The only sound was the muted noise of the engines and the nuclear powerplant behind him. Benjamin knew right away that it was too quite.
He set his comms to direct laser-link to Gina's Valkyrie and keyed the mic on his headset. "Penny for your thoughts, my lady?"
A moment later, her disgusted voice came back, "How the hell do you do that Ben?"
"Gina, you should know that by know."
"Idiot! I want to hear it from your mouth."
Ben sighed then keyed his mic again. "Because whenever we're doing something that you don't like, you make damn sure that I know about it. Usually in no less than five-thousand words and in at least three different languages. Now, I know you can't be looking forward to this, but you're being awfully quiet about it. Which means that something is up, and I, as your loving and supportive partner in love, war, and child rearing, would like to know what is on your mind."
"You've actually counted?" Gina asked, an impressed tone in her voice.
"I playback the audio logs. It's part of why I picked up German so quickly."
"...You are full of surprises, idiot. I guess that's part of why I feel in love with you. My problem is... Shinji... he's a big part of what I was. Until I met you he was the only person that wanted to know me. He was one of the few that tried. I know that you know this. I know that this has got to bother you, which is why I'm trying not to say much on the matter."
"I see. Well, my lady, just so you know, it does bother me a bit, but not enough to stop me from going through with this. Also, if it had been Shinji instead of you, I would have done the same thing... well, not the exact same thing. I would have adopted the guy as my younger brother. After all, it was really hard on him... no, on both of you to lose Kaji."
"Yeah," replied Gina, this time sounding a bit wistful. "It was. Kinda hurts that the guy you loved only thought of you as a little sister. But at least now I know that I'm better off. And I owe everything to you. As far as I'm concerned, I belong completely to you."
"Now, now, don't give me all the credit. If it wasn't for you I'd probably never have settled down. At least you were immune to my Tenchi Masaki syndrome."
"You could have had anyone. Fuck, you could have had a whole fucking harem. But instead you chose me. The old me would have treated it as a triumph... but now... it's humbling. I love you, Benjamin."
"I love you, too, Gina. And don't worry, we'll get through this just fine, even if I gotta adopt the poor guy into the family. Though I doubt things will come to that."
"What makes you say that? Aren't you the guy that believes in Murphy's law so fervently that you had a shrine dedicated to it on the hangar deck just to remind everyone?"
"Yes, but this time... I dunno. Somehow I get the feeling that everything's gonna be okay."
"You and your legendary hunches. They're either dead on or spectacularly wrong. Never anywhere in between. I hope to Skuld you're right."
At that moment, Mayonaka broke in. "Not that I don't mind you guys keeping this conversation to yourselves, but it gets boring without the chatter. If you two are done with the heavy stuff can we talk about our plans for the next Cannonball Run?"
And they screamed on through the night, distracting themselves with talk of racing from the uncomfortable events that lay ahead. Quietly, Ben and Gina prayed that he was right.
OOC: Gina, in the first couple minutes, is going to treat this with her typical cavalier attitude... In other words, the first words to Shinji out of her mouth are gonna be, "Oi, you still acting like an idiot, idiot-Shinji or have you decided to grow a back-bone?"
He set his comms to direct laser-link to Gina's Valkyrie and keyed the mic on his headset. "Penny for your thoughts, my lady?"
A moment later, her disgusted voice came back, "How the hell do you do that Ben?"
"Gina, you should know that by know."
"Idiot! I want to hear it from your mouth."
Ben sighed then keyed his mic again. "Because whenever we're doing something that you don't like, you make damn sure that I know about it. Usually in no less than five-thousand words and in at least three different languages. Now, I know you can't be looking forward to this, but you're being awfully quiet about it. Which means that something is up, and I, as your loving and supportive partner in love, war, and child rearing, would like to know what is on your mind."
"You've actually counted?" Gina asked, an impressed tone in her voice.
"I playback the audio logs. It's part of why I picked up German so quickly."
"...You are full of surprises, idiot. I guess that's part of why I feel in love with you. My problem is... Shinji... he's a big part of what I was. Until I met you he was the only person that wanted to know me. He was one of the few that tried. I know that you know this. I know that this has got to bother you, which is why I'm trying not to say much on the matter."
"I see. Well, my lady, just so you know, it does bother me a bit, but not enough to stop me from going through with this. Also, if it had been Shinji instead of you, I would have done the same thing... well, not the exact same thing. I would have adopted the guy as my younger brother. After all, it was really hard on him... no, on both of you to lose Kaji."
"Yeah," replied Gina, this time sounding a bit wistful. "It was. Kinda hurts that the guy you loved only thought of you as a little sister. But at least now I know that I'm better off. And I owe everything to you. As far as I'm concerned, I belong completely to you."
"Now, now, don't give me all the credit. If it wasn't for you I'd probably never have settled down. At least you were immune to my Tenchi Masaki syndrome."
"You could have had anyone. Fuck, you could have had a whole fucking harem. But instead you chose me. The old me would have treated it as a triumph... but now... it's humbling. I love you, Benjamin."
"I love you, too, Gina. And don't worry, we'll get through this just fine, even if I gotta adopt the poor guy into the family. Though I doubt things will come to that."
"What makes you say that? Aren't you the guy that believes in Murphy's law so fervently that you had a shrine dedicated to it on the hangar deck just to remind everyone?"
"Yes, but this time... I dunno. Somehow I get the feeling that everything's gonna be okay."
"You and your legendary hunches. They're either dead on or spectacularly wrong. Never anywhere in between. I hope to Skuld you're right."
At that moment, Mayonaka broke in. "Not that I don't mind you guys keeping this conversation to yourselves, but it gets boring without the chatter. If you two are done with the heavy stuff can we talk about our plans for the next Cannonball Run?"
And they screamed on through the night, distracting themselves with talk of racing from the uncomfortable events that lay ahead. Quietly, Ben and Gina prayed that he was right.
OOC: Gina, in the first couple minutes, is going to treat this with her typical cavalier attitude... In other words, the first words to Shinji out of her mouth are gonna be, "Oi, you still acting like an idiot, idiot-Shinji or have you decided to grow a back-bone?"