Ꭲꮋꭼ Ꮩꭼꭱʏ Fɪꭱꮪꭲ Ᏼɪꭲꭼ (Ꮩꭺꮇꮲꭲᴏᏼꭼꭱ Ꭰꭺʏ Fɪꮩꭼ) ――――――― Alphard looked at the meal before him dubiously. It was significantly... /pinker/ than he would have liked, but he could deal with it. This situation required absolute fortitude, he'd decided when he got himself into it. Now, before he could back out, he lifted it—the food, not the situation—to his mouth, nearly dropping it twice, and bit down. The grimace he had been preparing vanished back to wherever it hid when he wasn't using it. Abu Dhabi, maybe, or perhaps under the stove. "So, what did you think?" Aurelia had undue excitement in her voice. "It's... not bad. Why are you all so invested, anyhow? One of your roommates has stretched aerself across half the table, which I /will/ admit is quite a feat with a table this length, while the other two await with bated breath my response. This is all an overreaction." Jackie, personally called out, retracted back into aer chair. Carter sighed with relief, finally biting into her own meal. Mavis laughed. "You've never had hamburger before in your life, have you?" "Well, no..." Aurelia pulled her flatmates' guest aside after the visit ended, under the pretense of walking him out so he didn't get lost… in the single hallway. A flimsy alibi, but one she'd used plenty before. "I don't understand how you've never had a hamburger. You lived in the American States—and the Khanate, need I remind you—for almost a century and a half. Even worse, you lived in the same house as /Khan/ for a year!" "Well..." Alphard seemed hesitant. Aurelia prodded him with her elbow. "At first I took other options by chance. Then, after a while, not knowing what they were grew... /embarrassing,/ so I acted as if I hated them." /Huh./ Mavis had intended to find Aurelia and get her to finally take her clothes out of the dryer so Jackie could run a load. They hadn't /intended/ to pry, but then Aurelia's weird friend hadn't denied having lived somewhere as exotic as the States… for a century and a half. They already got a weird feeling around him—had ever since they met. Like there was something not quite /normal/ about him. Their suspicions piqued, they listened to the rest of the conversation. They normally wouldn't, but they decided this Alphard fellow merited special circumstances. It lasted maybe five minutes tops and it was mostly mundane, but there was one thing Aurelia said that stood out. "My job's been more dangerous lately." She continued, evidently responding to some nonverbal cue, "Riskier, no. But more dangerous." What could possibly be dangerous about working at the post office? "This whole situation with Echo... It's giving me pause. I think I'm going to have to take them off active work. Provided they were ever /on/ active work." Alphard replied something Mavis couldn't hear from their vantage point. The door to the flat was inset by about a meter, perpendicular to the hall. They scooted a little closer to the end of the hall, trying to hear better, but startled when they heard footsteps, which they recognized almost immediately as Dr. Tremaine's. He was coming up the hall from the side opposite Aurelia and Alphard's, so Mavis was pinned. They admitted defeat and hurriedly ducked back into the flat, laundry completely forgotten. ――――――― Sorry-ish for torturing you for several paragraphs lol. ――――――― Mavis's pronouns are she/they, Jackie uses ae/aer, and Carter rounds out the table with she/her. Aurelia (she/her nominally but doesn't really care so long as you don't use he/him or it/that) shares a flat with them all because RENT. Dr. and Mr. Tremaine, the flatmates' landlords, are both cis gay men; they're in their 70s and have been married literally since it became legal. The two of them and Aurelia pooled funds to send them to the Netherlands in June 2001 and they somehow figured that out and were back -- married -- in time for New Year's Day 2002. They're really really cute and I ship them. ――――――― Ꮪʊᏼꭲɪꭲꮮꭼ Ꮯᴏɴꭲꭼxꭲ: Fɪꭱꮪꭲ: Ꮪꭲʊꭰɪᴏ: Ꭰɪꭱꭼꮯꭲᴏꭱʏ:
