(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

[_java_]

Java looked up as Ram got up from the bed, watching his back with a thoughtful smile as he returned to his laptop. His words had gone a long way towards making her feel better, but they were no longer the focus of Java's attention; her fears had suddenly pushed aside by something much, much more interesting. Java's hand rose to her temple, her fingertips lingering on the place he'd kissed. It had only been a quick, thoughtless gesture, she knew, but she had never had the luxury of taking such things for granted; after several years of marriage, the feeling of her husband's kiss was not something with which Java was familiar. Furthermore, the timing of the act itself was interesting; this was the second time in five minutes that Ram had tried to kiss her in some form (which, given their track record, was absolutely unheard of), and this time, he'd kissed her as an afterthought; it was as if he'd simply forgotten that he wasn't supposed to do such things... Her fingers slowly lowered from her temple, the lingering sensation of his lips against her skin feeling strange and wonderful as Java got to her feet. Something, she decided, had definitely changed.

She busied herself with making the bed, her thoughts preoccupied with possibilities as her hands worked. She remade the bed with the crisp, clean corners that Ram had always liked, making it obvious that she wasn't watching what he was doing on his laptop, and carefully fluffed and replaced his pillow. Was it possible that Ram had recovered fully from whatever had kept him so weak before, she wondered? Had his germ fixation perhaps been some kind of psychosomatic result of his disability, which had dissolved when he'd regained the use of his legs? Or was this morning some kind of careful test? Java's eyes narrowed slightly as she considered, trying to keep her mind away from what it would mean if Ram had indeed overcome his cleanliness fixation. She sat down on the edge of the bed, snacking absently on the breakfast he'd made for her as she waited for him to finish with his e-mails.

[virtual_ram]

Ram sat down at his laptop and began typing.