soft hearts

“my break is soon and it’s not long enough for someone who has to work a twelve hour shift today.” elsa frowned. she questioned managements choices for nearly everything and the worst was when some were scheduled to work ten or even twelve hours in a cofee shop. she never understood it but they did sometimes open earlier to get in the early birds. today happened to be one where they opened at four am. “apparently he’s been stealing money from the safe. we’ve been short for the last three months hence these crazy sales. not sure how bossman figured it out but i overheard him talking to his wife on the phone about it.”

        “ TWELVE? ” teo responded incredulously, even more shocked than he’d been a moment before. “ i hope they’re paying you in gold or something. you deserve at least a diamond or two for putting up with these people. ” shaking his head, teo took a thoughtful sip of his coffee. “ damn, ” he replied, shaking his head and clucking his tongue like he was some suburban white mom who’d just found out that her neighbor was a liberal. “ did he seriously think that he wouldn’t get caught? that’s ballsy of him. ”

within s e c o n d s, dark hues narrowed at him and the mention of his fucking trip to brazil. bringing her hand upward, she singles out one finger to point toward him. “teo, i’m not kidding— i will tear you limb from limb if you even START about that damn trip.” that single finger turns to two, gesturing toward the bartender that she’ll have whatever teo had previously ordered while she was too busy being infuriated by the mere idea he’d have the audacity to tell her THAT story again. “oh no, did i hurt your poor ego?” playfully, her lower lip pushes out in a pout toward the blonde male. despite her complaints, she listened to him; much like she always did. “huh,” a thoughtful noise escapes her once he’d finished speaking. “i’m liking the sound of this chick, kinda making me wanna find her and marry her— especially if she could kick YOUR ass. that’s the stuff my dreams are made of.”

        THERE IT WAS. just as he’d anticipated, the absolutely murderous look on laney’s face had him grinning so widely that it probably looked like his face was about to crack in half. he even threw back his head and laughed as she threatened him -- they’d lost some of their effect when she never a c t u a l l y threw him off a cliff or ( as previously stated ) tore him limb from limb. that didn’t mean he didn’t think she was capable of it -- he was sure she could, and that just made it all the more fun. he then snagged their drinks from the bartender, sliding one of the shot glasses over to laney and holding his up like he would for a toast. “ hey, if you want to get married, i’m certified as a minister. i could wrap that up nice and neat for you, just say the word. i could do it right now. ” because of course he was, internet certificate and all, done on a drunken dare before his two friends backed out of letting him officiate. backstabbers. “ mazel tov? ” he finished, tilting his glass thoughtfully in her direction.

“Couldn’t do that. You’re not dead yet,” Nat immediately quips. Then, she processes. Furrowed eyebrows. Seething words. “Wait, you’re angry.” Pause. “This shouldn’t be right. Heelys invoke childhood memories and happiness, not pain. Why are you angry again?”

        “ i’m a model, nat, c’mon, ” he replied, his tone clearly saying don’t be a moron. “ it’s basically my job to be fashionable, and let me tell you: heelys are NOT IT. end of story. ” plus, childhood memories and happiness didn’t exactly go hand in hand in his mind, but, well. this wasn’t the time or place for that, now was it?

“i mean, it would make sense. cosmo has been dying to get me onto their pages.” as it always was with rose, laughter came easily and freely. she knew well that, despite her somewhat intriguing connections to superheros- one in particular, she was about as normal as a person could get. to even imagine herself on the cover of a magazine was as hilarious as it was bizarre. “if any ever interviewed me, it would just be to ask  whether you’re seeing anyone or not,” she joked. “or to talk about primaries. but i’m not sure that’s a sexy enough headline for cosmo.” he showed off his muscles and rose gave her best golf clap. “very tough,” she grinned. “you could probably fight as many as four elderly people. who wouldn’t be impressed? i mean, i think my plan has a lot of merit- people bring us things that we want and in return we complain about them. magical.”

        “ an interview about primaries? oh baby, oh baby, i can’t contain myself, ” he continued in the same flat tone, the effect ruined slightly as he cracked a smile in response. eyebrows raised in mock surprise, he let out a low whistle. “ FOUR elderly people? damn, that’s really ambitious. are you sure i could handle that? they can be v i c i o u s, you know, especially if it’s past four p.m. and they haven’t had dinner yet. ” he paused, looking thoughtful for a moment as if he had to weigh the pros and cons of this ‘plan’. “ i think you’ve landed on something genius here, rose. this is why we’re friends -- you truly understand both my sweet tooth and my need to complain more than a dissatisfied suburban mom in... well, any establishment. ”

the longer time he spent feeling the rain reach his skin, the tedious part of his brain got louder. he was late - and later with every second that passed. but the time wasted was perhaps not such a waste after all; handing him more time to brush his gaze over ever inch of canvas that was available for his eyes’ devouring. the other male ( whom he had meet a number of times before ) was evidently bare without his usual mask; leaving details to be unfolded by alessandro. eyes flickered over apollo - that was his name, right? - with vigor and a harsh punch was delivered to his gut upon the discovery of the man’s differing hues; the specks of dark embedded in the soft blue being more than capable to bring him to his knees. how had he not noticed it before? alessandro concluded that his outstanding brain had by its own command decided to exclude apollo from his otherwise flawless observations; an act of SELF PRESERVATION, judging by the way he was now fighting for his next breath. the man’s words however, was aggravating enough to trigger a respone, and air was entering his lung for that sole purpose. “that is quite the accusatery tone from someone who doesn’t even LIVE here - especially when its directed towards someone who does.

        “ a good friend of mine lives here, is there a NO VISITORS policy you’ve implemented that i’m not privy to? ” he snapped back, petulantly and childishly defensive like he wasn’t a grown man. it took teo’s mind longer to catch up than the other’s  -- his expression went through a series of emotions as each new realization hit him, which was probably a very entertaining sight. first it was oh shit, he lives here, followed by wait, he knows i don’t live here, and then finally he sounds so sure of that, has he noticed me visiting? ( complete with a light blush at the idea that he’s caught his attention before, even if it was just in passing ). teo’s eyes were wide as saucers now, and jesus, he needed to work on his subtlety. he floundered for a second, mind running a mile a minute as he silently flipped shit, before finally settling on blurting out “ you LIVE here? ” because that was the most pertinent question here, really, instead of his mind’s entirely irrational insistence that he should find out what it would be like to close the gap between them. honestly. 

she laughed again as she nodded her head. “i’m glad you will.” she straightened her apron as a sigh escaped her lips. “very and all i want to do is leave, like now.” she frowned looking at the clock. of all the sales the shop had, this had to be the most successful. “well, just seven more hours to go and i can finally leave this hell.” she grabbed a rag and began to wipe the counter. she leaned in close, hoping no one would hear the conversation between the two. “apparently my manager is going to get fired soon so you know what that means? i can sneak you a whole apple pie next time.”

        “ seven hours? ” teo asked, incredulous. that sounded awful. “ jesus, i hope you get a nice, long break at some point. especially since you’ve got to deal with all these morons. ” he knew something good was about to happen when she leaned in, and when she spoke, he knew he wasn’t wrong. “ no way, ” he breathed, both excited by the promise of a pie as well as the prospect of getting dirt on her manager ( he’d never liked the guy, anyway ). “ what’d he do? ”

she shrugged, a wide grin stretched across her face. “it’s the red hair,” she confided, “it conceals the horns pretty well.” she had always appreciated how easily she got along with the blond man. when she had first started fashion photography, everything had felt overwhelming. every conversation felt like a make or break moment, every person that she met seemed like they were just waiting for her to fail- but then there had be teo, with his cocky smirk and raucous laughter; who had cracked joke after joke until finally she laughed and remembered that photoshoots could be fun. “i mean, you’re excellent at… honestly, an irritating number of things- but i can’t imagine you fighting someone.” he had always been such a GENTLE guy around rose. “although i do like the idea of making the people you hate come directly to you so that you can give them a list of grievences. or even better yet, make them wait in line for you- then when they bring you the ice cream, you give them the letter. victories all around.”

        " oh, is that your secret? they should put that in COSMO, ” he deadpanned. it was so nice to relax, to be normal around someone -- both in regards to powers and fame. as apollo, there were always villains to be stopped, people to be saved, reporters to dodge... and as himself, there were still reporters and villains ( although they tended to be much milder ). rose was wonderfully, blessedly o r d i n a r y, and he loved her dearly for treating him exactly the same. “ you’d be surprised, ” he told her, flexing momentarily in a popeye-esque pose, “ i bet you i could take on both of those dudes’ grandmas. tough, eh? or i could just stick to your new plan. i think i like that one better. probably because it involves ice cream being hand delivered to me. ”

alessandro was never late - and undeniably so, because there was no denying that there were parts of him, reading and recognizing facts without him even have to pay much mind to it. it was raining, and those few drops of water would most likely herd the people of new york into cabs. the flow of people would decrease the amount of possible cabs which would hinder him on his way, and so, alessandro ( determined to live up to the reputation of never being late ) was out of the door seventeen minutes before he usually would be.boring facts, it might be, however, every one of them all too important as to why alessandro was jogging down the stairs at the exact right moment to have the air punched out of him; to have the cavity in his chest expand greatly and the ever so clearheaded mind blank. it only lasted a split of a second ; bear in mind that the dark male’s brain was far too superior that the rush of .. emotions? oh dear god, let it not be. had passed through him long before the other have even been able to place him. fortunately, that made it possible for alec to have reached the lobby before the blond had even begun to move. alessandro had effortlessly brushed away the words which had been thrown after him, due to every nerve and cell in his body having been recently set aflame and were now screaming and writhing in utter FLIGHT mode. get out get out get out. it was not until outside on the curb, when fingers finally closed over his wrist and alessandro was snapped out of his instincts to direct his gaze to where they connected. he didn’t turn, yet, hazel orbs were firmly set on where the fabric of his shirt crumbled under the other’s touch. and it wasn’t the only thing crumbling. “… i am late.”

        teo’s brow furrowed, and he looked around for a split second like he couldn’t believe ‘i am late’ was really what the leader of the septem chose to greet him with. “ you think i give a shit if you’re LATE? ” he hissed, fingers digging into the fabric of the brunet’s shirt. realistically, he knew he couldn’t keep him there without making a scene, but icarus hadn’t lashed out yet, and that was... something, which teo decided to file away to analyze later. “ what were you doing there? ” he demanded -- his own weird reaction to seeing the other male aside, rose lived in that building, and teo was nothing if not protective of his friends. that, and he literally seemed to have no control over what did or did not come out of his mouth at this point. he was jumpy and on edge, which most people would probably explain away with the fact that he was literally holding onto icarus ( insert gasps here ), but teo had faced him before. it felt... different, now, his features bare without the mask he usually wore, exposing his identity to someone like icarus. and with those perceptive eyes staring at him, it was a wonder teo was able to hold in the shudder threatening to go down his spine.

with the grip on her wrist released, hands prop upon her hips as she watches the blonde throw the disgusting pig who had dared cross her his own punch. lips quirking upward in the process, the enjoyment she felt of watching the man get beat down for crossing her was almost twisted. “rot in hell, you fuck—” because the brunette couldn’t just LEAVE without making an extra statement. following suit with her companion, laney stalks straight back toward the bar, desperate to get a little liquor in her system to calm the flaming feeling inside of her— it was a different kind of annoyance she felt than she did with the likes of teo; where it was playful and harmless. men, no, scum like him got under her skin. “disgusting,” she angrily mumbles under her breath, eyes shifting to that of the blonde. “you threw a nice little hit back there, blondie— for that bragging i’m glad it can at least SOMEWHAT be backed up by proof.”

        “ well... i told you about that time in brazil, didn’t i? ” he asked, knowing that he had -- but still, he wanted to see the look on her face when she thought he was about to tell her again. chuckling slightly to himself and shaking his head, teo placed an order with the bartender before turning back to face his companion. “ also -- i take offense to that ‘somewhat’. i am more than capable of defending myself, i’ll have you know. i took a class once, at one of those pop up gyms? the instructor was an ASSHOLE, but there was this girl, and she totally kicked my ass. taught me everything i know. i’d give her a five star review on yelp, if that were a thing you could do for an individual person. ” screwing up his features like he had to think about it, teo shrugged after a moment. “ i’m sure you get what i’m saying, don’t you? ”

his dramatic response to the picture only made her victory more sweet. especially considering how, looking at the picture, he needn’t have bothered worrying. it was good. with a bit of editing, she could imagine it as an ad for baskin robbins. that was one of the most frustrating things about teodor: it was like a full-time job for her to get a bad picture of him. “i’m adorable so no one would believe you,” rose smiled cheekily. she ate her ice cream merrily, pleased that he seemed to have remembered that strawberry was her favorite flavor. “and they’re rude,” she added to his comment. “and far too persistent for my taste.” she felt a stab of guilt at the concern on his face. rose certainly didn’t want to drag teo into any of this craziness. she had always tried to keep that part of her life away from him. it wasn’t his fight, after all. “oh, and do you often tackle people that bother you?” she laughed and shook her head. “a strongly worded letter- my hero! i’m swooning,” she fanned her face dramatically. “but if you’re giving these guys lectures and mean letters, then who will bring me ice cream?”

         “ little do they know that you’re secretly the devil, ” he grumbled, but there was no heat behind his words. if anything, rose was much more likely to be an angel -- anyone who came bearing baked goods SURELY deserved that title, and she was no exception. “ no argument there, ” he agreed vehemently, shooting another dark glare in the direction the men had disappeared. he still wished he’d gone after them, but c’est la vie. next time he’d just have to make sure not to be late. “ well, if you haven’t noticed, i’m an excellent multitasker, so i’ve had plenty of time to practice my tackling strategy, ” he assured her. “ i’ll just make them come wait in line with me, give ‘em the old letter approach, and send them on their way. that’ll definitely work, don’t you think? i could start a campaign. wouldn’t you be so proud of me? ”

She recoginized the voice and realized the name she called out. A smile appeared on her face as she tried to hold back a fit of laughter. “Oh no, Mr. Supermodel.” She clasp her hands together. “We have a no refund policy so you’ll just have to suck it up.” She laughed before reaching for a muffin. “I’ll give you this instead. You like blueberry muffin, right?”

        teo eyed the muffin doubtfully, like she didn’t already know his weakness for the coffee shop’s baked goods. “ i suppose i can accept a muffin instead, ” he replied snobbishly, sighing like this was some major inconvenience for him. a smile finally slipped onto his features as he accepted the pastry, and he leaned against the counter as he took a bite. “ busy today, huh? ”

        teo whistled to himself as he pushed through the door to rose’s apartment building, acknowledging the dude at the desk with nothing more than a jaunty wave -- he was here often enough ( and his face was certainly recognizable enough ) that they knew him on sight. the dude sent back a jaunty wave of his own and a ‘sup’, and teo continued on his meandering way toward the stairs. it was a path he’d taken numerous times before, even learning a few of rose’s neighbors as he passed them in the hall or in the lobby. he glanced up and saw a head of dark hair coming down the stairs, maybe a flight or two above him. continuing to make his way up, teo almost didn’t realize who, exactly, that head of dark hair belonged to until he’d almost passed him. he looked up suddenly as the taller male drew close, and his breath caught in his throat -- ICARUS. teo stopped dead in his tracks, so alarmed to see him outside of any kind of dangerous situation that he momentarily forgot how to do anything at all ( nice going, teo, great job, thomas would be so proud of you ). they locked eyes, and teo’s first coherent thought was oh no, he’s hot before he remembered to move, hand shooting out and just barely missing the villain’s sleeve. “ hey, WAIT, ” he said, like that would have any effect whatsoever. like icarus would stop and turn, politely greet him, ask him in for a cup of tea -- sure.