Who: Mars, Zap When: Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 (morning) Where: Xavier's; sub-basement What:I'm gonna go get my stuff! Status: complete Rating: PG
Things were beginning to calm down after the mission - it'd only been a few days, but Zap was ready to get back into the swing of things and for everyone to stop buzzing about the semi-disaster that had occurred. So, it was back to work. After snagging a couple pieces of fruit from the formal dining room, she made her way to the elevator and then downstairs to see if A) Ronan was awake and B) what was on the day's agenda. She crept into the workshop after doing a sweep and realizing that Ronan was already up and about. After finding a place to set their breakfast down, she moved across the room to peek over his shoulder. Huh. "That looks oddly familiar." Not what was necessarily in his hands, but the drawings and graphs around his workspace. She turned back to grab the banana and then sat down in the chair she usually occupied a few feet away from Ronan before peeling it open. "Feelin' nerdy?"
"Aye." Ronan looked up to give Zap a smile before he looked down at what he was working on once more. "Figured Will could use a pick me up." Having one's powers thrown out of whack was quite a shock. Will was handling his new situation quite well, Ronan thought. It was very interesting to witness the changes he'd gone through powerwise, however shocking it was to everyone else. Seeing as he did have the ability to know how to make anything he wanted, Ronan liked to have fun with it on occasion. "Think I can make it work?"
Zap smiled back, sweetly. Ronan was being thoughtful; someone else must've been having a bad day or something. She grinned at his question, "If anyone can, it'll be you." She was frankly excited as hell at the thought of what he was working on. A freaking lightsabre? Jesus. She hoped it didn't end up in the wrong hands. Maybe he'd put some restrictions on it or something. She'd been hearing about Will's evolution through Ronan and had even witnessed some of his new talents in the Danger Room. He was going to be super-psyched if Ronan got the thing to work. "You need to make it blue, if you can." She shared, then used her feet to scoot her closer to Ronan in the office chair she was occupying. "So I was thinking... it's sort of a hassle going upstairs all the time for anything I need. You know, hairbrush, USB's, paperwork."
"I'll see what I can do." he said of the color. When Zap moved herself closer and spoke her final sentence, he turned his head to look at her. He knew what she was getting at. She wanted to move into his room. It wasn't like he used it much, so it wouldn't be hurting anything, technically. But damn. "We've got an elevator." It wasn't like she had to trudge up and down stairs all the time. "And didn't the quiet one just move back in with ye?"
Zap's tongue moved into her cheek and she bit down on it, mostly to keep from snarking back. She didn't mind the stairs, or the elevator. It wasn't the traveling that bothered her, it was the fact that she couldn't be around him as much as she liked. Maybe he wasn't ready to be around her as much as she liked. She watched Ronan for a moment before responding. "Eddie. Yes." She looked down at her half-finished banana and pulled the peel back up over it and set it aside. "She moved back in, but I dunno. I mean, I'm not sleeping with her, so why am I sharing a room with her?" Of course, Zap didn't want to abandon Edana, but she had been with Levity for eight years and she thought it was time to change things up. Besides, they knew where to find each other, if need be. She watched her hands for a moment. Brian had moved Eddie into his room fairly quickly after their reconciliation, and now they were through. But she and Ronan were always around each other, all day. Maybe that was his point.
Ronan sighed and ran a hand through his hair before he glanced at Zap. She had a point. She spent most nights in his room anyway, so it made sense for her to move her stuff in there, he guessed. "Okay."
"What?" pause, "I mean, really?" Zap shifted her eyes from side to side, then scooted closer still with a few thrusts and kissed his shoulder. Her hand found her breakfast again and she backed up and took a bite. "You're such a pushover." She grinned after swallowing. He was in too good of a mood for her not to press her luck. "There was something else..."
He shrugged his shoulders in response. He was only a pushover when it concerned Zap. Anyone else would have been shit out of luck. He glanced down to his work briefly before he shifted his gaze back to Zap as she spoke again. Mars read the look on her face and his features became slightly amused in appearance. "What's that?"
Her face grew a bit more serious. She had his attention, at least. Her expression let on that she was ready for rejection or at least a run for her money, so she began carefully. "Without freaking out on me; how do you feel about institution of marriage?" Good mood + pushover-attitude = commitment discussion. She hadn't asked before. It hadn't been her place. And she hadn't really told him what she thought about the whole ordeal. Somewhere, deep down, she was having trouble getting over Piotr and his intentions for the two of them. It made her a little homesick and like she was missing out on life, a bit. Of course, she wouldn't mention those details to Ronan. She felt as though she was fortunate just to have him at all.
He sighed again. In all honesty, he hadn't given the idea much thought. Granted, he had thought about it, but not in great detail like Zap (apparently) had. In Ronan's mind, a semi-apocalypse really wasn't the time to be thinking about wedding vows. There were so many other tasks to focus one's attentions on. Of course he loved Zap, and marrying her really wouldn't change anything when it came to their situation, come to think of it. But damn. "I hadn't thought about it." He looked down at his plans again. "Ye obviously think somethin' of it."
"Most people do, at some point." She pointed out. People decided whether they hated the idea of marriage, or if they planned to, someday, or maybe they had every horny detail of their ceremony worked out since they were seven. People were different, but everyone considered it. Zap sighed, this time, and watched Ronan carefully. She couldn't decide if she was simply distracting him from his work, or if he was put off by the topic. "I just wanted to see what you thought about it. In general. I know you're not a big fan of anything religious or legal." A faint smirk touched her lips. "But I'm serious about you and..." she paused and her stomach flip-flopped. She wanted to get married someday. Sometime. She wanted a family. "And I don't want to waste any more time on you." Fuck.
Ronan scooted his chair back from his workstation, turning it so he could face her fully. He watched her for a few moments as she spoke. He loved her more than anyone or anything else in the world. And he didn't want to lose her over some silly ceremony. "Zalika," he started, reaching out to grasp her hands in his and bringing his blue gaze to her green. "I'm serious about you and I love ye with all my soul. But right now, I've no plans ta get married." He felt a smirk tug at the corners of his mouth, "However," he gave her hands a squeeze, "after we get this whole cure thing taken care of... we can talk about it further." If she wanted the white picket fence, well, she wouldn't get it. But, if she wanted to be with him forever (as he did with her) and it be 'official', he supposed that could be arranged. "How does that sound, cailín?"
Bogus. But better than anticipated, she guessed. Her mind was still playing catch-up, however. All his soul? She hadn't expected that. Zap sighed. The rest of her life was in the hands of Joe, Brian and Jean. Okay then. She lowered her face and her eyes and the color went from her face. Her hands were still in his, but she didn't really care. He'd spoken to her like parent telling their child they could go out for the team next season. But she hadn't intended to give Ronan an ultimatum or to threaten him. So she wasn't sure why she wasn't ecstatic about his response. She'd seen him be sly and charming so many times, and so straight forward with her, it was hard now to tell if he was putting on a show when he was pleasant with her. She'd half expected him to go off on her, actually. Or quiet up. He hadn't done either, and now she wasn't sure what to think. She hated it when people were vague, and she didn't like to wait. "Fine. It sounds fine." The hairs on her arms stood up and a few hairs on her head strayed out from her shoulders, but they settled after a moment. She was regretting eating, now. And maybe other things, too. Why should she have to wait on the world? Hadn't they done enough?
He couldn't help but frown at her response. He'd basically told her he'd marry her and she was being confusing as hell about it. "What? Do ye want ta go talk ta Kurt right now or somethin'?" he demanded, pulling his hands away from hers as he scooted his chair back so he could stand. "I'm afraid I don' have a ring picked out yet."
Zap stared back at Ronan until he stood, and then she clenched her teeth together. She didn't have a chance to answer his harsh question before he added the bit about the ring. That stung, didn't it? The fact that he said it at all stung, the fact that he couldn't go to a jeweler and pick one out stung, and the fact that he didn't seem the type to give a fuck about rings in the first place stung. Her hands moved to her abdomen and she scooted her chair back as well to see up into his face better. She almost sneered as she said, "I just thought that since we're fucking every six hours that, hey, if I got knocked up, it'd be great if it wasn't a bastard."
He glared down at Zap in her chair and let out an exasperated sigh. "I told ye I'd marry ye." He threw his hands up in gesture of annoyance. "I want ta make ye happy, Zap, but I can't do that if I don' know what the fuck ye want." He paced a little before he looked back at her. "I'm not a mind reader. Ye've got ta tell me." This last part was less harsh than the rest of his words. "Ye have me forever, cailín." Ronan's gaze grew softer as he spoke, "If it's somethin' else ye want, let me know now."
Oh. Feeling a bit sheepish, Zap avoided looking at Ronan while he barked his confusion. She frowned for a moment and closed her eyes, and when he was through, she wanted to crawl under her chair. She wasn't sure if he knew how much his words (the kinder, sincere ones) meant to her. He had her forever too. "I don't want to rush things." She told him, honestly. She didn't. "I just want to know I have something to look forward to... that life isn't always going to be this way. I wanted to talk about it with you, to share something with you. To make sure you're going to want what I do. But if we wait until we're back to fixing the world, gah," she'd raised her hands to make an expressive gesture, maybe because she couldn't find the words. "Yeah... I just wanted something to look forward to and be happy about with you. I finally have you and I'll plan my life around this," their relationship, "but..." She stood up and moved to him, then leaned against him with her face buried in his shoulder. "You said forever." It'd seemed to fix things up pretty nicely. "I'm sorry," her arms moved around his waist.
He understood her need to focus on something pleasant. He wanted that as well. "I don' want ye ta feel like ye can't talk to me about things." Though, he had sort of blown up at her for not being clear... but now that he knew what she was talking about, he would try to be more perceptive in the future. His body relaxed and his frustration left him when she leaned against him. "It's all right, cailín. I'm sorry too." he sighed as he wrapped her in a tight embrace. "I mean it." About forever.
Now that she felt more content, she snuggled closer and sighed against him, as well. "It's a touchy subject," she said quietly, still feeling a bit sheepish. "I didn't want to tick you off. I know it makes people," men, "uncomfortable sometimes." But it was apparently water under the bridge. She officially didn't want to discuss marriage anymore. At least not for a while. But he better look out come the time things were settled around the school. She let out a long breath, slowly, and turned her head to kiss his neck - a 'thanks for putting up with me' kiss. "Ya know..." Her arms tightened around him, but her hands slipped down to his ass. "I always feel dirty after we fight."
Ronan nodded in agreement about it being a touchy subject. He certainly hadn't woken up expecting to fight about marriage. He was glad that part of the conversation was over with. He let out a dark chuckle when she grabbed his ass. "Why don' ye let me hose ye down, then." He stepped away from her and scooped her up, and he began to carry her in the direction of the bedroom. He was unsure of whether they'd end up in his their bed or the shower...he'd decide when they got there.