✧ 02

[notyetlost]

[A. 1333 Benny Road]

[Lauranatis family, your favorite neighbor is here. He'll just let himself in, no need to trouble yourselves with getting up.]

Liet! I heard you were like totally diseased and stuff so I made my wife make you something to make you feel better!

[Hope you like Lime Jello Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Surprise!]

[B. Phone - Filtered to Stone 456]

Hey Lizzy! Ditch your obnoxious husband for the afternoon and lets go shopping, I'm bored.

Oh and while we're out I want to annoy the shoe salesman who was harassing me about wanting to try on the polkadot heels before I bought them last week.

We can make him pull every pair of shoes in the store to fit us with--you take the ladies side and I'll take the men's side-- and we won't buy any of them! I figure we can make him break down and cry after an hour. Maybe forty-five minutes if we're totally on our game.

It'll be fun!

Comments

[balaton]

Right you are, Fel. [When she arrives, it's odd to see her in a decent dress instead of her usual uniform, a stylish scarf about her head, and even a hint of perfume. It's evidently Feliks' good influence on her. The pack of cigarettes she tosses into the glove compartment is not, however. She's quick to put it out of sight right before honking for her friend to come out to the driveway.]

[notyetlost]

About time Lizzy-- [Feliks hops over to the car at her honking, leaning in the window to greet her.]

Oh my mistake Ms. Monroe, I totally thought you were someone else. [He's teasing.]

[balaton]

Just because you picked the dress it totally means you get to butter me up. [She beams back. She hardly gets that sort of compliments at home.] Now hop in. We have a shoe shop to terrorize.

[notyetlost]

Well, it's like way easy to butter up someone when they're as super cute as you are. Although yeah, my influence in your closet definitely makes it even easier.

[With a laugh, Feliks will climb into the passenger seat.]

Onward!

[balaton]

[Backing out effortlessly into the street (she's had years of practice on this car, courtesy of not wanting to stay in the house), Elizaveta guiltlessly speeds down, happy to get away. Her temporarily dyed hair flies behind her, a sensation familiar of... Something at the back of her head.]

Something odd happened the other day... [She starts hesitantly, not sure how to bring it up.]

[notyetlost]

Oh yeah? [Feliks picks a piece of rouge lint off his vest, before idly releasing it out the car window.] Odd like how?

[balaton]

[Once they stop at a light, she reaches back for her bag, fishing around in it for a small object before depositing a wedding ring in Feliks's hand.]

I found it in my room.

...It's not mine.

[notyetlost]

Maybe it's a gift from Gilbert. [After he says it, he realizes the improbability of that ever occurring. He holds the ring up to get a better look at it.]

A wedding ring? [A very dated wedding ring, from the looks of it.]

[balaton]

An expensive wedding ring. [the car roars to life along with Elizaveta's rising temper.] Do you think he's cheating on me?

[notyetlost]

I don't think... [Had Elizaveta married anyone else in the entirety of the world, Feliks would have immediately followed that with a "no, never!"

But Elizaveta married Gilbert and he was definitely stupid enough to not realize how impossibly wonderful Elizaveta was and how incredibly lucky he should feel that she even gave him the time of day.]

Well.

[balaton]

[Instead of the inevitable blow up, she props her elbow on the seat, resting her head on a fist as she lets out a long suffering sigh. Feliks of all people doesn't deserve her temper.]

It was bound to happen. All men stray eventually. Oh, I didn't mean you, sweetie! You're different, but I was so stupid to think he'd be different.

[notyetlost]

[As much as he hates Gilbert and would love to see him get pinned with adultery, Feliks loves Elizaveta more. Seeing her looking so upset is entirely not okay, so he tries to focus on consoling her first and foremost.]

Just because there's some totally random wedding ring in your room doesn't necessarily mean he's cheating on you. [Although it's definitely making the probability of it shoot up to being at least 99.9% more likely.]

But if he did cheat on you I'm totally going to sock him in the face!

[balaton]

Oh darling, I wouldn't wish that on you. [And Feliks is no match for her husband, but his proclamation brings a smile to her face nevertheless. She liked Gilbert on a good day, but this...]

But it's nothing like that, then where did it come from? [She furrows her brow, feeling a slight headache throbbing dull at the center of her head, so she massages her temple absently.] I ought to sell it. That'll show them both.

[notyetlost]

Hmph. [Feliks looks at the ring again, taking notice of the details more carefully.]

...Are you sure this isn't yours? Like, your mom didn't leave it to you or it's not some sort of family heirloom or whatever? [He can't help but think it looks familiar to him. If it's not Elizaveta's though, maybe he saw it on the finger of a customer at work.]

[balaton]

It's awfully pretty, but-- [the throbbing pain was back. Serves her right for letting all that stress get to her. If she closed her eyes, she could almost remember someone putting it on, but that someone certainly doesn't look like Gilbert, and the ring is definitely not hers.] Let's talk about something else.

[notyetlost]

Uh... okay. [Feliks sets the ring back in Elizaveta's palm. Feliks didn't really want to drop the subject, but looking at Elizaveta's face it seemed like the best idea. He swore he'd seen that ring somewhere before though, if he thought about it enough on his own maybe it'd come back to him eventually.]

But you can totally stay at my house for as long as you want if you don't want to deal with Gilbert yet, you know. I mean I wouldn't want to stay in a house with someone if I thought they were cheating on me.

[balaton]

[She hates feeling helpless, and this is one situation she's absolutely helpless against, short of finding the hussy and teaching her a lesson.]

He'd probably celebrate the moment I'm out of that house and I'm not giving him that pleasure. [Her brain is telling her a cigarette would be really nice at this point, but she dismisses the thought.] I'll just go shooting with some of his favorite rifles. Maybe he'll get the hint, then.

Not that your offer isn't tempting... Someone has a birthday coming up, hmm?

[notyetlost]

The offer stands if you change your mind. [He pats Elizaveta's shoulder reassuringly.] And if he doesn't get the hint and you want to make the point more clear, I am totally prepared to be your alibi if you turn him into swiss cheese.

And I wasn't going to say anything, but since you mentioned it-- [As if he had prepared for this moment in advance, Feliks pulls a folded up piece of paper out of his vest pocket and hands it to Elizaveta.] Here's a list of gift suggestions!