Love Sucks [cw]

Life was all about twists and turns, that you rarely saw coming. You couldn’t. How people acted and reacted could cause events you never expected. And there were plenty other things that could have effects on what happened. He knew nobody could foresee it. Or maybe they could. It was possible now that the whole world had changed. He would never want to hurt Kennedy. He thought she deserved everything she wanted. Probably more than he could ever give her. So, he was just happy to have had this night with her. He wouldn’t dare expect any more than that. Sometimes it would be best to just expect as little as possible. Then you could only be happily surprised.
He hoped to get her closer as well, even if it was hardly possible anymore. He let a hand slide down to her thigh, caressing the soft skin. He slowly let the kiss die out but kept close to her still. ”I could get used to that,” he whispered.

Roman allowed himself to stay in the moment, just not thinking too far ahead. He needed to do so, if he still wanted to live his life. He would never do anything, if he couldn’t let go of his worries. He sighed in discontent when she removed herself. But he also knew it had to happen eventually. ”Mmh,” it sounded from him. While she went to get dressed, he went over to do the dishes. The water was running, so he didn’t hear what she said at first. He shut off the water and waited to hear, if she would repeat herself. She apparently found whatever she searched for.
Roman put all the things he needed for Snow’s walk into his pockets and went to the bedroom. ”Are you ready?” He would have liked showering with her, but there was time for that yet. He couldn’t see, why they should stop what they were doing. He didn’t want to, at least.

Roman let out a sound of enjoyment. ”I get it, but you look good in it.” He went to the door and let her take Snow’s lease while he locked the door. He did know crime was happening a lot around here. He should find ways to be more careful, but how did one even go about it? He took the lease back and started to walk towards the trailer park. ”What does that mean?” He wanted to protect himself, but he also wanted to know what was going to be done.
He was weary about supernatural abilities. He just didn’t know what they could do. It was not the easiest for him, to accept help, when he didn’t understand what the help entailed. He looked at her, hoping to get more information. So far, she had been one of the most helpful sources for him. She seemed to generally wanting to help him, which meant a great deal to him.

Roman didn’t really know who to ask for help. He didn’t know for sure what people were and what they could do. But he wanted it to be someone he trusted too. ”Yeah, I should look into it.” He cleared his throat. ”I don’t know for sure, that I know a witch. You can do things I consider magic, so others might be able to as well.” He stopped when Snow had to sniff some grass nearby. ”Can you tell me more about Chinese traditions?” He was curious to know more. He also wanted to learn more about her, as well as change the topic. He felt talking about supernatural things made him feel a little uncomfortable. He knew he had to do something to protect himself eventually, but it was just a little much for him to handle still. It didn’t help that he was often feeling much more tired than usual.

Roman would find it hard to believe, some people could change into an animal. He did know of werewolves from what you saw in fiction, but even that was a little farfetched for him. He knew it was impossible to deny anymore, but he was still being skeptical. He just wouldn’t want to seem stupid or ignorant. It was hard to know what did and didn’t exist.
Roman nodded when she spoke of the Chinese New Year. He had heard of it but didn’t know much about what it entailed. He scoffed slightly, when she mentioned people didn’t take as much care of their family. He just didn’t feel like that about family. He never had. There were no traditions like that, however. It was more about not causing harm to the family reputation. He had always just been a puppet to his parents, so there was no way in hell, he was going to treat them like human beings, ever. He frowned when she spoke about the pear. That was really strange. It made more sense, as she explained further. ”I guess that makes sense. We have a wedding tradition in Russia, I always found peculiar.” He looked at her, to see if she might be interested in hearing more. He was likely not as proud of his home country as she was. In ways he was, surely, but the traditions and the backwards way of thinking bugged him. He was not very proud of that element of his home country.

Roman had not been to many Russian weddings, but he did know about the tradition, nonetheless. ”Sometime during the wedding, the bride may disappear. Similar to groomsmen, bridesmaid and all that, in Russia we have something called ‘bride kidnappers’. It’s their role to snatch away the bride when the groom isn’t looking. They put her away in a hiding place. It’s the groom’s task to find her again. It’s supposed to symbolize how well the groom can tackle the challenges in a marriage.” He had never thought it was a bit old-school, but it did make it seem like a woman needed to be saved. It might be a tradition he wouldn’t partake in himself. Roman would never think Kennedy was struggling much with something. She seemed well put-together. He did have a feeling she had been through something, but she didn’t seem to be affected by it much anymore.
At least that was what he observed. She hadn’t seemed very down or affected by things. But maybe he just hadn’t known her long enough to know for sure. He felt a tug at his arm, when Snow tried to get forward to catch a squirrel that ran across the road. ”Snow, here.” The puppy didn’t listen, but Roman stopped and was not going to move, until the dog was by his side. He repeated the command a few times, until Snow came to him. He gave him a treat and a pat on the head.

Roman appreciated, that she allowed him to train Snow for a little bit. He started moving again when he was done. He looked at her, when she explained a similar tradition in China. ”It is a nice thing, I guess. To show how much you love the person you are to marry.” A thought entered his mind. Many times, he was able to stop himself from voicing them, but just once in a while, he would not be able to do so. ”Imagine us getting married. It would be such a hassle.” He could already imagine, how difficult it would be with all the trials. But it would surely prove how much you loved your bride to be. He wanted something like that one day. To just have someone you would go to the end of the world for. He was not sure it was even possible, but it was what he wanted. Someone to just love unconditionally, who would love him the same way. But maybe that was too much to ask for. He was having a fairly comfortable life now. Maybe that was going to be enough.

Roman had given up on the notion of ever finding love like that. It might be early for him to be so pessimistic. But he believed that even if he found someone he wanted to be with, they would still not be able to handle all of him, all those nasty bits, he had hidden away.
Roman was truly just joking. He was not planning on getting married anytime soon. But if he were to do so, Kennedy was not a bad choice for bride. She surely was one he had a strong connection too. How they were going to use that connection, only time could tell. Roman made a slight shrug. ”A husband-to-be should be willing to go even further lengths than that,” he said and rubbed his chin. ”But I do think it should go both ways.” These traditions were likely made in an era where men practically bought their wives from their fathers. It was 2022 and times had changed. Women were nearly as free as men, but sadly there were still people with back-wards thinking minds. They wanted to suppress women, because making them their equal threatened their fragile male egos.

Roman felt what she said was important, but on the wedding day, it was probably more symbolic, rather than realistic. ”Sure, but it’s a nice gesture, I guess.” He shrugged and tugged at Snow’s leash, when they had to cross a road. He had no idea what she was carrying around. He didn’t know if she was human, but he was sure she wasn’t a dragon. He trusted her words, after all. He turned down a road, that would lead to the trailer park. He was hoping to get more involved with the Serpents soon. He had enjoyed everything that happened until now, at least. He was sure, it was only going to get better from now on. He looked over at her. ”So, do the Serpents have meetings, or how does things work exactly?” He felt most comfortable, when he had some idea of what was going to happen. Especially when it was larger things like this, that could potentially change his life. If it was adventures like he and Kennedy had talked about, it was not as important. Because he had nothing to lose in such a situation.

Roman would have put a stop to whatever they were, if he had known she was getting feelings. It was not because he didn’t care for her, but he had never allowed himself to fall for anyone. He just didn’t want people to have their feelings hurt or expectations not met, because he couldn’t let anyone in. He just had to keep going with the information he had. He turned his head to her when she seemed to have not hurt him. He was about to ask the question again, until it became clear she knew what he had asked about. He made a disappointed humming sound, when she told they probably wouldn’t work much together. ”A shame. We had a lot of fun yesterday.” He looked at Snow when she mentioned a Mexico job. He would have to figure something out about him. He smiled slightly, when she started walking sideways.
”I am interested.” He looked at her. ”I know someone who can take care of him. She works with animals, so he would be in good hands.” He whistled to get Snow to him and gave him a treat. ”I would like to do some jobs with you, if possible.”