Admittedly, she didn't have time. But she always made time for family as best she could.

She checks the time on her watch as she enters the cafe. For a moment she's stuck in the doorway, holding it open as the bell chimes, watching the hand tick away on her wrist. Exasperated at how late she is and how late she's going to be getting back, she's jarred back into reality by an impatient young woman behind her.

"Apologies, ma'am."

And then she realizes that Alexei isn't inside, so she hesitates, awkward, to wait to exit. Outside, she spots him and hurries over.

"Alexei! Hope I didn't make you wait too long."

Alexei Ivanov

Most girls did - but Thea wasn't most girls.

Sugar just gave her a migraine.

It does make her smile to see him so happy though. His finger plunges into the whipped cream and then into his mouth. She glances away, embarrassed when he leans in close to look at her notes. It isn't gibberish but it's pretty near close if he had no idea what was being written.

"I'm not that smart."

Thankfully, Kris pulls out his notebook and stack of textbooks. Her eyes scan over his illegible chicken scratch and she stifles a giggle.

"Are you even able to read that?"

She's blunt, and then a little embarrassed about her bluntness, and gives way for awkward pause.

kris flynn-edwards

Thea watches him, violet eyes careful as they study his expression. He shakes his head and she follows the line of his nose, blinking to return back to his eyes.

"You know.. I probably do too."

He shifts closer to her, pulling the couch in to dip lower where they both sit in the middle. It forces her - though she doesn't fight it - into leaning against him. Thea finds his hand and eases her fingers through his.

"I'd like that, Rory."

Rory Faust

"Hm? Why? Aren't you busy right now?"

More than usual, anyway. If its even possible, she's seen even less of him. Constantly working extra shifts or staying late. Combined with her own long days at the battle academy..

It made her heart feel heavy, and made her realize just how much she should hold on to this moment. Cuddled on the couch eating pizza; how mundane.

"Is that a good idea?"

Rory Faust

Thea eats considerably slower, taking the time between bites to focus on the television screen and to think and overthink about what she's just disclosed to Rory only moments ago.

He seems otherwise unbothered, setting his plate down and extending praise to his accidental accomplishments in the kitchen.

"We should try stuffed crust next time."

She smiles, watching him.

Rory Faust

Thea, nervous, reaches to touch and rotate the cup closest to her. She doesn't miss the way the wind catches his hair, or the way he runs his fingers through his hair. He did that when he was nervous, she'd come to realize.

He slides into the seat next to her, rather than across from her. It surprises her, but mostly because it leaves a warm, fuzzy feeling in her chest that makes it impossible to stop smiling. A breeze brushes past them, bringing with it the smell of him. He always smelled nice, too.

"Without whipcream."

She giggles.

"Oh.. just boring stuff. Trigonometry, mathematics, stuff like that."

But she closes her books, gesturing to his backpack or wherever he might be carrying his own studying materials. They weren't here for her studies, he'd asked her to help him with his. And, given their lack of classes together, it was unlikely he, too, was prepping for a Trig exam next week.

kris flynn-edwards

Thea's been waiting for a while now- though that isn't Flynn's fault in the slightest. They'd agreed on a time and she'd simply been too anxious to dawdle. She had nothing better to do, and by now she was already enthralled in a book. Supposed to be studying, of course, but she figured that she could do that with Flynn.

His shadow across the white pages surprises her, and she closes the book abruptly and slides it to the side. Below are her study notes, and she picks up her pencil.

"Oh! Wow, Kris, that's so sweet of you. Thank you!"

kris flynn-edwards

The two are an unlikely pair. Alethea, from a rich, high-class family in the expensive part of Mistralton. They owned an estate, probably a handful of cars, spent money like it was nothing (mostly for things that were useful, usually).

Perhaps that was why she liked him. He was different, he was kind, he was something sweet and humble and unfamiliar to her. Just a normal boy, in a normal school, who made her feel normal and giddy and good. When he looked at her, she felt like.. she was the most important person in the world.

Thea glances down at the pencil in his hand, momentarily horrified that he's marking it up with ink- but he isn't. Instead, lightly scrawled pencil lead leaves behind his name and phone number. She sucks in a corner of her bottom lip, biting it gently. She's smiling.

And only after he pushes the book closer again does she take it, holding it awkwardly and not to her chest this time. That would be weird, right?

"Okay," she whispers, dipping her head politely, awkwardly, before taking a few steps back. She trips over something a bit, fixes a book she's knocked out of place, before waving goodbye and rejoining her friends.

Naturally, the first few text messages he receives are not from her at all. Her friends had seen him write something in the book and automatically knew what it had been, and harassed her endlessly until she gave it up. Everyone had a crush on Kris Flynn-Edwards, after all.

kris flynn-edwards

Thea chuckles, dipping her head. His laughter seems to relax her just a little bit. Perhaps he hadn't noticed her slip of the tongue. Her friends would though. In fact.. she's pretty sure she can hear giddy whispering from a few aisles down.

But when she glances past Flynn's shoulder, those shoulders of brown and blonde hair disappear. Curious.

Her attention returns to his face, eyes widening in surprise at his exclamation. He had also said it so loudly that she's sure her friends had heard. Them and the entire library. The girls blush is deep this time, and she stares at her toes. They're painted a pale shade of purple.

"Uhh.. sure, Kris. That'd be really nice."

She sucks in her bottom lip, stifling a smile. It's cute, and she forgets immediately that Flynn is still holding her book. But instincts tell her that now is the appropriate time to leave, at the most awkward interval in ther conversation. Highschool brain, teenage brain, whatever you call it.

So she exhales, ready to be awkward, and attempts to bid him farewell.

"Uhh.. okay! Um, text me, then? When you, uhh.. need a tutoring session?"

But he didn't have her number, and she hadn't given it to him yet, and she hadn't gotten her book back.

kris flynn-edwards

Thea giggles, shaking her head.

"Maybe it's all the soccer ball kicks to the head."

She's talking about the headbutting of the ball, though she doesn't know the term, if there even is one. Though at the mention of it, she pales at the realization. Her knowing anything regarding that was evidence that she'd been at his soccer games.

Which really shouldn't be that mortifying or surprising, because the entire school often went to see their soccer team play.

"You want me to tutor you?"

Her heart beats faster.

"Yes! Yes, I'd like that. Sure, that'd be.. nice. I'd be happy to, Kris."

kris flynn-edwards

"I think they call it thin crust."

It's just a bit overdone, that's all.

Thea chuckles a bit, a forced attempt at humor from her end. But she still smiles up at him all the same, gently pulling him with her into the living room. The movie is at least a good thirty minutes deep, but she reckons neither of them care.

What matters is that they're together, for the first time in a long time. And it feels strange to sit next to him and let herself relax and be in the moment. She feels hollow, she realizes, when she steals glances up at him.

She considers saying something to him, but instead she looks away and gathers the pizza in her hands to take a bite.

Rory Faust

Just like her?

Thea flushes at the suggestion, unsure how to respond. It takes her a moment, with a long pause of exasperated, embarrassed mouth movements and red ears. She tucks blonde hair behind her ear, nervous.

"I'm not that smart, really. I just like puzzles and math problems."

And she loved to help others, she loved to teach. But she supposes he's right, she is a lot like the female side-character. The thought sort of comforts her.

kris flynn-edwards