My contribution to Stricklake month 2022. Went more metaphorical with this one and less fluffy than one could expect from such a peaceful prompt. Hopefully, everyone will enjoy it!
Walter had never paid that much attention to how much his actual lifestyle differed from a proper human one.
Oh, the irony! Wasn't the whole sense of his existence in impersonating another species?
No, when it came to appearances, Stricklander remained peerless. A mimicry genius. Other changelings might have slipped here and there, raising suspicions and endangering their covers. Walter Strickler, however, hadn't made such mistakes.
Yet, apparently, he had failed miserably, when it came to capturing the essence. In the end, imitation remained just that. An illusion. A fake.
And at times, Walter wished no one reminded him of that. Alas, quite often, the ones he learned to cherish were also the ones to bring it up unwittingly.
Like this time.
Barbara, his beloved Barbara, the one who had pulled him away from the evil path. His angel and savior, yet unknowingly cruel at times.
It should have been just a regular day, full of responsibilities and work. Gunmar's fall had left too much baggage to resolve - and well, Stricklander knew he couldn't leave dealing with the Janus Order to someone else. They might have exiled him, but he still remained the leader of this cunning bunch of spies and assassins.
Leaving those bastards to Young Atlas? As if the poor boy hadn't had his hands full with his countless duties, starting from leading the herd of unruly trolls to New Jersey and following with the entire encounter with the primal deities.
Who would be cruel enough to pile even more on the young hero's shoulders? Besides, hadn't Walter promised himself to at least try to become a better person for the sake of Barbara and his new family?
Well, in the end, Stricklander was the best fitting person when it came to politics, schemes, and diplomatic tricks (or more like not-that-diplomatic in many cases). Not that it should have been that different from his previous work serving Gunmar - just this time, being something for the better case. Perhaps, his dream to get changelings a place to belong would come to fruition this time.
No, it had become different already. All those previous decades he had been fighting a lone battle against the world and circumstances. Now? There was his beloved by his side, shouldering half of his burdens without complaining at least once.
Taking care of all the familiars? Walter could bet anyone else would have run away after only hearing about the possibility. Not Barbara though. Well, why should he have been that surprised? Atlas's mother should have been capable of some titanic-level feats herself.
And that without mentioning all those times, when she assisted Strickler in his negotiations. The love of his life was definitely a strong-willed woman - and gosh, sometimes she could convince! Walter still remembered that time when she had beaten some respect into an arrogant young changeling - that day he had made a mental note for himself to never get on her bad side.
But well, today there were no meetings planned. Just dealing with countless reports of how the former Janus Order adjusted to the new reality. Just a slow and mundane working day, when both Walter and Barbara sat side-by-side, reading through the papers.
"Can you believe that it had been three years already?" she whispered wistfully, watching both the engagement and wedding rings on her finger.
"The time flies for sure," he chuckled.
Barbara was right. There would be the third anniversary of their engagement next week. They had it amid the crisis, with the world possibly coming to its end. It was their manifesto of hope, the assurance that everything would be fine.
And they had won against all the odds.
Sure, their wedding had to have waited until Arcadia had healed the wounds caused by Fire Titan. And even after that, they had never managed to get a proper honeymoon.
It had been the dealy combo of the work, responsibilities, consequences, and lingering issues. A vicious circle, impossible to break.
Besides…
It was impossible to deny that deep inside, he was the one running away from that planning.
Walter wished to show Barbara the entire world - she had deserved at least that at minimum, but…
But he couldn't do that anymore.
Not with losing the human part of his life forever.
Not with looking like a monster to everyone blissfully unaware of the existence of the supernatural.
Not with the sun bringing death.
And perhaps, Barbara understood it herself, never bringing it up in an attempt to be as conscious as possible.
Even the best could slip. No one was perfect in this world. No one could walk on the eggshells forever. A careless mistake would have been unavoidable by this point.
Why was he surprised that it had happened?
Having a break wasn't a bad idea. Neither was turning on the TV. And even the documentary about the most famous historical sights of Ancient Greece was pretty harmless.
Walter found himself fully engrossed and…
"I know that you fancy history, especially that period," Barbara smiled. "I bet you've seen all of those sights in real life…"
"Actually, no," he replied, albeit reluctantly. He hoped she would never ask more because explaining would involve bringing up the past he'd rather forget.
His love tended to be really good in reading the mood, just not today.
"But haven't you traveled a lot? Sure thing, you would pick the most intriguing locations for your vacations!"
Just a harmless comment. No ill intent whatsoever. Yet it stung, bringing up the unpleasant memories.
The current happiness felt like a second compared to all those dark years serving Gunmar.
"I've never had a vacation," Walter muttered.
"Oh, come on! Sure thing, you've had at least one or two," Barbara chuckled, probably taking it as a joke.
"Barbara, you don't get it. I've never had a vacation or even a break. For decades every single action, every single step was a part of my work. It didn't matter what I wanted or liked. Everything was just for reaching the goal. Even me giving advice to your son. Even me meeting you for the first time! Even me… starting to date you…"
The last part came in a whisper. No, sure thing, Barbara had known that Stricklander used to work for Gunmar and about all his heinous actions, but he still preferred to keep secret his actual motives for getting closer to her.
Most likely, she suspected. Or maybe someone else had brought it up.
Still, Walter didn't want to say it aloud, to hurt her this way.
Apparently, he continued to be the best in ruining stuff. How was it that different from his braindead stunt of bonding their lives using Angor Rot's assistance?
They had been avoiding each other since that talk. Or more like Walter kept running away - Nomura had pointed it out several times.
And…
"Starting from tomorrow, you're on vacation."
Jim just had to come and close his laptop in the rudest manner possible.
"Young Atlas, no offense, but you've grown up to be quite a tyrant," Strickler rolled his eyes. "And as your step-father, I can't approve that…"
At times, he really missed that slightly reluctant kid who used to visit his office. Now he had to deal with the determined young man, who had some life experience of his own and never forgot to play his leader card.
Besides, what was the deal with that vacation talk? Sure thing, it couldn't be related to that recent unpleasant conversation and…
"I'm not joking," Jim looked at Walter with some annoyance. "Your honeymoon with mom is long overdue. Just take off a month, or better a year, and go on a lengthy journey. You both deserve that."
Yes, apparently, the boy had grown up a lot yet still remained a naive child in so many things. Walter opened his mouth to explain that he couldn't just go and have a vacation out of nowhere, without considering multiple factors…
Jim never let him voice any protest, taking the initiative at once:
"Alas, Douxie and Claire still haven't come up with any method to protect trolls from the sunlight, but I believe you should be ok going out after the sunset or during the cloudy weather. You can take the Glamour mask to cover your identity - Blinky has no problem with lending it to you. And as for the means of transportation - just take the flying castle. I'm sure both mom and you have no problem handling it."
Walter stared at him dumbfounded. Did his stepson just cover all the bases?
"I'm pretty sure that the last one isn't the good decision," Strickler muttered, still trying to digest everything he had heard so far. "Isn't it the Guardians' Headquarters?"
"Nah," Jim shook his head. "It's fine. I'll discuss it with everyone. We'll use some other location for gatherings, and Claire's shadow portals have always been a faster way to travel. So the castle is fully yours."
"And who'll look after kids?"
"Have I ever been a bad elder brother?"
"And my work?"
"Blinky and Nomura volunteered to cover that one."
Walter groaned:
"What's with that team-up made in hell? Who in their right mind would leave everything to them?"
He could already imagine Nomura flushing his intricate diplomacy achievements down the toilet. Blinky… Well, that one was mostly alright. His unpredictability and the deposit of dwarkstones were not.
"Everyone else will help as well," Jim ensured at once as if reading Stricklander's reluctance.
"It sounds like you're deadset on kicking me out of here - and knowing your stubbornness, I lost the second you entered the room," Walter smiled wistfully.
"Well, it's about my family after all," Jim shrugged. "I believe you promised to make my mom happy."
"And I keep my word. Even if it's crazy to hear that from a former spy and assassin."
Of course, Young Atlas would do his best when it came to his mother. Walter smiled once again, nearly missing the next phrase.
"And I want you to be happy too. You're my family as well."
It took a while until that phrase sank - and, somehow, Jim had managed to disappear before that. Walter suspected some shadow portals were involved. Actually, now that he thought about it - everything seemed like an intricate plan, meaning…
Yes, she was standing by the doorway, smiling sheepishly.
"Hey."
"Hey."
All the time avoiding each other suddenly seemed so stupid and meaningless.
"I'm sorry," they apologized simultaneously, their minds being in perfect sync. And somehow, anything more than that seemed so pointless, so redundant.
They needed no words at times - and it had happened to be one of those.
"Let me guess, Jim didn't come up with the vacation idea by himself," Walter sighed. His stepson was a smart fellow, but you needed more context to get everything right. And Barbara just happened to be the one knowing that context perfectly.
"Well, he was the one volunteering to talk to you, so that you couldn't escape using your responsibilities as a shield," Barbara chuckled. "And he also thought out how to make you agree…"
"Apparently, everyone's working against me," Walter faked some hurt, approaching his love and folding her in his arms. She giggled, leaning closer, her hand stoking his cheek lovingly.
Oh, how he missed that warmth! It had been barely two days, but it felt like an eternity.
"Let's make a list of places to visit," Barbara whispered. "We need to compensate for all those missed opportunities."
He hadn't deserved this amazing woman. And…
Yeah, the realization struck him like a lightning. What a fool he was!
Walter looked at her, shuffling through some papers in search of a blank sheet.
"Barbara."
"Uh?" she never raised her head, fully engrossed in her task.
"Remember that time I told you that everything had been the work for me at some point?"
Barbara looked at him in puzzlement.
"I made a mistake back then," Walter smirked deviously, catching her up in his arms. "Everything was just the work - with a sole exception. Each second spent with you has been my vacation."