It breaks my heart to see you cryin'
I don't wanna lose you
I could never make it alone
Horror knew he was being the textbook definition of stupid. Kraken would probably call it being a dumbass before laughing at him. Admittedly it was pretty weird to come to the same library just to have a seven minute conversation with the pretty librarian. It wasn't like she was always at the check-out counter either.
He also knew that his methods uncomfortably mirrored stalking, especially since he wasn't entirely certain that he was ever going to ask her out. It wasn't like he was well-versed in that subject, and again with the whole stalker thing. Shuddering he peered over the book that he was reading. She was at the counter now, and he decided that it would be a good time to check out 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
Getting up he took a deep breath before approaching the counter. He placed his book and card on the counter and looked up. Shockingly he could see that there were tears in her eyes. Thoroughly alarmed he stumbled over his next few words.
"You…you okay?"
She looked up, surprised.
"Yeah," Glory answered, "Just got one hell of a paper cut."
"Oh," he said, looking in the direction of her gaze, "That does look nasty."
Indeed it did. It ran practically the whole length of her index finger.
"Stupid Hardy Boy books," she said, "They use the sharp paper. Sorry, if you'll wait a moment, gotta get a Band-Aid. I don't want to bleed all over-"
She stopped as he pulled out an industrial sized Band-Aid and a swab from his pocket. Without another word he wiped up the blood and put the Band-Aid over the cut. Two more Band-Aids followed to secure the first.
"That oughta do it," he said brightly.
Glory stared at him.
"You just…randomly carry around medical supplies?"
Horror flushed.
"I'm uh, clumsy," he answered.
There was no need to go into Séance's new self-mutilation habit.
"Well, thanks," she said grabbing his book and card, "You know…I'm on my lunch break in eight minutes if you're not doing anything."
Nodding Horror wondered why she'd told him that.
"There's this café that does this great latte not too far from here," she said, looking at him hard.
Once more he nodded.
"Yeesh," she said, "Been awhile since I did this. But…coffee? You me, eight minutes?"
There was a pause.
"Coffee?" repeated Horror stupidly.
"Yeah, that's what I said," Glory replied.
She bit her lip. It was only then that he realized that she was just as nervous as he was. He sighed, trying to figure out a way to express himself that didn't sound too awkward or stalkery.
"I get it if you don't want to," she said.
"Nononononono," he said, his words running together, "Eightminutesisperfectwithme. Perfect. Perfect."
Glory smiled and he felt something melt inside.
"Alright then," she said, handing him back his book.
With hands that were, to his great delight, trembling only slightly he took it back. Still not believing what he'd done he went back to his seat and tried to read. It was only when he realized that he'd read the same line eight times that he stopped and put it down. The remaining minutes passed slowly until at last Glory came up to him.
"Ready?" she asked.
Nodding he got to his feet and walked out the door. The café was really only a few minutes' walk from the library, which was great because Horror had no idea what to say. It was only after they'd ordered that he felt like he needed to talk about something. However, Glory beat him to the chase.
"So what do you do?" she asked.
"D…do?" he stuttered.
"Yeah," she said, sipping her coffee speculatively, "We both already know my job."
She gave a wry smile and Horror quickly tried to come up with a believable lie.
"Law enforcement," he said, which was true enough.
"No kidding," she said.
Something inside him rebelled at the way she looked at him.
"You don't believe me?" he asked.
"Well," she said, putting the coffee down, "It's not entirely unbelievable. I mean, you're certainly built enough for…"
Glory trailed off and hid her blush with an immense gulp of coffee. From the twitch in her left eye he could tell that she'd burned her tongue.
"Mph, but you just seem too nice to arrest anyone," she finished.
"Maybe. Usually I leave that bit to my partner," he said.
"So they're doing good cop bad cop parings now?" she asked.
"Guess I got lucky," Horror grinned, thinking about how she had essentially summed up Kraken.
She took another sip of coffee.
"Sorry the conversation's lacking," she said, "I haven't done this in a while."
"Neither have I," he lied, "But at least we're off to a good awkward start, eh?"
Glory smiled.
"So," he said, "Glory's an unusual name."
Her eyes narrowed.
"If you're about to make any puns then I think I'm gonna have to leave right now," she said irritably.
"Nonononononono," he said, partly upset that he was starting to stammer again, "I wasn't going to."
Her eyes returned to their natural width.
"Sorry," she said, "But if you had any idea about the number of guys who've…never mind. Thing about my name is that it was a close shave. It was nearly Gloriana, but my Dad told my Mom that everyone would just call me Glory so they should just cut to the chase."
"Gloriana?" he asked, interested.
"My Mom has this thing for the Tudors," she said dryly, "My sister wasn't as lucky as me. We call her Gina, but her full name is Regina."
"Wait," he said, crinkling his eyebrow, "Glory, Gloriana…Regina…"
His eyes widened.
"Don't tell me-" he started.
"Yep," Glory replied, "Good old Queen Elizabeth I. Otherwise known as Gloriana or Elizabeth R, and as we all know the R is for-"
"Regina," finished Horror, "And I thought my family had weird motivations for names."
"Allison and Ben?" asked Glory, "They're not odd."
"My Mom flipped randomly through a baby name book and picked the first ones she saw," Horror explained.
"Didn't your Dad mind?"
"Don't think so,"
She laughed and Horror found himself liking the sound. They continued talking about everything and nothing until she checked her watch and found out that her lunch break had ended.
"Sorry, gotta run," she said, throwing her cup into the garbage, "But, maybe we could do this again sometime?"
"Yeah, definitely," he said, knowing that he was beaming.