THIRTY-NINE
She's stuck in traffic. At first, they'd been at least going thirty-nine miles an hour, but then, just a few stops before her street, traffic had stalled ridiculously.
Glancing at the dashboard, she sighs in resignation. Even getting out of traffic to take the streets is going to take more time than it should.
She sends a quick text to Tsubasa, 'Stuck in traffic. Will be late home.'
'Be safe.'
'I will,' she replies.
Once that is taken care of, she turns up the radio to fill in the silence. As she sings along, she drums her fingers against the wheel and bobs along to the beat.
Eventually she reaches her exit, and from there it's only a few more minutes before she arrives home.
Pulling into the parking garage of their apartment complex, she notes that Tsubasa's car is in its usual stall; she parks right beside it.
The smell of freshly-made curry hits her as soon as she steps into their apartment. She goes straight to the kitchen, following her nose. Tsubasa is sitting at the kitchen island, looking through the newspaper; she's wearing her glasses.
"Mm, something spicy today?" she notes, wrapping Tsubasa in a tight hug.
Nodding, Tsubasa says, "I thought we needed something a little different. The recipe was pretty easy to follow."
She smirks. "You mean the instructions on the box were easy to follow," she teases. "Don't think I didn't see the box of curry cubes in the trash, darling."
Tsubasa chuckles.
Checking in on the pot, she sees that it's almost finished, so she starts pulling out plates and utensils.
"Rice is ready, as well," Tsubasa says.
When they sit down to eat a few minutes later, Tsubasa begins fidgeting. She takes longer than usual with each bite of food, and she nods just a bit too jerkily whenever Maria asks her a question, though her shoulders aren't tense.
Finally, near the end of the meal, Tsubasa gestures to the pile of mail that's left on the island, saying, "We have some… news from the orphanage." She clears her throat, glancing away, but she can't quite stop her lips from quirking up in a smile.
"Good news?" she asks, just to be sure.
Tsubasa nods.
"Tell me."
"Well," Tsubasa grins, "we have official sanction to take Elfnein out of the institution for a day trip."
She launches out of her seat to grab at the mail—not that she doesn't believe Tsubasa, it's just that she wants to see it for herself.
And, sure enough, there it is, to Mrs. Maria Cadenzavna Eva and Mrs. Tsubasa Kazanari, permission to take Elfnein Malus Dienheim for an "excursion to the city so long as an itinerary is given to and approved by Matron Xiao Long."
Tsubasa comes up next to her, bumping their shoulders together. "I bet you have half our day planned out already," she says.
"I'll have our entire trip planned as soon as you get me paper and pencil!"
a/n: Better late than never, lol. Besides, it's still Sunday where I'm at for a few more hours.
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