"Do you have a few minutes Clark?"
Clark turned around from exiting the cafeteria to see his sister walking towards the entrance. "Sure, what's up?"
"Hieronymous caught the flu," she explained. "I'm going to take him some lunch right now, but I was wondering if you could get his supper and make sure he remembers to take his potions? I have to man the valentine booth at supper time."
Clark shrugged. "I don't see why not. I don't know where his room is, though," he said, falling into step with his sister.
"Just come with me, and I'll show you," she said, entering the cafeteria. Alice made a special order at the counter, and got the rest of the tray together. A few minutes later, the soup was ready and he held the door open for her as they started for the main building.
"Well," he noted, "that pretty much kills your chance at a romantic Valentine's Day."
Alice nodded. "As far as a date would go, it does. But do you remember when Mom went through chemo after Nancy was born?"
Clark frowned. "Yes." It had not been a pleasant experience for their mother. A new baby on top of a serious health issue would not have been easy for anyone. Even with the Green witch their grandfather had sent making the cancer survivable, she had had to leave something behind for the normal doctors to treat in order to comply with magic secrecy laws.
"I remember one day that was particularly hard for her," Alice continued. "She was pale, weak, nauseous, and had lost her hair. I had the twins watching TV so they would stay out of the way, and you had just burned supper in the microwave and were trying to clean it up. Then she started vomiting again in her bed, and I couldn't help because Nancy was being fussy and she started crying whenever I put her down.
"Dad walked in with the groceries, and went into help her when I told her that she was sick again. He cleaned her up, got her comfortable, and sat down just holding her hand. Then he told her that she was the most beautiful woman in the world," Alice said. "And the way she looked at him…she had tears in her eyes. That was probably the most romantic moment I've ever seen between Mom and Dad."
Clark nodded. He did not remember the incident in particular, but it sounded like something their father would do. Most of the time, their parents presented themselves as a team and both romantic moments and arguments stayed out of the sight and hearing of their children. His dad had always been very supportive of his mom, though, and would never fail to rise to the occasion when he decided that she needed him.
"I wouldn't expect anything similar for bringing soup," he remarked, and Alice laughed.
"Hieronymous is something of a bear when he's sick," Alice acknowledged. "I guess my point is that there are more ways to show someone you care than 'romantic' gestures, and that taking care of someone when they are sick is a practical way of showing it."
"I suppose that's true," he noted. "I take it that you've done this before. Was it sometime last year?" He could not remember Hieronymous being sick this year.
Alice nodded. "Yes, and it was even sometime in February if I remember correctly."
"Before the marriage got out?" Clark asked. They walked inside the foyer, and Alice led him towards some stairs he had not really noticed before.
"Yes," she said. "And we weren't doing more than barely speaking at the time. Potsdam asked me to bring him soup, and told me how to get to his room. He was surprised to see me in his room, and not pleasantly so, but was too sick to yell at me before I could explain why I was there. Like I said, he's a bear when he's sick."
"Apparently so, and thank you so much for letting me help you with him," Clark said dryly.
Alice smiled, having reached the top of the stairs, and then turned right. "Like I said, we weren't really talking much at the time. He calmed down after I told him why I was there, I asked him if he needed anything else, and he almost thanked me."
"Hopefully you two never get sick at the same time," Clark said. "You like to be babied when you get sick, and if he's a bear…I don't see that as a good combination."
"You're probably right," Alice said with a grimace as she knocked on her husband's door.
...
It was Saturday, Valentine's Day, and Virginia sat in front of her mirror trying to decide if she should wear makeup or not. Her stomach grumbled at her, but she was planning an early lunch at the Glen with Clark, and she had not gotten up in time for breakfast. Hearing a knock, she got up and opened the door to see Clark.
"I thought you weren't coming until later," Virginia said.
"Actually, I was hoping Alice wasn't here. Her husband set me on an errand," he said.
She gestured to a vase that already held nine red roses and a box of chocolate covered strawberries. "I think he beat you to it," she said. The man had been sick as a dog for a week, and he had still remembered to get Alice something. Fortunately, they had come by mail, so Virginia doubted they carried the flu. Alice had been bringing her husband almost every meal while he was sick, and assured her that she washed her hands well after coming out of his room. She must have been doing a good job, as she had yet to get sick herself.
Clark shook his head. "Would you mind helping me carry the other ninety-nine over?"
Virginia stared at him, but still followed him to the freshmen Treasurer's office where they had been sent. "He told me about this the day I brought him supper," Clark started to explain, handing her boxes she guessed contained dozens of roses. "He had me take nine out, leaving ninety-nine to be delivered later. I guess he wanted to surprise her a little with the initial offering, and then surprise her a lot with the rest of the flowers."
"I think he'll succeed there," she said faintly. It had surprised her that Grabiner even had a romantic side, but after seeing her roommate getting flowers for months she had been forced to admit to herself that it did exist.
It was a short trip to her room, where she helped Clark take the roses out of the boxes and arrange them in vases he produced from somewhere. As there was limited space in the room, Virginia suspected that they would have to fix some of the vases to the walls. "Are we getting extra merits for this?" she asked, half teasing.
Clark shrugged. "I didn't ask, and most extra-merit tasks involve something dirtier or smellier than arranging roses. I don't mind doing it, though, and it's not like I'm hurting for merits either."
Of course he wouldn't bother to ask for extra merits. He had his sister's flare of finding unusual or excellent ways to pass his exams, and managing not causing problems that would lose him his extra merits. In some ways, he was very much like his sister. Virginia continued to ponder as she arranged the flowers, placing yet another vase full on her roommate's desk.
"I thought about getting you some flowers myself," Clark started, in the uncomfortable silence. "But since I knew about these, I thought any such offering would be…."
Virginia snorted a laugh. She hoped that Donald did not see this display. It would make the five-dollar valentine and chocolate offering to Ellen seem…woefully insufficient.
"That's ok," she said. "I'm not much of a girly-girl anyway."
Clark nodded. "I noticed. One of my younger sisters is a tomboy too, so I was trying to think of something she might like."
Virginia guessed that would be Emma—the sister that was described as having the ounce of caution that her twin did not—as Nancy was described to her as a very girly-girl. "I'm not sure that they'd let me keep a broadsword here," she mused, and Clark chuckled.
"We can go to the mall after lunch, and you can pick something out if you want to," Clark suggested. There was now no reason for him to hide his wealth. As it was now public knowledge that Hieronymous Grabiner had married Alice Carleton, a few well-connected parents had apparently started writing their children to ask them if the rest of the Carleton brood also attended Iris. It had not taken long for the school's rumor mill to start spreading around that Clark was now the heir to the family fortune and Council seat.
He bore up reasonably well to the change—and even took the Carleton surname since the secret was out now—but still looked in askance at anyone who treated him differently now that they knew he had money, and one day would have power. She had been getting attention too, and had had to explain to several girls that Clark was hers right now, and she was not planning on breaking up with him. On some basic level, it felt good to have a boyfriend that others wanted. Something in that thought made her uncomfortable, though. Was it because she was not use to being envied, or because people were now seeing Clark as something other than the person he was and he deserved better? Was it because she had started to wonder if he deserved better than her?
"Something is bothering you," Clark said. "That's the only reason Emma is ever quiet…or else she's up to something, but you don't look like you are."
"I don't want you to think that I'm with you just because of the contract," she blurted out. "I don't want you to be doing this just because I'm your sister's friend, either."
Now, what had made her say that? Sometimes, she just said things without thinking. Actually, that happened to her a fair amount. It was one of the things about herself that she knew she would have to change if they decided to be together in the long-term. A wife that spouted thoughtless words would only be a liability to him in the future. She was certain that she was blushing.
"Ah, yes," Clark said, blinking. "I mean no, I mean…." He sighed, and sat down on one of the beds. "Why do you tie my tongue up in knots?" he muttered, obviously not expecting an answer before continuing with more certainty.
"I wouldn't be planning to marry you without that contract," he said, "but I would still be your boyfriend if you would have me. That I wouldn't be able to date anyone else for a year doesn't bother me. It's not like if this doesn't work out, I have an arranged wife waiting in the wings or anything, so there isn't any pressure. I'm not doing this for my sister. For right now, I just want to get to know you better," he explained.
Virginia sighed in relief. "I was worried." She could live with getting to know Clark. Even if they didn't end up in love for real, she would still have made a lifelong friend.
"However, if you decide that you don't want to be with me," he continued, "I don't want you to feel obligated to stay with me because I allowed you to keep your Promise on your own terms. There are significant adjustments you would have to make in order to thrive in the lifestyle I will live in, and you may meet someone that will make you happier than I might be able to."
Virginia nodded. "I've thought about that…about trying to adjust to the culture of the rich and powerful. If I fell in love with you, it would not matter to me. I would do whatever I had to. I really like you Clark but I don't love you…not yet."
He nodded. "That's reasonable. We haven't been dating that long, and are both still young enough that we are still discovering who we are, or who we want to be at least. Let's just take things slowly, and see what develops?"
"That sounds good," Virginia replied. She smiled faintly, just catching that he had not specified how he felt about her. Maybe he more than 'liked' her, but did not say it out loud because he did not want to put any pressure on her. Perhaps it was a tangled, confusing mess that he had not thoroughly sorted out yet. There was also the possibility that he had the same concerns about her that she did about herself.
There were few things she liked better than a challenge, but the stakes would be high in his line of work and his wife might have to help him fight opponents that may not necessarily declare themselves or their intentions.
The duplicity of most politicians was one of the few things she knew about politics. She had never thought twice about it before learning who her roommate's grandfather was, considering it something above her head that did not affect her that much anyway. But then again, it had because it had affected her two best friends, and had done so in ways that made her sporting restrictions seem like small beans. The Velvet Curtain in particular had certainly affected both of her roommates, separating the family from one of them and made it something of a complicated dance to keep the family of the second together as much as it was.
Politics…a complicated dance. Perhaps that fit. Her father had once told her that politics was 'battle fought by those too civilized to openly attempt to kill each other.'
Virginia was wondering if she would prefer the open battle or not when she accidentally pricked her finger on a pin that had been holding the ribbon of the last bunch of roses tied. Clark took her hand, and trickle of his Green magic healed the spot.
Clark smiled at her, and then they finished with the roses and threw the last box away. As they walked towards the bus, Clark asked her if in lieu of a Valentine's Day present, she wanted to come to the county fair with his family and join their pig wrestling team. He doubted that Alice would mind letting her have her place on the team.
Virginia decided that that would beat roses any day…not to mention that it would keep Grabby from going into a state of apoplectic shock if he saw his lady wife doing any such thing.