Disclaimer: The world this drabble takes place in is (c) Akira Toriyama. The characters mentioned and used belong to me.
The Language of Flowers:
Marigold: friendship; comforts the heart; sacred affection
"No marigolds yet closed are,
No shadows great appeare."
-Robert Herrick
A pint of chocolate ice cream sat untouched and melting over the rim of its container, dribbling down onto the coffee table. The TV was on, but the curled-up form on the faded sofa wasn't paying the flickering screen any attention. It was there simply to fill the empty silence of a quiet house. She didn't think she'd mind the quiet; after all, she usually craved it when something was bothering her. That was the reason why she'd let Cara sleep over at a friend's house for the weekend. Her younger sister had seemed concerned but had understood her need for space. But once alone, the comfortable solitude an empty house usually gave her was replaced by loneliness and anxiety. Behind dazed gray eyes, the genius mind that had gained her a reputation was struggling to make sense of her current dilemma.
In the dark, she curled in a defensive ball, her arms tight around her body and her chin against her chest. Far enough from the growing puddle of ice cream to be safe sat a well-worn album, opened to the last picture she'd taken with her family. It had once been a tradition growing up—the annual family portrait. Dressing up nicely and sitting stiffly had been completely out of the question. The portraits were casual and relaxed, making for a more loving image. And her family had been loving, no doubt about that. In fact, it was the love and support of her parents she was missing a hell of a lot right now. Her parents would know what to do in this situation, her mother would know how to comfort her right now. But they had been lost to her twelve years ago, shortly after Cara's fourth birthday. Instead of making her feel better, the album had only added layers to the lonesomeness.
It took her a few moments to notice that the incessant background chattering of the television was gone. Slowly she lifted her head, catching movement in her vision. The melted ice cream was gone now, leaving only a chocolate-laden ring on the table. She blinked, and the album was closed and resting atop the bookcase.
Finally, the moving stopped and a figure stood framed by the television's silent flickering light, hands on hips and head cocked. "I knocked," the low, light voice rebuked intently. "Loudly and repeatedly."
The figure yanked on the chain of the lamp, scattering the shadows and blinding her with light. Her features highlighted by the lamp, Dominique Kellis went from being ethereally beautiful to being accepting and approachable. She was the best thing Adelina Atkins could've hoped to see. But the moment Lina recognized her, the hope faded. Dominique didn't spend as much time around the house these days, and when she was there, it was to pay a visit to Cara to renew the spell that kept her from needing blood. There was no reason for Dominique to come and see her... She laid her head back down, dejected. "Cara's not here."
Dominique looked down at her. Did the girl have any idea how pitiful she looked? Her gray eyes were blank and shell-shocked, her expression a picture of defined by the word 'lost'. Her dark blonde hair was in wild disarray, her face ghostly pale and worn. It tugged at her heartstrings painfully to see the usually composed and smiling Lina so defeated. She was suddenly grateful to have gotten Cara's concerned phone call. Lina was in dire need of help. Dominique crouched down beside the couch, her leather jacket creaking as she met Lina's gaze. "I didn't come for Cara," she corrected.
Lina stunned herself by turning her face into the couch cushion and bursting into tears. She couldn't stop them, couldn't stop the frustration and humiliation at her own lack of control over herself. The last few hours had finally caught up with her, the stress and worry, the grief and the sharp, aching loneliness. The emotions had finally surged upward in a startling upheaval that left her breathless with wrenching sobs.
Dominique watched her for a moment, crouched on her haunches, before she climbed onto the couch beside Lina and with a little bit of shifting, laid the weeping woman's head across her lap. Silently, the Vampire combed her fingers carefully through Lina's tangled hair, soothing with touch. Words were useless against the deep agony of a broken heart, so she didn't say anything. When the younger woman's hair was soft and ordered again, Dominique's hand drifted down to her back, where she moved in slow, comforting circles.
When she finally thought she'd wrung herself dry of tears, Lina sniffled and turned her head, dabbing at her red eyes with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. She felt empty now and bone-tired.
Dominique continued to rub her back. "Tell me about it?" she offered casually.
Lina sniffled again, brushing a lock of dark blonde hair behind her ear. "It's the usual..." she mumbled dully.
"Of course, it's Aderes," Dominique translated deftly. "Well. What's your fool done now?"
Lina couldn't even bring herself to smile at Dominique's nickname for her lover. Earlier she would've been angry, sad, and humiliated. Now she was just too weary to defend him. "He came up with more reasons why we can't be together."
There weren't a lot of things that could make Lina cry. But Dominique was forced to concede that her relationship with Chase Aderes was one of them—and a major one. Aderes was the current head of a top-secret government organization. Adelina was the latest in a long line of Atkins family members in the aforementioned organization. The relationship had been a mistake from the start, as Lina was Aderes' third-in-command and under intense scrutiny. Dominique retrieved a few tissues from the box on the coffee table and pressed them into Lina's hand. "Any new reasons this time?" she inquired conversationally. "Last time it was because of the 'no inter-office romances' rule."
"Oh, it's Eve now." Lina wiped her wet eyes, comforted by Dominique's disgusted snort at the mention of Chase's older sister. "She's badgering him about family honor and the duties of a firstborn son of Aderes, and blah, blah, blah." Lina relaxed into Dominique's lap, eased greatly by having her family's oldest friend with her. "Oh, but you should've heard the names she called me," Lina said on a hitched breath, shaking a tissue. "Whore, gold-digger, she stopped just short of outright calling me the office slut. Ooh." She'd been wrong, Lina realized. There was still plenty of anger in her for the woman known as the Aderes Wicked Witch.
"Bitch," Dominique put in companionably. She was quiet for a long moment, her hand pausing on Lina's back. "...have you told him yet, Adelina?"
Her nervous fingers froze in the middle of shredding a tissue before she dropped the scraps to the floor. Lina should've known that she could never hide anything from Dominique. The older woman had always been able to see through her. "Is it really so obvious?" she whispered, shame coloring her cheeks.
The Vampire shrugged nonchalantly. "No, not obvious," she clarified. "You have to be specially tuned in to notice it, considering how faint it is. But even Aderes can't remain ignorant forever. He's going to know eventually. I suspect you'd rather your fool hear the news from you than from the bitch."
"After five years, I still stammer when I tell him I love him," Lina huffed, disgusted, pushing herself into a sitting position. She shoved another rope of her hair out of her face. "How in Morrigan's holy name am I supposed to tell him I-I...how that we... that I—"
Dominique locked gazes with her when Lina would've looked away. "That you're pregnant with his child?" she finished coolly. "You tell him the damned truth. You've let this weigh on you until you look positively ill, Adelina. And unless your real name is Mary and I'm missing something, you didn't do this all by yourself. Either he takes responsibility, or the pair of you finally separate, but something needs to be done."
Lina closed her eyes and laid a hand on her flat, firm stomach, letting out another cleansing breath. "I'm scared, Dominique," she whispered, and realized that it was true. "I'm so scared this will be the thing that pushes him all the way away from me...even though it makes me so happy and nervous."
"That's the stupidest thing you've ever said."
It wasn't the words, but the deep, breathy voice that uttered them that had Lina's eyes flying open. She sat bolt straight, unsteady, as she took in the long, lanky form filling the doorframe. Her heart sputtered painfully in her chest. He was still dressed in the form-fitting black-and-silver coat worn by those in the Head position, but he was terribly rumpled and breathless—as if he'd been caught up in a frustrating whirlwind of activity before arriving. His dark blue eyes were narrowed intently on her face, his hands slack at his sides.
Lina felt her chest constrict with each breath. "C-Chase," she stuttered, the faint color in her cheeks fleeing again. Oh gods, why was he here? Why now? Her gaze flew to the complacent Vampiress sitting silently beside her for her reaction. Dominique was calmly watching Chase, completely unsurprised by his arrival. Lina's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "Oh, you soulless bitch, you brought him here," she whimpered, horrified. "He's been here the whole time, hasn't he? Hasn't he?" She smacked a hand against Dominique's shoulder, doing no damage and only succeeding in making herself feel more of a fool.
"Apparently he followed me and got a bit turned around," the unruffled immortal responded, casting a warning look upon the man standing in the doorway. If he tried anything funny, Dominique would lay him flat on his ass. "He's only been here a few minutes, just long enough to catch the end of our discussion." As intended. Dominique got to her feet, stretching languidly. "I'm going for some air. Think loudly, if you need me," she drawled and was gone by the time either mortal blinked.
"What you said was stupid," Chase snapped again, staring in bafflement at Lina.
She couldn't stand him here, not now. She felt a thin thread of anger and clung to it. "You're not going to come into my home and make me feel like an idiot," Lina determined, her spine stiff. "You do enough of that at Headquarters. You can kindly let yourself right back out the d—" The rest of her clipped speech was lost when he crossed swiftly to her and dragged her hard against him, kissing her until her head was absolutely swimming.
"You stupid, stupid woman," he breathed, fisting one hand in her hair, his arm banding her tight against his body. He pressed his cheek to her forehead and stood wrapped around her, rocking slowly. "I could jinx you for the hell I went through trying to find you tonight, but it doesn't matter. None of it matters now. None of it matters, darling." He kissed her again soundly, leaving her no room to question him. "I went to tell you that I handed in my resignation as Head of the Order of Aderes. There was nothing stopping us from being together now, nothing anyone can do. But I couldn't find you."
"I was angry with you," she mumbled, thrown for a loop. It was happening too fast. She pressed her hands against his chest for balance and for space. "Eve said—"
"Horrible, inappropriate things that I confronted her about." A flicker of darkness crossed his handsome features before they softened again. "Addy..." Chase leaned down and rested his forehead against hers, keeping their gazes locked. "I wanted you away to protect you. I come from a family of ambitious and cold people. I wouldn't be able to control myself if they mistreated you, and I know they would have. I wanted a life with you, but I couldn't see any way that my family couldn't ruin it. So I tried to separate us, to spare you. Instead, I ended up hurting you, making you afraid to even tell me about our own child. You were afraid that I would leave you if I knew? I never meant to let you think... Oh, Addy, I was a goddamned fool. But I've left them. It's just us now...The three of us." He touched her cheek, his eyes searching hers. "I love you, darling. Can you ever forgive me?"
Up on the roof, Dominique lay back against the slanted roof tiles, her hands folded loosely over her stomach as she watched the light fog billow by. She listened to Adelina sob out Gaelic oaths as she pounded on Chase's chest, calling him an idiot if he didn't realize all Lina ever wanted was him. Her lips twitched upward slightly. Dominique's mother had always slapped at her hand and called her 'meddlesome' as a child whenever she had interfered or attempted to help. Wouldn't it just infuriate the older woman to see her youngest do something right?
She gauged the position of the moon behind the veil of misty fog and reluctantly admitted that it was time for her to leave. Her Sister would come searching for Dominique soon and she didn't want to lead Satin to the Atkins home. With a slight push, she slid down on her back to the very edge of the roof, swinging down and gripping the slope's edge so she could peer into the window below before she left. She hung by her fingertips as she looked inside. Chase had taken a seat on the couch, Lina curled up in his lap, their arms around each other. Her eyes glittered with amusement in the dark. Yeah...her stupid mortal friends would be alright—even if she did have to save them from themselves occasionally.
Dominique let go of the roof and landed in a crouch on the springy grass below. She tucked her hands in the pockets of her dark coat and strolled away casually, making a note to call Cara and tell her all was well.
FND: Hope you guys enjoyed this little side-story/little trip into the past. As always, please read and review. Let me know what you really think!