Every time Maribelle had set foot in that dressing room that day, she had been incredibly mindful of the oversized mirror that took up half of one of the walls. She'd admired herself in it over and over again, making sure that her hair was perfectly in place, that her dress was positioned exactly how it was meant to be, that her makeup hadn't smudged, and so on. It was where she and everyone in her wedding party had taken countless selfies as they were getting ready, and it was where they had put the finishing touches on their attire before considering themselves as good as ready.

So how was it, after a day of using the mirror like it was intended, all she had to do was step foot in the room for it to hit the ground and shatter, sending glass flying everywhere, into her belongings as well as the last few things the other ladies had left in there. "Oh…that's not good," she managed to say, examining the damage as she hiked the front part of her perfectly white dress up, making sure she didn't rip a single inch of the fabric with the glass that was now scattered all over the floor. "It must have come loose somehow during the day, but for it to fall now of all times…"

"Was that the mirror?" Coming in behind her immediately after the loud crashing sound had stopped ringing in Maribelle's ears, Lissa gasped when she saw the now-empty spot on the wall. "Gods, it was! Maribelle! That's bad luck, you know that right?"

"I'm aware of it, although I don't believe a word of that 'luck' nonsense. We get what we deserve in life, and no objects can control that. Especially not a broken mirror." Looking down at the largest piece of the mirror that hadn't shattered, Maribelle could see her reflection staring back at her, her heavily-painted face looking like a runway model or perhaps for a costume, but definitely not for the average person getting married. "Besides, if we're going to speak of 'luck', then I think today would be considered my luckiest day alive anyway, any mirrors be damned!"

Wringing her hands in front of her, Lissa came to Maribelle's side and looked down in the very same mirror piece, looking worried as she did. "I don't know, this is a pretty big piece you just managed to break into nothing, it might mean something in the long run. Wish I knew how long people say you get bad luck for breaking one of these things…"

"There is no such thing as luck regarding mirrors, Lissa my dear! Stop worrying about something that has no consequence minus a cost to replace it." Laughing, Maribelle turned to face her much more modest-looking friend, who gave her a wary smile in return. "You're getting worked up over something that we'll forget in a week's time. Especially given that I'll be having the time of my life for this next week, on what will undoubtedly be the single best honeymoon anyone could ever ask for!"

Lissa's smile grew to be more warm and accepting, her feeling her friend's excitement taking over her. "You're right, what am I thinking? We're not going to remember that you broke a mirror, not when you come home and tell me all about the fun and adventure the two of you'll be going on!" The hand-wringing turned to a happy clapping. "And if all goes well, maybe this time next month…"

"Oh, Lissa, don't be so over-eager! I don't think we'll be getting to that right away." Gently poking her friend's nose as if to scold her for her suggestion, Maribelle burst out laughing once more when she saw Lissa go cross-eyed at the gesture. "Besides, I'll be starting my new job in the fall and I simply cannot have gotten hired in such a prestigious position only to have to cast it aside to raise a family. The time'll come for that soon enough, I'm sure, but not quite yet. We can most definitely wait a few months."

"A few months?" As she was righting her eyes from being crossed, Lissa couldn't help but snort at Maribelle's insistence that she had that kind of self-control. "I've seen how you act, you're going to get to where you're staying and promptly bed that man so fast that he won't have time to prepare."

Sputtering as she tried to come up with some witty comeback to what Lissa had just said, Maribelle gave up and went back to looking at the shattered mirror on the floor. "Whatever he and I do tonight, and over the course of the next week, is merely our own business. And I can assure you that we will absolutely not be conceiving any sort of child while we're gone, it's not in either of our plans at the moment." Her reflection showed that she was standing firm in her believe on the matter, plump lips pursed together seriously and bright eyes narrowing when she heard Lissa clear her throat to speak.

"Okay, I know you want to believe it won't happen, but you love him so much that the moment you're alone together you're going to, well, make love to him!" Giggling, Lissa narrowly avoided being smacked by Maribelle as she dropped the front of her dress simply to reach up and hit her friend, and she avoided this by stepping to the side. "Hey, don't try hitting me! I'm just saying the truth!"

As Maribelle tried following her to smack her anyway, she managed to step on a piece of the mirror that tore through her shoe and cut into the bottom of her foot, causing her to yelp in pain and nearly fall over, only managing to stay standing because Lissa was right there to catch her. "Look what you've made me do," she whined, holding her foot up due to being unsure of where the shard was that had cut her. "My shoe's forever damaged and my foot's surely bleeding!"

"You're being overdramatic again, Maribelle," Lissa told her, before bending down to investigate for herself. When she saw a small red discoloration starting to spread through the bottom of the shoe, she grimaced and stood back up, now frowning at Maribelle. "Or maybe you're not, it does look like you cut yourself up a bit. But good news, doesn't look like anything's still stuck in there, so maybe we can clean it up really quickly and—"

"What are the two 'a ya still doin' in here, we were supposed t'have cleared outta this place half an hour ago!" The voice at the door nearly sent Maribelle toppling over again as she spun to look at who had come to join them, but once more it was Lissa there to keep her from falling. The man standing there, a suit cover draped over one shoulder and a bag held on his other arm, took one look at the women and gave a defeated sigh. "Lemme guess, someone got a bit excited t'be lookin' at herself as an officially married woman, didn't she?"

"The mirror broke when I came in here, it wasn't anything to do with me looking at myself in it!" Sounding a bit panicked as she was still holding her injured foot up off the ground as well as looking at the man in the doorway, Maribelle tried to force a smile onto her face but couldn't muster the strength to do so. "But you're right, we should have been out of here a while ago, and this mess isn't going to make leaving any easier."

As she bent down to try picking up a shard of the mirror, to at least make a halfhearted attempt to start cleaning up the area, Lissa stopped her, keeping her from bending too far. "I can't let my best friend have to organize a disaster zone on her wedding day, not when she's already got big plans for the evening. You go on and get to where you're going, I'll handle the mess on my own." She didn't sound enthusiastic about what she was suggesting, but she was doing it from the kindness off her heart, something that Maribelle couldn't help but appreciate. "Here, you know what, I'll even see you two off with the rest of everyone before I get to work."

"Everyone's still here?" Maribelle asked, surprised to hear such a thing, especially given how long after the ceremony and reception it now was. In disbelief, she looked towards her husband, who was giving her a concerned expression in return. "So answer me on this, Vaike, they've been waiting around for what must feel like hours, just to bid us farewell?"

"More like, they want t'see the two 'a us gettin' outta here for the week, since we've been, y'know, botherin' them daily about this ever since ya had the idea for it. Which was…er, how long ago was that?" Awkwardly raising one of his arms to scratch at his head while he thought on the answer to his own question, the suit cover slipped right off of Vaike's shoulder and hit the floor, which made him laugh. "Doesn't matter, really, now that we've gotten this over and done with. We've just gotta get out and let them do what they all are wantin' to do for us."

"Yes, and that means you two need to get moving!" With a hop and a skip, Lissa managed to dodge all the pieces of mirror as she went to the doorway, effortlessly bending down to pick up what had been dropped and taking it into her own arms, only for him to drop his bag right away and for her to pick that up as well. "Why are you even carrying this around with you like this? You're not planning on taking the suit with you, are you?"

"Of course he is, we're not changing until we're comfortably far away from this place," Maribelle answered, carefully joining the two at the doorway, her foot aching when she put weight down on it but she was trying her best to ignore it. "If we weren't planning on walking out of here looking just as nice as we did during the ceremony, do you really think we would have stayed dressed up this long?"

Lissa puckered her mouth as she tried coming up with a counterpoint, but ultimately shrugged it off. "I guess not, even though I'm sure getting you out of that dress would be impossible with how much you love yourself in it."

"I wouldn't have let her spend as much as she did on that if she wasn't wearin' it all day," Vaike said, his eyes glancing all over Maribelle's body, in specific the parts covered by her lovely dress. "Even though I shouldn't have had any say in any 'a that nonsense."

Waggling a finger in his face, Maribelle leaned closer into him, just close enough that her finger ended up brushing against his nose a time or two. "So we might have chosen to run this wedding less traditionally than most, what of it? I wasn't going to keep you in the dark on everything, even if everyone expected me to."

"Uh, you two, you know you're supposed to be leaving, right?" Lissa reminded them, as she started heading towards the hallway that would lead the three of them to the front door to the church they'd been using for the wedding. Vaike and Maribelle exchanged a glance between them as they saw Lissa head away that was followed immediately by a quick kiss, that being followed by him scooping her up despite her demanding he didn't, for him to start running after their friend with Maribelle in his arms.

Standing outside the front doors of the church, as had already been determined, were the attendees of the wedding, all cheering and excited to see the newlyweds one last time before they were off onto their honeymoon. It wasn't as great of an experience being flocked by everyone while in someone else's arms as Maribelle had hoped it would be, as it made her feel like she was useless, being toted around by someone rather than supporting herself, but the moment someone brushed against her foot and it started throbbing she was grateful that she'd managed to marry a guy who'd help her out like this without her needing to ask. No one even seemed to notice that she was injured while she was being carried, even though her feet were exposed due to how her dress was hanging off her legs, which was a lucky feat.

Luck. The thought of luck made her chuckle to herself, a sound lost in the roar of the happy crowd they were in. How was Lissa going to tell her that her breaking that mirror was going to cause her bad luck, when luck was something that was self-made and not controlled by any outside forces? Superstitions were fun to believe in, but at the end of the day they were nothing more than made-up explanations for things that had perfectly reasonable answers. Her stepping on the shard was just a circumstance of her being so dressed up, it had nothing to do with any sort of actual thing called "luck".

She didn't bring attention to any of that until after they were past the goodbyes and the well-wishes from everyone that had stuck around, and after both of them were given the belongings they'd packed for their trip (Lissa had ended up having to run back into the church to grab one bag, because she'd already picked up the other), they were on their way out of town for what would amount to close to a week alone together to revel in their newlywed status. "Remember what I said to you," Lissa whispered to Maribelle as she was handing her the bag of her clothes, "this time next month, something's going to happen, we both know it. Don't stop it if it's happening, please. I have to see what a baby between you two looks like before we're all old and gray."

"Hush now, Lissa, I promise that we're not going to get into that for quite a few months, as I told you earlier." They gave friendly cheek-kisses as their farewells, as Lissa was the last person there who they intended on having see them before they left, and as she waved them goodbye they started to head out. "I…cannot believe that girl sometimes," she said as she sank back into the seat in the car they were being driven away in, her head resting on Vaike's shoulder as he started playing with her hair. "She's had the audacity to imply we're going to do some very personal things while we're away, and she wants details on them!"

"Well, we are gonna do that stuff, ain't we?" Vaike asked, pulling his fingers away from one of Maribelle's carefully-placed ringlet curls so that she could turn her head to glare at him. "I mean, probably not in the ways she's thinkin' of, but y'know what I mean, right?"

Pursing her lips together as she came up with the best way to word her current thought, Maribelle replied, "Er, yes, well, the fact that you know what way she's thinking of bothers me more than I think you understand. Was she discussing this with you as well?"

"She wasn't, but d'ya know how many times someone's come up t'me in the past week askin' me about how it feels knowin' that once we're on this trip, we can do whatever we want and not be looked down on for the consequences?" Vaike grinned, before looking at how Maribelle didn't seem impressed with what he was saying, so he explained himself with, "It's been many times, and I haveta keep tellin' 'em that we ain't doin' anythin' we wouldn't have done before this!"

"You…told everyone…hm." If her lips could have gotten pressed into a straighter line they most certainly would have with that revelation. "Vaike, dearest, did you ever once stop to think that perhaps leaving things to people's imaginations would be a good thing? You didn't need to divulge all of our personal lives to get them off your backs."

"It wasn't everythin', don't worry. Just the stuff they all already kinda knew." This defense didn't seem to be impressing Maribelle much either, which made him shift a bit away from her in case she was to lash out at any given point. "All I'm sayin' is, I might've told 'em we're plannin' on keepin' things exactly as they've already been, 'cause it ain't like today's the day we actually got married or anythin' like that."

She lifted her head completely off his shoulder to turn to look out the window rather than at him, not wanting to face him for what he'd just admitted to. "I hope you're aware that no one was supposed to actually know this ceremony was all for show, in case they want to get upset with us that we made them all contribute to paying for it. As far as they all were to know, this was the real deal, not just a cover to, ahem, get to go through with a big fairytale wedding for the both of us."

As she waited for his response, Maribelle found herself watching cars pass them by, speeding down the road heading for far-off places similar to where they were going. With every car that went, she wondered where they were headed, if it was anywhere comparable to where they were going, and if she went with them if she'd ever have to return home. Now knowing that the unfortunate detail that they'd already been legally married before the wedding was out in the open, she was worried that returning home after the honeymoon would result in lots of questions and accusations for why, exactly, that had been the case.

She knew what the actual answer was, and it wasn't anything dirty or depraved like she was sure people would assume. They had gone through with all the papers and become an official married couple weeks beforehand, due to her getting hired on with her dream job and not wanting to have to make a marital status switch (as well as legally changing her name, despite not particularly wanting to) so soon after getting the paperwork for being hired initially done. It was merely a move they'd made to keep her from having to deal with that hassle twice, and it wasn't like they'd acted on their technically-married status in any ways they would have regretted.

A blush creeped onto her face as she reminded herself that they hadn't done that simply because they hadn't had the time, with all the wedding preparations as well as the stress of getting everything for that job set in stone for when she took the position on in a few months. That had been the only thing that had stopped them, something she was completely aware of (and even slightly ashamed of, thinking back to some of the things they'd done behind everyone's backs before they'd even considered getting married). Just the thought of some of the escapades they had gone on was making her blush come in more vibrant, but it wasn't just embarrassment and regret that had her cheeks noticeably warming up.

And it was not helped when she felt a hand rest itself on her thigh, which was thankfully still hidden by the long dress she was in. "Say, Maribelle, ya ain't mad at me for what I told ya I did, are ya?" Vaike asked her, inching his hand up her leg as he spoke. "I don't know if I'd be able t'handle if you're mad at me right now, not after what we've gone through."

"I could never be mad at you for something as boneheaded as that," she replied, turning to face him despite her face being so heated that she was certain he'd be able to see the change in color even under her makeup. "Worst comes to worst, if someone wants to pick a fight over it I'll explain that we did it for the sake of my new job, and that if the hiring process hadn't happened when it did, we would most certainly have waited."

He looked relieved to hear that, but his hand still kept making its journey upward, something that would soon be stopped by the fact that the dress was an impenetrable wall that he wasn't going to be able to contend with. "No one seemed t'take it that way, if you're really worried 'bout that. They thought I was referrin' to, y'know, other things. Stuff everyone already knew about."

"With the people you regularly speak with, it wouldn't surprise me if they thought you were equating other moments in life as the day you got 'married' to me, which…isn't much better than going out and telling them that actual day was weeks ago, but I'd much rather be seen as promiscuous by your friends than a money-stealing liar." It wasn't the truth, Maribelle wouldn't want to be seen as either, but in the choice between the two she knew that one was a lot less damaging than the other, especially when nothing had ever come from any of the times they'd slept together prior to getting married. "But honestly, if they all knew that about us, I wonder why none of them have yet to ask if they could sleep with me as well."

"None of 'em are those kinds of guys, don't talk about them like that." Retracting his hand as he'd realized he wasn't going to get anywhere with it, Vaike moved it to resting on top of one of Maribelle's hands, giving it a tight squeeze once he'd positioned it properly. "I wouldn't go around talkin' like that 'bout your friends, so why'd you do that to mine?"

"The only person who heard what I said was you, Vaike, it's not like it's a damaging statement that I shouted to the world." She gave him a no-nonsense look, hoping he'd look past the still-obvious signs of embarrassment on her face to take in how serious she was with her statement. But all she got was another squeeze of her hand, the feeling of his simple wedding band pressing into the top of one of her fingers. "Oh, okay, I'll cease with the comments that you find offensive in regards to the lowly bunch of men you associate with."

"They ain't all lowly guys, and I know ya know that. I just don't see the respectable ones as much as the others." He laughed, which in turn made Maribelle's lips form a smile at him. "Gods, you're really gorgeous today, have I told ya that yet? It's amazin' what a li'l bit 'a time and makeup does t'transform ya from your normal beautiful to somethin' even greater."

Her smile grew, even though she knew the flattery was being done in an attempt to steer them away from their previous conversation. She wanted to keep making subtle digs at his friends, but when she saw how star-struck he seemed to be as he was staring at her, she decided that maybe loosening up for once was best. "Why thank you, I'll be sure to let the lovely ladies who helped me out today know of your glowing compliments. As for you, I'm honestly impressed you've managed to stay looking so sharp for this long."

"Just goes t'show ya that the Vaike can clean up when he wants to. Which ain't often, but it does happen." That was when he leaned in towards her, almost as if he was going in for a kiss but stopping himself the moment his forehead pressed against hers. "Damn it, Maribelle, how'd we manage t'get ourselves in this spot?"

His question wasn't one of surprise or anger, it was a genuine asking of what had gone so right (or so wrong) that had led to the two of them getting married like they had. And it was a question that she wasn't going to give an answer to, not because she didn't have one but rather because she wanted him to remember everything for himself. She could retell the story of how their paths had crossed time and time again, never in a professional field but rather through overlapping social circles that slowly started to become one combined unit. She could have given him the reminder that they'd first met while both still in school, each attached to a friend that proceeded to introduce them to the other, and then they steadily got to know each other through other friends they had. The day they'd found out that they were friends with a pair of siblings had been an important day, as it meant they knew they had some way to run into each other, over and over again.

They'd both been present for some of the same social events, including weddings of friends and classmates, and it got to the point that they'd accompany the other to the events simply because everyone deserved to have a date for the day. It was after a wedding they'd attended six years prior, while she was still in high school and he was a year removed, that they'd decided to start casually dating; it wasn't until her college graduation years later that they officially became a couple, and it was while discussing plans for her graduation from law school three years after that when the idea of getting married was thrown around. He had never amounted to much beyond being a skilled worker when it came to physical labor, and she had high hopes to becoming a renowned lawyer, they weren't exactly the most equally-matched pair when it came to their place in the world.

But damn it, they'd been in love with each other for so long that it was worth a shot, and so everything had fallen into place to get them exactly where they were at the moment. "I wish there was a short version to tell you," she finally replied, looking into his eyes and finding herself getting lost in them and the love they contained. "But I'm sure you remember the important details of it all."

He leaned into her a bit more, now the tip of his nose pressing against hers. "I don't think I'd ever be able t'forget most of it, t'be honest. Probably the luckiest thing that's ever happened t'me was gettin' t'meet you all those years ago." As he finished leaning forward, his lips touching and locking with hers for a moment, she couldn't stop herself from her mind focusing on how he was painting their relationship as a creation of luck. Something about that made her want to break away from him and remind him that everything was a product of circumstance and timing—luck was never a part of anything, simple as that. But his kisses were always so tender and warm, she would hate to strip herself of the chance to be receiving one unless it was something important she had to say to him.

Thankfully, that reminder wasn't anything she felt was terribly important, because their kisses went on for the rest of the ride, with only short breaks for passionate whispers that had them just as breathless as the kissing itself did. If it wasn't for the fact that they were both still wearing exactly what they had been during the wedding, it would have been entirely possible for clothing to have been lost there in the back of that car, but thanks to some good foresight and just enough restraint they managed to stay completely dressed until they were dropped off at the first stop of their trip.

The seaside town wasn't anywhere they were planning on actually staying, however, as it was the place where the actual honeymoon destination was accessible from. It did give them the chance to change out of their wedding attire and into their normal clothes, but that was all they had time to do (only partially due to the fact that she was hobbling around with an open wound on the bottom of one foot) before they were whisked away for the real deal of their trip: a romantic cruise paid for entirely by her family as her present for graduating from law school not even a month earlier. This was something neither of them had ever done before, and it was going to be a great experience that they'd be able to share for the rest of their lives.

At least, that's how it had been planned to go, but they hadn't considered two things about the cruise: one, the fact that other people would be present, and two, the fact that neither of them had been on a ship for extended periods of time before. So if it wasn't the constant rocking of the ship making Maribelle feel absolutely miserable, there was a background sound of screaming children that ruined any chances they had of making use of their alone time in the room. The only chance they really had to do anything they wanted, given that they both felt up to it, was the dead of night, but why would they choose to be locked in their room then when they could go up to the upper deck and look at the stars while out on the open seas?

The rocking of the ship might have made stargazing a little uncomfortable, as every time they thought they had a constellation figured out they'd shift ever so slightly and have to reorient themselves, but it was an experience they wouldn't have anywhere else. Those long nights on the deck were followed by days in the room, soaking up all the time together that they could, even if half of it was spent just laying in bed because even the thought of getting up would make Maribelle's head spin more than she liked. She hated that she never really found a tolerance for the shaking of the sea, because it did put a damper on the mood of the trip, but at the same time she knew that it would lead to less people questioning her about what activities she got up to while away, and maybe it would even score them a second honeymoon that was better tailored to their interests.

"That could've gone over better, I think," Maribelle admitted once they were back off the ship days later, sitting in that seaside town waiting for their ride to come retrieve them and take them home to the grand city of Ylisstol. "Never did I expect to be made so helpless due to a little bit of rocking on the waves!"

"Happens t'the best of people, especially ones who ain't used t'bein' on things that are unsteady like that." Even after having to spend the past week with his wife complaining about feeling unwell for most of the day, it seemed that Vaike wasn't going to blame her for anything at all. "Maybe next time someone offers t'pay for a trip for ya, you'll remember this and tell 'em to give us somethin' better than a ship ride."

"I can't tell someone what to give me as a gift, that looks rude and ungrateful, two things that I am not!" Lightly smacking his arm, she laughed when she saw his almost offended facial expression due to the act. "You cannot suggest that someone as kind-hearted and classy as myself does such a thing, it'll look bad when it gets back to me."

He had to take a second, but he laughed as well. "Y'mean people don't already look at'cha, with your prissy attitude and constant dirty looks, and assume you're rude? That's news t'me, because I can't tell ya how many times—"

"Vaike, can you do me a favor?" she interrupted him, raising her hand to give him another smack, which he immediately recoiled in response to. "Please shut up and don't continue speaking until we're home."

"—yeah, can't say I didn't deserve hearin' ya say that." He mimed zipping his lips and made good on what he'd been told, even if he took it a bit further than Maribelle had intended for him to. She had just wanted him to stop talking for a moment, to think about what it was he was saying there to her face, but he kept himself silent for the entire car ride back to town, leaving her to get lost in her own thoughts while they rode together. Of course, she was basically on his lap in the back seat this time, and with them wearing normal clothing it was much easier for him to get his hands on her in ways that made her squirm and wish he hadn't made himself stay silent, because she was certain he'd have some colorful remarks to make while they were sitting there.

It did mean that the first time they got together in the bedroom once they were home and settled in had a lot more dirty talk than their normal encounters, however.

This married couple thing was going to work out well for them.

As the dust settled after their return home, people stopped questioning them so much about what they'd done on their honeymoon and how things had gone over. By two weeks post-return, it was almost as if nothing had happened, and while that bothered Maribelle because it meant people weren't caring as much about her anymore, it was a nice change of pace to not have everyone grilling her about her life. That was, until it was a month to the day after the wedding and she was invited out for a coffee date with her best friend in the whole world, with one purpose that she was dreading to have to deal with.

"So, okay, I know coffee's not good for unborn babies, but I figured that it'd be so early that it wouldn't affect you that much," Lissa said as she held the door to the coffee shop open for Maribelle, trying to restrain herself from excitedly giggling as she did. "I just needed somewhere that we could both talk about this where it wouldn't be possible for anyone that knows us to overhear."

"That's a lovely gesture, Lissa, but as I told you after the wedding I cannot allow myself to have a child right now. That didn't change in the time between me saying it then and us getting on that ship, I can assure you that." Maribelle didn't find Lissa's insistence funny, but she couldn't help but smile when she saw her friend's spirits come crashing down. "I know, you're heartbroken at the news, but I really cannot sacrifice my professional life for a family right now."

"I was really hoping you'd go back on all that, because you'd make such a perfect mom if you let yourself do it!" Snapping her fingers in defeat as she let the door close on them both, Lissa took the news in stride, moving on to the next point even before Maribelle had a chance to reflect on the previous one. "But okay, it didn't happen then, but it'll happen soon enough, right? You said you'd consider it in a few months, you can't let me down on that part!"

Her smile faltering as she thought about what acting on that would mean, Maribelle shook her head. "I can't guarantee anything at this point, but if my job ends up taking too much out of me I'm not going to want to commit to raising a child while dealing with work. And even if I wanted to, this isn't only my decision to make. I do have a husband who would get more of a say in this than you would, my dear."

"I know that, gods! I'm just, well, really excited to see you get to be a mom sometime super soon, and I want it to be as soon as it can be!" If they weren't in a public place, Lissa most likely would have twirled around in her abundance of joy, but she instead reined it in long enough to order herself and Maribelle their drinks before finding them a table nestled in the corner for the rest of their discussion.

But she wasn't the one who got to choose the direction once they'd sat down, as Maribelle had been given just enough time to call attention to something she'd found interesting about the topic. "Why are you so insistent that it's me that has a child?" she asked, catching Lissa off-guard as she was trying to climb into her chair. "Why can't you be the one to settle down and start a family? Your life goals aren't as professionally-focused as mine are, you'd be perfect for the job."

"I'm insistent it's you because hello, you're the one between us that's actually married, and you'd make much cuter babies than me anyway." Getting into her chair with a heavy sigh, Lissa laid her head down on the table and looked at Maribelle the best she could given her position. "Face it, in my family, I got the ugly genes and I don't wanna burden some kid with the same problem I have."

"You didn't get any ugly anything, Lissa, you're quite beautiful in your own ways." Maribelle reached over to play with part of her friend's hair that was sticking up out of its stretched hairtie, grasping it between two fingers and rolling it around. "And I assure you, with how dedicated you are to try and push me to reproducing, I think you'd be better off raising your own cute kids."

Lissa sighed again, her shoulders raising and falling with the breath she'd taken in. "Yeah, see, even if I wanted to agree with you—which I don't—I couldn't, because I don't even have a boyfriend! How would I have kids if I don't have a guy to make them with?"

"Don't have a…Lissa! You could easily have a boyfriend if you'd allow yourself to date someone, you've had plenty of men offer themselves to you and you've always turned them down! You can't complain about that when it's your own fault!" Letting go of her hair, Maribelle slammed her hand down and startled Lissa back up to sitting. "I'm sure if we gave it two minutes' worth of thought we could come up with a list of potential suitors for you, and you would reject each and every one of them."

"Please, I've only ever rejected a few guys in my life, you're acting like I get asked out more than I actually do. Besides, who do we even know that's still unmarried and is a decent person that won't end up causing more trouble than anything else?" She gave Maribelle a smug look, waiting for an answer that she was certain wouldn't come.

It was then a surprise to her when Maribelle immediately had a response that wasn't pulled from thin air: "I know for a fact that one best friend of your brother's has a bit of a thing for you, it's been obvious for years and yet you've never once seen it."

"Best friend of my brother's…oh. Oh! But he's like a brother to me, that'd be kind of weird, don't you think?" Lissa tilted her head to the side, bringing a bent finger to the corner of her mouth as she waited for an answer.

Maribelle shrugged. "You asked me who I knew that's unmarried and decent, I merely gave you someone who fits those criteria. You can do whatever you want with that information."

"Well, what if I don't like what I think you're wanting me to do with it? What if I want a second opinion on what to do?" By this time, a barista was bringing them their drinks, and the look on the poor woman's face as she heard what they were talking about and imagining the worst was priceless. Lissa had to apologize to her and insist that they weren't talking about anything bad before she walked away, leaving the two ladies sitting there with their drinks. "Does it sound like I'm talking about dirty things? Because I'm not, we're not, we're just talking about boys and whatnot, right?"

"I only know that to be true because I am actively part of this conversation, who knows what someone listening in on us might think. Now either choose to discuss this with him, or move on to finding someone else that fits inside the specific box you've set for yourself, because I don't think there's anyone else I know of that would work for you." Grabbing her drink and taking a sip of it, Maribelle watched Lissa squirm in her seat, enjoying seeing her feeling so put on the spot.

So when Lissa's anxious behavior caused her to jostle the table, knocking her cup off the table and straight into Maribelle's lap, it looked like an instant dose of karma had come to put her back in her place. "Oh gods, I didn't mean to do that!" she shrieked out, jumping from the chair to grab napkins to try cleaning Maribelle off. "At least it's not a hot drink, huh?"

"Oh yes, I can't say I'd be this collected if you'd just spilled piping-hot coffee on me," Maribelle replied, setting her own drink down to start wringing out her clothing the best she could. "However, you are going to have to be the one to pay for the dry-cleaning charges for fixing these stains, I didn't cause this to happen myself and you know it."

"I hear you, I'll make sure everything gets stain-free as soon as I can!" Her hands filled with napkins that she was nearly throwing at her friend to get them to her faster, Lissa waited until Maribelle had them in her hands before she went off to get an employee to help with cleaning the mess up off the floor and to maybe supply something that would make cleaning the clothing a bit easier. She came back with the same person who'd delivered them their drinks, and while she didn't say anything to them about their previous topic of discussion it was clear that she was hesitant to be interacting with them.

By the time they got the mess cleaned up, Maribelle had accepted that she was going to have to head home to change her clothes, and Lissa had offered to come with her, so that she could get them taken care of faster. "I appreciate the offer, but you might not want to stop by my house right now, we've been working hard to reorganize it after finally getting both of our belongings in it and it's…well, it's quite the disaster, to be frank." Maribelle was resisting trying to wring out her shirt once more, the dark-colored spot on the front of it starting to drive her batty. "If you do come, I'll have to ask you to stay outside until I get changed."

"You act like I've never seen a dirty house before, Maribelle. I totally have, by the way, I used to live with my brother and you know how messy of a guy he is." Grinning, Lissa looked at Maribelle and hoped she'd change her mind, but she seemed dead-set enough in her ways to not want to budge on the decision. That still didn't stop her from tagging along, in case something changed between the coffee shop and her house, and even though it didn't seem to be changing at all she was still happy to have been allowed to even come along.

Arriving outside the modest house that Maribelle called home ("modest" was her own word for it, as she'd grown up in something more akin to a mansion and a smaller home simply had to be modest), the two ladies were surprised to see that they weren't showing up somewhere that was empty for the day. With a ladder leaned up against the side of the house, and piles of roofing material scattered not just in the yard but up on the roof as well, they were greeted by Vaike up on top of the house, doing whatever he felt like doing. "Gods damn it, he's started doing this today?" Maribelle asked herself, looking at the precarious position her husband was in before shaking her head. "No matter, I'll be in and out in seconds. Lissa, be a dear and make sure he doesn't fall off, will you?"

"Make sure he doesn't fall off? Why's he up there in the first place if you're scared of that?" By the time she was finished asking her question, Maribelle had already headed for the door to change her clothing, leaving Lissa standing in front of the house, looking up at the man on the roof to make sure he didn't end up falling. Even with them having had said something, he didn't seem to notice that anyone had come to watch him, which meant that he was minding his own business and continuing on with his work.

It wasn't until the front door slammed shut after Maribelle had come back outside in clean clothes that he noticed someone was there, and when he came to look out at the yard and saw two ladies looking up at him, he gave them both a big smile and wave. "Didn't expect t'see ya here right now, which is why I got started on some 'a the louder things I'll haveta do for this job," he explained, motioning towards some of the materials that were scattered around. "Figured you'd appreciate that one, Maribelle."

"I do appreciate it, but you cannot be endangering yourself by doing this alone!" Stomping her foot down to express how unhappy she was, she continued with, "I demand you get down here right now and stay on the ground until you find someone, anyone, who will help you out with this!"

"And why's that? It ain't like this is what I do sometimes for work, I can handle this all on my own." Vaike's grin didn't falter even when Maribelle gave a loud and angered groan, but it started to as he watched her start storming towards the ladder, his face alighting in panic as she grabbed it and started to climb. "Whoa there, what d'ya think you're doin' right now? This ain't a place for you, and you know it."

"If you're not going to come down, and I won't allow you to work up here by yourself, I'm going to force you down myself!" she replied, her arms shaking as she climbed the ladder, making it halfway up before it shifted slightly and she yelped in fear. "How can you do dangerous things like this on a regular basis? This is going to get you killed!"

"I haven't gotten killed yet, and I've been doin' this for a long time. Get down off the ladder and then we can talk 'bout it, okay?" He was holding the top of the ladder to keep it from shifting more, even though Maribelle was shaking like a leaf in the middle of it. She looked terrified to move up or down, which was making his job harder. "C'mon, ya know that it's safest for ya t'be on the ground, so why don'tcha just get back down?"

Looking up at him, her eyes as wide as they could possibly get, she considered doing just that but then when she moved her foot to try and jump down she felt like she was about to fall and she screamed. "I-I-I can't get down right now! Someone needs to help me!"

"I'm up on the roof, the only way I'm gonna help ya get down is by pushin' ya and the ladder both to the ground and I don't think that's what you're askin' for." Without any other options, he glanced towards the other person that was present, Lissa having brought both of her hands to her face as she watched what was unfolding before her. "Hey, Lissa! Mind helpin' your best friend out of her sticky situation?"

She had to snap back into reality when her name was called, but soon enough she was at the base of the ladder, trying to coax Maribelle to come down into her open and waiting arms. "Don't worry, between the two of us nothing bad's going to happen to you, and if it did somehow we'd be here to help you through it!" she said, hoping that her happy demeanor towards the situation would be comforting.

"I cannot allow anything to happen to me, I start my new job in a few weeks and I cannot be rolled into the office in a chair because I snapped a leg falling off a ladder!" Still refusing to move from her spot, it took several minutes of them both assuring her that nothing would go wrong if she tried climbing down before she made any progress, and it wasn't until Lissa was able to get both hands on her and bring her all the way to the ground that she stopped being so stubborn about the situation. Once her two feet were firmly planted on the ground, she was back to looking up at Vaike, who was still on the roof right above where the ladder was resting. "I hope you're about to follow me down, now that that ordeal is over."

He glanced behind him to where the materials he'd been working with were still piled, before looking out to the yard where more of the same was. "Yeah, y'see, I can't exactly do that without leavin' this huge mess, why don't ya just lemme finish up and then I'll come down t'be with ya. Won't be too long."

"Uh, I don't think so. What are you even doing up there, anyway? When we bought this house we made sure everything was perfect and now you're already doing work to change something?" She motioned towards the ladder, beckoning for him to climb down it. "I demand you get down here right now, so we can put this all behind us."

"No, when we bought this place we were told this was gonna haveta be fixed, so I told the guy sellin' it that I'd fix it myself if he provided the tools for it." Looking defiantly down at his wife for a second, seeing the way she was growing more and more impatient with him, he gave a long sigh and started descending the ladder. "But I guess I'll make it wait 'til a time you're more okay with it, huh?"

Giving him a nod once he was down on the ground, Maribelle nearly tackled him the moment he stepped away from the ladder and therefore wouldn't be able to go back up it. "Do not ever do that kind of thing without someone around in case things go wrong, okay? If you'd gotten hurt up there and I hadn't had to come home, could you imagine how bad that would have been? It would have been simply horrible!"

"Never mind the fact that this is some of the stuff I do for work, why're ya gettin' so protective of me right now? Ya know that I'm up in high places all the time, lots 'a those times by myself, this ain't anythin' new t'ya." Gently offering his hand to her, so that when she took it he could pull her in close to him, Vaike then used his other hand to lightly tap her on the nose, which made her break from her anger to laugh. "Please don't get so worried about me when I'm just doin' what I do best, everythin' will always be fine. Trust me."

"I'd totally trust him on this one," Lissa said from a few steps away, listening to their every word as it was said. "He's done so much handyman work for my brother and never once gotten hurt on the job, I don't know why you'd ever worry that he would get hurt!"

With the two people she believed most in the world telling her to trust this, Maribelle felt she had no choice but to do exactly that. While she didn't let Vaike go finish the job right away, she did decide that she was going to have to at some point, since their house and yard couldn't forever be covered in roofing materials, but she also decided that when it happened, she'd have to be home for it, just in case things went wrong. This was, of course, despite both of them assuring that nothing would, due to personal experience or having heard stories about how good he was at what he did.

So when she finally relented and allowed for him to work on their roof by himself again, he made sure to promise her over and over that nothing would go wrong. "It's just a simple roof job, it'll take me a couple days t'get finished and then we won't haveta worry about it again for years," he explained, her jaw dropping with mention of the length of the project. "And now y'know why I wanted t'get it started when I did, don'tcha?"

"You could have told me that this would take days to finish!" She'd already had to accept that until it was finished the outside of the house would look trashy, but now she had to accept that it would still look like that for longer, this roofing job not a task that took a few hours. "What am I supposed to do, I want to be here to make sure nothing'll go wrong, but with my new job—"

"Shush it, Maribelle, there's no reason for ya t'be worryin' 'bout me getting hurt up there. I've been doin' work like this since I was younger just t'get some money in my pocket and I've never been hurt yet. What's gonna happen if ya end up at work while I'm up there? Oh, that's right, nothin' except me gettin' things done, that's what. Stop bein' such a worrier." He leaned in to kiss her forehead, which she allowed for a few seconds, before she pushed him away, her jaw still slightly ajar. "C'mon, it'll all be fine. You should just focus on your new job and I'll focus on finishin' this."

His insistence should have been enough to soothe Maribelle's worried soul, but she couldn't bring herself to fully accept that he'd be okay after days of work up there. However, it wasn't like she could spend all of her energy fretting over him, not when two days later was her first official day in her new position in the law offices, after the retirement of the previous person who'd held the exact spot she had studied so hard for. Working with children in specific wasn't something she had always wanted to do, but when she heard about how impactful a lawyer who dealt exclusively with cases involving children could be on the lives they touched, she knew it was the position for her.

It had been six years of schooling to get her to the place she was in, and this was the reward: an office with her name on the door, her own desk filled with case paperwork and files upon files she'd have to deal with in the coming weeks and months. Even though she hadn't officially started before this point, she had been debriefed on the inner workings of the law offices she was working for prior to her first day, so that she could slide in seamlessly, or at least without too many hassles. And despite wanting to feel overwhelmed by looking at how many different cases she was already supposed to go through and pick between, she had to hold her head high and not let the stress of this position get to her.

This is what she'd been working towards for so long, she couldn't give it up just because of some initial stresses. She'd been chosen to fill the position because of her determination and her proven care for the law system; even if she'd never worked an actual lawyer job in her life before she'd been hired that was excusable because she wasn't going to learn how to be her best if she wasn't given a shot. There were so many case files she was expected to jump right into, so many clients she needed to meet with and get to know, and so much work that needed to be done, that she had to sit and really focus on getting started.

All it would take to shatter her concentration would be one call from her husband, though, and when that call came she was having to pick between sticking around for the rest of the time she should have been in the office and going to make sure he was okay. Retaining any information she was studying after seeing that he'd called—not even answering it and feeling like she absolutely had to be involved—was next to impossible, and so the first chance she had to take a break she stepped outside and called him back to see what was going on.

"I wouldn't be interruptin' ya at work if it wasn't somethin' important," he told her once her call went through (it took several tries, which she assumed meant his phone was on silent or not near him). "See, I didn't realize that the gun was gonna shoot when I was holdin' it, and I wish I could say all I did was damage a couple tiles, but…"

"A gun? What in Naga's name are you talking about?" In the background, Maribelle could hear the occasional wind gust blowing, meaning that Vaike was definitely outside as he was on the phone with her. The gears in her head started turning, thinking to what he'd said he'd be doing that day, finishing up work on the roof, and it clicked what he was referring to. "You didn't manage to hurt yourself with your nail gun, did you?"

He hesitated before answering, giving it away that she'd guessed correctly. "C'mon, it's the first time it's ever happened, but it got my foot pretty good and I don't wanna haveta call anyone else t'come help me out. I'm, uh, still up on the roof right now, by the way, and gettin' down with this in my foot ain't gonna be easy."

"What do you expect me to do about this? I'm at work, my love, I can't just walk out of here and leave even more for me to do tomorrow! You need to call someone else, someone you know will know exactly what to do to help you, and then you can tell me what you decided later after I'm off." She didn't like that she was having to blow him off like she was, but she felt like she didn't have a choice. This was her first week at this job, she couldn't already be taking personal time to deal with her boneheaded husband hurting himself.

"Please, Maribelle, I don't want t'haveta go to anyone else, y'know they're all gonna be judgmental and gross about this," he pleaded, sounding genuinely scared of what anyone else would think of him if they found out he'd shot himself. "I just want t'know that whoever helps me out won't be weird about havin' to help me."

She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to think of some suggestion she could give him. "I can't be the one to bail you out of every situation you get yourself into, Vaike. It's just not plausible. You'll have to ask someone else to help you, and I assure you that everything will be okay if you do."

Their conversation would have gone longer had she had more time to continue talking, but she felt like her minutes outside of the office had already been too long for her new position in the workplace. She had to hang up on him with the knowledge that he was still alone and stuck on the roof of their house with at least one nail lodged in his foot, and for the rest of her workday she was left worrying about whether or not he'd ever managed to get down, much less get any kind of medical attention. This meant that every time she'd read through something about a child in a home where they or their parent had sustained any sort of injury, her mind would slip off to what she was worrying about rather than what she should have been focusing on.

By the time she'd put in enough time to call it a day, she was pretty certain she hadn't retained a lick of any of the past several hours' worth of cases and would have to re-read them all when she came in the next day. But who could blame her, especially when she checked her phone to see that she hadn't gotten a single call or message letting her know what was going on, therefore rendering her unable to know if he was okay. All attempts at calling him put her at his voicemail, and she could have left him screeching and panicked messages the whole way home if she'd wanted to. But she chose to instead swing by the house to see if he was still there, because if he wasn't answering anything it was highly likely his phone had just died up on the roof while he'd been waiting for someone to come help him down.

He wasn't there when she got home, and there was no sign of where he might have ended up. The roof looked to be finished, judging by how all there was left in the yard was the packaging and trash from the job, so when he'd shot himself it must have been right at the end of what he was doing, but that still didn't explain where he'd gone, or how he'd gotten down. Checking by the ladder she could see droplets of dried blood, which made her cringe because he'd clearly gotten down somehow, although once at the bottom of the ladder there wasn't any blood trail at all. Fear was settling deep in her stomach at this point, all the worries she could think of eating away at her, and it was then that she tried contacting him again, still without success.

As a last resort, she checked inside but found the house empty, and as that meant he had definitely gone elsewhere she assumed (and hoped) that he'd had the intelligence to take himself to get his foot looked at. With that in mind, she chose to head down to the nearby hospital, just to check and see if that was where he'd ended up. The friendly person at the front desk had an answer for her, which soothed her worrying soul, and also explained why he'd shut his phone off and wasn't answering anything: they'd taken him in to get the nail out and the wound cleaned, and they'd requested he keep his phone on silent while in one of the rooms. Maribelle was fully aware that the volume setting on Vaike's phone was busted, which meant it was always in a sound-making state, and when he was asked to silence it he simply turned it off.

That mystery had solved itself, and although she was upset he hadn't told her where he was going before he'd gotten there, she wasn't going to fault him for not answering when she'd tried asking where he was. But as much as she'd like to have gone to see him, a part of her felt vengeful for not being told where he was right away, making her choose to get information for where he was for when she was finally ready to check on him. Since she was at the hospital, a place closely aligned with her law office, she felt like she was obligated to at least take a look around the area she would most likely be spending a lot of time on whenever she came to the hospital.

It was its own separate wing of the building, brightly-colored walls greeting her when she pushed through the doors on the ground floor. The receptionist at the desk was busy speaking with a tall woman in an official-looking coat when Maribelle walked up to the desk, looking around for the directory so she could get a feel for the layout. It took a few moments of her standing there for both the receptionist and the person she was speaking with to see that someone had joined them, but when they did the woman that was standing was the first to say something. "You look like you come on law-related business. I was unaware we were having any kind of meetings today."

"I, er, wouldn't say I am here on 'business', even if I am here to know where offices in the pediatric wing are," Maribelle explained, smiling at the woman who narrowed her gaze back at her. "I can leave right now, if that makes things easier for you."

The woman's curt shake of her head, her piercing eyes ripping into Maribelle as she still focused on her, showed that she was not going to be friendly to deal with. Yet, when she spoke, her voice wasn't nearly as brash as her body language. "You must be the new lawyer I was informed of the other day. A bit eager to get into this side of your job, are you now?"

"More like, I'm here for a different reason but figured I could spare a moment to check out this wing." As she gave an awkward chuckle, the woman asked her to elaborate on what she meant, something that instantly made her regret saying anything about having a reason to be at the hospital. "Well, you see, I'm here to visit my husband, but since I just got off work I suppose I'm still in the work mindset."

"A husband? What does he do?" The woman's question was asked as she was walking around the desk to join Maribelle on the other side. "If he is here, he must be one of the doctors or nurses on duty, given how you seem to be a woman of high standards."

She forced a smile that faded within seconds. "Let's…not really talk about him, shall we? Perhaps we could introduce ourselves to one another before we get into the personal details behind either of us?" Holding out a hand, watching the woman eye it suspiciously before taking it into her own, she then said, carefully dodging around exchanging any information that would make her too memorable, "My name is Maribelle, lawyer and advocate for children who need a voice. And you are?"

"Newly-positioned head of the pediatric wing of this hospital. For the sake of simplicity, you may call me Panne." Her handshake was brief, but it was squeezing a lot tighter than Maribelle had expected it to in the short time it lasted. "It is a pleasure to meet you under these positive circumstances, I would hate for our first interaction to come on business, where we must be nothing but progessional."

"I'd hate for it too, don't worry." Giving a quick laugh, Maribelle told herself that she wasn't ever going to explain that she was only there because her husband had gotten himself injured while doing house renovation work. This woman seemed far above interacting with anyone who did menial work like that, and she didn't want Panne's first impression of her to be that she was trying too hard to be at a social level where she didn't belong. "So, you mentioned that this is a new position for you? When did you come here to Ylisstol?"

Panne seemed bothered by the question, judging by how she inched back from Maribelle after it was asked, but she still went through with answering it. "Roughly a month ago, once the position was officially mine. I was hesitant to come by myself initially, but now that a role in the city jail has opened up for my husband to transfer into, he shall be joining me here permanently in this city that desired people with our particular skillsets."

"Oh, you're married as well?" Maribelle's eyes shifted to look at the woman's hands, which both seemed to be bare of any jewelry; she was about to comment on that before remembering that they were in a hospital setting and rings might not have been a good idea for anyone to be wearing when they came in contact with patients. "What a lucky man you must have found, to be married to a head of an entire wing of a hospital!"

"I could say the same about your husband, he must be proud to be married to a woman who has dedicated her life to protecting children in the court of law." A wistful look came over Panne, as she turned her head to look just past Maribelle, down towards the hallway where patient rooms were located. "Maybe there will be a day where your path and mine cross in a way that isn't strictly work-focused. But today is not that day, and neither is tomorrow, and so we cannot dwell on that."

"I suppose we cannot, yes." In all honesty, Maribelle wasn't sure what Panne was talking about, but she knew that she couldn't question it now. There would certainly be time in their future conversations for it to be brought up, especially given that this woman had uprooted herself and her husband to take on a job that clearly meant a lot to her. "Anyway, I should let you get back to your work, unless you aren't busy, in which case I'd love to be shown around a bit to know where I can find you and your assistants in the future."

No response was immediately given, as Panne seemed to be lost within her own thoughts looking down the hallway, but after she shook her head she waved for Maribelle to follow her. "I could spare a moment to direct you to where my office is, in the unfortunate instance that you may need me." She sounded almost as if thinking about a situation where she and the law would need to be involved was genuinely distressing to her, and it made Maribelle almost thinking about rescinding her request, but by the time she'd decided that might be for the best they were already heading towards the wing elevator to head up a few floors to the administrative offices of the pediatric department. The entire ride up was silent, which made it feel much longer than it actually was, and when they got to their floor Panne didn't even make sure Maribelle was still following her as she headed towards the destination.

When they got to the offices, or at least to the locked door outside the offices, she made a gesture towards the blank nameplate on the door. "They misspelled my name on their first engraving, which I felt would look unprofessional if we let it hang. The man in charge of the welcoming of all newcomers—I believe his name was Chrom?—he made sure to promise he would fix it as soon as possible."

"Oh, you've met Chrom already?" Maribelle's question came out of her mouth before she had time to properly think it through, and the way Panne looked at her in surprise for asking it showed that she needed to make some kind of explanation for why she asked, and quickly. "I, ahem, am best friends with his younger sister. She's actually a nurse in the main hospital, in case you haven't had the chance to meet her."

"Is that the only reason why you speak of him like you know him very well?" Panne had one eyebrow raised as she continued looking down at Maribelle. "Could this be why you refused to explain to me about your husband, because of—"

"I'm not married to Chrom, if that's what you're assuming!" Throwing her hands up defensively, Maribelle couldn't help but laugh as she watched Panne accept what she'd just said and nod in understanding at it. "He is nothing more than a brother figure to me, but I always forget that his involvement in this hospital goes beyond just being one of the most important men here. He's rather down-to-earth when you get to know him."

"As I am someone who found a desire to work in an establishment like this thanks to his older sister, I cannot wait for the day when I get to speak with him more personally. If he is even a fraction of the kind soul that Emmeryn was, he must be saint-like." She then proceeded to explain to Maribelle how she'd gotten involved with Emmeryn, which was a long enough story that it took several minutes and had many people coming in and out of the office door before she'd even realized she'd started rambling about things.

When she did get a handle on time once more, she ended their talk abruptly, bidding a quick farewell before heading inside the office for herself, leaving Maribelle standing there rather confused at what had just happened to her, but fully aware that she no longer had an excuse to keep being away from where her husband was. "I think we came up to the third floor to get here," she said to herself, looking around, "but I don't know if I can get to the main hospital's third floor while in this wing…"

It was at least worth a shot to try and find her way over, but her attempt came up fruitless as she discovered the pediatric wing's third floor was entirely self-contained, aside from another locked door that she was certain would bridge the gap if she had the clearance to go through it. That meant, in order to get to the room the initial receptionist she'd spoken with had told her she was aiming for, she had to go downstairs and back into the other part of the building, just to go upstairs from there. It wasn't a long journey, and she was able to get the pediatric desk receptionist a farewell wave as she passed by, but she felt it would have been nice if she'd been able to use that access door.

That was just one flaw in choosing to be a lawyer instead of a nurse like Lissa had, she supposed, and that wasn't going to cause her to melt down over it. She made it to her destination without much other distraction, no floor nurses or attendants recognizing her as she walked the halls by herself, which was odd given how many people she knew who worked in the hospital. When she got to the door to the room she'd been directed to, she contemplated not going in after all, just heading home and acting like she'd been unaware that this was where he ended up, but she figured that would be a rather jerkish move for her to make, especially given that her coming to the hospital in the first place had allowed her to meet someone she'd get to know through work.

"I want answers as to why you didn't tell me you're here," she said as she opened the door, before finding no response as there seemed to be no one inside. She stepped back outside and made sure the room number matched the one she'd been told to go to, which it did, and then she went right back in, looking around with concerned eyes at the complete lack of anyone being present. "How odd, this is definitely the room I was told to come to, and yet…"

There was a rustling sound from behind the curtain that divided the room in half, and she couldn't help but shriek when she saw a hand pull on the curtain, opening it so that light from the window outside initially blinded her. "Didja think that a li'l nail in a foot was gonna give me a room 'a my own?" Vaike asked her, a reminder that even though she was a bit upset with him at how he'd left her unaware of things, the fact remained that what had happened wasn't that serious. "They've been makin' me wait for ya t'get here, someone shoulda called ya or somethin' by now t'let ya know that's what's happenin'."

"Must have missed that call," she mumbled, looking at his bandaged foot and how the shoe he'd been wearing when he'd shot himself was discarded into the corner. "Now look at what you've done to yourself, we're going to have to go get you proper work shoes now that this has happened, aren't we?"

"T'be fair, I shoulda had those a long time ago, it's honestly a miracle that it's taken this long for somethin' like this t'happen t'me." Sitting at the edge of the bed, he kicked his injured foot up and laughed as he tried wiggling his toes, to no avail. "Doc says it'll be a couple weeks 'fore this thing really heals up, which means it looks like you're the one doin' all the work around the house until then. Sorry 'bout that, by the way."

Forcing a smile as she accepted this fate she'd now have to face, Maribelle told him it wasn't going to be any sort of issue, even though inside she knew it was. She was already going to be going through so much at work, she'd been hoping that she'd be coming home to a house that was cared for and all her meals already prepared. Now she was going to have to do that for herself (for a couple of weeks, anyway)? It was almost like the universe was laughing at her, throwing a bad event right into her plans.

A stroke of awful luck, if she could bear herself to think of it that way.

A/N: this is a fic I have been talking about writing for like two years, and has been in progress-ish for almost a year. It's nowhere near done in terms of being written, but that's okay because it's just a "for me" kind of thing.

well, for me and for the people who have been along for the...joke about this fic. that's next chapter though. c:

Also I have specific appearances for the characters in mind as I'm writing this, appearances that slightly contradict their canon ones, but work really well in the modern AU I'm developing here. On that note, I've also got some name changes/additions that'll be at play in this fic, you'll just have to roll with those punches as I throw 'em