly shook her head and attempted to place the pot back in its original place.
Angel stopped her, "Do it, Mal. I know ya can."
Her girlfriend looked over at her and gave her a slightly irritated expression but complied regardless. She placed her hand near the short stems and took a deep breath in, closing her eyes. When she opened them, she was surprised to find that they had grown back, small buds in the process of flowering.
"See, that wasn't so hard now, was it?" Angel asked. She smiled and offered her free hand to the girl, "Come on, leave it there. I've got a surprise for ya." She announced excitedly.
Mallory took her hand and allowed the witch to lead her out of the greenhouse. She was expecting the girl to lead her back into the academy but was confused when she, instead, led her around to the front of the school. Sitting along the steps was a medium sized wicker basket, placed on top of it was a folded mustard yellow blanket.
"What's this?" Mallory asked.
"Well..." Angel trailed off dramatically, "Things have slightly calmed down for now and I cleared up my schedule for the night. I think it's time I take ya on that date I promised ya." She smiled and offered the impromptu bouquet of lavender flowers.
Mallory's smile was dazzling as she accepted them, "Was the flower thing planned?" She narrowed her dark eyes playfully.
"Nope, completely spur of the moment. But I'm glad it happened." She responded, grabbing the basket and blanket from the steps and offered her arm to Mallory. The two left arm-in-arm out the front gates of the academy and walked to Cordelia's car, who gave the blonde permission to borrow it for the occasion.
Angel was gracious as she held the passenger door open for her girlfriend and allowed her to climb into the SUV. The entire drive to their destination, Mallory pestered her with questions, all of which were left unanswered. Angel was adamant in insisting that it was all a surprise.
It didn't take long for them to arrive. Mallory could see a lone shack sitting along the shore of the swamp. She was a little confused but decided not to question it- for once. As they exited the car, Angel finally began answering some of her inquiries.
"So, this here is a place that's pretty special to me." She looked over at Mallory who was clutching the flowers close to her chest, "This is where my sister and I lived for a while. After Cordelia became Supreme, she paid for some of it's renovations. I occasionally come here when I want to get away from the coven. It's nice and quiet, and during twilight hours, the fireflies go crazy."
She shrugged her shoulders, "I figured it'd be a nice spot for our first date. It's private and surrounded by nature, which we both love. You and I are simple girls, we don't need a fancy dinner or to go to a movie as our first date."
Mallory rushed forward and gave Angel a heart-stopping kiss. She stepped back and looked into Angel's eyes as she had left her sunglasses in the car, "I love it." she whispered, caressing her soft cheek.
"Great." She beamed.
The two walked towards the small house and Angel busied herself with setting up the picnic she had planned. Mallory stood nearby and looked out at the scenery. Even if she didn't know that her girlfriend had lived here at one point she would've been able to guess it. She was right, it was quiet, private, and simple; it just screamed Angel Day to her.
Music softly permeated the air as Angel put on a relaxing guitar playlist.
She really did listen, Mallory thought fondly, she had remembered in passing how she mentioned that she loved the sound a guitar could make, how she found the music they created soothing and more appealing than the piano. She often found the black and white keyed instrument to sound too melancholy, but not the guitar. Angel figured that music without lyrics would allow the two to have a full conversation without her mind straying, as it normally did unintentionally.
"Okay, all done!" Angel proudly announced.
Mallory turned around to see how it was all set up. Small tealight candles were lit around the border of the yellow blanket that was now spread out on the wooden porch. Small pillows were set down as their seats. Placed on the blanket was a simple chicken parmesan dish served with a side of bread, Mallory's favorite. She also noticed a bowl of chocolate strawberries sitting off to the side and flutes filled with bubbly champagne- non-alcoholic, of course.
Angel couldn't hold it in anymore, "So, what do ya think, Mal?" She asked, nervously shifting on her feet.
"It's perfect, Angel. Thank you." Her smile was genuine and affectionate as she gazed at the blonde witch. She was honestly in awe of how thoughtful it all was.
They sat down and casually talked over their early dinner. Angel had the opportunity to learn more about her girlfriend's childhood and Mallory learned about what it was like having grown up in the shack behind them. They laughed and smiled at one another as the date continued on. They were both completely relaxed and carefree, they had forgotten about all the stressors that the coven brought with it and just enjoyed their time together.
They sat back and watched as the sun set, sipping away on the bottle of champagne Angel had, maybe stolen from the academy's pantry without permission. The blonde reached forward and placed the bowl of strawberries in-between them as they sat next to each other, leaning against the wall of the house.
"By the way, Coco said these are 80 calories." Angel chuckled as she took a bite of one.
"Not too bad. Totally worth it." Mallory said, grabbing one of her own and also taking a bite. Angel simply hummed in agreement.
She looked over at her girlfriend, "Thank you for all of this, by the way. It was so thoughtful."
Angel smiled, "I take it ya liked it all then?" She asked.
Mallory nodded feverishly, "Of course I did. I loved it. Dare I say, it was the perfect first date." She leaned over and gently grabbed Angel's cheek and pulled her in for a loving kiss. The two could taste the strawberries on one another's lips as they moved them in sync. She leaned back and gave a wistful sigh as she turned her gaze back to the setting sun and listened to the calm guitar flow from the speakers of the portable radio that was brought along.
During that time, Angel had borrowed the bouquet of flowers, with Mallory's permission, and began skillfully weaving the stems together. As she concentrated, Mallory giggled as she noticed the girl's tongue slightly poking out of the corner of her mouth. When she finished, she proudly presented the purple flower crown to her girlfriend and placed it on her head, seeing as the witch wasn't wearing her gold leaf headband for once.
"For m'lady." She jokingly bowed her upper body, "'Cause ya know, purple is for royalty."
"You're so cute." Mallory smiled infectiously.
"All for you, babe." Angel responded, giving the girl a short kiss.
They spent the rest of their time silently watching the sun finally descend below the horizon, their fingers intertwined. Just as promised, the fireflies began their nightly dance, lighting up the sky as they danced around the property.
"Wow." Mallory breathed.
"Beautiful, ain't it?"
She nodded, "It is."
"It used to be my favorite thing to watch as a little girl. I used to drag Misty out of the house to watch them with me." Angel said, "And she was nice enough to entertain my wishes every night." She sighed wistfully. She wondered how Misty was doing right now. If Stevie's website was up-to-date, they should be in New York City right now. I'm sure she's loving that right about now, Angel thought sarcastically. Misty and Angel were country girls, big cities never drawing them in like it did for others. But she was with the Stevie Nicks so she was sure that more than made up for it.
As the two conversed for awhile longer, Angel noticed that Mallory was beginning to grow tired so she began quietly packing things away. She was careful not to disturb the brunette and took her time as she was dreading breaking up the peaceful atmosphere the two had created. Once they left, it would be back to the normal chaos their lives were filled with. However, the date was successful and it brought the two closer than ever. Angel would forever hold this memory close to her heart, and Mallory would too.