#exaltcdone01.

this puzzle feels like it came pre-assembled. it takes him a minute — the height, the brogue, the warmth that swirls around her like dust caught in sunlight — but ernie arrives at the realization with a physical slump and a lopsided smile.

         ‘ you’re brighid, ’ he says. there’s an easiness to his tone that suggests he’s relieved; like he’s just remembered the name of an actor he hasn’t been able to place. ‘ i knew there was a reason you seemed familiar. ’

bertie can’t help the way her mind wanders in the quiet. she hugs one knee to her chest and rests her chin atop it, looking anywhere but at brighid, who is beginning to feel like a cosmic joke that’s yet to work up to its punchline. it’s too normal, too simple, too right to last.

         ‘ i’m usually the one doin’ the cooking, ’ she says. ‘ i owe you one. or two. ’