#phryneff

For you, anything. 37: “...then I picked up your coffee by mistake.” - “All I want is an apology.”

"What the fuck, Bosco?"

Bosco's hand stilled on the mouse. Usually they'd find the combination of shrillness and a drawl intoxicating. Usually the anticipation of the voice's owner making her way into the office, throwing herself down on the cracked leather couch, and kicking her shoes off, would be nearly unbearable. Usually Jasmine was a joy.

But as she entered Bosco's office, heels clicking furiously on the tile, hair frizzed as if jolted by lightning, Bosco couldn't find the joy they'd once had.

They kept their gaze trained on the computer screen, closing and opening a browser tab to appear busy. Hopefully busy enough that Jasmine would feel ignored enough to turn around.

Jasmine dropped the coffee cup on Bosco's desk, letting the lid pop off.

"Thanks, I-" Bosco tried, their anxiety settling briefly.

Jasmine didn't want it to settle. "You took my coffee. This is your oat-milk mess."

"Oh, um..." Bosco stumbled, trying to focus on opening and closing that tab. Maybe writing an email would get Jasmine out of their office. Maybe getting her a new coffee?

"I-then I picked up your coffee by mistake," Bosco settled on. They opened a new email and started typing Daya's address into the recipient box, followed by the subject line: HELPPP

"Yeah." Jasmine was pointed. Her arms were crossed. Her gaze was hot. Bosco felt like it was the day Daya broke the air conditioner on purpose all over again, but without the implication that Bosco should fuck Jasmine on their desk.

"I can go get you a new one." Bosco typed in the body of the email again: Jasmine is in my office and I'm scared. Also a little turned on. I think she wants to kill me. "After I'm done working on this," Bosco drew out.

"You're not working, you're stalling," Jasmine shot back.

The room shifted. Bosco finally looked up, finding Jasmine's painted lips fixed in a pout. Her arms uncrossed, and she started pulling at her fingers.

It's just a little bit, but I hope you enjoy hun!

“Ok, whose intervention is it?” Bosco asked upon entering the teacher’s lounge, seeing all their coworkers there, staring at the door. They sat on top of a table and opened their bag of grapes. “I don’t know, I personally think Orion teaches physics a lot better when she’s high, but…”

Kornbread cleared her throat, pointing toward a chair at the front of the room, next to Jasmine, who sat bashfully, hands folded in her lap.

She was also next to the spaghetti, which still hadn’t been cleaned up.

Turning their attention back to Kornbread, Bosco raised a brow, trying to pick apart her accusation. Sure, it was an intervention, but one for them and Jasmine. They locked in on each other for a moment, Bosco mouthing really? It shouldn’t have been a shock, given Kornbread’s reaction when they’d caught them last night, but nonetheless, at Kornbread’s nod, Bosco retreated, settling in next to Jasmine.

“I really thought someone would have cleaned—” Jasmine starts, plucking a grape out of Bosco’s bag.

“I haven’t told anyone,” They cut her off. “You haven’t told them about…yesterday…when we…did you?

Stringing the words together grew difficult as they felt the gaze of all their coworkers on them. It was wildly accusatory, and frankly too personal for Bosco’s comfort. They scolded themself for not thinking about what would happen next, after they kissed Jasmine. They had to have known that it’d get out eventually.

Jasmine shook her head and reached for another grape, earning a playful swat as Bosco stole it back.

It didn’t matter much at the time, though. And frankly as they threw the grape back at Jasmine, eyes going wide as she caught it between her teeth, they knew their stupid little crush probably wouldn’t matter much once this intervention was over.

“Oh my god, are you done?” Kerri broke through, head cocked at the two of them.

But right now, scanning expressions ranging from bored to too-intrigued, crossing their arms over their chest, it did matter.

“We’re all here because of what happened in this very spot yesterday,” Kornbread began, her accusatory finger back on the two of them. She paced in front of Jasmine and Bosco like a prosecutor, narrowly avoiding the spaghetti. “We’re a family, and we should have found out about this before…”

“What were we supposed to do?” Jasmine butted in. She crossed her legs and leaned forward, hands wild. “Send you all an email like Evening Colleagues, On this day of November 12th, I have engaged in light kissing with Bosco, which resulted in potential emotional and spaghetti damages. There are no updates as of this time. Expect an email from Bosco to follow. Sincerely, Jasmine. Tell me how you should have found out about something neither of us knew was going to happen?”

When Jasmine got angry, Bosco noticed, her hands were swift and cutting. Her eyes rolled and her tone dripped in sarcasm, much more than they imagined she could muster. And she was quick, right to the point.

And Bosco, damn their stupid ways, found it exceptionally attractive.

But seeing Jasmine getting genuinely worked up, knowing how much she didn’t need this stress on top of her instruction, her demonic sixth period, her shitty landlord, and whatever bits of teasing Bosco liked to throw her way, they took her hand, washing their thumb over her knuckles.

“Look,” Bosco shooed Kornbread off to the side. “I told Jasmine I might have a little crush on her and we ended up kissing. Nothing else happened. Nothing else is going to happen. And if it did, it’d be no one else’s business but.”

They stood, pulling Jasmine up with them. “Now, I’m going to go back to my room and finish my grapes, and I imagine Jasmine’s going to do the same.”

Whistling and whooping followed Bosco and Jasmine as they left the lounge, quieting only when Bosco pushed the door shut.

“Hey, I’m sorry.”

Jasmine stopped, tentatively looking back at Bosco.

“I should have thought about what would have happened next.” Bosco rubbed their neck, pulling their gaze up from the floor to meet Jasmine’s. “They might be worse than the kids.”

“No worries.” A slight smile, a bright giggle, came through. “It’s not like it’ll happen again. Not that I don’t want…or it wasn’t good or anything…but, you know.”

Here's another snippet of fake dating au. Enjoy!

___

She comes up beside them, shoulder to shoulder, as though Bosco’s warmth will eliminate Jasmine’s disappointment.

“Who’re you textin’” Jasmine mutters against Bosco’s shoulder, glancing down at the screen. “Better not be some girl who isn’t your fake girlfriend.”

“Excuse you, Bosco says, layering the faux irritation thick. “You accuse me when I’m implementing the next phase of our plan.”

Bosco shows her the phone. A florist’s website with pictures of gorgeous arrangements in season. “It’s a little hard because it has to look more romantic than like a post-performance bouquet, but you also have terrible taste in plants, so…”

“Shut up.” Jasmine gives them a shove. “If you had it your way, you’d hand me an aloe vera plant as a profession of affection.”

“Of course I would. They’re useful, low maintenance, and every one I’ve owned has grown beautifully. Look at Helene number 2 over there-”

“I’m looking,” Jasmine said, rolling her eyes.

“She’s so tall and thick and lovely now. She's radiant.” Bosco wrapped an arm around Jasmine’s waist, pulling her in as they pointed at the plant in the blue striped pot. “And how long does a bouquet last?”

“The thought lasts a life-”

Thank you greatly to the anon who requested fake dating and friends to lovers for Jasco, as it led to this whole fic emerging! It's such a fun write and I'm so excited for what's coming next (please ask me about what's coming next). Here's a little snippet from the beginning:

Jasmine enters the apartment like a storm, dropping her dance bag next to the door and tossing her keys on top of it haphazardly. She huffs like she’ll be able to exhale the irritation, but it proves useless.

“I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like cooking tonight,” Bosco calls from the couch, stretched out like a lazy cat, their feet up on the coffee table.

They don’t even have to turn to face Jasmine to know that she agrees, that she too is not in the mood for much. Jasmine flops down on the couch, throwing her legs over Bosco’s, her head tipped back like she’s too weary for this world.

Bosco mutes Cut Throat Kitchen and pulls Jasmine’s legs closer. “So it’s been a day?”

“A whole day,” Jasmine says to the ceiling, kicking her shoes off, letting them fall from the couch.

“Is it her again?” Bosco asks, like they already know the answer. And to be fair, they probably do. Every time Jasmine comes home like this, exhausted but unenthused for another day of rehearsals, they know something’s happened, and it always comes back to some annoying girl in the same production as Jasmine.

She sits up, shifting her feet into Bosco’s lap. “Yeah, it’s like the fifth time she’s asked me out.” Jasmine grimaces, like she’s pulled something. “It’s super annoying. Like, I can’t think of any more ways to say I’m not interested without looking like an asshole.”

“Well what’s wrong with looking like an asshole?” Bosco chuckles. “I do it all the time at my job and it’s a lot of fun.”

Jasmine shakes her head. “And I’m not sure how you get away with it—”

“My natural charm.”

“But if I just started acting like an asshole, I’d get fired. I really like this job and I already feel like I’m on the edge with my inability to shut up, so I don’t think I can just be an asshole and get away with it,” Jasmine replies, wiggling her toes and giving Bosco a glance.

They roll their eyes, feigning annoyance, but nonetheless dig their thumb into the ball of her foot, causing Jasmine to throw her head back over the arm of the chair, boneless.

“Have you tried telling her you have a girlfriend already?” Bosco asks. “If you’re taken, she probably wouldn’t have much of a choice besides giving up, no?”

“I could try that, but then it’d spead around the whole company and then they’d want to meet my girlfriend and want me to bring them around to cocktail hour and performances and all that…” Jasmine pauses to pull her hair out of it’s tight bun. “And everyone would find out real quick that I don’t actually have a girlfriend.”

“Ok, so you’d need to find a girlfriend then.” Bosco’s hand moves up to grasp her ankle.

“That’s always been the problem, hasn’t it?” Jasmine sighs, unsure if it’s from Bosco massaging her aching ankle or from another reminder that Jasmine hasn’t had a relationship in what feels like forever, and has no genuine prospects on the horizon—except for that girl, who is far too pushy, even for Jasmine. “Where am I going to find a girlfriend? It’s not like they sell them at Target or whatever,” she tries to joke, but it comes out a touch more sad than intended.

“Well you are at Target a lot…” Bosco says, earned a little smack on the arm from Jasmine.

“What? I didn’t say I didn’t appreciate the fact that you come home with plant food, a hair mask, a set of mugs, and four phone chargers every Saturday afternoon.” They hold their hands still for a moment, their tone turning serious. “But if that’s what’s holding you back, I could play the role.”

“No, no, I couldn’t make you do that.” Jasmine holds their gaze. “And also, we’ve been friends forever. Who would believe we just decided to start dating one day?”

Bosco glances between Jasmine’s feet in their lap and Jasmine’s dance bag—surely containing one of Bosco’s sweaters. “You’re kidding, right?”

Jasmine scrunches her nose, like she’s thinking deeply.

“We’re like, suspiciously close all the time,” Bosco says. “And I don’t know about you, but “I’ve fallen in love with my roommate, who also happens to be my best friend, who also happens to be very hot,” is absolutely believable.”

Jasmine ponders a bit more, drawing her legs in and wrapping her arms around them. “You think we could really pull that off? And it’d work?”

They nod. “I think if we make a plan and stick to it we can.”

“Well…What’s the harm in trying it?” Jasmine gives Bosco a once over. “I’m sure you’re not the worst fake girlfriend in existence.”

“Yes of course,” Bosco says, smile slick. “And as my first act as not the worst fake girlfriend in existence, I won’t even try to convince you we should order sushi for dinner.” Bosco pushes the menu to the side, handing her the Italian and Chinese takeout menus instead.

They share some pasta and bread, watch a few episodes of Chopped, and end the night with Bosco slumped on the couch and a plan to subtly introduce the relationship with a couple-y photo of Jasmine and Bosco in her dance locker and as her phone lock screen.

Here's a snippet from jasco / season 14 goup fic, in which everyone works at a middle school. I'll hopefully have the first chapter completely ready to go by the end of the week.

Enjoy!

Jasmine squared herself as she made her way to the center library table for the mid-morning professional development meeting. She was going to sit with those teachers; she was going to make them like her, whether they wanted to or not. There was no way she was going to spend her time working here feeling like a dork rejected from the popular girls’ lunch table, forced to eat lunch with the guidance counselor—not that she actually did that throughout middle school and most of high school. Nope. Not even a little. And it certainly didn’t get her a good recommendation letter either.

She brightened as she approached, securing her purple flair pen to her new lanyard. She ran her gaze over them, as confidently as she could muster, trying not to falter. She practiced what she was going to say, repeating it over and over: May I sit here? Or how about Is this seat taken? Maybe she could assert dominance by simply sitting down in it and joining the conversation?

“Hi!” Jasmine beamed as she approached. “Can I sit here?” She pointed at the chair, watching as the woman with the sleek bob—damn it, the one who huffed about Jasmine taking the last croissant earlier—followed her pointing.

The woman next to her, whom the others called “Korn” for some reason, tossed back “I’m not sure, can you?”

Hello I just realized I haven’t posted a chapter of DOPS in five months which is a Long Time and Not Great. 

Right now I have 5.2k of chapter 9, with 9 more scenes to write. 

The bitch is back with some new dops that will god willing be out by Halloween. So here’s a bit of a sneak preview into Chapter 7: Halloween