A tiny turn out for the Warlord Tournament meant that she would home sooner rather than later. It figured. Weeks of fretting had led to this. As she so often did, she locked it up tightly, put on a good face, and refused to let even KC know just how torn up she was. Before the first clash of blades, she fired off a quick message to her boyfriend, despite knowing the answer already.
Will you be at home when I get done with this tournament?
His answer came in during a trade of blows. She could feel it thrum through the metal of her armor, rattling her concentration to the point she fudged the match entirely. When she finally got a chance to check it, it was but a single word.
Yes.
Charlie Nine had never been a man of many words so there was no reason it should have got to her as bad as it did. Somehow, by the grace of the dueling gods, she made it through the final match with a win. The prize was inconsequential, her victory hollow. She sent a single message back and set off for home.
Okay... I'd like to talk when I get there. I'll be home soon.
Soon was thirty minutes, drawn out by a threefold walk around the block once she made it back to New Haven. It took her by the New Haven Baronial Manor, one time home of Charlie Nine when he had been a Baron himself. And eventually it took her home. She nodded an absent hello to the doorman and headed up to the Chae Fortress of Prostitude by way of the stairs so that she could take her time getting there. Jin stood in front of the front door for a solid five minutes before taking a deep breath, unlocking both locks, and stepping inside.
For Charlie Nine, life was rarely a matter of blissful ignorance. He was shrewd and attentive to his environment, especially when it came to picking up cues that were a matter of personal weakness in others. A lifetime of exploitation and nefarious undertakings had made it come to him as natural as breathing. Still, if the last few years had done anything, they had fitted the strange, terrible man with a pair of blinders where Jin Chae was concerned. In her there was the assurance of acceptance for what he was and the things he was prone to doing, as infrequent as they had become, and it was well understood that the eldest Chae sibling still wanted him despite his many terrible quirks.
In his long earned comfort and certainty of what he thought were immutable facts of existence, it allowed Charlie to ignore certain details.
When Jin messaged back, wanting to talk, the worst that came to mind was another long discussion about something as innocuous (and irritating) as getting a dog or cat. The talk had taken place many times in their long relationship and often he won on the mere notion that he wouldn't be responsible for any sudden disappearances the pet. Then he would smooth it over with food and Disney movies and life would go on. It was what left him sitting silently on the floor of their living room when she arrived, carefully folding a sheet of colored paper in his hands.
A press of her hip shut the door in her wake, fingers flipping locks out of reflexive habit more than anything. You'd have to be stupid to try and break in to a place like that. But old habits died hard and soon the apartment was locked up tight. She shrugged out of her armor backpack and eased it to the floor beside the door. It could be put away properly later. A quick scan of the room found him on the floor with paper. In spite of her anxiety, she smiled and headed first for the kitchen to grab a pair of drinks (soda for her, Vitamin Water for him) before returning to the living room. A moment of indecision found her shifting her weight from left foot to right before deciding to sit on the very edge of the couch nearest him. "Hi... I won..."
"Unsurprising," he told her with a small, private smile, before turning dark eyes over one shoulder at her. "You are Best Chae, after all." Jin chose the couch, but Charlie changed the decision for her upon reaching out with a hand, palm up. It was an invitation to join him on the floor where, for the moment, he was more than comfortable.
"Only two people entered," she admitted sheepishly, her smile pulling crooked. No sooner had her butt met the couch cushion did he offer her his hand. So with a slight adjustment, she shifted both bottles into the crook of her left arm and took his hand with her right. With that, she eased down to the floor and sat cross legged. The Vitamin Water was offered out. "I took the Barony Challenge grant."
For the span of a long few moments, Charlie's origami was forgotten and he gathered her hands in his, giving her the full weight of his attention. His expression was laced with a subtle but deeply abiding affection, perhaps even an obsession, his chin dipping in a not for her choice. "And who will you challenge?"
"I figured I've already been Overlord and I like Terry." She gave him a little shrug, spelling out her rational when it was wholly unnecessary. Tugging her soda into her lap, she cracked the cap off but didn't drink just yet, instead holding it in front of her with both hands. Her teeth nipped at her bottom lip as she considered his question. "I'd like to try to New Haven, I think. It was nice there."
"You just want to play with your brother's child in the pool." Charlie pointed it out with a flat look. "And make silly noises at the thing." Even if it wasn't the most flattering of points to make, given the wording, Charlie was still scooting closer to the pretty Korean woman, seeking out the closer proximity. He was tepid with most others on his best days, but she was another matter entirely.
"Yeah but I'd like to play with you in the pool too." She lifted a coy look veiled by dark lashes. The rich brown of her eyes, despite having lost her opal over two months prior, were still scored by slivers of blue in a strange striping that seemed only apparent in certain lighting. This wasn't that sort of lighting. Her gaze fell down into her lap a moment later, fixating on her bottle as she twisted her hands around the label. "Ling Ling's not so bad... is she?"
"Then let's go find one." It was a not-so-subtle challenge to her little teasing quip, provoking a smile that died on the vine some moments later when she mentioned Ling Ling in the form of a question. Charlie's mouth thinned out into a neutral line but there was the ever present pensiveness to his dark eyes when she she looked away. "She's tolerable. Most times. Out of arm's reach."
"It'd have to be an indoor one. It's cold as balls out there." She offered out without looking up. The walk back had been brisk. IceDancer was missed to say the least. She was still re-learning how to function without the blue rock's presence in her life anymore and the cold was a strong reminder of its absence. The little Korean went quiet for a few long moments, nodding softly in response to his answer. "But she's family, just like Morgan or Nan are. Sometimes... sometimes we don't always get a say in who ends up our family, right?"
"And I have nothing to warm us up," came the reply, a touch wistful for the long since lost comfort that FireStar afforded. He fell silent in the wake of the reminder watching her hands and listening with a slightly canted head. "She's your relation. And Grace's." It was as good as an excuse as he could make for his tolerance of the child, alien as she was to Charlie. At the very least, the connection was an affirmation of his commitment to their life and, by extension, them. "I still think Kenny might be worth selling."
"So maybe we'll save it for when I kick Old Man Simon out of New Haven then." A whole lot of false bravado if ever there was any. Finally she took the cap off her bottle and brought the soda to her lips for a long drink, hoping it might just relieve her dry mouth. No such luck. She listened and actually looked at him as he spoke, her expression overtly flat thanks to her very best efforts at concealing the subtle twist of her stomach that came with his answer. "I think I want to keep KC around... he's, um... yeah. Important. Like Grace and like you are to me... you know that right, how much you mean to me?"
"There's always the shower." Coy but casual. A small smile had begun to form for the response about her brother but it stalled for the look on her face, then the confusion over what it represented. Charlie's expression sobered and his head tilted farther to the side. "You are very important to me too. Nothing else in this existence compares."
Talk of the shower and the pool fell to the wayside as she began to dip her toes into waters far more precarious. Picking at a loose bit on her bottle's label, Jin narrowly resisted the urge to rip it free and instead focused on slowing her breathing. "Okay... so... please keep that in mind. So, you know how I've been pretty focused on the studio? Haven't really had any time to do more than just paperwork for Madame Lemercier..."
"Okay." Dark brows began to knit together in confusion but he sat their quietly and allowed her to lead the conversation before it seemed there was an even chance that her question and the comment that followed were just rhetoric. "We have been more than financially stable, so it's perfectly logical that you wouldn't need to do that anymore..."
"We have been." She agreed with a little nod and forced herself to still her hands. Perhaps it would help still her mind. It was a bit of a long shot but she wasn't the sort to dance around a point and this was all sorts of waltzing ungracefully. After a handful of moments to try and quiet her mind, she took a deep breath and exhaled with a handful of words that came out at the same time. "Charlie, I'm pregnant."
"But you just said that you haven't been taking clients." He stared at her, unblinking. It left his mouth as a hard statement of fact. Quietly adamant,.
"I haven't been." She nodded again, then quickly added. "Nor have I been seeing anyone else. But I've taken two dozen home tests and done both pee and blood tests with two different doctors. They all say I'm about eleven weeks, give or take."
"It's not possible." He told her, leaning back. "It was ensured." Placid of feature, Charlie fixed chin with a dead stare. "All Charlies are sterile."
"I don't have an explanation for it. But you're the only one I've been with in that way for more than nine months now." She said softly, quietly insistent in her own way. It wasn't supposed to be possible but there weren't very many other possibilities save for immaculate conception. "But... regardless of how it happened... I intend to keep it. I... I don't expect you to force yourself to be involved... even if somehow it's yours. I just...," her voice shook so she took a moment to breathe before continuing. "You don't have to do this. But I'm going to try to."
Charlie just... stared.
And then he stared some more.
The seconds grew and stretched, becoming minutes of awkward, palpable silence, so thick with tension. And then, for just a few terrible moments, it seemed as though Charlie might do something truly terrible, visiting the unspeakable upon Jin, the woman whom he had once professed to love. It churned in his veins, each monstrous notion, and he could have rendered it a non-issue with a very swift, precise application of violence. He had done so many times before. He could do so then. Years of intense training and immutable expectation demanded no less.
But in the end, he stared. Just stared.
It was only when he was finally done staring and the threat from within had passed, that Charlie Nine slowly rose to his feet and left her sitting there on the carpet, trampling the incomplete origami creation beneath his feet as he left the room. Scant moments later, the door to the apartment was closed behind him and she was left alone.
Will you be at home when I get done with this tournament?
His answer came in during a trade of blows. She could feel it thrum through the metal of her armor, rattling her concentration to the point she fudged the match entirely. When she finally got a chance to check it, it was but a single word.
Yes.
Charlie Nine had never been a man of many words so there was no reason it should have got to her as bad as it did. Somehow, by the grace of the dueling gods, she made it through the final match with a win. The prize was inconsequential, her victory hollow. She sent a single message back and set off for home.
Okay... I'd like to talk when I get there. I'll be home soon.
Soon was thirty minutes, drawn out by a threefold walk around the block once she made it back to New Haven. It took her by the New Haven Baronial Manor, one time home of Charlie Nine when he had been a Baron himself. And eventually it took her home. She nodded an absent hello to the doorman and headed up to the Chae Fortress of Prostitude by way of the stairs so that she could take her time getting there. Jin stood in front of the front door for a solid five minutes before taking a deep breath, unlocking both locks, and stepping inside.
For Charlie Nine, life was rarely a matter of blissful ignorance. He was shrewd and attentive to his environment, especially when it came to picking up cues that were a matter of personal weakness in others. A lifetime of exploitation and nefarious undertakings had made it come to him as natural as breathing. Still, if the last few years had done anything, they had fitted the strange, terrible man with a pair of blinders where Jin Chae was concerned. In her there was the assurance of acceptance for what he was and the things he was prone to doing, as infrequent as they had become, and it was well understood that the eldest Chae sibling still wanted him despite his many terrible quirks.
In his long earned comfort and certainty of what he thought were immutable facts of existence, it allowed Charlie to ignore certain details.
When Jin messaged back, wanting to talk, the worst that came to mind was another long discussion about something as innocuous (and irritating) as getting a dog or cat. The talk had taken place many times in their long relationship and often he won on the mere notion that he wouldn't be responsible for any sudden disappearances the pet. Then he would smooth it over with food and Disney movies and life would go on. It was what left him sitting silently on the floor of their living room when she arrived, carefully folding a sheet of colored paper in his hands.
A press of her hip shut the door in her wake, fingers flipping locks out of reflexive habit more than anything. You'd have to be stupid to try and break in to a place like that. But old habits died hard and soon the apartment was locked up tight. She shrugged out of her armor backpack and eased it to the floor beside the door. It could be put away properly later. A quick scan of the room found him on the floor with paper. In spite of her anxiety, she smiled and headed first for the kitchen to grab a pair of drinks (soda for her, Vitamin Water for him) before returning to the living room. A moment of indecision found her shifting her weight from left foot to right before deciding to sit on the very edge of the couch nearest him. "Hi... I won..."
"Unsurprising," he told her with a small, private smile, before turning dark eyes over one shoulder at her. "You are Best Chae, after all." Jin chose the couch, but Charlie changed the decision for her upon reaching out with a hand, palm up. It was an invitation to join him on the floor where, for the moment, he was more than comfortable.
"Only two people entered," she admitted sheepishly, her smile pulling crooked. No sooner had her butt met the couch cushion did he offer her his hand. So with a slight adjustment, she shifted both bottles into the crook of her left arm and took his hand with her right. With that, she eased down to the floor and sat cross legged. The Vitamin Water was offered out. "I took the Barony Challenge grant."
For the span of a long few moments, Charlie's origami was forgotten and he gathered her hands in his, giving her the full weight of his attention. His expression was laced with a subtle but deeply abiding affection, perhaps even an obsession, his chin dipping in a not for her choice. "And who will you challenge?"
"I figured I've already been Overlord and I like Terry." She gave him a little shrug, spelling out her rational when it was wholly unnecessary. Tugging her soda into her lap, she cracked the cap off but didn't drink just yet, instead holding it in front of her with both hands. Her teeth nipped at her bottom lip as she considered his question. "I'd like to try to New Haven, I think. It was nice there."
"You just want to play with your brother's child in the pool." Charlie pointed it out with a flat look. "And make silly noises at the thing." Even if it wasn't the most flattering of points to make, given the wording, Charlie was still scooting closer to the pretty Korean woman, seeking out the closer proximity. He was tepid with most others on his best days, but she was another matter entirely.
"Yeah but I'd like to play with you in the pool too." She lifted a coy look veiled by dark lashes. The rich brown of her eyes, despite having lost her opal over two months prior, were still scored by slivers of blue in a strange striping that seemed only apparent in certain lighting. This wasn't that sort of lighting. Her gaze fell down into her lap a moment later, fixating on her bottle as she twisted her hands around the label. "Ling Ling's not so bad... is she?"
"Then let's go find one." It was a not-so-subtle challenge to her little teasing quip, provoking a smile that died on the vine some moments later when she mentioned Ling Ling in the form of a question. Charlie's mouth thinned out into a neutral line but there was the ever present pensiveness to his dark eyes when she she looked away. "She's tolerable. Most times. Out of arm's reach."
"It'd have to be an indoor one. It's cold as balls out there." She offered out without looking up. The walk back had been brisk. IceDancer was missed to say the least. She was still re-learning how to function without the blue rock's presence in her life anymore and the cold was a strong reminder of its absence. The little Korean went quiet for a few long moments, nodding softly in response to his answer. "But she's family, just like Morgan or Nan are. Sometimes... sometimes we don't always get a say in who ends up our family, right?"
"And I have nothing to warm us up," came the reply, a touch wistful for the long since lost comfort that FireStar afforded. He fell silent in the wake of the reminder watching her hands and listening with a slightly canted head. "She's your relation. And Grace's." It was as good as an excuse as he could make for his tolerance of the child, alien as she was to Charlie. At the very least, the connection was an affirmation of his commitment to their life and, by extension, them. "I still think Kenny might be worth selling."
"So maybe we'll save it for when I kick Old Man Simon out of New Haven then." A whole lot of false bravado if ever there was any. Finally she took the cap off her bottle and brought the soda to her lips for a long drink, hoping it might just relieve her dry mouth. No such luck. She listened and actually looked at him as he spoke, her expression overtly flat thanks to her very best efforts at concealing the subtle twist of her stomach that came with his answer. "I think I want to keep KC around... he's, um... yeah. Important. Like Grace and like you are to me... you know that right, how much you mean to me?"
"There's always the shower." Coy but casual. A small smile had begun to form for the response about her brother but it stalled for the look on her face, then the confusion over what it represented. Charlie's expression sobered and his head tilted farther to the side. "You are very important to me too. Nothing else in this existence compares."
Talk of the shower and the pool fell to the wayside as she began to dip her toes into waters far more precarious. Picking at a loose bit on her bottle's label, Jin narrowly resisted the urge to rip it free and instead focused on slowing her breathing. "Okay... so... please keep that in mind. So, you know how I've been pretty focused on the studio? Haven't really had any time to do more than just paperwork for Madame Lemercier..."
"Okay." Dark brows began to knit together in confusion but he sat their quietly and allowed her to lead the conversation before it seemed there was an even chance that her question and the comment that followed were just rhetoric. "We have been more than financially stable, so it's perfectly logical that you wouldn't need to do that anymore..."
"We have been." She agreed with a little nod and forced herself to still her hands. Perhaps it would help still her mind. It was a bit of a long shot but she wasn't the sort to dance around a point and this was all sorts of waltzing ungracefully. After a handful of moments to try and quiet her mind, she took a deep breath and exhaled with a handful of words that came out at the same time. "Charlie, I'm pregnant."
"But you just said that you haven't been taking clients." He stared at her, unblinking. It left his mouth as a hard statement of fact. Quietly adamant,.
"I haven't been." She nodded again, then quickly added. "Nor have I been seeing anyone else. But I've taken two dozen home tests and done both pee and blood tests with two different doctors. They all say I'm about eleven weeks, give or take."
"It's not possible." He told her, leaning back. "It was ensured." Placid of feature, Charlie fixed chin with a dead stare. "All Charlies are sterile."
"I don't have an explanation for it. But you're the only one I've been with in that way for more than nine months now." She said softly, quietly insistent in her own way. It wasn't supposed to be possible but there weren't very many other possibilities save for immaculate conception. "But... regardless of how it happened... I intend to keep it. I... I don't expect you to force yourself to be involved... even if somehow it's yours. I just...," her voice shook so she took a moment to breathe before continuing. "You don't have to do this. But I'm going to try to."
Charlie just... stared.
And then he stared some more.
The seconds grew and stretched, becoming minutes of awkward, palpable silence, so thick with tension. And then, for just a few terrible moments, it seemed as though Charlie might do something truly terrible, visiting the unspeakable upon Jin, the woman whom he had once professed to love. It churned in his veins, each monstrous notion, and he could have rendered it a non-issue with a very swift, precise application of violence. He had done so many times before. He could do so then. Years of intense training and immutable expectation demanded no less.
But in the end, he stared. Just stared.
It was only when he was finally done staring and the threat from within had passed, that Charlie Nine slowly rose to his feet and left her sitting there on the carpet, trampling the incomplete origami creation beneath his feet as he left the room. Scant moments later, the door to the apartment was closed behind him and she was left alone.