#ksa scribbles

"Double Shot"

The late October sun slants through the windows of the small independent cafe, golden like the patchwork leaves outside. Dove and Gabby are working the same shift as usual.

Eliyah is also hovering. As usual. He's waiting on a pourover coffee, leaning on the end of the counter and talking to Gabby’s back while she ignores him and lines up other orders. 

The five minutes for the hot water to drip through the fine grind is achingly slow and the background noise is insufferable.

‘This is the smoothest way to have it you know, other than drip coffee. I was first introduced to it while photographing in Peru.” He humblebrags. "This way it’s strong and full bodied.” An unwise idea seems to dimly strike his brain. “And time brings out a hint of sweetness under the bitterness….” 

To this Gabby remains stubbornly silent with her entire back.

Eliyah is emboldened and his eyes slide over the side of her face. "The only thing missing is the crema. That’s got a fantastic mouthfeel to it and… uh... it’s a creamy tan."

Gabbys face and shoulders grow rigid when he alludes to her skin tone. “Shut up asshole.” She grits. "I don’t want to hear it."

“I was just talking about coffee dear!” He whines, wounded. "I still don’t understand why you just don’t like me. I thought you’d let go of our little spat. It was years ago."

Gabby knows the line for what she can get away with and keep her job but after an earlier incident she’s on a shorter leash this week. Plus both she and Dove need the tips. 

She wishes that that interminable damned coffee could be served more quickly while it was still scalding. It was going to be handed to him so abruptly it slopped onto his shitty cashmere turtleneck or his punchable face.

---

Krow is outside peering surreptitiously at Eliyah’s van, casually giving the windows a polish when a few people pass by. They then confidently enter and make a beeline for Dove. 

Eliyah is immediately on edge. “Hey! Don’t touch what isn’t yours!” Adding sullenly ’That van’s just been washed.’

‘A b-bird pooped on it, which can smear the windscreen or eat at the paint. G-genius. But then you don’t know that. You’ve never had to worry about your own cleaning.'

“And if you keep your grubby hands to yourself I won’t have to."

Gabby smirks sidelong as she preps the drinks, enjoying their agitation in spite of herself. God, the only consolation for having both of these shitbirds here at the same time was watching them fight. 

She catches Eliyah watching her smile and coldly turns away.

Krow suppresses the enraged rush of blood to their head in an effort to stay smooth. However they soon relax a bit and glow while ordering their favourite from gentle Dove. 

“I-it's glorious outside. H-how has today been Dove?” Krow stays casual, sticking to small talk and detailing their plans for the lovely day. Debating internally whether it’s still too early to ask if Dove has any of their own plans for after the shift...

Unfortunately Gabby was good. Much faster than chatty Dove who was new and more suited to front of house. 

Gabby had begun grinding and tamping as soon as she felt Krow darken the door, got to pulling the shots and steaming the milk as soon as he started to make small talk after ordering, and a few practiced flicks of her good wrist made short work of the syrups. 

Her flat loud voice cuts across their conversation in no time. "Regular and white mocha blend?”

Krow hides their chagrin. This was their expensive weekly treat that was painstakingly budgeted for and their precious day off… they had hoped for just a little more time to bask in Dove’s friendliness. There still was hanging around to sketch while savouring their mocha but they wouldn’t be able to chat at the counter again for a few more days without looking pushy. Gabby’s perceptive foxlike face is smug.

No matter. A certain someone had been smiling, was always looking coyly down while Krow bantered, and sometimes winkingly gave them an extra pump of syrup or free shot ‘for making it so slow'. Krow still felt the tingle where their hands had brushed in passing the drink over. 

Even better the cute barista been chuckling and expressing envy when Krow talked about birdwatching and sketching in the sunny park later! Maybe after a few more chats they could suggest coming along... Things were looking up for the lucky artist. They could be patient for a little bit.

Krow's mouth and chest are warm, filled with sweetness.

Then their expression flattens and Gabby’s smug smile drops too. Both of them watch in horror as Dove hands Eliyah his damned pourover and they hear him shoot his shot. 

Krow stops tasting their drink and their chest turns hollow. Gabby’s stomach drops and she tastes bile.

Dove chews at their lip, muddling on it. "I don’t know… I don’t date customers.” They are looking at their feet, not seeing Gabby’s appalled ‘cut’ gesture and Krow shaking his head.

“It’s just to get to know each other a little and enjoy the scenery. Think of the experience! You could try out some of my equipment for a portfolio! It’s so hard to get started in bigger cities like Columbidae."

“I… I guess?” Dove thought hopefully of the opportunities. 

They hadn’t been able to bring themselves to tell Gabby about their living situation much less ask to couch surf. Shrewd Gabby would never have found herself in such a precarious situation. And they didn’t yet have any friends beside her in the city.

“It’s not a big deal. It’s in the afternoon. And how can you have an opinion until you’ve even spoken to me? Just get to know me dear.” 

They really needed the money any side hustle could bring... this guy with his soft hands and bland expensive clothes seemed nonthreatening. He seemed like a nice guy that was trying to help a new arrival out? It was in public. And it wasn’t like it was a date...

The date is set.

A sickly green glow beams out unnoticed as everyone absorbs what just happened.

---

Eliyah and Dove take his work van to a remote park with ‘unspoiled beauty'. Eliyah is buoyant and a little too chatty, full of facts that nobody asked for.

Dove laughs along nervously and looks out of the window. Unease fills their stomach at just how far the drive is but they let it pass as the van pulls up to the park. It’s a fairly large park with a concrete path, benches, and open grass areas ringed by trees and shrubs. The changing leaves are variegated fire.

Eliyah opens the van door and begins rummaging through his equipment, explaining a special lense.

Then after shooting for a while. “Your friend doesn’t like me much, does she?”

“Oh. Gabby’s just like that.”

Gabby in fact seems to dislike Eliyah more actively than she usually dislikes others. Even Krow, which is surprising. She hates him. But Dove hasn’t pressed her about it. They don’t understand Eliyah’s constant references to the past because they can’t imagine the two ever having been friends.

“Has she ever said anything to you?” Bringing the camera over, his eyes probe for Dove’s own although they keep sliding away. He’s standing a bit close. Dove shrugs uneasily, going nonverbal.

He steps closer and persists. “Really I’d rather let bygones be bygones. I just don’t understand why she won’t give me another chance. You two are thick as thieves, perhaps you can tell me why. You could put in a good word for me right? Dove! Just answer me! I deserve another chance don’t I?"

Eliyah is getting angry now, leaning towards Dove to force them to look at him, and there’s a sharp edge on his breath. Dove doesn’t like strong eye contact. Dove doesn’t like people being so close to their face. Their heart is fluttering like a frightened bird and their breath is short. They step back. And back. And fall.

---

A “birdwatching" Krow suddenly drops his binoculars and pounds through the grass to his scooter, cursing the discreet distance.

---

Gabby is much closer. She erupts immediately from the treeline making it to Dove in seconds.

Eliyah shows nothing but startled glee. “Gabby… you came looking for me! You care!”

“Fuck off you prick! What did you do to Dove?!”

"You have forgiven me. You just saw me chatting to your friend and were too prideful to admit you were jealous.”

“What - ?”

“It was a misunderstanding. This is just the push you needed."

“Shut up shut SHUTUP - ” Gabby is alternating between yelling hoarsely at Eliyah and frantically pushing him off Dove while he tries to get them up. It’s chaos.

The scooter roars into the middle of them deafening them both. It skids sideways sending Gabby sprawling back as Krow jumps free and flails heavy sickening thumps onto Eliyah’s head and chest. Krow flicks out a gleaming knife in rage but stops at the suddenly registered sounds.

Dove is in a bad way. Their skin is damp with a grey undertone. they are retching and incoherently moaning as their body is jerked by Gabby’s lifting.

Gabby tries harder to pull her friend into the van but her bad hand keeps releasing its sweaty grip, her ankle twisted when she tripped over Dove and she is losing precious time in haste. 

Too slow. There’s no time now to haul ass into the van and floor it. Dove is dead weight. Now Gabby can’t and won’t run. 

Krow is sprinting over to to scoop Dove up. Gabby panics and starts lashing out with her cat ear keychain to defend her friend. Krow restrains her before she can reach her mace and he’s a lot stronger than he looks. The inexorable grip on her wrists hurts but is anchoring.

Krow speaks firmly. “G-gabrielle. Stop. STOP. Just let me help Dove, w-we need to get them out of here. N-now."

Gabby would rather be anywhere else in the world right now. She’d rather trust a snake. This always indefinably creepy guy has gone fully nuts with freaky glowing eyes like a cat - he even smells inhuman up close, generically clean like disinfectant in a hospital. A hospital! 

But her bike won’t carry them both… not with Dove’s injuries and Gabby’s ankle. Not over that distance. And not if this crazy asshole flips out and won’t let them leave. He’s gotta be taking them to a hospital though. Short Fry obviously cares about Dove’s state and they need to be seen.

There’s a shrieking and stuttering argument about who drives but Krow is persuasive and time is racing. Gabby doesn’t want to leave Dove alone with the creepy shitbirds in the back so she finally gives up and steps in. 

Krow gets both the baristas settled, Gabby supporting Dove. The limp Eliyah is then dumped facedown on the floor, Krow flinging the photographer's own heavy camera contemptuously after him onto the back of his head. Their own scooter and Gabby’s now bent bike are strapped on the roof. Childlock is immediately deployed and the van is efficiently pulling away.

---

Gabby rests. The afternoon light is almost gone and begins to cool into evening quickly. The adrenaline is wearing off into grey exhaustion and everything hurts.

The window tint is dark. Darker than should be legal. And there are curtains. Why is it taking so long to get to the hospital? Gabby suddenly freezes.

She scrambles to see with her sputtering lighter, spilling a folder of photos featuring nude tan women with long dark hair. Short ass son-of-a-bitch. Has he used the child lock? What is with this van? She leans sideways trying to twitch a curtain to gauge direction or see landmarks. A muscle is cramping in her side and a bead of sweat is sliding down from her underarm despite the chill. The inner latch isn’t where it’s supposed to be. The handle… WHERE IS THE HANDLE? 

The enclosed darkness is all too familiar. Gabby can’t move. She’s being touched, and there’s the weight of someone elses body on her. There’s no way out. The ride to Krow’s home is eternity. Dove is heavy and weakly moaning on her lap. Eliyah is silent on the floor. Gabby is pinned and hyperventilating, lost in her own scalding churning memories.

---

Eliyah is dimly aware of a garage or warehouse door locking audibly behind them. He is semi conscious and re-experiences a childhood memory of being carried half asleep from the car. 

But he must still be dreaming. He is being dragged though a surreal space, part abandoned ruin and part paradise. 

Colourful birds flit through wooden beams, forests and nymphs swirl kaleidoscopically past incongruent ’trees’ of exposed timber posts. It’s all unnaturally bright and blurry too. Dazzling to his delirious blown eyes. Overwhelmed, Eliyah lapses fully into unconsciousness. It’s the last thing he sees.

---

Krow walks back past the lovingly painted murals that cover the rough extensively repaired walls with beauty and distract from the renovations in progress. They are still elated from carrying a pale insensible Dove bridal style into their home.

Black market medical attention has already been called for and Dove is going to be just fine. They are going to be so cared for when they wake up. Giddy at the thought of nursing them back to health, Krow fidgets. Please Dove. Just open your eyes!

They practically float past one of their favourite scenes. Maybe with the money Krow and songbird will take a beautiful trip to their ancestral India. Visiting those carefully sketched temple interiors for real, seeing the flashy peafowl, and intimately sharing the juices from those vibrant painted mangoes. They salivate.

Sigh. Back to reality for the moment. 

On opening the bolted door Gabby scrambles like a cornered animal in a sudden rattle of shackles. 

After the initial recklessness for Dove’s sake, the penny had dropped quickly for the smart woman. She had needed to be wrangled into this second location and even with plenty of time to tire herself out or calm down her distress and hatred was immeasurable. She just wouldn’t stop fighting. Screaming for help. Refusing to eat anything not sealed. Shutting down in terror.

Dove could use a friend to watch over them for now while Krow worked... but Gabby was devilishly clever in escape attempts and they hoped she would quickly become unnecessary. 

They relock the door and leave her alone. Soon it would just be the lucky two alone together. The couple. 

Now to check on the other distraction. 

Striding on to a different area, Krow doesn’t even glance at 'The Black Paintings' in the corner. They don’t want to dwell on that phase of their life. That’s all over with now.

Then they float past a rendition of the Trevi fountain, fondly imagining a holiday in Rome with Dove. Their perfect smooth hands holding Krow tightly from behind on a Vespa. Licking gelato. Together at the fountain, sitting so close. 

Finally there it is, that clever mural that camouflages an imperceptible join in the painted wallpaper. The elaborate swirls of the leafy ferns, round bird nests and curved sweeping wings boggle the eye, visually breaking up any clean straight lines underneath and giving the illusion that the papered wall underneath is solid. 

The eyestrain of extra ultraviolet style colours and patterns (as they would look to birds) also ensures that nobody could look that closely for too long.

Krow runs the back of their pocket knife along to find the join and awkwardly wrests open the heavy door.

Their low warm voice is still humming ‘Il Dolce Suono’ on descending the stairs into the secret room. The air is icy and reeks of bleach. 

A humming generator is hooked up to a fridge-freezer and the sturdy work boots clomp over the damp concrete floor - Krow even stumbles slightly as they accidentally kick a portable cooler but Eliyah still doesn’t stir. His slumped form is tied to a chair on an iv and the windowless room obscures most of his lower body in shadows.

Krow clicks a mini torch into Eliyah’s eyes. He is breathing but the pupils remain fixed at 4mm and there is no reaction to the light. There’s no hurry. There is a little time to call around for the right price.

Satisfied, Krow does call off work planning to sweep the disturbance at the park and retrieve their binoculars.

They exit and slide the concealed soundproof door firmly shut.

Krow makes their way over to the most special place now and admires the very specific single themed mural covering the entire room. 

Painted from ceiling to floor is an exact replica of the cafe where Dove worked. Where they first met.

Everything has happened unexpectedly quickly, but they can take a little more time to finish painting and setting up for their sleeping songbird. They want to make some changes to commemorate a very special day.

Soft hazy eyes glowing green, a flustered giggling Krow adds radiant sunbeams with the slanting warmth recalling the russet leaves they remarked on.  Perfectly preserving the memory of that late October.

Once it’s finished and Dove is safely in their cage Krow will get to relive their early courtship every single day, forever! And once they wake up... so can Dove.

.…

Optional ending:

LT wakes from this nightmare. Between experiences Gabby has shared, his own intuition and what he’s fought in his life Gabby’s paranoia and nightmares are rubbing off on him. He's also been having such vivid dreams since meeting Naila.

He goes over the dream, trying to slow his heartbeat as he sips at a glass of water. 

How could it be he wasn’t there for Gabby? Why would such a careful person have charged alone into danger? There are answers. (Her intense loyalty, her fear that her own experiences would happen to Dove, possibly a feeling that - as a man or because many people have not believed Gabby - LT might think she was overreacting.) 

Back in bed they cuddle and talk. He believes her about the intense weird energy of the short artist, the way the slimy photographer just won’t back off from her workplace.