I'd Give Up The World For You

It was a miracle they made it back to her apartment in one piece after that. Juliet's nerves were so frazzled that the moment they arrived she collapsed onto the couch. Rukelion didn't have any issues with timing the lights but there were a couple of close calls at four-way stops. Then again when they got to her apartment complex and he almost backed into a kid while trying to correct his parking job. 

She sent a silent, fervent apology to her mother into the void for making her go through that. She ought to buy her something extra good next Mother's Day. Maybe one of those giant fruit bouquets. 

Exhausted and still dealing with her racing heart, Juliet fervently hoped tomorrow would be less eventful. It would be Rukelion's first day at work and everything should be ready to go so all he needed to do was follow directions. He excelled at that. 

His trainer was going to be thrilled with him. He was the perfect pupil. Anything he didn't know how to do she was certain he would look up himself, choosing to speak to others as a last resort. 

He wasn't a huge fan of people in general. Though he did sort of become friends with Silas Conrad, it was done somewhat begrudgingly. 

Juliet would bet her last cent that Rukelion wouldn't speak to anyone a second more than necessary until he found Daisy. She was the only one he truly enjoyed spending time with. He had certainly left everyone else behind without so much as a second thought. 

She sometimes wondered what happened to the government after he straight up abandoned being king without warning to follow his wife. She hoped everyone in Mirea was okay and that there hadn't been some sort of horrible power vacuum. That would be one more thing for her to feel guilty about and she certainly didn't need that. 

Would the guilt ever go away? Was she ever going to feel like she actually had her life back? 

This all still felt like a dream since she had given Rukelion Blaze a driving lesson today. That sounded like something straight out of a bizarre modern AU fanfic. Would things feel more normal once he was gone and her life had gone back to the way it was before any of this happened?

Juliet hadn't been up for socializing since she was too worried about dying and everything that had happened in Mirea since getting back. She had missed her friends and family so much and now she was afraid to hang out with them.

She had talked to her mom and sister on the phone a few times since coming back and it made her want to cry. They sounded the way they always did. 

They would never know she had been gone for a whole year. To them she hadn't disappeared at all. Life continued on as usual for them while everything had changed for her. She didn't know how she was supposed to adjust back after what she had been through considering she would never be able to tell anyone about it.

Who would believe her? Everyone would think it was just a crazy dream.

Juliet would think that too if not for the fact that she could open her eyes and see her villain sitting across the room from her. As she lay there trying to recover on the couch, he had resumed his research. 

What was he looking up this time? He already had a job but she supposed he wanted to know more about how this world worked.

Rukelion was the meticulous sort. He didn't do anything halfway. She snuck a peek at the computer screen as he worked and saw that he was looking up a list of common slang terms and idioms. It was so random and yet it was just like him to do something like that. 

He never acted like he was caught off guard by anything he saw or heard but that was only because he didn't like interacting with Juliet more than he had to. He preferred to figure things out on his own. 

He really needed to get himself a smartphone. That would solve all of his potential problems with looking things up. 

She hadn't been able to use her own laptop unless he was asleep in weeks! It was getting ridiculous but he wouldn't be able to buy a phone or set up a phone plan until he got his first paycheck so for now she was stuck letting him do what he wanted with her laptop so he didn't kill her. 

At least Juliet still had her phone. It had most of the same capabilities her computer did. The biggest issue was that she couldn't write on it as easily. That was less of one now that her first draft was turned in but what about when her editor got back to her and expected her to fix things? She would need it then!

She was bored and frustrated since she was sure trying to watch TV and distracting him from what he was doing would kindle his wrath. So in an ironic flight of fancy she ended up writing about giving him his driving lesson earlier on her Tumblr account as if it was a one-shot fanfic. 

Why? She wasn't quite sure. 

Maybe she wanted to be able to talk about it without people thinking she was crazy and get their take on it. Maybe it was because she was desperate to have something to do other than sit here in the heavy silence.

Juliet had a fairly extensive following. She ran a few fandom-specific blogs for things she loved, a writing prompts blog, and a multifandom blog that was her main one. 

She originally posted the one-shot on her main blog but reblogged it onto her Down in Flames one as well. Comments came pouring in, primarily from Rukelion Blaze stans who always loved receiving new content where he wasn't pure evil. 

'This is the sort of content I need on my dash'

'Oh my gosh this is exactly how I would imagine him reacting to learning how to drive'

'Too funny! His frustration is oddly adorable'

'How did you even think of this? It's so original. I know we don't get nearly enough of Rukelion being anything but crazy in the story but this is totally how he would be before he lost his mind'

Juliet glanced over at him. He was concentrating fiercely on a YouTube video discussing different types of international foods. How he had gotten to that from slang and idioms she would never know. Things could jump around a lot on the internet.

He was still at it after she went to bed that night and she sincerely hoped he was able to get at least a little sleep so he could function at full capacity at work tomorrow. Otherwise both of their gooses would be cooked. 

By the time she woke up he was finally out cold and she squirmed at the thought of having to be the one to wake him. He was going to lash out and burn her in his sleep, wasn't he?

She figured the safest thing to do was get a broom and poke him with the handle. That would keep her out of the most direct line of fire. Armed with her weapon, she quietly approached and reached out to touch his shoulder. He rolled over but didn't wake until she did it again and he mumbled sleepily under his breath. 

"What is it, Daisy? Come closer if you're cold'

Juliet's heart dropped to her stomach. As she stood there, frozen with guilt, Rukelion reached out to find his wife and met empty air. That was when he realized what was going on and sat up. 

His hair was on fire again. He wasn't happy about being caught at a vulnerable moment or being poked with a stick. 

"What is it?" he asked in a very different voice than the one he had a moment ago. This one sent chills down Juliet's spine. It implied certain death. 

"You need to get up for work. I'll let you drive so you can get your practice in," she said. 

Without another word, Rukelion stood and gathered some of the new clothes they had bought yesterday before disappearing into the bathroom. When he emerged he ate a single banana and began packing himself a lunch with ingredients there happened to be on hand. 

She noticed that on the rare occasions he did eat it tended to be apples or sandwiches that he made without any condiments. Things that he would have had back in his world. She wondered if it was a conscious choice or not. 

He could be doing it because it was all he knew or he could be purposely sticking with it to keep him grounded when dealing with so much change at once.. Her money was on the latter.