(merry christmas! i know ur sick of it but…)
Orion put her laundry in the dryer, grabbed her bag, and set off for the library. She had books she needed to return, and others she wanted to check out.
Once inside the library, she picked out a few books and returned the ones from last week. New books in hand, she returned home, checked the mail and settled in to read. Sir Ben curled up on her lap and Clefairy sat in the apartment window.
After the quartet finished their rock climbing, Thomas turned back to Orion's apartment. He bid farewell to Harley, Lillian, and Kara as he strolled down the sidewalk. It was getting dark and chilly. Thomas picked up his pace, trying to thaw his freezing muscles and get to his jacket faster.
He turned into the apartment building, walking up the stairs and stopping in front of the door that was Orion's. He took a deep breath and rapped on the door.
Orion got up and opened the door and blew her hair out of her eyes. "Hello. Um, your coat is right in here. If you want you can come in. I, um. I washed your coat if you don't mind. Well, I guess you have to not mind because I already did it. Anyway." Orion held out his coat. "Right."
Clefairy meowed and licked Thomas's ankles. "Clefairy. No ankles."
"They're fine," Thomas responded with a smile, reaching down to stroke Clefairy's head. "And, uh… thank you for washing my coat I guess." He rubbed the back of his neck and laughed softly. He took the navy blue coat and put his arms through the sleeves. "And… um. Yeah," Thomas laughed and ran his fingers through his short and thick hair.
"Um. . . forgive me if I'm out of line, but could I- um, would you like to get a pretzel?" Orion enunciated her words for fear of messing up her sentence. "You know, for earlier." Her cheeks flushed out of embarrassment. "You don't have to say yes."
"Uh, sure," Thomas quietly muttered, before shaking his head and speaking louder. "Yeah, I would love to." He smiled, his white teeth a stark contrast to his deep skin. "A-are we going to go now. We could it's just a little dark y'know, or we could go in the morning, but really any time is good."
Orion blinked. She didn't expect him to actually say yes; most of the time people ignored her. "Whenever works for you is good. I don't have to work until tomorrow evening. . . um, if you want Clefairy to stop licking your ankles you can just tell her to stop."
"Well- uh… it's kinda dark right now, but I can pick you up in the morning?" Thomas reached down to stroke the cat once again. "You have my number… right? I mean I could give it to you again- no that's weird, but uh yeah. I can get Lillian to watch over Kara for the day. Kara may be old enough to take care of herself but she won't just because she can." He rubbed his neck and laughed. "But… uh- I'll see you tomorrow? I'll pick you up at 9 if that's okay."
"Alright. Okay. That sounds good." Orion pulled her sleeves down to her hands. "Um. So. Tomorrow, then?"
(scoot)
(Hi! Sorry school and life has been kinda rough recently. I havent really been responding to any rps but Im trying to respond to them all tonight. Sorry to keep you waiting!!)
(don't worry about it! i didn't know but it's not a big deal. take all the time you need)
"Yeah, tomorrow!" Thomas smiled and turned to the door. "I- um… See you then!" And with that, he left.
Orion went to sleep with her cats at her feet and a plethora of thoughts in her head. As usual, it took an hour and a half to fall asleep. And she dreamt of nightmarish things with long legs and claws that chased her in her sleep. This wasn't out of the ordinary; usually, this happened every night.
Thomas woke up the next morning with Kara jumping right onto his chest. "OOF!" He wheezed, pushing the smaller and younger girl to the floor. "Kara! Was that necessary?!" He scolded, though his voice was the same smooth tone as usual. He sighed and rubbed his eyes as Kara laughed like a friend and scrambled out of his room. He checked the clock, the green digits reading 8:03.
Thomas yawned and picked out a pair of jeans and a simple black button-up. He got in the shower, ready for his… meet-up with Orion.
Orion stumbled into the kitchen, put the kettle on the stove, and showered for exactly seven minutes. She got out, twisted her hair into a haphazard bun, and pulled on a hoodie over a green and black striped shirt. She wiggled her feet into her favorite jeans and let her hair back down to dry. The kettle started screeching in the kitchen, and so did Sir Ben, wailing louder than the boiling water. "BEN!"
The cat fell silent, then started up again. Orion shoved her feet into a pair of steel toe boots and stomped into the kitchen. She scooped up Ben and put him out on the balcony. "Shut up already, you whine bag." She poured the water into a mug and dropped a teabag in too.
It was 8:47 when Thomas left his house, Kara coninuelessly teasing him about his date. Lillian literally had to sit on the child so Thomas could leave the house in peace. He got into his black pick up and drove over to Orion's apartment complex.
It was just after 9 when Thomas knocked on Orion's door.
"Coming!" Orion set her tea on the counter and opened the door. "Hi. You look good. I mean nice. You look. . . Anyway. You can come in if you want."
"I- uh… Thank you! You look great too." Thomas took her offer to enter the home and took a seat on the couch. "So, any certain place in mind that you'll wanna go? I have a couple but if you wanna go somewhere specific that's fine with me."
"Do you like . . .bubble tea? There's a place down the street with the best bubble tea." Orion tucked her hands into her pocket.
"Oooh, that sounds good!" Thomas smiled and stood. "If you give directions, I'll pay."
"Alright. Come on then." Orion opened the door and said, "Just a few blocks to the right."
"Are we walking or driving? My truck's parked outside if we wanna take that." Thomas shrugged and followed Orion out the door and into the hallway.
"I'd prefer to walk. If you don't mind." Orion tugged on a curl of her hair.
"Alright, that's cool with me," Thomas replied with a shrug and a smile. He held the door open for Orion and let her lead him down the sidewalk.