Gripping Reality (Closed, Lani and I)

August found her, and curled up behind her, being the big spoon to her.

OOC: Now imagine Vanja meeting August's parents *Cringes*

ooc: We could take the thread there :p idk what to do right now with it...

August grew stiff at a knock in his door, and a refined voice rang in. "Sir, your Mother and Father have returned. Would you like for me to inform them you are indisposed?"

Vanja stiffened, looking at him with a level of panic in her eyes. "Is... what?"

August seemed to grow pale, his pupils shrinking to small dots and his brow furrowing. "...Fuck."

Vanja swallowed hard, uncomfortable with this new revelation. "You should... probably go see them.... probably..."

"I can have one of the drivers get you home..." He said softly, reaching over and stroking her cheek. She seemed more afraid than any time she had ever seen him.

"That's your call." She said, her back stiff as she pulled herself out of the nest and worked to make herself look as decent and appropriate as possible.

August cleared his throat. "Tell them...I'll be down in a few minutes." He said, before turning to her. "Do you...want to meet them?"

Her face paled as she froze, looking back at him. Eyes darting between both of his, and then between him and the door, she swallowed hard. "Do you... want me to?"

"Only if you want to..." He said, just ad rigid and pale as her.

"You're horrible at this question." She said, finding her way to a mirror and working her hair into something presentable, elegant, even.

"I'm horrible at a lot of things..." He admitted, moving to his dresser and starting to pull on something presentable.

She moved over to shove him, playfully, before making her way into the bathroom to finish up her hair and correct her makeup into something more normal.

August let out a sigh, looking himself over in the mirror and straightening his coat.

"I'm pretty confident they've seen you at your worst," Vanja said, smirking softly as she looked at him, "Or did you have a nanny change your diapers?"

"Not the point, Van... This is different."

"Is it?" She asked suddenly, finally, unsure of how else to go about the situation.

"I've never brought someone home, before... And I've never introduced someone to my parents who wasn't simply a friend or acquaintance..." He admitted, readjusting his coat a few more times before shedding it, and the vest beneath, until he was in just a button-up with a pair of suspenders over top. "I have...never amounted to much in their eyes... They expected a son who would be like them...normal, like them. They got a Death Weapon..."

Vanja snorted, somewhat amused by this. "Black sheep though some consider us to be, our power and effectiveness can't exactly be argued." Her expression softened as she moved to nuzzle him, "Besides, you try, and that's more than some people could ever say."

He smiled lightly, looking at the pair of them in the mirror. "So...shall we?"

She shrugged lightly, looping her arm through his. The tension in her muscles had done anything but loosen, but putting on a show was in her very nature. As such, a smile was already planned on her face, seeming as natural as ever, despite the consistent screaming in her skull.

"This is going to be hell, isn't it?" He asked, looking at the pair of them in the mirror. An odd couple they made, to be sure.

"Possibly." She said, fixing her fiery red hair as she stared at the same image he saw.

August took a deep breath, doing his best to calm his screaming nerves, before starting to guide her towards the door, seeing how willingly she followed.