Work Text:
Today was a day like any other. Sunlight blocked by passing white clouds in the sky. A breeze that tousled your perfectly curled black hair and blew the smoke of your cigarette out onto the balcony. And there you listened, not to silence, but the calming sound of your fiancée's humming, wafting out from the open glass door.
Staring out at the city skyline, you lean against the railing, and let a private smile grace your lips, just this once.
In less than an hour you would become the vicious regent of the Felt department. Their BLACK QUEEN, the whip of productivity.
But that is then.
Now, you are at home. And you are happy. A foreign feeling, especially in this soft shape its taken. But one you've acclimated to in time, and one you would do anything in your power to deliver to your other in uncountably bigger quantities.
The woman who melted your heart, some might say. The one who turned the beast human. Or perhaps, and you think this one is the most fitting. The one who explained to you the meaning of peace.
Mina Paint.
Short and stout. Naively kind. Foolishly optimistic. Creative beyond imagine. Capable enough to rival you.
The perfect woman.
Biting back a bigger grin, you shake your head, and take another drag of your cigarette.
You still do not understand how you are so lucky to have found her. What strings of fate brought her to Skaia, made her sign up for the most undesirable job in the listings. Your crew was a handful, the still are now, but ever since she joined the team she has never wavered. How do you do that? How do you get such boundless determination and drive, just to make the world better for others?
You have never understood it. It's just not in your nature. At the first opportunity, you always make people's lives worse. Sadism is a trait you have never really tried to unlearn. You're sure you've even caused Mina much strife over the years. And yet...
You look down at your left hand, at the black band decorating your fourth finger.
And yet she still beat you to it. She made you hers, before you could take her for yourself.
You bought her a ring afterwards, of course, you could not let her walk around without a sign that the most wonderful person on this earth was spoken for. However, the perfection of her proposal was unmatched. Sometimes you wish you could brag about it. Tell your underlings how they will never measure up to the treasure that is your fiancée. They would weep enough tears to resuscitate every desert on this earth, you're sure. However. Mina has told you that is quite rude, so you bite your tongue.
...Mostly.
Anything that happens when she's not within earshot she does not need to know about.
...She'll be ready with breakfast soon, won't she?
You put out your cigarette, and throw it into the petite black trashcan Mina has placed onto your balcony specifically for you (the perfect woman). Soon, you will walk up behind her and hug her from behind. You will kiss her hair, not yet covered by her shawl, and then let your kisses trail down her face until she, with a giggle, gives you a little wack and tells you to stop. You will stop, but only after a dozen more kisses.
Then, you will set the table with her. You will eat a perfectly cooked breakfast with her, and listen to her tell you about the news she has heard on the radio, or the unresolved gossip from the day previous, or she will expose about the new book she has begun reading. You will listen, for she does not need interruptions, nor constant affirmation that yes you are still listening. She understands you are one of few words, and that is something she loves about you.
Then, you will receive the lunch she has made for you, two kisses on your cheek and lips, and then head off for work, with the knowledge that you will soon have the most wonderful wife anyone would ever wish of having. And you will laugh in the face of the world for you, you, have won.