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"I think he'd like someone that has an interest in creative pursuits," Gordon mused, poking one of the boxes to tick it.
"And someone that likes to go for walks, you know what he's like for wanting to wander and take in the scenery, maybe even snap some pictures to paint later," Scott added, touching another box to tick it.
"More of a home body than an adventurer, he gets enough of that with work," Gordon added it to the list. "And they definitely have to believe that family is important, he can't have someone that won't understand his commitments."
"OK, next, all about him," Scott scrolled down to the next section. "His interests…"
"Classical music, obviously."
"Enjoys visiting art galleries and concerts."
"And eating out."
"Don't we all?"
Gordon nodded at that, there was nothing they liked more than picking up some tasty food.
"Ideal date? What's that movie he likes? The one with the lake house?"
"Oh, I know the one you mean, with the…the…" Scott's brain failed to make the connection, romantic comedies were not his thing, that was what Virgil watched with Selene, not him.
"Doesn't matter," Gordon assured him, brushing it aside. "He liked the date so I'm putting it down. A relaxed stroll along a lake side at sunset," he murmured to himself as he quickly typed it out.
"That's the one," Scott nodded. "He-"
"Allie! Have you seen Scott?" The sound of Virgil's voice floating up from the kitchen made them both jump guilty.
"I think he's in the lounge," Alan shouted back.
"Shit!"
"He's coming!"
"Quick, submit it, submit it!" Gordon smacked at the submit button, growling in frustration when a flashing red 'incomplete field' warning mocked them.
The sound of steel capped boots thumping up stairs spurred them on.
"Just tick anything!" Scott yelped, fingers flying as he randomly poked boxes in between Gordon whacking the submit button like it had personally offended him.
"Yes!" Gordon sighed as the 'congratulations' sign appeared in green. "Done!"
Scott just had time to hit the x and pull up a report before Virgil strolled his way in.
"What are you two doing?" he asked suspiciously, stopping dead in the doorway when he was greeted by the sight of the two brothers least likely to be discussing a report seeming to be doing just that.
"Nothing!" Gordon yelped just as Scott yelled "Reports" which was definitely upping the suspicion levels. He didn't believe them.
"I don't believe you," Virgil told them firmly, attempting to give them the kind of 'don't lie to me' eyebrow raise that Selene or John managed to pull off but knew he had failed. Damn the fact that he was the nice one and they both knew that any and all threats he might issue would go unfulfilled.
"You doubt me?" Scott gasped in mock outrage. "Me? Your big brother? The one that always has your back?"
"And me, your wingman? The one that always fixes your hairdryer fuse?"
"One time Gordon! That was one time! And it wasn't my hairdryer!"
"I don't know, you bought it, you keep it in your bathroom and you warned us all that we couldn't borrow it on pain of death, so that evidence all points to it being your hairdryer…"
"I won't stay here to be insulted," Virgil sniffed indignantly, "I'm gonna go find Kayo and see if she'll help me with the inlet manifold, at least she can take instructions and won't lie to me."
They watched him stomp away in a huff, breathing a sigh of relief when the sound of his boots faded into nothing.
"Damn, that was close," Scott gulped, clicking back onto the dating website to check it had worked. His eyes widened when he looked at the screen.
"What? What's wrong?"
"He's got three inboxes already."
"Seriously? Already, it's been what, five minutes?"
"Yep."
"We’re gonna be spoilt for choice."
"I guess that just means we have more chance of picking him a good one, he needs to get out more."
"He'll thank us for it in the end."
***
"I don't understand, why do I have to dress up?" Virgil groaned. "I'm tired, I've had a long day, why do we need to go to the mainland just to pick up pizza?"
Gordon glanced at Scott for help. None was forthcoming. He nudged him for emphasis.
"Fine," Scott sighed, admitting defeat. Honesty was always the best policy anyway. "We arranged a blind date for you."
"You did what?" Virgil exploded. "Why the hell would you do that?"
"We thought you needed to get out more," Gordon shrugged. "We were trying to help."
"I don't need your help, I didn't ask for it."
"Not like you were going to meet anyone on your own, was it?" Gordon continued to needle.
"John did! So did Scott. I am perfectly capable of getting my own dates."
"John is an enigma that none of us understand and Cat's my ex, I was recycling, that doesn't count."
"Do not let her hear you say that," Gordon laughed.
"My point still stands," Scott insisted waving away the worry about his girlfriend, "we don't have a normal job or the chance to socialise much, and unless fate decides to be nice and throw someone at you like it did for John or you have an ex hidden away somewhere, you can't use us as an example."
"You don't want to let her down, do you?" Gordon tossed in, knowing that his softie brother would feel guilty as hell if he upset anyone. "How would you feel if you got dumped before you'd even met the person?"
Virgil wanted to argue the point some more, but honesty and his vow never to lie to himself stopped him. They did have a point, a small one, but still pointy and therefore he was unable to ignore their logic. He decided to give in, although he refused to do so gracefully or with any forgiveness of their plotting. Plus, they were right, he wouldn't want to be responsible for anyone feeling like they weren't good enough in any way, shape or form.
"Looks like I don't have much of a choice…" he started only to be interrupted by the victorious cheers of his brothers. "Do you have a picture of her?"
"Nope," Scott grinned. "We signed you up with that new site where pictures aren't allowed, you pick based on shared interests and compatibility, not looks."
"That's…actually a nice idea," Virgil acknowledged reluctantly. He wasn't one to judge people on looks, he cared more about personality and morals.
"See, we knew you'd approve," Gordon grinned, slapping him on the back.
"I didn't say I approved of this-"
"Come on, hurry up, you don't want to be late for your date!"
***
Virgil waited nervously on the picnic bench, clutching the single sunflower Scott had thrust at him like it was a weapon, ready to fend off anything if his blind date turned out to be some kind of psycho.
They couldn't be too careful, they were far too used to people trying to find out details about them or to trick them in some way. No one was ever as they seemed.
Scott had assured him that they hadn't used his real name and that no one would associate it with him but he couldn't help the little nagging doubts that gnawed away at the back of his mind.
Plus he still hadn't forgiven them for pulling this stunt on him. Did they really think he was that bad at dating that he needed such help? He wasn't bad at dating, he got plenty of offers for a hook up, they all did. Well, not John but he was hardly ever out on rescues and Selene was common knowledge now but, to the rest of the world, him and his "single" brothers were all fair game.
Butt gropes and comments about their hard muscles were a common occurrence, so much so that he often felt like a piece of meat being squished and tested before purchase. Another reason why he rarely managed to meet anyone that he could actually see himself wanting to date.
Maybe their idea, while badly executed and heavy in trickery and taken liberties, hadn't come from a bad place. He'd worried the whole way to the meeting spot that they might have picked the worst candidate they could, but he firmly forced the thought out of his head. His brothers might like to indulge in mutual pranking and to push the limits sometimes but they would never do anything to hurt or embarrass someone, especially not a stranger. The thought had calmed him down enough that he hadn't had to make use of Two's on board bathroom facilities for an emergency freshen up because he'd stress sweated through the nice shirt and jacket they had forced him into.
He'd managed to relax a little but, now that he was sitting here alone, waiting and looking out for someone he had no clue about, he was starting to worry again.
Seeing an abandoned pen on the picnic table he snatched a few napkins from the dispenser and let his eyes roam the scenery.
It really was a gorgeous place, something often referred to as a little slice of heaven in the city. The urban park, man made in the center of the mass of concrete and steel, sported a carefully constructed lake that was home to a teeming ecosystem of endangered species that exhaustive conservation efforts had made possible.
The sun was just beginning to lower towards the horizon, painting the sky and the surface of the lake with the most beautiful colours. Virgil's fingers itched to paint them but he settled for snapping a couple of pictures on his phone.
Trees of all types surrounded the lake, creating an attractive backdrop to the whole scene and before he even realised he was doing it he was deep in concentration as he sketched the lake area on the napkin.
The process was calming, helping to soothe his nerves and slow his thumping heart, allowing him to stop and breathe for a second, helping him to resist the urge to cut and run.
"Are you Virgil Grant? You have a sunflower."
The voice behind him made him jump and drop his pen.
"Yes, yes I am," he admitted as he turned around to face his date.
***
"So, how did it go?" Scott asked when they arrived to pick Virgil up, less than half an hour after he'd text for a ride. "Did you have a good time?"
"I had a great time," Virgil smiled.
"You were gone a long time," Gordon grinned, nudging his older brother playfully with his elbow. "Did you go back to her place or something?"
"Yeah, we did."
"You did? You dog you!" Gordon leered with an exaggerated wink. Virgil just smiled, taking the teasing with his usual good grace.
"You gonna see her again?" Scott asked, pleased that their plan seemed to have gone so well.
Virgil nodded. "I told her I'd drop in as soon as I'm free."
"Come on, give us all the juicy details, tell us all about, Emma, wasn't it?" Gordon pushed, desperate for gossip.
"Nothing much to tell," Virgil shrugged. "She's sweet, we had a nice time hanging out, she gave me her number."
"That's it? That's all you can tell us?" Gordon groaned, disappointment evident in his voice.
"No, that's all I'm going to tell you," Virgil corrected. "You've interfered in my private life enough already, thank you."
"Oh, come on, Virg," Scott pleaded. But the big guy wouldn't budge, staying smugly silent the entire journey home.
Gordon and Scott had given up by the time they eased the little jet back into the hangar, going off to do their own thing, hopefully to remove his dating profile, leaving Virgil alone.
Selene and John were cuddled up together on one of the couches, watching something on the holoscreen when he made his way into the lounge.
He hadn't meant to disturb them, especially when they were actually getting some time alone for once, and was about to make his excuses but Selene had other ideas. She patted the couch beside her, shifting over to make room for him.
He accepted the offer, sitting down and getting comfortable. He didn't know what they were watching, possibly some kind of documentary.
"Cookie?" he offered, pulling a baggie of what looked to be pretty decent cookies out of his jacket pocket.
Selene glanced up from the screen, looking first at the bag of cookies and then at Virgil, her eyes widening in surprise.
"You're all dressed up."
This got John's attention as he reached for a cookie. "Have you been somewhere?"
Selene selected a cookie and took a big bite. "Oh, damn, these are so good, where did you get them?"
"My date made them for me," Virgil grinned, consuming almost half a cookie in one bite.
"Wait, wait, back up, date?" Selene actually paused the documentary, something about William Shakespeare by the looks of it.
"You had a date? That wasn't on the calendar?" John frowned. "Were they cleared by security?"
"The romance is strong in this family," Selene drawled, rolling her eyes.
"Scott and Gordon decided that signing me up to dating sites is their new hobby," Virgil sighed.
"They arrange the date? What were they like? Did you have a good time? Witchy needs details," Selene gently shoved John's face away from her as he chewed loudly in her ear and leant closer to Virgil.
"We actually had a nice time. Emma, my date, is a local, lived there all her life. She's been a bit lonely so her friend set her up on the site. We wandered around a lake for a bit and then we went back to her place."
"Awww, so romantic," Selene sighed dreamily before mock glaring at her husband. "Why don't you take me on dates any more?"
"Because we only got back off our honeymoon a few weeks ago and we live on an island?"
"No excuse."
"Dinner on the mainland next week?"
"Thought you'd never ask," she stole a quick kiss as he rolled his eyes in defeat. "Got any pictures?"
"Of the restaurant? Are you needing to inspect my reservation making skills now?"
"I was talking to Virgil."
"Oh, then carry on."
"Virg, pictures?"
"I did take one, yes," he pulled out his phone, scrolled through for a couple of seconds then turned the phone to show them the screen. "I took a selfie of us at the lake."
Selene and John blinked, unsure if they were seeing the right picture.
"Erm… not to be a judgey judgerson or anything but…" Selene trailed off.
"But she has to be older than Grandma," John finished for her, blunt and to the point as always.
They both looked at the picture again, showing a goofily grinning Virgil next to a sweet older lady, her blue rinsed hair set in a helmet of curls, her half moon glasses perched on her nose.
"Again, not with the judging, you do you, but does she have to watch her heart? She needs to be careful if she's going out picking up handsome young men."
"Stop, please stop," Virgil groaned. "She didn't know how old I was. Gordon and Scott set it up and apparently they somehow, and I choose to believe it was unintentional, managed to upload my profile to the over 60s side."
"And you didn't correct her?" John had to ask. He knew his brother was the nice one of the family but that was a little ridiculous.
"Of course I did, but we were there and she hadn't been out in a few weeks. Her grandson moved away for work and her husband died a few years ago so I bought her dinner and we had a nice walk around the park. She wasn't actually looking for a romantic date, she just wanted a companion, someone to chat to, go for a walk with and maybe see an exhibition or two. Her friend at the widows club set it up for her."
"So you were both set up by others?"
"Yep. She's a really nice lady."
"And that walk around the park turned into cookies at her place?" John's fingers snuck into the bag again to take another.
"And banana bread. She mentioned that she was going to hire a handyman to fix her sink because her daughter was too busy and she didn't have any help now."
"Ahhh," Selene could see exactly where this was going.
"And so I offered to unblock her sink for her."
"Of course you did," John sighed, hiding his smile against Selene's shoulder.
"And while I was there I put up some new shelves for her and took her trash cans out to the kerb and retuned her TV. She made me cookies to say thank you."
"She sounds lovely," Selene cooed, already in love with the thought of her. She could take or leave it when it came to little kids, usually leave if she was being honest, but she was a complete sucker when it came to the elderly.
"She is, smart too. I complimented some of the paintings she had on her walls and she told me she'd painted them, her and her husband met at art school and used to go on vacation to different countries to visit galleries and take classes. I showed her a few pictures of some of my pieces and it turned out she'd seen one of mine in a gallery in New York, you know that one of the Sphinx I did from that picture I took after that rescue?"
"Do I take it that our darling brothers don't know any of this?"
"Nope," Virgil grinned. "I'm letting them stay curious, they asked me all sorts of questions on the way back but I stayed quiet. I'll tell them eventually, once all the cookies are gone." He picked another out of the rapidly depleting stash.
"I have never heard a more Virgil story in my entire life," Selene laughed, shaking her head. "So when are you seeing her again?"
"Gonna try and visit next week to mow her lawn," Virgil admitted, looking somewhat sheepish.
"Hey, no," Selene grabbed his hand, squeezing it tight. "No looking embarrassed. You're amazing, it's a totally you thing to go on a date, not get what you were expecting and still come away with an old lady best friend and having had a great time. That's one of the many reasons I love you, because you're just so you."
"She's right," John added, patting his brother's shoulder. "One thing I've learnt the last few years is that you shouldn't make excuses for who you are or try to change. Don't belittle the fact that you have probably made her happier than she has been in months just by giving her some time and treating her with respect. Don't undervalue that."
"Yeah," Virgil acknowledged. "I know I did the right thing, it doesn't hurt to help someone and I had fun too."
"And that's all that matters," Selene said, patting his hand one last time before she let it go.
"Yep," he smiled, settling back against the cushions, munching on his cookie, his cheeks bulging like a hamster's, muffling his words. "That and the fact that her granddaughter is a nurse and she's going to introduce us next month."