123 The Jardin del Amor

The Jardín del Amor was a restaurant owned by the Rosenkrantz family. When Ullr walked in, the staff immediately recognized him. The workers showed him to his family's personal area that they reserved for themselves.

There were scattered rose petals on the ground and the pathway led Macha and Ullr to a stone archway. Moss and flowers grew on the stone, giving the pathway a whimsical atmosphere. The archway framed a beautiful picnic that was laid out by a serene lake. On the lake, elegant swans glided across the water.

The whole scene impressed Macha. She never imagined that all of this could be on the top of a building in the city. Her eyes took in the sights and left her with awe. In a dazed voice, she asked, "Your family owns all of this?"

Ullr chuckled at her reaction. "Yes. This was actually a small project of mine. I made it as an anniversary present for my parents a few years ago. As luck would have it, the restaurant turned out to be popular with Marseille's couples."

He stretched out on the large blanket and leaned against a pillow. "I know I said we could practice our etiquette, but I really felt like the food here. I also thought you would enjoy it." Pretending to contemplate the situation, he added, "Why don't we grab a cup of tea after this to get in our practice instead?" The set up to drag out the date seemed too easy for him. Everything fell into place without Tyr around to bother him.

Macha picked up a cracker and spread some cheese on it. "That sounds fine. I do like it here. You did an amazing job planning this." After eating a bit, she realized that the food was excellent as well. Everything tasted like they used only the highest quality ingredients. She loved that most of the meal was done to be finger food. In her opinion, it added to the picnic's charm.

While Ullr poured the wine, he studied Macha's reactions from the corner of his eye. He assessed her personality correctly. She was playful and appreciated this place. "Would you prefer a quieter setting?" he asked. With that, he snapped his fingers and the daylight that streamed through the overhead windows changed into a moonlit sky with thousands of stars twinkling above. After it grew dark, fireflies came out of the grasses and flickered around them.

The change was so complete that Macha's mouth made an 'O'. She had never seen something so realistic before. Her head moved from side to side, studying the details. "Can every area do this?" As she asked, the romantic sound of guitars began to play in the distance.

In a nonchalant voice, he replied, "No. Just this place. Do you like it?" Ullr decided Macha looked pretty in the moonlight. Her skin glowed and the dark sky gave her a mysterious look. He personally preferred the nighttime and the mysteries it seemed to hold.

She grinned. "I love fireflies, so I do like this." With the atmosphere's sudden transformation, she began to feet a bit uneasy. Now their lunch was beginning to seem like a date instead of a lesson.

Macha twirled her wine around in her glass. She took a sip and glanced over at Ullr. "I have a small confession. I feel as if this is a romantic meal," she chuckled hesitantly. The last thing she wanted was for it to become awkward in the middle of lunch, which now seemed more like dinner.

Thinking about how to answer her, Ullr gave a tender smile, "It would be nice if it was." Not letting Macha have a chance to respond he continued on, "But if it was a date, I would probably not be talking with you right now." After saying this, his charming smile transformed into one of seduction.

Electric currents filled the air when he smiled. His intelligent grey eyes locked with her's and they seemed to pull her towards him. Macha's heart pounded, and she turned her head to gaze at the lake. Now she definitely felt unsure if this was a date.

All of Tyr's words of concern came flooding in her mind. At this moment she understood what Tyr talked about when he voiced his concerns about Ullr. Her heart still raced, and she cursed it. At this moment she hated her body and how it betrayed her.

The view looked beautiful and despite the tension in the air, Macha was happy to have come. Wanting to change the subject to something safer, she said, "Tyr has a gorgeous lake on his estate. Have you ever seen it?"

Ullr got up and sat beside her. He shrugged his shoulders, "No. I'm much younger than he is, so we did not socialize much."

Now that he sat this close to her, he noticed her breasts rose and fell from her heavy breathing. He moved his gaze so she would not discover that he stole a glance at her chest. It was a good sign if she breathed quickly from his nearness. This meant she saw him as attractive, most did, but with how Macha treated him, he had never been positive.

She did not understand why Ullr came to sit next to her. It seemed too dangerous. He was hard to read and did not seem as reserved as Freyr. At least Macha trusted that Freyr would never steal a kiss from her or do anything untoward.

While Ullr was a gentleman, he always gave off a sense of danger. She could never pinpoint exactly what he would do. "Do you have a girlfriend? Have you taken her here?" Macha hoped he would say yes to put her mind at ease. Then she could chalk up all his little actions as just being part of his personality.

Ullr leaned closer so his head was at the same level as Macha's. His grey eyes stared into hers, "No. I don't bring many people here. Also, most women don't strike my fancy." He did not want to push her with any more body language queues. The words itself were enough to cause her to blush.

Macha tried to find a way to diffuse the situation. She put some food on a plate and handed it to him, "Here you barely ate anything." She realized if his hands and mouth remained full, then he could not make any moves on her.

Her nervousness amused him. It was obvious she did not crave his romantic attentions. Most women chased after him even without him encouraging them, but Macha was different. Being chased disgusted him and he hated women who presumed they were worth his time. For once he found himself chasing after a woman, and he enjoyed the challenge.

He decided to ease the intensity of his pursuit. Today he gained the knowledge that she could see him as more than a friend which was important. He took a bite of a cracker and toned down his flirtations. This seemed to ease the tension, and they slipped back into a normal conversation.

Ullr had always been curious about Macha's world and he took this as an opportunity to ask her questions about it. It surprised him to find out that he was the only person to press her on the subject. At this point in her relationship with Tyr, he assumed that she would have told him about her old home.

Out of all the things she talked about, her language interested him the most. He asked if she would teach him how to speak it. A shared language which only they spoke seemed like an interesting idea.

The notion of someone wanting to learn her mother tongue excited Macha. Not even Luna wanted to learn it. It seemed like an amusing idea to teach her teacher something, so she agreed. They decided that every day he would learn one simple sentence that could be used in conversation. Today they stuck with 'yes' and 'no'. Macha believed it was the most basic words needed for communication. Throughout the rest of the meal, they entertained themselves with yes or no questions about themselves.

When they finally left, it was dark outside. They had lost track of the time because the sky above had been eternally night. Ullr was satisfied with the progress of their relationship. He turned to Macha and suggested, "I hope you don't mind, but it is getting late. I think it would be best if we cancel the tea we planned to have."

Ullr walked Macha back to her apartment. At the door, he gently kissed her hand and let her know, "I had a fun time. Thank you for your company."

Macha's cheeks turned pink from the kiss to her hand. Her voice came out softer than she meant it to when she replied, "Good night Ullr. That was a beautiful restaurant you made. Thank you for the meal."

Macha did not want to stay in the hallway any longer, for fear of being kissed. To avoid that scenario, she rushed into the apartment and closed the door. After the door closed, she gave a deep sigh. Today had been entertaining but exhausting. Now that she was home, Macha's body craved the sleep it had been lacking.

As Tyr ascended the stairs, Ullr was coming down. He stopped and blocked Ullr's path. His eyes narrowed, "What are you doing here so late?" It was two in the morning and Ullr had no business leaving the apartments this late.

Tyr just finished turning in Jarnvid's head and filling out the report with Freyr. Seeing Ullr at this hour was not a pleasant surprise. His patience ran thin from all the bureaucracy involved with Jarnvid's death.

The dissatisfaction in Tyr's voice was evident, so Ullr gave a short nod. "I just dropped Macha off. I took her out today for our lessons." He made sure to sound as casual as possible in his explanation.

It was important that his words did not get Macha into trouble. They genuinely lost track of time and getting Tyr angry right now would not be a smart move. He did not want her to have negative memories of their pleasant day.

Tyr studied him. His gaze seemed to pierce into Ullr's soul. After a while, he yielded, "Fine. If there's a next time, be more considerate of the hour." He trusted Macha and did not wish to talk with Ullr any longer.

Years of dealing with Hrod allowed him to sense that Ullr hid something, but Tyr decided to let it go. Both Ullr and his mother were similar in a lot of ways. They enjoyed plotting and planning, traits that Tyr hated.