" heimlich always sounds like an evil henchman's name , " he said between coughs before he finally settled. it seemed to be some sick and twisted joke but it meant he had probably been monitoring nan in some what which he did not like one bit. he'd made it very clear he had no interest in them , he'd come to terms with it --- mainly to himself and had assumed he would go the rest of his life without confronting it. " wanted to talk is never a fucking talk , nan. " fingers ran through his hair , frustrated as she continued to speak. " last monday ? " he repeated , almost incredulously. " oh -- that was like two weeks before i proposed to romy and she said yes , " if she was going to drop a bombshell then so was he. lips curled into a small smile before adding , " please do me an favor and block him , you don't need that in your life , francine. "

       the  question  had  actually  caught  cash  off-guard  and  he  seemed  to  buffer  for  a  moment  while  he  considered  how  or  what  to  answer.  the  truth  or  some  vague  idea  of  it.  "in  terms  of  a  biological  mother  and  father,  some  siblings,  if  any  of  them  are  still  alive  and  well...  yeah."  the  subject  wasn't  necessarily  sensitive  for  him  anymore  but  it  still  wasn't  the  best  topic  to  chat  about  for  the  california  native.  "haven't  seen  any  of  them  since  i  was  maybe  thirteen."  a  shrug  of  his  broad  shoulders  conveyed  an  indifference  to  that  fact.  on  the  verge  of  asking  why  he  found  himself  answering  something  else  first  with  a  nod  of  his  head.  "yep,  she  did,  and  you  won't  hear  from  me  on  it."  the  fighter  extended  his  hand  for  a  fist  bump,  a  show  of  respect  and  he  hoped  francis  hadn't  taken  his  curiosity  and  press  for  the  reasons  surrounding  frank  too  negatively.  clearly,  he  had  his  own  hangups  when  it  came  to  family.  "so,  why're  you  asking?"

he was hoping to see if cash had a better way of speaking about certain topics but from what he just divulged he might not have been the best choice. francis thought about his next words once the other confessed , " damn , " he sighed. " and i thought i had it bad. " though he didn't , his mom was loaded , his sister wasn't a freak it was just his dad -- and how he got roped into what he did. " thirteen's a hell of a long time. " francis wasn't one to speak about sensitive topics but he felt in over his head with what was happening with pantheon and cash , well , cash was a friend. the other returned the fist bump , there were never any hard feelings -- he couldn't blame the guy , frank was a pretty common name. " nan doesn't know what i do -- , " he motioned to the air around them -- how the two had met after all. " romy thinks i should tell her but , " there was obvious hesitation. " i don't know , she's gonna freak. "

francis tried not to act shocked but he always was , romy always carried an air of nonchalance that while he could imitate perfectly at work he lacked in his personal life. it used to freak him out , it might still little less than before but he liked to think he'd gotten to know her well enough to where he could decipher it. " you think ? " he wondered , attempting to hide the small smile that grew on his lips. " is that why you barley want to eat out ? " it wasn't that he had gotten used to take out before he had met romy -- it was just convenient. her weird combinations of foods were switched for extremely delicious food , maybe a bit too healthy but good none the less. " don't act like i don't see how some people look at you either --- you're not ugly , romy. " he might have gotten jealous once before , unsure if she had caught onto it but he liked to think she'd be committed hence the ring on her finger. " one day you'll realize how batshit your whole upbringing is --- and i know someone might want to monetize your story --- think of the benjamins , romy. " he teased but he would rather her not feel pressured to do anything she didn't want to , she was a pretty private person all things considered. " do you want to make an instagram ? you don't really seem like the type , unless you want to do like nature photography which you can. " though he was unsure if she could like it or if she would just spend too many hours on it and become addicted -- it could go to either extreme. " well in all fairness it was a very idiotic thing to do , " he paused. " but i don't really care --- you're it for me. "

       notebook  in  hand,  laptop  open  on  her  leg  from  her  spot  on  her  couch  in  her  living  room,  fidan  glanced  up  from  it  all  to  look  at  her  guest.  "sorry,  did  you  want  something  to  drink  or  a  snack?  i  meant  to  ask  as  we  were  getting  settled  but...  tunnel  vision."  the  former  chef  somewhat  shrugged  it  off,  as  though  it  were  something  she  couldn't  be  blamed  for  when  it'd  come  to  her  bad  hosting  moment.  thankfully  they  hadn't  been  at  it  for  too  long  and  she  was  only  collecting  what  was  possibly  considered  pertinent  information  to  send  to  alfie  in  a  zip  file.  their  text  exchange  ended  in  an  invite  to  her  home  so  she  could  give  whatever  background  he  needed  to  do  his  specialty,  and  they'd  made  it  as  far  as  her  living  room  where  she'd  earlier  brought  out  her  laptop  and  her  safest  notebook.  the  brunette  hadn't  decided  if  she'd  show  alfie  into  her  office  yet,  because  that  would  be  rather  revealing  at  just  how  in-depth  her  investigation  had  been  running.  "i  don't  have  any  eggplant  but  i  do  have  peaches..."  a  little  smirk  formed  on  her  lips.

he was almost surprised she had invited him over , a complete and utter stranger who she had met perchance in a grocery store didn't exactly scream trust worthy. he had of course done his research on fidan , though it hadn't been easy. took him quite a bit to narrow his searches from just a first name but when she mentioned brooklyn -- luckily it had been easy. though his search didn't necessarily pull anything out of the ordinary , ex chef -- though he couldn't figure out her ties just yet. he had been on his phone , occasionally glancing in her direction to see when she would be finished with the information she was willing to give him. " for a former chef , your selection does seem to be a bit limited. " he said , nodding his head. " how did you meet your friend ? " sometimes a first meeting said a lot about a person without even thinking about it.

" impossible dreams do sometimes come true , " he said , not that he was optimistic by any means but she barley knew him -- or knew of him , he hoped. they'd only met by chance and now he was there , in her apartment , somehow missing one sock but he couldn't mention it. he nodded his head at her ramblings , eyes searching the nearby area for his lost sock but it seemed like he would have to be sockless. " is that your way of saying you're lonely ? " it was all that he gathered from her couch talk , honestly -- it kind of made sense. " well to be quite fair , tea doesn't expire like milk does. "

2.13 | "Games People Play"

despite the differences in their lives francis had always made an attempt to be an active participant in nan's life --- mainly to see that she was keeping out of trouble. to him she had a certain penchant for randomly getting into trouble and while he wanted to butt out , he simply couldn't. so their little cereal dates were nothing out of the ordinary. he was having a good time , actually having the courage to muster out the words --- i proposed to romy before nan dropped her own bombshell. francis seemed to inhale the last spoonful before coughing , almost choking before finally composing himself. " well --- did you block him ? what the fuck did he want ? " frank attempting to be in her life was no good , plus , he knew better than to even contact or even think about him. " when was this ? "

the embrace was broken , his left hand twitched -- he'd attribute it to the injury not the fact that he was already missing how she felt in his arms. " right -- yeah , the fires. " he nodded , a sore subject for most. especially her given her proximity to some of the deceased and now having to avenge their deaths in a way. however --- he still felt like ellie could and should take the reigns while she had time to decompress. " just let me know when , " even if she wanted to do something impromptu , he would be okay with whatever she wanted. anything for her. his hands retreated to his side before shoving them into his pockets as if to create a barrier to avoid reaching for her again. " did you think it was dirty or something ? " lips curled into a smile before shaking his head. " is that your way of saying you want a farm animal ? i can make that happen -- just say the word. " though he knew what she meant , her words being acknowledged with a single nod. " you want to head back ? it's a bit of a long drive and you have things to do. "

he nodded his head at her words , the other person obviously not thinking she knew what she was talking about. however , as much as santiago hated to admit it yale really did make well rounded individuals --- that and they were both fairly influential and knew better than not not catch up on their wordly endeavors. lips curled into a small grin at the woman's compliment , cleo did always have a way with words. at the mention of his campaign the other looked shocked --- almost shocked he didn't recognize him. he could have just asked but he knew the moment had left and so had their little friend. " i think that's your fault for being too inviting , " he nodded , lips curled against his cigarette , quickly lighting it and blowing the smoke away from the two. " and to think every single harvard graduate i've met is like that and don't get me started on princeton. i like to think we have a little something to offer rather than regurgitating whatever professors say during lecture. " though he had to wonder how many times cleo had actually attended lectures , but it didn't matter they seemed to be doing fairly well for themselves. " for me ? " he pointed to himself with his free hand before shrugging. " can i play coy and say --- no cleo , you don't have to do that ? or will it be too obvious that you can do whatever you want ? "

he saw the way her face contorted into something he had never seen before --- though easily recognizable throughout media --- embarrassment. " good for her ? " he said with a small chuckle , though it was a bad idea to chuckle , the tenderness of his injury making itself blatantly aware. " i well i think it's the same as doom scrolling , i am doom scrolling through my emails and clicking reply and leaving a comment. it's all the same. " though you didn't need to use your brain to write a tik tok comment or so he thought. " to be fair , you almost act the same way as when you were sixteen , except you actually want to talk to me now and aren't forced to. " though in the past he just thought of her like anyone else , taking in her attributes as he did for a study but now -- something had shifted since the hospital. " i look more like her than i do you , " he pointed out , remembering what she had mentioned at the hospital. " plus , i only really talk to gwen and even then very little , " knowing that was where the conversation was going to inevitably land on. he nodded at her comment , " you can say you care --- you already did at the hospital or are you going to blame my head ? " she could or she could pretend he was imagining things , he would believe her. " yes , she also mentioned you tried to make amends by mentioning my family ? " he questioned as if looking for confirmation. " horrible way to make amends by the way , she barley knows about them. "

" take my words with a grain of salt , always , gwen. " he meant it. her family was better equipped to handle the human aspect of things no matter how formal gwen was -- they taught her about humanity --- harry learned about humanity through science , consciousness and morality only helping dampen what science could truly be. he knew it wasn't totally a complete picture even as a child and now -- how this fire consumed , it gave people one common enemy. " i do not know the first thing about family , my brother does not talk to me , my parents have never talked to me unless it pertains to work and keeping the image of their devoted attention alive. " she knew that , at least he told her very minimally about how his family worked , he didn't feel the need to then but now ? well , it would help. he sighed , knowing it wasn't a typical topic for either of them , "unfortunately we both know the nature of her job. whether you want to make amends or not it is completely up to you. i have never once told you what to do. " she'd always been her own person and he always respected it.