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Twilight wobbled his way home. The understaffed situation started to get to his physique. He can't believe that he had to do not just one extra mission, but three!! Back to back. For a week!!
Regardless that the missions were not a "difficult" one per se, it still ran him down, up until he lost all his energy. The blond man's steps were getting heavier with each step as he neared his house (which is actually another mission, to his dismay), and his visions started to blur.
"Just…. One more… block……" He whispered to cheer himself up.
Suddenly a man bumped his shoulder, and he was so tired that he couldn't recover his balance in time.
Twilight closed his eyes, expecting the impact of his head with the hard concrete below.
But it never came.
"Loid! What happened?!"
As his sense returned to him slowly, he registered that he was propped against something… no… someone.
Yor.
"Loid????"
He cracked open his eyes, and met with her worried gaze.
"So-.... sorry, I think I just felt-.... Whooah!!"
Not waiting for his excuses, his wife easily lifted him and adjusted him on her back.
"Hang on, we'll be at home in a moment!"
Wait…. Was he being piggybacked ?
Slow brains tried to catch up with his senses, and grasped the thing that was going on.
He DID being piggybacked by his shorter (and obviously stronger) wife!
And even though the other part of him kinda relieved that he didn't have to walk the remaining block and then the stairs, the more logical part of his brain took over and analized that the situation was so improper that it might ruin his reputation! (Well, Loid Forger reputation to be exact.) Anyway his whole dignity as a grown man was on the line here.
"Yor! Put me down!" As heat spread in his face.
"Nu uh. You clearly can't walk straight. You didn't get enough rest, did you?"
"I can still manage to-..."
"Sshh! It will be faster this way!"
"I-...."
"Ssshh!!"
Loid face was so red when they walked past several neighbours, who immediately started to whisper among them. Gossiping about him, for sure. But at the same time, he has no power (literally) to escape his wife's powerful grip at his legs.
After several futile attempts to break free, he gave up. He opted to bury his face on Yor's shoulder to hide his face and ignored the weird looks he received from the people, and well…. enjoying the "ride" home.
Loid hissed for the umpeeth time that morning. The back to back extra missions didn't stop, and it made him neglect his facial hair growth.
He can't ignore it any longer though, as Anya already giggled every time she saw him, and pointedly called him "Scruffy's underling". The kid even teamed with their hound to tackle him as the "Evil Scruff King's underling came to destroy world peace" the night before. It was just a joke from her daughter, but his pride wouldn't allow it.
Not even in the next life will he ever be Frankie's underling.
He was Westalis best spy, who currently played his part as the perfect father and husband. Certainly not to be called Scruffy's underling.
He blamed his exhausted brain for even needing that excuse in the first place, to make him do something to his facial hair.
Alas, his busy work had made him forget to buy his usual single used razors, thus he had to rely on the old fashioned knife.
He knew that kitchen knives shouldn't be used for other things than cooking purposes, but this was an emergency.
Besides, Yor had taken care of the knives so that they were always sharp.
Ouch !
Too sharp !
Apparently, using the advanced technology everyday had made him lose his skill in using old fashioned knives for these purposes.
"Ouch!" He hissed as once again he cut himself.
"Do you need help?"
He startled upon hearing the question. After all this time, he never understood how Yor still managed to sneak behind him so effortlessly.
Ugh! he really had become soft.
"I think I will manage. Somehow…."
Yor giggled, "Yeah….. one, two, three, four cuts already? And you haven't even quarter done."
Loid cringed.
"Here, let me help. I'm quite confident with my knife skill," she said as she took the knife from his hand.
The professional spy side of him screamed ridiculously at how easily he let strangers hold a knife so near to his throat.
What if Yor was an assassin that after his life??
But… if she was, she would have thousands of opportunities to finish him off. Besides, she was no stranger. She was such a sweet and kind woman whom he asked to play his wife, and had been doing her part quite well.
Unbeknownst of his inner turmoil, Yor started to work using the knife and moving his head to desired directions with her other fingers.
Just under 5 minutes she had done it without so called accidents, and smiling brightly, admiring her work.
Loid blinked, and glanced at his reflection at the mirror.
Huh…. Look at that, she really was good with knives.
"Thank you," He smiled at her.
The tint of pink spread on her face when she washed said knife, while mumbled, "No problem."
"How come you're so good with this kind of thing?"
His wife looked at him through the mirror, when answering, "Uuh… back then, when Yuri started to grow facial hairs, we… we couldn't afford single used razors. So I always used knives."
Oh… .
"Well… I'm glad. This way, Anya couldn't accuse me as Scruffy's underling," He grinned.
His wife's giggling was music in his ears, never failing to elevate his mood.
Twilight cursed himself for being so careless in his latest mission. He should've known to hold his breath when the target had thrown the smoke bomb. It didn't matter that he was in the middle of hand to hand combat with the bodyguards, he should've still held his breath.
Because of the composition of said smoke screen, now he had a nasal congestion and terrible sore throat. Lucky for him that the weather suddenly turned cold in the last few days, and it made a perfect cover story for him catching a cold.
Even though he never had one, and never will.
He used the face mask though for extra cover.
"I'm home!" He hoarsely called the resident of the Forger house. He cringed that even speaking such short words would lead him to coughing fit.
"Catch a cold?" His wife's concerned greeting reached his ear. Before long she came with warm water in a glass for him to drink, and he welcomed the gesture by drinking the whole thing in one gulp.
"Ah not a problem…. It will be gone in a few days," He dismissed her worry with a wave of his hand, then added, "It'll get better after a good hot shower. I'll start dinner immediately after that." Yor just raised her eyebrows at his statement, as he walked passed her towards the bathroom.
The hot shower really relaxed all his sore muscle, and the warm fog somehow managed to help a bit with his nasal congestion, but not his throat.
Perhaps he should make soup for dinner instead of Hamburg steak as he previously planned. Even imagining to swallow the spiced meat and its gravy through that pain of his throat didn't sound entertaining at all.
Ah, but what about Anya's disappointed look he will receive then?
All right, a soup for myself then.
When he emerged from the bathroom however, he saw that Yor already set the table.
"Oh? You already cooked something?" He dreadfully asked. No offense to his wife, but he really liked to avoid another assault at his body's system organs today.
"I ordered take outs," she answered with a smile, completely oblivious to her husband's inner thoughts.
"I ordered Anya's favorite meal. Because I won't let you cook, and I can't stand her pouty face for missing her favorite Hamburg steak. I ordered chicken soup for you," she explained further.
That's a relief.
Suddenly, even with the congestion of his nose, he could smell something. Then he noticed that there was a cup and a pot of warm beverages at his side of the table.
Upon seeing his puzzled expression, Yor explained, "Ah, this is my family recipe for common cold. It will help with the congestion and sore throat, and make you relax for better sleep."
"Oh? Thank you, Yor", he answered while taking a sip.
The taste was warm, a bit spicy, and a bit sweet. After one gulp, suddenly Loid could smell the spices aroma came from the pot.
Wow…. It really worked !
Finishing one cup, he could swallow the liquid, without feeling like he was swallowing desert sands.
When he enjoyed the hot beverages, her daughter came barging from the door, "Anya's home!! By the way, Anya bumped with the food delivery boy. Why?"
"Loid catch a cold, thus we won't have your Hamburg steak today," the mother explained to the kid, and before Anya's face turned sour, she continued, "It's the pasta you loved."
Loid watched as his daughter's face journey turned from a concerned frown, to understanding blink, to admiration sparkle.
"Now wash your hand first!" Yor asked the kid after retrieving the food package, and started preparing the food.
"Okaayy!"
The Forgers had their dinner, while Loid listened to the cheerful stories come from his wife and daughter regarding how their day went.
.
The next day, Loid felt more refreshed than usual. It turned out the herb remedy really helped with his sleep. However, the sore throat and hoarse voice still exist. Thus Yor asked him to wear a scarf to help with his recovery. Loid followed her advice just to not make her worry.
Arriving at Frankie's shop, the informant mocked him, "Huh… look at that! Even the mighty Twilight succumbed to a mere common cold!"
"I don't catch cold."
"Yea yea…. It just proved that you're just a mere human, eh?"
Twilight glared at the shorter man, who only giggled in response.
"So, what information do you need?"
The blond man opened his bag to retrieve the document he needed Frankie to look at, but suddenly stopped.
Inside his bag, there was a thermos. Most likely Yor has been the one who put it there. The spy part of him scolded himself for being so careless, that somebody could slip a thing to his bag without him knowing. But Loid shushed the voice away, and smiled as he took out the flask instead.
"Huh, I thought it would be some kind of documents?"
Ignoring the informant, Loid opened the lid, poured himself a cup, and siped the content with glee.
Ah, yep. This felt good...
"Wow? What is that? Smells nice and warm….."
Frankie extended his arm to pour himself a cup, but Loid slapped his hand away.
"It's mine."
"Aw come on! It's a cold morning! You have a full thermos, share me a cup!"
"No."
"Seriously???"
"My wife made this for me ."
"Fake wife for goodness sake!"
But Loid ignored the plea, and kept enjoying his herb tea all for himself, all to his friend's dismay.
Loid groaned as he moved his shoulders. After sitting for at least 12 hours a day for three consecutive days in a psychiatry world seminar, the sore muscle in his back started to knot here and there, and all together it made his back hurt.
Who would've guessed that sitting and listening to numerous professors relaying their clinical updates in so-called modern therapies could be more tiring than doing something physically in his mission. Even though, attending this seminar was also part of his mission, cause he could get in touch with some of the higher ups medical professors who might have connections with Donovan Desmond. Plus, by attending the seminar, he could solidify the "Loid Forger the psychiatrist" persona. That would come in handy sometime in the future.
The blond man now tried to stretch his back, by twisting and pulling to the sofa's hand rest. He grunted as his back muscle stretched a bit, and his back bone made a satisfying crack sound. But the pain was still there.
He even tried swallowing pain killer pills, but it didn't help much.
"Loid, are you all right?" His wife asked when she returned to the living room after taking a bath.
"I'm fine…. It's just-..."
"Knotted muscle?"
Loid grimaced because apparently he was that obvious now.
"I can help with that. If pressed some of the pressure points, it will be gone in a minute." Yor smiled as she moved to take an extra chair, and sat next to the sofa.
Loid's eyes widened at the idea. His memory flew back to when they went to enter Eden preliminary test, at the time when Yor took down a cow with her acupressure knowledge. He shuddered at the thought.
"Uhh… I'm good…."
As if reading his mind, the black haired woman flustered and explained, "No.. no… that time was an emergency. I really know acupressure points, and it won't take long to free the knots, I promise," continued with lower voice, almost a whisper, "And….. I'll be carefull…."
She sounded so ashamed with her power, and looked down. Loid was so disgusted with himself for having such a thought, and made her feel down. He needed to fix this fast.
"Yor, I trust you…. I know you will always want what was best for me and Anya," He smiled and motioned her to look at him. When she did, he continued, "I also want what best for you…."
When his wife started to smile, Loid gathered all his courage, and hoped that he wouldn't regret his decision.
"Well then, if you don't mind…. Can you help me with these?" He gestured to his back.
"Of course. Now I need you to lay down on your stomach."
Yor then arranged the sofa as the make up bed, made Loid lay down on his stomach, and gave him a pillow to prop his head.
"I'm going to start from your feet, please tell me if I pressed too hard or it is too painful…."
The blond man started to feel his wife's thumb pressed his toes one by one against the sofa. He never imagined something could feel painful and good at the same time.
The man tried so hard not to make any sounds as her thumb started to move to the soles of his feet, but at a certain point he yelped.
"So-... sorry….." his wife abruptly lifted up her fingers and stopped.
"No, it's okay, just….. why does it hurt so much at that specific point?"
"It's the point for your back bone, and muscles. If it hurts so much, it means there is a problem with the energy there."
"Energy?"
"Yes, qi in the foreign language."
"Ah….. I see…."
"Now, I'll continue……."
Yor then pressed the same point gently for several more minutes, and then suddenly the pain was gone.
She then continued meticulously pressing each point on his soles, then continued to his calf, while at the same time explained the purpose of each point. He noticed that everytime he grunted in pain, she reduced her strength but kept pressing the same point with circular motion, until the pain was gone. She purposely skipped his thigh and bottom out of politeness, and continued to his lower back.
Loid was genuinely amazed by her skill, as he now felt so relaxed that he started to feel sleepy.
He really tried to stay awake because as a spy he has been drilled to be always on alert for his own safety. But apparently at some point during the massage, he couldn't control it and sleep like a log.
He was awoken by a ray of morning sun and a smell of coffee brewing. Glancing at the clock, he figured that he had slept for at least 8 hours straight. Slipping out from the blanket and sitting up straight, he tried to move his shoulder and was astonished when he realized that all the knotted muscles were gone. Plus he felt so refreshed. He didn't remember when was the last time he felt this fresh waking up.
"Morning, did you sleep well?" His wife asked while sliding him the morning coffee, and sitting at the head of the sofa.
He turned his attention to the voice that greeted him, and smiled, "Actually I did. Thank you so much, Yor."
"Your welcome," was her answer with a smile while sipping her morning tea.
Twilight didn't understand how these young people think. Did they actually think war was something fun? That it would boost their popularity or something? He wondered why sometime the supposed to be better educated young people could be so stupid.
Just like this one that he had been chasing. All of his other friends were already apprehended, but this one guy, who was the one bringing a bomb in his bag, was quite agile. The boy made a sudden move to the left, and went through some bushes.
Twilight greeted his teeth because the route that his target chose was heading towards the park near Loid's neighbourhood. He was grateful that he was under a disguise, so that people that might know Loid wouldn't be suspicious, or started asking questions about why a psychiatrist was chasing down a terrorist.
But to his dismay, the park was packed with children and their parents. Aside from the people obscuring his vision, should the bomb go off, there would be too many casualties.
Twilight mentioned to his comrades to continue swiftly but silently and not to cause unnecessary panic.
While searching through the crowd, he caught a strange movement far to his right. He gave a signal to his friends to circled the target. But then his heart started to beat faster because he saw Yor and Anya were playing at the spot the culprit was heading to. He calculated all possible strategies to apprehend the target and at the same time moving the commotion outside the park and away from his family.
However the target suddenly dispersed the things in his bag, turned out to be colorful balls, to the crowd.
"Whoaah!! Balls!!"
"Mama, look at that balls"
"The green one is mine!"
"No! No! Kids! Stay away from the balls!" Twilight tried in vain to stop the children and their parents from collecting the balls, as one of them might contain the bomb.
When the children scramble to get the ball, the culprit dashed towards the rear of the park. He expertly jumped from the swings onto the top of the slide, bounced using the wall as his footing, to jump over the fence, then as soon as he landed on his two feet at the other side, he ran away.
"Halt!!!"
Twilight watched in dismay as his two comrades tried to chase the guy by circling through the park exit, and groaned because they would never catch him that way.
But then he watched in awe as he saw his wife, ever the observant one, sprang into action. Yor swiftly ran towards a grassy mound, jumped and reached into a branch of a tree, then vaulted over the fence. Arriving at the other end of the fence, she started to chase after the guy with admirable speed.
Twilight blinked and whispered, "Wow……"
He mentally took note to propose parkour as the extra menu of WISE's daily physical exercises, especially for young new recruits. He would not see another day when a mere housewife (though an extraordinary one at that) beat any agents in chasing down a target.
Hey, wait a minute!!
This was not the time to admire his wife's agility. He needed to figure out which one of the balls had the bomb.
"Kids…. Please stay away from the balls…." Once again his plea fell into deaf ears. He desperately swiped his eyes from one ball to another, trying in vain to see any awkward one.
"Whooaahh!! Mama! This is one strange ball!" Suddenly to Loid's fear, he heard Anya shouted while holding the ball up over her head. And because she held it like that, with the help of the sun, he managed to recognize the shadow of a contraption with blinking light inside.
Blood ran cold in his veins as everything seemed to move in slow motion. He ran as fast as he could to his daughter, and snatched the ball from her hand.
"ANYAAAAAAA!!!!!!"
At the exact time as he heard his wife shout, he throwed the ball upward with all his power, and jumped to the side, covering his daughter with his body.
KABOOM!!
A ringing in his ears was what he heard for a couple of minutes, before all the commotion around him became clearer. The parents and kids were screaming as they scattered to safety.
Checking for his surroundings, he was satisfied that everyone seemed alive and running despite being covered with dirt.
A muffled sob from below him made him jump up, and he immediately checked his daughter's well being.
"Are you okay, A-... Kid?"
The kid clung so hard at his shirt, crying and mumbling something he didn't understand, but by what he could see from his angle, at least she was okay without an open wound or scrapes. He let out a sigh of relief while hugging and shushing her.
"Oh, my God! Anya!!"
He looked up at the voice of his wife, who ran up to them. His heart stung a little when she abruptly took Anya away from his hug, checked her for any injuries, and then hugged her fiercely.
"Are you okay?" She fretted about the little girl's conditions.
"Baba …. I bas zo zkared….." the girl cried to her mothers' shirt.
"I'm so sorry, Anya. Are you hurt anywhere?" She inquired further while rubbing the kid's back to calm her.
Anya shook her head.
She then looked at him, "Thank you… thank you so much, Sir!"
Loid raised his eyebrow a bit confused.
Ah! Of course I'm currently a stranger. Then better play the part .
"It's part of my job, Ma'am, besides…." He wandered his eyes towards his comrades who were currently taking the terrorist away from the park, "Thanks to your help, we managed to catch the culprit," he added with a smile.
"No, no…. I shouldn't have abandoned my daughter and…"
"Ma'am I assure you, what you've done was a very brave thing to do, and your daughter was very brave too. Both of you help us. A lot."
"No, I really shouldn't-..... Ah!! You're bleeding!!"
The blond man lifted his left arm upon mentioning, and just noticed the scraped skin which was bleeding on his lower arm.
"Ah, this is okay, Ma'am. I should be going-…"
"Please let me just…."
He was surprised when she took his arm, and rummaged her coat pocket with her other hand to retrieve a roller bandage.
Who would bring roller bandages in their coats? Apparently his wife did.
"It's unnecessary, Ma'am. It's just-…."
"One moment please…."
And surely in just a minute or so, she wrapped his wound neatly, even though her hands were shaking and trembled all the way through the process.
The blond man frowned. It looked like Yor was truly shaken by the bomb. He should ask her later at home.
"I really appreciate this, Ma'am, now I should be going."
"Thank you so much for saving my daughter, Sir."
He tipped his hat before leaving them and rejoining his comrades.
Loid was awoken by the loud sound of thunder. He blinked several times, and glanced to his alarm at the side of his bed. It showed 2AM. Cursing to the thunderstorm for disturbing his sleep, he got up to the bathroom to take a leak.
Finishing his business, he ventured to the kitchen to have a glass of water, but stopped in his tracks when he smelled something.
Was that chamomile ?
Slowly he approached the darkened living room and surely he could spot a shadow sitting on the far end of the love seat.
"Yor? Is that you?"
The person startled, and made a movement to hide from him by sinking further into the couch.
The blond man frowned as he turned on the standing lamp. The light from the lamp, though dim, was enough to make his wife shrank even further as she tried desperately to wipe her face with the sleeves of her nightgown.
Astonished by her reaction, Loid immediately turned the light off. Though, from the brief moments, he could tell that she was crying.
Slowly he approached her, and sat next to her, saving a good amount of space between them. He really wanted to help her, but was careful not to invade her private space.
"Yor, what's wrong?"
"No-... nothing. I'm sorry I-...."
The loud boom of thunder made her jump in her seat, and out of reflex, Loid's arm reached out, but stopped mere inches from touching her. He slowly dropped his arms, but the movement had made him scoot a little closer.
The WISE agent tought dozens of strategies to approach his wife, but he couldn't think of one that would not seem pushy. Thus, he just sat there accompanying her in silence, occasionally disturbed by the sound of the storm outside and several sniffs coming from his wife.
Another boom from the thunder made her flinch, and this time Loid took the opportunity to finally grasp her hand. To his relief, she didn't pull her hand from his touch.
"Was it nightmares?"
Yor faintly shook her head.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Silence, then she sniffled, "Thunder and lightning reminds me of the bomb. At the park. And Anya. I'm sorry, I-......."
"Hey, we have talked about that. Though it was risky, I still think what you did was very brave. And at the end, everyone was safe."
"But I-......"
"No buts, Yor. Of course I don't want any repetition, but if, big IF…… such a dire situation ever happened again, even I would do the same thing. We talked about this two days ago, but I will say it again. I am proud of what both of you did for our country."
Twilight was a magnificent liar, but this time, most of what he said was honest. (Except for the "our country" part. But Yor didn't need to know that.) However, his ever analytic brain hypothesized that the incident at the park could be considered "small scale". There must be something else going on here, if the incident was able to trigger such a strong woman like Yor to break down.
Trusting his hunch, Loid tried to pry further while gently rubbing his thumb at her knuckle, "Somehow, I have a feeling that there's a different story here."
Apparently his hunch hit the bull's eye, because suddenly her tears spilled until she was shaking. Loid immediately reached out, brought her into an awkward side hug, and soothed her.
"-m sorry….. I shouldn't disturb your sleep and-…." He heard her mumble between sobs.
"Actually, I feel honored that you trust me with your tears," he cut her with a soft reassuring voice.
He heard her chuckled, and whispered gratitude.
Loid was actually a bit nervous, because of all his skills, comforting someone was not one of his forte. Only after he felt her arms slowly circled his torso, and she leaned her head into the crook of his neck, that he finally could relax a bit. Now he could properly hug her and rub her back, while she cried her heart out.
They stayed like that for several minutes, until Yor calmed down, and she started her story.
"I was 13 when we went to the park for a picnic. It was a beautiful sunny day for a family day out. The park was full with families. Yuri and I were happily running around with other kids, when I heard my parents shout," she took a deep long breath, before shakily continued, "It happened so fast. The bright light. The loud noises. The screams…."
Loid frowned and instinctively held her tighter. He knew how this kind of story would end. A one too familiar for him.
"I held my father in my arms in his dying breath….." her breath quickened, and he rubbed her arms to give her strength. "I heard him tell me to stay strong. For myself. For Yuri……" a pause, then a whisper, "I lost my parents that day."
Yor paused for several minutes trying to control her hitched breath, before continuing, "When the bomb exploded two days ago. I thought I'd lost Anya. That I would lose my family again."
"That's not what happened….."
"I know. But these memories resurfaced…. I can't-...." she held him tighter.
"It's okay…. We're all right now…." Loid took a steady breath and continued, "I believe your parents are very proud of what you've achieved. You are strong. You managed to raise Yuri into a fine young man. You take care of Anya and I with so much care. I know for sure I am very grateful to have you by my side. I'm sure they will be proud."
Yor sniffled, "I miss them…."
"I understand….."
And that's the truth. Loid sometimes did miss his parents, but he lost them way in his younger years that he forgot their faces. But tonight, it was not about him. Tonight it was all about Yor. She needed comfort, and as her husband, it was his job to do it. He just hoped that he did good enough this time.
"...... Thank you, Loid…."
He raised his eyebrow in surprise and smiled, "Anytime."
They stayed in silence after that, with Loid occasionally rubbing her arm, each lost in their own thoughts.
The storm had died down when Loid realized that Yor has relaxed and her breath were slow and steady. He smiled when he realized that she was able to sleep.
But when he tried to move, her finger clutched his nightshirt and he heard her mumble, "… Papa…."
Loid's breath caught in his throat.
Was she dreaming about her parents ?
Pain twisted his heart, as he stayed in his position.
Yor was a strong woman, but all this time it seemed he sometimes took her for granted. That night he was reminded that she was just like a thorned flower. A very strong woman that many times had acted like their strength and shield, but at the same time, she could also be very fragile, that she needed someone to protect her.
A position that he should fulfill.
The blond man greeted his teeth as he swore that he would never fail her, he would not let anyone or anything do any harm to her.
What happened after Operation Strix was over?
He shussed the negative thought away, and just focused on the present. He hugged her tighter, closed his eyes, and leaned his head on top of hers.
Tonight, he just wanted to be Loid Forger, a loving husband of Yor Forger. And if she wanted a shoulder to cry on, or a warm body to snuggle on, he would gladly complied.