Log: Complete

[lady-turk.livejournal.com]

When; May 13th, evening (Backdated)
Rating; PG to PG-13 for language maybe?
Characters; Elena lady_turk & Jr./Rubedo red_dragon_666
Summary; A little dinner and a little misunderstanding gets cleared up. Could have gone a lot worse, but doesn't. Though it's not the best ending possible. Just a decent one.
Log;

Honestly, Rubedo thought it would be better if Elena ate more for dinner. She was eating for two after all, wasn't she? Granted, you couldn't tell yet, considering what a knock-out she was in that blue dress, but he wasn't stupid. She was still acting a little odd, after all, and considering the strange conversation they'd had that one time, it was easy to pick up the hints.

Staring at her for a while as their plates were taken away, he sighed and sat back in his chair, reaching up to rub at his shoulder. He was a bit sore, considering what an active day he'd had with Holly and Sakura, so it had been nice to just sit and eat and relax for a bit. Granted, wearing a suit like this wasn't the most comfortable thing, but even he had been surprised at himself after dressing and looking in the mirror.

He looked so much like Gaignun, maybe with his hair just a bit longer... But the face was so similar it was eery. Him, Gaignun, Albedo... It was really no surprise how similar they all looked, but during every age reversal curse, it would always catch him off guard. ...Not to mention the deeper voice.

"Hey, why don't we get a dessert? Cheesecake or something."

Elena had to admit that dinner had been very nice. Last time the two of them had done something like this… was probably too long ago to easily remember. Which kind of was a bit of a shame, though it did mean that since it didn’t happen very often, the times they did could be counted as sort of a treat or special occasion. Just a little break from the normal patterns and habits they’d all developed. It was an interesting point, however, to note that this particular dinner was happening during an age-reversal curse. A curse, that Elena had somehow happily managed to miss out on. Three times was more than enough for her.

Smirking as she watched Jr. rub at his shoulder, Elena debated on if getting a dessert would be a good idea or not. She hadn’t really done much to work up an appetite, not unless a person counted testing out various water guns heavy work. She didn’t think food coloring would mess up any of the toys she’d picked up, but it was a better idea to at least test out a few before jumping to conclusions. With that in the back of her thoughts, along with the subtle looks she was constantly giving Jr. in his ‘adult’ body, and what a very nice body it was too, Elena decided that maybe a dessert might be a bit too much. She’d go from full to stuffed if she tried to eat any more.

“You can get some if you want. I don’t think I’ve got the room for it.”

He started to say something along the lines of how he really thought that she could, but then immediately snapped his mouth shut when he realized how very out of context that could be taken.

What he wanted to know was why Elena still hadn't told him. He had been trying to hint to her that he already knew, and yet she still wasn't saying anything. It was a bit injuring, actually, but Mary had reminded him that such a thing was delicate for women...even women as strong as Elena. The best he could do was just be as supportive as possible and be there for her.

"No, that's okay... Not sure I could handle a whole slice myself, anyway."

One thing he still had to get used to was not having to really...pay. There was no bill to wait for. But then, he had been gone for two years, so he was just having to readjust was all.

Setting his napkin back on the table, he brushed off his pants a bit before standing and moving around to where she sat, holding his hand out to help her stand.. Elena was far from the delicate type of woman, but he was still concerned about her health, and plus this was supposed to be special, after all.

To anyone else, or almost anyone else, Elena might have acted somewhat cheeky if they offered to help her out of her seat, but Jr. was one of those people she didn’t mind that sort of behavior from… On occasion. Though… She did have to note that his behavior was…just a bit nicer than normal. It wasn’t glaringly noticeable, but she thought she had seen him start to say something, then stop several times. And he was rather choosy with the things he did sometimes say.

It wasn’t that much of a big deal, but Elena couldn’t figure out what it might have been that he wanted to say, but wouldn’t. She wasn’t sure if she should ask, but her curiosity was getting the best of her. If he kept it up, she probably would just flat out ask him what was going on.

Giving Jr. a grin though, Elena accepted the offered hand and stood, not quite used to the fact that she could actually look Jr. in the eyes, without having to look down. It was nice while it lasted, that was for sure.

“Maybe some other time right? I don’t think this place is going anywhere anytime soon, so we can come back when we’re more in the mood hm?”

Lacing her fingers with his, Elena might have been questioning the state of her emotions, but she knew where she stood on some points at the very least, she tilted her head slightly, questioning look on her face.

“So, did you have any more plans in mind besides dinner?”

Her hand was actually smaller than his now... It was interesting to be able to close his hand over hers and watch it nearly disappear. He had been staring when she asked her question, and quickly looked up and blinked.

"Huh? Uh... I guess I wasn't really thinking that far ahead." Flushing a bit in sheepishness, he rubbed at the back of his neck before turning to lead the way slowly to the door. "We could always watch a movie or something if you want."

Actually having brought a watch with him for once, since it went well enough with the outfit, he eyed the time. "...Or we could go to sleep. You should be sure to get a lot of rest."

She had to grin. Even if he was acting a little odder than normal, it looked like Jr. was still very much himself when it came down to it. The rather rash and spur of the moment idea finally reaching it’s peak and making itself known was something typical of him. Of her somewhat too, if Elena was honest with herself.

Though Elena frowned slightly when he suggested she needed to get more rest. She got the same amount as she always got. Worked for her then and it worked for her now. What could have possibly changed that the suggestion that she need to sleep more needed to come about?

“It can’t possibly be that late and even if it was, I get enough sleep normally that one night’s not going to hurt me any if I stay up.” Her tone was curious, trying to keep the mild suspicion out of here voice, though not quite out of her eyes.

Stubborn as ever.

With a sigh, Rubedo squeezed her hand, absently stroking his thumb against her ring like he had been so prone to do ever since giving it to her almost exactly one month prior, come tomorrow. Hard to believe it had already been a month since then...

Trying to smile again, he tugged her over once they were out on the sidewalk so she was in front of him, wrapping his other arm around her to hug her gently from behind. Like that, it was easy to kiss her ear while brushing his fingertips over her stomach.

"But tomorrow's our anniversary, isn't it? You should rest up for that."

Raising an eyebrow, Elena wasn’t quite so sure what to make of that statement. Granted, she was just a touch distracted by the fact that he had his arms around her, but not so much so that she would be swayed to accepting such an answer easily.

“I’ll give you that,” Elena relented. “But I still don’t think even that’s enough to warrant my needing any more sleep than normal. It’s not like I’m sick or anything. And you don’t feel sick to me, so it can’t be you who needs the extra sleep either.”

If Jr. had been, she would have been easily able to tell, what with the slight touch of his hand on hers. The body temperature difference between them did come in handy, depending on how one used it.

Why was she playing dumb now? Or was she just trying to say that she could handle herself? He knew she could, but... Well... Maybe he was being a little paranoid. It was so early on, after all.

"No, I'm not sick." Rubedo sighed and rested his chin on top of her head. A strange feeling, that. Elena was actually rather short, but it had never made a different before considering he was still shorter than her. It seemed that as an adult, he was just as tall as his brothers.

"What do you want to do, then? Go see a movie?" He paused. Maybe he was crowding her. "...Or do you just want to go back to testing those water guns of yours?"

“Jr…” Brows creased in confusion, Elena twisted around so that she was facing him, looping her arms around his neck so that it was hard to look anywhere else but at her. Different from normal, but it still felt right, so that was all that really mattered. But then… No. Now was not the time to be thinking of that.

“What’s the matter? You’re acting rather odd and not exactly yourself around me. It’s like you’re worried for me or something,” she questioned, tilting her head upwards, again, something different, to meet his gaze. “I keep thinking you’re trying to do something, or say something, but I have no idea what you could possibly be trying to do or say.”

He didn't have much time to enjoy standing like this with her, looking down at her, because suddenly she was throwing her questions at him out of left field. "What? I-- Nothing's the matter. And I'm always worried for you on some level."

She really had no idea why he was acting this way? He knew Elena wasn't stupid... Her intelligence was one of her most attractive qualities. So what exactly what was going on here?

"I mean..." He glanced nervously over his shoulder. There were people about, since it wasn't really a cold night, but everybody seemed to be either walking somewhere or talking. Still, he kept his voice low when he looked back at her.

"...You've been acting weird, too, Elena. For a...little while now actually. I know that women are supposed to have their secrets and all that, but did you really think I wouldn't pick up on it? I figured it out that night I tried to get you out of your office." He gazed down at her, brow crinkling as he tried to figure out what was going through her mind.

"I figured out what you've been hiding. I just... I've been trying to let you know that I'm okay with it. I still want to take care of you."

For a moment, Elena’s train of thought went crashing over the nearest cliff and her whole body tensed up. Her mind had automatically gone to the conclusion of what she didn’t want to happen. What she was hearing couldn’t have been true. There was just no way the situation could possibly be what she was making of it.

But… But…

She hadn’t said anything about this to ANYONE! How could he have known? The only time… But that was just a hug! A person had to know Tseng to actually be able to make the connection that the hug had actually meant a lot more than just what it appeared to mean. And then there were her own feelings! She hadn’t broadcasted them, hadn’t even mentioned them once to anyone! Certainly never once to Jr.!

Her mind kept going in the same panic circles for maybe a minute, maybe two before she could think somewhat rationally and actually register what she was saying, okay panicking about, internally. Deer in headlights look and all.

The words… Didn’t add up… If he knew… Why would Jr. still want to take care of her? For that matter, why did he want to? Granted, she and he were… And she did… But Tseng was…

It just didn’t make sense.

Licking her lips, Elena took a deep breath before she tried speaking. “Office right… Jr… Pretend that I… That I might not know what you’re talking about, that I have immeasurable amounts of self doubt, and state it clearly what you… Or why you would have to take care of me?”

Tensing again for a moment, hands tightening their hold around his neck, Elena look up at him, asking more with her eyes than with her words. “Please just… Tell me what you think you’ve figured out about me.”

Honestly, for a minute there, Rubedo had been afraid Elena was going to pass out. He hadn't expected her to look that scared. What did she have to be scared about? He'd already said that...

"Jeez, Elena, are you okay?" Far too concerned about the idea of her fainting on the sidewalk, he kept one arm around her waist as he hurried over to the nearest bench, which was thankfully unoccupied. "What I...think I know?" Shaking his head, he helped her sit down before sitting next to her and taking her hands in his.

How was he supposed to say this? No wonder she'd been having such a trial with it, if even had had trouble saying it. Face hot, Rubedo licked his lips nervously before squeezing her hands again. "You mean that you're pregnant?"

The train didn’t just go over a cliff. It fell over a 10,000 ft gorge and then exploded into even smaller pieces and then was run over by a steamroller. She had to have heard wrong. Was that what Jr. thought was going on?! That she was pregnant?!

Blinking rapidly and not quite sure what to say, Elena’s mouth fell open and she gapped a few times, trying to get her vocal chords to work. Deer in headlights meets fish on land. Wonderful combination, but it was the best way to describe what Elena looked like right about now.

Pregnant… He had thought…

She couldn’t help it. When the first rational thought came back and one plus one equaled two again, Elena could only think to do one thing.

She laughed.

Full-out, body shaking laughter, holding her sides laughter, where Elena couldn’t do anything else but laugh, an enormous, almost touchable sense of relief replacing the weight that had been there.

Now Rubedo felt like the deer caught in the headlights. At first the gasping had made him panic, but when it had rapidly dissolved into laughing, he just didn't know what to think. What was so funny? Had he made a joke by accident? He knew that sometimes he was rather hilarious, but this was not supposed to be one of those times.

Maybe she was relieved? People laughed when they were relieved, didn't they?

So he cracked a smile, though it looked out of place with the nervous flicker in his eyes, and he rested a hand on her knee. "Elena?"

Shaking her head, Elena continued to laugh and snicker for another minute or so, before she finally regained enough control to clear her throat, mostly suppressing her laughter. At least she could make coherent conversation now.

“Jr. I’m dead,” she reminded him, resting a hand on top of his. Cold, hard truth, as displeasing as it was to think about sometimes, she was very much so a member of the land of the non-living. “How in the name of Holy could I become…” a snicker. “Pregnant?”

Letting out a soft set of giggles, Elena repeated the word like it was the funniest thing she’d ever heard before.

Right then, laughing was the very opposite of what Rubedo felt like doing. Her response was enough.

She wasn't pregnant.

Figuring out what he was feeling right then was difficult. Shouldn't he be relieved? After all, he hadn't exactly been prepared to raise a child, and he wasn't sure if he ever would be. And yet after speaking with Mary and taking quite a bit of time to think about it, he had let himself get excited over the prospect. I had thought of the silver lining...

He had looked forward to it.

Swallowing against a dry throat, Rubedo's voice was hoarse as he pulled his hands away. "I... I don't know. So many other rules are broken here. I figured that here, it could be possible, and thought I'd heard of another dead woman being pregnant, too. I just... I don't.... I don't know."

God, he had acted like an idiot, now that he thought back on how he had been treating her. Feeling like the biggest fool in the City, Rubedo crinkled his brow and looked down. Just wait, Rubedo. In a year you'll be laughing about this...so long as Albedo never finds out.

That quickly sobered Elena up. She hadn’t realize… Guess the thought of it had actually meant something to him. The thought of actually being pregnant… Of actually giving birth… Elena couldn’t help the very small shudder that went through her. Motherhood… was a very frightening thought. And not something Elena thought she could handle, for all her skills and abilities.

“Rubedo,” she called out softly, trying to get him to look at her and meet her gaze. “Were you actually looking forward…?” No wait… Stupid question. His response to her laughter had stated that clearly enough. “I mean… Damn…. I didn’t mean to dash your hopes like that.”

Sighing, Elena let her chin touch her chest as she dipped her head downwards. She felt like such a heel for laughing the way she had, even if a small part of her was still chuckling over the thought. “ ‘m not…” she muttered.

The silence that followed that felt heavy, and he stared down at his hands. He had been looking forward to it, but it still had been a surprise. If he just tried to ignore it, he could go back to how it had been before he thought she was. He had been just as happy then.

But he couldn't, really. Rewinding time was something that had never been a skill of his. Still... That didn't mean he had to mope about it. That would accomplish absolutely nothing. So he forced himself to grin, looking up and rubbing at the back of his neck.

"Damn, no kidding! I sure feel like a moron. It's better this way anyway, right? This is no place to raise a kid. And it'd get pretty weird as the kid got older and wondered why they were taller than 'dad'," he joked as best he could, keeping his voice steady.

"No wonder you were laughing. I've been acting like a dumbass this whole time. Bet you're wondering what the hell you ever saw in me!"

“…” Like she could have really been fooled by behavior like that. And Jr. had, if only accidentally, hit on the heart of the matter that had really been bothering Elena. Though now was really not the time to be either talking or thinking about it. The matter wasn’t her and it wasn’t her feelings. It wasn’t the almost-moments of the past, or the unsure future, or any of the other lingering memories or possibilities. Just the here and now. And that Elena could deal with easily enough. She knew where she stood now, but later? That’s why it was the future anyway.

“Same thing I always see,” Elena stated, tilting her head only slightly so that she could see him out of the corner of her eye. “A handsome guy with passions for the things he likes and the people he cares about. And someone who has moments where he’s out of his league, but tries hard enough. Though the occasional mistakes are cute enough to make me laugh, even if it does damage his pride when I do. But I think that’s better than seeing him try to play it off or get depressed.”

Lifting her head upwards and leaning it back so that she could think about the ‘other man’ in her life in the back of her mind, Elena mused on what it would have been like, without all the complications, to have tried raising a child in a place as odd as the City. Father not withstanding… “… There are worse places to raise a kid than here.”

A dying planet… Places where you never saw the sun… Everything controlled by a greedy and corrupt government… There certainly were worse places to raise a kid. At least it would be liked at the very least if it one was raised here.

Watching her as she spoke, Rubedo felt his cheeks burn as red as his hair at the compliments. Those were hard for him to respond to due to the serious situation, and the mention of raising a child in worse places wasn't any easier.

But then as his eyes traveled down to her hands, the ring gleaming in the lamplight, he calmed down. Maybe it would be better not to say anything. He doubted she was really expecting anything, anyway, so he just sighed and his smile was more genuine then.

Reaching out, Rubedo slipped his arm around the blonde's shoulders and tugged her over to lean against him so that he could nuzzle against her hair, other hand moving to squeeze hers.

He had imagined her being pregnant, but there had been a reason for that. He hadn't been imagining how strange she had been acting...but now just wasn't the time to ask about that. Another time would...just be better.