F R A G M E N T S ;;

                                     And just like that, he was quiet. Jaw stiff and eyes downcast, hardened. A man of difficulty when it came to divulging the right words, and even fewer in auditory confessions, his tactus having always proclaimed more than his tongue. When Hazel’s hand slid into the limpness of his own and squeezed, the sensory creature he was went on a visceral haywire, his body suddenly rigid and tense. This was his best friend here, hand in his and eyes reaming, trying to pry him open and understand what was going on, and here he was; fighting it along with the dichotomy behind honeyed eyes, a battle about whether or not to tell her, for his loyalties still lied somewhere else. Somewhere they shouldn’t have then, in another best friend, more severely, his life’s love. The one responsible for his eternal euphoria, and now, his interim suffering. “No,” his eyes slid shut and his hand slipped out and back into his lap before he could squeeze the slender one left on the table, and relay the tactile confession that yes, something is wrong, and it’s killing me. “… Haze, it’s fine. I’m fine.” His gaze opened again and fell on Hazel, stoic and hard and void of much, but a painful tug in earthy eyes was begging her: Don’t push. Please, don’t push.

“You’re welcome.” The male replied, not caring if it was genuine of not. As long as the groaning was over. Nic had looked away from the blonde, only for a split second, before her words had drawn him back towards her. His eyes had widen, if only slightly, “Is that right?” He muttered, all too aware of how that went. “You might have to show up in person, Haze.” He commented, then paused, “Or I can kill him for you.” Another pause, before a dark laughter escaped his lips suggesting he was joking.

                 “Don’t forget your other half, he’s hungry too—” He laughed, noting their conversation at the festival. “Even ate an uncooked pumpkin to try and fill himself up, it didn’t go down well.” Jamie laughed again, holding his stomach as he thought about the pie. “Yeah, Davis mentioned that. I hope she gets better soon, babies are pretty tough.” When Jamie first held his niece, he assumed she was going to fall and shatter but he quickly realised that they were very resilient. “I’m good, I’m good. Not hungry, always tired though. Yeah, I’ve gotta’ start getting out again. Work’s been a pain, so just hit me up with a date.”

“What?” Hazel laughed, but not because he had referred to Davis as her other half, but because she didn’t know about the whole pumpkin thing. Davis was probably saving the story for later. “That poor guy. And here I was thinking he fed himself when I didn’t,” joked Hazel with her usual grin and laugh. “Yeah, she’ll be fine - probably not until she takes the rest of us down with us though, you know? It’s hard not to catch a cold in close quarters with one.” She shrugged. She was expecting it now to be honest, so it didn’t matter much. “Always tired? Don’t you get enough sleep Jamie?” She asked, trying not to look concerned. “I’ll text you a couple of dates for next week, and we’ll definitely set something up. Bring a girlfriend if you would like.”

“They do know it’s not part of my job. They somehow don’t care anymore.” Though they should have. She wasn’t going to change over night, or ever. “You want me to get my face close enough to a toilet to wrap something around it? Fuck no. I don’t want pink eye.” 

“Well that’s stupid of them,” said Hazel and frowned. “They definitely don’t deserve donuts or anything else rewarding.” Hazel wasn’t sure if she believed Adrian was part of the problem, but she was always likely to make him an exception and then believe the rest of the lot were the ones in the wrong. “Well... I don’t know if you can get pink eye from a toilet, but I hear you, I definitely hear you."

“Right? Even if they were unhelpful, as long as they’re funny I could put up with it. At least I’d have a funny story to share with someone that day,” he said, leaning back in his seat and taking a sip of his coffee. “That’s what this world needs more of, robots with sarcasm, personality. Maybe more people like that too.”

“Yeah, but not that many of them are. I mean, I can’t ever recall meeting a funny lawyer,” said Hazel. “Actually, that’s not true, I know funny people who went on to become lawyers, just not divorce lawyers, and that’s the one I need.” She sighed and pulled her fingers through her blonde hair in frustration, unashamed of her already estranged marriage and impending divorce. “Yes, more robots like that, and humans too, for sure.”

“I think that you can just do it online, probably.” She said with a shrug of her shoulder. “Or stop paying it until they cancel it and then work to pay back your bill, but you’d probably have a few late fees to pay.”

Allie laughed a little, shaking her head as she tried to think of how to describe what went wrong. “Basically a man tried to assault me and I managed to escape. Isn’t exactly the best memory I have and so Halloween always gets a little touchy for me.”

“Oh wow... okay, that’s really intense, I totally understand why you’re not fond of it anymore,” said Hazel sympathetically. “It’s awful and disgusting when men think they can hide behind costumes like that, you know? Suddenly make it okay to do such a thing.” She shook her head in disapproval. “All I can say is... you need to take back the power. Show Halloween and those disgusting bastards that you’re not gonna let them win, you know? But in your own time obviously, so don’t feel pressures to do it this year.”

↳ INSTAGRAM: @hazelboyd uploaded a new photo

charming little butts and tiny feet #eloise&theo

                  “Breastfeeding and barely sleeping – I almost forgot that’s the best exercise you could ever ask for.” The brunette smiled warmly, the thought of the two babies popping in her mind. That was by far a better way to exercise than yoga in Sophie’s mind. “I would love to, of course. I’d be happier if I hit the gym with a friend, that’s always more fun. We can even do things late at night if that works better for you, but I’m sure you’d rather rest than have to watch about the beautiful twos.” She joked, “A cold? Aw, I hope she gets well soon. Has she gotten cranky because of that?”

                  A smile dashed his lips, small but full, amused but testy, “… I can’t tell if you’re tryin’ to warn me or if you just complimented me–” He laughed, cutting off his response, though he wasn’t done yet, still entertained by the idea, “A back-handed compliment is what they call it, right? I think you just gave me a backhanded compliment, Hazel,” The blonde mused, boyishly vibrant with his demeanor, worthy of eliciting an emotion of anyone that peered long enough at least. Mason watched her end her call, slightly surprised, but he figured it wasn’t so much of him, but more that she was merely on the brink. A divorce wasn’t what he’d expected, and the word deflated his grin a tad, shrinking it to a curious smile, “Is that the problem? Him not wantin’ to sign it?” He asked, a corner of his mouth curling up, “‘Cause I can give a stern talkin’ to. Y'know, a proper slap on the back of the hand–.”

Maisie’s brow quirked, turning her smile into one of amused incredulity. “Davis as Mr. Incredible?” she asked, her tone dripping with teasing sarcasm. “Not sure I see it, but sure… go ahead…” She had nothing against Davis - really, she (told herself she) didn’t. She just had a healthy dose of skepticism about the guy; having seen him break her friend’s heart once, she wasn’t eager to let him do it again. 

“Actually-” Hazel said, not defensive but still in Davis’ defence. “He has been pretty incredible since this whole thing happened, you know, having the twins and all that. He’s really stepped up.” She smiled and nodded softly, thinking back to everything they had been through and how he had been there unwaveringly. “I think he’s really changed for the better. Again.”

“Those damn lawyers,” Jude said with a condemning shake of his head. “I mean, I guess these problems will be solved once they have fully thinking robots manning all these hotlines, but you know, actually helpful ones unlike Siri or something. Although, to Siri’s defence, she makes some pretty great jokes.”

“Right? I’m so tired of them,” said Hazel and exhaled deeply but not without a laugh too. At this point that was all she could do, or needed to do to keep a clear head in all this divorce crap. “Oh robots!” She laughed now and nodded her head at his joke, grateful for his light mood. “Yes, we need robots like Siri to run those phones. With the same sense of humour.”

“ Eh, I worked in the American Embassy in Budapest, and that is about as close as I ever got to politics, ever. “, he clarified, seeing how she might have thought something else. And judging Sándor would have anyone assume anything about him rather than think he meddled around in anything as corrupt as politics. “ Let’s just hope for you to not get stuck the second time around, because keep getting stuck is even worse “ 

“That’s close enough to never want to get closer I’m sure?” She smiled lightly to make sure he knew she was just joking. She would never judge anyone’s job, and actually admired those who dared go into politics. They were important after all. “Yeah, I hope I wont. I’m praying I won’t, because I think it might drive me crazy if I do, you know? Anyway... I’m Hazel - it’s nice to meet you.”

Allie wanted to find a way to fight Hazel’s logic but she couldn’t really. All the bad thoughts that rushed through her mind were all because she let the bad experience ruin any fun memories she had of Halloween. “You know, I hate that you’re right. I can’t even come up with anything to refute you. “

“That’s music to my ears,” said Hazel and laughed softly. “I want you to have a nice night though, but I do understand why you’re apprehensive. Maybe if you tell me what went wrong, we can look at how to avoid something similar happening next Halloween?”

“If you’re up, I’m up,” he assured her with a squeeze, a stupid sounding promise that he hoped she’d forgive him for and maybe even be touched by. The sentiment if nothing else was heartfelt: He was there for the long haul, in whatever capacity she would allow him to be. 

It was a sweet moment - peaceful, even with El dozing fitfully in his arms - and though it wasn’t the moment he’d planned on (he wasn’t even sure when that was), he figured now was as good a time as any to tell her what he’d been up to. He’d been sneaking around at first - it was easy enough to keep it a secret from her when he’d made a career of doing things similar - but now he felt secure enough to share his plans. “Besides, I’ll probably find a use for the late nights. Isn’t there some cliche about pulling all nighters studying?” 

“Yeah.” She whispered sweetly and nodded, her fingers sliding in between his and squeezing reassuringly. “I know you are, and it means so much to me Davis.” It did. She had stopped doubting him a long time ago, and she knew he was there whenever she needed it or whenever their kids needed him. 

Slowly pulling her hand back again to look at the time on her phone before dumping it in one of the small compartments of the diaper bag with a heavy sigh. She was probably worried for no reason - she knew there wasn’t much to do when it came to medical options for Eloise. She would just need a lot of rest and food, and a little bit of baby paracetamol if she were to get a fever. She would be okay, she knew that, and she focused on that until Davis spoke again. “What?” She looked at him with knitting brows, not sure she heard him right, or how she could have heard him right. “What do you mean?”

Nic glanced over at Hazel as she then turned to him, and spoke. At first, he hadn’t replied back to her. In fact, he remained rather unphrased by the question, and for a moment, it’d seem that he’d come to ignore her words. It seemed. And then in a brief moment, the male had reached for the phone, and ended the call for her. Before handing the device back to her. “Life’s too short, Boyd.” He commented, finally. “And yours might’ve been had I had to listen to you groan or huff one more time. Who were you on hold with?”