Chapter 173: Noodle Chatter

"The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments." – William H. Borah

"Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering you own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them - every day begin the task anew." – Saint Francis de Sales

"With love and patience, nothing is impossible." – Daisaku Ikeda

"With time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown." – Chinese proverb


Vaughn shifted in his sleep, a warm weight on top of him and surrounding him. He yawned and slowly opened his eyes, Sydney's beautiful face before him as he woke.

"Hey…" she said quietly, smiling at him sweetly.

"Hi…" he echoed, yawning again.

She giggled, "Still tired?"

"Mmm…kinda…what time is it," he asked, craning his head to look at the clock, "Jesus!"

"Yeah…"

"How long have you been up?"

"Not long…I was just watching you sleep…"

He looked at her, putting a stray lock of hair behind her ear, "Syd…last night…was…wow…"

She smiled at him before leaning over and kissing him gently. She kept her face close to him, running her hand over his cheek, "You were amazing…" she said.

He smiled bashfully, not meeting her eyes. She brought his gaze back to her, "I mean it…it was amazing…'bossy' Vaughn…he was a great…I like seeing him every now and then…"

"Not all the time?" Vaughn asked.

She looked at him seriously, "It was nice that you took charge…and if that's what you need – that's what you'll get…but just because you did that last night…it doesn't mean I need or want it all the time. Let's make a deal…not that we don't do this already, but…if either of us needs something…we can just say it…I'll say – I need bossy Vaughn tonight, or you can say – you need to be in charge…ok?"

He smiled, "Yeah…"

"Vaughn?"

"I just…If you want that…more…"

She cut him off, "If I need something, you'll know."

He nodded and toyed with the strands of her hair.

"How's your shoulder?"

"Mmm…it's a little sore…but it's ok…"

She nodded, "We'll look at it later…what should we do today? Other than a bath, cause I think we really need one…"

"Yeah, that'd be nice…don't know...I guess I should write some more..."

"You gonna be ok with that?"

"Yeah...I...I need to get it out. I want to..." he looked up at her, "I'll need you later though..."

"I'm right here baby, I'm not going anywhere..."

He smiled up at her, "Thanks."

She nodded, "Well, since it's noon, we should maybe eat something...then we can take that bath. How's that?"

"Sounds good..."

"What should I make?"

"Mmm...Some kind of noodle..."

Sydney laughed, "Noodle?"

"Yeah," he chuckled, "Like noodles in a box..."

She laughed harder, "You're easy to please..."

"Yeah, well...I have you...nothing else really matters."

Her smile turned to awe and love and adoration as she leaned over to kiss him sweetly, "You are so sweet...and so getting repaid later..." she left her sentence with a raised brow.

"I'll hold you to that..."

She smiled and got off the bed, throwing her robe on, "I'll go check the 'noodle in a box' situation."

Sydney chuckled all the way to the kitchen, looking in the cupboard for something suitable. She came back with a box, "How about angel hair pasta? Butter and herb?"

"Great," Vaughn said nodding, "Those are good..."

"I never figured you for a boxed noodle guy honey..."

"Well, a man's gotta eat..."

She grinned and shook her head as she made her way back out to the kitchen again.

The noodles only took a few minutes to make, and as Sydney was putting them on a plate, she had to admit; they smelled pretty good.

She walked back to the bedroom and put the tray down before sitting next to him. She wound the noodles on the fork for him and slowly moved it over to his mouth.

He grinned and accepted the bite, "Mmm…did you try these?" he asked.

She smiled, "No, but they smell pretty good..."

"They are..."

She chuckled and then took a bite herself. "They are good..." she agreed.

He smiled and nodded, "Syd?"

"Yeah?"

"Got milk?" he asked, his face absolutely straight.

Sydney burst out laughing, "I forgot...I'll go get some..."

He smiled, "I wouldn't say anything...but these noodles require milk."

"No, I just forgot – you have to take your pills too, so I'll go get milk."

She returned a few minutes later with two large glasses of milk. She handed him his pills and then the glass, and then waited until he was finished before setting the glass on the nightstand.

"We should look at your shoulder..." Sydney said as they finished lunch.

Vaughn nodded and waited patiently for Sydney to return from taking the dishes out to the kitchen.

When she came back, she sat on the bed and gently eased his arm out, stretching the shoulder.

He tried unsuccessfully to stifle the groan that rose as Sydney manipulated the muscles.

"That hurt you baby?" Sydney asked.

Vaughn nodded, but let her try to loosen it. She wasn't very successful, and finally he had to say, "Syd...stop..."

She ceased her movements immediately and looked at him.

"It hurts...a lot...I don't think it's quite ready for PT."

"Well," Sydney said in a scolding tone, "Then you shouldn't be overexerting it."

Vaughn smiled knowingly, "Well, then take charge Vaughn couldn't have made his appearance."

"Vaughn, I loved that...I did...but you can't hurt yourself being take charge Vaughn..."

"I wanted to...and I'm not gonna just lay here...it was something I needed to do too..."

She ran her hand over the stubble on his cheek, "I know baby...just be careful. I'm gentle with you...you have to be gentle with yourself."

She smiled and let his shoulder rest on the pillow again, "You wanna take that bath? Maybe it'll help the ache in your shoulder?"

"How did you know it ached?" he asked.

She smiled, "Cause I know you..."

He chuckled, "Didn't see the noodles coming."

She laughed, "No, but now that I know – it's a you thing too."

He nodded and accepted her hand as she helped him stand up.

They walked slowly to the bathroom, reliving the routine that they'd completed many times before. Vaughn sat on the chair; Sydney filled the tub. She removed the wrap and bandages and helped him ease into the tub before slipping in behind him.

He sighed like he normally did and they spent awhile just soaking and relaxing, letting tension float away with the rippling water.

Slowly, Sydney began to run the washcloth over his body, wiping away the evidence of their lovemaking from the previous night. She spent extra time running the warm cloth over his shoulder, trying to ease the ache for him.

"I can put my fingers in the water," he said with a smile, looking back at her.

She grinned and chuckled, "Yes you can…"

"It's nice not to have to watch them."

She reached out her hand and grasped his in a loose grip, "This hand is getting better," She remarked, watching as the fingers of his right hand flexed and gripped with hers.

"Now I just need to get the other ones to do that," he said softly.

She pressed her lips to his temple, "Soon baby, just gotta keep exercising them…I can help if you want…"

"You do already…"

"Well, we can step it up a little if you want…"

He craned his head toward her, "Are we talking about something sexual here?"

She giggled, "Well, that too, but I meant in the more academic sense of the word. I mean we can exercise it more…"

"Yeah, ok…it'd be nice to be have both of them usable again…of course, my shoulder will still prohibit me from much of anything."

"It's getting better though…you could have never held yourself up like that a week ago…but you did last night…"

He smiled, "I guess so."

"You've made a lot of progress sweetie, just give it time…"

"It just gets hard…all the waiting…patience sort of loses its value."

"I know…but it has to be that way."

"I know…"

She spent a few more minutes running water over his body, rinsing away soap and injury, "Let's get you out of the tub," she announced.

He nodded and let her help him out and sit in his usual chair.

She bandaged his wounds and replaced the wrap and then sat on his lap to shave him before they walked about to the bedroom.