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Prompt 15 (Woven in Mystery): Everyone has their own seasonal decorations that come out this time of year. Maybe you found it in some sort of thrift sale, maybe you just spotted it hanging up while you were out and about, maybe it’s at a friend’s house–wherever you are, a holiday tapestry catches your attention. It’s beautiful and someone clearly put a lot of effort into making it. You won’t find this mass produced–it looks like it’s vintage and handmade, with careful embroidery and beads. There’s something incredibly alluring about it–and something sinister. Out of the corner of your eye it might seem as though something is moving. Maybe it happens while you aren’t looking at all. When it doesn't have your full attention, the image on the tapestry changes. It isn’t just that small details change, large parts of the tapestry change, forming whole new images. Sometimes the threads even change to leave vague or threatening messages. It always seems to change too quickly for you to get a picture of, or to even point out to anyone else. Even when the tapestry isn’t moving, it feels like there are eyes on you.

After the almost accident with the crystal, Anna could tell there was something maybe just a bit…Off. She wasn't sure if she was just feeling things or if there seemed to be a little bit of tension in the air. Either way, she couldn't entirely shake off the feeling, but at least they were out of the cold. While they waited for the food cart to come around, Anna decided that she wanted to show Quinn the pictures that she took when they were in the garden. One of her favorites was the one where he was not looking and she placed a filter of bunny ears on top of his head. “I dubbed that one top bunny.” She gave him a cheeky grin, still swiping through to the one pic where she was able to get a good close up of the crystals….Before one decided it wanted to try and give her a concussion.

The food cart came by and she pointed out some choice foods, specifically the shu mai and shrimp dumplings, these were her favorite by far and she hoped Quinn would find something that he enjoyed as well. The bamboo trays were set down with their choice dishes, followed by a bottle of soy sauce and some sriracha. Anna poured a little of the soy into a small bowl, mixing it with the sriracha, using her chopsticks to dip a steamed bun in the mixture. After taking a bite and politely chewing and swallowing her food, her hand went to her cheek, a small “mmmmmn!” coming from her. Dim sum was really the best thing to eat anytime of the day.

He felt bad about practically hustling them out of the conservatory and away from those crystal trees but something about them just felt off. Honestly he felt a bit like that as well when he spotted that surprising rainbow the other day as well. Twas the season for bizarre, again. Quinn wondered just what was there about this city that made weird s**t happen. Luckily it didn’t seem like Annalise minded too much. “You will have to text me that one,” He admired the bunny ears on the picture and asked, “I don’t know if I could pull that off in real life. What do you think?” He playfully made ‘bunny’ ears with his hands before returning to her pictures. He pointed out neat things in them and engaged with her over each photo, even as he mentally noted that he should show her some of the stuff he took over the years. She might get a kick out of them since there was a fairly large range. Mostly buildings but there were others as well.

The discussion over her pictures faded when the food came by. Like Anna he picked out a wide range of various dumplings and shu mai. It was hard to pass up a good dumpling! Unlike his date he didn’t mix his sauces but that didn’t stop him from expertly wielding his chopsticks and going after his food. Quinn grinned at Annalise when she vocalized her pleasure at the food, he couldn’t help it. It was cute. He leaned in to whisper something rather risque when he heard a young voice call out to him. “Pardon me Mister. Would you and your girlfriend like a flower? Only five bucks!”

“I think we should get you a bunny costume and see~” She all but laughed, thinking about the “sexy” bunny outfits that women usually wore on Halloween, the image of Quinn wearing that almost had her spitting out her food. But then again…..That a** would look nice at least. She smiled and laughed to herself, taking another bite of her food with the chopsticks in her hand. She paused mid bite when she saw her date leaning over, eyes slightly wide while her lips parted in an “O” shape. Anna wasn't exactly sure what Quinn was about to do, but the mood was broken when she heard the young kid ask if Quinn wanted to buy some flowers for himself and his…Girlfriend? Huh?! Where?! Did he have a girlfriend and just didn't tell her?! Dark brown eyes almost narrowed into slits, waiting to see just what he would say next. Because if he DID have a girlfriend that was it, she was walking out and would be delivering his order followed by ending that business deal.

Hopefully she was thinking wrong.

Quinn glanced at the kid before fishing out a twenty, receiving four flowers in turn. “Thanks,” He said to the kid even as he turned to Annalise and presented her with the small bouquet he had just gotten. “I apparently forgot to get flowers for my date tonight, I’m glad that the universe seemed to work in my favor.” A brow went up in question as he finally spotted the spark of anger in her eyes.

What? What did he do? Did he say something wrong? Was it because he rushed them out of the gardens? “What's wrong?” He asked, honestly befuddled as to what misstep he had taken.

Wait what?

The look of anger passed into one of confusion, “That child asked if you wanted flowers for your girlfriend? I thought that he was trying to say something….” She looked away, clearly embarrassed at the misunderstanding, she cleared her throat before quietly admitting her thoughts out loud, “I thought he meant that you somehow HAD a girlfriend already and I thought…” She sighed, looking completely embarrassed. “I'm so sorry.” wow, way to ruin the mood of course. But at least she was honest, even if Quinn somehow managed to have a girlfriend, they were not official anyway, so why would she be mad? Ugh….This is probably why she stopped dating in high school, too much going on, too complicated, just a lot in general.

“What?” It took him a moment for his brain to really understand what she meant. “Oh, Annalise no… there is no one else but you. I would never start a relationship if that were the case.” Quinn snagged her hand before placing a light kiss on the back of it. “I think he thought you were my girlfriend.” He flipped her hand over and kissed her palm. “I know you're not, but I wouldn’t argue if we wanted to actually put a title on whatever this is.” He waved the flowered back and forth between them to indicate the connection they had. It was more than just sex and more than just dating as far as he was concerned. He didn’t know if they were in a relationship or not but he wouldn’t say they weren’t.

“Here,” He pressed the flowers into her hands before picking up his chopsticks. “Don’t think too much about it ok. We are still getting to know each other. Hell, maybe you wouldn’t want to be my girlfriend,” Quinn teased her even as he snagged one of the last shumai of a particular flavor. “After all I can be a pushy little s**t sometimes.” He bit into the shumai and hummed as the flavor just melted in his mouth. It was soon devoured and he was reaching for different dumplings when something out of the corner of his eye had him looking over but all he could see was one of those old tapestries hanging on the wall. Very intricate and detailed. Quinn figured it was handmade. It looked beautiful… and yet….

That is what she should've thought all along really.

Anna couldn't help the smile that crossed her features at the care and understanding that Quinn had shown her. Even though he told her not to think too much of it, she ended up thinking anyway, which led her to the conclusion that came to her mind. “I think that…” She frowned and cleared her throat, continuing, “I wouldn't mind putting a label on this.” It was definitely more than just sex and dating at this point and while she was a bit nervous, the excitement of stepping into something new was greater. However it seemed that something caught Quinn’s eye, which she turned to look at as well, huh…The tapestry was indeed beautiful. The details seemed to just resonate with her in the strangest of ways.

Quinn turned away from the tapestry, even though he instantly felt like someone was watching him, and focused on Annalise. “Does that mean we are official?” He was teasing her. Honestly the whole thing felt a bit like he was back in high school where having a girlfriend was a big deal rather than a thirty year old with a kid.

The movement out of the corner of his eye had him looking at the tapestry again, this time he would have sworn that it was different than before. Something had changed but he couldn’t put his finger on it but it was highly annoying that's for sure.

Anna also looked away, laughing, “I suppose so. However, I didn't get an official ask….Seems like it wouldn't be as official without it.” She was teasing but all the same, whether Quinn asked or not, she was content to think of him as her boyfriend now, something she hasn't had since high school. It was strange when she thought about it, but either way, it brought excited tingles down her spine. Her attention was brought back to the tapestry, holding back the look of horror on her face at what she saw there. One blink and it was gone. What? She could've sworn…Was her mind playing tricks on her? A sudden feeling of dread overcame her, and as much as she didn't want to, she looked back at that damned tapestry. Nearly jumping out of her skin, Anna grabbed the table hard, a look of terror on her face. To anyone else the tapestry would look just fine and while Anna couldn't really see what was going on or how things were moving, something had her in the grip of pure fear.

“Well, I guess then I’ll have to make it a special thing then.” Quinn tried to sound all care free and chill, not at all like something was crawling up his spine. Why did he have a serious case of goosebumps while just looking at that damn tapestry? Quinn took a deep breath and deliberately turned completely away from the demented, or haunted?, tapestry. Turning his entire focus to Annalise.

Only to pause as he saw her face. It looked like she had just seen a ghost. “Annalise? Hey, Anna? What's wrong?” Concerned since it didn’t seem like she was really responding he gently turned her face with a hand on her cheek until she was looking at him directly. “Anna, will you be my girlfriend?” It wasn’t romantic. It wasn’t special. But it was the only thing he could think of saying to get her to snap out of whatever horror her mind was stuck on. Besides he knew that he could always just redo the question at a later date, someplace much more romantic and heart pounding. Somewhere that didn’t have an odd a** decoration that still made it feel like someone was dripping ice down his shirt. <********, someone needed to take that tapestry to a church and have it burned or something!

Anna could hear Quinn and she tried to get her body to move, to turn and face him, but it just wouldn't. Her head did move when Quinn gently moved it so she could face him, which finally gave her the will to move again. Blinking rapidly, Anna took a deep breath, shivering. She wasn't sure what the hell was going on with that thing, but perhaps she should alert the owner of the restaurant to maybe have it moved elsewhere. Quinn's question finally hit, she smiled and nodded. As per usual whenever she interacted with this man, she was glad he wouldn't be able to see the blush on her face.

“Yes, I would love to.”

She kept her focus on Quinn, ignoring the chill going down her spine. There was something truly off about this city.