A large drop of water plopping onto his head was his only warning, and as Craig looked up towards the sky, a couple of smaller ones landed on his glasses, then one on his cheek. With a groan of disgust, he hastily wiped his cheek off.
Of course, he had chosen today to be the day he walked to and from work. He lived close enough that he could justify walking one day out of the week to save on gas; it saved money, helped the environment, and Craig got some exercise. Now, driving home in his nice dry car with the heater on and the radio turned up sounded pretty nice.
The rain began falling even harder, from random speckles on the ground and on Craig's shoulders and head, to an even sprinkling of droplets.
He shifted his briefcase to his other hand, and continued walking at a faster pace. Should have checked the weather report this morning, he grumbled to himself. It was perfectly sunny this morning and then suddenly, rain, from nowhere.
Glancing at the others that walked along the sidewalk with him, he noticed almost every person either pulling up the hood on their sweatshirts, taking out umbrellas of various colors and designs and pushing them open, or moving indoors to a cafe or the lobby of a store.
It was starting to come down harder now, the wind shifting and blowing the rain slightly at an angle to Craig's back.
Craig sighed, there was no point in waiting it out when he wasn't all that far from home. He picked up the pace even more, but he knew by the time he got home, he'd be soaking wet; his hair was already dripping and the cold was beginning to seep through to his skin...
"Hey, Pinkie!" Craig heard someone call behind him. Normally he wouldn't have associated that name with him, but there was this one brute he worked with that insisted on teasing him with it, despite his numerous protests.
He tried to act as though he hadn't heard it and continued on.
"Pinkie, c'mon, wait up!"
An annoyed noise formed in the back of his throat. He halted, and turned around, a glare clear on his face; or, maybe not so clear through his water-spotted glasses.
Sure enough, his tall, dark-haired coworker jogged behind him, an umbrella in hand. He slowed to a stop when he reached the blond.
Craig stared with narrowed eyes and a frown at Rick expectantly.
"Where's yer' umbreller?" Rick looked at Craig curiously, shoving one hand in the pocket of his thick coat. He extended his arm so the green umbrella covered them both.
"I didn't think I'd need it," Craig huffed.
Rick gave a little chuckle. "Didn't ya' read th' weather report?"
"Yes, Rick, I read the weather report. And I left my car in the parking lot at work, I thought walking home in the pouring rain would be fun," Craig's left lower eyelid twitched, and his voice dripped with sarcasm. "Now, what do you want? I'd like to get home as fast as possible."
"Aw, cool it, Peaches," Rick let the sarcasm roll right off him. "I jus' wanted t'walk ya' home, seein' as how ya' don't have anythin' to keep th'rain off ya'."
Craig stared almost blankly at him for a moment. This was coming from the man that relentlessly made fun of his intellect, teased his facts, and brought up his eye color more times than was necessary. Craig considered them to be rivals, if not outright enemies. Although it seemed mostly like playful teasing from Rick's end at work, Craig never took too kindly to it.
He could either refuse Rick's offer, and walk home with no barrier in between him and the rain that was now starting to flood the gutters, or accept and at least arrive home semi-dry... It wasn't too far, he supposed, and the company might be nice.
"...fine," Craig said finally, and Rick's face broke out into a smile. "I live in an apartment complex not too far away, it's a short walk."
He turned on his heel and started walking again abruptly, forcing Rick to hurry to catch up to him and keep the umbrella over him. They walked silently for a moment, Craig looking tense as he tried to stare straight ahead. Rick noticed.
"So, whatchya' gonna do when ya' get home?" he idly asked as they fell into a steady pace.
Craig shrugged. "Continue reading the book I'm currently on, I suppose."
"Oh?" Rick shifted again so as to hold the umbrella a little more over Craig; the rain was grazing his shoulder. "What book ya' readin'?"
"The Cosmos: An Encyclopedia of Space."
"Oh, isn't that the book that kid in th' astronomy department got ya' fer yer birthday?"
Craig cast a sideways glance at Rick. "Yes, how did you know that? That was a while before you were hired, I'm sure."
"I- I know 'im. Nice kid, I talked ta' him a couple'a times," Rick tugged on the collar of his jacket, pulling it back up on him. "That's an interestin' topic, space."
"Since when have you cared about what I'm reading?" before he could respond, Craig continued. "In fact, since when have you cared enough to go so far as walking me home in the rain?"
Rick swallowed, and he kept his eyes on the concrete in front of them. "'m tryin' ta' be nicer to ya', Pinkie."
"Why?" he asked firmly.
It was Rick's turn to shrug.
Craig opened his mouth to pry even more, but decided to let it go. He had been absolutely sure there was some ulterior motive, but, judging from the look on Rick's face, he seemed like... like he genuinely was trying to be kinder to him.
He wanted to mumble something to himself like, "About time." But he couldn't really bring himself to.
They continued walking in silence for a few moments longer, before Rick told Craig to stop. He ushered him under the awning of a shop Craig recognized but had never went into. Shaking off his umbrella, Rick grasped the clasp at the top and pulled the umbrella closed, setting it against the wall of the shop.
"Rick, what are you doing?"
Quickly pulling his jacket off, Rick threw it around Craig and tugged it over his shoulders. He gave him a little smile. "You were shivering," he mumbled.
Craig was shocked, to say the least, and only stared as Rick opened the umbrella again and took a few steps back out into the rain. He paused when he noticed Craig wasn't following.
"Ya' comin'?" Rick chuckled.
Craig shook his head lightly, clearing his head, and he took a few extra steps to catch up with Rick. He was beginning to feel a little warmer with the jacket, and he clasped to it with his free hand. The shivers were beginning to fade.
A familiar building caught Craig's eye. "I go to that bookshop often," he said casually, pointing to the little store across the street.
"'m gonna hazard ta' say ya' get lots of non-fiction, yeah?"
A smile twitched at the corner of Craig's mouth. He described the restaurants around the area, the bakery just up the street where a friend of his worked and how he made amazing cake, and complained about the librarian being a stuck-up old woman that kept him from checking out more than four books at a time.
As they reached Craig's apartment complex, he stood just under the small awning over the double doors. "But I'm sure you know about all of this. You live in this area, correct?"
Rick shifted as he lowered his umbrella, obviously a little embarrassed. "Well, no. I live in th' other direction, actually."
Craig's eyes widened behind his lenses. "But, I thought you were going this direction anyway. Why did you bother to walk home with me if you didn't even...?"
Rick smiled almost sheepishly and shrugged. "Like I said, tryin' ta' be a lil' nicer to ya', Pinkie."
The blond swallowed and mumbled something unintelligible.
"Whassat, now?"
He looked up at his coworker. "Th-thank you. Very much." Tugging the jacket off of his shoulders, he held it out for Rick to take.
"Maybe tomorrow you could, y'know, walk home with me, if ya' wanna," Rick grinned as he took his jacket and pulled it back on.
Craig suppressed a smile, but he was sure it must have shown through. "That... would be acceptable. Tomorrow, yes." His face was just warm from the sudden temperature change, from the freezing cold to the warmth inside the complex, he told himself.
Rick gave Craig a little nod. "I'll leave ya' to your encyclopedias, Pinkie. Have a good night." He turned and gave a little wave over his shoulder.
"You too," Craig said quietly enough that Rick might not have heard it.
...perhaps it wasn't so awful that it rained today, Craig thought as he pulled one of the doors open, rubbing his shoulder where Rick's jacket had hung.