Gravity (Award Response; Mismatched Couple)

[Capricia Varekova]

Capricia could count precisely to the second how long she and Connor had been together; it was cumulative, the time span lasting over the course of several years of make-ups, break-ups, and everything in between. She counted the seconds now, as the pause in the phone conversation caused her to pull her mobile from her ear and watch the instances pass with each tick of the digital call timer. Split custody was a frustrating thing when neither of them were thrilled with their choice of relationship - if you could call it that.

"I'll just pick her up Monday. If you want her for the weekend, that's fine. I've got more than my fair share of crap at the Guild I could be doing, and anyways, you seem to like playing with some of her toys more than she does," she said into the phone, glancing up as a figure crossed her peripheral vision. The faintest scent of cologne tingled her nose, and she smiled a little in spite of herself.

"No, he's here. Just arrived, in fact," she said, holding up a finger to signal she was almost done. "Mmhm, I'm sure she'll probably sleep for a little longer; just prepare Val for the Disney movie binge. I'm positive he won't mind," she said dryly. "Okay, Connor. Talk to you tomorrow. Call me if anything happens. Mm, bye."

"That sounded deceptively uneventful," Andrew said, sliding next to her on the couch and resting his hand on her knee.

"Mm. Sort of. For two people who've been through so much stuff, you wouldn't believe what a... weight being removed from my chest this feels like. All of the things we would never see eye to eye on suddenly just vanish from my train of thought, and I'm free to concentrate on more important things. It's... weird." She shrugged a little.

"Well, I guess that means it ran its course. Usually when things just sort of come to an end, it's best for everyone. I mean, you definitely didn't draw arms over it, so I'd say in the case of you two, it's a good thing." He smiled a little, giving her a reassuring pat.

She nodded thoughtfully, and then leaned forward to give him a small kiss on the cheek. "So, what are we doing tonight? Dinner? Movie? Hunting?" She laughed a little, and it was full and real, not faked like so many of her emotions had been for so long.

"Anything you want. Pizza's in the freezer, Stars on Demand on the T.V., and my bag of supplies is by the door. I came prepared," he replied, giving her blonde hair a little tug.

"Movie while eating, than hunting," she said with a nod. She stood and walked to the kitchen, leaving Andrew to find something on the movie channel that didn't suck, and sighed to herself. It was almost surreal. She'd known Andrew Vida for a ridiculously long time, and as far as she could remember, he'd never really showed any interest in any women. She knew he wasn't gay, just prioritized. She tore open the pizza box and read the instructions to herself as she fished out a pan from beneath the stove.

Really, she'd been surprised to find a small note on her car asking her to dinner some odd weeks ago. She thought it was a sympathy invite, but...  She scanned her living room, an array of his things mixed with hers. There was definitely no sympathy from Andrew - just an opportunity he'd seen. She supposed, in retrospect, there had always been things that would've tipped her off, if only she'd ever payed him any real attention.

"Fifteen minutes," she called from the kitchen.

Capricia and Andrew. Who saw that coming?