JISFIOJEWOEIG... (Jay)

[Admiral Striker General]

Nikolai... was upset.

Certainly, he could think of many reasons to be this way. There was the stress of running his portion of the country and of dealing with the tawdry nobles, who had always seemed so much more pleasant back when he was equal to or slightly below them in rank as opposed to above them. Everyone had some complaint about how he was doing things or excuse why they couldn't or wouldn't comply and... oiweojifaoiewa. This baron was concerned the duke was encouraging everyone to be too "oppressive" and that they would be "fueling" the rebel sentiments; that count complained the duke was being too lenient and needed to keep a tighter grip on the population to keep them in check. At least one person decided he should pay only half the taxes of someone else because his territory was half the size-- never mind its population.

And of course there was his personal life. Nevermind that the woman he loved wanted nothing to do with him and the woman who loved him was a fucking psychopath; he'd long since come to terms with those parts and accepted such was just his life. It was more the whole thing that the only people in the world who legitimately cared about him as a person never seemed to want to be around him and all the people who wanted to spend time with him didn't give a flying rat's ass about him outside of his power or money or what he could offer.

Yes, Nikolai could think of many reasons why he should be upset, but none of them were the reason(s). He just was. He'd been staring at this same proposal for allotting some funds or other to something for two hours, and he still had no idea what it was actually asking.

He couldn't concentrate, and felt lethargic. He wished it was easier for him to cry so he could just go do so for a while, but barring that he just wanted to curl up and do nothing. Sleep sounded okay, but even that wasn't really priority. Some part of him could think of a few ways to relieve stress, but... really, he didn't think he could even muster the energy for that. The most wonderful-sounding thing he could think of was literally nothing.

Finally, he sighed and gave in, pushing away from his cluttered desk and trudging through too many hallways to reach his bedroom. He could scarcely even believe how inviting those soft covers looked, and half-flopped, half-just-fell onto the bed.

No sooner had he hit- before he even had time to correct his position so he wasn't partially hanging off the bed- than a realization flashed, proving it was actually possible to sour his previous mood.

Stormy was going to kill him if he didn't get enough work done.

....Unless...

Nikolai sighed again, pushing himself back up. It wasn't the most appealing idea he'd had all day, but if it was what it would take to be allowed to get out of doing anything else, he supposed he could manage. He checked his pockets, and...

Dammit all he'd left his phone on his desk. "AAUUGGHHHrerrghrr-ghrhmmnnnn..." Forcing himself to his feet, he managed to get back to his office and flop on his chair. Taking up the phone, he cycled through his contacts to Crazy Bitch and hit the call button. "Pick upppp...." he groaned as much as sighed. He could already tell this was going to be a long, grueling sort of day...

[Jay]

The calming sound of rushing water resonated off of soft grey natural rocks that twisted their way up and around each other into something both aesthetic and somehow natural. Bare trees reached up to the sky and twirled about fluidly. The sandy ground had been cut and parted nicely making black lines---

"SUNNY SWEET GOD I WILL KILL YOU!" a voice roared. A door from a house not far from this seemingly gentle natural scenery bashed open, and a blue haired woman burst outwards with a frying pan raised more like a tomahawk than a cooking utensil. Stopping just as she came outside, Stormy stopped. Blue eyes looked around rather quickly scanning the area, and a huff escaped into the air. "Little brother where are you?" Stormy shouted, but there was no answer. Grumbling to herself, the blue-ette turned back inside and slammed the door. "Sunny get out here! Sunny? SUNNY!"

There was no reply, and it was clear to Stormy that the boy was hiding. It didn't stop her from shouting though. The day had started out so good. She'd gotten a bunch of studying done for her next the next day, and she had even perfected her latest flying kick move. However, right after she had the chef cook food for her brother and herself, her phone had disappeared. Not saying that it was technically Sunny's fault, but Stormy -- no she was saying that it was his fault. She was sure of it, and that was that. "Sunny~ Come out come out wherever you are..." Stormy called as she slowly began to walk around the house again.

Suddenly Taylor Swift's song You Belong to Me began to start playing, and almost instantly Stormy took off again down a hallway only to trip over something and fall flat on her face. Ow... ow...ow...No one saw that right? Shoving herself up, Stormy looked around for a few seconds before rubbing the back of her neck and turning around on the floor to see what she had tri-- PHONE! Dive bombing the phone, Stormy quickly flipped it open and hit talk. "Nikkibear~!" was the light call that echoed from Stormy. "What's up? How are you~?" she cooed.

[Admiral Striker General]

Nik fought the sigh at her perpetual pet name; he lost. Ah well.

"I miss you," he borderline-whined. "I've been trying to work.. I swear I've been trying my best. I just... I can't stop thinking abouchu. I.. I need ta see you or I'm just gonna be a mess..." Blugh. He sounded like he was on the verge of tears as it was-- seeing as he was, but for different, less definitive reasons, and he couldn't seem to actually find them-- and that combined with the sugar coating he was laying on to flatter her was threatening to make him outright nauseous.

Somehow, he managed to pull through it. "Could you maybe.. come over? ..Pretty please?" Though he wasn't excessively religious, he found himself praying she could manage to be calm today. Please.... please just be calm... He wasn't sure if he could handle one of her more highstrung moods right now.

[Jay]

Oh~ He missed her? He missed her! A wicked grin was breaking on the face of Stormy, and she ended up wrapping a hand around her mouth to keep herself from squealing into the phone. Nikolai had no idea -or if he did Stormy didn't know he did- how much that excited her and how much happier that made her. For all her anger a few seconds ago- poor Sunny, he didn't take her phone after all- she was too elated for words now. "Of course!" she called quickly into the phone before forcing herself up and starting into her room. Fishing through things, Stormy kept talking. "Oh yeah I have a present for you too!" she called. Pulling up a bag, she began to put various things into it. Nik had wanted her to come over. Her Nik wanted her to come over! "But you'll have to wait till I get there to see what it is~" she beamed lightly before pulling her bag shut and stepping out of her room. "I'm on my way now, and I'll try and be there soon!" she grinned before starting down the hallway again and out of her house.

[Admiral Striker General]

Nikolai sighed in relief as she hung up so quickly, not even making him go through the painful ordeal of saying goodbyes. "Thank the Legends..." he sighed to himself. At least she'd bought it...

Last he'd checked, she didn't have anything that could fly. That meant it should probably be a good.... eh. A good while anyway, he was too tired to math. So hopefully during that time until she got here he could just.... go back to... ....Bluh. Except he didn't even feel like getting back out of his chair now dammit.

SIGH...

Well, at least it would look like he was still trying to work when she got here... Maybe he'd even give one of these billion documents another glance in a few minutes.. maybe... eh.

[Jay]

It had taken Stormy some time -not to walk but to drive- all the way up to the Yukishiro Castle, but the time was still cut considerably simply because her foot never left the accelerator. A blue Cadillac with a rather interesting wave paint job was speeding up towards the castle, but just as it seemed the car was about to hit the castle, it turned, and screeched to a halt -an obscure parallel park- right in front of it. A door was thrown open, and a blue haired woman stepped out. Pulling off her blue-tinted sunglasses, Stormy left them on the dash of her car but quickly shouldered a large coach purse with a Lapras key chain and an obscure heart key chain on it. Slamming the door shut, she turned and started to walk up towards the castle with a surprisingly giddy expression on her face.

The knock on the front door led to a bulter issuing her inside rather quickly and leading the way to where Nik had been last seen. Upon coming to the door, the blue haired woman stopped a moment and raised a hand to knock on the door first before twisting the handle and stepping inside. "Nik~" she called lightly stepping in shortly after that. "I missed you too~!" she smiled walking further inside.

[Admiral Striker General]

Nik.. had actually fallen asleep lounged in his chair, even while holding a stack of papers. Upon hearing the knock, however, his eyes fluttered open, and he managed to straighten up slightly and make it look as though he was actively reading when she came in.

Once she did, though, he didn't waste much time. The papers were quickly tossed aside, and he moved across the room in a few swift strides to cling tightly to her, burying his face against her shoulder.

So alone.

He'd been so alone.

Even if she was.. horrible.. Even if she was a pain and possibly the bane of his entire future if she didn't mellow out as she got older but.... She.... was his. And right now, that just... dammit this would be so much easier if he could just cry. Why was his body being too apathetic to cooperated dammit.

[Jay]

Thump. Thump. Thump.... Thump?

Stormy didn't have much time to react as she suddenly found herself being clung to. He... Before she realized it, Stormy found surprising shock tears rushing up, and it took everything in her to fend them off. Why the hell did she suddenly feel the need to cry, damn it? Nikolai was hugging her. He was clinging to her. It was great! But then... why did she suddenly feel... so bad? Empathy was possibly the answer, but Stormy wasn't really one to be known for it. Joy then, maybe? But it was too sorrowful to be joyous.

Wrapping her arms around him, Stormy hugged him tightly though allowing one hand to rub his back lightly. "Nikkihun, what's wrong?" Stormy asked but made no move to let go of him. "I'm here right now, Nik~" she tried again but ended up falling short unsure if her words were even having any sort of affect. She was trying to be comforting, damn it.

[Admiral Striker General]

Nikolai just stood there for a little bit, unable to find words or the energy to do anything. Finally, he sighed, "I just... wannu hold you..." And for once, in this brief moment, it was true. The warmth of her body was comforting, as was the knowledge that... She was a person, and she was here, and it was because she wanted to be there for him. She really didn't know him.. not fully. And she kind of deluded herself by filling in the gaps. But she still... cared about him, actually wanted to be here with him and no one else and for no other reason.

But... he was getting tired of standing. That took some minimal amount of effort, and effort was something Nik didn't feel like at all today. "Hey..." he started weakly. "Let's go ta my room.." That... would be better... Yeah...

[Jay]

Goddammit. Stormy was all but tearing up at Nik's words, and her heart wouldn't stop racing. He just wanted her to be there and and and SQUEE. The little girl in her was a bit too happy despite the fact that she was still aware something was wrong. She just- yes she cared about that but... pft, this was her mind, and she wasn't going to judge herself anymore! She'd just enjoy this for what it was~

Nik's next words suddenly drove a heated blush up onto Stormy's face, and out of nerves and habit, she punched him in the arm- though less forcefully than usual. "Pft, you better not try anythin'," she teased a little but offered a more gentle smile than usual. She was ... just so giddy, teheheeh~

....

Even if he wasn't working at the moment. He was spending time with her. Yes... that was alright, for now.

[Admiral Striker General]

Nik only barely flinched, or reacted at all really beyond a slightly annoyed expression, when Stormy punched him. As she gave her reasoning, some bitter little part of him sneered that he could try whatever he damn well pleased; part of their whole arrangement here was that she was obligated to oblige. This was mostly just his sour mood talking, though, and after a few seconds caught between a leer and near-snarl, he finally sighed before letting his face fall flatter.

"No... Really.. I'm not even in the mood." At some odd half-thought that he might change his mind depending how the day went, or perhaps even just because it would be so convenient, he mumbled, "Maybe later, Idonno..." A smaller sigh, and he took both her hands in his, pressing his forehead to hers. He didn't look at her, though, but rather at the ground. "I really... really jest wannu cuddle..." Slowly, he began to pull away... and then thought better to further appease her, leaning back in to kiss her forehead instead. Only then did he release one hand and turn, and still holding the other began to head toward his room.

[Jay]

Nik's reply caused Stormy's face to falter a little, and the flat line that came to her lips stayed there even as he did take her hands and put his forehead to hers. The sudden kiss on the forehead caused a soft blush and a softer smile, and that giddiness came back again as quickly as it had diminished. With quick ease, she walked with him down the hallway and to the room.

As they came into the room, Stormy looked around it habitually before stepping forwards and sitting down on the edge of the bed, presumably pulling Nik with her. "You've... been working hard, hu?" Stormy asked offering a cheesy smile as she mentally strove to kick her confidence and such back up the ladder. Of course he'd been working hard! He was the new Duke after all, and he was her Nikkibear~ She knew he could do it (even if maybe he didn't want to).

After a moment, she leaned her head on his shoulder and just sighed. This - just this- was pretty nice... very nice....

[Admiral Striker General]

Nik sighed at the question, but after a brief pause answered, "Yeah.." As if he could tell her if he hadn't. Really, though, he... never bargained for any of this. He'd been so excited to get this position, and part of him retained that feeling now, but... It was so much work, and so much stress. Power was supposed to come with responsibility and/or corruption; no one ever mentioned all the stress.

Wrapping the arm Stormy was leaning on around her, he fell back onto the bed, pulling her with him. He shifted then to push them both more toward the headboard so as to hang off less, then rolled to face her and put his other arm around her and bury his face in her soft blue hair. He always hated the smell of her shampoo, but he was certainly never about to say anything, and today he didn't really care; but my it did make her hair so very soft.

This... was so nice... It was all he wanted to do for the rest of the day. Just ignore the world and lie here-- no pun intended-- with his interactive security blanket. He could just savor this for hours if he didn't drift o--

........ Shit.

It occurred to him then that if he fell asleep while holding her, she was most likely going to think he was 'bored' with her or something and throw a fit-- sad or violent yet to be determined, but either was pretty horribad. He huffed a sigh of conceit without realizing he'd done so, and decided he needed to stay awake then. Well, he could think of worse things to do than talking. "So.. how's everything out West..?" he tiredly asked.

[Jay]

Though she would never admit it, the pull back caused Stormy's stomach muscles to twitch, and she nearly resisted, but the motion passed quick enough. Upon settling on the bed, Stormy found her heart pounding in her ears, yet all the while she couldn't help but feeling that giddy sensation. He wanted to spend time with her. He wanted to cuddle with her, and....EP That tickled. For a moment Stormy squirmed a little, and she fought back a bit of a laugh before quickly settling again.

But...why did he suddenly decide... The question made a rush of suddenly very irritated feelings rush through. He better not be trying anything! What this 'thing' was, Stormy had no idea, but the sudden thought was quickly swept away by something else which only caused her to frown more. What did he do that he's trying to cover up for?......And suddenly Stormy realized she was being a pretty skeptical fiance and had to fight off the urge to groan. It wasn't that she didn't think--er...ok... maybe... she... wasn't sure if she could trust him but-- Oh that wasn't it either!

About this time, the question cut into Stormy's thoughts, and she blinked a little before sighing -both from the question and from her previous thoughts. "Mom's upset. Dad's working, and Sunny's...being Sunny," she mumbled a little. "Ah.. somethin' about Rain tryin' to be Duke's been going around too...." She forced a laugh, but it faltered, and she ended up frowning again. "Mom says it's just a rumor but yeah.."

[Admiral Striker General]

Nik just sort of blinked at the final response. "...Huh." Some part of him was aware he should have a stronger reaction to that, though he wasn't entirely sure what that was. Perhaps he would have tried to rile her by playing on her distaste for her cousin.. Or perhaps he should have been upset himself... or glad? Would the raise in rank of her extended family do anything to improve his own status when(/if) they were married? Nikolai could neither remember right now nor be bothered to think on it. For the moment, all he really knew was that this was news of some notable interest... which, in his current state, still said quite a bit.

All the same, it was followed by a little sigh a short time later. He had to think of something... mmm....

.....

Nope.

The young man was drawing a blank, and could hardly muster even the fear to force him to care. Glancing around briefly, he was saved by the sight of his tv. "...Wanna see if there's a good movie on? ...or something..?"

[Jay]

The lack of reaction (or actual strong tone, really) from Nikolai was enough to cause Stormy's eyes to narrow a little, and a frown was setting itself rather quickly on her features. He should have said more than that! It was news right? Ok so maybe she hadn't said it with enough enthusiasm for him to get that, but that just meant that he was possibly ignoring her words, right? It was somehow confirmed as Nik changed the conversation, and Stormy sighed before starting to sit up abet reluctantly but with enough conviction to actually sit all the way up and away from Nik.

"No. I don't feel like it," she said bluntly and with a natural harshness in her tone meant to signify that something had irritated her. Leave it to Stormy not to explain what was actually bothering her though. Sure she could kick his ass about doing work and acting as Duke, and sure she could yell at him for not paying enough attention to her, but when both were fulfilled and other problems alone were brought up, she got that way.

[Admiral Striker General]

When Stormy pulled away, Nik's arms were just sort of pulled out to full extension before she shed them and lay there limp. The sheer distance and lack of will to move his hands so far was all that kept him from facepalming; his head still went through the motion though. Fuck I messed up... He sighed. Attempting to force a smile and 'loving' tone, he looked up to her and asked, "Hey, what's wrong?"

[Jay]

Stormy's mouth remained a perpetual line even as the question was asked, and she actually had to stop and figure out how to word what she wanted to say. She had wanted him to give some input, but as the seconds ticked by, she just decided to go with her frist impulse statement.

"Guess I dunno how to feel about Rain," she replied groaning a little in disbelief that this had somehow started out at Nik but then come back to her. "It just pisses me off that..." Ugh where was she going with that? Stormy didn't even know, but that internal irritation at the boy apparently getting everything he wanted and then throwing it out the window for some stupid reason that Stormy never got the exact details about.... and then he comes back for something higher than her- not that she wouldn't be a Duchess someday, of course, but it felt... It felt like he was trying to achieve it before her, that prick.

"It's nothing," she finally decided before flopping backwards on the bed again, apparently unable to put to words the frustration that was slowly building. Damn it, this was supposed to be her cuddle time. This was supposed to be her Nikki time. Why did she even bring up Rain in the first place. Pft, she'd ... she'd just ignore it or something, yeah.

[Admiral Striker General]

Nik just... stared. ...Wait for it? Waiting... Waiting... Wait...?

Nope.

No, he decided it wasn't even worth trying to understand the girl, and waiting for it to suddenly click didn't seem to be doing any good either. "...Ah," he breathed, though he didn't actually get anything more than he had. She didn't know how she felt about Rain, but he was supposed to...?

Sighing, he just wrapped his arms back around her. "So. ...Wanna see if there's a good movie on? ...or something..?"

[Jay]

That irritation flickered in Stormy again, and she ended up leering sideways at him unintentionally. "Maybe A Walk to Remember," she replied meaning a movie of choice. Well, at least she had picked something, or something? The thought that it might not even be on didn't come to her.