"I can't believe this is happening," Ira's voice shook with adrenaline as she messily shoved handfuls of clothes into a duffel bag.
Dulo had ordered the team to start packing the second the meeting had adjourned. He only gave them 15 minutes to be ready and in the main room where he'd send them all off with their assigned partners. On the bright side: Randel wasn't Ira's partner. On the not-so-bright side: neither was Seamus.
"I know—isn't it exciting?" speak of the devil, Seamus packed alongside her. He had already finished minutes earlier and knew Ira would be late. He came to help.
At least, Ira thought, I get to spend a few more minutes with him. She took this without question, and made sure she was... slower than usual. She smirked to herself. Even knowing the earful she'd get from Dulo later on. Now that's love. She never realized she could be this romantic.
"Exciting? I wouldn't exactly call it that," Ira huffed. "Nerve-wracking? Grueling? Annoying—because I could be lazing around the house instead? I could drink to those."
"Well, I never said it was a good excitement," Seamus sat on her dresser and looked down to admire her rare franticness. "of course not. We're driving into enemy territory, two at a time, to save a couple friends who may or may not still be alive. I just don't have it in my heart to worsen the mood."
"How do you stay so calm all the time?" Ira baffled.
"Like I said, I don't want to make it worse for everyone else. I'm the pillar that holds everyone up, you know," he beamed proudly at that and patted Ira's head. "I'm the eldest."
"I thought Dulo was the pillar that held everyone up? He has an office and everything."
"Dulo is not the pillar," Seamus said. "Dulo is... Dulo's the dad."
"Aren't dads referred to as the pillars of the family?" Ira asked, looking up.
"Dads are human, Ira." he said this like she doubted that fact, and it offended him. "Pillars are wood or marble or—in my case—solid gold."
"So you aren't human?"
He smirked. "I'm a god."
Ira laughed loudly at that. "The pillar god." then resumed shoving clothes into her bag. After a few calming seconds, Seamus spoke up again.
"I'm completely different on the inside," he said. "just really good at hiding things."
"I never accused you of being unfeeling..." Ira assured, slowing her pace a bit before continuing, "I'm tougher than you think, so you're free to say anything around me."
Seamus sighed long and hard. "I'm worried about Ziv and Avix."
"Yeah." Ira agreed.
"I'm worried they won't come back."
"Yeah."
"I'm worried we won't come back."
"...Yeah."
"Ira..."
"Yeah?"
"When we come back," Seamus sat up straight and said confidently, "we should get married."
Ira stopped in her tracks but didn't look up. Heart beating a mile a minute (whatever that means), mind churning and bubbling and overflowing with wedding dress designs she could attempt and screw up with Ziv and Ned, before she remembered; this was Seamus. The laid-back man who didn't think before he spoke. And he loved to tease. Plus, they're not even together. He's not even aware of her feelings.
She started to wilt with embarrassment under her heavy idiocy.
Ira laughed and got back to her job, more adrenaline pumping through her veins than there was ten seconds ago. "Yeah. Very funny, Seamus."
"I am not kidding." he said bluntly.
Ira looked up into his eyes then, face and neck stained an obvious red. Too frantic and humiliated with herself to care. "I changed my mind," she spoke softly. "It's not very funny at all."
He looked away. "You told me I could say anything around you."
"You can, it's just... is right now really the time to joke around?"
"I already told you, I'm not joking." and Ira will admit; he almost had her. With that straight face and serious demeanor and deep, unwavering voice that made her shaky in the knees. It was hypnotizing, and could convince her of anything else. But not this.
She laughed nervously. "Seamus, Seamus, Seamus... we haven't even had our first date yet!"
"Every time we're together feels like a first date." he sounded too serious, it was breaking Ira's heart. She had to get out of there.
"Well, I'm finished packing—bye!" she turned to run, but Seamus jumped from the dresser and grabbed her wrist to pull her back.
He leaned in as close to her ear as he could with the duffel bag between them. "How many dates does it take to get married?" His voice was so warm and soft and perfect and he had no idea they were already married in Ira's dreams.
"Uh, I-I don't know, it depends on the people—"
"No," Seamus said. "I'm giving you the joke you wanted so badly. How many dates does it take to get married?"
Ira gave a shaky breath. "How many?"
"Just one..." he whispered. "the wedding." he put a hand on her cheek.
"I have one for you," Seamus raised an eyebrow, waiting. Ira swallowed. "How many imaginary marriages does it take until you actually marry me?" she elbowed him in the stomach a couple times with a laugh, but Seamus just stayed staring at her with a small frown and scrunched eyebrows.
Ira stopped laughing and was about to back away slowly from the pile of shit she'd just made, but Seamus had thrown the duffel bag from between them and kissed her before she'd even lifted a foot.
She was always worried about the fact that she'd never had her first kiss, but kissing Seamus made her realize how thankful she was to be a prude. Those few missed chances because she was too nervous and thought she would puke on the other person; all the lonely and insecure years. Worth it, she thought, Worth it worth it worth it worth it. Every unfortunate thing she's endured until this moment? Worth it.
He was so gentle and perfect and his lips were so soft and tasted like his homemade chocolate mint pie they had eaten during the meeting and she was so out of it she almost didn't hear Dulo barge in to give her that very expected earful she definitely wasn't regretting.
She pulled away reluctantly and had to keep pulling away because Seamus kept following her and whining.
"So this is what you two have been doing?!" Dulo barked at them from the now wide-open door. "We've all been waiting thirty minutes for you brats to get down there and I know how Ira is so I was nice enough not to be pushy but this?! Doesn't deserve lenience!"
"Oh god please just shut up, Dulo," Seamus whined, smothering Ira into his chest. "I finally work up the courage to kiss my fiancée and you gotta interrupt? I thought we were bros?"
"We're not 'bros' and you should've worked up the courage last ye-..." his face froze, morphed into a million facial expression that left too quickly for Ira to identify, until he settled on one. Startled confusion. "FIANCÉE?!?!?"
