Happy Birthday, Lun-chan. :3 Thank you for the pairing idea, it came out cuter than I thought it would be!
*I do not own Ben 10 or anything. Just a will to make it happen.
PERSONAL DESTINATION
"Oh," she said, startled for only a moment when she paused in the bathroom doorway, and he looked up, his thumb over a shaving cut on his jaw, "sorry, I didn't know anyone was in here."
"Quite alright," Paradox replied cheerfully, his eyes returning to his reflection in the half-steamed mirror, and the straight razor sloshed in the sink as he rinsed it free of white suds and dark whiskers, "I could speed this up, if you like..."
"No, no," Gwen waved off the idea casually, leaning back against the doorsill to watch him, crossing her arms across her front, "No rush. For me, I mean."
Paradox grinned, drawing the blade down his cheek carefully, "Thank you. I cut myself a lot less, if I take my time."
"Hmm." her eyes crossed his undershirt to the suspenders hanging about his legs, clipped at the waist of his slacks, "You really like old stuff, don't you?"
"Old is a relative term, my dear," Paradox answered, rinsing the razor again, "I'd say the things I keep are about as old as I am. Or perhaps they're younger. It's hard to say."
"With you, everything's hard to say," Gwen curled her toes under the hem of her pajama pants, watching them as she did, "How long are you staying?"
"Another thing that's hard to stay. Much to do, less time to do it in. It's kind of you to offer me a place to stop in, I really do appreciate it." He stooped to splash his face free of soap and push his dark, damp hair back from his face again, straightening to dry his features on a towel and check for any stubble spots he may have missed, "safety is not always a commodity that I am granted."
"Don't you have a place?" she questioned, looking back up at him, "I mean, in the span of time. Don't you live anywhere?"
"I had one. Or have one. Or will have. But that's the trick, finding out which. It's much easier, to come to a place that is more or less constant." He gathered his shirt and shoes from the back of the toilet, and at last faced her. Shock formed his features, "You cut your hair."
Gwen fiddled with her bangs with a smile, "Yeah, like two years ago. I showed it to you, remember? For my eighteenth birthday? Kevin hates it, but he can suck-" she paused as his features remained blank, "anyways."
"Kevin," Paradox said, his face gathering with concentration, "You two are..."
She frowned, "Dating. Yeah."
"Hmm."
"Please don't tell me something awful, like he cheats on me or something," Gwen said, as he passed her into the hall, and she followed after him, "That would suck, but I don't want to know."
"Oh, no, no. I make it a policy not to tell anyone anything that would change their own personal destinations in time too drastically." he grunted with effort as he took a seat on the stairs to the living room, fiddling the laces of his scuffed leather shoes free. He frowned at them and concentrated, his hands slowly becoming a blue blur. When he finished, the laces fell free of one another, "But your hair does grow back. Eventually."
"Not because Kevin keeps bitching, right?" she took a seat across the step from him, watching his time-enhanced motions, and soon he was tugging his tie knot snug to his throat.
Paradox laughed, "No."
Gwen smiled, and leaned forward, helping him with the sleeve of his white lab coat, and she blinked, "You wear a ring?"
Paradox paused, and glanced down at the gold band on his finger, "I do? Oh, yes, I do."
"You didn't use to wear a ring. How'd you get it? Things that aren't from your era can't travel through time with you, and if you go back to your own era, you'll explode..."
He grimaced at the idea, "Hmm."
"How'd you get it?"
"I'm married."
Gwen looked shocked, then excited, "oh my god, congratulations! That's so great!" she leapt forward, throwing her arms around his neck, and he retracted slightly with alarm, "Why didn't you tell us? We could have celebrated!"
"We do, when I get married," he said, gently pulling her off.
"Who is she?" she questioned, "Is she pretty? C'mon, just one life spoiler, pleeeeeease?"
Paradox looked uncomfortable, an oddity from his normally carefree demeanor, and he shook his head, "No, the time is not now. The time will come when it does, and you can be happy for me then." The smile returned to his face, and he stood, offering her a hand up, "Now, I fear, I must away."
She took his hand, rising, and jutted her lip out in a pout, "Can't you tell me anything?"
Paradox's eyes softened, as he released Gwen's hands, "She's the most beautiful woman in the entire universe," he murmured. And in a flash of blue, he was gone.
His clothes and hair wafted steam when he arrived, blinking for a few moments in the dark. The cool smell of the night air from the open window pulled him to his new present, and he shook his head, momentarily dizzy.
Warm arms encircled him from behind, and he tensed for a second, "Shh," someone whispered, and he exhaled slowly, calming, "You could have showered here, you know."
"I had business," he replied. He turned in her arms, and her fingers traced the lines of his lapel as he stared into her eyes, lifting a hand to trace away her long bangs, "I like your hair better, long."
Gwen chuckled, "Thank you. And what was so important that you had to be away from me for one more second?"
Paradox smiled, his palm against her cheek as his arm encircled her waist, "I fell in love with you again, today," he confessed, and stooped to kiss her.
xXx
END.