July 23rd
Ana's House - Evening - Muggy
Anastasia Asher
Ana breathed out a long breath as she shut the food bin. That should be everything set for the volunteers to take care of the place for a few days. They'd all planned the camping trip to encompass Kas's birthday and a few days after that, but in order to make it happen, she'd needed to get an extra week's worth of work done in advance, so all the volunteers would need to do was feed the pokémon and keep their environments clean, besides the normal things they did with letting them out to move around and play.
She'd written meticulous instructions for their medications, too, but just in case she was actually taking a couple of those with her that needed more complicated things like injections, so she could administer those herself on the trip. It was exhausting work, trying to get ahead like this, but she still doubted she was half as tired as Eryk.
Speaking of which... where had he gotten off to?
Almost as if her thoughts had summoned him, Eryk rounded the corner, holding Stella in one hand and a pack in his other. His shoulders had been slumped as if he'd lost something, however; from the pleased look on Stella's face, it was clear that he'd lost an argument of sorts with the stunky. Eryk glanced in Ana's direction, though, and offered a half-smile.
“Stella doesn't want to be left behind so she's tagging along," he muttered, setting the bag down to his side, and placing Stella on his shoulder. “Is everything ready?" he asked, arching a tired brow at Ana.
A little smile tucked Ana's lips upwards, and she reached up to pat the little pokémon. Her fur was pleasantly soft, these days, and though she was still a bit skinny and in need of medicine about daily, she was really doing much better overall. Certainly, she was fit enough to travel. "I actually think that's a really good idea," she admitted, lowering her hand.
Her brow creased with concern, putting a little line above her nose. "But... no more work for you today, okay? Come sit in the kitchen and let me make you something to eat." While perhaps in most other circumstances she'd have phrased it as a question, she was both comfortable enough with Eryk and worried enough about him that she elected not to give him the implied choice in the matter, and she turned around to move towards the back door inside.
She'd get some good food in him, then put him to bed, and hopefully he could get a decent night's rest for once.
Eryk pursed his lips together in what Ana recognized as a pout, but he did not protest when she mentioned food. He followed her towards the door, cradling Stella back into his arms as she slid from his shoulder. Once they were in the kitchen, Eryk placed Stella on the floor, causing her to grunt in protest but she flopped where she was. Luckily, it was by the chair, and she wouldn't be in Ana's way.
“Do you want me to help you?" Eryk called out, arching a brow in the process. “I... can do something simple if you want me to," he continued, probably recalling belatedly that she had just told him no more work for the day.
Ana turned back over her shoulder to throw him a slightly-grumpy look of her own. "I've got it, promise," she said, her tone pleasant in spite of the attempt she was making to look stern. It had never really been the kind of expression that worked on her face, anyway, never mind alongside the rest of her demeanor. She could be awkward sometimes, for sure, and a bit odd, but most of the time she didn't get anywhere near cranky.
Moving efficiently about the kitchen, she got her pans down and the like, chopping up some vegetables and protein for a mild form of curry. Letting the meat brown in the pan for a bit, she turned back towards him, leaning against the island on both forearms and catching his eyes with her own. "Has Marah left the island yet?" she asked, knowing well the cause of much of his restlessness.
He frowned in response, knitting his brows together as he stared at his hands folded in front of him. “Yes," he finally responded after a moment. His shoulders seemed to tense for a second before they slumped in what seemed to be relief. He blinked slowly before lifting his gaze to meet hers.
“Not without a fight, though," he added, the knit in his brows returning. “Claimed she would have the marriage nullified or some bullshit like that. I wasn't paying too much attention. Just..." he paused to draw in a soft breath, “be a bit more vigilant? I do not doubt that she will concoct some plan or another to get back at us, in her words." He shook his head and rolled his eyes tiredly.
“Marah doesn't know how to give up when she wants something badly enough. Shares that with Katia, I suppose." He merely shrugged his shoulders.
Ana certainly remembered how unpleasant Katia had been, mostly for the others, of course. She could see the similarities, obvious as they were. It was hard for her to understand the idea that a relative—not even an especially close one, as in the Marah-Cyrilla case—would try to exercise that much control over someone's life. Her own relatives were controlling in some ways, but they were that way from a distance, concerned for the family's reputation and only for her own actions insofar as those might have an effect on it.
"I'll be careful," she promised. Even if she didn't understand it, it was clear to her that his worry was real, and she'd never take that anything less than seriously.
Adding the first few vegetables to the pan, she stirred them around enough to get them cooking, then turned back again. "What would you like to drink?"
He pursed his lips in a thoughtful manner as his brows furrowed slightly. “Hm, do we have any lemonade left?" he asked, his brows furrowing slightly. “No," he breathed out, “it won't taste right with the food."
“I'll take grapefruit juice if we still have any," he stated softly.
Nodding, she retrieved it, carefully sliding a glass across the island to him. The curry was cooking quickly, fortunately, and she spiced it and added the cream sauce within the next few minutes, cooking some rice to go with and setting down a large bowl of the result in front of him. The rest, she put into a smaller one with the intention of eating herself, and hopped up with only minimal difficulty onto the stool next to him.
"Anything in particular you want to do on the camping trip?" she asked, scooping her first bite and softly blowing on it to cool the food. "It's been a while since I camped; and even then it was only Luna, Nova, and I, so I guess I don't really know what people do on trips with friends."
Eryk huffed lightly before taking a drink of his grapefruit juice. “That would make two of us," he replied, setting the cup down. “The only camping experience I have isn't quite the same as you would do with friends, so I've been told," he continued, rolling his eyes a bit as if to himself.
“Missions usually require reconnaissance of some sorts, and sometimes that means camping out," he pursed his lips together before furrowing his brows. “But... if there was something you wanted to do," he trailed off for just a moment, “I wouldn't mind experiencing this new thing together."
Ana smiled at him. "I'm sure our friends will be more than happy to inform us of exactly what we've been missing," she noted. He huffed slightly and shook his head.
Spooning some of the curry along with the rice into her mouth, she knocked him lightly in the arm with her elbow as she chewed, looking at his own plate in a slightly-pointed manner. He did need to eat—and then he could sleep.
“More like tease us about it," he muttered before taking a bite of his food. “You know how much they like to do that," he added, the corner of his lip flickering upwards for a moment in amusement before he returned his attention to his food.
She hummed an agreement, and the two of them worked the rest of the way through their food in companionable silence, at which point Ana picked up the dishes and quickly washed them, leaving them in the drying rack before approaching Eryk's seat and offering her hand.
"Okay," she said. "It's time to sleep now. Don't make me make you." There was a little edge of playfulness to the words.
“Is that right?" he stated, arching a tired brow in her direction. His lip quirked in mild amusement as he took her offered hand, however; he pulled it closer to him and placed a gentle kiss across her knuckles. “As much as I'd like to see you try," he began, huffing lightly and standing from his chair, “it wouldn't take much in my current state."
“I'll only sleep more comfortably if you lay beside me, though," he added, smiling softly at her.
Ana was probably blushing to the roots of her hair, but... well, that was okay. She didn't mind the feeling so much, even if there was a dizziness to it that would otherwise make her worry she was on the cusp of an episode. This was by far the nicer way to feel unmoored and unsteady, especially when his hand was right there to steady her.
"I... that could be arranged," she said, clearing her throat sheepishly. "Just—because sleep is important, and all that."
He huffed softly, his way of showing he was amused by something. "Comfortable sleep is more important, wouldn't you agree?" he stated, lacing his fingers with hers and pulling back slightly. "We have a long weekend ahead of us, and I doubt we will be able to enjoy anything if we're tired," he continued as if to clarify his reasoning.
"Well... yes. I suppose not." She smiled, following when he pulled. She certainly hadn't planned to go to bed with him, but... it was hard to think of it as a bad idea.
In fact, it might be a very, very good one.
Sometimes, she really did think she was in trouble.
RPG
