nextgenerationmarvel | Picking Up The Pieces

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Picking Up The Pieces

So... that was it. He wasn't an Avenger anymore. Vincent felt very uncertain, about almost everything. He'd already spoken to Bruce, and consulted with his academic advisor about temporarily scaling back his course-load. He had an appointment with Stark at the end of the week to discuss his position there. Audhild was going to be well-educated and provided for. He'd even worked out a grocery list for the next few weeks and fully cleaned the apartment.

He'd done everything he could think of, he'd been so intent on putting this off.

He picks up the phone and dials a number that he'd resolved not to for some time.

"Hello... Roxanne."

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She'd hesitated for a moment before answering the phone. Roxie and Vincent hadn't exactly spoken much to each other lately, and with everything else that had gone on in her life - Joe, her brother Alex, all of that - she'd kept herself somewhat busy.

She braced herself for a long moment, set down some of the plans that her mother had sent her for the launch of Young Woman magazine, and answered.

"Vince...nt." Because that didn't come out awkwardly at all. "Hi?" She hadn't really ever had a proper ex-boyfriend, so all of this was new territory for Roxie.

Oddly enough? The unease he can hear in her voice makes it a little easier for him.

"Hi. I was wondering if you were busy today. I was hoping we could sit down and catch up. Maybe talk about a couple things. I was thinking of that little cafe with the crepes you liked. Like?"

Roxie looked down at the files and paperwork that had been couriered over that morning and shoved it all underneath a stack of coffee table books. "I can be there in five minutes," she said definitively. She'd have to change out of her leggings and oversized Flashdance style sweatshirt first, of course.

Vincent is there in two. He's dressed relatively casually, in a wide-necked sweater and nice jeans, already sipping a cup of tea when Roxanne arrives. He stands up and waves her over to the table he's at.

He manages a smile. "You... look like you." Which is to say, beautiful.

She smiled at him, a sweet, somewhat awkward smile. She's pretty casual herself, in a pair of skinny denim jeans, spike-heeled boots, and a cutaway shearling-lined jacket. She waved to a familiar waiter before sitting down, knowing he'd bring along her favourite crepe in a moment - a sweet one filled with pears and nectarines poached in red wine, toasted almonds and candied pecans, splashed with a bit of Irish liqueur and drizzled with a rich dark chocolate sauce.

"Thank you," she said, setting her oversized tote bag on an empty chair. "How have you been? How's Audhild?"

Vincent himself orders something a bit simpler. Just orange marmalade and some chocolate on the side. He stands as she seats herself, but doesn't go so far as getting her chair for her, then sits again. He reaches out to touch her arm gently, not bold enough to initiate a hug, as they both settle in.

"She's well... her education is progressing. I think being able to stay in the same apartment as when--" he falters momentarily "--as when we took her in helped a lot.." He swallows hard, a finger drumming on the edge of his teacup.

"I've... been dealing with some stuff." His voice gets smaller. "You already know about the Avengers."

Roxie nodded gently. That had been partially why she'd left the apartment to Vincent and Audhild. Considering that she was the one who was breaking up with Vincent, it would have been cruel and rude of her to expect that he and his little sister be the ones to vacate the home. Besides, given what Roxie had been through, she'd needed a fresh start more than anything else, and even if that hadn't been the case, it was against her nature to throw people out.

She smiled appreciatively at the waiter as he brought her a cafe noisette and turned her attention back to Vincent. "It was a little difficult to miss that with the Asgardian thing," she admitted. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, Vincent. My mom was removed from the Avengers as well for awhile." Granted, it had been because Carol was teetering on the edge of alcoholism and was having some personality issues because of the fact. "Though I'm certain it's not easy to find things that will keep you preoccupied."

Vincent's done his homework. He's aware of Carol Danvers' past, and the parallels to his own recent events were more than a little ~~frightening~~ unsettling.

"No... not especially. School is necessary, but painfully boring. I'm hoping something will actually challenge me once I start work on my first doctorate. I'm just taking classes two, maybe three nights a week at most now. Kristoff watches Audhild then.

And there's been my work for Stark... but I think that needs to get scaled back somewhat as well. I've got an appointment with him later this week to talk about telecommuting, and coming in for the 'hard' science work on a set schedule. I want to give Audhild a more stable home life." He pauses for a bit as his own crepe arrives, and takes a few bites, dabbing corners gently into the cup of chocolate before biting into them.

"I've... I tried to do too much for too long, and went down a self-destructive path because of it. There's no excuse for my behavior. No one else to blame.

But I think I'm getting better. I've been putting my life back together."

He lifts his head and finally meets her eyes, like he's been trying not to do, beyond what courtesy dictated for greeting her. There was something back in them. Something that hadn't been there when... when she'd left. Maybe this wasn't doomed to fail. Even if it was, he was still going to say it.

"Roxanne... I miss you. I miss making you smile. I miss you being there to listen to things I wouldn't tell anyone else. I miss arguing with you about stupid little things and laughing about it afterwards. I miss all of it.

I said I'm putting my life back together... I'd like you to be a part of it again." He raises a hand quickly. "I'm not asking you to move back in, or to rush anything, but... I'm asking-- if you still--" Damn it you stupid foot-dragging emotionally imbalanced child! Spit it out.

"Roxanne, would you like to go out on a date?"

Anything Roxie might have said was cut short by Vincent asking her out. On the bright side, she mused, this confirms that there's at least one person in the city who doesn't read the Loose Lips column.

She drew in a deep breath and let out a shaky sigh. On some level, she'd known that this was exactly why Vincent had called her not a half hour ago. Still, part of her had wished that it had been to ask her about Joe or something.

How, though? How did one tell their ex-boyfriend - who had once been such a huge part of their life - that one had moved on?

"Vincent...I'm...there's someone else in my life now." Uncertain pause. "I'm sorry."

Edited 2013-01-10 01:26 (UTC)

The words hurt. Like a wound being opened up with a serrated edge. She had that beautiful joy for life back in her again; she looked like the goddess he'd fallen in love with again. He'd hoped against all odds that if that ever came back... that there was a chance. Even if things had to go slow, even if they had to just 'date' first.

But no. Instead, there was 'someone else'.

He swallows hard, trying not to look away from her.

"How long?"

"Long, and yet not all that long at all," Roxie stated. It was, if anything, a complicated answer. "It's Joe Rogers," she added. "Cap's son." She'd never really ever spoken to Vincent about Joe, so this would be like a bomb being dropped on him, she was sure.

"We're...there's always...since we were kids, there was always this affection between us, and then he showed up one day at the Mansion and, I don't know. That affection - that connection - it was still there. It was something that I feel the two of us were not trying to act on, but sometimes it's difficult to deny what's there." Yes, this was all likely something that Vincent didn't want to hear, but if anything, Roxie owed him the truth.

A Rogers. Ohhhh, now that is going to fester. First Sarah, now this one? How many times was he going to have his hopes dashed by that line? All that was left to complete the picture was Father sitting in the corner, ready to whisk him away for his punishment for failing.

More than that... he'd been too late. If 'Joe' had only come around recently, maybe if he'd been ready sooner, if he could have spoken to Roxanne sooner-- But no. Of course not. Why should it go that way? One of his fists, kept carefully out of sight beneath the table, started to clench, but the tension carried all the way up to his shoulders. Pain mixed with anger and frustration. Not at Roxanne; never at her. At himself, mostly, since it was childish and futile to hold contempt for someone one had never met, someone who had not technically wronged oneself.

"I see." Is all the words that his swirling emotions manage to forge themselves into. He's quiet for a long minute. He will not cry. He will not scream. Such things are beneath him. Really.

"I still love you, Roxanne. When you ended it, you told me you still loved me... when did that stop?" He says it, not thinking it will change anything, but wanting to say it nonetheless. He needs to know.

Oh please... are you sure you didn't just say it in the hopes that it will make her change her mind? Feel some pangs of guilt and come running back to you and cradle you to her bosom? You're using your words like a weapon.
Well done. It's what he would do. It's what Mother would do.

Shut up! It's not like that!

It's not... it can't be.

"I have enough lingering pride--" he starts again, dragging his eyes back to hers, since he's not sure when he'll get to see her again. "--not to outright swear that I'll 'wait for you', but... if things run their course, and I'm still single... well... yes."

Oh, of course, because that sounded so much more dignified.

This would so not be the time to point out that Joe was living with her, would it?

This wasn't an easy conversation for her to have, partially because this was the first such conversation that Roxie had ever had in her life, and secondly, because she was all-too-aware of how Vincent was in a fragile place right now. She didn't want to make that worse or, and here was a terrible thought, send him teetering over the edge. This was, after all, the child of Victor von Doom and Amora the Enchantress.

"Vincent," Roxie said, finally, deeming that maybe an explanation of her current love life wasn't exactly in order. "I expected better of you than this. Trying to guilt me this way. That's not fair."

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