paradisalogs | batdrama

Steph fills the walk back with her usual chatter, asking him about his day and telling him about hers. When they get inside the house, she motions to the kitchen.

"There's some leftover salad in there from lunch, if you haven't eaten yet."

No meat, don't worry.

"Thanks." Eyes the living room briefly, wondering if Cass is about. It is entirely possible that she may have been there seconds ago. But as soon as she heard the two of them, she probably took off. While he misses her, he's still not ready to try and make up just yet. He understands her frustration, but he's not thrilled with how she reacted during it. More than that, he's not sure if he has the emotional stamina to deal with another intense argument.

Wanders into the kitchen, helping himself to the left overs.

Things have been looking up, for the most part. Aside from the Cass fiasco, they haven't had any big problems in a few weeks--a record, really. They needed time to recover. Still, Steph knows Tim isn't eager to jump back into the fray of issues.

She'd be gentle about it, if she could be. After all, they were in it together--they had both decided to hold off on telling Cass about her loss.

Steph sits on the couch, wondering if Cass had been there earlier. "C'mere."

Piles some lettuce and various goodies into a bowl before snagging himself a pop out of the fridge. Uses his foot to close the fridge behind him.

Walks into the living room and joins her on the couch. Sets the pop and bowl with silverware down onto the table, allowing him to slide an arm around her shoulder. Steph isn't the only one thinking about how good things have been going between the two of them. Simply being next to her helps shake him free from his solitary mood these days.

"Hi."

"Salad and soda. Gotta balance the healthy with the unhealthy, huh?" She teases. She's been trying her best to make sure Tim doesn't turn into a hermit without intruding on the privacy he needs. It's a balancing act. She's glad for moments like this, when everything is quiet, and there's nothing weighing them down... in regards to their own relationship, at least.

Hopefully Tim won't shut down when she brings up Cass, but she lets the moment last for a little longer.

"Exactly. It's all part of a balanced diet." Tim continues with the small talk, knowing in the back of his mind that a certain subject is going to be brought up. At least the conversation should go better than the various ones they've had about Ezio in the past. Unlike the aggravating assassin, Cass has plenty of redeeming qualities and she is someone he genuinely cares deeply for.

That being said, he's not in the mood to talk about their argument just yet. Pulls a play from Steph's book and attempts to distract her via kisses. Except instead of kissing her on the cheek, he lightly kisses her on the lips.

"If I'm not mistaken, I'd say someone missed me while he was buried in the library."

Steph's a sucker for affection, and so it's fairly easy to distract her--for now. She returns the kiss, happily leaning against Tim.

"You should eat up, though. I'm sure your brain used a lot of energy."

"If I am not mistaken, I'd say you are right."

Tim knows that all too well. Brings a hand to her face, drawing her in for another kiss. This time around, he doesn't pull away from the kiss. Instead he murmurs something along the lines of it "it can wait".

Steph lets that kiss linger, the back of her fingers brushing against Tim's cheek. Oh, man. This sucks. Of course he'd choose to be all cute and mushy right now.

He probably knows. Jerk.

Reluctantly, she pulls back.

"I think something else has waited too long."

She already knows the face he'll make.

"That something else can wait a little while longer." Indeed, Steph. Have your favorite face.

"It's hard to make out with you with an elephant in the room," she says, giving him her best unimpressed look. "And it's hard talking to Cass when just the mention of you gets her all grumpy."

"That's her problem, not mine." Okay, not entirely true, but it bothers Tim that Cass is so angry with him, and yet she can tolerate being in the same room as her. He knows that Cass has always been closer to Steph than him, but it still stings. Drops his hand from her face, finally grabbing his food.

It is unfair, Steph realizes--she and Tim were equally guilty, but Cass quickly got over being angry at Steph with a lot of apologizing and hugging. Tim? Cass would probably break his hand. Sigh.

"You know how stubborn Cass can be," she says, though stubborn can be used to describe all the residents of that house. "We've got to fix this."

"She can come to me if she wants to fix it. I'm tired of being the one always having to feel guilty about not approving something or having a secret, when I know I'm not the only one who does those things." The conversation Steph had with Connor a few weeks ago heavily suggested that something was going on with him that they didn't want other people knowing about. He's sure Cass has her secrets as well. If he ever has problems with what the others do, he's the bad guy. The opposite doesn't seem to be true for Steph and Cass.

Edited 2013-07-11 07:53 (UTC)

Stubborn, right...

"It was you and me. We were doing what we thought was best at the time," she says, trying to be the reasonable one here. "But we ended up hurting her, so she's upset. I don't think she'll ever see what we did as right, but holy crap, Tim. The awkward in this place is going to drive us all nuts."

"I'll handle it when I'm ready to, Steph. Now isn't the time and forcing the issue isn't going to help. Honestly, I'm tired of conflicts we have with other people causing problems in our relationship." Not that this is currently causing a problem, but he doesn't want to get into a long, arduous debate over the topic.

She wasn't intending for this to turn into an argument.

"This isn't going to cause a problem between you and me," she says, offering him a brief smile. Except she'll bash both his head and Cass' head together if they don't stop this crap. "I just don't think it's a good idea to let this go on for too long, and I can't talk to Cass about it. I do know I can talk to you, though."

"I can't talk to her when she's this angry. It will only escalate and become worse." Tim gets why she's upset, but that doesn't make the situation any easier.

Sighs softly, leaning his shoulder against hers.

"I wish things could be peaceful for more than a few days."

Steph lightly bumps his arm with her own. It's a good sign when he's not pulling away from her during a chat like this.

"Hey, we had a few days of very peaceful peace. And if you talked to her, I'd be there. I could try to keep her calm."

Shakes his head.

"I appreciate the offer, but the talk needs to be between Cass and I." Takes a sip of his pop, staring at the can. He's not sure how the conversation will go down. From what he's gathered, Cass had no problem holding back on him when he was out of his mind and needed to be restrained. He's glad that she restrained him, it's just a little upsetting that it apparently came so easily to her.

"It should be all of us." She wasn't exempt.

"How about we talk to her in a couple of days, then?" Tim hopes that's a reasonable compromise. It is in the near future, but it also gives him a couple of days to hammer out what he wants to say. The look he has on his face is a "take it or leave it" look.

"A few days." She knows he's digging his heels into the dirt, but she gives him the courtesy of a kiss on the cheek--like she's compromising, or something. "She'll be more willing to listen with me there, I think."

"I don't think I could stand another heated argument." He'd probably end up leaving the room or letting Steph take over the conversation. Sets his pop down, so he can drape an arm over her, and lean against her again.

"I know," she says, shifting and sitting on her legs to gain a little height before wrapping her arms around his shoulders, hugging him. It was really bad timing--she and Tim had enough arguments between them, he probably didn't need to argue with Cass, either. It wore him down.

"We'll work it out like adults."

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