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Agent Twilight, currently known as Loid Forger, was a very observant man.
He always had been, it had helped him when he was in the Westalis army when he was a teenager, and when he started at WISE over a decade ago, his trainers helped him hone that pertinent skill even more. It was practically a weapon that he could utilize to his never-ending advantage as a spy for the sake of world peace.
But when it came to his “wife”, well… certain things she did could slip past his fine-tuned radar.
Yor Forger was a stealthy woman.
He’d never forget how she had slipped past his senses the day they first met in her favorite tailor shop.
They had been living together as husband and wife for months now, Loid would even go so far as to say that he was used to having her around him. She brought a genuine warmth to the Forger household that he never imagined could be possible when he was assigned to Operation Strix. Yor always had a smile on her face and was more than willing to do anything for him, Anya, or Bond at the drop of a hat no matter what.
There was only one time that Yor had really seemed off, and that was the night before Loid took her out on their date. The morning of it, during most of it, and the morning after it Yor had been in a terrible mood. He still didn’t fully understand what had happened there… But she had still told him that she enjoyed herself, which he was glad of.
That was the only time she hadn’t been her usual cheerful self.
But tonight, as Loid sat in his usual chair and Yor sat on the couch in the living room after dinner, he noticed something for the first time ever over these past months: the way Yor’s hand would gently rub over her lower abdomen every now and then—just a subtle brush of her fingers. A wince would mar her face for a split second before she went right back to a beaming smile towards where Anya sat in her little chair at the coffee table drawing to her heart’s content.
And as Loid finally noticed her subtle movement tonight, he realized, for the first time, exactly what time of the month it must be for Yor. He knew she had to have been on her menstrual cycle at times over their months together, but she’d never shown any outward symptoms that he could see, and he’d never invade her privacy and inquire about it. Absolutely not.
She was so very stealthy, and the fact that he was able to notice this month meant that she must be more comfortable around him now—which was a good thing—but it also meant that she must be in pain and that gave Loid pause.
He didn’t want her to be in pain.
Observing her now, it certainly didn’t seem to affect her much, though. She never faltered around them. She had still smiled at him and Anya and Bond this morning as she did each day. She would happily play with them, happily run errands, happily do anything and everything each and every day.
So stealthy.
So impressive.
Loid had only ever lived with one other woman in his entire life—and that was his mother. He had, of course, been too young to notice anything then. This was new territory for him, but he knew some classic supposed remedies that could help Yor.
He gave her a sympathetic look that she didn’t see before folding the newspaper he was perusing and setting it on the arm of his chair. “Hey, Bond,” he called suddenly. The gentle giant’s head perked up at his name being called. “How about we go for a quick walk.”
Bond stood and stretched before he obediently walked over to Loid who stood up from his chair.
“I’ll stay here with Mama, Papa,” Anya told him with a big grin. “I wanna finish coloring this picture before cartoons!”
Well, that’d certainly save him some time running this quick errand.
“Be careful, Loid,” Yor told him with a warm smile, her scarlet eyes sparkling up at him.
“I will be,” he assured her with a small grin of his own. “We won’t be long.”
“Bye Papa!” Anya gave him an enthusiastic wave with the hand that wasn’t holding a crayon.
Loid placed an affectionate hand on the top of Anya’s pink head with a chuckle and walked with Bond to stand before the front door to shoulder on his jacket and place his hat on his head before clipping Bond’s leash to his bowtie collar.
As they headed out the door and down the steps together Loid told Bond, “This will just be a quick trip, Bond. I want to go to that drug store a few blocks away from us.”
Almost as if he could understand him, Bond barked which made Loid chuckle quietly to himself.
They kept a quick, steady pace as they walked the few blocks and arrived in front of a corner drug store in just under ten minutes. Loid tied Bond’s leash to a lamppost outside. “Wait here, boy. I won’t be long.” He got a bark in return.
Loid entered the small drug store, a chipper bell tinkling above his head as the door closed behind him. He was greeted by a cheerful teenaged cashier who gave him a beaming smile as he made his way to the section he needed.
He bypassed the sanitary products themselves—he knew Yor would have those already—and went straight to pain medicines. He looked them all over picking up bottle after bottle to read each label and take in the different benefits of them all before finally deciding on a large bottle of aspirin. Simple but effective. That should help with her abdominal cramp pains and anything else that might ail her during this week.
Happy with his choice of medicine, Loid started to make his way back to the checkout counter. He passed through the other aisles quickly when a table full of golden boxes caught his eye.
Chocolates from the local candy store.
Something sweet might help Yor out too.
Each gold box was wrapped up with a bright red bow that reminded him of Yor’s favorite sweater.
Loid picked up one of the bigger boxes of chocolates and stepped up to the checkout counter with the enthusiastic cashier. Her nametag said Laura and she blushed when she made eye contact with him. Loid wasn’t sure what that was about. After he paid, he accepted the brown paper bag full of medicine and sweets from the still-blushing cashier, gave her a nod in thanks, and headed out the door to untie Bond’s leash from the lamppost.
He patted him once on the head as he pointed them the way home. “All right, Bond. I got what I wanted. Let’s go home.”
Bond barked once and kept pace beside Loid the whole way home, sniffing the bag as they went. “Oh no, Bond. You can’t have what’s in here, it’s dangerous for you.” On the way up the stairs to the Forger family’s apartment Loid breathed aloud to himself, “Hopefully these will help Yor feel a little better.”
He opened the front door to find Anya glued to the TV watching cartoons and Yor at the kitchen sink washing their dishes from dinner. Loid unclipped Bond’s leash and he bounded over to join Anya at the TV. Anya’s eyes never drifted away from the screen.
Loid removed his coat and hat, placing them both back on the coatrack before gripping the paper bag tighter in his hand. He found himself nervous to give it to Yor for some reason. He hoped it made her happy.
“Welcome home, Loid,” Yor greeted him with a smile, drying her hands on a clean dish towel.
“Thank you, Yor,” he told her as he stepped into the kitchen closer to where she stood.
“Did you have a nice walk?” She asked, her head tilting in an endearing way as she did so.
“Yes, we did. It’s a nice evening.” They fell into a comfortable silence for a moment before Loid suggested, “Why don’t I finish those, Yor. You should sit and relax.”
Before Yor could retort, Loid presented the bag to her. “I took Bond on the walk to get this for you.”
Her eyebrows raised in surprise, and she reached out to gently take the bag out of his hand. She looked into it, eying the bottle of pain pills and the box of chocolates.
“Oh, Loid…” she trailed off, her mouth dropping open. She met his eyes again and he noticed tears welling in them.
////
Yor felt the tears burn her eyes but couldn’t help it. Loid’s gesture was one of the sweetest things anyone had ever done for her.
She had been struggling with her period this month, hadn’t been able to keep her symptoms as hidden as she usually would. Not that she felt the need to hide anything, she was positive Loid would understand. He was a complete gentleman and he had been married before, but Yor was so used to hiding her pain so neither Yuri nor anyone else could ever tell.
She never wanted to worry anyone.
She’s so relaxed living here though. She has felt so comfortable living here as Mrs. Forger, so comfortable around Loid and Anya and Bond, she found herself letting her guard down and never felt any fear in doing so.
Knowing that Loid noticed her discomfort this month and went out of his way to get something for her to make her feel better was overwhelmingly sweet.
This man I married is… simply amazing.
////
A moment of panic hit Loid at the sight of Yor’s tears. This was why he had been nervous. I never wanted to make her cry! He raised his hands in a pacifying gesture, “Oh no. Yor, I didn’t mean—”
A light pink blush spread across her cheeks, and she shook her head, halting his words. She sniffled once before dabbing her eyes with her sweater sleeve. “This…” She let out a shaky breath and gave him a watery smile. “This is so sweet of you, Loid. Thank you so much.”
Loid relaxed at her words. Thank goodness. I’d never want to upset her. “I thought these might help you this week. At least, I hope they will. Especially the medicine. I couldn’t help but notice where you moved your hand earlier tonight while you were on the couch and put two and two together. I don’t like seeing you in pain, Yor.”
Yor’s blush deepened, and she surprised him by reaching out to cup one of his cheeks with her lithe hand. Loid’s eyes closed at the contact. Her touch was soft and comforting. “Thank you, Loid,” she said again in an awed tone. “You’re such an incredible husband.”
Her words made Twilight’s heart skip a beat.
He opened his eyes, his azure met her crimson, and his mouth grew wide in a genuine, happy smile. He found himself nuzzling into her hand, his lips a mere hairsbreadth away from her palm, before suggesting, “Why don’t you go take a pill and relax on the couch and”— a thought occurred to him— “maybe hide the chocolates from Anya.”
Yor giggled at his advice and rubbed her thumb back and forth over his cheekbone before stepping away from him to get a glass out of a cabinet to fill with water before entering the living room.
Loid watched from the kitchen as Yor took a seat on the couch and curled her legs under herself to get comfortable. She opened the pill bottle and popped two into her mouth and swallowed them down with a healthy gulp of her water. The brown paper bag, still containing the box of chocolates, was hidden behind her knees so Anya wouldn’t see it, but their daughter was too engrossed in her spy cartoon to notice anyway.
Anya would be in bed soon, then Yor would be able to indulge in the treats in peace. Although, knowing her, he wouldn’t be surprised if she shared a few with Anya tomorrow evening.
A soft smile spread over Loid’s face as he rolled up his sweater sleeves to continue the dishes still soaking in the sink.
She called me an incredible husband…
There was no reminder that this was all for show, she didn’t include the word “fake” anywhere.
Just… husband.
That gentle smile on Loid’s face grew wider, his eyes crinkling at the corners in delight.
He didn’t mind the omission at all.