Cupid and Psyche
Epilogue
"Where did you put the chocolate?" she hissed.
"Hush, Mina, here it is." Kunzite whispered, trying to make his girlfriend of two months sit still in the seat.
The orchestra was already beginning the overture to Beethoven's Fidelio .
Maybe asking Mina to an opera wasn't the best of ideas, he reflected.
He turned to look at her and changed his mind as he saw her wide blue eyes fixed with anticipation on the red curtain of the opera stage.
He casually put an arm around the back of her chair and tried not to smile too wide when she leaned in.
The opera began, and so did Mina's questions. Normally this would have annoyed him since this opera and the lead soprano in particular were his favorites, but Mina was so earnest that he found it easier to put aside his longing to hear the opera uninterrupted.
"What are they saying?"
He explained the plot, and the scene to her briefly.
She sighed happily.
"That's beautiful."
Kunzite had other opinions on beauty that night which included the gold dress Mina was wearing on her slim form, but as usual he kept those thoughts to himself.
At intermission they rose to stretch their legs and he offered to get her some refreshment.
She was about to tell him what she wanted when she suddenly put a hand on his arm.
"Hey, look," she said, and he turned to look, "isn't that your friend?"
"Yes, it is, and yours as well. Hino-san, isn't it?" He said as he caught sight of Jaedite and Rei sitting a few rows ahead of them, engaged in conversation.
"Interesting," Mina smiled.
I know that tone. Kunzite frowned.
"Mina, don't be too quick -"
"Rei-chan and your friend are totally dating in secret!" she declared excitedly.
"I knew there must be something, she's been acting really strange lately. And this is why."
He desperately tried to get her to lower her voice.
"Maybe it isn't -"
"You have to spy on them." She commanded.
He blinked.
"Go get some opera goggles."
"Glasses?"
"Exactly."
"But, Mina-"
"Hurry!" Mina urged, pushing him toward the booth. He sighed.
Usually he would have been firmer about the impossibility of spying on one's friend, but honestly, he was a little curious. He had known Jaedite for many years, they'd gone to the same high school and become friends through a club there. But though he called Jaedite a friend, the truth was that no one ever got very close to that young man. What little he knew about Jaedite's life led him to believe that the young man had had a very lonely childhood, and as a result his natural reticence and keen intellect had matured into a cold and calculating persona. And Kunzite had never known him to show any interest in women at all.
He returned with the glasses and gave them, rather unwillingly, to Mina. She held them up and, for the rest of intermission, watched everything Jaedite and Rei did together.
When it was over, and the second act began, he found her frowning fitfully.
"I don't get it," she said, "they're dressed up at the opera, which is obviously a date, but they aren't being lovey-dovey at all."
"Maybe it isn't a date," he replied pointedly.
"Impossible. Rei-chan hates men, she wouldn't go out with one willingly for anything less than a date."
"She doesn't like men?" he asked, surprised.
This really threw him. Why were two people who distrusted and disliked the opposite sex sitting together at an opera? Could it actually have been a coincidence?
He sat back down to ponder this riddle through the second act, and when that was over he found that Mina had fallen asleep on his shoulder.
"So much for Beethoven," he murmured wryly.
He gently pulled her wrap around her shoulders, gathered their things and guided her out of the theatre toward the parking deck.
"It's such a nice night," she yawned, "let's stay out a little bit more."
He nodded.
"Where would you like to go?"
"I don't care, anywhere you're going." She grabbed his arm in both of hers and they walked, talking softly, through the streets to a nearby shopping plaza with a fountain in the center. Because of the time, the streets were nearly deserted and the lights from the shops were hazy and flickering.
"You know, Mina -" he cleared his throat, and put a hand in his pocket, "I've been meaning to talk to you about something -"
"Let's dance!" Mina exclaimed.
"What?"
"There's no one around, and that song they're playing over the speakers is a waltz, so let's dance."
"Mina, I don't know how to dance." he pointed out calmly.
"Well, I'll teach you," she answered, and pulled his hands and arms around her waist.
"See, it isn't hard," she sang, smiling.
"I feel silly," he declared, soberly.
"You look silly!"
She threw back her head and laughed and after a while he joined in.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" she asked after a moment.
"Hm?" His face became grave as he remembered and he stopped dancing.
"I've been thinking that maybe we should...that is, if you want to...I feel that it's time to-" he broke off and stared down at her curious face in intense frustration.
"I've never seen you this flustered," she commented, "what are you so nervous about?"
He opened his mouth, shut it, and then unceremoniously thrust the box into her hand.
She blinked at it uncomprehendingly, then opened it and almost dropped it.
"I'm..." she breathed, "I don't know what to say."
"Well, that's a first," he remarked dryly, and immediately wanted to kick himself.
But she smiled and put the ring on, turning it in the light to look at it.
"Well?" he asked after a tense moment.
She shrugged.
"It'll do," she said with a wink.
"Oh, really?" He asked and took her hand gently.
"Yeah," she enveloped him in an embrace, then just as suddenly jumped away from him and started squealing and yelling at the top of her lungs while dancing around the fountain.
"You're going to fall in," he warned her but the sight of her excitement made him laugh happily.
"I don't care!" she yelled, and continued to dance energetically around the fountain. Until she tripped and there was a loud splash.
"Now I care." she added soberly, sitting in the shallow fountain, shivering and shaking her wet hair out of her eyes.
He picked her up, regardless of the wet.
"Brrr."
"I told you so," he remarked as they made their way back to his car.
"Why do I have the feeling that I'm going to hear that phrase from you often?" she asked, admiring her ring.
"I always be here to tell you 'I told you so'," he offered, half sardonically, half sincerely, "as long as you want me to."
"That is an awful thing to say, but I love you too," she answered playfully.
There was a brief silence while he struggled with his own lack of articulation.
"I'm not very good with words," he began uncomfortably, clearing his throat, "I -"
"That's alright," she interrupted, "I know." She kissed his cheek and he shivered.
"Besides," she added, brushing his hair away from his face and tracing the curve of his ear.
"There are more important things to be good at."
He shivered again and she looked at him inquiringly.
"Cold." he explained, and held her more tightly.
Mina smirked.
That's all. Thanks for reading this little piece of fluff. If you liked it, let me know. If there's something you think I should improve on - let me know! Thanks. - A.C.