Aether’s Apartment
Atlanta, GA
United States of America
December 2015
They had known each other for years at that
point; it only made sense that he was the first person she called.
When he had answered the phone, Tadashi
didn’t initially understand what was going on. All he could hear was the sound
of her sobbing combined with Aether trying to explain what was going on. At her
third attempt (which had been combined with even more tears), Tadashi ended up
telling her that he would be at her door as soon as he could.
And within a few minutes, he was. No sooner
than he rang the doorbell did the door opened, and he was greeted with the
sight of Aether’s crying face and immensely broken expression. No words were
exchanged as he immediately came inside, closing the door behind them and
asking her: what happened?
It took her a long time to eventually stop
crying and tell him what had caused her to break like that. It took nearly half
an hour until he put the pieces together and did his jaw tighten, eyes narrow.
Part of him wanted to lash out and hunt down the man at fault, but the other
part willed for himself to calm down and stay where he was needed the most.
Stay,
he told himself. You have to stay.
Without saying anything more, Tadashi
opened his arms and Aether sunk into them immediately, burying her face into
his chest and erupting into a fresh batch of heartbroken sobs.
Based on what he had understood, Tadashi
managed to formulate that the following happened: Mathieu had left. It was as
simple as that; she woke up, found no one next to her, but didn’t immediately
assume the worst. It took a few days for her to realize that he really was
gone: upon searching her apartment, she found out that most of his belongings
were gone. What remained were a few, older-looking shirts, and a semi-empty
bottle of cologne.
(That explained her foul mood as of late.)
It took another day or two to sink in. When
it finally did, Aether managed to lock herself away from the world until
gathering the courage to call him over.
“Do you need anything?”
“I don’t know,” she replied. It came out as
stuffy and weak, two words he never thought he’d have to associate with Aether
at all. For the nth time that evening, Tadashi swore to make the redheaded
flirt pay for what he had done. “I just…I don’t know what I need,” she
admitted, wiping her eyes. “It’s just – everything’s upsetting. Literally
everything is upsetting.”
He knew how it felt.
“I can order takeout,” he offered. It
wasn’t much, but it was a start. “Get us the unhealthiest fast food you can
imagine, or something from the nearest Japanese place that can deliver.”
She bit her lip. Suddenly, Tadashi wondered
if his suggestion brought back unwanted memories. Aether was private about her
relationship with Mathieu; he wasn’t quite sure what their habits and quirks
were. He wasn’t even sure if they had takeout. If anything, Aether tended to
gush about his cooking –
“We can do takeout,” she agreed quietly.
“Takeout it is.” Tadashi rose from the
couch, “Stay there, alright? I’ll get some of the menus from your kitchen, then
we can decide what you want.” She nodded and turned her attention back to the
television screen that showcased the days’ news; Tadashi went to her kitchen
and immediately spotted the takeout menus held down by magnets on her fridge.
Menus for Japanese food, menus for
different fast food establishments. On the fridge aside from those were
pictures of a younger Aether with another redheaded female (most likely someone
from her days in England). Another picture that made him frown was of Aether
and someone else; though judging by how the male’s face was covered, it was
obvious who he was.
They looked…happy. It was a picture of the
two of them probably at the park, judging by the green lush background. And
they looked happy. Aether’s eyes were big, cheeks flushed red, while Mathieu
looked perfectly content being with her at that very moment –
Or
was he?
Tadashi shook his head, snatched the menus
away, and went back to Aether. He showed her the menus, and with a single
glance, asked him to order whatever he wanted and that she would cover it
herself.
“Anything you want?”
“I trust you.” Tadashi said nothing more,
taking his phone out of his pocket and dialing the number listed on the first menu
he had taken. He spoke into the mic, ordering what would seem best for both of
them.
Eventually both of them ended up sitting
together once more, Aether with her head against his shoulder. If she had done
that in a college-induced crash years ago, Tadashi would have tensed and
immediately wondered if he was doing this whole ‘caring for new agents’ thing
right.
But at that point, he merely wrapped an arm
around her and held her a little tighter. She exhaled; a shaky, audible exhale
that made him attempt to keep her as close to him as possible. “You can cry,
you know,” he offered. “I won’t judge.”
“I know you won’t. I just…I’m not used to
others seeing me like this,” she muttered, already wiping at her eyes again. He
offered the nearby tissue box; she took a tissue and held it tightly between
her fingers. “…I’m sorry,” she managed. “I’m sorry, Tadashi…”
“Hey, hey. Don’t be. Come on, Aether.” She
looked at him and he used his free hand to gently ruffle the younger one’s
hair. “You’re not alone in this. Believe me. I had something awfully close
happen to me before,” he explained.
She remained silent for a moment. “…what
happened?”
The pain came back somehow, rippling in his
chest. He inhaled then let it out, closing his eyes. “…before being part of
Squad A, I headed Squad S. It had me and three other members who were sort of
like family to me,” he explained.
Their faces flashed in his mind quickly.
“…I fell in love with one of them. Long story made short, we had something
beautiful. The other two supported it, and we were happy. We worked together
for time as a Squad of our own. But…”
Makoto
died during a mission, Akira had to be taken off life support, and Sumire quit
after breaking up with me. I lost my family.
“…things happened,” he continued carefully.
Aether listened on, “Bad things happened. We ended up ending the relationship
because things weren’t going well. She quit HQ and left without anything else –
without me asking for another chance,” he ended, laughing a little at the
story. Eventually, Tadashi gave a sigh of his own. “I know it’s not like what
happened to you. But I still lost them – her.
I lost her and haven’t really gotten with anyone else through the years.”
He expected her to scoff. And he’d let her,
really – Aether’s pain was much, much different from his.
“…how’d you deal with it?”
“I – sorry?”
“I know it’s personal,” she backtracked,
flushing red just a bit, “…but I just want to know how you got ever her.
Especially if you felt something…felt something deep,” she ended quietly.
“Well, it…it wasn’t a good coping
mechanism,” he started slowly. Eventually the two started to talk more and
more, Aether listening to his stories and managing to laugh at little anecdotes
that eventually left sensitive topic
territory.
Meanwhile, Tadashi was happy to see Aether
a little better. If anything, she was far from recovering – it would take
months until she’d be over to get over him comfortably. He knew that well; it
had taken him a few years to get over Sumire. And even at that point, talking
about her still hurt a little bit.
Their food came eventually; Aether ate her
way through tuna salad while Tadashi consumed the noodles slowly. The stories
dwindled down, and eventually Aether pushed the food away, hugging her knees
after.
The sniffing resumed. He didn’t need to ask
what was wrong this time, only putting away his half-empty bowl and wrapping an
arm around her. No words were spoken. He merely remained there as Aether kept
her face in his shoulder again, silently crying throughout the depressing news that
flashed on the television screen.
Not wanting to say anything else, he merely
stayed in that position, letting her cry as long as she needed to.
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