Work Text:
It was the beginning of a regular evening in the Pole. Ophelia spent all day helping Berenilde and Victoire to prepare their bags. The courtesan and her daughter were going for a few days at the beach. Victoire begged for a vacation at the sea for weeks and her mother finally gave up. They left in the afternoon and Ophelia was conscripted to fetch the little girl’s cat, that she was going to look after during their absence. An animal in their house, Thorn would be pleased, Ophelia thought with a smile. But she wouldn’t let her goddaughter down, nor the memory of her friend Fox, the previous owner of the ginger cat.
When Thorn came back home after his day of work, the cat had already take his marks in his new environment and was asleep on the couch. Thorn, as usual, put away his coat and suitcase in the hall before coming next to his wife to kiss her. She was seating in a big armchair, reading a book.
"Good evening" she said, "how was your day?"
"As good as it could be when we’re apart."
He told her a variation of the same sentence every day, but she loved the candid sincerity he showed.
"What about your day?"
"I helped Berenilde and Victoire to organize their trip to the beach. They took the train in the afternoon."
"Yes, their vacation" Thorn replied.
He sat down on the arm-rest of Ophelia’s chair and caressed her curly hair. Running his long fingers through her messy curls was a new habit of his, but this one pleased Ophelia a lot.
"What’s that?" He asked pointing his chin at the ginger ball of fur on the couch.
"It’s a cat."
"I can see it’s a cat" Thorn replied coldly. "What I was asking was why is this thing in our home."
"It’s the kitten Archibald gave to Victoire. Berenilde asked me to look after him while they are away."
A disapproving grunt escaped from Thorn’s tight lips.
"It’s only for a week" Ophelia tried to reassure him.
"Hmm."
The fact that her husband’s vocabulary was reduced to onomatopoeia wasn’t a good sign, so Ophelia changed the topic of the conversation.
"I received a letter from Babel today. It’s an invitation for Blasius and professor Wolf’s wedding. I’m so pleased for them, they deserve to be happy."
"Your ability to befriend people, regardless of the circumstances or their origin, always defied all probabilities." Thorn noticed, his steely eyes falling on his wife.
"Blasius assisted me so much at the Memorial of Babel and I guess that his innate bad luck helped me put my own clumsiness into perspective." Ophelia said, amused at the memory of the constant misfortune of the memorialist.
"Would you like us to respond to the invitation?"
"If that’s ok with you, I would really like to go. Seeing them again and spending some time in Babel would be nice. It would be the occasion to take a little vacation."
"Everyone seems to want vacations at the moment." Thorn muttered, starring at the sleeping cat again.
"You work too much and don’t you like the idea of being alone with me far from here for a moment?"
"You and me, we can be alone here at home. We spend our evenings and nights together, even if it’s never enough time with you, the Treasury won’t be taking care of itself." Thorn argued, his sense of duty waking up.
"Let’s go eat diner for now, we’ll see for any possible traveling plans later."
Ophelia got up, took advantage of the fact that Thorn was seated and at the right height to steal a kiss, and went to the kitchen. The Treasurer followed her. They took the habit of cooking diner together every evening. Ophelia’s clumsiness made it really hard for her to cook, ingredients and dishes regularly fell. Thorn helped her the best he could and his obsessive Animism cleaned after her. They were so different but they complemented each other. Together, they formed a duo that could vainquish anything, even the making of a soufflé. Ophelia loved these daily moments shared with her husband and she knew he wouldn’t have missed them for anything in the world.
An hour later, they sat down in the dining room to eat. They only had to regret the loss of a plate and an egg. The bright side was that their dishes were regularly renewed. The meal was light and simple, Thorn didn't eat a lot but always tried to honor his wife's cooking. They continued talking about Blasius and Wolf.
"It’s a good thing they finally can live together openly. Babel has changed for the best."
"Without God, LUX lords lost their harmful influence. The situation improved."
"And it’s all because of us." Ophelia said smiling.
"We gave humanity back its dice, I’m relieved they seem to use them for good." Thorn replied.
They finished their meal and cleared the table, with the loss of a glass that Ophelia let down in the sink. They went to the living room where they loved to spend the evening snuggled up against each other, talking, reading or just enjoying being together. They sat down on the couch that the cat left earlier. Thorn settled his long back and legs, Ophelia came leaning against the bony body that she knew well enough to find the most comfortable place. Her husband slipped his arm around her waist and begin to read a book. Snuggled up against Thorn, Ophelia left her mind drift. The day she spent with Berenilde and Victoire left her exhausted and she ended up drowsing. Her scarf came under her head like a wooly pillow. Thorn saw her fall asleep and tightened his arm around her so that she didn’t fall off the couch. Her clumsiness was sweet but sometimes dangerous. He continued to read but after a few pages he began to gaze at her, laying down asleep in his arms. She seemed so fragile and was so beautiful, he thought while playing with the small curls that fell on her sweet face. For her, he would take a week off and go to Babel. For this one of a kind woman, he would go to the wedding of two strangers and overcome his disgust of people. For his Ophelia, he would do anything, a little more than that even. The serenity of the moment took over his mind and he sank into sleep.
When Ophelia woke up a few moments later, she heard Thorn’s calm and regular breathing and knew he was asleep. She slowly stood up, trying not to wake him up and stared at the scene in front of her. The cat was on Thorn’s lap and slept peacefully. She smiled, surprised, and took back her place against her silly husband to doze off again.