[Nexus] Home 13: Insert Silly Title Here

[blackouttwo]

[Arthur's Apartment]

Inside sits a particularly ornate bracelet.

And the narrator means ornate. Actual rubies and jewels, and what looks like actual friggin' gold. The damn thing looks like it marched right off the pages of a 'Jewelry The Vast Majority of People Will Never Get to Touch' magazine.

"Cost me most of the last year's savings, but, uh...worth it."

[happyturtle]

Arthur's Apartment

Willow's jaw drops. "This is... oh my god, Arthur, it's beautiful! Did you have to slay a dragon for this?"

[blackouttwo]

[Arthur's Apartment]

"By proxy. One of the guys I sold guns to went and did some dragonslaying."

He's not joking.

[happyturtle]

Arthur's Place

Willow takes the bracelet out of the box, and after dangling it and admiring it in the sunlight at every possible angle, she hands it back to Arthur. "Put it on me?" she asks, holding out her left wrist.

[blackouttwo]

[Arthur's Apartment]

An odd request, but one Arthur's not going to refuse. He takes the bracelet and slides it onto Willow's arm, nice and easy. "Well, you're certainly going to be the center of everyone's attention. Mine included." He laughs a little nervously, hoping that won't be mistaken for him toying with her again. Stepping back a little, he smiles at her, admiring how it looks. "It looks great on you, babe. That has to be the one thing you were waiting on."

[happyturtle]

Arthur's Request

Oh. I was picturing the kind of bracelet with a clasp rather than the style that just slides on. The clasp kind are tricky to get on without help.

"Thank you," Willow says, and this time when she leans in for a kiss, she doesn't just stop at a peck.

Despite the niggling voice in the back of her head reminding her that soul-eating is now a thing she has to worry about.

[blackouttwo]

[Arthur's Apartment]

Well, then fine! It has a clasp! RETCON COMMENCING

Needless to say, Arthur's happy with her appreciation of the gift. His tail whips around a little bit in surprise before coiling around her ankle, and he spreads his wings before wrapping them around himself and Willow. No soul-eating yet; with all the practice he's had, it's practically reflex to Arthur to avoid getting too into it. This is something of a special occasion, though - she's happy with a gift. Arthur's more focused on that fact - he made the girl he's in love with happy.

And without extreme focus, Arthur's at risk of giving into that urge to EAT HER SOUL.

Oh gods, ease off. Ease off. EASE OFF, DAMMIT

Arthur breaks the kiss rather suddenly, and backs off. The tail uncoils, the wings draw back, and he steps away, breathing a little heavily, and gulping nervously. It's clear in his expression what he almost did. "Glad you like it."

[happyturtle]

Arthur's Apartment

Willow is a little breathless by the time Arthur pulls away.

"So... anti-magic field. I guess we need to go shopping." She'd meant to have some sort of device for his bedroom before he got home, but he surprised her.

[blackouttwo]

[Arthur's Apartment]

Arthur nods slowly, getting his wits about him again. "Sorry. I...Yeah. Shopping seems like a good idea right about now." He hesitates before looking away, clearly embarrassed at the utter lack of self-control he just showed. "I'm sorry. I should've been more focused."

[happyturtle]

Arthur's Apartment

"We don't have to leave now. I imagine you want to have a few minutes at home before rushing off," Willow says. Though there's always the risk that hanging around with Willow will mean more making out and more chances to lose control.

[blackouttwo]

[Arthur's Apartment]

"I think catching up would be a good thing. How are your therapy sessions going?" He hopes she's actually been going. Willow's got annoying tendencies to utterly disregard the wishes of others in favor of what she feels to be a better idea. Since she didn't seem to be all for the therapy to begin with, Arthur's skeptical of her attendance record.

And besides, checking in on that front wouldn't hurt. After all, he's paying for them under Winslow's nose.

[happyturtle]

Arthur's Apartment

"I've been learning some disassociation techniques, to make the memories less immediate. It's something they teach shellshock victims from war zones." Willow says, looking away and fidgeting. Whatever she's learning hasn't yet made talking about it easier.

[blackouttwo]

[Arthur's Apartment]

Arthur frowns, reaching out to take Willow gently by the hand. His own psychology wasn't wired to consider things like that especially traumatic. He'd been through enough of his own crap to just consider it another brick in the wall at this point. Between that, and his physiology (up to and including his brain chemistry) being built for unspeakably evil acts, he can't even sympathize with Willow on this point.

He wants to, but he can't. He used to be able to. This realization scares him a little more than he feels it should. "It's gonna be slow going, but you'll get better." It's a weak bit of encouragement, considering Arthur's wondering if he's capable of getting better, now. He manages to force a weak smile.

[happyturtle]

Arthur's Place

Built for unspeakably evil acts, yet tormented by them enough to try and change. Or does he still want to change?

"Oh, don't worry. I'll be fine," Willow says, tossing her hair. "I got in touch with OmniHarvard to take the semester off, so there won't be any issues with my studies. And that gives us plenty of time to, you know... work out how things will be with us."

[blackouttwo]

[Arthur's Apartment]

Arthur's a complex one, make no mistake. He really needs to go see a therapist of his own, get some of the stuff that's jumbled up in his head all sorted out, but he'd be the last to admit it.

"Well...I guess we have a bit to sort out." He goes to sit on the couch, hoping this conversation ends on a positive note. They could both use it. "So. Where'd you want to start?"

[happyturtle]

Arthur's Place

"No more games. Just tell me how you feel about me." Willow says.

[blackouttwo]

[Arthur's Apartment]

Arthur tries to think of how to phrase his feelings.

It's easier said than done. "Willow...I love you. I'm not just in love with you. I love you. As in, head-over-heels-holy-crap-this-might-be-the-girl-I-eventually-decide-to-marry love. What else can I possibly say about that?"

[happyturtle]

Arthur's Place

Willow takes a deep breath, leans in to kiss him, then remembers his control is a little shaky right now, and just rests her forehead on his instead, her arms draped over his shoulders. "I love you too."

[blackouttwo]

[Arthur's Apartment]

One of Arthur's wings draws itself protectively around Willow as she presses her forehead against his. "Is that all you needed to hear? I could go on." He's trying to crack jokes about it, at least. That usually displays a return of some degree of self-control.

[happyturtle]

Arthur's Apartment

"Last time you said it, we were sort of screaming at each other in a parking lot while your shattered arm dangled out of your suit jacket sleeve. I wasn't sure if it counted."

[blackouttwo]

[Arthur's Apartment]

"I meant every word." He just squeezes Willow's hand and his tail begins to coil around her ankle again. "Every time we've ever kissed, the sole thing at the forefront of my mind has been 'you love her, so don't hurt her.' It's been hell on me, but I did it for good reasons. A lot of good reasons."

[happyturtle]

Arthur's Apartment

"I've been crazy about you since we first met, Tiger. Then you never made a move, no matter how many guys I paraded in front of you. Then when we were finally dating and you took it so slow I was out of my mind insane with wanting you. Then... well... the less said about that particular 18 hours of our life, the better." Willow says.

[blackouttwo]

[Arthur's Apartment]

"Well, at first I avoided the possibility of dating you because...well, you were my boss's daughter. I didn't want to piss Winslow off. But...well, when I came over to your house that one night, I figured a prolonged bombardment of the city was as good as any time." He just smiles at the memory. Granted, it was pretty terrifying at the time, but all things considered, it wasn't exactly a bad move. If nothing else, it made Willow feel a bit more safe.

This is when Arthur realizes something else. His eyes grow to the size of dinner plates again, but he says nothing. Instead, he keeps a certain realization to himself.

Holy crap. I've been treating her like prey the whole freaking time. I made a move when she was terrified enough to think of her dad as a potential doppelganger.

The hell's wrong with me?! Clearly, quite a bit.

[happyturtle]

Arthur's Apartment

"I'm glad you did. But I might have made my own move if you'd waited any longer. I couldn't let the only smart boy I'd ever met get away," Willow says.

[blackouttwo]

[Arthur's Apartment]

"Willow, I'm not that smart. I have a war hero for a dad. Throw in a talent for basic math and an instinctive understanding of weapons brought on by my mother's genetics, and I'm the closest thing to Tony Stark the Nexus is ever going to get." He pauses when he thinks that one through. He did kind of pull an Iron Man routine during the raid on the Not-Yakuza warehouse. " Half the time, I don't even know what my stuff is going to do. It's why I've stuck with weapons research the whole time and never branched out. It's all I'm good at.

This fact bugs him more than the sudden realization that he's been treating Willow like a wolf would a deer for their entire relationship. What else am I going to do with my career now that I've sworn off selling weapons? Probably not a whole lot; making toasters is kind of boring.

[happyturtle]

Arthur's Apartment

"Oh. Okay then. Not smart. Guess we'd better break up then," Willow says, while snuggling into his arms a little more contentedly.

[blackouttwo]

[Arthur's Apartment]

"Yeah, that's not happening anytime soon." He lets her snuggle in a bit more, pushing his doubts aside. The tail coils around her ankle slightly tighter. Don't screw it up. It's the one thing going right for you right now. Just...don't tell her. You love the girl, that's all that matters. The narrator's sure every half-fiend tells themselves that, Arthur.

"So. Still thinking about moving in? The place could use more decoration and you have an eye for it."

[happyturtle]

Arthur's Apartment

Willow thinks about it. It's really too soon. But she really wants to. But it's really really too soon.

"How about I stay for the weekend, and we see how things go?"

[blackouttwo]

[Arthur's Apartment]

"Sound's good. And on that note, I'd like you to meet the rest of my family." He smiles as the tail uncoils from around Willow's ankle. "My dad came and visited me in the hospital after you left. We...got to talking, sorted some things out. He's having this big dinner party, sort of a family get-together. He and mom haven't been in town for a while, and Tori's coming home for a visit, and apparently bringing her boyfriend. I want you to come. Maybe bring your mom and dad, get everyone properly acquainted. I know Uncle Raril and Aunt Zee are coming." Oh, boy. Auntie Cthulhu and Uncle 'I Own The Local Bad Guy Bar!' Arthur's family tree has some interesting people in it.

[DiscipleofBob]

Jace's Place

Zebes takes this one.
It stands for Good League of Good. I believe the redundancy was intended. They've got the whole "supporting those in need" shtick going on. Charity and aid and all that stuff.

Dante considers the GLoG as a possibility, but the name does make it sound like more of a joke. "What would you recommend then?" he asks of both of his hosts.