Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The heat of a hot summer evening rolled off windows overlooking the streets below. Peeking out from behind drawn curtains into the streetlight speckled darkness, a pair of big green eyes scanned for signs of a familiar figure on his way back home from a long day of work. They lingered for a time in the hopes of spying something, though ultimately would become disappointed when nothing was found. Light from the living room was muffled once more as the curtains fell back into place, and those same green eyes spun around to find crimson looking down at them.

"Loid will get home eventually," Yor smiled reassuringly to her daughter. "He said he'd be late today, remember?"

"But it's dark, mama!" Anya furrowed her brows. "Papa always says it's dangerous to be out late by yourself!"

"That may be true, but I don't think we have to worry about your papa, Anya," Yor replied, stifling a giggle.

He could have been captured by a mob boss, or locked in a warehouse with no way to escape! Both were equally possible in Anya's mind, since the only time her papa ever stayed out this late was for really important secret missions. She didn't really get a chance to figure out exactly what he was doing that night though, since he kind of took off in a hurry and didn't give her enough time to read his thoughts. All he said was something came up unexpectedly at work and he had to leave. Mama of course thought he was talking about spychiatrist work, but Anya knew better.

She frowned at her mama. Likewise, Yor drooped a little at how put out Anya was without her father. Things were a bit reversed at the moment; Loid was almost always home first, and it was typically Yor who ended up coming home late more often than not. Her gig as an assassin demanded as such and, even though this whole family set up was supposed to just be a cover, Yor felt guilty for always arriving so late and forcing Loid to do most of the heavy lifting when it came to Anya. True, he was her father after all, but...well, at this point, she was Anya's parent, too.

Yor gave her daughter an apprehensive smile. "How about we stay up and wait for him? I can make us tea and coco!"

Anya's face lit up brighter than the streetlamps outside. "Ooh! Can I have marshmallows in my cup, mama?"

"Mhm," Yor nodded. "And we can put on our PJ's and watch Bondman together until Loid gets home."

The complete one-eighty Anya pulled brought an immediate grin to her mama's face. The smallest Forger went from depressed to elated in no time flat, and raced her mother to the kitchen in order to help her prepare their hot beverages. Jumping over the lounging family dog, Anya forgot all about her papa for a brief moment and instead pretended she was the spy in the family. Darting around the corner beam of the kitchen, she stuck her head in to scope the place out and make sure the coast was clear. Once satisfied, she motioned for the mama to proceed; cautiously, of course.

Yor smiled at her daughter's imagination and filed into the kitchen obediently. She started to grab all the things needed to make everything; kettle, pot, milk, herbs, chocolate, and of course, water. It'd take a little while to get it all going though, so Yor instructed Anya to go ahead and get changed in the meantime. Anya flashed her mama a salute and promptly scurried away towards her room. The resulting shuffle of her feet was enough to perk Bond's interest, and he chased after her. The duo disappeared and reappeared a moment later, this time with Anya fully outfitted for the evening's mission. Together with Bond, she scampered into the living room and turned on the TV. She changed the programming from papa's news to Bondman, and promptly hopped onto the couch right after.

Bond assumed his position at her feet. His big, fluffy tail kept smacking Anya in her leg, but she didn't mind. She had everything she needed at the moment; PJ's, cartoons, doggie, and, of course, mama. Anya looked up at Yor as she walked in a moment later, carrying with her two steaming hot cups. She placed the one with coco in front of her daughter with a smile, then explained she needed to go change herself. Anya obeyed her request to not drink until she got back, though that was easier said than done. Anya stared at the cup in front of her with great interest in her mama's absence. It took everything she had not to reach over and partake, but a good spy knew how to restrain herself. Papa had taught her that much, and he was the greatest spy in the whole world.

Thankfully though, it didn't take Yor long to finish changing. She arrived a little bit later, sporting the same nightgown she always wore to bed. Brandishing a blanket, Yor took up the spot next to her daughter and covered them both with it. Anya gave her mama an open-mouth grin, and Yor likewise beamed back down at her. Quickly, Anya fell into place with her mama; she found a good spot and cuddled up next to her, though not before Yor pulled her feet up like she was riding side-saddle on a horse. Legs tucked underneath her, mama became the ultimate soft pillow.

And that's how it went. For a time, the sounds of capguns on the TV were all that could be heard along with Anya's pointed laughter at whatever shenanigans followed thereafter. Yor sipped her tea pleasantly, not really paying attention to what was going on in the cartoon but smiling at Anya's excitement all the same. Hearing her daughter laugh was the highlight of her time as the Forger mom, and she'd have been hard pressed to pretend otherwise. There was no real shame in it, anyway. After all, Anya was an adorable little girl (despite what Loid might have acted like sometimes).

Thoughts of her fake husband soon captured Yor's attention, though. She admittedly was a little concerned about how late he was; it was far past Anya's usual bedtime and, even though it was a Friday and there would be no school in the morning, Yor still found it odd that he wasn't back to at least tuck her in to bed. For all the grumbling and bemoaning Anya's father did, Loid was very good about making sure she had everything she needed. That included much needed sleep which, Yor supposed, she wasn't being very respectful towards at the moment. He'd probably be upset seeing her up so late, now that she thought about it...

"Papa will be happy to see us, mama!" Anya chimed without breaking eye contact with the TV. "Don't worry!"

Yor blinked. She pried her eyes away from the front door and stared at her daughter for a moment. The little girl continued to snicker at Bondman's antics, and didn't even so much as spare her a glance. With that said, Yor eventually relented and smiled to herself. Loid was right; Anya was very perceptive for a little girl. Perhaps that's just how it was with small children. Yuri was always smart as well, although maybe Yor just lucked out and happened to have a rather intelligent family. A knowing daughter. A dedicated younger brother. A smart, handsome doctor for a husband.

Yor became flustered; she didn't need to add on that handsome part. Embarrassed, Yor sucked her tea down just a little bit faster. She ultimately didn't realize that Anya had heard her thoughts and secretly gave her mama a side-eye grin. Before she could notice though, Anya went right back to being the cute, unassuming daughter again. Besides, reruns of Bondman beckoned. It was the only thing keeping her mind off her papa's absence, besides of course her mama's hot coco. She greedily sucked some down as she sunk deeper into the crook of Yor's lap.

The Forger women remained that way for a time. Despite the lingering mugginess outside, inside their apartment was downright frigid with the A/C on full blast. The blanket became a necessity as the evening progressed, as were refills of tea and coco. It was pleasant and cozy. A Friday night that was almost complete, save for one glaring omission that became more and more noticeable as time went on.

At a certain point, Yor looked up at the clock on the wall and frowned. It was close to 9 o'clock, and still Loid hadn't shown up. Even she started to worry, though made sure to keep a straight face for her daughter's sake. At the very least, Anya seemed too preoccupied with cartoons to realize how much time had passed. And, Yor supposed, it would make it all the more satisfying when her papa finally did come home from work. That is, of course, if something hadn't happened that would cause him to be so late...an accident on his way back? Muggers? Robbers? Murderers?

Yor's head started to spin, but she pulled herself out of it; of course Loid was fine! There was no reason to assume otherwise. He was more than capable of taking care of himself, and she refused to entertain the idea that he'd let himself become the target of some ne'er do wells. Yor shook her head and shirked off any remaining doubts. Loid was probably on his way back right now. Yup, he was probably walking up the stairs at that very moment. Soon, she and Anya would hear the jingle of keys. The knob would turn. Door would open. There, standing in front of them, would be-

-A sudden knock.

Anya hopped in her mama's lap. She blinked, as did Yor, and the two ladies looked at one another. Unsure as to whether or not they heard correctly, they both waited to see if it happened again. The sound of knuckles against wood came again a moment later, except this time as a string in quick succession. Hurried. Forceful. Yor raised a brow and and squeezed her daughter's arm in a silent command to let her up. Anya scooted over obediently and continued to stare at the door as her mama made her way over. More knocking, this time followed by a voice.

"Dammit, I know you're in there Robert! Answer the door!"

A woman. She didn't sound all too happy, either, though Yor had no idea who Robert was. Wrong door, most likely. Yor deflated slightly; she felt a little less on edge now. She wasn't particularly thrilled about answering the door at such a late hour however, and couldn't help her expression from souring a little as she unlocked it and turned the knob. A blonde woman's face appeared as the door swung open. She stood a little taller than Yor, and wore a short haircut that went just above her shoulders. A fancy coat covered her, and she gave the impression of someone...not pleasant.

The moment Yor appeared before her, the stranger's eyes zeroed in on her. "Who the hell are you?!"

"Excuse me?" Yor narrowed her gaze. What a rude woman. "I'll ask you to watch your language in front of my daughter."

"Daughter?" the woman's eyes widened. She looked over Yor's shoulder to find Anya there staring from the couch. "...I need to talk to Robert, now."

"There's no one with that name who lives here," Yor replied tersely. She gripped the doorknob tightly. "Just my husband and I, our daughter, and our dog."

Bond boofed at the mention of him. He stretched on the floor before standing tall as he always did. The Forger hound waddled over next to Yor and sat obediently, ready to look intimidating should the need arise. The woman glanced at Bond and seemed only slightly put off by his presence. She was still mostly focused on Yor though, and gave the woman a look that did not at all seem friendly.

"I've been looking for Robert for months," the woman growled. "I know he lives here! You can't fool me!"

"My husband's name is Loid," Yor corrected coldly. Her fingers twitched. "I told you, there's no Robert here. Please leave."

The woman tilted her head slightly. She scanned Yor up and down, then Bond, then gave Anya one final glance. "If that's the case, can I talk to Loid?"

"No, he's out at the moment." At this point, Yor was already starting to shut the door. "My daughter and I are waiting for him to come home, now if you'll please excuse us..."

Silently watching from the sidelines, Anya clamored over herself to get a better look at the stranger before mama closed the door on her. She gave a nasty look before being unceremoniously evicted from the Forger residence, and Yor gave a heavy sigh as she locked everything up behind her. Again, Anya didn't get a chance to read anybody's thoughts. It all happened too quickly. Even if she had enough time, Anya probably wouldn't have; admittedly, she was a little shaken up at the moment. It must have been obvious, too, since mama looked at her and smiled reassuringly.

"It's alright, Anya," Yor eased. She flattened out her nightgown a bit. "Some people just don't know how to act when they're clearly mistaken."

"Who's Robert?" Anya piped up. She hid her face in the armrest, with only her eyes peeking out to view her mama with.

Yor shrugged. "Well, whoever he is, it sounds like the two of them had a falling out."

"A falling out?" Anya furrowed her brows in confusion. "What'd they fall out of?"

Yor shook her head and smiled. "That just means they got into a fight or argument and stopped talking to each other."

Anya's eyes widened. "Promise you and papa won't have a falling out, mama?"

"Of course not," Yor reassured her. "I don't think there's anything Loid could do that would make me stop talking to him."

Anya picked her head up and smiled in relief. Yor giggled a little and motioned to the shared spot on the sofa. There was quickly a reshuffle of bodies; Yor assumed her position, followed by Anya atop her and Bond at their feet. Within a minute, they had picked back up where they left off. Lukewarm drinks. Cartoons. Cuddling. Still no papa, but neither Yor nor Anya focused on it too much. Mama was more than enough at the moment, Anya thought to herself fondly. Sometimes she forgot how cool she could be sometimes, and it took things like her handling the crazy lady to make her remember that from time to time. Anya pried her eyes from the TV to look up at Yor, and spared her a pink-faced smile. Mama gave her the same look, before both looked back to continue watching Bondman once more.

Once her foot touched concrete, Karen spun around to look up at the stairs she'd just descended.

Maybe she'd handled things a bit too roughly. Maybe Robert wasn't living in this particular apartment building like she thought he was. The info that some of her daddy's boys had given her seemed reliable at the time, but at the end of the day nothing was one hundred percent. They'd warned her as much, but she didn't listen. All she wanted was to see Robert again. That woman, the one who answered the door, kind of got caught up in things. For once, Karen felt a little guilty. She should've let up, at least for the little girl's sake, anyway.

She still didn't like the look that woman gave her though.

Karen had half a mind to confront her further, but knew that wasn't the way to go about things. Over the past few months, she'd admittedly learned a little bit of the importance of patience. If not, she'd have simply given up on the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. It would have been a very Karen thing to do; toss something aside and get something new, just like her daddy used to do for her when she was a child. Toy broke? Get a new one. School was too hard? Drop out and get a private tutor. Even as an adult the same held true, except with the one thing she really wanted.

Karen gave a frustrated sigh. She turned back around to start marching home. Back to the hotel where she'd only just arrived at hours before, and would continue to remain until she finally could track down Robert. Confront him. Ask him why he left in the first place, before begging him to come back with her. Make amends to daddy. Clear up the static. Get back together and, ultimately, live happily ever after.

She wasn't a starry-eyed little girl. Her time orchestrating small time crimes from her daddy's shadow had toughened her up somewhat. Things weren't so blindly cut-and-dry, but they could be for the right price. Money. Resources. Power. Everyone was looking for something and whatever the reason was that Robert had left her for, Karen knew she could sate it somehow. She was so sure of it, in fact, that she'd come all this way out on her own. No entourage. None of the usual goons to surround her and make her seem more intimidating than she really was. She didn't need it.

She'd find Robert with her own strength, relatively speaking of course. Being rich was certainly a strength, as was being well connected. A quick ring on the phone was all the insurance policy she need should things turn south for whatever reason, and it was enough to make Karen more than confident in herself. She smirked before taking off; she dug her hands into her expensive fur coat and resolved herself to try again tomorrow, preferably much earlier in the day. She couldn't restrain herself from immediately coming over, though admitted it was a bad idea doing so this late.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't really pay attention to what was going on in front of her. There were still people in the streets, and she absently walked past many of them. Lamplight made things difficult to see on top of that, so there was little reason for her to really pay attention. Karen came to the intersection and waited for the sign to cross, casting glances here and there to pass the time. No one was on the other side of the street, save for one person in a long coat and bowler hat. Again, not worth the time to pay attention to.

The light turned green. She walked forward with several others around her.

As she came to the middle of the street, she passed by the individual as he walked in the opposite direction. By complete chance, she looked over at time just in time to catch his half-obscured face; piercing blue eyes, with frayed blonde hair poking out from underneath his hat. Karen continued to walk. It was late. She'd had a long day. It didn't hit her until she arrived at the other end of the crosswalk, but by then it was already too late. She spun around and found the man was already walking away, in the same direction she'd just departed from.

Karen's eyes widened. She watched him, breathless, as he shambled towards the apartment complex from before. Tired. Haggard, he removed his hat before opening the door to let himself inside. A face, one she hadn't seen in so long, revealed itself under the streetlights. He didn't have his glasses on, but he couldn't fool Karen. She'd seen him many times before without them, and if Robert thought that would be enough to shake her off his tail then he had another thing coming. In a split second he disappeared from her, and immediately Karen knew she had been right.

"That bitch!" she hissed under her breath. Karen's blood boiled. She wanted to march over and confront them, but stopped herself.

She knew for sure where he lived now. Robert wasn't going anywhere, and she could stay in town as long as it took.

Patience. It was still new to her. Without another word she turned to walk away, resolving herself to return.

This was far from over.

Chapter Text

Sitting at the table, head resting on intertwined fists, Loid stared down at his coffee.

He hadn't gotten much sleep last night. There was no denying that he needed it, though there was no way he could find the peace of mind needed to actually pass out like he wanted to. Most of his night was spent alone in his room mulling over just how he could have possibly slipped up this badly. At what point did he cease to become Westalis' greatest agent, and instead parade his identity and location around to every goon, thug, and crook in the city like some kind of third rate spy like that infuriating Daybreak? Where did he go wrong? When did it happen?

The news couldn't have come at a worse time. He'd come home far later than he expected or wanted to, and was greeted by Yor and Anya in their PJ's. It wasn't the worst thing in the world; true he was knee-deep in filth from dealing with some of Ostania's worst scum (a sordid business with a human trafficking ring), but seeing the two of them hop up excitedly in his presence was enough to put him at ease somewhat. Those good feelings quickly went out the window though when he started to decompress, however. Loid shed his coat and hat. He collapsed onto his chair. Yor brought him a cup of tea. He smiled, as did she and Anya, and they asked him about his day. He made up some lie about working at the ward, before politely asking them how their evening went.

Good, they explained. Although a strange lady came knocking on the door asking for a man named Robert.

Loid paused. He thought for a moment; surely it couldn't have been the person that immediately flashed into his head. A good spy never leaves anything to chance though, so casually he brought it up a little while later after some time had passed. What did the lady look like? Oh, blonde with short hair. A mean face, he heard his daughter add. Said she'd been looking for this Robert person for months. The more he heard, the quieter Loid got. He did his best to keep anything from showing on his face, though inside he was having the mother of all panic attacks.

The thought had plagued him all night; he knew exactly who had come knocking on his door while he was out.

Loid looked into the black liquid in his cup and scowled. The sound of morning dishes being cleaned and put away rang out behind him, and even lost in thought he did his best to keep his face hidden from Yor. She hummed as she usually did while doing chores, and hearing it only made his head throb more with frustration; not at her, though. Not at his wife, nor their daughter who (annoyingly) was making all sorts of noise while playing with Bond in the living room. His family wasn't the problem, no. His anger was pointed at the one woman whose presence could upend everything he'd worked for in an instant.

Not just the Forgers, but all of Westalis and Ostania as well.

It took everything Loid had not to slam his fist into the table. He knew he should have dispatched Karen's father when he had the chance. If he had just pulled the trigger and ended things right then and there, none of this would have happened. Instead, he'd gotten soft. He showed weakness. He'd let that bastard Edgar live, and now he was suffering the consequences for it.

Hot air rushed from Loid's nose as he exhaled and stared absently at Anya from across the room. The sight of her happy face and carefree play made him growl silently to himself; he knew that was cold, even for an undercover agent. Looking at it from a parent's perspective, he admittedly squirmed at the idea of him being killed during a mission and having Anya grow up knowing her father was murdered in some way. The same applied to Karen, although he was far less sympathetic towards her case. Not enough to make him regret not pulling the trigger, but just barely.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what her endgame was; convince him (Robert) to get back with her and get married, or some ridiculous nonsense like that. Never mind the fact that he was already married, and never mind the fact that Robert was just a cover the same way Loid Forger was; neither identity existed except to the people he needed to believe they did. Robert was dead and buried. All that was left was Loid Forger, and once Operation Strix was completed that persona would be tossed aside as well. There was no man to love, really.

Twilight was just a shell, one that was only alive in the loosest of terms.

Loid deflated a bit. He glanced back down at the table and his eyes twisted in disgust with himself. What was he doing? The reflection in his coffee stared back up at him, and he couldn't help but to lament how terrible he looked. Bags under his eyes. Uncertainty looming over him. The constant struggle of maintaining his personal and professional personas, it was all almost palpable.

Maybe Yor and Anya couldn't see it, but to him it was clear as day. He was cracking from the pressure of it all, and he was at his wits end. Karen was just the tip of the iceberg; his downward spiral was already well into progress by the time she came along, evidenced by the fact that he'd let his home become compromised so easily without his knowing. His wife. His daughter. It didn't matter that they were fake. It was still his job to protect them; what if it hadn't been Karen who came knocking, but instead an SSS agent? A counter-spy? A criminal? What if Yor had opened the door expecting him, and instead was greeted with a barrel to the face and instructions to comply with whatever was asked of her, or else? The idea shook him to his core. He was terrified.

"Loid?" a voice called out, snapping him back to reality. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Of course," Loid replied automatically. He looked over his shoulder to find Yor standing there. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you're tired," Yor frowned. She pointed to the full cup in front of him. Loid stared. "And you haven't so much as touched your coffee, yet."

The cogs in his head turned. He was too busy being Twilight at the moment. He needed to be Loid Forger. "Being tired is all part of my job, but I appreciate the concern, Yor."

He smiled at his wife before lifting up his mug for a drawn out sip. Warm cofee ran down his throat, and he made it a point to look at Yor as he drank. She made a face at him, and Loid couldn't help but to mull over it; Karen would have never given him a look like that. She wouldn't have batted an eye if he gave her a reply as halfhearted as the one he gave Yor, but his wife was a different story altogether. She gazed at him with concern and disapproval, and the sight of it was enough to make him stop drinking altogether and flash a genuine smile in her direction.

"I'll take it easy today," Loid reassured her. "I promise."

Yor scanned her husband's face. Once satisfied with his response, she gave him a smile of her own. With a nod, Yor left him to go tend to the laundry. Loid followed her with his eyes before she disappeared around the corner, and he let out a sigh. Even now, head clouded with ill thoughts and doubt, Loid knew what he needed to do. He had to nip the situation in the bud before it blew up in his face, although the proposition was a daunting one; there were several routes he could take with this, but the easiest and most obvious of them was the one he dreaded taking the most.

It would be for the good of his family, though. For the good of Operation Strix.

He'd wait until Yor got done with folding clothes. In the meantime he'd try to enjoy his coffee for a change, to middling results. It was lukewarm at that point, but he didn't really feel like getting up to pour himself more. Instead he remained seated and watched Anya rough house with the dog. Bond wrestled free from his owner's weak grip and hopped up on top of her. His tail wagged as he pinned her effortlessly to the floor and parked his rear end firmly on her back. Anya giggled, out of breath, as she tried in vain to roll out from under him. Loid could only shake his head and smirk.

It went on like that for a time. Honestly Loid could have let them continue (lord knows Anya needed the physical activity), but the sounds of their playing would inevitably bother the downstairs neighbors. After a few minutes of watching them, Loid called out to his daughter from the dining room. It was time to hit the books for a little while. He already anticipated her grumbling when it started up, and instantly countered with a promise to take them all to the park later if she got her homework done. After that, it didn't take long for Anya to scurry back into her room to study.

At the same time, Yor spared her daughter a smile on her way back into the living room. For once, things worked out well enough. Anya's door closed, and it was just him and Yor now. He needed to speak to her in private, but didn't want to make it obvious by asking Anya to leave without any context. Otherwise she would have stuck her nose in things, though he supposed he'd have to fill her in eventually. For now though, he called out to his wife and asked her to take a seat. He wanted to talk to her about something. She tilted her head in bewilderment, but complied nonetheless.

"What is it Loid?" Yor placed her hands in her lap and looked at her husband earnestly.

Loid was silent for a moment. This was a delicate matter. He had to play his part to a tee. "I have a confession to make."

Yor's eyes widened a bit. Her pulse quickened slightly as Loid looked at her with a solid stare. She squirmed. "...A confession? About what?"

"I know who that woman was last night," he replied grimly. Loid ducked his head a little, knowing full well that his wife's heart must have stopped altogether.

"Y-you do...?" If Yor's eyes weren't big before, they certainly were now. Immediately a mountain of thoughts collapsed on top of her. She had no idea where to start with them.

"Yes, her name is Karen," Loid lifted his face up and looked Yor straight in her eyes. "She's one of my patients at the psych ward, and I'm fairly certain she's become delusional."

Yor blinked. She stared at Loid as he continued to do the same with a solid look in his face. It took a second for his words to register in her scrambled brain, but once they did she deflated almost immediately. Yor let out a quiet sigh of relief to herself; for a second there she thought he was going to say something crazy like that woman was his ex-girlfriend or something. The idea of Loid being with someone like that was completely insane, and she briefly admonished herself for believing otherwise, if even for a moment. Her husband was better than that...er, that is to say, her fake husband.

"Why didn't you say anything about it yesterday?" Yor asked as her senses came back to her. It wasn't a pointed question; she just genuinely wanted to know.

"I was exhausted, and on top of that I didn't want to scare Anya," Loid reasoned. Honestly it wasn't too far off the mark. That, and he wasn't sure it was Karen to begin with.

Yor nodded. She glanced at the table for a moment. "Okay...so why did she come over to our apartment and demand to speak to Robert? Who is he?"

"An ex-lover, from what I gather." It was cover-story time. "They broke up months ago, and it affected her hard. I believe she's going through a bit of an episode right now."

"Oh dear," Yor frowned. She laced her fingers together. "Had I known that I wouldn't have been so terse with her yesterday! I feel awful right now!"

Loid's eye twitched slightly. It wasn't his intention to make Yor feel guilty. "It's not your fault, it's mine. Apparently I look very similar to him, and now she has it in her head that I'm him."

"She thinks you're Robert?" Yor echoed. Loid nodded, and her face twisted a bit. "I still don't understand how she knows where you live, though."

"Neither do I," Loid sighed. "That's why I need to take care of things before they turn into a problem. At the same time however, I have to keep my patient's well being in mind. That's why I was hoping to ask you for your help."

"My help?" Yor covered her mouth. She was no doctor. She didn't know the first thing about treating patients, except for that concussive therapy Loid had taught her. She didn't want to hurt anybody, but if it was for Karen's well being, then...

...Loid's voice pulled her out of her violent thoughts. "I think the best course of action is to play into her delusion somewhat. If I pretend I'm Robert and confront her, it may be enough to make her come to her senses."

Yor nodded. That made sense, or at least it sounded like it did, anyway. Again, she wasn't a doctor. "Alright, but what do you want me to do?"

Loid looked to his wife. The moment of truth. "Honestly, nothing too different from what you're doing now. Just act like your Robert's wife whenever she's around, and I'll handle the rest. Could you do that for me?"

"Of course," Yor agreed quickly with a nod. Her eyes steeled with resolve. "If there's one thing I can do well at this point, it's pretending to be your wife!"

"Robert's wife," Loid corrected with a smirk. It grew when Yor's cheeks pinked with embarrassment at her mistake. "But you're right. I knew I could count on you, Yor. Thank you."

Yor gave her husband that red-faced beam she sometimes graced him with, and Loid couldn't help but to ease at the sight of it. They'd sort through all this together (whether she knew it or not) and then go back to being a normal family. All Loid had to do from this point on was fulfill his part of the charade, which he was more than confident in doing. He'd fooled Karen once before, and it wasn't going to be difficult doing it a second time. Despite whatever Loid might have said about Yor, she was leaps and bounds more intelligent than his ex; Karen was never the sharpest tool in the shed.

"Oh!" Yor piped up suddenly. "What about Anya, though? Where's she going to fit in all this?"

Loid blinked. Right. His daughter. Again, Yor proved she could be intuitive. "I'll talk with her. We'll say that she was your daughter from a previous marriage."

Yor nodded; so the Forger family would be shuffled around, somewhat. On the one hand it would be kind of confusing keeping up with the correct persona the whole time, but on the other hand it would also be satisfying being able to help out Loid with his work. This whole business with Karen was just another thing to add to his laundry list of things to do, and anything she could do to help giver her husband some relief Yor would agree to without hesitation. Maybe, she hoped, this would put a little spring in his step after all was said and done. She knew he was tired and wanted to change that.

"Ah, I forgot," Loid mused aloud. "I told her I'd take her to the park if she did her homework."

Yor refocused. She looked to Loid and smiled. "Did you? Well, if you want, I can make us some sandwiches and we can eat lunch outside then?"

Loid narrowed his eyes in thought, before relenting with a smile as well. "Sure, I've got nothing going on today. Getting some fresh air would probably do us some good, anyway."

Yor agreed pleasantly, and the two of them nodded before breaking to attend to things in preparation for their picnic. Yor made her way to the kitchen while Loid started to make his way back to his room, but the latter stopped just before turning the corner. He paused and thought about something important. Loid looked to his wife through the window above the kitchen sink and smiled flatly.

"On second thought, Yor...maybe I should make lunch?" he reasoned. Already he could see her pulling out things that should not involve sandwiches.

The peanut butter seemed fine. Onions and artichokes though, not so much. "...R-right, of course. Sorry, Loid..."

Loid shook his head. His smile remained however, and he kept it as he shambled back in order to help his wife. The sounds of pantry doors opening and closing mixed with continued apologies from Yor. Preparations for the day's outing were back on schedule, though it would probably be a while before they made it out anyway. Loid took his time, mostly because Yor kept distracting him with conversation though the prospect wasn't unwelcome; he'd have been lying if he said it wasn't refreshing going at his own pace for a change.

For a few precious moments at least, he forgot all about the looming presence of his crazy ex-girlfriend.

Chapter Text

Beneath the shade of a tall oak, atop a rolling hill in the middle of the biggest park in town, the Forgers staked their claim.

With a small breeze blowing just hard enough to make the heat outside bearable, the midday sun beat down all around them. Anticipating such a situation, Loid and Yor had made sure to pack all that they might need to stave off the summer elements; plenty of water (and a bowl for Bond), a basket stuffed with cold food from the fridge, and a chilled bottle of wine (for mama and papa). Everything else, which included a blanket to sit down on, another basket for cutlery, and a collection of various toys that Anya had brought with her, was carried equally among the three of them. They also dressed appropriately for the occasion, with Loid sporting shorts and a hat and the girls wearing matching sundresses.

Loid knew exactly which spot to go to, and immediately made it his mission to get there before anyone else. Yor and Anya smiled at each other as they trailed behind his quick and steady pace, Loid's calm face standing in sharp contrast to his irrational need to have the perfect spot for a picnic. Well, irrational to Yor, anyway (she thought it was cute regardless). Anya meanwhile snickered to herself as she read her papa's thoughts and discovered why it was so important to him; a perfect picnic spot meant a perfect picnic, and a perfect picnic meant optimal family bonding time. A necessity for Operation Strix.

Reasoning aside, no one else in the park seemed to care about that spot on the hill, though Loid would take no chances. Bond at his side, dog and master made a b-line for it before anyone could change their minds. There were no rival fathers waiting for Loid when he got there, and he quickly dropped anchor upon arrival. Yor and Anya caught up with them soon after, and together they setup for the afternoon. Anya helped her mama spread out the blanket and grabbed the doggie bowl, while Loid gathered all the food, plates, and cups for lunch.

Sandwiches, cheeses, and various fruits were on the menu, along with a bag of peanuts that Yor made sure to add without Loid's knowing. He pretended not to notice, or at the very least didn't say anything when Anya's eyes widened and she immediately dug into it before anything else. She knew full well that her papa would get upset with her if she didn't touch the rest of the food though, which is why she stashed some peanuts in her pocket for later and forced herself to eat other stuff, too. Not to say that it wasn't yummy; papa made lunch today, so she didn't have to worry about being poisoned.

Loid made sure Bond got his fill, too. Anya poured him some water while papa opened a can of kibble and dumped it into his bowl. Despite clearly wanting to partake in sandwiches with the rest of the family, Bond behaved. He sniffed his food before chowing down obediently, and Anya laid on her belly and watched him eat. Loid and Yor both nibbled, though neither were particularly hungry. The food would stay cold for a little while longer. There was no real rush to eat, and really the only reason they started with food first was because Anya would be too busy playing later to care.

As if on cue, Anya hopped up once her dog was finished eating and immediately took off down the hill. Bond barked in excitement and quickly took chase, leaving mama and papa to watch from afar as they went off to play. Yor smiled from ear-to-ear, while Loid simply shook his head and gave a quiet sigh. Once Bond and Anya had made it a fair distance, Loid dug into one of the baskets and pulled out a book. He scooted back until he was up against the oak tree, and propped his head against his arm behind him. Yor glanced at him over her shoulder and tilted her head.

"What's that you're reading?" she inquired. Yor scanned the title of the book; Children's Study ABC.

"Something I picked up from the library," he replied without looking up. Actually, he'd gotten it from Franky.

"For Anya?" Yor prodded further, and she giggled when Loid nodded absently. "You really are a great father, Loid."

Loid glanced up from his book and raised a brow, finding Yor smiling at him. "I'm just doing what anyone else would do, Yor."

Yor shook her head. "You're always trying to better yourself for her sake. I suppose all dads do, but you always go that extra mile."

Loid stared at his wife for a moment before refocusing on his book, only this time sporting a poorly hidden smirk. He could feel Yor's eyes still on him, and he pretended not to notice as he tried in vain to comprehend the text in front of him. If only she knew he was doing this to get closer to Donovan Desmond, and not because he wanted Anya to be some kind of A+ student. Yor probably wouldn't have thought so highly of him then, though he supposed there was no use in thinking about that. Her knowing his true goal wasn't an option, so for now he'd accept whatever accolades she'd give him. Loid would have been lying if he said her praise wasn't a shot in the arm, and at times he'd go so far as to say that they gave him the push he needed to stay confident in completing his mission.

Lost in thought, he failed to notice as Yor reached over and started to fish out her own little picnic activity from one of the baskets. It wasn't until he felt a finger poke him in the shoulder that he looked up, finding his wife smiling sheepishly at him with the wine bottle in her hand. She brandished it in his direction, and he already knew what she wanted. He set his book down beside him.

"Did you bring the key?" he asked, which Yor answered by pulling out a corkscrew from the rest of the cutlery.

If there was one thing Loid was good at (along with everything else he was good at), it was pouring wine. Fondly, Yor recalled his first meeting with her brother as she watched him take the bottle from her hand and start to remove the tinfoil from its lip. His story of going to another country during his years as a medical student and sampling the wine from a little street shop, it had all sounded so romantic to her at the time. Even now, she smiled as her fake husband effortlessly removed the cork from the bottle and poured white wine into two glasses that he cupped with one hand.

"You already know what I'm going to say, right?" Loid deadpanned as he handed one of them to Yor. She smiled flatly.

"...I'll behave," she promised. A glass or two wasn't going to put her under the table. Any more than that, though, and...well...

Yor felt something hit the glass in her hand and quickly looked down to find Loid clanging his against it. She then looked up at him and saw his smile, which resulted in her cheeks warming from the sight. She hadn't even started drinking yet, and already it looked like she was flustered. With a sigh and rosy cheeks, she toasted with Loid and the two partook in a noon-time drink. Far from the eyes of Anya, who, had she been there, would have begged for a taste herself. It wouldn't have been the first time, and certainly not the first time mama and papa had told her no.

Loid reclined backwards and assumed his position once more. Yor meanwhile brought her legs around beside her and elected to watch Anya from afar. Glass in hand, she continued to smile as their daughter played with Bond off in the distance. She lingered on the sight for a while before sparing Loid a glance behind her, and she couldn't help but to feel like this was all too perfect. A tiny part of her still vaguely recalled the whole situation with Karen, but for the life of her she couldn't bring herself to spare it a thought. It wasn't a priority right now.

All that mattered at the moment was the Forgers were having a good time.

She closed her eyes and happily took another sip of wine.

The siren call of a lonely nightingale is what eventually forced shuttered eyes open.

A scene of splayed plates and half-eaten food lay in front of Yor as she blinked away the haze that surrounded her post-nap brain. A singing bird had awoken her, but it was the heat that made sure she didn't suddenly fall back asleep. With that said, it wasn't necessarily the temperature outside that made things borderline uncomfortable; it actually had more to do with the fact that her body heat combined with that of another, something she didn't realize right away. Not until she finally came to her senses and noticed that her head was resting against Loid's shoulder.

He sat there where she had left him before passing out, against the oak tree with a book in his hand. His arm didn't act as a pillow anymore, however. Instead, it rested around her while he continued to read. His hat was gone now, but that was honestly the last thing on Yor's mind at the moment. Immediately, her wine-flushed face turned redder than merlot. Her first instinct was to jump up and get as far away from Loid as possible, but was stopped at the last second by the feeling of a weight that anchored the lower half of her body to the ground.

Yor looked down and found Anya laying there with Loid's hat covering her face to keep the sun out. Much like the night before, she used her as a pillow. The rest of her took up whatever little space remained between Yor and Loid, the three of them huddled together beneath the tree. Yor's head spun. Anya had her pinned and, though she didn't mind cuddling with her daughter, cuddling with her husband was not an option. Though, that would imply that she had options. As far as she could tell, there was no getting out of this; she was trapped, something that Loid seemed to know all too well as he suddenly became aware of her presence. He turned his head to face her. She stared at him, still red, and held her breath. He got a little red, too, but didn't seem all that put off by it.

"Hey, you're awake," he commented. "You knocked out hard."

Yor's lips trembled. Her face was just inches from Loid's. "H-how did we get like this?"

"Well..." Loid tried to be nice about it. "...You put the bottle to bed. Anya was tired, and the two of you passed out together."

All of a sudden, Yor wanted to disappear off the face of the earth. She'd gotten sloshed in front of Loid again. "I-I see. But, um, your arm...?"

She glanced at his arm around her and promptly hid her face. This time, Loid's face grew a bit more red. "You were out for a while. My arm fell asleep, sorry..."

He started to pull it away from her, but the movement caused Anya to stir. Yor immediately shook her head. "No, it's fine! I don't want to wake Anya up. It's...not a big deal, anyway."

It really wasn't a big deal, or at least it shouldn't have been. They were pretending to be husband and wife; something as simple as being near each other like this was one of the minimum requirements to being married, though knowing that didn't make it any easier on Yor. She turned away to hide from Loid's gaze, and he likewise did the same. Burying himself in his book, Loid said not a word. Yor meanwhile looked down at Anya in her lap and couldn't help but to feel like she was overreacting. This was nothing. This whole family of theirs was just a front. It didn't mean anything.

Even so...she could definitely do better.

Yor's eyes twisted; she suddenly found herself thinking about Karen again. From what Loid had told her, she really seemed to love Robert. They weren't even married, and yet she had made it her mission to find him and get back together. Of course it was all a delusion, but even then Yor found it sort of admirable that Karen would put it all on the line for someone like that. As far as her own marriage was concerned...she couldn't really compare to that. What exactly would she do for Loid? Or, rather, what had she done for him? As a wife, real or fake, what did she have to offer?

Well, she kept the house clean. That was a start. And she'd gotten a bit better at cooking, at least to where she didn't make anybody sick long-term anymore. Aside from that though, Yor struggled to think of anything else that would make her wife-worthy. As far as putting on a convincing act for both her and Loid's sake, Yor seemed to fail across the board. He always picked up her slack. She, meanwhile, couldn't so much as touch him without turning into a red-faced mess. Even now, she hated herself for acting like this. They were just sitting together, acting like the family they were supposed to be. Anya had no qualms about any of it, and the only reason Loid ever got flustered was because Yor herself was the one who blew things out of proportion.

Yor took a deep breath. She spared her daughter one more glance, before looking up at Loid.

This wasn't bad. She said it again to herself; nothing about this situation was bad. Was it embarrassing? Well, yes, but it didn't have to be. Yor steadied herself as she stared at her fake husband, his eyes still glued to the text in front of him. He probably noticed (he always seemed to know when people were watching him), but if he did he didn't say anything. Yor took it as an opportunity to sort of desensitize herself to him. Maybe the longer she stayed like this with Loid, the less of a mess she'd be around him in general?

Being so close to him, Yor could hear his breath; the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest, the feeling of his pulse against her cheek, it all synced up with her own. Blood rushed to her face as usual, but she didn't pull away. Yor forced herself to stay and experience all of it. She let her head roll and leaned more into Loid's shoulder, giving her a better angle to view the corner of his eyes with. They were usually cold blue, but sometimes a darker hue in the right light. Now was one of those times, and she ended up losing herself in them like ocean water.

She could do this.

Yor felt as though she could stay like this, watching her husband, indefinitely. Anya, however, quickly put stop to that. Still asleep, she squirmed in Yor's lap to get more comfortable. An elbow went where it shouldn't have, and Yor inevitably had to move to accommodate her. It was at that point Loid glanced over at his wife and caught her at the worst possible time. Mid-shuffle, her face came in closer to his, if that were even possible. His eyes caught hers immediately, and both of them froze. Anya murmured in her sleep, none the wiser, as mama and papa stared at each other.

Yor's first instinct was to run away. Hop up. Apologize profusely to Loid, before of course apologizing to Anya for waking her up in her mad dash to escape. Even now, as Yor's cheeks turned the same color as her sanguine eyes, she wanted nothing more. Loid's silence encouraged her, and she started to shift away from her family before suddenly catching herself at the last possible second.

No, she repeated in her head. You can do this.

Yor gulped. It was the only action she could muster that didn't involve breaking away. Her heart beat faster in her chest. It killed her to look Loid in the eyes, but she forced herself to anyway. After staying frozen for a short time, Yor slowly started to ease. She inched back to her previous spot on her husband's shoulder. Never once did she break away from him, even as Loid's calm started to waver. Yor simply stared up at him innocently as his cheeks quickly started to turn red under her gaze.

"Loid?" she asked suddenly. Her voice was quiet, so as to not wake Anya. "How long have we been married?"

"...Uh, going on half a year?" Loid replied, sounding uncharacteristically unsure of himself. He had no idea what this was about.

Yor grew quiet. Loid raised a brow a moment later when she clutched his sleeve and curled more into him. "In all that time...we've never gotten this close, right?"

"R-right," he nodded. Was this some sort of trick question? Did he upset her with the whole arm thing? Damn. That was it, wasn't it? Now he had to smooth things over before-

"-We should do it more often," Yor continued, causing Loid's brain to stop functioning for a second, before adding, "to keep up appearances, I mean. So no one suspects anything."

Loid blinked as his senses came back to him. He looked to Yor and found her there still huddled beneath his arm. Face scarlet. Lips frazzled. She looked like she was about to break at any moment, but still somehow managed to keep it all together. For some reason, that alone was enough to knock Loid off his feet; the Yor he knew would never say or do anything like this. She didn't know the first thing about being in a relationship, let alone pretending to be in one. It made this whole charade of theirs all the more difficult to pull off, but he never really minded. Yor was always just...Yor.

Right now though, for the first time, she was really doing her best to act the part.

Gazing on her then, Loid failed to hide his tiny smirk. The sight of it only served to make Yor even more embarrassed, but he either didn't notice or quite frankly didn't care. His arm suddenly pulled her in tighter, and Yor let out a tiny squeak as she, Loid, and Anya all bunched up together. Off to the side, Bond let out a disinterested yawn as he watched it all unfold before unceremoniously laying back down for another nap.

Yor gripped her husband tighter; she quickly gave up on looking at him and instead stared off into space in a last ditch effort to remain calm. Loid stopped talking after that. He resumed his reading and pretended not to notice just how hot her face felt. Part of Yor wanted to thank him for that, though the part of her that remained in control would do no such thing. She just sat there in a puddle of blush with her daughter in her lap, the two of them tucked into her husband nice and neat like puzzle pieces. It was all too much for her to process.

Eventually, after taking a few minutes to breathe, Yor did end up settling down somewhat. Only slightly of course, since there was no way she'd ever truly get over just how distraught she felt at the moment. It was just enough to where, when Loid eventually did look over and found her still looking like a deer caught in headlights, Yor at least had the strength to look back up at him and smile a little. He really did know how hard this was for her. He wasn't making fun of her for it. He was being supportive, like he always was, and it only made Yor admire him even more.

"Thank you," she murmured. Their noses were practically touching they were so close. It took everything she had to remain coherent. "I know I'm a mess."

Loid stayed silent. He peered into her eyes and gave her a look she couldn't quite pin down. "We've all got our obstacles to overcome, Yor."

Air rushed through Yor's nose in a quiet laugh to herself. "Some obstacle! How am I supposed to be a convincing wife like this?"

"Well, you've got me," Loid replied. Yor's eyes widened, and immediately he clarified, "I'll help you however I can."

Yor blinked away her surprise, before offering her husband a warm smile. "Thank you, Loid. It really means a lot to me."

Loid offered her the same. "Of course. You're my wife, after all. What kind of husband would I be if I didn't do my best to support you?"

He'd help her get over this eventually, for the sake of the mission. Yor was right; if they never so much as held hands in public, people would start to suspect something was up. It's what Loid told himself as he continued to sit there with Yor, their faces hovering closer than they'd ever had before. Sweat beaded on their foreheads, and he'd resigned himself to blame it on the summer heat. Nothing more. That was the only logical reason, though even he had to admit his face was hotter than he expected. Yor's too, though at this point he was used to seeing it red.

They both stopped talking after that. Anya squirmed between them, but Loid barely paid attention. Yor didn't seem to either. She just continued smiling at him with lidded eyes as he did the same. The breeze picked up and whipped around them, causing Yor's hair to flicker. She absently tried to reign it in, and Loid's fingers suddenly twitched at the sight. Before he even realized what he was doing, he found himself reaching over to brush the loose strands back from his wife's face. Yor saw his hand approach and flinched. She held her breath.

Loid could only feel the slightest tease of soft locks at his fingertips before he suddenly froze at the sound of someone else's voice.

"Nice to see you again, Loid."

His eyes shot wide open, as did Yor's. Both immediately looked over to see a familiar woman standing in front of them; freshly so for Yor, though Loid hadn't seen that face in nearly half a year. It caught him completely off guard, and he gaped at the sight of short blonde hair and lithe frame. She looked just as he remembered her, albeit much more confident than before. Hands on her hips, she loomed over the Forgers with a look that was equal parts smug and angry. For the longest few seconds of his life, Loid could only stare, dumbfounded, as Karen re-entered his life in an instant.

Shit.

Chapter Text

Loid jumped.

It was a knee-jerk reaction, and had he been more in control of himself at the moment he wouldn't have done so. He was still tangled up in Yor and Anya, and ended up sending his daughter flying into his wife's lap. Yor meanwhile lost any semblance of calm they'd worked towards and let everything all out at once; she waved her arms, cupped her cheeks, and turned into a gibbering mess as Loid stood between her and Karen. At first, his expression was a mixture of fluster and fury. There was no hiding that, no matter how good a spy he was; he wasn't happy at the moment.

As the milliseconds ticked by, Loid reined himself in. He exhaled and calmed himself quickly, even as a commotion continued on behind him.

"WHOZZAT?!" Anya exclaimed bleary eyed. She flailed in a post-nap panic, and Yor struggled to contain her. "AMBUSH?!"

It took everything Loid had to tune out his wife and daughter and instead focus on the task at hand. He was Twilight; master of disguise, Westalis' greatest agent, and the one thing standing between peace and total war. He could be anyone the situation called for, and right now it called for him to be Robert, an Ostanian politician's secretary. The person Karen knew him as.

Loid spared Yor one last glance before flipping on the switch, and hoped she could manage to play along like she said she would. If not, then...things would become difficult.

"Karen," Loid sighed. He stared her straight in the eyes and shook his head. "What a pleasant surprise."

"You don't have to lie on my account, Robert," she chimed back. Her eyes narrowed. "You've been avoiding me."

Loid shrugged. "It's hard to avoid someone when you don't even know they're looking for you."

"You're lying again," Karen pursed her lips. "Unless that woman behind you failed to mention I came knocking on your door last night?"

Loid glanced over his shoulder. Yor and Anya had both calmed somewhat, or at least the latter did, anyway. His daughter had woken up for the most part and instead was just very confused. Yor on the other hand was staring back at him at a loss of what to do; play along or keep quiet? Loid said he would handle things and that all she had to do was pretend to be Robert's wife...but did Karen even know they were married to begin with? She had told her as much last night, but then again she wasn't the most stable person at the moment...

"How did you know where to find us?" Loid answered Karen's question with one of his own.

It was a legitimate concern. Keeping tabs on him was one thing, but to know where his he was even in a big park like this was on another level entirely. He waited patiently for an answer, at least on the outside; on the inside he was ready to tear her a new one for stalking him and his family and for throwing all of Operation Strix into disarray. This was already turning into a nightmare. He had to remain calm. Absently he swept his hair back to how he had it when he was Robert; perfectly coifed to one side. Clean. Sleek. He hated it.

"I didn't?" Karen replied. Such a response nearly made Loid's blood boil, but then she pointed to the park entrance. "You're on a giant hill. Everyone can see you. I was on my way to grab lunch when I saw you from the street."

Loid paused. Right. That was why he wanted that spot on the hill in the first place; aside from providing optimal shade from the sun, it also made their family bonding time undeniably obvious to anyone walking by. It was like free advertisement to show off what a normal family they were. He'd planned it all out, though his wife wasn't privy to his scheme. It quickly dawned on Loid that Yor hadn't realized they were on a pedestal, even though it really should have been obvious. His face fell flat as hers became blood red.

Yor's thoughts spiraled. Everyone could see them?! Had people been watching the whole time as she got sloshed?! When she passed out? When her and Loid were cuddling?! She broke. Yor's eyes boggled from her head as she nearly passed out from embarrassment. Anya ended up being the only reason she didn't fall over; the little girl read her mama's mind and jumped up at the last second to keep her steady. Bond saw the excitement and ran over to both of them, leaving Loid there to sigh to himself in defeat. He was on his own on this one.

"Who are they?" Karen pointed to the Forgers behind him. "And who's Loid?"

"Clearly that's my family, Karen," Loid answered back briskly. "Loid's just a name my wife came up with on the spot. You were a stranger asking for her husband, what else was she to do?"

Silence. Then, slowly, Karen's face twisted. "So it's true then...you did get married?"

"A few months ago, yes," Loid confirmed. He figured he'd shave a few months off, just to be on the safe side.

"...Why?" Karen asked quietly. Clearly she was angry, though her question sounded more hurt than anything else.

Loid tilted his head. "Why what, exactly?"

He knew what. He had to pretend like he didn't, though. Between lying to Yor and lying to Karen, Loid had his work cut out for him. All part of being a spy, he supposed, but even he knew just how wrong all this was. In front of him was a woman he'd spent months pretending to love, just like so many others before her, and behind him was...another mission. One that required him to do whatever was necessary in order to see it completed. If that meant looking Karen dead in her eyes and breaking her heart again, then so be it. He need not like it, only do it.

Karen pointed to Yor and Anya. "Why them? Why not me? We were happy together!"

"If we were both so happy, then why did I leave?" Loid countered.

"I don't know, why don't you tell me?" Karen shot right back. "You never said anything to me! You just left me at the dinner table with barely a word!"

Loid blinked. He wasn't expecting her to throw it back in his face like that. Karen wasn't ever one for a debate. "...We were just two different people, Karen."

"That's not good enough." She crossed her arms, while at the same Loid cringed internally. "I want the real reason, and I'm not leaving Berlint until you tell me."

Loid's stomach sank. This meeting was going south fast. He assumed (incorrectly) that he could whip something up on the fly and Karen would eat it up before leaving for good. She was a spoiled airhead. Daddy's little girl. He never knew her to have a critical thought in her whole head, though clearly that no longer seemed the case. His eyes narrowed at the woman in front of him as she stood and waited for his response. When he failed to give her one quickly enough, she instead dug into her purse and pulled out a piece of paper. Loid raised a brow.

"This is the number to the hotel I'm staying at," she informed him before handing him the slip. "When you want to talk, call me."

Silently and hesitantly, Loid took the number. He stared at Karen as she glanced over his shoulder to eye the Forgers one last time before turning away without saying another word. She marched off down the hill and left Loid there struggling to make sense of what just happened; for once, nothing went as planned. Everything he assumed would take place, didn't. He looked over to Yor and Anya and found the pair looking back at him expectantly. They didn't know whether this outcome was good or bad. Despite his own hesitation, it fell on Loid to reassure them.

He exhaled before offering a shrug and a light smile. "Well, that went smoothly."

"...Are you going to call her?" Yor asked. She rose to her feet as Anya gathered Bond's leash.

"Eventually," Loid replied. "In the meantime, I think we should gather up our things and head back."

Yor nodded, though a noticeable tugged pulled at her lips as Loid turned to help their daughter pack up. As he and Anya starting putting trash and plates away, Yor stood there for a moment and stared at the spot where Karen had just been. She was bothered by something the woman had said, and as she thought about it more Yor couldn't help but ask her husband about it.

"Why is she staying at a hotel?" Yor prodded. Loid paused mid-cleanup. "I thought she lived in town?"

Loid's head snapped up like a deer caught in headlights. He was sure he hadn't mentioned anything about Karen besides what he needed Yor to know. "...What makes you say that?"

Yor frowned and tilted her head. She seemed confused. "Well, she's your patient, right? I just assumed she lived close by, unless she takes the train in to see you...?"

Loid mimicked her expression. He did his best to seem just as her confused as her, while internally he was sweating bullets. "...Y'know, that's an excellent question, Yor. I'll pull up her file at work and see if I can't find out more about her housing situation."

He waited with bated breath for his wife's response. His calm mask wavered a fraction of a degree when all she did was nod a moment later. No reassuring smile as per usual, just an acknowledgement of his blatant lie. Loid supposed that so long as she bought his explanation it was all fine in the end, but he couldn't help but to worry about what Yor thought about all this. His stomach churned as a million thoughts ran through his head, all of them revolving around the idea that Yor was now becoming suspicious. Was she catching onto him...?

If only he could read her mind like his daughter. Anya stood between her mama and papa and played the role of dramatic chorus. She blinked as papa's thoughts filled her head before turning her attention to mama. Bond came around to absently stick his nose in Anya's face while the latter's head was filled with worry and doubt, though none of it seemed aimed at her papa.

She seemed way too calm. Both inside and out, Yor frowned. For someone who was as delusional as Karen, that whole exchange was far too cordial. She must have really believed Loid was Robert. The thought of someone like that stalking her husband, so lost in their own head that they couldn't tell the difference between fiction and reality, deeply concerned Yor. She glanced at Loid once more, again finding a (fake) smile there to greet her, and her heart sank. He was a grown man. He could take care of himself. Yet even so, if anything were to happen to him because of Karen...

...Should she intervene? Discreetly?

Anya cringed as an all-too familiar scene played out in her head, the same one that always ran whenever mama became distressed about something. An iconic black dress. Knives like needles. The hairband with a golden rose. Thorn Princess Yor was not to be messed with; she always got her mark, especially in her own twisted fantasies. Anya watched helplessly as an imaginary Karen answered the door to her hotel room, only to be greeted with a dirty scowl and halfhearted plea to die quickly and quietly. Loid had a family, one that didn't involve her. She raised her knife and-!

-Stop it, Yor! Mama shook her head as always, and just like always Loid raised a brow in confusion at his wife's sudden gesture. Karen's just sick! She doesn't mean anything by it! Yor internally berated herself for jumping to violence again, while at the same time Anya breathed a sigh of relief off to the side. The little girl had enough on her plate keeping up with everyone's lies, she really didn't want to be reminded of Karen being punctured by a hundred knife wounds the next time she saw her. Anya watched as her parents acknowledged each other once more before going off to do their respective clean-up duties. There was still a lot of picking up to do, and Anya turned to continue helping them. Bond still clung to her, though, and she was about to push him off before something clicked in her head.

Static. Interference. The unmistakable fuzzy image of something that hadn't happened yet.

Bond was seeing the future again, and Anya was along for the ride. As mama and papa cleaned up, the little girl stood there and watched the image of their apartment shudder into existence. The door was open. Karen was in the hallway while Mama stood inside. It looked like the same scene from last night, only there were two things notably different. For one thing, papa was there. He stood off to the side and looked like he didn't know what to do. Karen and mama were angry, like last time, except they were much closer and mama's face was really, really red. Karen yelled something. Anya couldn't hear what, but she knew it was loud. Mama scowled. Her eyes narrowed. And then...!

Blank. No more static.

Anya nearly shouted out in distress.

What was all that about?! She shook her dog for more information, but if Bond knew anything he wasn't sharing. Anya nearly blew both their covers when papa suddenly asked her what she was doing, and the little girl immediately had to come up with a cheap lie to cover their tracks. He growled at her to help him and mama, and Anya obediently went to work. Bond meanwhile sat down and stared at the family while they gathered their things. He tilted his head and scanned all three of them with a blank stare. Their future was sealed inside that little head of his.

If only he could speak.

Karen came from a well-to-do family. She normally lived just outside town with her father, but was currently staying at a hotel for unknown reasons; likely to be closer to him (Robert).

Such was the story Loid told Yor after coming home from work the following day, and for the most part it was actually true. The only thing he really lied about was Karen living with her father (that, and the fact that no medical file anywhere would be that detailed about someones housing situation). Yor of course accepted his explanation, seeing as how she wasn't very concerned to begin with despite Loid's own fears on the matter. Even after that however, he continued to suspect that she was suspicious of him; such was the sudden disconnect between the two of them, and the main reason why Loid tried harder than usual to stay in his wife's good graces that evening.

He cooked. He did the dishes. He cleaned. He helped Anya with her homework.

All while insisting that Yor take it easy for the day, and all to put that usual smile back on her face.

That didn't end up happening. Despite all his efforts, Yor's demeanor remained decidedly distant. Loid cringed internally when, after a quiet evening sitting in the living room after dinner, Yor silently excused herself. She left Anya and Loid without a word to go shower, and the gesture was enough to make the latter deeply concerned. Yor was only like this when she was angry. With Spy Wars playing in the background, Loid did mental gymnastics trying to identify where he'd slipped up; at what point did he fail in his cover story with Karen? Did Yor know anything, or just suspect something was amiss? What was she thinking?

Not what you think she's thinking, Anya deadpanned to herself. Her papa's thoughts were loud, even more so than the TV, and she could hear him without even turning to look around. Ever since the three of them got home, Anya had been privy to all her parents' worries. She'd have been slightly concerned, if not for the fact that it was pretty funny how distraught papa got whenever he thought mama was upset with him. Even as Yor left them to go take a bath Anya could hear what was going through her head, and it was most certainly not angry thoughts aimed at papa like he suspected.

Loid's doing a lot today. He's probably trying to take his mind off this whole Karen business.

Mama's thoughts carried a somber twinge to them, and Anya could only shake her head at how bad her parents were at reading each other. She could try to intervene and put their minds at ease, though they were both so lost in their own heads that it would be too suspect of her to even try. No, she'd let mama and papa sort it out on their own. Besides, her and Bond had a very important matter to attend to; there was a new episode today. Glued to the TV, the pair sat transfixed with their program as Loid continued to worry on the couch behind them.

Meanwhile, Yor disappeared into the bathroom. The sound of a running shower filled the apartment soon after, and Yor climbed in to wash the day off of her. Behind the relative safety of a thick shower curtain, she let the events of the past weekend ebb and flow in a sea of thoughts as hot water ran down her skin. In just a few days, her routine life had suddenly been thrown into disarray. A random woman whom she'd never met had appeared on her doorstep, and now she and Loid were stuck trying to find a way to get rid of her.

Yor shuddered as she recalled wanting to...dispatch the poor woman yesterday. Karen was Loid's patient. He was a doctor. His job was to help people, and yet all Yor could think about was being selfish. Any threat to her (fake) family was cause enough to put her on edge; she was well within her right to protect the one thing standing between her and getting arrested by the SSS, but that didn't mean she should get in Loid's way on this. No, she'd follow his lead like she said she would. Until they found a way to convince Karen to leave, she'd be Mrs...Robert?

...They didn't really know his last name, now that she thought about it.

Yet another thing they'd have to figure out, Yor sighed to herself. Steam roiled beneath her and clouded her vision, and in its veil Yor found a little bit of comfort. She thought of Loid, and smiled; at least they'd figure things out together. He was a fake husband, but really in name only. She'd never been in a relationship before, but liked to think that he was the shining example of what a partner should be. Kind. Supportive. Dependable. Yor mused that if Robert were anything like Loid, she could see why Karen would be so hard pressed to let him go. She understood the feeling.

Her whole body turned red, though it only had partly to do with the steam.

The shower was a short one, or at least it felt that way to Yor. Thinking about things made time go by faster, and it wasn't long before the hot water failed her and signaled to her it was time to leave. She climbed out and dried off. Her hand wiped away a window in the foggy mirror and Yor eyed herself for a moment; the face that stared back seemed a bit more confident than before. As she assumed, taking some time to herself helped clear her thoughts. She smiled a little before getting dressed in her nightgown. The rest of her nightly rituals followed immediately after.

When she finished brushing her teeth, that's when the door finally opened. She stepped out as mist followed behind her, and Yor was stopped right away by a familiar figure. Blue eyes looked intensely at her, their normally pretty hue marred by an obvious frown. Yor blinked as Loid stood in the hallway in front of her, and he cringed slightly in her presence.

"Hey..." A pair of PJ's draped over his arm. He'd been waiting patiently for his turn to take a shower. "...Um, I just wanted to catch you before you went off to bed."

"Oh?" Yor continued to blink. Her demeanor had changed almost completely since Loid had last seen her. He was caught off guard by her sudden chipperness.

"Yes, well," Loid shifted uncomfortably. "I just wanted to say that I appreciate you going along with all this. This whole Karen business, I mean."

Loid expected Yor to glower at his ex's name. Needless to say, he was surprised when she smiled instead. "Of course. I'm happy to help."

This time, it was Loid who blinked. He reeled from his wife's one-eighty. What exactly happened in there? "That's...good to hear?"

"I know it's a lot on your plate, but we'll get through it together," Yor reassured him. "I won't let you handle it all alone."

Loid's eyes grew wider as Yor started to walk away. He wanted to say something back, but in all honesty he was a bit tongue-tied at the moment. He moved not an inch and silently watched her walk towards her bedroom. She stopped just shy of turning the knob, and instead glanced over her shoulder towards Loid. He straightened under her gaze.

A warm smile, along with an equally warm face, matched Yor's pink nightgown. "Goodnight, Loid."

The door opened. She disappeared, and left her husband standing there confused in more ways than one. He remained still as a statue and continued to stare at the spot where his wife had been just seconds before. For the first time that night, there was nothing going on in his head; Loid's mind went blank, something his daughter realized when she popped in uninvited to glean his thoughts. From her vigilant seat by the TV, the little girl turned and stared at her papa in sly amusement as he slowly started to creak back to life. He eventually got a hold of himself and convinced his body to start moving again, and the bathroom door closed behind him as he finally took his turn in the shower. Anya could only shake her head as Bond licked his paw right next to her.

Mama was the only one who could make papa's head go all empty like that.

Chapter Text

The week came and went. Though the constant presence of a certain someone was felt almost everyday in the background, the Forgers carried on in relative normalcy. Yor and Loid would arrive home, followed by Anya a little bit later, and the three (along with Bond) would do what they always did; talk, eat, relax before bed, and do it all again the next day. Karen was never mentioned. To Yor and Loid, it felt like a needed calm before the storm. A respite before taking the plunge and dealing with something that neither particularly wanted to confront.

Friday arrived. After consulting Yor about it, Loid finally placed the call.

His fingers flicked the numbers on the rotary, and he waited patiently for someone to answer. A voice suddenly came through the other line belonging to a hotel employee; her pleasant, sanitized drone offered Loid no comfort as she made small talk before transferring him over to Karen's room. He waited no more than a second before someone picked up on the other end, and he briefly thought that it must have been the employee again as there was no way someone could answer that fast. He was, however, mistaken.

If Karen was trying to play hard to get, she was failing miserably.

"Robert?" the first word out of her mouth. "Is that you?"

"Yes, Karen, it's me," Loid practically rolled his eyes.

"I was wondering when you'd call. It's been almost a week."

Loid looked over; Yor stood right beside him, her ear pressed up against the other side of the phone. "Being a husband and father keeps me busy."

Silence. Yor looked the other way and hid a tiny smirk from him. "...When do you want to talk?"

"I assumed now?" Loid raised a brow. "What's wrong with talking over the phone?"

"I'd rather see you in person," Karen replied adamantly. "It's been months since we've sat down together."

Loid glanced at his wife from the corner of his eye. She did the same, but offered no more than a shrug. "I suppose that's fine."

Thinking about it some more, that was probably the better idea, anyway. Anya was home, doodling on the coffee table, and Loid supposed theirs was a conversation best left between adults. At first he assumed they could keep things amicable, but...well, given how quickly Karen picked up the phone he had a sinking feeling this wasn't going to be as cut-and-dry as he was hoping.

Promptly, Karen gave him the details. Either she had planned this out ahead of time, or she'd simply picked the first place that came to mind. Regardless, she chose a coffee shop that was almost halfway between the two of them. With respect to his daughter (the word sounding like poison dripping from her tongue the way she'd said it) they'd wait till tomorrow afternoon. Loid agreed, knowing full well that Karen intended for Yor to stay home and watch Anya while he went to meet up with her. That, of course, wasn't going to happen.

Her mistake was not saying it out loud and forcing Loid to acknowledge it. It had been a while since he'd played Robert, but even then he never thought his persona such a simpleton. Maybe Karen wasn't as shrewd as Loid gave her credit for; even if she'd matured in the months of his absence, at the end of the day she was still rather...not bright. With that said, Loid politely agreed before hanging up the phone. With no direct instruction to leave his wife at home he turned towards Yor, and the latter did the same towards him.

"Up for a cup of coffee tomorrow?" Loid smirked.

Yor smiled a little. "Sure, but we should probably give Franky a call first."

Loid nodded in agreement. "I'll go see him in person. I needed to return something of his, anyway."

With Anya still in the living room and Bond lounging lazily beside her, Yor went with her husband to the door. Shoes. Coat. Hat. He gathered everything and readied himself to leave. Nearly forgetting the book, Loid slipped away into his room and returned a moment later. Hidden safely in his coat pocket, he scratched the back of his head and pretended like he'd lost whatever Franky had lent him. An unnoticed snicker came from his daughter at the blatant lie he was spinning; papa should've just said he got the book from Franky instead of the library.

"Be careful," Yor cautioned. She glanced at the window and found it growing darker outside.

"I won't be long," Loid reassured her. He went for the door. "Assuming it's not too late, I'll bring back dessert."

There came a sudden whoop from Anya in the living room. Loid expected about as much. "Hurry up and go see Scruffy, papa!"

Loid smirked and offered his wife a look before leaving. She saw him out and watched him walk down the hall before disappearing down the stairs. Her eyes lingered on the spot where he'd been, and a moment later she willed herself back inside. Things became quiet in the Forger house upon its patriarch's departure, and suddenly Yor found herself unsure about what to do in his absence. They'd already eaten. She'd already cleaned. Anya already did her homework (surprisingly) and Bond had already gone to the bathroom. There was nothing left for her.

Yor's lips squiggled. She gave a put-out huff and meandered into the living room, but not before turning on the TV. Before the sound of Spy Wars could come blaring through the tube, Yor quickly flipped over the channel. It ended up landing on a soap opera she'd eyed once or twice before, Berlint in Love. Watching TV (and by extension soap operas) wasn't really her thing, but with nothing else better to do Yor shrugged and took up her usual spot on the couch. She sat with hands folded in her lap, and Anya continued to color absently as this week's drama blared in the background.

"...How could you!?..." A woman on-screen asked dramatically. An attractive-looking man in front of her balked at the question. "...And with your old high school flame, no less!?..."

Ah. Perhaps this was a bit too adult for Anya, Yor thought to herself immediately. She failed to notice the little girl's head shoot up a moment later. The little girl blinked, looked at her mama, then at the TV. Not having noticed at first, after gleaning her mama's inner monologue, Anya quickly realized the show on TV was the same one Becky would gush about all the time at school. The thought was an intriguing one; this was the soap opera that always gave her friend weird ideas about boys and girls (and also, weirdly, her papa). She wondered what all the fuss was about.

"Can I sit with you, mama?" Anya asked absently. Her eyes were still glued to the TV.

"Of course," Yor replied sweetly. "Here, let me just change the channel real quick. I'm sure you want to watch cartoons."

Before Yor could get up, Anya rose to her feet and clamored over to the couch. She shook her head. "No, that's okay. I wanna watch your show with you."

Yor flinched. She didn't feel entirely comfortable watching a grown-up show with her daughter, but any protests were silenced before she could even speak them. Anya quickly assumed her position in-between mama's legs and used the woman as her pillow. Yor was stiff for a moment, though eased almost immediately. She was quick to relent at her daughter's cuddling, and figured to herself that if things got a bit too heavy on the subject matter she could always just get up and change the channel. Before she knew it the two of them were comfy, both focused on watching Berlint in Love.

"...I never intended to, I just got caught up in the moment..." The man defended himself. "...Besides, you and I aren't even a real couple!..."

Anya stroked her chin inquisitively. Her eyes narrowed at the TV. "What are they talking about, mama?"

Yor short-circuited for a moment. She knew this was a bad idea. "Um...that man kissed someone he shouldn't have."

Anya made an "Ah" face, accepting her mother's answer without question. It certainly sounded like as good an answer as any, and besides it didn't really matter to her anyway. Yor meanwhile sighed in relief, clearly thankful for having just dodged a bullet. She had half a mind to just get up right then and there to flip the TV over to Spy Wars, but Anya anchored her firmly to the couch. As if that wasn't bad enough, Bond wandered over next to them both and laid down right at the foot of the couch. His large body blocked them both in and further cemented their positions. She was stuck.

Having no choice in the matter, Yor settled in with Anya and together the three of them watched the drama play out on TV. From what Yor could gather, the man and woman were engaged. Apparently there was a whole other story going on with that (something about marrying for appearances sake, typical soap opera nonsense) and now, just as they were getting used to each other, another woman had come out of the woodwork. The plot was contrived, over done, and boring...and Yor couldn't pry her eyes away from it. Anya as well, and the two of them watched together in silence.

"...So when you went out for groceries, you were really seeing her? Is that it?..." Angry tears ran down the woman's face.

"...I owe you no answer..." The man waved his hand, and the woman gasped. "...If you really think that, then fine. That's what I was doing!..."

Anya gasped louder than the soap opera lady. She gaped incredulously and pointed to the TV while looking back at mama, as if to say "Can you believe him?" Yor gazed in similar disbelief and shook her head. She pulled her daughter in closer as the latter snatched up one of the pillows. Yor held Anya, and Anya held the cushion. They curled up and continued to watch the drama unfold.

"...We both knew what this was..." The man growled.

The woman's fists curled at her side. "...But all the time we've spent together, I thought...!"

"...Never once did you return my advances..." He spun around melodramatically. "...I'm a man with needs. You spurned me, so I looked elsewhere..."

Yor's eyes grew wide. She stared as the woman begged her other to say, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. The man said nothing more before leaving. The door slammed shut behind him, leaving his ex-fiance there to cry by herself in their home. Suddenly, Yor felt the tiniest drops of salt water eke out from the corner of eyes. She caught herself immediately, but nothing came of it; tears continued to mount as she glanced down at her daughter. To her absolute horror, Anya held a similar expression on her face. The little girl looked up at her with trembling lips.

"S-so, are they not married anymore!?" Anya asked shakily.

Yor sniffed and steeled herself. She shook her head. "I'm going to change the channel-"

"-No!" Anya countered adamantly. Yor froze mid-rise and blinked in confusion. "I wanna see what happens next!"

Taken aback, Yor wrestled with herself over whether not to oblige her daughter. Her lips disappeared as she reluctantly nodded a moment later. Yor settled back into place, only this time she held Anya as tightly as possible. The little girl held her cushion, and together they waited in reluctant anticipation as the credits rolled into the next episode. Despite what a clearly bad idea this entire thing was, Yor couldn't stop it. Anya was just as invested as she was into the story, though her reasons were very, very different for wanting to see how everything ended.

Yor wasn't sharp; she didn't consider herself as much, not like her husband. Things constantly went over her head and she knew that, but on this particular occasion she was more than aware of the similarities between her own situation and the woman's. That...wasn't to say everything was the same, of course. Loid held no feelings for her, and she him. Their relationship was completely different from the soap opera couple's, but this other woman that had entered their life- an old flame, fake or not- resonated with Yor more than she would have liked to admit.

How would the man and woman overcome such an obstacle? Would they get back together? The wedding was off, their potential future together shredded by someone who didn't know to leave well enough alone. Yor felt her tears return as the next episode opened with the woman not having seen her fiance in days. He left without so much as taking a change of clothes with him, meaning he clearly had other prospects elsewhere. She sat in the living room and stared at the spot where her betrothed used to sit; cold and empty just like the rest of their apartment together.

At a certain point, Yor practically forgot Anya was there with her. Of course she continued to hold her daughter close and the latter watched in enthralled silence along with her mama, but Yor was too caught up in the private soap opera going on in her head to care. Had Anya not been so glued to the TV and took a moment to glance back at mama, she would have seen a similar scene playing out in the woman's thoughts; Yor standing there as Loid came back from "Franky's", a guilty look in his eyes as he informed his fake wife that their arrangement would no longer be so.

A stupid idea. She was dumb for even entertaining such a thought, though the focus wasn't so much on Karen being a cheap fling (the nerve) but rather...well, how long would Loid be her husband? He needed a wife for appearances sake, but she could barely even keep up the appearance of one. That incident in the park had proven to both of them as much. Not only that, but the man's words from the TV started to bounce around and echo in her head; I'm a man with needs.

What was she even supposed to do about that? That...wasn't even...why was she even thinking about that?

Her internal struggle continued for the better half of the night. As one scene after another played out in front of the Forger women, Yor felt her eyes get puffier and puffier. She occasionally sniffed to keep from getting tears on her daughter, though the latter had no qualms about getting her pillow soaking wet. As the woman on TV slowly spiraled and eventually came to terms with the fact that the man she loved and now moved on, the darkness outside grew even darker. Time escaped them as one episode turned into two, two into three.

By the end of the third, things seemed grim. The man announced his new engagement to his high-school sweetheart and his ex-fiance was at her lowest point. Credits rolled, and the theme song started playing to signal the start of the next episode. It opened up on the day of the wedding, and the woman stood in front of the church. She gulped and committed herself to some unspoken plan, and it was at that point Bond suddenly picked his head up. Unnoticed by Yor and Anya, he sniffed at the air before rising to his feet. When the dog gave a quick boof, the girls finally looked over to see him zooming towards the door. Immediately, they scrambled when the familiar jingle of keys rang out from the other side.

Anya made a b-line to go see papa. Yor hesitated for a moment. She watched as the door opened and her husband entered with a white bag in his hands. The scent of baked goods immediately filled the room and he held onto the bag tightly in order to not drop it at the sudden jolt of Anya's forceful hug. She jumped at his legs and wrapped her arms around him tight, causing the man to sputter.

"Papa!" she exclaimed desperately. Her face was flushed and scrunched.

Loid raised a brow; she must have been really excited for some cake. "Nice to see you, too, Anya."

The little girl gazed up at him with a pointed look on her face. "Don't you ever go looking somewhere else for your needs!"

"Excuse me?" Loid gawked. He had no idea what Anya was talking about, and part of him felt like he didn't want to know in the first place.

Loid looked over at his wife in the hopes that she'd clarify, but all that ended up doing was making him even more confused. He paused for a moment as he caught her getting up from the couch. Yor wiped water away from her face. Her cheeks were even more red than Anya's and for a moment Loid's heart skipped a beat thinking something had happened. He tensed up, and then just as quickly went limp when Yor met him in a flash. She joined Anya; for the first time, Loid felt his wife wrap her arms around his torso. She buried her face in his chest. He froze.

"Loid, I promise I'll do my best!" Yor sniffed into him. She squeezed her husband tighter. "So...please, promise me you won't go!"

Completely lost and confused, Loid just stood there and blinked as thoughts failed him. Anya nailed him to the floor. Yor's insane strength pinned his arms and very nearly smooshed their dessert. Bond meanwhile circled all three of them excitedly, and Loid didn't know what to make out of any of it. He opened his mouth to say something, but there was no ready-made script for him to draw from. Another first; he was thoroughly vexed. Whatever had happened while he was gone, it definitely left an impression on the two of them.

"...I'm not going anywhere," he eased hesitantly. "I already bought the cakes on my way back...?"

Loid tried to squirm his arms out from under him, but no dice. If he could, he would have had half a mind to hug them both back; the most he could manage however was to just reluctantly accept his family's embrace as they squeezed him tighter. The sounds of their continued sniffling concerned him, though their mutual silence gave him the impression that whatever was making them act this way clearly wasn't serious. Berlint in Love played on in the background, though the combined distraction of his wife and daughter kept Loid oblivious to it all.

Yor and Anya continued to hang onto papa as the woman on TV interrupted her former fiance's wedding.

"...I love you!..." she tearfully admitted in front of the sea of people. The groom stared at her, speechless. "...From the moment we met, I've always loved you!..."

Chapter Text

"Are you ready?" Loid asked uneasily. Hand on the door handle, he looked to Yor one last time.

His wife nodded firmly. The last thing she wanted to do was show any sort of weakness. Karen was waiting for them inside the coffee shop, and Yor had spent the last couple days steeling for herself for their inevitable confrontation. She stood straighter than usual and did her best to look like the model wife, and it seemed to satisfy her husband. He held the door open for her and followed her in. The two stood in the lobby for half a second before being promptly flagged down by a blonde woman at the far end of the cafe.

Loid waved back politely, and at the same time whispered to his wife. "Just remember: let me do most of the talking."

"Right," she agreed, absently reaching for his arm as together they walked in line to get coffee.

"What do you want to drink?" Loid asked Yor quietly. He looked over and caught her staring at Karen.

The two women locked onto each other briefly. Karen's eyes narrowed, while Yor simply frowned. "Something strong, please."

It took a painfully long time to reach the register, or at least that's how it felt to Yor. In reality it only took a minute, but the entire time she was trying to ignore the pointed glare aimed at her from the other side of the cafe. Loid ordered for them both, and a moment later handed Yor her coffee. Her hands warmed around the cup, and it made her feel a little better as they made their way over to Karen. She remained close at Loid's side; part of her felt like if she stepped too far away, Karen might snatch her husband away from right under her nose.

"Nice to see you, Robert," the woman smiled as Yor and Loid approached. It fell right off her face she turned towards Yor. "And...Robert's wife."

"It's Yor For-" she started to correct, but then quickly stopped herself. Loid spared her a side-eyed glance; no last name. "My name is Yor."

"Right, whatever." Karen waved her off, the gesture causing Yor to silently stew in anger. "Well, I'm glad you came, Robert. It really means a lot to me."

"Of course. Just a quick cup of coffee between acquaintances," Loid replied briskly. "Though we'll have to keep this short. We need to get home to our daughter."

The man closed his eyes as he pulled out a chair for his wife. He knew without looking that there was a sour expression tugging at Karen's face, and it admittedly brought him a bit of satisfaction. Little did he know that the same could be said for Yor; a smug, satisfied smile curled on the woman's lips as she took the chair Loid offered her, and she reveled in the obvious disdain in Karen's stare. Loid promptly took his own seat and quickly assumed his coffee. He sipped on it casually, which may or may not have added to the tension at the table. It was hard to say.

What wasn't hard, however, was the ease with which he dodged Karen's questions. "You're not wearing your glasses?"

"Contacts." Loid looked up at the woman innocently. Her eyes narrowed at him.

"And your hair?" The woman motioned to his unkempt look, a far cry from the side part she remembered him by.

Loid looked up, as if he could see the top of his own head. He then shrugged and sipped from his coffee. "My wife thinks it's sexy."

There came a sputter from right beside him. Immediately, Yor's face turned bright red. She looked to Loid, and found him trying to hide an amused smirk from her- with poor results. A similar expression quickly swept across her face as she stared at Loid's hair, though she made no attempt to hide it from Karen. Quite the contrary, she reveled in the feeling of glaring eyes on her as she looked Loid over. Yor held onto her coffee with both hands as she silently agreed with her husband's earlier statement; messy was a good look on him.

Karen didn't seem to agree, though she quickly abandoned the topic for another. "I take it you're working at city hall now?"

Loid's ears twitched. He was reminded of Robert's occupation as a politician's assistant. "Indeed. I'm rather important nowadays."

"Right, of course," Karen nodded. "Which strikes me as odd. You were always so busy when we were together. I can't imagine working at the capital would be any easier- certainly it wouldn't leave you with enough time to run off and get married in such a short amount of time?"

Karen's observation was well-thought-out, and Loid was admittedly surprised and impressed with it- though it wasn't enough to trip him up. "True enough, which is why I was fortunate enough to find a lovely woman who works in the same building I do."

Loid glanced at Yor from the corner of his eye. She was staring at him the whole time, and immediately picked up on the line he cast out for her. "I'm a clerk at city hall. I met Robert one day and we've been together ever since."

It was an easy lie to tell, mostly because it was mostly true. The only parts she and Loid were lying about was the fact that a) he worked at the capital and b) they didn't, in fact, meet for the first time inside a tailor shop. The rest was accurate; technically speaking, they got married after only briefing meeting each other- and had been together ever since. Yor caught herself feeling almost nostalgic at the thought. Loid inserted himself into her life overnight and what's more, she couldn't imagine ever going back to how things used to be. She'd never let him or Anya go.

And as if Karen could sense the thoughts running through Yor's head, her frown turned even more. "How very convenient."

"That's one way of looking at it," Loid replied, raising his brow. "Though I'd like to think it was fate that brought Yor and I together. Like soul mates."

"What a load of crap!" Karen spat, waving her hand. The gesture caught Loid off-guard. "You used to say the same thing about us! 'We were meant to be together' and everything in-between!"

Loid froze. His mind started racing. He glanced at Yor from the corner of his eye, and she looked back at him earnestly. "Ah. Perhaps I did say that on occasion."

Despite the feeling of guilt that bubbled up in Loid's chest, the sight of Yor's unwavering stare was enough to help him remember who he was; Loid Forger, pretending to be Robert. Neither woman at the table knew he was, in fact, neither of those men, and trying to fool them both was considerably harder than he first thought it would be. Or maybe it wasn't, and he simply had fallen off his game in the past year or so living with Yor and Anya.

"What makes her any different than me?" Karen asserted, pointing towards Yor. "Why'd you even choose her in the first place?"

Loid- Robert- Whoever he was- sighed and shook his head. He looked out the window, away from Yor and Karen, and stared outside. He thought for a moment, and as he did a family walked by on the other side of the street. They looked just like any other in Berlint; a husband, a wife, and a son. The smallest of the three walked between his parents, and he held both their hands as they made their way through the crosswalk. There were smiles on their faces, and it reminded him of all the times he and Yor had taken Anya out to the park. Or the aquarium. Or the grocery store.

It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. He never expected it to be. The three of them were together for the sole purpose of preserving world peace...yet even so he had trouble denying that there were moments that almost made it all worth it. Worth the long hours spent trying to understand his daughter. Worth the added stress of keeping a wife constantly satisfied. Every smile. Every laugh. Even though he knew that it wasn't real, that it was all an act at the end of the day...Loid still allowed himself to at least pretend that it all meant something. However small.

He stayed quiet for a moment. Then, turning his back to Karen, he smiled. "She makes me happy. Her and Anya both."

Silence. It came from Yor and Karen both. Neither woman dared look at each other. They both just stared at Loid, and he tried to meet both their gazes. Karen appeared to be gobsmacked, whereas Mrs. Forger's eyes were simply wide. The latter felt her hand twitch; she felt compelled to reach over and slip her fingers in-between her husband's, though ultimately that didn't end up happening. Yor simply continued following Loid's lead, his act, as best she could- despite the churning in her heart and stomach that only grew stronger the longer she stared at him.

Karen didn't have that. She didn't have anyone to support her, or to rely on. She had only herself on the other side of the table, and as the seconds ticked by her face quickly began to contort into something resembling sadness. It wasn't true sadness, though; more like she wanted to be, but there were a bunch of other emotions all bottled up inside her. And just like a can of soda, Loid's response shook it all up. It mixed. It bubbled. Then, after a long bout of silence, the lid opened up and everything came out all at once.

"And I didn't make you happy!?" Karen scowled, balling a fist. Her voice had risen considerably.

Loid shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. I was wrong to have not told you that before leaving. That wasn't fair to you."

"None of this is fair!" The table shook as Karen smacked her fist against it. "You left me at the dinner table for some floozy and her brat!"

"One, keep your voice down." Loid's eyes narrowed. His voice rumbled in his chest. "Two, I'd ask you to watch how you speak about my wife and daughter."

It was a cool, albeit firm warning. Karen clicked her tongue. She deflated if only a little, and leaned her back against the chair. The swirl of emotions in her chest continued to broil however, and as the seconds ticked by they festered yet again in the back of her throat. Karen went in for another round of angry confrontation, but hesitated when she caught sight of Loid's wife from across the table. There was an expression on her face that made Karen pause for a moment, one that was aimed solely at the man they currently fought over.

Mrs. Forger gazed at her husband with pure affection in her eyes.

It oozed like honey, and her lips curled with a similar sickly sweetness.

Karen took one look at that expression and in an instant felt the futility of the situation hit her. It caught her completely off-guard; she'd been with Robert for months, yet never once did she ever find herself looking at him the way Yor currently was. Not from lack of sentiment, of course, but rather the opportunity just never presented itself. He never have her an opening. There was never any point in their relationship where she could allow herself to let him know exactly how she felt. The only opportunity she had was that moment in the restaurant, and of course that had ended terribly.

Now, almost a year later, Karen was confronted with those same feelings...except she wasn't the one experiencing them.

Her scowl turned the longer she stared at Yor. Yor in turn continued staring at Loid, and Loid kept his eyes on Karen. It was a twisted game they ended up playing, and the longer they played it the more Karen found herself unable to continue. Yor's expression taunted her, even more so knowing that Robert had chosen it over her own. She didn't know what to do or say anymore. Her plans to win back the love of her life were deteriorating right before her very eyes.

Karen felt desperation start to sink in. She looked towards Robert. "Please come back with me."

"I'm sorry Karen, that's not going to happen," Loid frowned. "I'm married. You're going to have to accept that."

"No, I refuse!" Karen shot back, facing twisting. "You and I were meant to be together! You even said so yourself! Lots of times! Remember?"

Loid pinched the bridge of his nose; even he was starting to become annoyed with his past self. "I was wrong. Things are different now. You have to let it go."

"You used to hold me at night and whisper in my ear-" Karen rose from her seat and leaned forward "-And we'd cuddle together beneath the sheets until the sun came up!..."

Immediately, Loid sputtered. Heat came to his face in an instant, and he found himself looking to the woman at his right. Loid met Yor's stare, and he found a similar look of surprise and exasperation aimed at him. For the briefest of moments, Loid thought his rear end was on the chopping block, until it dawned on him that a) they weren't actually married and b) Yor still thought he was pretending to be Robert. Karen wasn't saying this about Loid, but rather the man she thought he was. Even so, Loid found himself struggling to not break character. It wasn't easy.

"Karen, please keep your voice down!" Loid pleaded.

"Sometimes we wouldn't even go to bed!..." Karen continued.

At that point, Loid got out of his chair. "I think this conversation is over now-!"

Karen reached forward. "There wasn't a man before or after that could touch me the way you did-!"

"-OKAY THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH KAREN!" Loid yelped. His cheeks burned only a shade darker than his wife's house sweater.

He was already out of his seat, yet even so Loid found himself jumping to avoid Karen's advances. Despite all the life-or-death situations he was subjected to on a regular basis, the man felt his blood pump faster than perhaps any other point in his life. It only got worse when he was forced to make a run for it; when he made the split-second decision to call a full retreat and cut his losses right then and there. No amount of continued harassment on Karen's part was worth the embarrassment of her broadcasting their history together for the entire coffee shop to hear.

Besides, Loid couldn't take it knowing Yor was right there next to him. He didn't look at her. He barely even looked at Karen, either. The most he could manage was a flustered glance and a terse farewell before reaching over to grab his wife by the hand. Loid quickly helped Yor up to her feet and ushered her out the door. All the while, Karen followed close on their heels. The woman continued on with the laundry list of intimate moments she'd apparently shared with him, and the commotion drew interested stares from every patron in the cafe.

Yor right in front of him, Loid made sure to close the door firmly behind him as they exited. The sound of Karen partially running into the glass gave him the tiniest fraction of satisfaction, though it ultimately did little to quell the fire in his cheeks. Loid continued pushing his wife down the street, far past the crosswalk and even the next block over. It wasn't until they had walked a fair distance away from the cafe- and by extension Karen- that they finally paused for a moment. Pedestrians walked around them as they stopped and looked behind them.

"That..." Loid struggled to speak coherently. "...Could've went a lot better."

Yor nodded. She seemed a bit dazed. "Boy, this Robert person sounds like quite the catch, huh?"

"Yeah, no kidding..." Loid trailed off. All the progress he made in calming himself was reversed almost immediately.

"Well, at least she was talking about him and not you, right?" Yor tried to cheer him up, though that didn't end up happening.

"R-Right..." the man shook his head. He dared not look at his wife in the eyes, and instead focused solely on getting back home. "Lets just get out of here."

Again, Yor nodded. A frown pulled at her lips as Loid started off, and she followed dutifully behind him. Time seemed to pick back up from its snail's pace after that; another block or two and things seemed almost normal between them, yet even so Yor's mind wandered. She was concerned about Karen returning. They hadn't exactly resolved anything, even though Loid had given her the reason for Robert's leaving. If anything, this whole meeting seemed to make things even worse. Now, Karen seemed even more desperate than ever.

The idea alone was enough to send a chill up Yor's spine. She lingered on it as her and Loid made their way to the subway station and purchased their tickets. Loid led them to their seats, and Yor sat beside him. The moment the train started to move, the couple deflated. As if they'd been holding their breath the moment they left the coffee shop, a sigh escaped them both. With Karen officially out of their hair (for the moment) they relaxed and allowed themselves time to recover. Loid occupied himself with a discarded newspaper he found on the seat beside him. Yor meanwhile, closed her eyes.

She thought about Karen. She thought about Robert. Most of all though, she thought about them together. For better or worse, Yor didn't need much of an imagination to know what the two of them shared. It was an intimacy that Yor didn't know and was wholly unfamiliar with, yet she found herself...envious of it all the same. Perhaps that was the wrong thing to take away from all this. There were truly more pressing matters at hand, but that's how she felt. All Yor's anxiety took a backseat for the moment as the train barreled forth. Her head bobbed from the motion, and it ended up landing on Loid's shoulder.

He paused mid-flip of his newspaper.

Likewise, Yor stiffened...but didn't pull away.

Unlike in the coffee shop, nobody cared about the two of them. There were other passengers, but all eyes were kept to themselves. No one afforded the couple even a passing glance, which perhaps ended up being the reason why they ultimately didn't move from each other. Yor creaked her eyes open to glance up at her husband, though he didn't return the gesture. Loid continued looming over his newsprint. He gave no protest however, and after his initial pause simply continued flipping through periodicals. His shoulder sunk lower to accommodate Yor's cheek.

She leaned into him, and her eyes closed once more. This time, all her thoughts disappeared; like steam rolling off a cup of coffee.

Chapter Text

Meeting up with Karen was supposed to be the end of it. Given how poorly things turned out, however, Yor knew she hadn’t seen the last of Robert’s ex-girlfriend.

Her fears ended up proving well-founded the day after. Both she and Anya were alone at home once more; Loid had already called and said he’d be running a tad late, though would pick something up for dinner on the way. Yor was keeping busy doing the dishes, and she was surprised when the phone started to ring a second time. Anya, bored out of her mind and wanting to help her mama, went to pick it up before even asking if she could.

Immediately, a grating voice shrilled in Anya’s ear. “Robert? Is that you? I need to speak with you!” 

“Hi, this is Anya.” The little girl swayed back and forth. “Papa’s not here right now. Can I take a message?”

Silence. 

There came no response, save for a sudden click that happened quickly after Anya’s greeting. The littlest Forger smiled, hung up the phone, and wandered over into the kitchen. She caught Yor’s gaze as she rounded the corner, and already anticipated her mama’s question.

“That was the Ms. Karen lady,” she revealed as Bond came up behind her. “She wanted to talk to papa- er, Robert .”

Yor’s eyes widened. The water from the faucet ran unattended for a moment as the sound filled the static in Yor’s brain. She stared at her daughter as she continued to smile, though found herself unable to return the gesture. Inside, her body was doing aerials. A mixture of worry, annoyance, and a whole host of other emotions swirled in Yor’s chest- all of it boiling down to a singular feeling of anger.

This woman was getting her daughter involved now. 

Loid’s patient or not, she wouldn’t stand for that.

Ultimately, however, it wouldn’t get brought up again for the rest of the evening. Loid returned home with the promised food, and for once the family ate in the living room while Anya watched TV. Maybe it was the change in their usual routine that caught Yor off-guard and unable to confront her husband, though that seemed only half of it. Truthfully, Yor kind of forgot about it at the sight of Loid leaned back in his chair. 

A plate of food sat atop his crossed-over leg, which he used as a makeshift table. He rolled his sleeves up to keep from getting dirty, and his tie hung loosely from his unbuttoned collar. The poise he usually carried himself with was, apparently, hung up with his coat and hat when he walked in. Work must have been long- long enough to break him down enough to not care about how he looked, or how anyone saw him. At that moment, he wasn’t Robert, or the well-to-do Mr. Forger that he always tried to be in public. Here, he was just Loid. The Loid that only she and Anya got to see. The Loid that trusted them enough to not feel like he needed to wear a mask around them twenty-four-seven. Her Loid. 

Yor’s face became hot as she thought it again.

Her Loid.

The words were like magic. The moment she uttered them in her brain, her whole body became heavy- filled with stones and tossed into the sea, but she didn’t want to escape from it. Yor only wanted to keep diving further, but she didn’t know how. All she could do was continue staring at the man who pretended to be her husband. Watch him as he snuck a couple pieces of food from his plate to secretly feed the dog. Focus on the corners of his lips as they twitched into an almost-smile when something funny happened in Anya’s cartoon.

At a certain point, his eyes briefly glanced in her direction. Yor failed to notice right away. Her mind and vision were woefully out of sync, and it wasn’t until she suddenly felt something on her face that she finally blinked and returned to reality, albeit briefly. Yor looked down and found a hand stroking her skin. The realization nearly ended her.

“You’ve got sauce on your cheek,” Loid revealed with faint amusement. 

He dabbed at it with his napkin, then promptly removed himself from Yor’s space. All without saying another word to his wife, and all without noticing the way she inched closer to his hand the second before he pulled it away. Yor didn’t even try to hide it.

She couldn’t say anything. She couldn’t bring herself to eat the rest of her plate. She couldn’t not stare at him.

Loid Forger, her wonderfully fake husband, somehow knew how to make her forget everything in an instant- including Karen.

She very much wished he could keep that up forever.

(*)

The following day is when it all finally became too much for Yor. 

It was only ever when Loid wasn’t home. Maybe if he’d been there, he could have been the one to answer the phone. He always knew what to say in these situations, unlike herself. Or even if she had been the one to answer, Loid could have walked her through it. Maybe, at the very least, he could have been there to comfort her when she inevitably flubbed everything and made the situation worse than it already was.

But he wasn’t there, and he didn’t.

Meanwhile, Yor was, and she did.

Anya was playing in her room with Bond when the phone started to ring again. At that point, Yor’s stomach fell every time she heard it go off. In the back of her head she always suspected it was Karen and, sure enough, that’s exactly who ended up being on the other end when she picked it up. The moment her ear touched the receiver, she stiffened.

“Hello? Robert? Is that you?”

A bad taste filled Yor’s mouth. She’d never really felt such a sensation at anyone’s presence before. Karen, however, seemed an exception. For the first time in Yor’s life, she could legitimately say she didn’t care for someone. Just the sound of Karen’s voice alone was enough to make the woman’s brow furrow in contempt.

“Anya?” The mention of her daughter’s name sent Yor spiraling. “Can I talk to your papa, please?”

Contempt spoiled into rage. In an instant, Yor found her voice. “This is Robert’s wife, and you may not talk to him!”

It was a warning, one that caused a sputter at the other end of the phone. Yor had no idea what Karen looked like at the moment, but she was sure whatever anger she was feeling at the moment was nothing compared to the venom that pooled in her throat at the thought of Anya being dragged into all of this. Loid was one thing. He was a grown man who could take care of himself, but to involve her only daughter…

Yor’s eyes twisted. “Karen, I’m warning you! Don’t you ever call my family again!”

“Y-You’re not a real family!” the woman stammered back. “There’s something fishy about you and that girl, I know it! You can’t keep Robert away from me-!”

“-Watch me!"

Without another word, Yor slammed the phone with enough force to nearly split the table in half. A loud boom echoed throughout the apartment, and the sound of it was enough to get Anya’s attention. The little girl poked her head out to sneak a peek at what was going on, only to see the outline of her mama as the latter went straight for the kitchen. 

She could faintly glean her mama’s thoughts from a distance, and knew right away that it was probably a good idea to stay in her room for a while. Silently, she crept back inside and left Yor to continue digging in the pantry for something. She ended up finding it a minute later: a bottle of red wine that she and Loid had gotten at the market a while back. It was meant as a reserve for a rainy day, so naturally with a dark cloud hanging over Yor she figured now would be a good time to open it up.

It didn’t take her long. She was horrible at opening corks the ‘traditional’ way, so she just chopped the neck off cleanly with a knife- somehow avoiding shattering it, and also from Anya finding out. Not that she cared much at the moment. In truth, Yor was hardly aware of her surroundings. Her vision was blinded on both sides by a sea of red. She needed to calm down. Loid wasn’t there to do it for her, so she’d do it herself.

A glass was poured. A chair was pulled. Yor took up at the dining room table, and started to drink.

And drink. And drink. And drink.

Every time the rim of the glass touched Yor’s lips and she tasted merlot, her thirst grew. Part of it was the wine itself; every sip pulled the water from her veins and dried her from the inside out. Another part of it was that it numbed her, and she desperately wanted to feel numb at the moment. No Karen. No pretending. No assassin gig. No…anything.

It wasn’t healthy, and to a certain extent Yor knew that. It didn’t change anything, though. If anything, little by little, she started to think things through a bit more clearly…or at least, that’s how it seemed in her alcohol-addled brain. The truth ended up being somewhere in the middle; drinking helped to loosen Yor up and be honest with herself, but it also swirled her thoughts and made it impossible to act on them rationally. By the time she’d made it to the last of the bottle, Yor had no control of herself. 

Something Loid knew immediately when he suddenly came home after a long day at work.

Maybe there was warning; honestly, Yor couldn’t keep track of time at the moment. Whatever the case, his presence came as a surprise to her. The moment he walked through the front door, her face lit up and she pushed back on her chair. Loid glanced at her, then at the bottle, and finally back to her again. 

It didn’t take a world-class spy to deduce what was going on. “I see today must have been…stressful?”

“Just a little!” Yor slurred her words with a cheerful beam. “Welcome home, Robert!”

Loid blinked. Right away, he put two and two together; the reason today had been stressful was because Karen had called again. Yor had told him before he left for work about the incident yesterday, and it was obvious how upset the whole thing had made her. Likely the same thing had happened again, and it apparently was enough to drive Yor to drink. The thought was sobering as it was infuriating; why couldn’t she just leave him and his family alone?

Loid sighed in a mixture of tiredness and frustration. “Yor, you’re drunk.”

“Uh huh,” she nodded, not even denying it. “Would you like a glass as well, darling?”

“No,” Loid shook his head, ignoring the ‘darling’ part. “I’m going to call Karen and arrange another meeting. This has gone on long enough.”

Yor frowned noticeably. Loid raised a brow. “I don’t want to talk to her anymore.”

“You don’t have to.” Blue eyes softened a little. “I’ll go by myself this time.”

The apartment fell silent for a moment. Loid could see Yor wanted to say something, though he assumed the words were difficult given her current intoxication. For a time he simply waited, and listened to the distant, muffled laughter of Bond and Anya as the two of them played pretend in the latter’s room. Yor, meanwhile, tried to form the thoughts that would eventually turn into words. Even drunk, she still found it difficult to will her mouth to carry them.

“Do you love her, Robert?”

The question seemed almost coherent. Almost. If Loid didn’t know his wife any better, he’d have sworn that her words were genuine. Loid tilted his head and stared at Yor. His gaze pierced her faded eyes, and after a moment of searching them he found his answer. She was still drunk.

“No,” he shook his head. For now, he’d remain Robert. “I don’t.”

A heaviness seemed to lift off of Yor’s shoulders. Quickly, that distant expression on her face gave way to one of relief, and Loid couldn’t help but to feel the slightest bit of amusement out of it. Yor was nothing if not earnest when drinking. Her emotions were unfiltered and splattered all across her face, and Loid envied that to a certain extent. There was nothing ulterior to Yor Forger. What you saw is what you got, and at that exact moment Loid saw nothing but his wife.

All the more reason why her next question took him completely off-guard.

“Do you love me , then-?”

Time stopped. Loid Forger ceased to exist. Twilight, master spy, took over…yet even he didn’t know what to do or say at that moment. All he/they could do was stare across at the woman with flushed cheeks and lips, who’d just moments ago asked a question they didn’t have a ready made answer for. What was the correct one? Yes or no? 

Which would ensure the continuation of Operation Strix? Would she even remember his answer anyway? What if he said no and she walked out on him? What if he said yes, and her reaction ended up being the same? There was no way to guarantee a scenario in which Yor would remain his wife, and the thought alone was terrifying. What the hell was he supposed to say-?

“-Or do you hate me…?” Yor continued, before trailing off. She looked forlorn. “Like Karen?”

Loid blinked. His thoughts became focused again at the sound of Yor’s voice, and he slowly started to come back to his senses. His pause had been too long. Yor looked dejected over his lack of answer, but at least now she had given him something to work with. She clung to the lifeline of her own words as Loid gathered himself. He, meanwhile, shook his head.

“I don’t hate Karen, and I certainly don’t hate you.” Loid smirked. “You’re my wife, after all. Nothing can change that.”

Yor’s ears perked at the word ‘wife,’ and it was as if a switch was flipped on her. Her heavy lips turned in a complete one-eighty, and she suddenly returned her husband’s smile tenfold. The look on her face was disarming, though that was nothing new. Even on Loid’s worst days- when missions became stressful and he had no idea how to act as a father -Yor’s smile was like water in a desert. Seeing it always told him that he was at least doing one thing right in making her happy. Some days, that alone was enough to keep him going.

Yor hummed, causing Loid to refocus on her. “That’s me! Mrs. Robert-Loid-Yor-Briar-Forger~!”

“I see,” Loid laughed outright. “That’s certainly a lot of hats you wear, Yor.”

Yor nodded. She kept on smiling, though her eyes became lidded. At first, Loid thought it was the alcohol, but quickly deduced that wasn’t the case. Just like before, he gazed into her eyes and found the hint of a thought. She wanted to say something important. Whatever it was, Loid likewise wanted very much to hear it. 

“Yes, it is…” Yor trailed off. Then, slowly, she found the rest of her admission. “...and I’ll happily wear them all if it means I get to stay with you forever.”

Even in the haze that was her vision, Yor knew the face that suddenly stared back at her. It wasn’t the Loid Forger that the world saw on a daily basis. Once again, she saw it for what it really was; her Loid. The face that showed weakness. The slumped shoulders that didn’t pretend to be strong. The blue eyes that always looked so certain about everything, but currently didn’t because…she didn’t know why. The why didn’t matter. Yor only knew one thing for certain right then and there. 

Karen couldn’t make him look like that.

Robert. Loid. Whoever he was. He was hers. 

The wine made Yor tipsy. She swayed when she walked; whether that was by design or not, neither Yor nor Loid could say. He stared at her as she approached him. Partly to make sure she didn’t trip over herself on the way over, and partly because wanted to see what would happen next. Yor seemed to be of the same mind. She didn’t seem to particularly know what she was doing, either. Her body was working on its own, while the rest of her was simply a willing captive.

Loid flinched a fraction of a degree when arms snaked around his neck, though Yor didn’t seem to notice. She was too busy staring up at him, and her crimson eyes ended up taking up all of Loid’s vision. The sight of them, along with matching red cheeks, made him drop what little guard he had left in him. His arms became limp at his side. His eyes half-closed. He continued to watch her, though his weariness grew with each passing second.

Hot breath rolled off Loid’s lips, and he swore he could taste merlot.

Yor closed her eyes. She leaned in. In that moment, Loid was given a choice; lean in as well, or escape. Yor was drunk. She didn’t mean any of this. For heaven’s sake, she kept calling him Robert…but part of him, some part of him somewhere, thought that just maybe she meant it. Her words. Her actions. There was no way for him to know for sure, and that’s what terrified him the most. He didn’t know what would happen, or what to do. What was the wrong choice, or the right one. All he could do was…roll the dice and take a chance.

So he did. 

He closed his eyes, and leaned in, too.

Loid felt it. The tiniest, most fleeting scrape of Yor’s lips. 

At that point he was committed. He wanted to experience this, whatever it was, to its fullest extent. He was a grown man. He wasn’t dead inside. He knew a beautiful woman when he saw one, and his wife- his fake wife -certainly fit into that category. Had thoughts run through his head on occasion? Of course they had. No amount of training or years of spywork could erase something so base. Even then, as a million thoughts ran through Loid/Twilight’s head about the possible ramifications of this, he had no will in him to stop. He wanted to see it through to the end. 

He wanted to kiss Yor…but outside forces would ultimately intervene. 

Before the millimeter of distance between them could close for good and seal them together, there came a sudden rapping at the door. Loid paused. Yor, meanwhile, lingered. She became a statue; eyes glued shut and lips puckered, she either didn’t realize what was going on, or desperately wished to ignore it. Unfortunately for her, Loid couldn’t. The knocking was loud. Very loud. So much so that Loid knew right away who it was. 

At that moment, Yor finally opened her eyes- just in time to catch Loid’s face twist in obvious, pained frustration. Without a word, he broke away from her. Yor’s arms fell to her side as her husband went to confront the person. To say that her frown reached the floor would have been an understatement, even more so once Loid finally opened the door.

“Karen,” he growled before her face even came into view. “Leave.”

“Never.” A look of resolve etched into the woman’s face as it was revealed in the doorway. “Nothing about your story adds up. You’re lying to me, I know it!”

Loid, already laid bare, found himself unable to put up any sort of front. Anger was plain on his face. “Karen, I’m not going to tell you again! I said-!”

-He didn’t get to finish that sentence. He, along with Karen, was stunned to silence as a sudden gust of wind rushed past both their faces. It ended with the distinct sound of something slamming into the wall, and immediately their heads spun around to see what it was. Across from them, stuck hanging in the wall, was on object. Karen had no idea what it was, but Loid certainly did. How could he not, given that it was (once) part of his collection of cutlery.

The same knife that Yor had used to slice open her wine bottle.

“I WAS JUST ABOUT TO KISS MY HUSBAND, GODDAMMIT!”

Loid stiffened. He felt a malevolence behind him, one that immediately caused him to spin back around in panic. At once, he was confronted with the looming specter of his wife’s shadow. Her raven hair seemed to almost hover in the air, the aura of her killing intent so great that it literally seemed to defy the laws of physics. That, coupled with her twitching claws, told Loid all he needed to know about the situation: get out of the way.

At that same moment, for the first time, Karen seemed to understand just how unwanted she was in the Forger house. It came as too little, too late, however. She backed up into the hallway and tried to faintly explain that she was leaving, but never made it more than a couple steps. Before she could blink twice, Yor was already there on her heels. Karen looked back to find cold red eyes staring back at her, and she yelped in utter horror. Her knees buckled. 

Karen fell to the floor, and Yor loomed over her. There was no escape.

The pleading came almost immediately. “W-Wait! I’ll leave, I promise! I’m sorry!”

Yor said nothing. She continued to stand over Karen, while Loid hesitated from the sidelines. He didn't know how much to intervene, if at all. Clearly he couldn’t let Karen get hurt, but at the same time the neighbors had likely already heard all of the commotion. He couldn’t risk causing further problems and raising suspicions about his family, and on top of all that, he couldn’t let Anya see her mama skin another woman alive. 

Once more, Loid found himself between a rock and a hard place. All he could do now was wait.

“I just didn’t know what else to do!” Karen explained, trying her best to scoot away. Yor stepped forward. “I came all this way to get him back! I didn’t want to waste months of my life for nothing!”

“So you were going to waste months of mine and Anya’s lives instead?” Yor loomed. 

“Yes-! I-I mean no-!” Karen stumbled over herself in every sense of the word. “I-I’m just…I’m sorry!”

No response came out of Yor. All she did was stare down at Karen, and Karen continued to retreat further and further into herself. It was all she could do, given that Yor wouldn’t let her move an inch from her spot on the floor. At that moment, Karen was afraid she’d bit off more than she could chew. Loid, likewise, worried that he might have to call in a favor from Handler to help cover up a murder. 

The air was tense. 

Then, all of a sudden, it just…wasn’t anymore.

Yor deflated. Not all the way, but enough to make everyone take notice.

“I love Robert.” Yor’s stare became distant. “He’s my husband, and nothing can change that.”

Karen flinched. She hesitated before looking up at Yor. A second ago she was expecting to get pummeled into oblivion, but now found herself having a heart-to-heart with her would-be killer. The two women locked eyes for a moment before Karen glanced over at Loid, who looked just as taken aback as she was. Karen opened her mouth to say something. Anything, because she felt like she needed to. She could only think of one thing, though.

“I love him, too…” Karen ached. Her eyes fell to the floor. “I really, really do…”

Yor nodded understandingly. “And that’s why you have to let him go now.”

Karen’s face twisted. 

She nodded; not because she agreed with Yor, but rather it was the only option she could take. It wasn’t a conscious concession to her rival. Her heart and body simply told her what her brain couldn’t: it was over. Despite whatever fantasy that had taken hold of her, Karen knew there was no scenario in which she’d ever win Robert back. It was obvious now, even to her.

Her muscles twitched to life. She slowly started to pick herself up from the floor; Yor offered to help her up, but the woman refused. Karen quietly dusted herself off and straightened out her expensive dress, which now all of a sudden seemed so superfluous. Without saying another word to Yor, Karen started off down the hallway. She made it a few steps before suddenly stopping, and turned to face Loid one last time. 

She waved at him sadly. “Goodbye, Robert.”

Loid gave no reply, save for a frown. Truthfully, he felt little remorse for her. She was a criminal heiress whom he faked a fling with for a few months. They had no real connection, and even knowing that she still traveled halfway across the country to try and convince him to get back together with her. She had been nothing but a nuisance for his mission and family, and her presence would not be missed.

Yet even so, Loid did feel something. Enough of a tug at his heart to at least spare her the decency of nodding in acknowledgement of her farewell. For Karen, it seemed, that would be enough. She took what he gave her and walked off with it. Down the hall, all the way to the end, and round the stairs. In moments she was gone, and with her went all the clouds that had hung over the Forger household for the past week. 

Though, one remained. Not to say the cloud was a particularly dark one, though it did need to be addressed. Once Karen was gone, and Loid knew she was gone for good, he finally let go of the breath he’d been holding onto. He turned away and washed his hands clean of her. Now, his focus was all on Yor.

He stared at her back. Her exposed shoulders seemed to tremble, and he became worried. “Listen, Yor-”

“-Robert,” Yor interrupted. An obvious yawn promptly followed. “I think I’m going to lay down now…”

Loid straightened suddenly at the sound of a loud thud. Before he knew it, he found his wife passed out on the floor. Immediately, he panicked- though the feeling was short lived. He dashed to her side, and just as quickly was relieved when the sound of her snoring started to fill the entire hallway. It seemed the alcohol had run its course, along with the adrenaline of the evening.

Loid sighed. He scooped Yor up in his arms and went to bring her inside, though not before prying the knife out from the wall on his way over. He was going to do a lot of smoothing over the next couple days in regards to his neighbors. Worst case scenario, the SSS would be called…no, even worse still, Yor’s brother. Loid didn’t know which would cause him the bigger headache. In all honesty, he’d rather deal with the SSS.

Wife curled up peacefully in his arms, Loid retreated inside. He kicked the door behind him, and the moment it closed, Anya stuck her head out from the room. Her little mouth opened up to say something, but Loid cut her off at the pass.

“Bedtime.” He commanded.

Anya nodded her head sagely. She retreated into her room, and that was the end of that.

Loid made his way towards Yor’s room. He struggled to grab the handle, yet once he did he realized that it was locked. Loid glanced at the wall, and found it late in the evening. With no other option, save for depositing Yor on the sofa (it was quite uncomfortable), Loid relented and broke one of the Forger house’s rules: nobody goes in papa’s room. 

He didn’t have much of a choice. He unlocked the door and shuffled into his dark retreat. Loid went straight for the bed, and lay Yor gently on top of the sheets. He had no desire to fight her in order to get the covers from underneath her, though luckily there was a spare blanket by his desk. Loid threw it over his wife, and she immediately curled up in it. His pillow cradled her head.

“Mm…” Yor murmured. “‘Nite darling.”

She turned on her side, and there was no more talking. All fell silent, including Loid. He watched Yor for a time as she slept. The rise and fall of the blanket as she breathed. Her dreaming face. The way her hair sprawled out behind her. It was all so foreign to him…though that wasn’t to say it was a bad thing.  

There was much on Loid’s mind. Too much, as a matter of fact. His head spun from what transpired that evening. The consequences of his and Yor’s actions were innumerable and immeasurable; he hadn’t the faintest idea what the morning would hold for either of them. Would Yor remember everything? Would he be forced to confront some things he never desired to confront, or would all of this blow over like it never even happened- just like every other time Yor lost herself in a haze of inebriation? 

Perhaps. Perhaps not. Indeed, there was no way to know for sure. That seemed the running theme of the evening, and in all honesty Loid was too tired to quibble over what-if’s. He was exhausted, same as Yor, though only one of them had the bed at the moment. He wasn’t presumptuous enough to climb in, too. Even if everything she said and did ended up being true, that still didn’t give him the right to lay with her. 

Loid had to get some sleep, though. He changed quickly; fast enough to avoid being seen by a drunken, sleeping Yor. She didn’t so much as stir in the time it took him to climb into his sleepwear. Once finished, he pulled up the chair from his desk and positioned it by the bedside. At least that way, he could get away with resting his head there.

He sat down and folded his arms as a makeshift pillow. His head lay mere inches from his wife, though again she failed to notice. It was all the same to Loid, who quickly started to nod off despite his less than comfortable sleeping arrangements. His descent into sleep was furthered along by the feeling of a warm body next to him. Yor’s light snoring became the background noise for the darkness that quickly started to overtake him. Loid lost himself in it. 

For some reason, it was soothing to him. 

If given the opportunity, he wouldn't mind falling asleep to that sound every night.

Forever.