WHO: Jonah and Zoe WHEN: Tuesday WHERE: Zoe's apartment WHAT: New Roommate! WARNING: Flirty Virtue (as flirty as a Virtue can be)
Jonah waited patiently outside the door to the apartment building Zoe had told him belonged to her. The weeks before seemed to have passed by easily with work and other fluctuations of daily life. He never pushed her to see him right away, Kindness wasn’t kicking him out anytime soon, so he let Zoe come to him when she was ready. He hoped she had not fallen into some sort of trouble she couldn’t get out of, or that Greed was waiting by the door with a rifle to blow his Virtue head clean off. He didn’t feel any presence that may have been threatening, so it was safe to say she was alone and without Greed. This could prove really fruitful if things with smoothly.
With that bright veneer smile Jonah greeted her cheerfully, looking over the number beside the door to be sure he had the right place. At seeing her bright freckled face he couldn’t help but feel a slight shudder of excitement. His stomach was doing silly butterflies. _____________________
Zoe was running a bit behind but when Jonah texted her he was there, she went down to let him into the building. She was too used to Greed finding his way in despite the secure door. “Hi!” she greeted with some apology, “Sorry, I’m running behind. But come on..” she gestured to the stairs, “Seven flights up and if you don’t hate it by the time we get to the top, you can see the apartment.”
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“No working elevator?” He asked, ducking inside the main door to follow her to the stairs. He gave her a sweet smile and a chuckle after, “at least it’s not the tenth or fifteenth floor.” She seemed a little out of it, in a tizzy which he hoped his presence alone could soothe like an aloe. Calm. Peaceful. He was in no rush, she didn’t need to be either. _____________________
“Nope. The super told us he’d have it fixed in a month when we moved in. Annnnd that was many years ago.” she led the way up the stairs, “So what happened with your old place?” she asked conversationally. __________________
"Years?" That was plain laziness. He took one foot first then the next slowly up the first flight. "Oh, I was living with one of my sisters, but I feel like I'm crowding her. Didn't want to wear out my welcome." The next flight wasn't so bad, but the stairs continued to grow until they reached the top. __________________
“Yup, welcome to rent controlled living.” she tossed him a smile over her shoulder. They finally made it up the stairs and she walked down the hall to her apartment door, “Aw, I’m sure they love having you. I have this idea that all big families get along, I’m an only child.” only everything really she thought idly as she unlocked the door to let him into the place.
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"Seems a little lazy on their part doesn't it?" He took a deep breath. He had a lot of energy in reserve but he wasn't the energizer bunny. "Big families are great, but I think we sometimes need space from each other. Not that I'm a bad roommate." He wanted her to not feel pressured or threatened he was making a move, but it was his best option at getting closer to the situation without stepping on toes. This was casual. ______________________
She laughed when he said the super was lazy, “Wow, you’re used to fancy living I take it.” she walked into the apartment and spread her arms wide, “Living room.” she took the few steps to the left and flipped on the light in the kitchen, “Kitchen.” she turned to look at him, “Oh, there’s only one bathroom, is that a problem? My last roommate and I just got used to the mad rush in the morning with us in towel dresses.” ______________________
"No, not at all. I've lived in places the size of a cardboard box when I'm traveling. I just think as a owner, there would be responsibilities to fill. I feel for the people up more than ten flights." He didn't play her shadow but he walked in the same path she set to each 'room' which was more connected than the previous place, yes. "Oh, just one?" He waved it off. "It's totally fine." There wasn't much to the space but it wasn't necessary to have a lot of extra. This would suit. "My room would be?" He pointed into the direction of one of the doors. ______________________
She was still amused, “Yeah, well, you obviously haven’t lived in cardboard boxes in New York, here they don’t take responsibility for anything.” she never really gave much of a thought to the people above her. She knew a few of the people on her floor but for the most part people were too busy to interact.. and Greed as her boyfriend sorta made her hated for a variety of reasons. She opened the door at the end of the hall, walking past her own door which was open just a crack, “The master bedroom… ta-da…!” the room was a standard sized room, bigger than hers but much smaller than what he probably had now. “It’s not much, I know, but Gabe was your size and he managed to squeeze into it.” she smiled hopefully. _____________________
"It's sad. If you ever need anything fixed in the apartment Zoe, I'm your guy." Jonah ran a hand against the wall as he stepped into what would be his room, flipping on the light to see the empty space. "I think I can manage," he turned still with a bright smile. It was out of the corner of his eye that he saw something stuffed by the door jam. He tugged at it, pulling it out for inspection. There was Greed's 'I <3 Zombies' shirt. "Yours?" Jonah asked stretching it out for a look. "Or did the last guy leave it behind?" _____________________
She smiled appreciatively, “Aw, thanks. This place is old so it needs some repairs now and then so it’d help out.” She watched him asses the place and then looked surprised when he held up the t-shirt. “Uh, no, it’s mine.. I don’t know how it got here.” she quickly took it from him, it was obviously too big for her but she didn’t say anything else on it.
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"I will be your handyman." So maybe he was hamming it up a little. For some reason he couldn't help it. He pointed to the shirt, "you like zombies? I don't know, I didn't take you for a rotting flesh kind of girl." ___________________
She grinned at his line, it sounded pronographic but he was so wholesome she knew he didn’t mean it that way. She looked at the shirt when he pointed it out, “Yeaaaah… I’m not. I’m horrible with scary stuff, I’m seriously a wuss. It’s my boyfriend’s shirt.” she furrowed a brow, “He sometimes spends the night, if you’re cool with that. He’s a little.. high maintenance but he’ll stay out of your way.” for the most part.
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"Oh," he sounded disappointed, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. "That's right. I forgot you had a boyfriend." ______________________
She laughed because Greed would have hate to hear that, “He’s amazing and I want to promise you guys will get along but he’s not a people person buuut if you do decide to take the room, I’d love for you to have dinner with us or something.”
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"He's great but not a people person?" He should butt in, but this was Greed. It ruffled him a little which was enough to tell Jonah he needed to put his feelings aside and just be who he always was....a friend.
"It's fine. I'm sure there will be plenty of time to meet him." He held out his hand. "I'll take it." ____________________
“Yeah… I mean he’s like a fine wine. An acquired taste.” she didn’t want to mention he was also prone to fits of jealousy and scare him off. She smiled brightly when he agreed to rent the room, she put her hand in his and squeezed it warmly, “That’s great! You can move your stuff in whenever and I’ll give you a copy of the key.” ____________________
He could have left then but Jonah fell into that trap of stepping into the situation. It was nearing dinner time in a few hours---"I know you might have plans but how about we order a pizza?" ____________________
She considered it for a moment but then nodded, “Sure, that sounds like a great idea.” she held onto the shirt as she stepped out of his now room and added, “My boyfriend and I order pizza for dinner at least once a week.” clearly thinking Jonah had extended the invitation to Greed.
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"Oh, is he coming tonight?" He was not prepared for Greed today. It was likely to blow up too fast. "Well, I was hoping just to settle in a little first. Get to know you more before the boyfriend. If that's okay." He put his hand to his chest to not make it seem he was trying to change her mind. ___________________
She paused as she considered it and then sighed, “I.. hmmm.” she looked at him, “I guess it’d be better if he didn’t come tonight. I don’t think we could handle another fight so soon.” and she was sure no matter how nice and innocent Jonah seemed Greed would find something about him to hate.
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"You had a fight?" Now he was worried. He started towards the couch with arm out for her to sit, mostly out of habit from his daily counseling routines. "Are things alright between you?" He sat looking up towards her with interest hoping she would feel easy with talking to him. ___________________
She threw the shirt back in her room, it landing on the bed. She looked at him, “Hmm?” she waved a hand dismissively, “Oh yeah, it’s not a big deal. I mean..” she sighed again, “We fight and then we make up, it’s just standard. He sometimes doesn’t get certain things aren’t right and sometimes I forget that.. well we just sometimes forget to talk to each other. Which basically is where every couple’s problems stem from, right?” he was a counselor, he oughta know, “Lack of communication?” she plopped down at the other end of the couch and took out her phone and picked up the paper to see if there were any coupons for pizza. _____________________
"Yes, yes it does. It is healthy in a relationship to have some disagreement. What isn't healthy is too much of it." He put a hand on her shoulder. She did look as if she had drained her tears, but maybe she had more to say. "I do hope whatever it was, that he appreciates what he has." _____________________
She looked at him with calm eyes, “He does. We both do. I told him it’ll take time to repair our trust some but our foundation is pretty strong.” she looked at the coupon and then back at him, “What toppings do you want?” ___________________
"Cheese and whatever you'd like." Jonah dropped his hand not wanting to invade, but he couldn't help it. He was already involving himself. He leaned back into the couch. "What crawled in and cracked your trust?" He did this for a living yes, but he needed to be sure Greed wasn't dragging her down. ___________________
She wrinkled her nose as it was so plain, she’d have to order some good stuff on the pizza. She put the phone down and gave him a lopsided smile, “Jonah… you’re going to be my roommate, not my therapist. I want you to feel like this is your home. Not your office.” she knew she could start rambling about her emotions like crazy and was making a conscious effort to reign it in since she didn’t want him to feel she was taking advantage of his profession. _____________________
"Just...no mushrooms. Not a fan." She had that look about her that said 'boring'. He relaxed a little, the couch just letting him sink in. It was definitely well worn. So was the object poking him in the side. He pulled out a flip-flop. He handed it over to her, "I will be a friend as well as a roommate. So getting some things off your mind is by no means using me for my services. I'm glad to just listen." _____________________
She scrunched her lips together when he handed her the flip flop, “Sorry…” she didn’t even know how to explain Greed’s habit of hiding things all around her apartment. Normally he was good about it and only did it in her room. Plus, she was trying to get him used to having his own half drawer there. “Well I don’t know how much of me rambling about my boyfriend you’ll be able to take. We’re gonna live together and he drives me nuts so I’m sure I’ll be ranting about him frequently.” she said with a chuckle and picked up the phone again to place an order for a sausage, pepperoni, bellpeppers and onions pizza, no mushrooms.
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"Trust me I've heard all kinds of stories. I'm not biased to who its about. I am your ear now and for the future." He moved only to find the second flip-flop poking him which he also handed to her. "Is your boyfriend a packrat?" _______________________
Her lips parted and she eyed the second flip flop, she wanted to say they were hers but her feet were way too small for these. She took it and gave a sheepish grin, “A bit. I just gave him a drawer in my room, he’s still getting used to it…” it had been a very big step in the relationship. _______________________
He finally could wiggle around in the cushions without being prodded. "That must have been quite a change. That's no easy decision." It was curious considering who Greed was. Jonah propped his ankle over leg, arms stretched out against the back of the couch. "He's serious about you then." That was both unsettling and relieving. _______________________
She smiled with a bit of a blush, not used to talking about her relationship, “Yeah… we’ve been together on and off for awhile but these last few months have been good and we seemed to have found our footing so made sense to kinda take the next step.” her smile turned a little shy, “I hope so.. he always says he’s never gonna let me go.” _____________________
In a brief moment Jonah wished he had met her first. He dismissed it quickly. Involved was one thing, he couldn't let feelings cloud his judgement. "I know you'd said its been a year. How did you meet exactly?" He wanted to keep her engaged. _____________________
“I was still at Columbia and I went to the food trucks during my break. He was walking away and dropped his wallet without noticing.” it was most likely someone elses wallet but she didn’t mention that. “So I stepped out of line and returned it to him. He had a lot of food so shared it with me as a thank you.” ___________________
"Sounds romantic," he teased with a little jab of his arm. "It's a shame I didn't run into you first." That slipped out. He wanted to shove his foot in his mouth. ___________________
She laughed, it was so surprising to hear that come from him. “Oh yeah?” she turned her chin to her shoulder and gave him a mock seductive look, “What would you have done?”
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"I may have done the same thing. Sharing lunch with such a sweet girl, seems like the best way to spend an afternoon." He was flirting but he wasn't doing it to gain anything. She was committed to Greed, the least he could do was be there as some interjection. ___________________
She waved her hands in front of her, “Psssh.. no, Chance already did that. You can’t copy him. Come on, Jonah, girls like originality.” she folded her long legs indian style on the couch as she gestured for him to try again. _________________
He covered his face embarrassed that she had caught that. Drawing his hand back down off his giant smile, he thought a moment. "You're right," he wagged his finger back and forth. "I would have taken you to a real lunch or the museum. Anything to get to know you better." _________________
She nodded, “Okay okay that’s good… but see, I turned him down. He only got me to eat lunch with him because the line was too long and I was starving. And after that I turned him down several more times..” but Greed was persistent. “I don’t know if you’d have been willing to put up with as much rejection and running away as he had.”
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"Is he the persistent sort?" It was Greed of course he was. "I'm pretty tempered with rejection, I would have given you a little space first. Not suffocated you." Greed could be that way. _______________________
She laughed, “Very.” she rested against the cushions, feeling calmer and becoming a little more relaxed. She smiled wide, “Yeah I’m pretty sure you and I would not have worked out then. I consistently rejected him for months but he smothered me and finally wore me down.” ___________________
"Sounds intense. Wearing someone down." He turned towards her from his seat, propping his elbow in the back cushion with his cheek in hand. "You'll never know. I might have won out." ___________________
“Well not in a bad way. Not all the time.” she frowned. She hadn’t meant…. she shook her head. She looked back at him as he cheekily claimed he might have won, “Maybe. But that doesn’t mean you’d be able to handle my brand of crazy. I am the worst at relationships. I cry a lot. My boyfriend hates it.” she grinned a little. _______________________
"It's good to release inner feelings and not surpress them. I usually have a pretty calm presence around people. I can handle crazy." He had a feeling being around Greed also had some contribution to that. "What about this guy, Chance. How does he react?" _______________________
But sometimes Zoe didn’t want other people to be calm, Greed had taught her it was okay to yell and scream sometimes, the outrage he displayed at times made her feel like he understood what she felt and what she was going through. “To me crying? Oh, he’s gotten used to it.” _____________________
"Must be something special." He didn't know if Sins were capable if such things, it seemed so unfathomable that a Sin could love, but at the same time was it their fault to be denied such things. It just was what they were. Sins and Virtues at opposite ends. Without one or the other would fall. _____________________
She puffed up her cheeks and blew out some air from lips that formed an ‘o’, her eyes widening for a moment, “You have no idea….” she let her head hit the back of the couch, “Honestly, I think I’ve hit my quota for ‘special’.” she turned her head and smiled at him, “Not that you’re not a unique snowflake but it’s…. nice. To talk to someone relatively normal.” she was pretty sure she’d lose her mind if she met one more immortal.
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"I'm sure." Greed could wear on the most patient of people. He focused on something else because he still had no idea if Greed was really 'using' on her or not. It appeared not as he couldn't pick up any serious negative energy coming off her. "So l, your wrist is healing nicely?" ____________________
She held up the cast and turned it from side to side, “It comes off next week!” she was excited, she hated having to wear the stupid thing. “Can’t wait too, might be able to get some swimming in before it turns completely cold.” ____________________
"That's fantastic." He still wasn't sure what she had done. He still worried that Greed had either been the cause or allowed something to happen. "Swimming sounds like a good idea." The weather was still warm on most days. The poor girl. ____________________
She put her wrist down and narrowed her eyes at him with a smile, “What?” she waved a finger in the air around him, “You keep giving me this weird look.” she had no idea that there was a certain level of pity exuding from him, she knew it was something, just unsure what it was. ____________________ "What look?" Jonah was flirtatious but it was all innocent. He was worried hour her, yes, and she could probably tell. Maybe he was looking too much, his feelings no matter what he did were starting to surface. ____________________ "I dunno... it's just a... look." she narrowed her eyes again but was only teasing. The intercom buzzed for the pizza she'd ordered and she got up to go answer it, squeezing his shoulder as she walked by to the door, "Saved by the bell." ____________________ He was somewhat relieved for that pizza delivery boy showing when he did. It gave him a chance to re-compose himself and not be so transparent. It might blow up in his face.
When she sat down with the pizza he relaxed. "Smells good." ____________________ She flipped open the box after setting it on the table in front of the sofa and picked up a slice, "Dig in." she took a bite and sighed in relaxation and satisfaction before she looked over at him again, "Oh, so do you help people with resumes at your job?" ____________________ He was looking forward to this. Getting to spend more time with someone that could use his friendship. "Are you looking for work?" He pulled out a slice, the cheese nearly dripping off the pizza onto his shirt. He saved it before it could make a touchdown. ____________________ She set down her slice so she could grab a napkin and offer it to him, "No, not exactly. My boyfriend's looking. I'm trying to help him with his resume but I'm not the best. But maybe if you'd be willing to help him...." she trailed off hopefully. ____________________ Jonah didn't want to lie. He'd do anything to help her, but when it came to the boyfriend he needed to have limits or this was over before he'd had a chance to even help her. There was a line, Greed couldn't know he was there yet. "Maybe, but I find strangers often give people a false insecurity with something as intimate as their resume. I can give you a list of tips though. Ultimately between the two of you he might be more comfortable with that." ____________________ She thought it over as she took another bite of pizza, "Mmm true. He's not a very... he doesn't like help from strangers. Or strangers getting in his business as he'd say." she sighed, "I just feel bad. He lost his job because of me and it's difficult to find another one in something he wants to do." she gave a lopsided smile, "Sorry, I worry about him a lot." ____________________ "What is it he likes to do?" He felt okay about this until she blamed herself. He swallowed down what was left of his bite before he could protest. "Why on earth would you blame yourself?" ____________________ "Financial stuff." she looked away when he asked why she blamed herself, "Because it's my fault. It's a long story." another way of saying she didn't want to talk about it. ____________________ That sounded about right. He could tell by her tone he wasn't getting any further into that conversation tonight. "Alright, so does he have any specific set skills? Something that sets him apart from the crowd?" That was a loaded question. ____________________ She was thankful he dropped it and picked up a pepperoni and popped it into her mouth, "He's really good with money and organization." she gave him a slightly winced look, "But um, he's kinda been blacklisted from most financial institutions. We're trying to find something that's sorta in the same field but that's not exactly that so they won't reject him." ____________________ Of course Greed was good with money. He could abuse anyone that had it. "Anything I should know that is illegal as to why he's Blacklisted?" That proposed a problem. ____________________ She frowned, "No... he's done nothing illegal of the sort." that she knew about specifically. In relation to his job. "Just.. a really powerful guy got mad at him and blacklisted him, that's all. I don't know how he blacklisted him, if he started rumors or is just telling people not to hire him." ____________________ That was questionable, which may have had something to do with what she wouldn't tell him. It was at least a little tidbit, and he could tell she wasn't lying in that respect. He was surprised being who she was dealing with that it wasn't something illegal, but Jonah had to admit that was a relief. "Sounds rather unfortunate. So he's good with money and organizing. Does he get bored easily or is any desk work seem probable?" He was asking a lot of Greed, and he wasn't sure why he was bulleting in his head all the possible jobs he could look up and give her a list of later, but Temperance liked to create order, even with the Sins. ____________________ "Both. He bores easily but he shockingly loved his 9 to 5 desk job. He's a really hard worker. Do you think you might know of somethng?" her eyes got bigger, she wanted to fix this for Greed so bad. ____________________ That look in her eyes...it possessed him. Literally for a minute he felt his heart elevate up and down like a ball bouncing from the floor to the ceiling. He wasn't doing this for Greed, it was all to see her happy. "I might could give you a list of various possibilities." ____________________ Her features softened and she looked really touched crossing her hands and placing them onher chest, "Oh Jonah.. that would mean so much to me. Thank you." she picked up the pizza, "If there's anything I can ever do for you, please, just ask." ____________________ She was ecstatic. Her eyes were literally bouncing up and down, lit up like a Christmas tree. "I will see what I can do. I don't make any promises that it's anything worthwhile, but I will try." He pointed his finger at her. He didn't want to dash her hopes. ____________________ "You promised you'd try and that's more than I ever could hope for. Thank you." she tried to think of something nice to do for him and then smiled, "I can bake you something as a thanks. Brownies, eclairs, cakes, cookies, you name it." ____________________ She was so excited he couldn't help but ask. "You can bake me anything you want," he waved his hands into the air. "I'm not picky." He sat down the crust to his pizza, wiping his hands off on a napkin. "I could use a hug though." ____________________ She was surprised that he asked for one but nodded, "Okay..." she wiped her own hand off and scooted closer to him. "I give awkward hugs with one hand banged up just so you know." ____________________ "It's okay. Hugs are soothing." It was scientifically proven he was certain that when a man hugged a woman for a distinct amount of time that it was calming. He believed that. It was also a chance to have some sense of closeness to her without tripping over any boundaries. ____________________ She was a little wary since she was getting to know him but leaned in and put her arms around his middle, her head resting on his shoulder for a moment since they were still sitting down. Perfectly chaste and just affectionate. ____________________ His hand settled on her back, emitting whatever calm and collected presence he could. He still wasn't able to pick up on any sin juice via Greed. She seemed like she was in a good place in her life, which was promising. ____________________ Zoe frowned a little, it felt nice but familiar. Long ago Patience had influenced her to show her what it would feel like if anyone ever tried to use mojo on her. But this was so subtle, it just kinda made her want to curl up really. ____________________ He wasn't taking the opportunity to use his gifts on her, he just wanted to instill a sense of peace against any calamity she may have. Greed wasn't here to interject which was a bonus. He kept her there in her awkward embrace until it was time to let her free. "Thank you," was all he said. ____________________ She thought this was a bit of a more than friendly hug since she was still getting to know him and this was their first hug but he just seemed like one of those sensitive touchy types so she let him enjoy it. She gave a short laugh, "You never need to thank someone for a hug." ____________________ "Sure you do. A hug can make all the difference in the world to someone whose having a bad day, whose happy, or just needs the touch. A hug is better than any weight in gold." He settled back against the couch. ____________________ "True. But still, no thanks necessary. I like hugs." she scooted back to her corner and picked up the crush of her pizza, "So tell me about yourself. And don't ask 'like what', just talk and tell me things. I wanna know." she nibbled on the bread and looked at him with interested eyes. ____________________ "About myself..." he stretched his arm out on the back, fingering the material of the couch. "You already know my profession. I love animals, I'd like to have a dog one day and I come from a big family." That was a start without diving into the whole oh yeah I'm a Virtue too and your boyfriend hates me. ____________________ "Oh I love dogs, I've always wanted one but I'm not here half the time so it really wouldn't be fair to it." she smiled when he mentioned a big family, she was always curious about people's families, "How many siblings do you have?" ____________________ "Well, now you won't be. Are pets allowed?" He'd get something little, nothing that would grow too large and take up a lot of space. Something they both could grow easy with. "Well six, no, seven siblings." Madison was a sister in his mind since they were like two different facets of the same being. She wasn't here right now, so to Jonah they were separate. ____________________ Zoe wanted to say no she still wouldn't be.. she spent half her nights at Greed's place but when he asked if pets were allowed she nodded, she'd love to rescue some dog who needed a home. Maybe even a cat, those were more self sufficient. Her eyes grew big, "Wow! Your family's bigger than Chance's. He has six siblings. How many boys and how many girls?" ____________________ "Mostly girls, one brother." He wasn't sure about the ones he had not seen, but between Kindness, Charity and Chastity he could make a safe assessment that the majority of his siblings were female, including the other half of himself. ____________________ He didn't seem like he wanted to volunteer information but she couldn't help but ask, "Do you spend a lot of time with them? Are you close to all of them or just some of them?" she covered her mouth with her hand for a moment, "Sorry. I just.. I'm always curious about big families." ____________________ He wanted her to he comfortable but he didn't want to run the risk of falsifying information just to keep his true identity safe for now. It felt wrong, but he had to be careful. He wasn't going to lie to her though.
"I am very close yes. I don't always get to see them though because I travel a lot." ____________________ She furrowed a brow, "Oh yeah? I didn't know the college really encouraged the counselors to travel for work.. or do you just take a lot of vacations?" ____________________ "I alternate between me and my sister. We both kind of take turns. So there is always someone in the position. She travels too so," he felt like he was already telling too much. It was hard to explain to someone the arrangement he and Maddy had. ____________________ She still didn't quite understand, "Travel for business or pleasure...?" she'd love a job that let her travel, it sounded fun. Before he could answer, her cellphone on the table rang. "Oh sorry, one sec." she picked it up to answer it. ____________________ Jonah was cut off by the phone, for which he took as a sign from above to stop before he gave her too much. He took the opportunity to wipe his hands and stand to stretch his legs. He wouldn't eaves drop, but he was really curious in if it was Greed or not.
It wasn't Greed, in fact her grandfather letting her in on the update on Greed's car. ____________________ As soon as Zoe heard her grandfather's voice, her head bowed and her eyes stayed glued to a spot on the cushion, her entire mood more somber. "Oh hi..." she listened mostly to what he was saying as she traced a pattern on the cushion, her knees drawing in to her chest protectively. ____________________ Theseus could hear the disappointment in her voice, so could Jonah who took a seat when she curled up. She had put up a wall and he was concerned. Reaching out, Jonah put a hand on her knee while Theseus talked.
"I've got the car." Theseus knew this wouldn't fix any of their problems but maybe it was a start. It proved to Zoe that he was making an effort to keep a promise, that in itself was out of Theseus' comfort zone. ____________________ Zoe tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled at Jonah's comforting gesture but it didn't reach her eyes. It was a polite everything's okay don't worry about it smile and she leaned her knees to the side to gently slide his hand off, just wanting to retreat into her corner right now. "That's great... thank you." her voice was soft and she didn't sound as thrilled as she wanted. She didn't know if Theseus had done the other thing she asked him to do. ____________________ "I didn't forget the other thing..." it was kind of hard to admit to. She'd asked him to do something that was virtually impossible for him to do. To step back a few decades and look at the past and what he'd missed. Theseus had always strung his course and went in whatever direction the ocean took him forward. He never looked back. Never. But that was all changing the longer he stayed and found himself in a temporary home. Only, it wasn't looking very temporary. "I went." He swallowed down his own pride for a minute to admit that to her. He wanted to keep her close in a way he'd never tried to do with anyone he'd left behind.
Jonah stayed close even as she softly shoved him away. This was such a difficult situation for him to read without knowing the voice on the other side, but he wasn't going anywhere. ____________________ Zoe desperately wished Jonah wasn't there. She was very vulnerable when it came to her grandfather and she was feeling such anxiety. She swallowed, "Oh." was all she said. She was waiting to hear more from him. She wanted him to feel the remorse he didn't have. She wanted him to tell her he was sorry for leaving her family. For letting her mother grow up without a father, for letting the fates think it was okay so she was robbed of both her parents. She wanted him to feel her pain but it was something that could cut her in half and it wouldn't even give him a papercut. She knew it. But it didn't make her stop wishing for any of it.