of course you wouldn't know that you were so a-glow

[forthsofar]

Before they--so reluctantly--went their separate ways, returning as best they could to the familiar patterns and places of their life before the snow and goblins and all they'd suffered, Nick had pressed a key to his apartment into her hand. She'd been confused, and pleased, and a little uncertain, but she hadn't tried to give it back. Charlie and Sabrina, of course, already had ones of their own; in a way, perhaps it made sense for her to have one too.

After everything.

She'd put it, silver and shining, on her keyring and tried not to think too much of it. If nothing else, it was sure to come in handy the next time some absurd peril descended upon the city--or, as was the case today, if her knock to his front door went unanswered. Huffing a soft sigh, she put the bag with the now-clean clothes she'd borrowed from him on the ground and dug through her purse.

"Nick? Are you home?" she calls as she pushes the door open, looking around at the empty living room. "I know I should've texted, but I had to come over here anyway to look in on someone's cat on the third floor, so..." She can hear music coming from somewhere deeper in the apartment; still holding the bag of clothes, Rosie wanders towards it.

Comments

[awickedtime]

Nick knows all about that. He's not sure that he'll ever share the truth of everything that happened at home with anyone who isn't Sabrina; not the whole mess of it, anyway. Sometimes, it's easier to just pretend that bodies can be wipe clean.

"Do you want another drink, or..."

[forthsofar]

He doesn't push further, and she's grateful for it. Rosie gives the question a moment's consideration, then shakes her head. "Thank you, but no," she says, a little reluctantly. "This has been awfully nice, but I should...I can let you get back to what you were doing."

She flushes a little pink again at that, at what's actually meant beneath the vagueness and near-euphemism, but lets it stand.

[awickedtime]

"Oh, because it was really, really important," says Nick, with a broad grin. "Surely it's me who's wasting your time here, Rosie. I didn't have any real plan for the day. Just sunning myself. I love being this warm."

[forthsofar]

"It is lovely out today," she agrees. "And warm, after..." Rosie trails off, trusting him to know what she means without her needing to mention it and bring back the memory of last month's cold and dark and fear.

"You're not wasting my time at all, Nick," she says instead. "I always like spending time with you. And Sabrina and Charlie, all of you."

[awickedtime]

"Funny how it works out, isn't it?" he says, getting up and taking her glass, padding into the relative cool of the apartment. "How important people can end up without you even noticing sometimes."

[forthsofar]

"It is," she agrees, something about the statement making her blush again. "And how quickly."

She watches him go inside, lingering out in the sun for another minute or two before pushing herself to her feet and reentering the apartment.