Letters From Your Cousin

*as for getting a move on…well, that one’s no brainer now* “…I’ll go to Lurondo see them myself.”

"That's the spirit.  You'd make dear Auntie and Uncle proud."

*speaks up after a moment of thoughtful silence* “Do you think it’s… too late to do that?”

"I'd say you get a move on unless you want to put Jude off the idea of marrying you."

"I just… don’t want to cause him unhappiness or further strain his relationship with his dad. They only recently came to an understanding after all."

"Dragging your feet in doing something so obvious, and honestly something so important, seems counterproductive.  You would just prolong the anxiety and worry that comes with it.  Plus, you pass it on to the person you've chosen to be with and just gave him something else to be unhappy about."

"Just… what if, y’know? I don’t want to lose Jude nor be the cause of him losing his parents.”

"Oh." *bluntly*  "So you're not confident the two of you can make this work."

"I just… wanted to meet his parents on my own terms instead of his dad making that decision."

"Last you've mentioned this, you haven't even told the good doctor you were dating his son."

*stares at the door for a long moment before he hangs his head* “…I screwed up big time.”

*Starts looking through some of the files Jude brought in earlier* "You practically declared you weren't ready for this right there and then.  Which does make me wonder if you properly thought this out before you made your proposal."

*hastily places the GHS down on the first flat surface available before hurriedly grabbing his partner’s wrist to keep him from going back to work* “I’m sorry. You don’t need to call your dad to reschedule at all.”

*looks at Alvin again* “We’ll talk later.” *doesn’t wait for a response and walks out of the room*

*now sitting at his desk and just waves at Jude in confirmation of his request while he continues to sip at his coffee*

*and unlike his cousin, he can’t walk away so easily, especially with his…future father-in-law on the other end of the line*

"And I called because Baran sent me an urgent text message stating that he was being…manhandled. He also mentioned something else equally concerning."

"Everything’s fine now.  The two of them have stopped though… May I ask what else was so concerning in Baran-san’s message?"

*tops his coffee up and slurps at this comfortable distance~*

*even more so now that Jude grabbed the GHS away from him* “No, wait, Jude! That’s your fathe—!!!”

"And free from what? Being manhandled by certain questionable mercenaries?”

"What made you call?" *doesn’t know about the texts after all*

*clearly since Jude-kun is handling the situation so well, he walks away towards the other end of the room to get more coffee*

*—except that Jude’s father isn’t so forgiving as to just let it be, if the ringing GHS is anything to go by; holds it at arm’s length with obvious alarm* “And WHY are you letting me pick up your call!!? You’re the reason why he's calling!!”

"If this some of that ingrate’ chicanery…" *taps on the scalpel in his pocket*

*strides forward and takes the device from Alvin’s hand and picks it up before reading the caller ID unfortunately* “Hello, this is Jude Mathis answering on Supervisor Baran’s behalf.  I’m afraid he’s occupied at the moment.  May I take a message and he will call you back as soon as he’s free?”

*makes a face at Alfred as CLEARLY that was not his idea or his fault~*

*snatches the GHS and starts properly reading it, becoming even more restless and panicked the more he reads* “WHY did you send him that?!”

"This is getting ridiculous." *dials Baran’s number*

*places a hand on Jude's shoulder to keep him from approaching any further* "Um... you best stay here with me, Jude-kun, and let Alfred take care of this."

*though, soon realizes his cousin can’t speak like this and removes his hand— to start shaking him instead* “Uh-oh what?! WHO’D YOU SEND IT TO AND WHAT’D YOU WRITE?!”

*starts typing response*「Do you…need someone to come? And should your cousin’s perversely concerning proclivities turning to crossdressing concern me? 」

"Alvin!" *sets down the files to the closest table and walks over to the duo*

*calmly sips his poor luke-warm coffee*

*—except he notices suspicious and alarming activity from his cousin, but sadly didn’t catch what was written so much as something got sent* “Baran, what’d you just send? To who??”

*…who?*

*muffled since Alfred hasn't removed his hand from his mouth* "....muh-oh."

"Jude, please don’t listen to Baran!"

"I… don’t really understand what the two of you are doing."

*Well, since Alfred has his mouth covered, he whips out his GHS with his free hand and quickly types a message*「Help. Being Manhandled. PS: Alfred said he wants a wedding dress.」 *immediately presses send*

*hastily answers* “No. It means I’ll strap you down to your office chair and make sure you don’t move since you’ll obviously ‘hurt’ yourself.”

*turns around* "Juuuuude-kun~ Listen to this~! Alfred said--"

*whispers back again* “Did you want me to treat you like an infirm then?”

“Does that mean you'll start to treat me gently, my dear cousin?”

*whispers back harshly* “Medical jintech or no, you don’t count as a handicapped person if you’re standing up perfectly fine.”

*whispers back calmly* “And I'll have you know I have official paperwork and medical texts as well as Jude-kun's opinion to prove you otherwise.”