nextgenerationmarvel | Breaking Up Is Hard To Do...

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Breaking Up Is Hard To Do...

It had been a few weeks since Roxie Danvers had been home. After the whole being-kidnapped-by-the-Kree thing (which Roxie was referring to as the Kreenapping debacle), Roxie had just stopped by to grab some clothes, and then she’d promptly taken off to her father’s private island - Areopagus - off of the coast of Greece. She’d needed a break - to take some time off away from everyone and everything, and think some things over. But she knew that she would have to come home soon enough, because there was only so much time that she could take off from school, and only so much she could do to avoid her duties at Young Woman magazine.

Now, she floated above her apartment, dressed in a flowing, Grecian-style gown in a dark, midnight blue. The colour played up the tan that she’d gotten in Greece, and complimented the new, dark chestnut shade of her hair nicely. A warm, golden glow surrounded her - warmth from her photonic energy. She'd forgotten that it was January and that it was, well, cold.

She crossed her arms across her chest, a frown tugging down the corners of her full, glossy mouth. There were certain decisions that she had come to while in Greece - decisions that she had kept her up at night, coupled with the nightmares reminding her that the Kree had wanted her to be their new brood mare. These were decisions that had not come to her easily, but decisions that needed to be made. She needed to make these changes, as much as she perhaps didn’t want to.

Hefting her shiny new war mace from one shoulder to the other, Roxie took a deep breath, and then descended down towards the sunroof that would let her into her apartment.

This wasn’t going to be easy.

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Vincent, for his part, had hardly left Roxanne's side since her rescue. School, work, and Audhild kept him busy, but he'd been very worried about her. Fresh flowers were in the apartment every day, and he'd been trying his hand at more of her favorite foods. At the moment, he was at the stove, working on a batch of crepes. Audhild was spending the evening at the Mansion.

He was here, at home. The one place that was supposed to be their safe haven. The scent of a fresh batch of crepes filled Roxie's nose, and her stomach gently rumbled. She wondered if they had any orange marmalade at home, and then realized that she wasn't really here to eat.

She was here for other things.

Roxie touched down lightly on the wood floor, her sandals gently tapping the gleaming floor. She waited a moment, then two, then three.

With yet another deep breath, she advanced towards the kitchen.

Please don't hate me for what I'm about to do.

Vincent had heard her come in, but had been content to let het come to him. As she enters the kitchen, he turns around, face flecked with flour and smiling from ear to ear.

"Welcome home, darling." He crosses the kitchen to embrace her.

For the briefest of moments, Roxie faltered. His smiling face tugged at her heartstrings, but she pushed those feelings away. She needed to do this. He deserved someone who, at the moment, was not a broken Warbird, and it wouldn't be fair to him, to put him through whatever she was dealing with.

And she was dealing with a lot.

Roxie crossed her arms over her chest - a defensive posture, if there ever was one - and looked past him. She didn't want to meet his eyes. She couldn't.

"The crepes smell delicious," she said off-handedly.

At that posture, Vincent's stride falters slightly, and he simply lays his hands on her shoulders rather than hugging her.

"...Roxanne?"

Roxie flinched and moved a step away from Vincent. The physical contact thing. There was a time where she enjoyed that.

Now...

"Do we have any orange marmalade? The crepes smell fantastic." Roxie moved past him to go rummage in the fridge.

Now he goes from curious to worried. Roxanne does not 'flinch', barring cosmic horrors or Audhild getting into her closets. He stepped in front of her.

"What's wrong? Talk to me."

She pulled out a jar of the sought-after, distraction marmalade and set it on the counter. There was maybe two teaspoonfuls of the stuff left in there, if even that. She pursed her lips and dove back into the fridge, this time coming out with a jar of raspberry preserves.

"This is difficult," Roxie said after a long moment. She set the jar down and turned in Vincent's general direction. "I mean. I've never actually had to have this conversation before, but I don't think it could be more difficult if it were anyone but you."

Vincent furrows his brow, trying to move close to her again. "There is something wrong.

Whatever it is, we'll deal with it together."

He really wishes he could dispel the twisting feeling growing in his stomach.

"You know I love you, right?" Because before anything else, that needs to be made clear.

"Of course..." he replies even as color starts to drain from his face. "And I love you, with all my heart."

He speaks very quietly as he reaches to caress her face. "Have I done something wrong?"

Roxie reached up and took Vincent's hand in her own, moving it away from her face. Her brow furrowed and she looked down at the wood floor again. Parts of it gleamed like gold. She was going to miss the well-worn wood of that little pre-war apartment. "No. You've been perfect. Amazing, even." She looked up a little, focusing on his chin. "Which is why this isn't going to make any sense to you."

Somewhere between defiantly and desperately, Vincent squeezes her hand.

"...I'm a genius demi-god... I can make sense of anything... or fix anything..."

"Not this time, sweetie." She slipped her hand out of Vincent's and wrapped her arms around herself. "It's taken a lot of unpleasantly sleepless nights, but...I need to...end things. With you."

A flurry of emotions fly through Vincent. Roxanne holding herself like that makes him want to be able to have something to obliterate to make her feel better. Hurt and shock lance through him, and give way to a rage he keeps in check.

He trembles slightly.

"You said you love me."

Tears shone in Roxie's eyes. "I do. I need you to understand that this has absolutely nothing to do with you. I'm going through something right now, and I don't want to drag you through it. It wouldn't be fair to you, or to Audhild, to be subjected to that." She turned away from him and instead looked out a nearby window. "The apartment is yours to keep. I'm going to be crashing somewhere else for a little while, while I sort things through."

And Vincent, being who he is, tries to resolve all that in his head and very precisely comes to the wrong conclusion.

"...you think I'm too weak to deal with it with you.

My life has never been fair. What do you think I'd be afraid of now?"

Roxie had half expected him to do so, but she'd been hoping that he wouldn't.

"No, that's not it at all, Vince. I just don't want to drag you through my issues right now. I'm not even dragging my own mother into them."

"Roxanne, your concern is touching, but I don't need your protection. I need... you." His tone softens again.

Gods, that line hurt. Roxie sighed and closed her eyes. There was no right way to reply to that line. Nothing that she could say or do...

"I'm sorry, Vincent." Because what else was there to possibly say?

He clenches his fists and his jaw, and finally looks away from her.

"I have to ask...

Is there--- no, nevermind."

What good could any answer to the question do? Just asking it would hurt enough, probably.

"So there's nothing left?"

"There's no one else." Because that was most likely the question that he wanted to ask. And there had been no one else. But during the time that she was knocked out will Kreenapped...well, who knew? She'd woken up in formal clothes of some sort - possibly as an alien bride, for all she knew.

Roxie shuddered.

"I'm not sure how to answer that."

"...thank you."

What else could he say?

Vincent shifted back and forth, rubbing one arm. "Audhild is very fond of you. Is there anything you'd prefer I tell her?"

He looks around, almost absentmindedly. "I suppose we'll need a new place... her and I."

"No," she shook her head. "Like I said, this place is for you and her to keep. I don't want to disrupt your lives anymore than I am right now, Vincent."

"She's going to ask why you're not here... why we're not together anymore.

I don't know what to tell her." He bites his lip, actively avoiding her gaze now.

"Tell her the truth. Stuff like that is always difficult to hear, but kids...they prefer the truth to made-up stories that they sometimes tell was a lie."

She sighed and looked up ahead, at the skylight. "I should go, Vincent. Just...make sure she understands that she had nothing to do with my leaving, alright?" She turned towards him and offered him a stiff, uncomfortable, quivering smile. "And take care of yourself."

That said, she was up, rocketing towards the skylight and out of ~~their~~ Vincent's apartment.

As calmly as he can manage, Vincent turns off the stove, throws dinner away, and leaves. He just can't be there right now. He needs to see how much alcohol it takes his constitution to get absolutely obliterated.

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Breaking Up Is Hard To Do...

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