Work Text:
Everly looked over the edge of her book as she studied the man sitting across from her. Robert liked to pride himself on his ability to hide his feelings, but right now they were written all over his face. He had a book set on his lap, but he hadn’t actually touched it since sitting down. Instead as his eyes darted about the room, yet focused on none of the things they landed on. His eyebrows were scrunched as if thinking hard, and his mouth kept twisting in different ways. She wasn’t sure if she was just used to reading his emotions since they had been married for so long, or if he simply didn’t feel the need to hide them from her. Either way, he was clearly agitated, and clearly overthinking something or other. Probably something relating to Jekyll or the Society. He didn’t seem to think of much else these days.
Whatever he was thinking of, he had been doing it for the last few hours without any change in position. Whatever it was had him really worried, and all that worrying just seemed to be making him stressed.
Everly had seen him do this before. If he didn’t stop now, he was only going to work himself up and get upset over nothing. Clearly he needed a break from all this thinking, and clearly he wasn’t going to take one. Everly set down her book. It was time to intervene.
“Robert?” she said.
She barely got a distracted “hm?” in response.
“Robert,” she repeated, “why don’t we go out shopping today? We could go to that new tailor’s you’ve had your eye on, maybe go see a play.”
That got Robert’s attention, and his expression shifted to one of confusion. “Why?” he asked.
“Because we could use some fun, and you could use a distraction from whatever you're overthinking. Am I right?”
He looked away. “You don’t have to do that for me,” he said. “I can find something else to do. Read a book, perhaps.”
“But I want to,” Everly said, politely ignoring the fact that Robert had yet to actually open the book on his lap. “Believe it or not, I like spending time with you. Besides, it’s been a while since we were together in public aside from parties. It can’t hurt to play the part a little more.”
“Right,” Robert said through a yawn he didn’t bother to hide, “and why do we need to do that again?”
“So that we don’t go to jail,” Everly said bluntly.
“Ah yes, that.”
This man. There was no way he had actually forgotten the reason for their marriage in the first place. Was he just trying to get out of going? If so, it was a pretty awful attempt.
Everly prepared another argument, but just as she opened her mouth, Robert stretched and yawned again.
“I suppose we might as well,” he said. “Who knows, it might even be fun.”
Everly smiled brightly. “Wonderful! Let’s get ready, then.”
A few minutes later, they were sitting across from each other in their carriage. Robert was resolutely staring out the window. Everly looked around the carriage, spotting a bit of animal fur caught in the seat. She plucked it out and held it up to inspect it. Who had carried animals in their carriage?
Robert had started furrowing his brows again. She sighed, letting the fur drift down to the floor.
“You know,” she said, “the whole point of this is to help you stop overthinking.”
He turned back to her somewhat sheepishly. “Of course.”
They fell back into silence, but at least Robert seemed to be making an effort to avoid worrying too obviously. Now it was Everly’s turn to furrow her brows. She hoped this trip wouldn’t make things worse. She wanted to help, but there was only so much she could do.
After a long ride that was far too silent, they arrived. Robert helped Everly down like the proper gentleman he acted as in public. For a moment, Evelry worried that this had been a bad idea. But they were here, and she was determined to be optimistic.
Robert, at least, seemed to be having a good time as they went from shop to shop. He looked at fancy waistcoats and whatnots (though he seemed to give the cufflinks a wide berth) and he let Everly drag him into a music store with minimal complaining. And even though he whined about going in, he pointed out things that she hadn’t noticed and encouraged her to buy things she was thinking about. By the end of it, they both had several bags and considerably lighter moods. The carriage back was much more pleasant, with Robert chatting about some new scandal while Everly fought a smile. It was nice to see him look so content and happy again. She was sure that whatever was bothering him before wasn’t nearly as big a problem as he had managed to convince himself it was. He did have a tendency to jump to worst-case scenarios. And even if it somehow was, he would be much better equipped to deal with it when he wasn’t already worried out of his mind.
“Everly,” Robert said suddenly, a lot softer than he had been before. “I just… I wanted to say… that, uh, I…”
“Yes, Robert?”
“I just… I’m— I’m not good at this sort of thing. You know.” He cleared his throat. “Expressing… feelings, and all that. But I thought you should know, that is, I wanted to say… Um. Well.”
Everly tilted her head to the side, letting an amused smile cross her face.
“Thank you,” Robert finally said. “For– well, for everything, but especially this afternoon. You were right as always; I was overthinking everything, and you really helped me calm down. You’re always helping me, and I know I don’t help you nearly as much as I should.” He laughed. “I’m a sorry excuse for a fake spouse, aren’t I?”
“Robert.” She set her hand on his shoulder. “You’re doing just fine. We all need different amounts of support at different times, and it’s not your fault that you happen to need it more than me as of late. You remember how upset I was when we first met.”
They both chuckled at the memory.
“I half thought you were going to kill me in my sleep,” Robert said.
Everly laughed. “But you helped me regardless, even though you were also going through an awful time and even though it was awkward. The point is, you were there for me when I needed you, and now I’m here for you when you need me. It’s what friends do.”
Robert turned to gaze wistfully out the window. “Friends,” he whispered. He said it like it was magic. Which for him, it probably was.
He shook himself and looked back at Everly.
“Of all the people I could have been forced to marry,” he said, “I’m glad it was you.”
She smiled softly. “I’m glad it was you, too.”