Recommended listening for this chapter: Black Butterflies and Deja Vu by The Maine
Set list:
- Excessive texting at work
- Dressing appropriately for the weather
- Being a "bad" friend
Encore:
- Bold choices
It was a very good thing her boss and a few others in the office made themselves scarce to attend a strategy meeting right before lunch on Monday morning, leaving her to hold down the fort by herself.
Namely because no work was remotely getting done.
Annette found herself staring down at her phone screen for the better part of the past fifteen minutes, desperately hoping that she was reading this date wrong despite having looked at the announcement from Thea's Fanclub approximately a thousand times already.
1st of the Blue Sea Moon was less than four weeks away, wedged between two other dates that were hours away from this smaller, more intimate venue in the middle of nowhere.
She and Felix had anticipated the new date to be later on because of a glaring gap in the tour dates but alas, no such luck. Tickets went on sale tomorrow at 10 am sharp so she had less time to dawdle. Mostly to confirm neither of them would be going.
Normally, Thursday shows were easy sells but the beginning of the month was always Felix's busiest time at work as a financial analyst - there was no way he'd be able to get the time off.
With a sigh, Annette started to compose her message to Felix underneath her desk out of habit, half-convinced that brazenly texting out in the open would summon her co-workers back.
Annette: the announcement was a new GA concert. It's on 7/1, about two hours south at Ladybird Amphitheatre. Tickets go on sale tomorrow.
To her surprise, a response came near-immediately.
Felix: fuck
His choice in response however, was far less surprising.
Annette: sorry Felix :(
Annette: I had the same reaction when I saw the date
Felix: somehow I can't picture you saying fuck
Annette: -_-
Annette: you know what I meant
Annette: anyway, I won't go if you can't go though since this timing sucks
When she didn't get a response after a few minutes, she assumed he was still in his meeting so she decided to put her phone on top of her purse at the side of her desk and went back to work. Or tried to, anyway. For some reason, today's announcement was giving her the ticket-buying day jitters even though she wasn't buying anything.
Unsurprisingly, when a loud buzz provided her with an actual reason to be distracted, she jumped on it.
Felix: I'm on lunch so I can respond now
Felix: anyway
Felix: if I booked a hotel room for 2 nights, can you wait in line for this and I'll meet you at the venue?
Felix: if you can't get Thursday off work, I can work around that
Felix: I have to work on Thursday/Friday
Felix: so I'd have to leave right early morning Friday
Annette's stomach rose to the back of her throat as her fingers composed a message in response before she could fully process what she'd even read.
Annette: I think Thurs should be no problem to take off but
Annette: that is way too much money
Felix: not really
Felix: the venue isn't in a tourist trap so my hotel discount is actually worth a damn for a change
Annette: ok but I should pay for the hotel since you're going out of the way to drop me off
Felix: no, I'm asking you to take the day off to secure our place
Felix: I should pay for it
Annette: D:
Felix: Fine. if I pay for the hotel and you cover the tickets to keep it simple
Felix: no complicated spreadsheets involved
Felix: deal?
Pausing slightly, Annette thought about the arrangement.
It was an easy sell to divide and conquer regarding the hotel stay and tickets since he needed his discount code for the room and she was the one doing presale but the relative ease of the purchasing logistics didn't necessarily make it the logical thing. The back and forth he'd have to do seemed like a lot of effort when they could probably just invest the time for another show altogether.
Annette: if this is going to be a lot of back and forth for you
Annette: would you be up for a show that might be a little further out date-wise
Annette: but works with your schedule a lot better?
Felix: the extra driving doesn't bother me
Felix: to be frank, I don't think the interesting covers will last later in the tour
Felix: she might even add exclusive songs since this is a fanclub-only show
Annette: oh, I didn't even think of that
Annette: yeah, you're probably right
Felix: I'm not opposed to looking for something as backup through
Felix: though we might not have a lot of decent choices at this point
Felix: tickets have been on sale for awhile now
Annette: well, we can cross that bridge if we get there
Annette: either way, if it happens we'd split costs 50/50
Annette: fair enough?
Felix: sure
Annette: great! I'll keep you in the loop tomorrow - have a good lunch
Felix: alright
Felix: thank you
Annette: you're welcome :)
Annette: friends don't let friends miss concerts
There. That could serve as a little test to see if things were truly the same as they were prior to Saturday, she decided. Felix was blunt by nature, he'd let her know if he was not her friend anymore. It was a solid move. Brilliant one, even.
Felix: or do lawn
Annette wanted to groan. Here, she was, being all nice to him. Little did she realize, she walked straight into this age-old bit.
Annette: that was -one- time I made that mistake
Annette: don't mention the L word here
Felix: what word? lawn?
Annette: why are you like this
Felix: like what?
Annette: like you're being contrary on purpose
Annette: act normal
Felix: I am normal
Annette: normal people don't wear cartoonishly-big concert shirts out of spite
Annette: stop wearing your Strawberry Skies shirt to sleep in and maybe I'll believe you
Felix: never
Annette: see! proof that you're evil and definitely not normal
Annette: someday I'll snatch that shirt from you and you'll never get it back
Annette: since it's clearly the root of all your villainy
Felix: I'd like to see you try
Near-violently depositing her phone into her purse for good this time, Annette shoved her palms against her eyelids and started massaging them vigorously. It was almost comical how sideways things had gone in such a short span of time and yet, she couldn't help but feel all...fluttery about it?
Right then and there, she decided that perhaps she should go on a quick lunch break too and eat her yogurt parfait at her desk. Perhaps get a headstart on her time off request too. Maybe set aside some time for a phone-free stroll outside when the others came back.
Sunlight and fresh air was known to do wonders for blood circulation and mood, after all.
The next day, Annette secured tickets for the two of them after taking an early lunch break.
To a practiced multitasking, ticket-buying veteran - it was a piece of cake. While it obviously helped that the show was general admission - dealing with the risk of releasing tickets in favour of potentially-better ones was a non-issue here - the purchase was most definitely aided by Thea's Fanclub knowing how to run a pre-sale effectively, bar none. There were no time-out issues, pre-sale code errors, panic-inducing captchas or...anything really.
Tickets were bought, PDFs were saved right after and, strangely enough, she didn't weep at the cart total for once.
But if someone were to look at Annette's phone at this very moment, they wouldn't know it to see it as she started browsing through the fanclub site while shoving forkfuls of taco salad in her mouth though she wasn't particularly hungry.
A few more screen taps later and she brought up the concert tour schedule for this summer. As she scanned the remaining dates that weren't sold out, Annette noticed that most of them appeared to be at nearby casinos with picked-over seats or fairly far away if they weren't.
With her flights of fancy effectively crushed, she began to type.
Annette: I got the tickets
Felix: that's good
It didn't surprise her that he was fairly responsive in texting back today. It was 11:15 am and Felix was nothing but consistent like clockwork when it came to the timing of his lunch breaks; he would still be on break for at least another fifteen minutes.
Annette: it's a good thing that worked out because you were right, it was slim pickings
Felix: are you on lunch?
Annette: I am, why?
Felix: I got news at work that might complicate our plans
Annette: ;_;
Felix: I was promoted to accounting manager
Annette: Felix, that's great news! Why did you make it sound like someone died?
Felix: Something is going to die and it's going to be my ability to leave on time
Felix: my manager sent in her three weeks resignation over some chronic health issues
Felix: apparently she recommended promoting me over hiring externally
Felix: which I have to admit, makes more sense because this place is a clusterfuck
Annette: Oh, was that what your meeting on Monday was about?
Felix: yeah, it was to let everyone know Lysithea was leaving
Felix: they didn't approach me about the promotion until today
Felix: getting to the point, I'll let you make the call if you want to go with someone else
Felix: or resell the ticket
Annette frowned. This bittersweet news was a punch to the gut. She was almost not surprised that something would go wrong because the presale had gone so right.
Still, if she was honest with herself, Mercie's comments over the weekend still lingered in her mind and she started to wonder if maybe, just maybe, the reverse was true too.
The idea of going with someone else felt kind of unappealing. Like sure, she could take Mercie because Thursdays were her day off but it wasn't the same as going with someone she could be stuck in a post-concert parking lot with, dissecting all the setlist choices and various moments in detail. Or someone she could discuss songs with over pre-concert crappy bar food as they waited eons for their server to come back with their refills.
Heck, she'd even miss finding more opportunities to make fun of the ridiculous and now-infamous oversized shirt Felix wore to sleep. A storied tradition that began not long after they'd gone to a B-Pop concert where the merch table was picked over and the XXL shirts were the only thing left. He'd argued back then that wanted to buy something because Strawberry Skies rarely toured outside of Brigid and Western Adrestia. But in her heart of hearts, she knew it was because she'd goaded him by saying it looked like it was big enough to swallow him whole.
Taking a chance, she frantically typed and sent off two texts before she gave herself the chance to chicken out.
Annette: what if I still want to go with you?
Annette: is that an option?
His response came a full ten minutes later.
Felix: it is
Felix: I don't see any issues in getting the hotel & dropping you off the night before
Felix: but I wouldn't get there til doors open at the least
Felix: we can still go, but we'd be separated
Annette: I can save you a spot up front
Annette: or if that doesn't work I can find you at the back
Felix: you wouldn't be able to see anything
Felix: I don't recommend it
Annette: it's fine, I already know what Dorothea looks like from all the MRO shows we did
Annette: besides, this can be like celebrating your promotion
Annette: so are you in or do you think it'll be too much?
Felix: I want to
Felix: this might be the last time for awhile
Annette frowned at the unspoken implication that their adventures were going to be indefinitely put on pause, if not ended altogether. Still, he didn't need to hear that so she tried to think of something cheerful instead.
Annette: then we'd better make it a good one :)
Felix: does this mean there's a chance I'll hear some of your improvised lyrics in the car?
Annette: I thought you promised you weren't going to bring that up after that third time
Felix: I made no such promises
Annette: I'm pretty sure you did
Felix: Annette, let me have this one - is there a chance?
Annette: I'll tell you if I get to ask you one question first and you have to answer it
Felix: I feel like this is a trap, but ok
Annette: no take-backsies now - deal?
Felix: deal
She knew this was dumb - and possibly opening up a can of worms - but her curiosity was getting the better of her now that they might be having one last hurrah.
Annette: is your tattoo from album art? it looked like album art
Felix: it's not though I can see why you'd think that since I've seen similar art for Dagdan symphonic metal band covers
Annette: if you don't mind me asking, what is it?
Felix: it's an illustration pulled from a story I read when I was younger
Felix: so are you going to sing?
Annette: wow, immediately cutting to the chase
Felix: what? I fulfilled my end of the deal
Annette: fine, fine
Annette: singing may happen, but only if you give me songs I can work with
Annette: it's not a guarantee since it obviously depends on if inspiration strikes
Annette: also, this is a one-time thing so don't expect it to happen again
Annette: is this agreeable to you?
Felix: yes
Annette: cool
Felix: I have to go back to work
Felix: fair warning, I might not be responsive to messages for the next few weeks
Felix: I'll let you know about the hotel as soon as I book it
Annette: ok - talk to you later
Ah yes, it was 11:30 on the dot, of course he had to leave. And now she had 15 minutes to stare at her phone in contemplation and neglect the rest of her taco salad - her appetite was beyond ruined at this point.
It was a good thing she'd been given advanced warning that he'd be less responsive to messages.
Annette was a bundle full of nerves by the time the Sunday before the show rolled around as is; she probably would have been beside herself if she hadn't been given heads up.
When they'd last texted each other well over two weeks ago for about three whole minutes while he was waiting in the lobby for some appointment, he hadn't brought up the Ladybird show much at all outside of sending her the hotel link.
As much as she tried her best not to bother him, the quiet was gnawing at her a little too much at this point.
Biting the bullet, Annette pulled out her phone and clicked the first name on her texting list.
Hey, are you still good for the Thea concert?
Nope, too direct. He'd be upfront with her if he had to cancel despite making revised plans.
Is work being the worst to you?
Why point that out? This was practically a given.
Are you ok?
No, what this needed was something with a touch more humour and to go with a smidge of empathy. But not too much empathy to sound like a worrywart. Something like...
Annette: still alive?
Felix: barely
The response was even faster than his monosyllablic 'fuck' weeks ago. Then again, it was somewhat less surprising at 7pm on a Sunday when he couldn't possibly be working.
Annette: barely? that's no good
Felix: can't be helped
Felix: I've been buried in work as expected
Felix: and now Sylvain's watching a marathon of some kind of sweets baking challenge thing with Mercedes while they're making a disaster in the kitchen
Felix: and they've covered every inch of it in flour somehow
Felix: for someone so anal-retentive about cleaning, I don't know how he let that happen
Annette: I can't speak to the kitchen disaster but I know I stopped paying for cable at the apartment so that's probably why Mercie is over at your place to watch
Felix: so you're telling me this might be a regular occurrence?
Annette: maybe for 1-2 more weeks - this season of Fodlan's Fanciest Desserts is almost done
Annette: I was tired of paying for something I wasn't even using when no one watches tv except for this
Annette: so this might be mostly my fault for this weird situation
Felix: unless you barred Mercedes from your kitchen, that's not your fault
Felix: the TV watching doesn't bother me
Felix: but I'm fairly certain this is some ploy to get me to leave
Felix: they've already threatened to make me taste test whatever it is they're making
Felix: Sylvain knows I don't do sweets - so should Mercedes at this point
It was a good thing this wasn't a phone call because she let out a long-drawn out groan upon reading his latest texts. This definitely sounded like a scheme that smelled of Mercie's doing. Annette might not have been technically responsible, but she definitely felt responsible.
Annette: you're welcome to grab some food with me if you need to escape
Annette: I was planning on picking something up since I haven't done groceries this week
Felix: tempting. what and where?
Annette: fish and chips from a mom and pop shop that's about a 20 minute walk from my apartment. I think it's probably not far for you too. I can send you the address if you want
Felix: sure
After copying the address and pasting it in two seconds later, Felix sent her an honest to goodness smile emoji paired with a thumbs up emoji. Annette couldn't resist the tug of a smile of her own pulling at her mouth.
It caught her off guard because he never used emojis or smileys for anything.
This was so weird yet delightful. Mostly weird.
It only got weirder the moment she thought she spotted him walk past Two Fish Hop & Pop from afar.
When she got up from her spot at one of the tables in the outdoor eating area and walked across the parking lot to get closer to the sidewalk, her stomach did a weird little flip once she was close enough to confirm it was him.
Mostly because while the back of his head was fairly recognizable between his hair pulled into the usual ponytail and his ears that stuck out ever so slightly, it was weird seeing him wear a faded black tank top and teal board shorts of all things.
The flip flops nearly killed her altogether because it confirmed the existence of his bare ankles.
At this point, Annette was fairly certain that if that was not cause of death, the actual cause would be all the new discoveries she was learning about him once he slowed down his pace to consult his phone.
She, on the other hand, found herself stopping altogether, her throat growing dry.
His toned arms in the shower picture were real and not at all photoshopped. His shoulders were indeed broad and not a product of crafty angles. In short, Felix was most definitely a covert gym rat.
Right then, the evaluation stopped there because he picked the worst possible moment to turn around and spot her.
"Ah, there you are. I was beginning to wonder if I'd gotten turned around." he remarked, casually sliding his phone in his pocket. "Is there something wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Felix, the ghost is you...this..." she rambled before regaining control of her voice altogether as she vaguely gestured in his general direction. "-How have I not noticed all of.. .this before?"
...Or sorta, that came out a little too shrieky for her liking.
He furrowed his brows. "All of what?"
"All of... aah! Sorry! " she yelped, practically leaping several feet forward as a car honked at her. Presumably because she was blocking the exit and fish and chips only stayed warm and crisp for so long.
Felix looked amused by this all if the tiny smirk on his face was any indication.
"You shouldn't be smirking at my misfortune, Felix. That's just rude."
He shrugged. "I wouldn't call that misfortune when you shouldn't be standing in the middle of the sidewalk by the drive thru exit. Mind explaining what you mean by all of...whatever?"
She minded it very much so but Annette dropped that particular subject.
Mostly because she didn't have enough brainpower to simultaneously yell at him and ask him about all the things that caught her attention.
Especially not when she was also learning more about herself too in the thick of all this, evidenced by how warm she felt all over despite only wearing a light yellow camisole top, stone wash jean shorts and sandals.
"I didn't know you had earrings. Or that many tattoos." she plainly stated at normal volume, lazily waving her pointer finger around. "Then again, I don't think I've ever seen you in shorts and flip flops either."
It was almost endearing the way he looked backwards to peer at the back of his right leg before acknowledging her question.
"I always forget I have my family crest on my calf. I got that when I was 18 and stupid." he admitted before he began to address the rest in short order. "My shoes are currently dusted in flour for some inexplicable reason. I've always had these earrings but I can't wear them for work. I usually don't bother putting the studs back in unless I have a few days off. That's why you've never seen them."
"Ah, I suppose they want you to look like a regular old accounting person. No rock 'n roll allowed, I guess." Annette added. "I'm assuming the tattoo I see poking out from the inside of your arm is new?"
"It is." He extended his left arm outward so could see it better. "I got this two weeks ago."
The design had a three-row set of diamond shapes of uniform size - three per row other than the middle row which had four. They were mostly-filled with a solid indigo colour while a few contained subtle colour variations and flecks of lighter colours like stars in a night sky. The space in between and the outer edges featured some abstract line art in mostly-darker tones. Some of the lines encroached into the filled diamonds but most were worked around them.
She couldn't quite discern all the details but on a visceral level, the art was a very stark contrast from the tattoo on his ribs. Both were abstract but the lines for this one were bolder and more geometric; the placement seemed deliberate but she lacked the context to get a sense of it - it was almost like a cipher of sorts.
"I have to ask, is this one album art?"
He lowered his arm to do the universal motion for 'eh, sorta' with his hand.
"In a sense, yes. It's an amalgamation of three separate album covers." he clarified. "The artist who did this doesn't do one-to-one recreations. She comes up with the design based on a few short questions and your reference images."
Annette furrowed her brows. "So you get no say on how it'll look? What happens if you get something you don't like?"
"You find another artist," he simply answered. "Certain artists can afford to be selective with the work they take on."
"Ah, so what made you go with someone like that? Was it just because you liked her work that much?"
"It was something I'd been meaning to get done for the past five years. The execution always eluded me." he began to explain, the words selected all-too carefully. "I was getting in my own way so I took a chance by entrusting it entirely to someone else."
"Did it turn out how you imagined at all?"
He shook his head. "No, not at all. But it's better because of it."
"I'm glad it turned out great for you. You'll have to show me what the album cover pictures looked like for comparison." Before she could say any more however, her stomach loudly growled in protest. "...On second thought, maybe we should stop hogging the sidewalk and go eat first though."
"I've no objections to that plan." he echoed as they started to walk back towards the shop.
While doubling back wasn't that much of a trek, thoughts filled Annette's head as she walked side by side with him.
Perhaps it was because she hadn't seen him in person in a few months since their last concert - a small local show they went to on a whim - but, for all that could be said about the residual growing pains that came with the territory of navigating...all of this, meeting up also felt comfortable and familiar too.
"Have you been here before?" he asked once they were crossing the parking lot proper, pulling her away from her own thoughts.
Annette looked at him and nodded.
"Enough times to warrant a few of the longtime staff to know my face." she warmly told him. "Though I don't think I've been here since I changed jobs. The temptation used to be a lot greater when my old drive brought me around this way. I almost felt embarrassed when I got a 'we miss you' coupon in an email recently."
"How has that been going? The job, I mean, not the coupon."
"Pretty good. I'm getting the hang of things. I do miss the end of the night bakery freebies from my old job though. Sadly, they frown upon taking inventory to eat when you're feeling peckish at my current one. Not that I'd attempt eating the cute stationery sets we have in stock though."
He snorted. "Eating paper would be tame compared to some of the things I've seen folio adjustments for."
"I'm tempted to ask you what's been crazier than eating paper but I have a feeling we'd be here all night if I did."
"I have the time. It's not like the disaster in my kitchen is going to be cleaned up any time soon."
Annette lightly swatted him in the bicep. "Felix, you're so mean sometimes."
"I'm aware," he acknowledged before opening the door for them.
From the moment they set foot into the shop, she could feel the smell of deep fryer oil waft through the air and practically permeate through her pores. It was kind of hard not to when the old school dinner-esque barstool high-top seating left little in the way of room to stand and the overall space was tiny. The poor air circulation barely mitigated by ancient fans didn't make things better either.
"Portions are very generous here so let me know what you want - my treat." she offered, shuffling a little to the side when she accidentally brushed against his arm.
"You don't have to."
"I want to." she politely insisted, casting a knowing look his way. "But if you need a reason, tickets to the show were cheap, remember?"
"So was the hotel," he civilly countered.
"Ok, but do you have cash on you?" she prodded, pointing to the sign right by the register without even looking at it, conveniently omitting the fact there was an ATM at the convenience store two doors down. "They only take cash."
Judging by the look on his face alone, she'd landed the killing blow.
"Alright, fine." he grumbled.
There was currently no one ahead of them so she made her way towards the cashier who greeted her with a pleasant smile. She was fairly certain the older woman with short grey hair was one of the owners since she'd never seen her before.
"Hello, what would you two like?" she asked in a cheery tone, as if she hadn't been standing there this whole time and hearing them squabble over payment.
"Hi! I'll have the regular one piece combo with an iced tea." Annette told her before looking over to him once more. He was staring at the menu board above her head. "Did you want one or two pieces?"
"One's enough. Water for the drink if that's possible. If not, I'm alright without one."
"A one piece combo with water." she repeated, turning to look at the cashier again. "Also, I know it comes with the tartar sauce but do you have any hot sauces you can put on the side too? He's a spice fiend."
The woman nodded, pointing to the bottom of the menu board. "We have our own homemade hot sauce that comes in medium, hot or extra-hot. It's a small upcharge for one more gold. Is that alright?"
"Yup." Annette said, snaking a hand into her purse to pre-emptively dig for the money. "The extra-hot one please."
"It'll be about ten minutes to get the order ready so you can take a seat here or outdoors, if you'd like." the cashier said as she rang her up and Annette handed her the coins.
"We'll wait outside." she told her as she stowed away her wallet, not bothering to ponder the alternative when it was so warm inside.
When Annette swiftly stepped outside and picked the closest of the free round tables for them to sit at, she couldn't help but notice Felix was still inside and lagging behind. When he finally joined her, he had a rather unreadable expression on his face.
Instead of sitting on the opposite side of the table so she could see him, he walked over to her so he could place some change right in front of her on the table. Since the circular benches were built in, he took a seat right by her on an angle to face her way.
"The cashier said you forgot your change."
"Ah, thank you. I'll put it in their tip jar when we go back in to pick up our food." she said, scooping up the coins to put in her pocket for now. "Is everything ok? You look a little preoccupied."
He paused for a moment, as if he was mulling something over. Once again it felt like he was trying to strategically pick his words again.
"I was surprised you remembered that I like spicy foods."
In spite of herself, Annette couldn't fight the burgeoning grin on her face.
"Well, it's kind of hard to forget when I get heartburn just by looking at your pre-concert eats for the past 2 years." she lightheartedly pointed out. "Obviously I have to make sure I feel heartburn by proxy today so there's some consistency here."
"I suppose it is strange not to head to a show afterwards." he conceded, his expression lightening a little. "You might not want to refer to me as a spice fiend to strangers though. The cashier asked if I had any fun pet names for you. I think the overfamiliarity gave her the wrong impression."
Annette blanched. "Please tell me you didn't give her any ideas. I'd like to be able to come back and show my face around here."
Thankfully, he shook his head. "I told her I didn't have any and left it at that."
"Oh thank goodness. I owe you - I'll go grab our food by myself when they're ready. And before you ask, their takeout packaging is practically indestructible because they're used to people having huge orders. You don't have to worry about everything flying around if I happen to trip."
When his amused look from earlier returned, she suspected brewing trouble.
"Even the drinks?"
"I'm only walking like five steps max between the pickup counter to here, Felix. They're not cruel enough to not give me a tray. And believe me, they don't cheap out on those either. Once they're in there you practically have to pry them out."
"So this means I only have to make sure you don't faceplant then."
Annette narrowed her eyes. "Bold words for someone sitting right beside me."
"Bolder words for someone who needs me to drive them to the concert." he dryly countered.
"Boldest words for someone without the ticket PDFs." she light-heartedly retorted, poking him squarely in the chest to burst the bit like a balloon before he swatted her hand away.
And though she hadn't planned it, the joke seemingly gave her the courage to pop other balloons while she was at it.
"And speaking of concert things, what's the plan for Wednesday? I didn't want to bother you earlier since you were in manager training mode and, well, I assume it'll obviously be sometime after work."
"Based on last week, be ready by 8:30 pm. If you're alright with me picking up food and gas on the way there, I can be there for 8."
"Let's do 8 then." she agreed. "What time are we leaving Friday morning?"
"A little after 7. Send me my PDF ticket when you get home."
"Sure."
With all their unfinished business squared away, Annette felt lighter.
Then she felt lightheaded when she realized how inadvertently close she was to him.
"Um, since we're waiting and all, do you want to show me the albums?" she asked, clasping her hands together and resting them on her lap. "I'm curious to know what they look like or if I've heard the band before."
"I doubt it, they stopped making music years ago." he casually stated as he pulled out his phone.
As he started to punch in his passcode, Annette carefully leaned in just enough not to brush up against him but close enough to get a good enough vantage point.
"Why am I not surprised you haven't changed your lock screen background from the factory default?" she joked.
He shot her a skeptical look. "Does it matter when the point of the screen is to enter the passcode so you stop seeing it?"
"It's still fun to have." she disagreed, wrinkling her nose as he angled his phone away, presumably to shield himself from potential scrutiny. "Please tell me you at least have a phone background."
"I have a phone background."
Before she could ask him what it was though, he must have been done flitting through his gallery because he was showing her his screen.
She leaned in closer to see the first album cover with indigo diamonds on it. There was no title or no band name. The dimensions of the picture suggested it wasn't a case where the text was cropped out but rather a deliberate choice by the band not to feature any text.
A flick of Felix's thumb and the second album now filled his screen. Again, there was no title, no band name, simply stylized thick linework in whorls and other geometric patterns. The colours were lighter compared to his tattoo however, coloured in cool greys and warm blues.
The last cover was markedly different from the other two. It was a desaturated candid photo of a nighttime outdoors performance. The focal point of the picture was the blonde drummer with her eyes closed in a moment of total concentration. Off to the left, the guitarist was engulfed in a blue-black motion blur and if there was a singer or bassist in this band, they were nowhere to be seen.
In the bottom right hand corner, the words 'black butterflies - true' were written in a typewriter-esque font, all in lowercase and barely visible.
Annette couldn't discern which was the band name versus the album title but she supposed it didn't matter. Neither rang a bell so Felix was right - she didn't know them.
"So, I'm guessing this last cover was the one giving you trouble for the design?"
"Yes. It's a terrible cover but the best album of the three by far." he answered, peering at his screen instead of her. "If I can unearth my copy, I can play it for you on the way to the show."
"Sure, I'd love to hear it." she told him. "What kind of music do they play? I take it that they're not a Dagdan symphonic metal band judging by the last cover."
"You're right, they weren't." he snorted. "They were a no-frills alternative rock band. More or less the opposite of Thea's pre-solo work with Mittlefrank Rock Opera. No strings, piano or theatrics. They never had a set lead vocalist so the albums were fairly unique as a result. I think you'd appreciate it."
Annette smiled. "I think so too. I mean, they must be great if you're willing to get a tattoo of all their albums."
"I'm inclined to agree." he wryly concurred, thumbing the back button on the bottom of his phone to go back to his main gallery. He paused momentarily before doing it again to exit the app altogether. "Also, here's proof I have a background. Are you happy?"
The moment it caught her eye, her eyes went as wide as saucers. Even though his apps obscured some of the photo, she recognized the long-buried memory almost immediately.
It was their meet & greet photo from MRO's last show back in Pegasus Moon of the year before. She practically had to beg Felix not to forgo his prize when he was one of the winners in the fanclub M&G lottery he'd accidentally entered himself in. And while Dorothea and the rest of the band were lovely, Annette had done most of the talking because he'd gone strangely mute.
Right as the man taking the photo counted down, he told everyone to say 'bees' instead of the commonly-accepted 'cheese' and it caught Felix off guard. She distinctly remembered having to ask them to do a retake on his behalf after seeing the puzzled look on his face in the photo.
The retake was nice, but everyone's expressions were a lot more subdued when compared to the smiles and laughs of the first photo.
But that was not what he had on his phone.
He had the bees photo.
And he'd put an app icon over his own face.
It was official. This man truly did not know the true power of photos, it seemed.
"While I have strong opinions on you blocking your own face," she prefaced, trying not to let her other thoughts run amok in her mind, "I am happy you have a background. We still need to fix your lock screen situation though. That will absolutely not do."
"Fine, I'll take a photo of the fish and make it my lock screen."
"You're incorrigible, Felix Fraldarius." she groaned as she got up from her seat. "I'm going to go inside now to pick up our orders. And while I'm doing that, think of a better lock screen idea like, I don't know, old school cat memes."
She didn't wait for his likely to be sardonic response before she marched towards the shop. Heaving the door open, the rush of hot air almost felt welcoming; at least it made sense to feel warm all over inside here.
Glancing over to the pickup area to the left, nothing was there just yet so she took a seat.
Annette nearly rocketed out of her barstool when the cashier popped out from the backroom.
"It'll be about another three-to-five minutes for your order." she informed her as she walked towards the soda fountain machine on the other end of the shop.
"Ah! No worries."
Belatedly, she remembered the loose coin in her pocket and hopped off her stool to place it in the tip jar right in front of the cash register. The action didn't go unnoticed by the lady even though her back was turned to presumably fill their drinks.
"Thank you very much dear."
"Oh no, thank you. It's been awhile since I've last been here so I thought I'd make up for lost time, you know?"
The older woman finished up with their drinks and placed them into a tray in short order before turning around to hand them to Annette.
"It's very much appreciated. Since the order is taking a bit longer than usual, I'll throw in an extra hot sauce for your boyfriend since the ramekin containers are a little small."
Annette's face burned as she gripped the tray even tighter.
"Thank you." she politely mumbled before she turned around to deliver the drinks to the table where her not- boyfriend was.
With a slow and measured pace, she approached the door and carefully nudged it open with her shoulder. The slow whine of the hinges caught Felix's attention as he swiveled his upper body towards her.
"Still a few more minutes until the fish is done." she told him as she cautiously made her way towards the table, stopping short when he held out his hands to reach for the tray.
"I think the one closer to me is your water Felix."
As he set the drink tray on the table, she retook her spot to his right.
"They look like they're both water." he remarked as he began to fervently wriggle the first cup out of the holder.
"That's fine, I can live with- aiiiiaaah! "
"Shit! "
Felix had accidentally sent the icy water flying in her direction when the lid popped off after he probably used a little too much force to pry the cup out, leaving her upper body and lap soaking wet.
Under other circumstances, she might have lorded the irony of his previous comments over him a little, but...not so much when she was wearing a pale yellow camisole that had a built-in bra with zero padding.
Things were a little more... perkier than she would have liked and attempting to wring out the water was making things worse. She was about to turn around on the spot before his voice stopped her in her tracks.
"I'm sorry Annette, here."
Before she could even register what was happening, he pulled his tank top over his head and handed it to her.
"Ah, t-thanks." she stammered, meekly accepting his offering as her cheeks turned scarlet.
She immediately engrossed herself at the task at hand to pat herself dry with his top, trying so hard to pretend like it was absolutely necessary to look down at her chest to do the job right.
It was definitely not because she was being a bad friend by feeling things in the pit of her belly and being painfully aware that it would only get worse if she looked in his direction.
Yes, it definitely had nothing to do with how photos didn't do real life justice or how she wanted to run her hands against the hard planes of his stomach and trace all the ridges of his body with her fingers. Or how she wanted to be more than what they were but she had no idea how to ask for it.
By the time she'd resigned herself to not getting any more dry no matter how much more she frantically pat herself down after a full minute, Annette shyly tilted her head up just enough to see that he'd must have gotten up at some point. He was now on the opposite side of the table with his back turned towards her to give her some modicum of privacy, his head bowed down and his body hunched over slightly.
Quietly, she walked around the table to where he was to give him back his tank top.
"Hey, thanks."
While he perked up at the sound of her voice, Felix deliberately avoided any proper sort of eye contact altogether by keeping his gaze low as he accepted her return and busied himself with turning the tank top right side out.
"Ah. You're...uh, welcome."
Annette internally screamed at how husky those first two words came out before he cleared his throat and corrected his tone.
Maybe, just maybe, she wasn't the only bad friend here.
But as he slipped on his top and told her he'd go get their order and fetch extra napkins, Annette found herself with her head buried in her hands the moment he disappeared into the shop.
She had no idea how she was going to survive this upcoming week.
Absolutely none at all.
End of Chapter Notes - fun fact: I gave Felix my old job in this fic. My favourite thing was reading all the insane reasons why folio (hotel bill) adjustments were made to people's accounts. My fave sfw one was 'guest complained about crooked lampshade.' I am literally not kidding.