Parting ways brings great sorrow...
...but in the presence of friends, sorrow can eventually be forgotten.
A knock on the door drew Dominick's attention away from the wall he'd been staring absently at. He shifted his head against the pillow, but all he succeeded in seeing was the space to his right, just in front of the doorway. With a sigh, he returned his gaze to the wall. "Who is it?"
The response was more knocking, louder this time. Dominick rolled his eyes. "Alright, whatever. Come in!"
The door creaked open, and he heard a few footsteps come his way before it closed again. Tilting his head to the side once more, he saw a blonde-haired woman in a simple white robe looking down at him above folded arms. Veronica seemed more concerned than upset, which Dominick found a bit strange. Then again, he'd given her some cause for it lately. Perhaps, he thought, he shouldn't be so surprised.
Dominick regarded her neutrally for a moment, then sank back onto the bed. For a few seconds, both of them were silent, but then Veronica spoke. "How long has it been since you left this room?"
"Eh, I don't know," Dominick replied, shrugging halfheartedly against the bed. "Few days, maybe."
"Try a week and a half," Veronica offered, unamused.
"That long, huh?" Dominick let out a little sigh, bringing his hands up behind his head and resting it lazily on them. "Well...on the bright side, I learned they have room service here. Not amazing, but it's kind of nice."
If the quip lightened her mood at all, she didn't show it. "I take it things didn't go well?"
At that, Dominick paused a moment. "I guess you could say that." He let out another sigh, longer this time, and wistful. "She made her choice. I made mine. That's all there is to say on the matter."
Veronica peered at him inquisitively for a moment. "If that's the case...why aren't you acting like yourself?"
"I am acting like myself. I get like this sometimes." The thief shrugged again. Curiously, he shifted his gaze over to Veronica, fixing her with a questioning look. "Why aren't you acting like yourself? Usually you'd have kicked me by now for being such an idiot."
"I'm considering it," Veronica admitted. After a moment's pause, she slowly stepped forward and sat down next to him on the bed, folding her hands in her lap. "But I'm not sure how much it'd help right now."
Dominick rolled his eyes and turned away. "You say that like it ever helps."
"It helps me sometimes," she retorted with a slight grin. It faded after a moment, though, and left behind her previous expression of concern. "But I'm not really in the mood anyway."
"Yeah? Well that's a switch." He let out another exasperated sigh. "So what do you want?"
"To make sure you're okay. Why else do I come here?"
Veronica sighed too. She planted a hand on the bed next to her and leaned a little on it. "This'll go a lot faster if you just say 'no I'm not.'"
"Fine," Dominick huffed. "I wanted things to work out with me and Ausra. It didn't go the way I wanted it to and I'm not enthused about it. You wouldn't understand, you've never-"
Veronica stared at him for a moment. "I've never what, exactly?"
He paused again, then let out another heavy sigh. When he replied, it was with some somberness in his voice, and a great deal of effort made to avoid eye contact. "You've never had to just...walk away from someone you loved. Something that could have been."
At that moment, Veronica silently expended an enormous effort to fight back the urge to yell at him, to kick him, to call him an idiot, to ask him "Are you kidding me?" Instead she slowly extended a hand to Dominick's cheek, gingerly tilting his head towards her, though he still avoided her gaze. Had he looked, though, he would have noticed a few tears slip out of her eyes as she responded.
"You're wrong," she said softly. And then, after a second's pause, "I do it every time you leave."
Finally, Dominick looked at her. His eyes settled on hers, and his face softened a little at the sight of her tears, though he noticed she remained remarkably composed in spite of them. He sighed briefly. "Is that why you're here, then? To pick me up now that Ausra and I are going our separate ways?"
"No," Veronica answered simply. She pulled her hand away from his face and laid it back on the bed next to him. "I'm here because I care about you. I always have."
A long silence descended over the two of them. Dominick found himself unsure what to say; Veronica simply seemed content with not saying anything. She watched him for several seconds with a concerned expression. Finally, Dominick spoke up, a hint of bitterness present in his tone. "You gonna try to sleep with me to make me feel better like Val did? Take your shirt off, make advances, that sort of thing?"
At that, Veronica was a little surprised, both at the unabashed way he raised the question and at the idea that Valryssa had allegedly done something like that in the past. She managed to keep it from showing, though. "No," she repeated. Slowly, she lifted her legs up onto the bed and laid down on her side next to him, taking care not to get too close. "I'm going to stay right here, and if you want to talk, I'll listen."
Dominick remained quiet for a moment. He shifted his head to the side to look at her. "And if I don't?"
"Then I'll be quiet." Her lips curled upwards into a small smile. "But I'll be here for you either way."
The thief paused again, then gave a short sigh. He shifted onto his side, putting his back to Veronica. "Then I guess you're gonna be quiet for now."
A hint of sadness crept into her features as she regarded him. "I can leave, if you want."
"No," Dominick answered quickly. "You can stay. I just don't want to talk right now." He exhaled heavily. "Well, I do, I just...don't know what to say."
"That's alright," Veronica said soothingly. She shifted a little closer to him to make herself comfortable, but still made sure not to invade his space. With a contented sigh, she closed her eyes.
For a while, Dominick said nothing. He waited at least a half an hour, he surmised, maybe more, and then, convinced that Veronica was asleep, the thief rolled back over to face her. A slight frown spread across his features. He watched her for a few moments; her breathing was slow and even, and she looked to be asleep, though not deeply so.
"You know, I used to think I didn't deserve you," he admitted hesitantly. No response came, so he went on. "Always wondered if I'd done something wrong in a past life to warrant you hassling me all the time. Now..." Dominick reached over and brushed her cheek with his hand. After a quiet sigh, he retracted it. "Now I'm really wondering what I did to deserve you."
He closed his eyes and went to sleep. It may have been a trick of his imagination, but just moments before consciousness slipped away, Dominick was sure he felt someone's hand close lightly around his.