[EM] Hey now, people, have you read the news?

[idontreallyspar]

Maybe it was a delayed reaction from the blast last year. Some toxin he inhaled, or some kind of allergic reaction to his new aftershave. Something...anything but the truth, because it was just too ludicrous, too sappy and sentimental and...*right.*

He'd been looking at the world through sunglasses...had been for years, because now everything was brighter. The sun, the colors...the taste of food, the way a cool afternoon breeze felt on his skin. The world had changed overnight, in tiny, insignificant ways that turned everything into a tapestry he'd never seen or felt before.

And it was all because of one little word.

Yes.

Not for the first time, Tom found himself transfixed by the glitter of gold and prismatic blue as he helped Rachel stuff the last of the small stack of envelopes...her engagement ring never left her finger, and he was pleased that the opal pendant he'd also given her for Christmas rarely left her neck. If it wasn't on display, he could usually see the gleaming silver chain peeking above the collar of her shirt, but today the v-neck t-shirt she wore let the chain hang free and the glittering teardrop stone stand out sharply against her pale skin.

"Here," he finally declared, handing her his last envelope, "you lick that one. I wish you'd have gotten some of those self-sealing envelopes for these invitations...and remind me *why* we're sending formal invites to our engagement party again? I thought we were keeping things small, and I *know* this stack has grown."

Comments

[my_strappyshoes]

There was a moment of laughter as she took the last envelope from his hand, letting her tongue drag across the glue and quickly making a face of slight bitterness as she pressed it closed, "We got the ones that weren't self-adhesive because, one the invitations fit in them easier, and two its funnier that we've left our DNA all over them. Those that think you would never get married can verify it themselves."

She stuck her tongue out at him from across the table and once again had to shake off the residual lingering taste of the glue. "Though why we got the gross tasting ones I'll never know."

The last one sealed shut she stacked them loosely in her hands making a neat pile and setting them back in the box. "Formal invites seemed fun. Considering we haven't set a date, let alone have any idea when the date could even be? This is the fastest way for us to make sure we have everyone together. Plus with Sydney and the baby, and Nadia's pregnancy? We have to figure that it's a now or never situation for all of them. Once Isabelle is older she'll be into everything and that's a handful for Sydney and Vaughn. Nadia will be driving Eric nuts with the late stages of pregnancy eventually so I just think we're being practical."

Standing up she moved behind him letting her hands slide down over his shoulders to rest on his chest as she leaned into him as he sat there, "For all of us being spies? We're being extremely predictable for once in our lives."