D:CM Temptation

PREVIOUS (Sisters of a Feather)
Staying faithful wasn’t hard. She had Ryan, Lynna and even Gareth to hang out with whenever Jeriah wasn’t around, and work and academic goals to work towards. She could go wherever she wanted, and she didn’t have to worry about ever getting a date again. After all, she was a married woman.

Between early shifts at the lab and late nights wherever else, Amy hardly saw Jeriah alone. It hadn’t really bothered her at first. But after glimpsing him in South District’s shadier lots on last evening, Amy felt a bit of dread heading home.. Last night she had tried waiting for him on the couch. When she woke up, it was to the sunrise. He’d turned off the music, put away the textbook and notes, wrapped a blanket around her and left her a note: 

“Don’t wait up for me. Hope you slept well :)”

She sighed. 

Finally, after nearly half an hour doing nothing but sitting on the couch with her arm thrown over her eyes, she dragged the blanket back to Jeriah’s room. He had stuck to the sleeping bag even when she wasn’t there to take his bed, she noticed. She stared at his sleeping figure for a long time. Had he really been there last night? Maybe she was just dreaming. She shook her head. His condition was that she not cheat on him. He never promised to do the same. It wasn’t her right to be so concerned. 

That didn’t change the hurt in her chest or the confusion for why she felt so bad. With a quiet sigh, Amy picked out her clothes, changed, and headed out to the kitchenette to make breakfast for three as usual.

“Good morning.”

Amy jumped, and arms wrapped themselves around her. 

“Sorry I startled you.” 

“Gareth? Uhm…” 

 She had half a mind to tell Gareth to leave her alone. She didn’t know he woke up this early as well. She stood stiffly in his arms. What was he doing? 

“Did you sleep on the couch the entire night?”

“I was just engrossed in my notes,” she told him. “Uhm. Could you please let go?”

He hesitated, and squeezed her closer. She fidgeted nervously, but was unable to move against the wall of muscle that was wrapped around her. 

“Amy, forget my cousin. He’s not worth it.”

She flinched. Had he figured them out?

“Gareth, let go of me.” 

He finally let go of her. Amy stepped away, keeping an eye on Gareth, who was standing around in only gray silk pants. With the light morning sun gleaming off his muscles and casting a dramatic shadow over his face, she had to admit he was gorgeous. She refocused her attention on the eggs.

“You’re just a tool to him,” Gareth said, almost pleading with her now. “Look, you know where he was last night. And every Tuesday when he gets back late. You’re too good for someone who does that to you Amy, sweets.” 

“I don’t know what you mean.” She focused on making food, like she did whenever she was upset. She poured her frustration and confusion into chopping onions and tomatoes and threw them into the omelette as though she were burying her feelings. 

“He comes back past midnight, dead tired with the scent of perfume in his clothes and a ridiculous sense of accomplishment and satisfaction! Where else is he?” 

She remembered the carefree expression on his face and the way he had ambled so familiarly towards the building with the neon-pink signs. She hadn’t noticed perfume in his clothes any of those nights, but she had to admit she wasn’t one for sniffing around. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she repeated, as much to convince Gareth as it was to convince herself. She grabbed a plate and slid the omelette into it. “If you’re awake, could you make yourself useful and set the table?” 

Gareth caught her hand in his. She whirled, half-intending to be angry with him. His face was right in front of hers, pleading. “Choose me.”

She probably made a mistake by not pulling away immediately and slapping him. 

“Choose me instead.” 

Amy tugged her hand away and went back to making breakfast.

“This comes a little late, you know.” 

“Nonsense. You remember our cousin Valerie? Valerie was introduced as Leroy’s fiancé. She met Sherman at their engagement party. Sherman had a better deal for her, and two months later it was Sherman standing at the altar.”

“A better deal?” 

“Money. Benefits. Rights as a member of the prestigious Krovstoff Group. Status. Privilege. Connections. Whatever you call it.” 

“I’m not marrying for money,” she said firmly. Amy felt a pang in her chest. Was that a lie? It had been a very convincing factor. But there was something else that Jeriah Krovstoff had offered her. Or at least that she thought he had offered. She had craved the stability of having someone to turn to. He’d chosen her when she had nothing to give him, so she’d never thought he had anyone else in his heart. And the way he had been so serious about their having a proper backstory, the way he stayed up late to talk to her—she had just never thought he’d not care at all. 

Gareth laughed. “Then what? My cousin isn’t going to shower you with affection or attention. He’s in love with his work, Amy. There isn’t room for anything or anyone else.” 

The words stung. Amy gazed at the bookshelves that now had her books sprinkled through them. Yeah, Jeriah loved his work. And that’s what had endeared him to her at first, when she was just trying to cope with having a partner in life again. She’d thrown herself into work to stave off her depressing feelings when she and Cyril broke up. At She used to sleep in her old lab so she could wake up surrounded by other people’s thoughts and feelings. As long as she had someone else’s dream reader data, she could clear her head and ignore the pain in her heart. 

“Amy…I know there’s a contract between you. That’s how it’s been with all of our family. Everyone buys their spouses. My cousin’s no exception.”

Amy tapped the spatula harshly against the side of the pan. She hated to think that she was being played—again. “If that’s what you think, then I beg to know— what is Jeriah gaining by marrying me? My family is middle class, unremarkable. I don’t know what I’m doing with my life. No money, no connections, no—what did you call it? Benefits.” 

“That’s what’s so messed up. He gets your heart. Your earnestness. The stability of having someone there that won’t be able to leave him.”

“Why would I choose you over him then? By your reasoning, I’m stuck in a loveless marriage either way.”

“I wouldn’t leave you questioning and uncertain at the dead of night,” he said immediately. “Wouldn’t you rather be with someone that cares? Someone who would love you, care for you, pay attention to you? Actually love you?”

Amy shuddered. His voice and words hit a little too close to the things Cyril used to tell her. Her thoughts were racing back to those familiar, nerve-bending reminders: She had nowhere to go, no one to run to. Why not stay with someone who would always watch her, shower her with affection, protect her from everything—

Amy slid omelette number two into a plate and dumped the pan and spatula into the sink. Her hands shook too much to even cook or wash now. It was time to find something else to drown her thoughts and feelings in. She grabbed her bag and coat.

Gareth caught her wrist. She tugged away firmly. “Leave me alone, Gareth. Leave us alone.”

NEXT (No One Watching)

Notes:
This is actually originally 3 scenes spliced together, but I actually really like how it worked out. And of course another excuse for me to add in a conversation-interrupted-by-doing things segment.

D:CM Sisters of a Feather

PREVIOUS (Suspicion)
“Amy. This is a Passion Fruit store.” Ryan was ogling the display window excitedly. “Who are we meeting?” 

“My sister,” Jeriah replied. He leaned against the glass. “She wants to meet Amery.”

“Yes, but why are are meeting in front of a Passion Fruit store?”

“She means why not inside,” Amy explained nervously. 

Jeriah shrugged. “We can go inside.”

Ryan bounced towards the door before the sentence was finished, nearly colliding with a whirlwind of color.

“Sorry!”

“No no, I’m so sorry, I was in too much of a rush! Welcome to Passion Fruit! Please enjoy your visit!” The girl welcomed Ryan in with a bright smile. 

“Is this…?”

“Lynna,” Jeriah confirmed.

“Jer!” Lynna had bright pink hair and an infectious smile. She was stunning—not in a sophisticated or powerful way that everyone else in her family seemed to be trying to convey, but in an energetic, honest, and almost silly aura that captivated Amy. She hugged her younger brother affectionately. He tried to act cool, but even Amy could tell he was happy for the affection.

Jeriah’s expression had melted into a relaxed smile. “Lynna, this is Amery Dahla, my fiancé, and her friend, Ms. Ryan Norton. Amery, Ryan, my sister—“ 

The pink-haired girl hugged Amy immediately, beaming. As she pulled away, she squealed a little. “Amery, right? I’m Lynna. Nice to meet you, little sister!” 

“A-A-pleasure to—nice to meet you,” she stumbled over her words and flushed before straightening again. She had been expecting another stiff meeting with potentially snide comments. 

“And Ryan, right?”

“Yes. I’m Amy’s best friend.”

“Do you prefer Amy or Amery?” Lynna turned to Amy immediately. 

“Either is fine.”

“Amy, Ryan, wonderful. Thank you for meeting me out here today.” She turned to Jeriah and threw the checkerboard scarf with cute Passion Fruit logo embroidered in the corner over her brother’s neck. “Ok then, go on, little brother. We’ll catch up later.”

Jeriah nodded. “Don’t creep them out, Lynna. Amery, I’ll see you at home.” He seemed to hesitate a little, then waved to them. “Have a good time.”
He left, leaving the three girls grinning at each other. 

“You guys seem close.”

“Are you girls hungry?”

“Do you work for Passion Fruit?” They all asked at the same time. They stared at each other for a pause, then burst out laughing. 

“Let’s get something to eat first then,” Amy offered, still a little mind-blown by Lynna’s presence. 

“Sure. I know a cute cafe nearby.” Lynna led them down the street. “And I do work at Passion Fruit! Well, rather I own it. Passion Fruit is my precious brainchild.” 

“Y-You design all the pieces?!” 

“Yep! This is from our latest stock!” Lynna twirled her bright yellow jacket with a red hood and red feathery hems, revealing hidden green and blue panels along the side. “Well, rather I should say that it’s from the line I’m designing now.”

“Is it…perhaps based off a parrot’s color scheme?” Amy asked shyly. 

“It IS! Do you…perhaps like birds?” 

They leaped into a flurry of discussion of birds and clothes and bird-based clothing. When Amy found herself discussing whether the look of a common yellowthroat warbler would be best portrayed in cotton or silk, she had to laugh at how much fun she was having.

They talked about Passion Fruit for a long time, but along the way detoured into talks about their college experiences. Lynna was a few years older than they were, but she was eager to reminisce with them and offer them guidance as they headed out of the school-sheltered world and into the industry—or more school. When Ryan and Amy mentioned they had attended Ashnim University, famous for its virtual-reality gaming, Lynna revealed that she still played Battle Blitz some weekends. 

“I was young when it was still a computer game! I even got my grandmother to play with me once. I totally thought I was going to stomp her but then she creamed me! I was so embarrassed and so scared she was going to make me pay for being cocky.”

“Your grandmother? As in the Head of Krovstoff Group?” Amy wasn’t sure she could picture the concise, direct little businesswoman sitting down for a game of casual computer gaming.

“Yeah! But all she said was to go outside and run a lap around the house before coming back for a rematch!”

Their conversation was casual, meandering between subjects and making frequent detours to their own memories and experiences. Fun, like Lynna was. Their afternoon took them around the shopping plazas, where Lynna insisted that they try things on. They dressed each other up with stores around the city and Lynna surprised them at them by buying their favorite combinations.

“I-I don’t think I can afford anything like this,” Ryan protested meekly. 

“Come by Passion Fruit sometime and help me out with a photoshoot,” Lynna replied, slipping her card into a bag. “I liked your ideas, and if you’re good with data systems I could definitely use the help reorganizing the catalog.”

Ryan replied that she would be honored. The three of them swapped numbers, and Ryan took her bags and left them at her train stop. Lynna walked with Amy back to Jeriah’s apartment. Amy told her about the luncheon she had attended and Lynna told her about the various back-woods walking trails surrounding the Krovstoff Estate. They exchanged a hug outside and Lynna touched Amy’s hair affectionately. 

“Jer’s a good kid,” she said, bringing her little brother up for the first time that day. “He’s a little hard to be around sometimes, but I hope you take care of him.” Her smile was affectionate. “I’m glad he has you now.” 

NEXT (Temptation)

Notes:
This is kind of like an interlude. I basically just wanted a scene to introduce Lynna and to let them have fun. In the original notes Amy isn’t supposed to have anyone at all, so this is a very big detour from that. 


It’s also a blatant excuse for me to add bird stuff into the story :x

D:CM Suspicion

PREVIOUS (Grandmother)
“I’m glad the meeting with his family went rather well,” Ryan commented as they browsed the outdoor mall in Fairen’s entertaining south district. 

“I’m glad too. Grandmother really scared me at first, but I think I like her the best now.” Amy made a face. “It feels weird to think of them as my future in-laws. I still feel weird whenever Jeriah introduces me as his fiancé.”

“Are you going to keep staying with him then?”

“Yeah. It’s more convenient for the story.”

“I still can’t believe you’re going through with this.”  

Amy fell silent. She didn’t know how to convince Ryan that Jeriah wasn’t a terrible person. But she wasn’t thrilled by the idea of marrying him still, so she kept quiet.

They were wandering down the street when something caught her eye. Amy whirled around, surprised. Trudging out of the South district station was Jeriah himself. 

He had his bag slung over his shoulder and a carefree smile on his face. Amy wandered in the same direction, keeping her eye on the figure on the other side of the street. What was he doing here? 

Jeriah strolled with familiarity down the street before turning down a a side alley she had never noticed before. Amy followed, and Ryan let her lead, telling her about the latest designs Passion Fruit had come out with. 

“I heard that Passion Fruit’s director of design will be here for a shoot,” Ryan said. “I volunteered to be part of the tech crew, so maybe I’ll even be able to meet— hey, why’d you stop?” 

They had turned down into a side alley lined on both sides with bars. But Amy was rooted in place, staring at a building with a bright red and pink sign that advertised services that Amy had never considered existed outside of shady back-corners or even in her hometown’s city at all. 

“What are we even doing here?” Ryan scowled. 

“I-uh, got lost,” Amy said, staring at the door to the pleasure house. Her stomach knotted itself together and her heart seemed to pump despair instead of blood. 

“Let’s just go,” Ryan said, pulling her away from the door of a pub and back out towards the shopping centers. 

“Yeah. Let’s get out of here.”

NEXT (Sister of a Feather)

Notes:
It’s not a hard split, but I think of this as halfway through the story, only because everything up to now has been more or less continuous over the course of one week. From here to the end of the story is supposed to cover about a month’s worth of time.

D:CM Grandmother

PREVIOUS (Lunch)
The server led them inside the pavilion to a dining hall off the side of the lobby. The doormen bowed their entrance. She recognized Jeriah’s parents sitting off to the side of a wrinkled woman in a stern monochrome suit. The server announced them.

“My lady, Gareth and Jeriah. Accompanied by Miss Amery Dahla, Jeriah’s fiancé.” 

“Thank you. Leave us.” 

The server bowed and left, closing the door.

“Grandsons. Sit.” 

Amy shifted a little before realizing she hadn’t been called. Jeriah touched her arm gently—in comfort? Or as a reminder?—before sitting roughly opposite his grandmother  around the circular table. Across the table Jeriah’s parents sat with quiet smiles stitched over their faces. Cousins Sherman and Valerie sat on Grandmothe’rs other side. If Amy thought they looked detached before, they looked almost hostile now. 

Grandmother leveled her gaze on Amy. The head of Krovstoff Group was smiling pleasantly, but after spending the mid-afternoon with that smile’s relatives outside, Amy couldn’t tell if it was genuine or not. Even more, she could feel the intelligent and calculating gaze of a businesswoman behind the misleading smile. “Amery, tell me about yourself.” 

“Yes ma’am,” she said instinctively, making sure she was standing straight with her hands held loosely at her side. She opened her mouth to recount their backstory when she realized the question posed and changed her mind on the spot. “I studied psychology at Ashnim University and was doing clinical and theoretical research there. I moved back here in June after I was accepted to the Cognitive Sciences PhD program at Fair Ridge, but will hopefully will not be starting until next fall. With your blessing, Jeriah and I would like to get married later this year.” 

“You said you moved back for school and romance, yet you worked part-time at an ice cream parlor once you were back and didn’t start living with my grandson until this past week.”

Amy felt her head spin. She thought she had until the end of the month to perfect her act! But she focused on what she knew about their relationship and what their story was. She looked down for a second, intentionally showing her embarrassment, before looking back up with a smile and chuckle. “Yes. My first day back in town, I really wanted to get ice cream and they were desperately short-handed. At the time I hadn’t secured my position in the Dreams lab and was reluctant to not have any income over the summer. And…Jeriah didn’t propose until last week.” She glanced down at him shyly, doing her best to seem like she was blushing. 

“She likes to stay busy,” Jeriah put in helpfully.

“No ice-cream maid, no matter her good intentions, could ever be good enough for my grandson or accepted into this family.” 

Amy met the calculating gaze of the woman she was supposed to impress.

“I-I’m sorry you feel that way,” she replied, holding her head proudly. “But I love him,” Amy started, even looking towards him to make sure the act looked the part. “So if you meant that, I would tell you that I’m willing to fight for our relationship and our marriage. And I believe that he would fight for me as well. As for my intentions…I want to support him.”

Someone coughed.

Amy laughed as well and and replied gracefully. “I suppose that’s odd, that an ice-cream maid wants to support the son of a multi-million dollar international company. But we didn’t meet like that. We were just old high school acquantances at first, and then coworkers. Jeriah’s on so many projects at the lab, and he’s always reading up on new research; I can really see his passion for his field, and his kindness in small things. And I want to be by his side through that, helping him however I can, be it making a snack when he forgets to eat or,”—she turned to Jeriah with a mischievous grin— “offering another opinion on a transliteration graph.”

Jeriah’s poker face cracked for a little bit in to show her what looked like an embarrassed flush. Her smile was easier to hold after that. She looked back up to his grandmother, her words sharp but deliberate. “But you aren’t actually asking me all  that, are you?” 

Grandmother nodded, but whether it was in approval or dismissal Amy couldn’t really tell. “Well rehearsed.” Amy feel the blood rush out of her head and it took all her self control not to snap her head up in surprise. Instead, she lifted her head slowly, pinching her eyebrows like she had just noticed the odd choice of words. 

Then Grandmother laughed. It was a rumble at first, and too short to build, but she laughed. “Amery, sit,” Grandmother finally welcomed her to the table. “If you are an actress, then you are a fairly good one, and an astute girl as well. Jeriah, tell Martin he can serve us now.” 
Amy slipped into her seat, exchanging smiles of relief with Jeriah as he got up. She wanted to just sink into it and stop talking, but even when food was served, she was the center of conversation:

“Amery, Jeriah never says anything to us, so we know nothing. How did you two meet?”

Finally, a question she had rehearsed. She told Jeriah’s parents the story about her being out birdwatching and nearly tripping over an old classmate who was engrossed in his reading. Catching up had led to getting ice cream, and similar research interests had kept them in contact. 

The other guests kept the questions coming. Amy felt like she was the target of a shooting range rather than an interview. Jeriah jumped in sometimes, answering for her so she could eat. 

“You have a healthy appetite,” Valerie commented during a slightly sour dessert. 
“I would think this is better stuff than the kind you served at the ice-cream parlor?” 

“The dessert reflects the company,” Amy shot back. She almost slapped her mouth shut and stuffed another bite of lemon meringue and fruit-tart ice cream. When there was no response, she risked a glanced up. Valerie and Sherman were glaring at her. 

“I do like sour treats,” Grandmother said, entirely too innocently and composed. Amy’s heart pounded in dread, imagining the worst. What if Grandmother kicked her out here and now. 

Then she noticed Gareth grinning unabashedly and flash her a double-thumbs up.

“Grandmother thought it was funny,” Jeriah whispered to her. She realized he was trying to hide a laugh.

They finished the meal without another comment questioning Amy’s background. 

Finally, Grandmother dismissed them, arranging to meet with Sherman, Gareth and Jeriah over the next few weeks. 

“And Jeriah. If you hear from Lynna, please ask her to stop by as well.”
Everyone at the table seemed to be surprised by that. Amy took careful note of everyone’s reactions: Most of them seemed upset; Sherman looked visibly annoyed, while Gareth just seemed perplexed. Jeriah just nodded and took Amy’s hand, and they left the luncheon in high spirits.

Outside, away from the skin-searing smiles of his family, Amy cheered. “That went well!”

Even Jeriah seemed less uptight than usual. He took off his suit jacket and loosened his tie. “Good job.”

“This calls for celebration,” Amy declared. “Let’s get ice cream. My treat.”
He indulged her with a nod and smile. “Something sweet?”

“Yes!”
He laughed and offered her his hand again. 

She wasn’t sure if it was an act or just the moment, but she took it, giddy with excitement. “It’s a date then.”

NEXT (Suspicion)
Notes:
Another scene that was written and edited and spliced together maybe a dozen times. Grandmother’s character kept changing and wavering and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with her. Jeriah’s parents originally had a bigger role and following this was supposed to be a scene where Jeriah and Amy run into Amy’s parents at the ice-cream parlor, but that all ended up too much for what I wanted for the scope of the story so it’s just this :). 

D:CM Lunch

PREVIOUS (Reasons)
“Mom, Dad, I would like to introduce you to someone. This is Amery Dahla, my fiancé. Amery, my parents.” 

They shook hands and exchanged a few words. They were surprised, but not 
unpleasant; Jeriah had never brought a girl home. She expressed interest in Mr. 
Krovstoff’s research in chemistry and they chatted for a while. But Mrs. 
Krovstoff still seemed detached and rather cold—even when she assured them 
that they had every blessing a parent could offer. Then other relatives had 
started showing up and his parents went to greet them.

They wandered the room as well, greeting relatives. Amy’s head still spun trying to remember everyone. At her side, Jeriah greeted everyone with a with a small smile and introduction. The names and faces blurred, despite Jeriah’s efforts last night to tell her about some of the relatives  There was something about every reaction that rubbed Amy the wrong way though, from Uncle George and Aunt Tiana who congratulated them with tears in their eyes to cousins to cousins Sherman and Valerie, who just stopped by to call Jeriah a “weak, antisocial traitor” and Amy a “money-whoring slut” before walking away again. There was Cousin Leroy with dead, glazed-over eyes, who didn’t seem to be interested in Amy at all, only that Jeriah was getting married and that he was in the running to be the next Head of House. Amy wondered if she had made a mistake. Sure she enjoyed having more money than she knew what to do with and the comfort of a date, but was it worth having to call so many people family? 

And of course there was Gareth, who kissed her fingers and asked her to walk 
with him.

 “Actually, your parents want to talk to you. Alone.” He gestured to Jeriah’s 
parents, who were standing another corner of the tent. Gareth dismissed him, 
taking Amy’s arm from his. “I’ll watch Amery for you, don’t worry.” 

Amy caught his questioning expression and showed him a smile. “Go ahead. I’ll 
be ok.” She would be ok. He was right; what could Gareth do in an afternoon 
walk around the park that he wouldn’t do any other evening at home?

Jeriah nodded, composing his face; Gareth and led her away, towards the lake. 

“You’re beautiful.”

“Thank you.” She was surprised at the straightforward compliment.

“I meant you, not the dress or the hair,” Gareth clarified, surprising her again 
with the his directness. Gareth leaned in closer. “Although I quite prefer the just 
out of the shower look,” he whispered in her ear, referencing when she had 
wandered into the kitchen in only a robe with her hair still dripping wet. Gareth 
had been very clear that his bed would be waiting for her that night if she 
wanted to sleep with something other than a stick or a book.

Amy flushed. “I told you to forget that.”

“How could I?” Gareth’s face turned suddenly serious and he pulled away to a 
more respectable distance. “Amery. I owe you an apology. My behavior towards 
you in high school was that of a immature boy infatuated with a girl he couldn’t 
possibly compare to. I’m sorry for teasing you then, and even more if I made 
you uncomfortable since your engagement to my cousin. Could you find it in you to forgive me?”

“Oh.” She saw Gareth in a new light suddenly. He was manlier for his apology, 
and a lot less annoying. “Of course.” She found herself struggling to find the 
proper words. “Thank you… for your concern. I hope we’ll get along now…
cousin?”

“Just call me Gareth. May I call you Amy?” 

“Haven’t you been doing so all along?” she teased. Still serious, Gareth opened 
his mouth to object before he realized she was messing with him. He chuckled, 
and the tension seemed to die away. “I’d like to continue then, with your 
permission this time.”

“Permission is given.”

“Yes!” He touched her waist suddenly, and lifted her easily in the air. “Hello, 
Amy!”

The wind shuddered through her hair, threatening to mess it up. Her dress 
fluttered elegantly around her and her heart leapt into her throat, pounding so 
hard her surprise came out sounding more like a squeal. “Gareth! Put me 
down!” 

He spun her around laughing before setting her lightly on the grass. He looked 
like he was about to say something else when a server approached them. 
“Master Krovstoff, Miss Dahla, my lady would like to see you.” 

Gareth’s face took on a serious countenance again as he noticed the the server’s attire—this one had a burgundy and gold-trim vest where all the other ones had simply black ones. He took his hands off Amy’s waist and followed. 

“Amery, us too.” Jeriah appeared following the server, his face and voice serious, and maybe just a little dark. He offered her his arm and she took it with a questioning expression. He shook his head. “Grandmother wants to talk.” 

NEXT (Grandmother)

Notes:

The Gareth x Amy thing is supposed to be a much bigger deal than I ended up writing it as. :X

D:CM Reasons

PREVIOUS (Stories)
“Jeriah? Why are you even aiming for head of the group?” 

“Because I want to live a cushy life and never touch another firing-pattern transliteration graph again,” he muttered back, not looking away from the screen. “Seriously, what the hell do these valences even mean?”

Amy laughed but set the textbook in her lap on the ground and  leaned down to see what he was working on. She skimmed through his detailed notes and markings before remembering something from her clinical experience. “Zoom out?”

“What?”

“Zoom out. Can I see the overall notes?”

“The software keeps saying depression, but I don’t believe it.”

“Did you meet the subject?”

“She seemed nervous. I would have guessed anxiety if anything, but all her readings are looking like depression. Normal answers though. She didn’t seem too nervous about being hooked up to the dream-reader.”

“Go back to the spike you were wondering about?”

He did so. “Amery? What do you think?” 

“Sarcasm,” she guessed. “This whole part about never having trouble with her clients— The subject is amused. This activation sequence and the general positive reading—but I’ll bet there’s something bitter in there was well. Corresponding with right ventromedial prefrontal activation that matches the time of utterance—yeah. I’d say she was being sarcastic. You didn’t pick that up?”

“No. She seemed pretty deadpan.”

“It was your first time meeting her, it’s ok.” Amy reached over and hit a button to pull up a transcript of the interview. “Not quite depression or anxiety? Hm… It reminds me more of some minor PTSD cases.”

“Trauma?” 

“Nothing like war or death. Just small things. In her case, her client’s words. 
This sounds like sexual harassment.” Amy looked down and noticed Jeriah staring at her with awe. “I-I’d have to take a closer look though,” she said nervously. “It was just a guess.”

“It’s all yours,” he replied, sliding the mouse and headset to her. “Thank you for volunteering to finish this for me.”
She laughed and backed away. 

“Please? Translating always takes me forever!”

“You were able to translate my interview readings,” Amy protested, but pulled a 
cushion to the floor to sit next to him. “Dinner says you’re thankful.” 

“Right. Hand me my phone, I’ll get pizza.” 

Her hand froze around the phone. “What, I can do that. Go cook something!” 

“I have Kevin for that!” he shot back, reaching over her. “Come on!” 

“My my, I’m learning so much about what you can’t do today,” she laughed, 
scrambling to her feet, phone in hand. “You can’t code simple data, you can’t 
cook, next thing you know it’s that you can’t do your own laundry—“ 

“Amery!” He stood up to give chase, reaching around her in a vain attempt to 
reach the phone. “Hey, watch—“ 

The warning came too late. Her foot caught against the book she had set down. 
She stumbled, but her balance was way off and her foot flew out. She winced as she fell, more from surprise than actual injury.

It took her a moment to realize she didn’t hit the ground as hard as she thought she would and that she wasn’t staring at the ceiling. The way she was angled, her head ought to have smacked into the table. Yet there was a gentle hand on 
the back of her head, prevent her from colliding with the sharp corner of the 
table. The other hand held Jeriah’s weight off her. 

She stared up at him, surprised he’d reacted fast enough to even catch her. 
Their eyes were wide and their faces frozen in surprise. He was a little taller 
than her, and his shoulders were broader than she’d noticed before—he usually 
seemed so much smaller. For the first time, she noticed just how light the gray 
of his eyes were, and how dark the bags that traced under them were. 

They were so close, she could feel his sharp intake of breath before they moved 
apart in a hurry. “Thank you,” she murmured. 

“Sorry,” he apologized at the same time, immediately putting a yard between 
them. “I mean, yeah. No problem.” 

Awkwardly, Amy held his phone out, focusing on the floor. “You wanted this.”

“Right.” He took it, sounding just as flustered before heading for the kitchenette 
like he was escaping. The room seemed unusually silent as Amy sat down by his computer, fiddling with the headset. 

“If you want, I can cook a little,” Jeriah finally said, checking the refrigerator. “It 
isn’t as good as yours, but it should be edible.”

“Y-Yea, that’s good,” she said. “Ok. I’ll finish this.”

When Gareth got back, he complained loudly that his cousin’s food was probably poisoned and commented even more obnoxiously his surprise that at least the poison tasted decent. Amy tuned it all out of course, but for once she was glad for Gareth’s noisiness—it masked the silence that had settled between her and Jeriah. It continued even when he had finished his shower and they danced around each other, standing on opposite ends of the room. Amy wondered how they usually functioned at night. And what even had started this whole awkwardness? Her tripping? They had been talking normally about work before then.
He pulled his blankets over his shoulders and leaned against the window, book in hand. Nestled on the oversized bed, Amy looked up from her own text and stared at him. She wasn’t exactly unhappy with the distance, but its suddenness seemed concerning. 

“Oh! You never answered my question earlier!”

He narrowed his eyes and the book remained closed. “What?”

“Why are you even aiming to be head of the group?”

He hesitated. “Eternal funding,” he joked again.

She rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t make sense. You love your work, and Gareth 
seems like he would enjoy running the business anyways."

Jeriah’s eyebrows knitted together. 

Aha, I’ve struck something. She shifted on the bed, rolling onto her stomach 
and facing him. 

“I don’t plan on running the company,” he said finally, then shut his mouth, 
pursing his lips. “Anyways, it’s something else.” He opened the book, and that 
was the end of the discussion. 

Amy watched him for a while longer, before finally sighing to herself. She shut 
the economics textbook and left it on the bedside table for tomorrow morning. 

“Goodnight, Jeriah.” 


She didn’t expect a reply, but a few minutes later, when he thought she was 
asleep, she heard him murmur in reply. “Goodnight, Amery.”

NEXT (Lunch)

Notes:
This was one of those scenes that I forced in for the sake of otome-ness and for the sake of showing that some relationship is indeed happening. It hasn’t deviated much in terms of content from draft 1, but the actual writing of it has changed a lot.

D:CM Stories

PREVIOUS (Interlude: Friends)
“You can write our love story. Put all the fluffy romance you’d like. I understand I’m stripping you of all the fuzzy feelings you get from dating and marrying someone you actually fell in love with.”

Amy had blinked in surprise when she realized she was being given free reign to make up a beautiful, romance like the kind she read in romance novels. 

“Anything?”

Jeriah had shrugged, as ambivalent as he seemed about everything. “It just has to convince my grandmother and the rest of the family.”

But she needed a story that would convince herself as well. An afternoon, in the park. She would be birdwatching. He—would a park be out of character for him? No, all the grad students seemed to enjoy doing their readings outside on the meadows of the Fair Ridge’s campus. It wouldn’t be a terrible stretch. 

“Is there anything you’d like in though? A certain way you imagined the proposal or first date or meeting?”

“Not really. I can help think of ideas, if that’s what you’re asking. I just figured you would have your own ideal romance story.”

After a few days of late night chats just catching up about life since high school and just talking, Amy handed her supposed fiancé their backstory: how they met, how they dated over the past year from different schools, how he’d proposed.

Ryan had checked the stories and lists for sanity. She had grumbled throughout it, saying that Amy’s dreams were so ordinary, and half of them were based on what she and Cyril had done together. There was definitely someone else out there that would go birdwatching with her—why did it have to be some guy who didn’t actually love her and just wanted a trophy wife to get his inheritance? 

“I’ve never been birdwatching before,” Jeriah commented when he examined the list and backstory. Amy fidgeted with her ring nervously. Would he have her rewrite it? “What do you do, walk around looking at birds?”

“You identify them,” Amy replied. 

She mentally ran through what her first few times were like. 

“It’s a lot of walking around actually, and we go to different places: nature reserves, city parks, regional parks, beaches, marsh preserves. Sometimes my neck aches afterwards from carrying the binoculars. But basically we’d just walk around, chat about whatever, and occasionally find and identify a bird. Maybe tell a story about it.” 

“Sounds boring.” Her heart fell. “I’d like to try sometime.”

A smile blossomed over her face. 

“Mornings are the best time, and since neither of us work in the mornings—“ she stopped. 

“Mornings are terrible,” he groaned. 

She giggled, remembering how he always threw the covers over his head and grumbled groggily whenever either of their alarms rang. 

“Let’s go sometime though.” 

He went back to reading. Amy watched carefully, learning more from gauging his reactions than she had writing it. 

“What are you frowning at?”

“Proposal. It’s so…”

“Sappy?” 

She had written a starlight evening out in the park after ice cream and a movie from home. 

“Straight out of a romance novel?”

“Yeah.”

“Makes sense. That’s where I got it.” 

Kinda. She had some reference from her ex. He had taken her on some pretty romance-novel-perfect dates. Almost too book-like. She tried to shrug it off now, but just shivered instead. Jeriah reached for the thermostat immediately. 

“I’m ok. Is it too much?”

Jeriah crinkled his eyebrows but didn’t push the matter. 

“If you think it’s believable. It seems in-character to the ‘us’ you’ve written anyways.” 

He nodded at the page.

“My favorite ice cream flavors are coffee and mint. What’re yours?”

“Rocky Road—uh, but I change every few months. Rocky Road is a safe bet though.”

He nodded, jotting a note down. 

“Also, I haven’t actually read or seen Under Black Wings. I have read the author’s dissertation paper on vampire history and physiology though, and they made a documentary-style film out of it; can that be one of the movies we watched instead?”

“You read Forsaken’s dissertation? Was the documentary any good?”

“The paper was fascinating; the documentary was crap. What about A Murder Most Fowl?”

“The TV series? It’s amazing! Although…I haven’t actually finished it.” 

He frowned a little. “Want to watch it here? It’d be good if we actually watched it together if it’s going to ‘our’ show.”

She nodded excitedly. “Can we start from the beginning? It’s been a while.”

“Sure. What do you remember about it?”

“That the actor for Rothfeather is gorgeous?”

“Rot-feather’s terrible, but I agree the actors look good. Have you read the short story?”

“There’s a book?” 

“It’s on Forsaken’s site. No plot spoilers then I guess.” He shook his head with a grin and made another note. “My cousin might want to watch it too.”

She beamed excitedly. “We’ll pretend the third-wheel isn’t there.”

He laughed, satisfied enough, and scanned back up the points. Finally, Jeriah looked up again, pointing to some line on the page.  

“Have you been to the science museum by Dewmark? They added a robotics exhibit back in March.”

“Kinda. Ryan told me about the robotics exhibit and I volunteered there over the summers.”

“It hasn’t changed too much,” Jeriah commented. “Shall we have seen that together?”

“Sure.” She had pulled out her own pen and was making amendments as well. 

“Great. Also, I was at the University at Ashnim in May for a symposium. You can add something about that.” 

“What did we do? Walk around the campus?” She ran through Ashnim city’s popular attractions and things that she frequented. They couldn’t cite anyone from her lab, but maybe she could count on Ryan’s support? “Ate lunch with Ryan, then went to the virtual reality arcade?”

“Sure. You beat me at Battle Blitz so I paid for dinner.”

“You play Battle Blitz?”

“Not anymore, that’s why you beat me.” He scanned the page again. 

“Other than that, this is fine. I’ll memorize it by tonight.”

“Tonight?”

“Yeah. Oh. It’s Tuesday, isn’t it? I’ll be back late, so don’t wait for me.”

She nodded and texted Ryan. Late nights talking with her coworker and arranged fiancé were one thing. Studying up on business economics in her free  time so she could convince her future Grandmother she wasn’t a useless ice-cream maid was one thing. Hanging out getting dinner with his annoying—albeit attractive—cousin though, was not what she had agreed to. 

NEXT (Reasons)

Notes:
The first line, “You can write our love story,” was another of the lines from my original inspiration. I don’t really write myself into any stories, so I never thought of writing my own love story, and this was a really weird thought. Maybe it’d be fun though haha.

Forsaken is, of course, my friend xForsakenx and the stories are actual stories she’s writing. She’s not working on the dissertation paper on vampire physiology though :P Hopefully everything makes sense without actually having read Murder Most Fowl, buttt I do reference it a bit :x

Birdwatching is awesome.