#borealiis

sitting on the swings as she waited, fay almost mourned that she had kicked most nervous habit which left her with the sole option of tapping her foot because her braid was still  perfect  and that did not allow for any  hair twirling.

‘‘ there you are, ’’ she sighed as richard finally came into view. ‘‘ what is this about? ’’

ROME WAS ALWAYS  worth the trip. that was a statement fay was willed to sign on most days, but it was doubly true when she could  explore  the city without a guide breathing down her neck. as richard felt similarly, they had devised a shockingly  simple  plan to ensure that they would not be bothered by classmates and teachers during their day. she  was  known for her frail health, for the many sick days she had amassed over the time she had been a student at the academy --- and now, on the day when her class wanted to visit the vatican, it was finally something she could  USE.

half a century ago, she would have been shocked at the notion of being  glad  that richard had come back to town. for such a long time, she had ran from any serious conversation, had avoided it and deflected all attempts at remembering that they had not always been rivals. before they had been rivals, they had been friends. before he had began to annoy her with his pointy statements and pointier elbows, she had cherished him dearly. it was, as mortals would say,  complicated.

she could claim that she was happy that richard was back because it meant that noel was home, too, and that he could take care of auburn now, could find out why she had cracked and . . . help her mend herself. but --- her happiness about noel's return existed independent from the happiness she felt about richard's presence. sometimes, the knowledge that he embodied understanding for her was comforting instead of unsettling. she wondered if he felt the same way about her, sometimes.

during her next job interview, auburn would be sure to point out that she was very good at adapting to new situations instead of claiming to be merely good. since noel and her had adopted their son, her ability to adapt had been tested more than once. this was the first time, she had needed more than a second to get used to it, but by the time she had headed upstairs, she was used to it.

‘‘ so, ’’ she said as she leaned against the door frame, an amused smile playing around her lips. ‘‘ noel is on the phone with your school, just to clear up some things. i'll probably forge some paperwork later this evening, so if you hear me curse, that's that. ’’

speaking from experience, fay was better at forging documents. she was less impatient and thus, she took more time to ensure that everything lived up to her standards. it did not mean that auburn was bad at it, it just meant that under normal circumstances, she would have asked fay for the favour. but well --- richard might prefer for fay not to be involved in this, anyway. their relationship had so many layers that the redhead had long given up on trying to navigate it.