Chapter Text
“Anya should be home soon.” Said the black-haired woman as she approached the living room while holding two cups.
The man folded his newspaper and placed it next to him, muttering a quick “thank you”. He took the cup of tea his wife had just placed on the small coffee table and took a sip. Tea was one of the few things his wife could make in the kitchen without him worrying if he’d live to see another day.
The young woman took a seat in front of him and also grabbed her cup.
“I just hope the remedy lessons are helping her.” Otherwise, the mission could be derailed.
“I think she’ll be fine.” Yor gave him an optimistic smile. He couldn’t help but smile back at his wife’s positive attitude. If only they could all smile when their daughter came back with her tests.
Not much long after, the family dog, who had been quietly sleeping next to the door, started barking.
“Mama! Papa!” could be heard from the hallway before a small child entered the apartment.
“Welcome home.” Her mother greeted her, but the child didn’t spare one second for her or her dog. She dashed to get to her father, giving him an invitation.
“What’s this?”
“Sy-on boy gave them to everyone.”
The Desmond household?
Loid opened the invitation. Inside, in elegant gold ink on black paper, were written a time and address.
“A birthday party?”
“Oh, that sounds like fun!” Yor chimed in from the kitchen where she was making hot cocoa for her daughter.
Loid read the invitation. Damian Desmond was having his seventh birthday celebration. His family was inviting his classmates and their families to join in. It’ll take place in a couple of weeks from now, and so the Desmond household was expecting the RSVP.
As three pairs of eyes watch him expectantly, Loid’s mind went through all the possible scenarios on whether or not to accept.
It’ll get me closer to Desmond, and since we’ve already made acquaintances there’s no reason for me not to talk to him. On top of that, the kids will probably be off playing, and I’m sure that I can get Yor to go talk to other people for a couple of minutes while I get closer to Desmond. However, I need to think about this carefully, otherwise, the whole cover can be blown. This will require intense training for both of them. But how can I do this without them getting suspicious… I’ll have to talk to the Handler… but she’d probably scold me if I don’t take this opportunity to get closer to Desmond.
“Alright, we can go to the party.” He sighed defeated and the house was filled with excitement.
“I must admit, I’m impressed Loid.” Sylvia, who was sitting over at the next table, praised him. “I’ll be frank with you, after 8 months and little progress I was starting to get worried. Honestly, everyone in the agency was. I’m glad you pulled through.”
If he was honest with himself, he too was starting to get worried. As Westalis’ best spy he was ready to play this farce for as long as needed, but after so long he had expected either his daughter to have had at least 4 or 5 stellas, or at least had become closer to Desmond’s younger son. If Donovan was planning something no one would be able to interfere, and that worried him.
Before giving more information, Twilight scanned his surroundings. Once he was sure no one in the café was paying attention to the two strangers sitting at different tables, yet close enough to have or not a discussion, he continued his report.
“I’m still gathering information but so far we’ve been able to confirm that it is a Desmond tradition to use Numemberg’s palace for such functions. As per my daughter’s recall of events, everyone in her class received an envelope. We expect maximum security for such an event with so many high profiles.”
“Very well, go to the event and gather as much information as you can. The agency will deem how you’ll act from there on.”
“If that’s all then I’ll be taking my leave.” The man put some money on the table to pay for his coffee and started to walk away.
“Oh Loid, before I forget. If you make good progress at said party the agency expects things to go smoother from then on.” So did him. After all, the mission needs to move faster, otherwise, Desmond might act before enough intel is gathered. “But Loid, keep in mind, if our suspicions on Desmon are correct he’ll make a move sooner than expected. You’ll have to stop him before that… and therefore Strix will end in a couple of months.”
For a brief second, Loid paused in his steps before continuing his way.
Given that he didn’t have any missions today, he walked aimlessly around the city. Something was bothering him, but he couldn’t tell what it was.
Focus Twilight, a spy with his head out of the game is a dead spy.
For some reason, after his meeting, he was out of it. Was he worried that the mission wouldn’t go as planned? That they might be found out as a fake family? That Donovan will be more suspicious of him?
His mind was too convoluted for him to follow his train of thoughts.
As the blond man looked around him, he realized he ended up in the park where his family did their first official outing.
He took a deep breath. Recalling what Yor had told him when they first went to that park, he took a minute to admire the city. All these people just living their daily lives unaware of the possible war that could implode any day now.
As he observed the passers-by his mind drifted to that one time his family stopped a thief. It was thanks to all of them that they were able to catch him and give the older woman her purse back.
He smiled a little at the memory. Maybe in another life, where war hadn’t occurred, that would have been his life. He would have ended up most likely being a diplomat like his father. Maybe he would have dated and eventually gotten married. Maybe even have had a kid or two by now.
But that’s not reality. This reality was harsh, where war had occurred, and any possibilities of a normal life were long forgotten.
Now, the only thing he could do was to do everything in his hands so that peace between both countries was maintained.
He sighed and he, once again, was resolute so that no child knows the tragedies of war.
No matter what, he needed to be done with this mission soon. If not, hundreds of lives may be lost.
“Ah. Loid, you’re back.” His wife greeted him as he placed his coat and hat on the coat rack. He petted Bond before turning to face his wife in the kitchen.
“Sorry, today my patients needed closer supervision. I’ll get started with dinner now.”
“You must be tired, please let me do it. Or people may think I’m not a good housewife.” Loid’s stomach dropped. Not because of what people would think of his wife, no, but because if he eats whatever Yor decides to cook, tonight could very well be the end of operation Strix.
“Pl-please, allow me. You already take care of keeping the house clean, cooking dinner for my family is the least I could do.”
Loid entered the kitchen to wash his hands.
“You already work hard enough Loid. Besides you also help cleaning.”
Seeing his wife wasn’t going to give in but not wanting to die in the middle of a mission, he smiled at her.
“We can cook together.” He suggested instead.
Yor put her hands together and returned the smile.
“Great! I’ll get the ingredients ready.”
Given how small the kitchen was for two people they had to improvise a tango as they went. Spinning and dodging each other to not make the other one uncomfortable with needless touching.
After washing the vegetables, Yor turned on her heels.
“Are these many alright?”
Her husband watched as half of the vegetables were gone. How can someone make vegetables disappear just by washing them?
“Yes, they’re fine. Could you pass them to me, just be careful there’s some wa-“
Vegetables and strainer went flying as Yor slipped. Without hesitation, Loid quickly caught his wife by her back. And before he could even react, his wife had already caught back the strainer with all the vegetables.
They stared at each other, shocked. For once Twilight’s brain wasn’t able to fully assess the situation as quickly as he would have liked.
Moving his eyes from the ruby ones staring back at him, he realized that his wife had regained her footing before he caught her. So all of his theatrics were exactly the needless touching he was trying to avoid.
They both took a step back, their faces taking on different shades of crimson.
“Sorry I acted without thinking.” He apologized, not knowing what else to do.
“N-no I’m sorry. I should have been more careful with my steps.”
An uncomfortable silence followed.
But, as if the universe decided to help them, the doorknob turned, and their daughter came in.
“Mama, Papa, I’m back.” Not hearing a response Anya turned to her left. Even Bond hadn’t reacted when she arrived home. He was sitting quietly, expectantly staring at his owners.
“What happened?”
“Nothing happened!” Both adults shouted in unison.
“Mama, Papa, are you sick? You’re really red. You’re getting even redder now! Mama Papa don’t die!” The child started bawling.
“It’s alright Anya” her mother reassured her. “We-we’re not sick so why don’t we let Loid finish dinner?” With that, the young woman took her daughter’s hand and guided her toward their bedrooms.
What are you getting embarrassed for Twilight?! Has this mission really dulled me as a spy? If this keeps up, I’ll have to ask the Handler to clear my schedule for some days and do some basic training again.
Not wanting to overthink it Loid finished dinner and called the rest of the family to eat.
They ate in silence, with the TV as the only sound breaking the almost unbearable silence.
Avoiding each other’s gaze, the couple could only look at their daughter, who could only keep looking between them.
Could she sense that something was wrong?
Wanting to make dinner less awkward Yor asked her daughter how was school. While they chatted Loid scolded himself for the third time today. He reminded himself that he needed to be 100% focused on his mission. So, he started thinking of ways to make sure his family was as respectable and presentable as possible. This weekend they should go out so he can observe if there’s anything he or his family has overlooked. So far, he’d said they’ve done a good job at keeping up this fake family situation. They’ve had a couple of close calls but nothing major. This is his opportunity to make sure their story was perfect.
As they finished dinner, Loid took Anya to get ready for bed while Yor did the dishes. Just like their usual routine, just more silent and a bit more awkward.
While Loid put Anya to bed, a pair of small green eyes kept staring at him.
“Is something wrong?” He questioned. Well, she had her favorite stuffed animal with her, her pajamas were clean, and the room temperature was optimized for a kid to sleep in. As he was about to keep analyzing, his daughter spoke.
“Are you and Mama fighting? That’s why you didn’t talk at dinner?”
Of course, how could he forget! Kids are more cognizant than they let in! Of course, she could sense something was wrong. Come on Twilight! You need to keep this pretend family even after Damian’s party. How else will you keep in contact with Desmond? Okay, just breathe. You just need to get the relationship with Yor back on track. Pretend like that never happened and move on. The Forger’s need to be the epitome of a perfect happy family by the time they’re in front of the Desmonds.
“We’re not fighting.” He reassured her. “I just had a long day at work. But you don’t need to worry about it. Yor and I are fine.”
He covered his daughter with her blanket, turned off the light, and closed the door while making his way to the dining room.
Just a mission like any other Twilight.
His wife was humming a tune as she finished washing the dishes.
“Umm, Yor, sorry again for acting the way I did. I should have realized that you didn’t need any help.” Not daring to enter the kitchen again, he spoke from the other side of the kitchen’s counter.
“Oh! No, it’s alright! I should have paid more attention to where I was stepping.”
The air between them was still a bit uncomfortable but more manageable. After a couple of seconds that felt like an eternity, Yor spoke:
“L-Loid.”
“Yes?”
“Ummm, you see. I was going to tell you during dinner, but umm, I forgot… And well, the thing is, today at work the girls were talking, and…” Even though it had been over than hour since their “incident”, as she spoke, she started blushing. “Well, they asked why I wasn’t wearing my wedding ring. I told them that I don’t use it, so I won’t lose it. But they said that since everyone now knows I’m married there’s no point in not wearing it and I should bring it.” She explained quickly.
“I see.” Loid paused for a second.
Of course, their marriage was just a big ruse, and their engagement was far from ideal. Still, he was sure that by now Yor would have had disposed of the “ring” he proposed with. So, either way, he needed to get a new one.
“Okay, I just need your ring size and I’ll have Franky get us a wedding band.” We’d give the wrong impression if either Yor or I went looking for rings.
“My ring size?”
“You know, four, five, six…?”
“Oh, I guess, since I don’t wear rings I don’t know.” She answered sheepishly. Her husband kindly smiled at her. There was not a trace of judgment on his face, just reassurance.
“It’s pretty easy to figure it out actually. Wait here.” He went to his room and took out a sewing thread, a ruler, and a pen.
When he came back Yor had already made her way to the black couch. He sat next to her.
Loid took some thread and gently took his wife’s hand.
“The trick is to wrap the thread around your ring finger.” As he was explaining he was doing the demonstration, focusing on that alone. “And once that’s done, you just make a small mark. Now we unwrap it and measure the thread up until the mark.”
“And done, you’re a size five. Smaller than the average.” He looked up, expecting to see his wife’s reaction, yet his wife was looking away, her hair covering her face.
Did I mess up?! I should have kept the comment to myself! Now I need to be even more vigilant with what I say during our next outing!
“I’m going to bed.” Yor hurriedly got up from the couch and left.
Dumbfounded. A word he never thought would be used to describe him. He was feeling dumbfounded over this interaction. He searched his pet for support, but Bond was already in his bed, long ago having drifted to sleep.
Loid sighed and he too made his way to his bedroom.
As he closed his door, he looked at his hand. It felt warm and tingling.
Tingling? Like the poison at the tennis tournament?!
He took off his shirt to cover his mouth and nose.
Wait. Bond was part of project Apple, and his nose always seems to detect everything. He would have reacted if there was a poisonous gas being leaked.
Trying to steady his breath Twilight put on his nightwear and got in bed.
Lying in bed, with the darkness of the night he put his hand in front of him. For some reason, only the places that had touched his wife felt warm.