how deep is your love?

“Oh hours and hours. It’s tiring just to watch. Well, in and out of touch yeah. But we’ve always been pretty tight so we don’t really need to be talking all the time, you know? Oh yeah, I have so many, but I fear if I tell you he’d just spill even worse about me, so.”

“Goodness, the things we do for beauty. Yeah, real friends never really lose that connection. If you truly care about somebody distance isn’t going to change that. It’s the true test of friendship. I won’t ask then, I’m sure you both have reputations to uphold and too many people watch this show for anything we say to stay hush hush.”

“Alright, but I’m relying on your sense of direction because I don’t have one.”

Yeah, it all depends on your genetics. It really is! I want to try some more daring things too, but it just seems so scary to make such an irreversible change to your appearance like that.

“Exactly, what if it looks bad? Your options are just waiting for it to grow out which could take months or shaving it completely off and wearing wigs which I imagine would be itchy. What would you like to try out if you could?”

“Don’t apologize, there’s nothing to be sorry for,” Isobel replies dismissively, trying to not think about how close he is, how pretty his eyes are. “I liked it. I like-- hold on, you’re not drunk again, are you?” The thought is sudden, hadn’t crossed her mind until now. Every other time they’ve been lip-locked at least one of them has been a little bit drunk, but he doesn’t look or sound like he’s been drinking. “We should both be sober for this, I think. It’s kind of important,” she explains, tucking her bottom lip between her teeth. She’s more self-assured now than she was before, but there’s still some doubt that lingers. “No, you don’t have to let go...” she murmurs. She’s vaguely aware that everyone in the world is going to see this moment, but she’s more concerned with what Q thinks than with what they do. “Do you ever think about, or remember, the time we kissed at that party? Or the time we kissed again and I played it off as an accident? I’m not sure if you realize how much they meant to me, how much you mean to me. I keep wanting to tell you but then I get scared of saying too much and making things weird between us. It sounds dumb ‘cause I know you’re just a guy, but you’re not just a guy. That’s the thing, that’s why I keep coming here and hoping you’ll feel the same way.”

“He does have a pretty good mop on his head. We used to be neighbours. Way back when, I taught him everything he knows. He’d argue otherwise but I’m telling you it’s bullshit.

“I wonder how long it takes him to style it every morning, or if it just naturally looks like that. No way, have you kept in touch this whole time? I wish I still knew my childhood friends but then again they’d probably have all kinds of embarrassing stories about me.”

“Good to know. No, no trophy hunting. And Ares is one of my best mates so I’m definitely not homophobic.”

“He’s the one with the lovely hair, isn’t he? He’s very nice, I like him. How do you two know each other?”

“Understandable. You’ll probably feel a lot better once you adjust to the time change.”