Rekindle: A Valentine's Short

Atlanta, Georgia

United States of America

February 14, 2017

“I can’t believe you have plans for tonight,” Mack complained. “And to think that it would just be the two of us before, hooking each other up and being the other’s wing-person.” Aether couldn’t help but laugh, she reached over and gave Mack’s hair a ruffle before reclining into her seat and taking her phone. There was a hint of a smile on her face that the other saw, and as pouty as the other was being, he had to admit that seeing Aether happy was enough for him. Despite his teasing, he managed to put a smirk on his face. “Gonna get freaky tonight, Aether?”

“Shut up,” she laughed. “Nothing freaky’s happening tonight. Mathieu just told me that he wanted to take me out, probably somewhere fancy. You’d think that he’d stop with the surprises, honestly, considering that he took me to Tokyo for my birthday.” 

“Don’t complain. It looks like you’ve got him around your finger, and that might come to your advantage if you two do things tonight.” Mack threw her an exaggerated wink and she snorted, balling up a piece of spare paper and throwing it at him. He dodged, “Is he picking you up here, or are you going home early to prepare?” 

“I’m leaving soon.” She glanced at her phone, “No overtimes for me today, Mack. Which is a good change,” she admitted. He nodded. “How about you, though? Any plans?” 

“Pete’s my wingman for tonight, and that’s going to go so well.” He rolled his eyes, “We’ll be each other’s wingman, if that makes sense. But I’m already preparing for disappointment.” 

“Tinder’s calling you back.” 

“Tinder and Grindr. I’m not ready.” The two of them exchanged a look, and for a moment did Mack look a little disappointed, the earlier teasing cynicism fading from his hazel eyes. She wanted to pull the wavy-haired male into a hug. “But then again, so is Netflix and my pack of hot chocolate at the apartment. Screw dates.” 

“I’ll refer some cute guys your way if I can.” 

He waved her off. “Don’t bother. Enjoy your date with Mathieu.” Mack’s smirk returned when he heard Aether’s phone beep, “Just don’t come to work late tomorrow and do remember to cover up if he leaves some marks. Wouldn’t want Peters to tease—”

“I know, I know.” Aether stood up with her items in hand and bag slung over her shoulder, “I’m off.” 

Mercifully, the commute home wasn’t as hassling as it normally was. Aether reached the apartment ten minutes earlier than expected and immediately raced to hers and Mathieu’s, unlocking the front door and stepping inside with a sigh. She couldn’t help but smile somehow; he had been leaving obscure hints the entire morning about where he was going to take her that night. Despite his teasing, had pressed his lips to her forehead before she’d left for work. “You’ll enjoy,” he told her. “I promise.”

And she wanted to enjoy, she really did. Aether thought back to Tokyo while pulling dresses and coats out of her closet, remembered how both of them enjoyed the entire seven days there. After Tokyo, she and Mathieu had been busy—she was swamped with work while he had certain matters to take care of at Jin-ho’s side. Valentine’s, mercifully enough, was free for both of them. Aether opted to not overtime, while Mathieu had already told the Korean that he’d be off for the night. 

Aether tried not to overthink it. It was obvious that he was taking out to somewhere fancy, but the exact place or cuisine she wasn’t sure. And then there was the fact that Mathieu might have had more plans than dinner; a few of dating him told her that Mathieu was never the one-activity type. 

That made her more excited. 

Half an hour later, Aether was busy putting on her makeup while her hair sat in hair curlers; she had just finished applying blush and was about to move on to lipstick when she heard a familiar voice call out her name. She shouted that she was in the bathroom and then came a warm laugh, then Mathieu telling her to take her time. “Though I bet that you already look pretty good,” he teased, and she snorted before continuing on her makeup. 

Ten minutes later, Aether came out of the bedroom and greeted Mathieu at their living room, dressed up and purse slung over her shoulder. The sound of her heels clicking against the floor made him look up, and a large grin came to his lips as he took in the sight of her. “Mon Dieu, chérie. Tu es trés belle,” he breathed; Aether gave him a shy smile and he caught himself, blushing as well. “I—I mean that you look really, really beautiful.” 

“I gathered that. And you look pretty good, too,” she told him. Fingers fiddling with his suit, Mathieu shook his head before reaching for her. “Yes?”

“You really did outdo yourself this time, Aether.” He murmured. She turned red and kissed his cheek; Mathieu couldn’t help but keep looking at her. “I’m almost tempted to cancel the reservation and just spend the entire evening, night with you right here. We could order take out.”

“And leave me wondering what you had planned? Hell no.” Aether poked his chest lightly, “You’re taking me out, Mathieu. Proper date. I don’t know what you’ve planned, but I do intend on enjoying Valentine’s with you.” 

“That’s my girl.” He kissed her cheek, laced their fingers together. “Shall we?”

Time passed pretty quickly after that. They rode a taxi instead of having him drive, which Aether didn’t mind at all. The two of them spent the duration of the trip cuddling in the back, Mathieu murmuring compliments into the side of her head while she squeezed his hand and blushed. They reached the place eventually and Mathieu paid the cab driver before stepping out with her; Aether recognized the restaurants as one of the places Jin-ho had recommended when he had last seen her. 

She had never eaten there—the prices were a little too high, even for her—but for some reason, she and Mathieu were stepping at the bottom of the steps and were about to waltz in. She gaped a little bit and stared at him, Mathieu grabbing her hand and walking up the stairs. “Are you serious? This is an expensive place,” she started, but the redhead merely smiled. 

“Dead serious.” The doors opened for them and they stepped inside, greeted immediately by the sound of music playing in the background as well as the chatter of people who were dining. She kept holding onto Mathieu’s hand and the latter mentioned his own name, which led to them being escorted to their own table for two. It was somewhere in the corner of the restaurant, somewhere a little more private. The music was softer, as was the atmosphere; there was light chatter going on around but nothing too distracting. 

The chair was pulled for her. Aether sat and was pushed in, a napkin gently lain over her lap right after. A menu was settled into her hands and Mathieu immediately asked for wine, meeting Aether’s eyes when the waiter left. He looked amused, almost pleased at her surprise. And Aether had to admit that she genuinely was surprised. “Like it so far? I thought we could go fancy tonight…”

“This is really fancy,” she affirmed. She scanned over the menu briefly before looking back at him, “And so is the food. Mathieu, are you really sure—”

“Oui, Aether.” He winked at her, “Enjoy for me.”

And she did. 

Aether found herself enjoying as the night passed; whatever thoughts she had about work went away the more he encouraged her to tell how she had been. It almost seemed ridiculous, it really did, but she remembered that they hadn’t seen much of each other in days. She laughed when Mathieu told her what had been going on with his work and something Jin-ho had said; she couldn’t help but match the happiness he was giving off. 

It was in the middle of dessert that they got a little quiet. And it was okay—quiet was okay. They were used to it back in the apartment, and they could definitely handle quiet at that moment. Aether could, at least; as much as she wanted to talk, the cheesecake she was having was perfect. Mathieu had finished a few minutes before and was merely watching her, the same amused smile on his lips. She felt his gaze on her; she looked up. “Mm?”

“It’s not much.” His blue eyes softened. “I just missed you a lot.” 

“I missed you, too.” She swallowed and allowed herself to frown a little bit, reaching over to touch his hand. “It’s a little weird that we barely get to see each other at home…sort of reminds me of how it was between us before, at certain points. You’d come home when I was already asleep, and I’d have to leave before you were even awake.” Mathieu sighed. He lifted her hand, pressed his lips to her knuckles. “Sort of felt lonely.”

“I’ll make it up to you. I promise.” He gestured to her plate, “When you finish, I can pay and we’ll go to the next place. Which you’ll definitely enjoy,” he added with a grin. Aether nodded, finishing up her cake while Mathieu called for the waiter and asked for the bill. They left ten minutes later, Mathieu pulling her out of the restaurant and urging her to follow him. “No taxi this time, I thought we could walk.” 

“Not a problem, but where—”

“Just follow me, chérie.” Closing her mouth, Aether followed him. He brought her through the city, wrapping an arm around her eventually and engaging her in conversation. “See, there’s this place where I wanted to bring you to…it was originally just supposed to be dinner tonight, but. Something caught my eye and I thought you’d be interested.”

“And what is it, Mr. Mystery?”

“Keep walking, Aether. Come on.” Huffing, she did anyway and Mathieu kissed the side of her head, promising yet again that she’d enjoy.

Aether’s mind was reeling a little bit; what was it? They passed by a number of shops, a couple of bars; she thought they’d spend time together drinking, but that wasn’t the case. She did her best to be patient, at least, though on the inside she wanted to know where they were off to. 

It wasn’t until fifteen, twenty minutes of walking and Aether pestering Mathieu that they arrived at their destination. A quaint shop by the name of Con Anina had the lights on inside, and based on what Aether was seeing, it had to be some kind of cutesy place where they’d engage in something artsy—

But she was wrong. 

Aether’s jaw almost dropped when Mathieu brought her inside; there was an elderly male who shook Mathieu’s hand and told him that they had the place for an hour. While the exchange between the two happened, Aether was stuck to the floor as her eyes absorbed what was around her. 

She couldn’t believe it. There were pianos of different kinds around, shorter ones by the front while the grander ones she had dreamed of having sat around at the back. The counter held piano books and whatnot, but the best part for her was the black Yamaha in the middle. 

Aether didn’t realize that it was only her and Mathieu left. She managed a quiet “oh my god” under her breath and aproached the piano, looking at it from all over. An initial look gave off the impression that it was a new piano, but there were a bit of markings on the side that old her that the piano was second hand—second hand, but gorgeous. A memory flashed in her head and she bit her lip, fingers running over the keys slowly. 

But as soon as the memory came, so did doubt. Can I?

“This place is ours for the hour,” Mathieu spoke quietly. He was watching her and saw how she regarded the piano. “And you can play as much as you want. But the piano’s yours.” 

Her heart almost dropped. “What?”

“This girl’s yours now.” Mathieu stepped forward, gently pushed her into sitting down on the stool. “It was Jin-ho’s, actually, back when he was younger. But he doesn’t play anymore, not much; so he decided to sell it to me so that you could have it. We had it fixed up here, and…well. She’s yours.” He looked at Aether, who remained silent as she sat at the piano. “Do you like her?”

“…I haven’t played in a long time.”

“Doesn’t matter.” He squeezed around her shoulder gently, “I know how much you’ve wanted to start playing again. And—and I know nothing about piano, but I think you can do pretty well. Really.” 

The words spilled out of her mouth. “I’m rusty,” she told him with wide eyes, “I—I’m really rusty, I haven’t practiced in a long time. It’s going to sound bad, Mathieu, I don’t want to waste it—”

Because fuck, it was a beautiful gift, but Aether didn’t want to waste it. Not at all. The last thing she wanted was to practice rough, unhand skills on something as beautiful as the piano in front of her. Hell, there was a bit of guilt, too. Mathieu could have used the money for something else, something better, not for her to waste away on the piano and eventually forget again—

Warmth. Aether almost jumped upon feeling warm hands on her own, warm hands set her hands over the keys. She bit her lip. There was familiarity, a comforting sense of it; and God, she wanted to play so badly, but the doubt was there. The doubt lingered. 

But Mathieu didn’t doubt her, did he?

So Aether took a shaky breath, flexed her fingers. Set her fingers over the keys, tested them out with a light push before confirming that it really had been fixed up. The sound was good and the keys didn’t stick. 

Closing her eyes, Aether put herself in the past and pressed down. 

Familiar. And again—

That was off. She grimaced, pushed the embarrassment down, and worked through her hesitations. The keys felt familiar, the piece felt familiar. It was almost as if she were back home in Winchester, playing for her parents and watching her mother smile proudly. 

Within a number of attempts, Aether had managed to play the first half minute of Für Elise. She ended when it felt right and exhaled, dropping her hands immediately and unable to stop them from shaking. She did it. She did it, she managed, she—

Mathieu’s laughter. She turned to him and locked him in a tight embrace, Mathieu startled before smiling and embracing her back. She didn’t say anything, not really until he made her look at him; Aether’s eyes were teary and he wanted to kiss the tears away before they could even fall. He gave her a small smile, “Like the gift?”

“I love it, you idiot.” A tighter embrace, “God, I—I love you, you have no idea…I just—I just wanted to start playing again, but I never had the time nor the materials and now…” She shook her head, sniffling before falling silent and hugging, embracing. 

“You sounded amazing.” 

“I need more practice. I really do, but—thank you, thank you,” Aether repeated upon pulling away. “You really don’t know how much this means, I promise I’ll get back to practicing—”

He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips. Aether fell silent, kissing him back and whispering another thank you against his skin. 

It was enough.