versianvirtue

_{[It's not the first time Slaine's cooked breakfast for the two of them before. Back down on the planet in their little home he'd do so quite often, at least when Asseylum didn't beat him to it. Under his watchful guidance and supervision she'd learned how to cook pretty decent eggs, even if sometimes there'd be a rogue piece of shell he'd end up swallowing. Unable to sleep he'd woken up early on the station, retreating from their quarters to busy himself in the kitchen instead. It brings a bit of normalcy to an otherwise insane situation they've landed themselves in, and so when he realizes it may be late enough in the morning that Asseylum might be awake, he sends a simple text:]}

How would you like your eggs this morning, Princess?

[Just as he anticipated, not even five minutes later, Asseylum graces Slaine with a reply.]

I think I'm in the mood for scrambled this morning.

[Waking up to this puts her in a good mood to start the day with. It's reminiscent of the new life they started sharing together. Just because they lost their apartment doesn't mean they must lose their sense of close friendship and togetherness. With the promise of breakfast on the way, she gets ready to rise.]

A good choice. They won't take long.

_{[Maybe it's creepy that Slaine knows around the time Asseylum will wake up, but he'd argue it's just out of habit that he's synced himself to her schedule. The very least he can do is to try and keep her mood up, even if his own is one that's filled to the brim with anxiety and worry about the state of the world below. If their little flat is still standing, it'd be a miracle, to put it simply. No, Slaine can't have Asseylum worrying over things when he's already bearing the brunt of worries to begin with. Besides, he's good at hiding his insecurities from her - he's had years to hone the skill, even if they slip through from time to time.

So, eggs it is, as he begins to whip them up for her, cracking two in a measuring cup and whisking them with a fork. Milk, pepper and salt are added as he butters a pan and sets the heat to low. He'll make sure they're fluffy and delightful, unlike everything else in their lives currently.]}

Did you sleep well?

Edited 2018-07-05 22:13 (UTC)

I woke up a couple of times in the middle of the night, but otherwise, yes. I hope that sleep found you better.

[Truth be told, nightmares pricked at her subconscious. She tugs at the collar of her negligee, the fabric faintly damp. Dragons, terrible dragons, rend buildings asunder. Children scream, mothers wail, men die in two pieces. Missiles fly. Mobile suits clash. She can't find Slaine in time to save him, can't save anyone before she watches them evaporate in this jumbled catastrophe.

It was foolish of her to expect a peaceful life on El Nysa, wasn't it?

Not that she didn't see the strife coming in small blooms, but it's so easy to be lulled into complacency by the mundane and the joyful day-to-days. Her powerlessness to change anything bothers her. She rises from her bed to change and get ready for breakfast.]

I managed to get a bit of shuteye.

_{[But not much. He'd only just been getting back to sleeping more soundly in recent weeks too, before everything went to shit again.

The whisked eggs find their way into the pan, a pleasant yellow color.]}

Maybe we can get new mattresses when we return. The ones we had before were kind of stiff.

_{[Mattresses. Plural. Because unlike how Yona had slept by his side he can't imagine Asseylum doing the same, even if he wishes he could hold her the same way. He's only half serious. Mattresses are expensive, after all.]}

Edited 2018-07-06 01:35 (UTC)

You did get a new job recently, so it can certainly be something to save up for.

[Only after she sends the text does she realize they may not have a home to return to. He may not even have a job anymore, come to think of it. The poor orphans... All of Olympia's townspeople weren't as lucky as the refugees, having Thesa Station to return to. Thinking about El Nysa makes her heart heavy. She finishes brushing the tangles out of her long hair and sends another text.]

I wanted to get a job there, too. With our combined income, I'm sure that new mattresses will be even easier to acquire if we both held jobs.

_{[Those poor orphans indeed. He pushes around the eggs in the pan with a spatula, gently, zoning out for a moment. Would he have a job? Would they even have a home? Those are problems for another day. He doesn't have the emotional capacity to plan for the worst case scenario right now.

Besides, he's busy making eggs.]}

I'm sure they'll accept you without much fuss. Even just from you visiting it's obvious the kids like you.

_{[Combined income. It's like they're a married couple, when she puts it that way. There's a sudden, inappropriate skip of his heart at that, which he pushes away as best he can. If they were married they'd only need one mattress.]}

Edited 2018-07-06 02:03 (UTC)

[Slaine? Save that salt for the eggs.]

I like them, too. It's a shame the planet has been frozen. I'm beginning to miss them.

[After putting herself together a bit more, she leaves their sleeping quarters and begins her trek to the kitchen designated for refugee use.]

_{[Noted. Don't worry, your eggs have been slightly salted and peppered.

Speaking of said eggs, they're more or less done, and he wastes no time dishing them up onto a plate, making sure to toast a piece of bread for good measure. The eggs look kind of lonely by themselves on the plate, after all.]}

I miss them too. More than I thought I would...I guess I get attached easily.

It's nice to see you enjoying their company. You always look so happy...

[He looks happy to her almost all the time, but when he's playing with the children and they're not getting into trouble, it's a different kind of happiness than how he looks when it's just the two of them. She likes witnessing it, this particular dimension of Slaine's happiness. After understanding just what kind of life he had been living on Vers when she wasn't looking, he deserves a kind of life free of torment and persecution. El Nysa provides him that refuge.

Not long after she sends that text, she appears from the doorway, lifting her lips in a bright, tender smile.]

Good morning, Slaine. [Seeing the eggs, she clasps her hands together.] Oh, I'm right on time! They look so warm and fluffy!

Do I?

_{[That gets him to blush, just a bit. Hadn't Atsushi said something similar to him the last time they ran into each other?]}

Ah, Good morning, Princess Asseylum!

_{[Perfect timing; this is exactly what he was aiming for. The smile she gives him is warm and lights up the room. Who needs to see the sun when she's sunny enough for him? She's his own personal sunrise and sunset, especially in space, confined to the cold, clinical walls of the station.]}

I whipped them a lot so hopefully they taste as nice as they look.

[She takes a seat before her plate and feasts her eyes and nose on the delights of fresh homemade breakfast. Her stomach feels like it's trying to pull on all the sensory information so it can be satisfied by it, too.]

I'm sure they will. Your eggs are always delicious.

_{[Hear that Inaho? Fuck you buddy.

As she moves to take a seat he wastes no time in grabbing a glass of orange juice and setting it down before her (no pulp because who likes that shit), only to join her at the table sitting across from her with a small cup of tea for himself. His stomach has been in knots lately, so if he eats just yet it might not sit well with him. (Not that tea will help with that and probably will make it worse but w/e...)]}

I try my best. Eat up before it gets cold, okay?

Okay!

[As if she can leave them alone for even a second longer! The only thing holding her back was waiting for Slaine to settle down at the table with her so they could eat breakfast together, but now that he's here, she wastes little time picking up her fork and her knife to carve into the mass of eggy fluff. When she takes a bite, she perks right up into a state of momentary bliss.]

Mmm!

[That should be enough to communicate that he did a good job.]

_{[Her sound of delight is all he needs to feel satisfied. That's it, he's good for the day. Who needs food when he's got validation like this?

Smiling he takes a sip of his tea, careful not to burn his tongue when doing so. It's cute to watch her eat, he's realized, as creepy as that might sound. Back on Mars or the landing castles he rarely, if ever, got the opportunity to eat with her. It's a bit like they're on a landing castle now that he thinks about it, albeit a far less fancy one, free of shitty counts.]}

I guess I succeeded.

[You need food to live, you derp! And thank goodness there are no smug assholes in burgundy suits— well, walking around, at least. Unless Miles Edgeworth decides to wear his prosecutor garbs today, but he's no Orbital Knight. They belong in stasis forever.

Her mind dwells on breakfast and Slaine's Mad Whisking Skillz, not counts or other forms of meta commentary. She swallows her bite and smiles at him.]

Was there ever any doubt?

[The best kind of compliment, though, is when she goes silent so she can keep digging into her plate. She tries to be polite about it as she had been taught and succeeds where it counts, but her etiquette sort of frays at the ends, a barely subdued eagerness to the way she bites into her toast and pops more eggs into her mouth to pair with the crisp, buttery bread, barely sparing a second between the processes.]

Maybe just a little.

_{[Because that's the thing with him, he's always doubting part of himself. He's glad she's got an appetite and seems to be gobbling up what he made. It really is the best kind of compliment, seeing her let loose and go at the food before her in a way that'd probably get her a look from Count Cruhteo if he were around.]}

[She continues to devote most of her attention to her eggs and toast for a small while. After a few bites, she starts to chew on some thoughts as well. The absorbed joy she wore gradually pans to contemplation, her sights drifting to the panoramic view of space from out the window.]

I wonder how long we'll be up here on the station for...

I wonder too...hopefully not long?

_{[It's a good question, really, and one he's been thinking about himself. Just how much damage control did the Natha have to do, and just how extensive would their clean up crew be? He watches her fiddle with her fork, taking a sip of his own tea in reply. Well, there wasn't much use in worrying about what would happen down there. As long as he had Asseylum safe with him nothing else mattered.]}

You know, it might be weird to say but being stuck up here kind of feels a little nostalgic. It reminds me of when we were in the observation bay of Count Cruhteo's landing castle.

_{[Y'know, sans the beatings and whatnot.]}

[This remark encourages a gentle smile to touch her lips.]

No, it is not weird at all. I agree.

[Floating along her stream of nostalgia sweetens her mental state. Unhappy events followed that journey through space, but her memory traces the vast shape of her excitement to touch down upon the beautiful planet she often dreamed of. She spent her trip in Slaine's company often as she prepared for her goodwill visit, immersing herself in hours of conversation revolving around Earth. Her company remains with her even now, and that is a comfort she shouldn't take for granted.]

The station resembles a landing castle in many ways, doesn't it? It feels as though we are just hovering, waiting. I believe in the Natha's ability to find a way to handle the situation, but...

[Her mind runs off the sentence. She doesn't know how to finish it. She takes a sip of her orange juice and starts a new one.]

Well, we need to exercise patience. It must not be easy, even for being so supreme as they are. All we can do as refugees is prepare for our return.

From the moment I woke up it reminded me of one. At first I'd thought maybe I'd been transferred somewhere else. Luckily that hadn't been the case.

_{[Because waking up and realizing he wasn't on Count Saazbaum's landing castle had been a blessing and a curse, one that only had him calming down (relatively) when he'd realized the girl before him had been transported with him too. Gently he reaches out with a hand to settle his fingers atop hers timidly. He's not sure why he went along with the impulsive action but here he is, being daring for once, letting his fingers touch hers. (No glove action too! Amazing!)]}

I wonder just how difficult it's going to be when we return...I wonder if we'll even get to return to Olympia.

_{[Who knows where they'll decide to drop them this time? Honestly, it's kind of stressful to think about it.]}

I guess we'll just have to make the best of our time up here together.

[Slaine, ever reserved about bodily contact, tickling her fingers with the touch of his tickles her heart a little, too. She tries to dismiss the thoughts Frederick planted in her mind about him possibly wanting to marry her someday, something they have never brought up. Whether that's a truth or how it makes her feel, she cannot deny how much she has always cared for him. It's a gesture meant to connect them somewhere deeper than skin, to communicate his strong desire to stay with her no matter where they end up. A dusting of pink reaches her cheeks, but she smiles at him, heartfelt.]

We shall. It's not so bad, is it? We have ways to pass the time, food to eat, warm beds to sleep in, and the company of our friends. Those are things we shouldn't take for granted.

_{[If he knew that Frederick had ever talked about marriage to her in reference to him he'd probably keel over and die. Not that the man was wrong in any way - it'd be a lie to say Slaine hadn't fantasized about it before. The dream of living a normal, simple married life with the girl he's devoted himself to always seemed far out of his grasp, farther than the distance between Earth and Mars themselves. Even so, it was a comforting thought, when he did allow himself to indulge in it.

As always, she's right. It isn't so bad. Nothing could be that bad if he had her with him, especially after all the bullshit he's been through in life. She makes it easy to smile, as he finds himself slipping his fingers a little further forward, to loosely lace them together without thinking much of it. If there's one thing that his time spent with Yona had taught him, it was how to be a little more relaxed and a little less reserved when it comes to physical affection.]}

They're the last things I'd ever take for granted, Princess. You're right, it isn't so bad. Things always get better, don't they?

_{[What's this? It's almost as if cynical Slaine's been replaced with an optimist...]}

INBOX

time to pop this cherry | text

Pop it like a sizzling egg

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