(Untitled)

[_java_]

When Java had selected her own apartment, she had made certain of three things: 1) It was reasonably clean, considering, 2) Its location was unknown to anyone but herself, and 3) It was very, very close to Ram's. He might not want her around, but Java had been all too aware that her husband might not fare too well without his bodyguard nearby,

Comments

[virtual_ram]

Ram grabbed the key from ontop the doorsill and unlocked his door. Ram shut the door behind him and didn't bother locking it again. I've won. He kept thinking over and over again. He'd gotten the Mallrats to agree to go out and look for Java. He had nothing to do with convincing him, which dampered his thoughts a bit. It ws all Siva and Amber, Jay, and Ebony's noncompliance with Salene.
Ram straightened a stack of a few books sitting on a low coffee table. He wasn't sure why he had kept the coffee table. It was worn and beat up, but it reminded of one his parents had before the virus.
Ram stepped inside his room. I tought I shut the door... He really couldn't remember if he had or not. The rush he was in earlier blurred everything together. He set his laptop down on the desk, plugged in the proper cords, and let it start up. He couldn't believe what a mess he had left his room in this morning. He picked up a few clothes from the floor and shut his dresser drawer. He had even forgot to make his bed, he remembered. Ram turned away from

[_java_]

The ropes were digging into her wrists, and the basement was dark and cold and empty... except for her loyal subjects. Java couldn't hear them, though, couldn't hear their feet or the tiny clicking sounds they made, and it troubled her. If something had happened to them, it was certainly her fault; she was their Queen, after all, and it was her sworn duty to protect them. Responsibilities cannot be ignored, she thought, concerned, her ears straining to catch even one tiny sign that her subjects were still alive. There was nothing. Java looked around, wide-eyed behind her blindfold; Line would kill her if something had happened to them, would inject her with something to make her insides boil and her fingers talk to themselves. And then she heard them: Quiet, constant clicking sounds, coming from thousands of tiny beetles all around her, approaching her. My subjects, she thought with a small smile, as she heard the beetles approach. Mega would be so proud of her for keeping them healthy. The beetles got closer. They love me,

[virtual_ram]

Ram turned around in his chair and smiled. "You're up!" He shut his laptop and went over to the bed. "You had me really worried," He said sitting down next to her. "I wasn't sure if ...if you were ever going to comeback." Ram reached out and brushed a braid out of her face with his fingers. The last week seemed so long. Endless sulking and quiet and now that was finally over. Java was back. He realized how much he had really taken her for granted before she left. He never used to really care if he had mad her upset, because she would always be back. But never a week. He would have to watch himself now. He couldn't dismiss her anymore without a plausable reason. Not that he would want to anymore. He had all the intentions not to let her leave again, ever. He wasn't sure if he could take something like that again.
He pointed at the end table. "I made you some breakfast. You don't have to eat it if you're not hungry or if you don't want to." Ram looked down at his feet. "I really missed you, Javie."

[_java_]

Java watched in disbelief as Ram turned and gave her a smile, then got up and walked over to the bed. She still wasn't used to seeing him walk; he looked so strong and happy and healthy... She felt the mattress sink beneath his weight, then his hand, his -bare hand-, against her face, brushing back her hair with a lover's touch, and Java's eyes began to fill with tears. "Ram..."

He offered her breakfast, and Java's smile quivered; he was acting as if he was truly glad to see her, as if the other woman-- the other women-- had never existed, as if it was just the two of them, as it should have been, and as she watched his emotions play on his features, Java felt her heart melt. You fell from Grace because of my weakness, she thought, as he looked away. I left you to die, and yet you still... She watched his gaze fall to his feet, and then he spoke again, giving her the words she'd never expected to hear from him, and she was lost: "I really missed you, Javie." There was a raw sincerity in his voice, a gentle humility as he

[virtual_ram]

When Ram looked back at Java, she was crying. "Shh, it's alright, Javie, I know.". Ram squeezed her hand gently, then with the other began wiping tears from her face. He could quite figure out why she was sorry. He had already put the plot she and Mega had had against him behind him. Nonetheless, he kept repeating "It's alright,' and "I know," to her softly.
In the week she had been gone, Ram forgot exactly how beautiful his Java was. He studied her face. She's even gorgeous when she's crying. Ram let his hand fall from her face to her neck. Her skin was so warm and soft.
"You're so beautiful, Javie," he said, stroking her neck, then leaned over to kiss her cheek.

[_java_]

Java turned her face away slightly as Ram leaned in to kiss her cheek, averting her gaze for a moment; she knew better than anyone that there were certain safety regulations that could never be ignored, no matter what else had changed. She'd dreamed for years of how his lips would feel, but it simply couldn't be allowed; his health was far too precious, especially now. Of course, Ram had never tried to kiss her before, under any circumstances, and it suddenly dawned on Java that perhaps this was all a trick. The line between fiction and reality had blurred so heavily in the past week that she was no longer entirely certain of what was real; it was entirely possible that both her freedom and Ram might turn out to be just another mind game Line was playing on her... Well, if it is a fiction, Java thought, savoring the warmth of her husband's hand on her neck and the tenderness of the gesture, then at least give me a few more minutes of it...She turned back to him, and met his eyes again, amazed at the compassion they held. She

[virtual_ram]

Ram backed away slightly. The turn of her head, the excuse...maybe he was right when he had jumped the the conclusion that she had found someone else. He had been over his germophobia for quite sometime. He had cured that the same way he helped Ved and Jay cured Bray: with VR. He figured while he would "teach" himself to walk again, he might as well get rid of some silly fears. He replaced his old memories of not being able to walk and being afraid of germs, with ones that said he was able to walk and wasn't too afraid of germs.
He furrowed his brow. "Right. Of course." He answered in an unsure tone. Perhaps he was just rushing things, or maybe she just didn't love him anymore. How could he be so stupid. He had treated her so harshly up until now, and now he just expected her to fall at his feet. No, that's not how people work. He told himself.
"Javie,...where have you been for the past week?" He broke his thought suddenly. Partly because he didn't want to think about her not loving him anymore, and because he genuinely wanted to know

[_java_]

She'd done the wrong thing, Java realized, her tears stopping as she watched Ram's expression change. Was he upset that she had dared to remind him of something he should have known himself? Or was it something else...? He didn't look upset, exactly... Java quickly rifled through her limited experiences with him since they'd fallen, searching for an explanation. He'd been much less... well, clean since the Fall, she knew; there had been none of the obsessive preoccupation with sterility and sanitation that she had become so used to before. But surely his immune system was still weak, she thought, surely the old rules still applied... Java had chalked his lapsing standards up to depression at first, to stress later; he worked himself too hard, and kept too much from her. Now, however, she realized that she wasn't entirely sure what was going through her husband's mind. What's happened to you, baby? He gave her a strange "Right. Of course," and Java looked away; she knew she'd made a mistake, as usual --I have failed him, and

[virtual_ram]

"Maybe I should be gone more often."
Ram chuckled. "I don't think I could handle that, Java." He said, keeping a playful tone. He looked down at his hands, thinking. Wondering if he should tell her how miserable his week had been because the only that made his life worth leaving was absent. She's not going to want to hear it. She's moved on. He thought cruelly to himself.
He looked back up at Java, studying her face, trying to read and interperet. He couldn't come up with anything. She had always been good at hiding her emotions and she obviously didn't want to make it any easier for him.
Maybe if I told her, she would love me again. Another voice in his head erased that harsh one he heard earlier. Ram nodded to himself and drew in a deep breath

[_java_]

"I don't think I could handle that, Java... The week you were gone was horrible." Java kept her smile tight and impassive, though the weaker part of her begged her to let herself hug him, to tell him all the things he should have heard a very long time ago. Ram was her world, she knew, and he always would be, no matter how bad things got between them. Loyalty is the only thing worth dying for... Java was all too aware that she would never stop loving him, foolish though she knew it was; she owed him her life twice over, and Ram had been good to her, in his own way. But you're just property to him, she reminded herself, her forcibly dispassionate smile never faltering while she missed the point of his words, and that's never going to change. She choked back the words of affection that seemed so eager to come to her lips these days; Line had greatly lowered her walls, she knew, and it was going to take some effort to not let it show.

Ram gave her a smile that Java couldn't quite read. "However, it's over and I couldn't be happier

[virtual_ram]

Ram moaned silently; he had forgotten how good Java was with shoulders. "Hmmm, Ved?...Oh, oh, Ved. Yes, well, Ved has moved out. He's living in the mall with the virts and his girlfriend." A sudden idea hit Ram: Why didn't he have Java move into Ved's room? She would be so much closer, just down the hallway. She would never agree to it, though. He figured Java to be quite the fan of privacy. Still...if he asked there might be the off chance she would say yes. Afterall, she was his wife. She was his Javie. No matter what happened, she would always be

[_java_]

He... wanted her to move in with him? Java looked down at Ram's hands as he spoke, amazed at the feeling of his bare skin against hers, and tried to keep her expression unreadable as her pulse began to quicken. It's only to help him keep tabs on you, reminded a voice in the back of her mind, but there was something so sincere about his words, about the tender way he began to play with her braids, that it made her question the thought. The rush of trust she had felt upon first seeing him was beginning to return to her, and Java forced herself to keep her eyes downcast, every nerve in her body ordering her to give herself over to the idea that he might actually care, to just take a chance and come clean. You're cracking up, she thought, disgustedly, trying to push the thought aside; one week with Mega, and you're thinking like a virt. But she couldn't help but admit to herself that it would be wonderful to live with him; after what she'd been through, Java really didn't want to be alone any longer. The endless nights of solitude

[virtual_ram]

"I suppose someone has to keep an eye on you."
Ram's smile grew. "Great!" Fianlly he would be able to have his wife with him after years of pushing her away.
Things would have to change. He reminded himself. No more treating her as if she is as useless as a virt. She's better than that and deserves someone better than you.
This was also an opportunity to see if she was infact involved with someone else. A disgusting virt sitting at his kitchen table at breakfast time would be a dead giveaway. If that was the case, he could easily deal with this problem. He was positive he had a T-Gun, or a prototype of one, lying around somewhere. The world wouldn't miss just one virt. He reasoned

[_java_]

And that was all it took. Java's smile quivered for just a moment as the words left Ram's lips, her hands safe and warm in his, and then she'd pulled her hands free and was wrapping her arms around him, no longer giving a damn about propriety or keeping her distance. He'd said he loved her, finally, and it had sounded sincere; even if this was all just a headtrip Line had arranged for her, it was too much for Java to hold out against. How long had she prayed to hear those words from Ram? And how certain had she become, during that week in the basement, that she would never hear them from anyone again? Java pulled Ram tightly against her, the only recently-halted tears threatening to make a reappearance, and buried her face in his neck, her body pressed safely up against his. He felt so warm and strong against her, and smelled so familiar and comforting, that Java knew there was no fighting it; before her mind could overrule her heart, she was telling him her own truth as well, in a voice that could leave no doubts as to her

[virtual_ram]

Ram wrapped his arms around his wife tightly. Even though he didn't care to admit it, this was the first time he had hugged anyone since the virus. The last people had been his parents.
She had been gone for so long, even if it was just a week.It had really driven him crazy. But in an odd way, he was extremely grateful for her absence. Without it, he wasn't sure if he would have noticed how much he cared for her. She was truly the only thing he had left in this world. She was everything good. Maybe not in the common sense, but her intentions were always practical. She always tried to protect him and do what was right for him. Sometimes it didn't always work, but the effort and thought was there.
He cringed silently when she called him "Lord Ram". That was another thing that'd have to change. Along with starting to treat her as an equal, she'd have to start acting like one.
I'll correct it later. He thought. I don't want to ruin it. He knew how Java could be, and telling her that he didn't want her calling him that anymore would

[_java_]

Java nodded slightly, looking away and wiping away a pair of tears with the tip of her little finger as the moment passed. Ram's voice was so gentle that it took a moment for the words to register, which somehow made the impact all the more jarring when their meaning hit her. Email Salene and Siva and tell them I'm safe? Java's eyes narrowed suspiciously as she looked back at her husband, her body instinctively pulling back a bit from him as her expression darkened. "You should -what-?" She hadn't known that Siva was still in contact with Ram, and she -certainly- hadn't known that Salene was; while Java could almost understand keeping her sister in the loop, she had no idea whatsoever why Ram would have kept the City Leader informed of her whereabouts. And if Salene and Siva knew that she'd been missing, then so would the Mallrats, and, with them, Ebony. That girl had a natural talent for finding out information she shouldn't have, Java thought; if she went asking questions about the last week... Java shook her head slightly,