[Girl Date] - [Fran and Larxene] - [PG-13]

[notabunneh]

Who: Fran and Larxene
What: A coffee date away from the men and the kids
Where: A poor unsuspecting coffee shop in Twilight Town
When: Tuesday Afternoon
Rating: PG-13ish

Comments

[femme_savage]

It took her two and a half hours to get ready to go out that morning. Two and a half hours. She used to be a very simple wash-and-go type of girl, but since she had twins, she felt she had to put in the extra effort to not, in her own words, look like shit. Dilan still refused to sleep through the night and, owing to Xigbar's distance from the family prior to this point, he refused to calm down for anyone other than his already exhausted mother. She was grateful that Heidi was sleeping through the night and remained undisturbed by her brother's loud wailing. Most of the time. When they were both awak at 3 in the morning, one wanting attention and the other distressed at having been woken up by her louder brother, it was just a nightmare for the petite blonde woman.

Despite the length of time it had taken her just to look presentable that morning, Larxene knew that going out today was a good idea. Xigbar had started to cut back his hours at work and had claimed a rare day off to spend with the children. This would be good for them and for him, as they needed to get close again, especially when it came to Hunter. He had been at a loss to explain why the man he saw as his father was spending so much time away from home. But the boy had summer art homework to do and she was leaving that in Xigbar's capable care, knowing that creative pursuits were the best bet to bonding with her 8-year-old son. The babies were easy enough to win over; hand them a bowl of apple sauce and you were their best friend, so she saw no issue with him reconnecting with them. And now her spaniel pup Lady had grown up to near adulthood, she was much more docile, loving and playful towards Xigbar than she was at the start. She had taken to running off with his shoes in order to get his attention, which Larxene used to her advantage when he was wrapped up in something in the study and dinner was ready.

Her face now in place, and not looking as tired and sluggish as she felt, she ran a comb through her longer-than-usual blonde hair before lifting the hem of her skirt and injecting herself in the thigh with her daily supply of insulin. Diabetes was a pain, but it didn't bother her that much, as she was more a fan of savoury foods than sweets. She then mentally reminded herself to visit her doctor tomorrow, as she could tell her physical equilibrium was out of whack and she didn't particularly want to end up in hospital again. The blonde took off down the stairs with her bag, giving kisses to the four most important people in her life, before heading out to meet with an old friend that she hadn't had much time for as of late. Of course, the friend she missed the most wouldn't be back for a few more weeks yet, but she felt that seeing Fran would be good for her today. She
made another mental note to make plans with Lightning, as she seemed like the kind of woman that Larxene could get along famously with.

She crossed the town at an unusual speed, even for her, and soon enough the coffee shop and the Vieira came into view, allowing Larxene the chance to slow down and not show up so dishelved. Smoothing down her slightly crazy-looking hair, she walked over to her friend with one of her own rather smirkish smiles painted on her lips.

"Well, Mother Rabbit, you broke out of the hole I see~" Larxene laughed lightly, taking a seat across from Fran, closing her eyes and taking a breath as she felt her head spin a little. Now was not a good time to just wear out completely. Here eyes opened again before Fran had chance to suspect that something was amiss and the smile returned to her face. "How are things?"

[notabunneh]

The Viera sipped on her cup of tea as she stretched in the sunshine. It was a lovely day for an outdoor bitch session and the fact that this shop had the best tea as well as the best assortment of both sugarfree and regular baked goods made it the perfect place to meet Larxene. She absently played with the necklace she was wearing as one of her ears twitched, turning slightly toward one of the neighboring tables, the whispered conversation of the older couple sitting there coming in much more clearly now.

Are those ears?!

What is that...?

Should something like that be allowed in a restaurant?! Fur could get into the food!"

Fran did everything she could to not roll her eyes at the reaction she was used to getting. She had been around the humes entirely too long to be effected by anything they ever said about her. She smirked slightly as she shifted in her seat, mentally imagining the looks on their faces if she had showed up in her leather armor and weapons instead of a comfortable skirt and and tank top. She'd probably have the restaurant emptied in minutes and then she and Larxene could truly have the place to themselves.

Speaking of Larxene; a smile crossed the face of the Viera as the blonde sat down at the table with her, the shorter woman truly being a sight for sore eyes. A frown crossed her face at how tired and run down that Larxene looked, but she supposed that putting up with four children would put stress on even the strongest of women. A laugh left her lips at the first words out of her friends mouth; not many people could get away with making rabbit jokes without being killed or at least horribly maimed.

"Oh, you know how it is. Catch daddy distracted, shove a baby at him and run!" Things turned more serious at the table for a moment or two as Fran looked down at her half-empty cup of tea before responding. "Things are better. Albanion thinks that his scars are the coolest things ever and loves showing them off to each and every one of his friends. More than once usually. And, of course, his friends think that it's the coolest thing in the world and I've even heard the word sexy thrown around by a friend or two. But when I think of how he got those scars..."

She trailed off for a moment, her mind flashing back to the surprise ambush on her family and the fear and terror that and Balthier had been through the days after. She shook her head slightly as if to bring her back to the present, giving Larxene a slight grin. "And then Balthier had to peel off his own shirt and show off his battle wounds. Typical male behavior! But, I did find out something very interesting from a friend of Albanions. I'm known as the MILF of their little group. I"m not sure I should be flattered or creeped out!"

Another grin as she took a sip out of her cup. "From one MILF to another, how's life at the crazy house?"

[femme_savage]

The blonde listened to her friend's obvious concerns for her family, ordering a pot of coffee during the process. At this present moment, she needed caffeine in order to stay awake. That incoming coffee was about to become one of her best friends. She had remembered all of the hardship that Fran had endured with both her children and with Balthier in the past year and could both see and feel the worry on her, but she knew that things had a strange way of working out in this town, especially to good people who deserved it.

"Listen, Mother Rabbit," Larxene began, taking a sip of her much-needed black coffee with a sigh of relief. "Shit happens. I mean, come on, you and the Baby Daddy are goddamn pirates! You must have been prepared for some retaliation via your kids at some stage... sure, I don't think anyone really expected gunmen showing up at your door and opening fire, but
everything is alright now. Continuing to sweat and worry over it is just a waste of your valuable resources. You could be tracking down those responsible for this and wringing their necks with all the time you're spending waxing lyrical about this!

"And besides, Al thinks those scars are the shit, so he's basically just installed himself upon the plinth of youth awesomeness," she continued, taking another few sips of her coffee before setting the cup down in its saucer, green eyes on the Viera. "Hunter injures himself at the park, at school, everywhere he damn well can, and he's proud of every tiny scar he gets. It's not just kids; it's boys. Boys like to look like they've been through the wars. Makes them feel masculine and strong or some bullshit like that. Don't ask me, I don't get men. They're the missing link, if you ask me."

She took a few more sips of her coffee as she contemplated the things that had been going on in the world around her. She then recalled, as she felt her head get lighter, that Fran had mentioned feeling sick lately, alluding to the fear that she could be pregnant again. For either of them, getting pregnant again would be a colossal nightmare.

"And what's this about you possibly having a bun in the oven, eh bun-bun?" Larxene queried lightly, flexing her fingers under the table. Something definitely felt very wrong, and she feared she would have to cut her meeting with Fran short to attend to this matter with her doctor.

[ooc: oh the fail!]

[notabunneh]

Fran nodded her head slightly as she listened to her friend speak. She knew that Larxene was right, of course, but she couldn't stop herself from worrying about her family. She and Balthier had been through so much the past year and all it had done was succeed in making them both stronger as seperate people as well as stronger as partners. She slipped into silent contemplation as she pushed a saucer toward Larxene. The saucer contained one of the shops famous sugar free desserts that she knew the blonde was so fond of.

"Eat. You look like you need it." The worry was evident in the Viera's voice as she peered across the table at her friend. She kept a close eye on her as she nibbled on her own pastry. She wasn't trusting her stomach to keep much of anything down right now and Larxene's next words reminded her of the exact reason for their meeting. The nagging suspicion in the back of her mind that she and Balthier should have been more careful when it came to using condoms.

She sighed softly as she curled her fingers around her cup. "I don't know, Larxene. I'm sure it's nothing, I mean, Violet is three months old, my body is probably just adjusting back to how it was before I got pregnant. And, knowing Albanion or Balthier, they've probably picked up some sort of bug and have been nice enough to give it to me." Another baby. That was something she hadn't considered. Balthier would probably murder her if she was pregnant again so soon. Hell, they hadn't even talked about having any more kids yet and yet, here she was, trying to ignore the symptoms that were very familiar to her.

"What do think...?" She broke off at the look on Larxene's face, reaching a hand over to squeeze her arm. "Larxene? Are you okay...?"

[failure about to launch into your face!]

[femme_savage]

The blonde snapped out of the unexplained daze she had found herself in when her friend squeezed her arm, giving her a slightly puzzled look before shaking her head to try and clear it, nodding a little.

"Oh yeah, I'm alright, just running on fumes here, so to speak," Larxene responded. "Xigbar hasn't exactly been much of a help around the house lately so it's just me doing fucking all of it... I spoke to him about it, but we'll see if he does anything..." She wasn't entirely sure if Xigbar was going to be home more to help, with how much he loved his work and how there always seemed to be some calamity that he had to address, but it was all about time and patience. She took up a small spoon and started to slowly eat the dessert in front of her. She was still feeling shaky and very aware of herself, but she couldn't let all of that show.

"But you do know that the period of time where a woman is most susceptible to falling pregnant again is in the months following childbirth, right?" she commented as she took another sip of coffee, feeling the shakes start to calm down. "If the condom has broken even once, or you forgot to use one, you're a lot more fertile and at risk of getting pregnant again. Just do the usual pregnancy test thing when you get home. That'll tell you yes or no for definite."

As someone who had had plenty of pregnancy scares in her life, even before Xigbar, she knew exactly how to handle these situations with a certain calmness.

"What would you do, though?" the blonde queried as she set the empty coffee cup aside. "You know, if you are up the spout and all that..."

[I'm adding failsauce!]

[notabunneh]

The Viera wasn't happy at all about how her friend was acting. She briefly wondered if it was the sun causing her to look so pale and worn out, but the realization that they were under the shaded protection of the umbrella on the patio quickly pushed that thought from her head. She kept a careful eye on the blonde, mentally noting that Larxene's hands had finally stopped shaking; or at least she wasn't shaking as much as she had been earlier.

She laughed softly at the mention of a pregnancy test, shrugging her shoulders a bit. "I've taken two. They've both been inconclusive... I need to make an appointment with my doctor, I'm just putting it off." Fran went quiet for a moment or two, going over the last question that she had been asked, not sure how to answer. "I don't know..." And those three little words the complete truth. She didn't know what she'd do if she was indeed pregnant again, and only three months after giving birth to their daughter.

"Balthier and I haven't even talked about having more kids. Albanion and Violet were comple surprises and if I'm pregnant again..." She sighed softly. "He'll murder me..." Another moment or two of silence fell over them before she spoke again. "We'd have to have a talk and figure things out. We can completely take care of another child financially, but... I don't know. We'll cross that bridge when I find out if I'm pregnant or not."

"But what about you? You've said that Xigbar isn't around much, and I know you love your kids, but you need a break every once in a while. If you want alone time, just drop all three kids off at our house, Albanion can entertain Hunter while Balthier and I wrangle the twins."