Work Text:
Reclining against their loveseat's velvet upholstery, Leaf lifted her champagne flute and appraised her lover's refined silhouette where he stood peering into the gilt-framed mirror. From rumpled lab coat to impeccably-tailored dinner jacket, never had she beheld this reserved researcher so dashingly attired.
The jet-black fabric gleamed as it clung and draped in all the right places, accentuating Lucas's trim waist and the pleasing width of his shoulders—a silhouette certain to provoke admiring glances (maybe even subtle envy) at this evening’s gala celebrating the most distinguished academics. Yet Lucas appeared charmingly oblivious to the picture he presented. In truth, Leaf herself had needed to gently correct his choice of tie, steering him away from a dull puce or sage number suitable for lecturing scientifically-inclined minds but all wrong for their glamorous celebration.
She recalled too well his usual muted office garb layered beneath the ubiquitous white coat: how neutrally-hued linens, softly rumpled, muted any evidence of the fine physique they clothed so modestly. Ever focused, Lucas moved through sterile halls and laboratories dressed for utility rather than allure. None save herself ever glimpsed the strong grace of him out of context.
Thus to observe him now preening before her, clad in formal elegance that enhanced his natural gifts, seized Leaf with unexpected pleasure. This glimpse of playful vanity seemed at odds with Lucas’s grounded dignity, yet also bared something more vulnerable. It revealed a wish to please—perhaps even to captivate—hitherto undiscovered.
Just then Lucas turned to her, uncharacteristically uncertain. “So? How do I look?” He smoothed his hands down the suit coat’s front.
A becoming blush tinted Leaf’s cheeks at the unwonted shyness coloring his voice. Setting down her champagne flute, she crossed the carpet to adjust Lucas's tie, gazing up through her lashes. “You look great!"