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 Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2022 6:31 pm
It was the day after everything, and Talia knew Zac had the day off, and so she had decided to invite him up to Lysithea so that he could hear everything that had gone on and he could know that she was safe.
She wanted to talk to him about what had gone down anyway, he deserved to know and lord knew she didn’t want to keep any secrets from him…they were above that by now. But.
Talia was quiet as the two walked to the closest safe spot in order to power up and go up to Lysithea, though…when they were there, she turned to him and all but jumped the Knight, hugging him tightly and pressing a string of kisses to his cheek. “...Missed you. I know I wasn’t gone as long as it felt, but good God Zac…I missed you.”
There was no reason that Lysiteha had to act strong in front of him, and so by the time she had stopped the kisses, her shoulders were shaking with quiet sobbing.
It…hadn’t been good. No matter how composed she had tried to be, no matter how put together she had striven to be…was still striving to be…it.
For the moment, it was a little too hard.
“...I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I just…I need a moment. I’m not trying to get snot all over your uniform…” She was, but…it wasn’t what Lysithea was trying to do.
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Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 5:50 pm
Michel probably knew something was wrong before Lysithea did, maybe because he was used to how Cambria used to be, or Evan, and he there was something just off in the way both of them acted before they burst into tears. It was almost like they didn’t always even seem to know what was going on with their emotions until the dam just cracked and suddenly, tears.
He’d never really been good with tears.
When they were on Lysithea, he just wrapped his arms around her and let her kiss him, let her cry.
“I don’t really care about the snot, I can just power down and it’s going when I’m a Knight again.” At least he didn’t have to worry about dry cleaning his outfit ever.
“Are you okay? I thought you guys won, what are all these tears for?”
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Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 5:55 pm
“No, no we did win. It was just.” Lysithea drew away and wiped her eyes with the back of her arm, shrugging. “...It wasn’t an easy win, I guess. Alastor had warned us that the Chaos would mess with us, but I had to watch Malus turn into a youma and Adria die and…I guess…no matter how brave I tried to be it still…” She swallowed and shrugged again. “...It still really got to me. And I haven’t really…I mean I’m still trying to be the strong one for everyone else so…I appreciate you letting me just be weak for a minute.”
Now that the worst of the tears had passed, now that she had been able to get it out, Lysithea relaxed against him. “...I wish you had been there…but then again, I’m glad you weren’t. I wish that you had been there because you’re strong, and because I trust you…but the idea of what the Chaos might have made you see is just…it’s not really…”
She didn’t want to think about it was the answer. “We um. I guess we did something different. I didn’t know any better. With the court stuff, I mean…but we did this like…really neat magic, I don’t know. Everyone came out of it alive, and that’s what matters, right?”
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Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 5:56 pm
Michel brushed some of her hair out of her face and wiped the wetness from her cheek. “Yeah, that’s what matters. But any weirdness matters, too. What did your magic do? I know the Court can purify youma, were you able to purify the chaos off of his world, or…?”
He didn’t comment on the rest of it; it was all speculation.
If the chaos had tried to get to him, what would have happened? He didn’t know. Didn’t care, really. He’d have probably just summoned the great beast aligned with his wonder and had it seek out whatever the enemy was. He suspected it would be less influenced by illusions than he was.
Still, it had been a while since they’d done any Court function so he was a bit out of the loop, and he did want to know what they’d accomplished. And he wanted her to have a moment of vulnerability if she needed it.
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Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 5:58 pm
“I don’t really know…both Malus and Adria were confused by it, they said it was different than whatever we’ve done before…it was almost like some kind of mixture of all of our magic and it chased the Chaos away from us, and…hopefully away from others too but I’m not completely sure about that…still…it was neat. And it felt…really right. Like it was what we were supposed to be doing.”
Lysithea drew in a breath and seemed to melt against Michel for a moment and then shook her head. “It was nice. Being with them. I…I can see why Adria worked so hard to try and keep things together…it was like a family.”
And speaking of families, pursing her lips, Lysithea drew away from Michel just slightly, looking at him with an almost sheepish, almost guilty expression. “...So…did you and I ever talk about a family, Michel? Like…getting one or making one at…any point…?”
It was a complete one eighty but…
Sometimes that was just how things were when she talked with Michel. Her brain made jumps that it wanted to. When it wanted to.
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Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 6:15 pm
Michel didn’t even bother trying to predict what was going to come out of Lysithea’s mouth because she always seemed to be surprising him. He was going to ask if she was okay, but–maybe she was. Or maybe she was in post-trauma mode and trying to compensate for the feeling. He wasn’t a psychologist, he didn’t know. Evan came home with a dog and it worked out well for him.
Not that kids were dogs, but he didn’t ******** know.
“Did you? No,” he answered, because whatever Cambria had wanted might not be what Talia wanted, and he wasn’t holding them to the same standards. She hadn’t had any of Cambria’s memories. He wasn’t sure if she ever would.
“Why, did you find some chibi senshi without a parent or something while you were up there or something? Or is that your way of telling me you telling me you want to adopt Todd?”
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Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 6:28 pm
Lysithea chewed on her lip, wondering how to tell him just what…but. The idea of being a parent to a chibi senshi made her almost coo with pleasure…until he ruined it by bringing Todd into the picture.
“I…wait what? Zac! Todd’s like. A grown dog man…I…no! I dind’t find anyone without a parent, but there were these two kids up there, young teens or whatever, and I just worried about them. Little Squires.” She lightly punched his arm, giving a laugh, still unable to get the image of the two of them being parents to Todd out of her head.
“No, I just. I don’t know. Alastor was the father of one of them, and I just…It would be nice to have a little chibi senshi of our own to love and raise…or a tiny knight. I don’t know. I’m not sure I want to do the whole…baby thing…and the idea of getting pregnant is…I don’t know. But. I’d love a family like that. Someone to love. To protect. I mean, I know I have that with the rest of the court and all but…”
Lysithea gave a wistful sigh and rested against Michel once again. “...It was just a thought I had. Wanted to hear what You had to say, but no…not Todd.”
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Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 7:27 pm
Michel clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and tried to ignore the way his palms were sweating. “I don’t think I’m really good around kids,” he said after a hesitant moment. It wasn’t a no, but if she was going to bring it up, he was going to have to be honest that he didn’t really know how to be around them at all. If she wanted kids, if she really wanted kids, they were things they’d have to overcome, and he hoped she didn’t respond negatively because he was trying to express his own doubts.
She’d had time to think about all of this, it was still all new to him. And, he thought they might have a lot they needed to figure out before they brought someone into the house. Things she might have already had an answer to if she’d been planning this already.
“I’m a little scary,” he reminded. “And cranky. And I like my space. Oh–well, speaking of space, do we even have any room for a kid?”
He didn’t sound opposed to the idea, but it wasn’t at all on his radar and he had to mentally juggling things logistically before he could even start considering what he wanted.
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Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 7:30 pm
Lysithea gave a small, almost sad laugh and shook her head. “You’re not that scary. But. We don’t have much room, no. That’s the biggest issue but…it’s not something that could happen right away, and that’s why…I wanted to bring it up…just. To let you know that it’s something I'd be interested in if…you ever were.”
She leaned up and kissed his cheek before relaxing against his chest again. “Worst comes to worst I can volunteer at a home or at some after school thing, I just…I don’t know. I didn’t realize I’d take to them so much…but now I just. Kind of want a dozen, even though I do know that’s utterly not feasible. And I don’t really want a baby. Like, I want someone who can talk…as selfish as that sounds.”
But…maybe someday…a baby wouldn't be so bad…
Her nose wrinkled and Lysithea gave a slight shudder. “...Yeah. No babies for me, the idea of diapers isn’t…what I’m looking for in my life.”
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Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 7:40 pm
“Yeah, well I’m glad we’re on the same page about that. I don’t think a baby would work with any of our schedules. I mean, if it was something you really wanted, I’d think about it.”
He and Talia hadn’t been dating for that long, and he liked her, but he wanted to make sure that she was giving herself time to get comfortable with this new life and not just throwing herself into the fastest way to secure a family. Not that he could blame her; he’d had a bit of a time trying to find his footing after he purified–but he knew who he was. At his core, at least. He’d lost most of his memories in the Negaverse–which was for the best, really–but he hadn’t had to relearn who he was.
Talia had gotten the s**t end of the stick; she didn’t remember Cambria at all. Didn’t remember Lysithea at all, either. Just the Negaverse’s version of who they thought she should be.
She had a good head on her shoulders, he trusted her. He knew that trauma could do things to a person, and she’d been through more than enough to qualify.
“I hate to break it to you but I don’t think we can afford a dozen kids. And I am not asking Tobias for any money.” Even if he was wealthy enough to move out anywhere he wanted, Evan was a creature of habit and it had been hard enough to get him to move out of his room and into the larger master bedroom right next door; he couldn’t imagine him getting into a new house.
He wrapped his arm around her and rested his chin atop her head while he considered it.
He didn’t feel old enough to have a kid, especially not one out of diapers, but. He could think it over.
“I don’t get a chance to interact with many kids, so I guess if you’re volunteering, I guess I should too. So we can make sure. But you know they’ll have to be old enough that a talking cat or an alien from another world isn’t going to scare them off. They’ll have to be good at secrets, especially if we’re sneaking off at night. Just things to keep in mind, I think. But you’re a smart lady, if you’re serious about this, I know we can figure things out. I’m glad you’re not jumping right into things and bringing kids home, though. I’ll need some time to figure out how to stop swearing so much. I’m not so great with the censor. But if it means a lot to you, if that’s your long term plan, yeah. We can work it out.”
It wasn’t what he’d imagined for his future, but then–what he’d planned for the future had changed, anyway. He wasn’t sure what he wanted anymore.
But, they had a chance to figure it out, at least.
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Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 7:41 pm
Lysithea nodded, snorting slightly at the idea of trying to get any of them to cut back on cursing. “...Maybe we should start a swear jar or something…and just because you won’t ask Tobias doesn’t mean I’m not…” She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know what I was trying to say, but I’d ask him if it ever came to that, just pretend I said it in a way that sounded cool and maybe a little bit snarky.”
Snarky-ish, at least. Whatever.
Drawing Michel’s hand to her lips, Lysithea gave his knuckles a few soft kisses and sighed. “I’m glad…we’re talking about it at least. But. If it happens it happens, if not, that’s okay too. I love you, Zac. And I’m glad with what we have. I’m excited for the future now, and before it…was frightening. But…I love you, and that’s just another thing I wanted to tell you tonight.”
Whatever the future held, she knew that it would include Zac…and that was…wonderful and utterly comforting.
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