Mother » Reset
Title Reset
Theme November 5: But not without Considerable Regret. at 31_days
Character/Pairing Ness, Paula Polestar
Rating PG-13 or Teen
Warning Mother 2/EarthBound end of game spoilers, ahoy~!
Wordcount 640
After a few more minutes on top of hours of sleeplessness, he slid out of bed as quietly as he could while his wife slumbered on peacefully. He observed her, briefly, from the doorway, admiring the way the moonlight from the window better accentuated her shadows than illuminated her. Either way she was beautiful, and so much more than he could have ever asked for.
He crept downstairs, heading into the kitchen, and paused for a moment at the refrigerator before deciding not to open it. Instead he began their usual morning routine by starting a pot of coffee brewing. It was nearly six anyway, and with the children's first playoff game this afternoon, he was going to need at least that much caffeine to keep him going. He could make more for her later, served hot with breakfast.
Willing the machine to be as quiet as it could, he winced at every gentle clink of the dishes against each other while he retrieved a mug from the cabinet and a plate to go with it. Leaving them on the counter, he went to fetch bread to make toast, hoping it would settle his stomach. However, when he turned, he saw his wife standing in the doorway, her arms crossed and mouth turned down as she watched him.
"Ness, what's wrong?"
It was too many beats before he thought to force a smile and that did nothing to improve her expression. "I'm just up earl-"
"No, you're not. You haven't slept at all, have you?"
He looked away from her, reaching for the bread, deciding then that it simply made more sense to make breakfast for the both of them. "I slept a little bit."
"You had that dream again, didn't you?"
"Look, Paula, it's not a big deal. It's not like this happens every night."
"Anymore." She sighed and he tensed, squishing the bread a bit. Then he felt her hand on his shoulder, but it was that warm scent of hers - sunshine and linen - that comforted him the most. That was the very first thing he'd noticed about her when they'd met so very long ago, in that cabin prison. Looking back, it was always such an absurd beginning, but somehow those times were happier than the ones now. Not always, but on nights like this...
"You can't honestly tell me that some days you don't wonder where he's gone. That you don't think about how we should have just stopped him when we had him right there in front of us."
"Of course I do, Ness," she said urgently, and it caused him to look at her - a knee-jerk reaction to that tone from when they'd been younger and she'd been so prone to those funny feelings that would tell them where to go next. "But you can't let it control you like this. You just have to believe that things are okay."
"That's so much easier said than done."
"I know it is, but you have to. I can't watch... you can't allow this regret to destroy you." She placed her other hand on him, turning him away from the stove, and offered him a genuine smile but with such sad blue eyes. "Not after all of the good you have done."
He watched her for a good while before she got up on her toes and gave him a light peck. "You go back upstairs and try to get a little bit of rest. It won't do much for morale if the coach is falling asleep during the game." She gently guided him out of the way, shooing him towards the door. He allowed it, and even allowed himself the smallest of weary smiles, if only because he knew she would never tire of coddling him and he would never stop loving her for it.
Theme November 5: But not without Considerable Regret. at 31_days
Character/Pairing Ness, Paula Polestar
Rating PG-13 or Teen
Warning Mother 2/EarthBound end of game spoilers, ahoy~!
Wordcount 640
After a few more minutes on top of hours of sleeplessness, he slid out of bed as quietly as he could while his wife slumbered on peacefully. He observed her, briefly, from the doorway, admiring the way the moonlight from the window better accentuated her shadows than illuminated her. Either way she was beautiful, and so much more than he could have ever asked for.
He crept downstairs, heading into the kitchen, and paused for a moment at the refrigerator before deciding not to open it. Instead he began their usual morning routine by starting a pot of coffee brewing. It was nearly six anyway, and with the children's first playoff game this afternoon, he was going to need at least that much caffeine to keep him going. He could make more for her later, served hot with breakfast.
Willing the machine to be as quiet as it could, he winced at every gentle clink of the dishes against each other while he retrieved a mug from the cabinet and a plate to go with it. Leaving them on the counter, he went to fetch bread to make toast, hoping it would settle his stomach. However, when he turned, he saw his wife standing in the doorway, her arms crossed and mouth turned down as she watched him.
"Ness, what's wrong?"
It was too many beats before he thought to force a smile and that did nothing to improve her expression. "I'm just up earl-"
"No, you're not. You haven't slept at all, have you?"
He looked away from her, reaching for the bread, deciding then that it simply made more sense to make breakfast for the both of them. "I slept a little bit."
"You had that dream again, didn't you?"
"Look, Paula, it's not a big deal. It's not like this happens every night."
"Anymore." She sighed and he tensed, squishing the bread a bit. Then he felt her hand on his shoulder, but it was that warm scent of hers - sunshine and linen - that comforted him the most. That was the very first thing he'd noticed about her when they'd met so very long ago, in that cabin prison. Looking back, it was always such an absurd beginning, but somehow those times were happier than the ones now. Not always, but on nights like this...
"You can't honestly tell me that some days you don't wonder where he's gone. That you don't think about how we should have just stopped him when we had him right there in front of us."
"Of course I do, Ness," she said urgently, and it caused him to look at her - a knee-jerk reaction to that tone from when they'd been younger and she'd been so prone to those funny feelings that would tell them where to go next. "But you can't let it control you like this. You just have to believe that things are okay."
"That's so much easier said than done."
"I know it is, but you have to. I can't watch... you can't allow this regret to destroy you." She placed her other hand on him, turning him away from the stove, and offered him a genuine smile but with such sad blue eyes. "Not after all of the good you have done."
He watched her for a good while before she got up on her toes and gave him a light peck. "You go back upstairs and try to get a little bit of rest. It won't do much for morale if the coach is falling asleep during the game." She gently guided him out of the way, shooing him towards the door. He allowed it, and even allowed himself the smallest of weary smiles, if only because he knew she would never tire of coddling him and he would never stop loving her for it.