XVIII

❛ I rely a bit too heavily on alcohol and irony. ❜ // coranza !

“hey, it’s okay,” he said, his voice hushed. he wraped his free arm around her back and held her to him tightly, just then realizing how much he had actually missed her -- it felt like he hadn’t seen her in years, and he was glad to just be home with her. “hey -- i got these for you,” he took a half step back and held the flowers out to her. “i didn’t know what kind you liked, so i kinda just picked whatever i could find, but you can throw them away if you don’t like them.”

robbie knew he had been gone long -- and, while he knew it was for a good reason and he hadn’t left just to leave, he still felt bad for charity, and like he owed her. he hate to think that she might be mad at him, but he knew it was likely. he knocked on the door to her apartment with his right hand, his left holding a bouquet of wildflowers he had picked for her on his walk over. “charity?” he called through he door after he had knocked, rocking back and forth on his feet. “it’s -- uh, it’s me.”

( ✉ → robbie )

( ✉ → open )

“please, i’m asking were people can hear so i can get some advice -- you know how everyone can get. i just want a simple, no-fuss birthday,” he leaned forward, the front legs of his chair hitting the ground. “are those for me?”

“secret relationships, secret birthdays... my life is just a big secret, now, isn’t it?” robbie leaned back and grinned at her, wrapping his arms around her once she hugged him. “thanks -- finally twenty-one.”

“is there any way to celebrate a birthday without being... extra about it?” robbie wondered aloud, leaning back in his chair until the front legs lifted off the ground. “or, maybe -- have a birthday without anyone knowing? a secret birthday! is that a thing?”

“okay, cool, just making sure we’re on the same page, here,” robbie nodded. he didn’t understand how, exactly, the living dead thing worked -- but that didn’t mean he found it strange, or uninteresting. he listened carefully as he related magic to his ‘club’; he’d never realized magic was required for a living dead person to grow, as he had assumed it just sort of happened, but -- the more you know, right? “all right, good to know -- and, yeah, science. i’m majoring in astronomy, so -- space science, science of the stars, whatever you wanna call it, really.”