Room 502, Sunday Morning

[withoutverona]

Romeo had plead a headache to stay home from Cal's party the night before, and Yurika had been too excited to do more than a little concerned clucking before heading off for ice cream. But in truth, he had been busy with some private preparations for the morning. It was, after all, a rather important day.

Once he woke up, he slid out of bed taking care not to dislodge Yurika from where she lay, still asleep. He kept things simple; an enormous fan of blood-red roses in the bed beside her, fresh orange juice and champagne for mimosas, chocolate croissants from J,GOB's, and coffee bubbling away. Finally, Romeo put a folder of some papers on the bed beside her.

And then there was nothing to do but watch her sleep and hope she woke up before impatience killed him.

[OOC: For one. Dojima modded with permission.]

Comments

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"I don't think you get it," she sighed. "There isn't a 'happily ever after' waiting for me, Romeo. Even when I finish this assignment, I'm a Seed. I'm never going to be done with SOLOMON, even if I'm not working for them. Honestly, would you be able to deal with them looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life?"

"Besides, my mission could take years, depending how deeply Zaizen's buried the secrets of the Orbo, and even if I manage to get the information," and yes, she was going to emphasize the 'if', "what if I don't want to stop Hunting?"

It was a job that needed doing, and it wasn't like Yurika could think of anything else she was qualified for.

[withoutverona]

Romeo didn't understand. Or, rather, he did and it was crumpling him and he couldn't breathe.

She would never be his, she'd always belong to SOLOMON. Romeo couldn't change that -- she wouldn't let him. He believed love could do everything, but this seemed to be its limit.

"So where does that leave me, beloved?" he asked.

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

She was never listening to Reno again. Ever. He gave terrible advice, if it left Romeo looking like that.

Yurika shook her head and reached out to brush her fingers over the back of his hand. "I don't know," she answered. "Here. Now. Same place we were when you woke me up this morning."

Just a little bit more jaded, maybe.

She looked down at the bed, twisting the sheet between her fingers as a million different thoughts flitted through her head. Bad ideas, mostly. His comment about doing good while finding his own way had hit home in more ways than he had probably intended.

"If...if it's what you really want, I'll think about it," she said suddenly, still not looking at him. "That's the best I can do. But you need to be sure."

It was more of a concession than he would have gotten from her three months ago.

[withoutverona]

"It's really what I want, more than I've ever wanted anything," Romeo assured her as his body relaxed from relief. "We have months before graduation still. I'll send in applications, and we can talk in the spring."

Everything would be better when it was warm, anyhow.

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"I'm not saying 'yes'," she pointed out rebelliously, "just that I'd think about it."

[withoutverona]

"And you still don't own Tokyo," Romeo reminded her, and he was going proud and a little cold. "I would rather you wanted me to go, but you can hardly stop me entirely."

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"You know what? Nevermind. Do whatever the fuck you want," she snapped, getting out of bed and stripping to put on her own clothing. "What I want doesn't matter. God forbid I get to decide anything about my own life, or set some sort of boundaries."

First her father, then Juliano, now Romeo. Yurika had fantastic taste in men.

[withoutverona]

"How the hell does it stop you doing what you want if I'm also doing what I want but in the same city?" Romeo answered snappishly. "I'm not asking you to marry me, or to live in my lap, or not to take the job you're so fucking set on. All I want is for us to stay together, and it sounds like you can't even handle that."

He turned to look out the window as she dressed. She deserved that much privacy.

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"I already took the job. I am the job," she answered, pulling up her pants. "This isn't something I can just quit, and even if I could, it's a matter of giri now."

She didn't know if he was familiar with the term or not, but if anyone should understand honor, she hoped it would be him.

"You don't even know what you want to do, so don't feed me that excuse," she shot back. "I express concern over your safety, and you completely ignore anything I say that doesn't fit with what you want. You know damn well that Juliano's warned you off. What do you think would happen if you just showed up in Tokyo to stay?"

[withoutverona]

"Oh, I expect he'd kill me," Romeo retorted wildly. "Send a witch to frighten me off, at the least. Glare and hiss insults into your ear that he'll pretend to think I don't overhear. But, princess, what do you think will happen to me if I go home?"

He wasn't seeing how things turned out much better that way.

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"Then don't go home," Yurika shot back, finishing the last button on her blouse. There. Done. Now she just needed to find her shoes, and she was set. "There's a million worlds out there, with plenty of places for you to teach or volunteer or whatever you want to do while you 'find yourself'. Places I can come visit, or for us to vacation."

"But I'm not going to be the one responsible for getting you shot again."

[withoutverona]

"You said yourself you might not be done with SOLOMON for a long time, if ever," Romeo countered. "I'm supposed to content myself with visits and vacations for years and hope you don't get shot for the sake of your giri? Romantic or no, we both know exactly how well that would work."

As in, not at all.

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"Then what do you want me to do about it?" she yelled, throwing up her hands in frustration. "I can't quit! It doesn't work like that! And you don't have any right to ask me to!"

Quit your job, Yurika. Give up the one thing you've gained on your own merits, the one place you've ever been wanted for your own talents. Like hell.

[withoutverona]

"I have never, ever asked for that," Romeo answered, almost violently. "Ever. I would like you to, I've made no secret of that, but I know you won't walk away and you know I know that." He had yanked a shirt over his head, and his fingers were clenched on the hem.

"You job cannot mean I'm not allowed in Tokyo, though. That's absurd."

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"I will be watched," Yurika hissed. "Not just by SOLOMON, but by Zaizen as well, the paranoid old bastard. At least until I convince him that I'm the worthless airhead that everyone thinks I am, and possibly even longer. I'm not going to paint a nice big target on your back."

Paranoid? Possibly. But that was one of the reasons that Yurika was so very good at her job.

[withoutverona]

"So after we graduate it's vacations and visits, all for my own good," Romeo sulked. "Fine. Fine. Should we bother dating for the next three months, or just call this a wasted year?"

He didn't entirely mean that, and his eyes fell on the ignored champagne and flowers.

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

Yurika just stood there for a moment, a stricken look on her face before she turned to flee.

Forget her shoes, her purse, anything else. She wasn't staying where she wasn't wanted.

[withoutverona]

"Yurika!" Romeo cried, reaching blindly for her arm. "I ... I didn't mean it. Please. Stay. We can worry about graduation at graduation."

Denial was their friend.

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

Yurika shook her head. "Which part? The wasted year, the bit about dumping me, or one of the other million things?" she asked quietly. "We can't pretend this didn't just happen, Romeo, or it will keep happening."

[withoutverona]

"We can't pretend," Romeo admitted, leaning in to touch his forehead to hers. "But can we just ... I don't know. Come back to bed, love, we can at least put off the hard decisions."

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

Yurika let herself be led back to the bed, still half-way tempted to just leave before it could get worse.

"I don't know what you want from me," she confessed, closing her eyes as she curled up against the pillows. "I just don't."

[withoutverona]

"I didn't think it was a secret," Romeo said, relaxing into her. "Your love, that's all."

He tried to kiss her gently to wash his hurt away.

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"You know how I feel," Yurika sighed, twisting her fingers into the hem of his shirt as she fidgeted. "Don't be silly."

[withoutverona]

"I do," he answered. "Do you understand why it's all hard for me?"

He couldn't be more specific about what it was.

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"I know that this isn't your first choice of situation for anyone, friend or girlfriend," Yurika joked weakly. "I get that, I do, but it's a little late for me to change it, aijin."