The Touch of a Loving Wife [Julian, Minerva]

Julian knew that he didn't have much time to spare in the Soul Society. Only a few short hours, in fact. But for a man who held his wife in such high regard, even the most brief opportunity to see her face was all a man might ever ask for. Despite the mundane nature of his return, it was still nevertheless a surprise, and Julian was one to ensure it was a pleasant one. That was why, as he walked into his home, Julian held in his hand a small bouquet of flowers. It was nothing overly extravagant, but it was certianly lovely.

"Minerva, my dear? I do hope you've a bit of free time for a weary traveler."

Of course, he was being a bit dramatic about the affair, but that was something a bit pleasant to do now and again. To bring a bit of levity and fantasy to her life was one of his greatest joys. Of course, that was every bit equal to his children's happiness, and that was why, as he greeted them all with a smile, Julian offered the young ones a bit of exotic candy he'd brought from Earth.

Home so soon? She was not expecting it, she was actually more expecting other former coalition members who still did some work for her still but this was far greater than what she was expecting. Due to that Minerva was more than willing to spend some time for her beloved husband.

"Weary? It hasn't been that long has it?"

There was a hint of concern to her tone as she pulled him in for a hug when the children had their candy to go run off and enjoy.

"Do you need somewhere nice and quiet?"

"Ah, my dear, I need but a warm meal and a gentle place to rest my weary head, and I think all will be well once more."

Wrapping his arms affectionately around her, Julian gave Minerva a gentle kiss for a short moment, before simply touching his forehead gently to hers.

"It has not been terribly long, this much is true. But it is nevertheless difficult work, and I must concede to you that my co-conspirators are not what one might call the most cooperative. With each other, at the very least."

Laughing somewhat humorlessly to himself, Julian simply held her a bit closer. It was all quite pleasant now, at least.

"It is quite reassuring that they at least bear Abalia's well-being in mind."

"Alright, honey. How about you go upstairs and rest on the sofa while I make you some food. I think I have some soup still from last night which I can heat up."

It was still quite early and so she hadn't started dinner for tonight, especially because she had put Yuri up to the task of doing it. Her help was the little way of paying back the fact that Minerva let her live here. Minerva did hold onto his words though, letting them sink into her the same way every word of his got absorbed and carefully contemplated.

Assuming she could break his hold and leave him with a kiss she went to go prepare some food for him and let him unwind. It sounded like he needed it, those companions really must be a burdensome bunch if they could wear her Julian down like that which did concern her a bit. Their previous lifestyle left so much room for stress to wear him down but this was something new.

Fast forward a couple of minutes and she came in as bubbly as ever with a nice warm bowl and spoon.

"Here you go. Now, tell me all about it. It's good that they care at least. I'm glad Abalia has people that care so much for her wellbeing on the job."

Julian was perfectly happy to head upstairs and take a moment of rest, and when Minerva arrived, he'd already made himself quite comfortable, enjoying the familiarity of the environment. He sat up at the sight of a warm meal, and took the soup from Minerva gladly.

"Thank you, dear. I do not wish to disparage either of their efforts, seeing as they have been working quite diligently through this assignment thus far. But the two of them do seem to have quite little fondness for one another, and I do worry that the two will come into conflict at some point. I feel I ought to be preparing myself to stop some sort of fight at any moment."

He had faith in the two of them, of course. Julian was not expecting that Elyss and Makoto would simply begin throwing punches in their hotel room apropos of nothing, but he could not help but prefer they not have this sort of tension lying in wait.

"Hmm. Is that so? I can't imagine that the two of them are this way for no reason at all."

If Minerva knew one thing it was people, even from a few lines of someone she had an uncanny way of understanding or building a profile of them with very little detail. It was a talent that she thought made her quite valuable in her line of work, both present and former. Nevertheless, she didn't want to lecture him but sometimes a lecture was encouraging and supporting him had always been her intention.

"Do you think they hate each other, or do you think they are both just frustrated at situations they cannot control and want to project it onto someone else?"

She made a point of reaching out and rubbing the back of his head, trying to ease away whatever tension headache the two women had given him with her comfortable aura.

"Nor can I, but I feel woefully underprepared to deal with the two of them. My specialty has never been in matters such as these."

Minerva's support was quite wonderful, and Julian felt all too pleased at even this brief respite. Both her words and her touch were something that simply could not be replicated through any other means. He supposed this was simply the nature of finally having a home, wasn't it? Such a strange thought, even now.

"I believe it may be some combination of the two, in truth. I can hardly pretend to understand the two of them, if only on account of a lack of familiarity. I have met Elyss in the past, when the revolution was still in sight. But I think she must have been through a great deal since then."

"Ehehe. You're the most genius man I know, seeing you at a loss is so frustrating. It makes me wish I could be there to help more."

Supporting him had always been her desire, it showed how bothersome it was to feel helpless in the situation and only able to provide him this bittersweet respite. A lot of thought is what she was putting into trying to analyse the brief profile she had of the two individuals. It was not much.

"You're leaving me with so little, you're lucky I have so much womanly intuition."

Her head leaned into snuggle up close to him and show just how much she missed him while he was away. Dealing with children was so satisfying but even she wasn't immune to the stresses of managing such a number of children.

"So do you want to endure the storm and try and sail through it, or do you want to clear the skies?"

She had such a fancy way of asking him if he planned to bunker down, get through the situation or try and mediate to create more relaxed conditions.

"The most genius you know, my dear? You do certainly know how to flatter me quite well."

Of course, Julian hardly minded the words of support that his wife offered him, though he perhaps did not fully grasp the depths to which she meant it. Regardless, he was all too glad to welcome her affections, setting his emptied bowl aside to return them warmly. This was certainly one of life's greatest blessings.

"I do wish I had more to provide you, but I hardly know the two of them especially well myself. I suppose I ought to make some effort to change that if I am to have any hope of improving the situation though, yes?"

Despite his insularity on an emotional level, Julian had still spent the vast majority of the past few decades working to ingratiate himself well with others. He knew social situations quite well, and he knew, by extension, that this particular situation was one he had not particularly learned much about.

"I suppose I ought to put forward that effort if only for Abalia's sake, hm?"

"I'm sure Abalia would appreciate it if people she cared about got along."

She reassurely kept up her affections while considering how to give her thoughts, it didn't help that she was working with even less here than he was. There was a distinct risk in her head that she might misjudge or provide him with inadequate advice for his situation.

"I can't imagine that a stranger like yourself could so quickly draw out the root of their issues, your rapport isn't high enough I don't think. I think the easier approach would be trying to reduce the stigma being attached to one another. Especially since one of the major causes might be retaliation or defensiveness, which would make it easier to find out which of the two is the one that is projecting their issues onto the other."

Minerva was mostly spitballing. Though she had to thank Julian having prior relations with one of them, that would make the whole ordeal easier.

"Tell me about Elyss, she seems to be the more known one. Do you think she's likely to project her troubles onto... What's the other one's name?"