Uh-huh, he warmed up with extreme ire, or was that warming up with Rage? I can't recall...
by Kalysto
He anxiously awaited her answer, but her every thought paused as she looked at him. She knew what ring he spoke of. It was the only other ring she owned. The only one she had stuffed in that jewelry box to keep it out of the way until she could pass it on to Joshua when he was old enough to find his love.
So long as it found its way back into the safety of her jewelry box, she'd not worry about it. It was a symbol of another love, another lifetime. An era long ago and seemingly far away from this one.
"Oh, it fits perfectly," she finally replied, a smile easing onto her lips, her fingers flexing and wriggling to prove it. His returning smile was both proud and relieved, and his attention turned back to his meal.
She, too, put her focus on eating, chewing over the thoughts going through her mind as her teeth did the same to her steak. She had known a lot of David's thoughts on most of those issues, even without him having expressed them aloud. She had sensed them.
The Fallen blonde had been working on her abilities in the past few months, ever since the idea had come to her about the possibility of constructing a connection on her own. Once a Valkyrie had lost her warrior, the connection was severed for eternity, and she would be made to wait for another strong soul to be assigned to her. Nothing had ever been recorded of a Valkyrie creating one on their own. Of course, Valkyries were under the rule of Odin, and they were to do as they were commanded, so it was unlikely such a thing had ever been done.
She hadn't wanted to think about having that degree of understanding with another individual once she had lost Conner, afraid of the absolute death that would always come in the end. It wasn't until she and David had reconnected that the idea held any merit with her, that she even entertained the possibility that she could even try binding her soul to his.
It wasn't long before she knew it was something she wanted with him, to be able to sense him, to know his level of pain and to take it from him if she could, to take him under her figurative wing, protect and shelter him, just as he did for her whether he knew of it or not. So she began the long, arduous process, made harder by his frequent trips for work.
She had little success thus far. She still couldn't sense his pain, and that was further hampered by the careful mental block of his own he managed to cap over it for himself. His thoughts would remain his own for quite some time as well, but she had been able to see glimpses of them. Like how he hated the house for the singular reason that it was a part of her life that was dead, or that he often missed the scenery of the mountains. How he wanted to address himself in the presence of Joshua, whether to feel more like an outsider to the boy or as his parent.
The Firebird, however... that was news to her. She hadn't thought there was anything terribly wrong with her car. Sure, she agreed that it could use a bit of work, but there was no reason to label it a lost cause.
"I hope you realize you're gonna be losing the fight about the Firebird," she finally stated with a teasing tone and a quirky smirk. "I'll allow you to restore my car, but there's no point in replacing it with something else. I happen to love that car, and it has great, sentimental value. It was the first car I ever bought."
His fork paused in its ascent toward his mouth, the lobster meat waiting to be devoured. His eyebrow rose toward his hairline. "You bought it?"
The blonde coolly replied, "Yes, I bought it. With plenty of donations." The corners of her mouth quirked up into a wry smirk. "Of course, I'm sure the benefactors of those donations still haven't yet figured out when or where their missing thousands have gone."
He rolled his eyes, a slight shake of his head. "I should've guessed you didn't use your own money to pay for that beast."
"My Firebird is not a beast!"
"Sure, sure," he retorted with a chuckle, "whatever you say, baby."
Kaly let the topic drop, but it wouldn't be the last they visited the discussion about the car. Instead, she retaliated by spearing a shrimp off his plate, popping it into her mouth before he could protest, and with a grin, she turned their discussion to the more pressing issues. "When we find somewhere we're both satisfied to turn into our home, I want to sell the house, and put that money toward Joshua's schooling. Whatever of his father's that doesn't get sent back to his grandparents or given away, I plan to set aside to give to him when he's old enough."
"What about you? Anything you plan on keeping?"
She smiled softly. "Well, I'm keeping Joshua." He chuckled. "And probably the hammock."
His tone was amused. "The hammock?"
She giggled. "I really like that hammock. Very nice place to rest on a gorgeous day. But other than that, pictures and videos to show him. A few jewelry pieces. Stuff that can be put in a lock box at the bank. It'll go to Joshua eventually, if he wants it." She laid a hand on his arm, slipping her fingers into the hand not occupied by his eating utensil. "And I want the adoption finalized by the time he can say 'daddy'."
"Are you sure about all this, Kaly?" David asked, giving her hand a slight squeeze. "I may have thought most of this out already, but you don't need to make snap decisions. We've got plenty of time."
"I've had a lot of time to think about these things, too, you know," Kaly assured him. "Trust me, David. Just because I was afraid of actually talking about it doesn't mean I wasn't thinking the issues through. So yes, I'm sure."
