It was morning already by the time that Ala returned home. She had been walking around for hours until she landed in a bar close to her apartment.
She took some drinks and decided to return home when the sun was starting to creep over the horizon and the bar closed for the day so the owner could get some rest.
She decided to drop by a bakery to get some buns for breakfast as a kind of peace offering before returning.
When she entered the apartment, it was still silent and she could see North lying in bed and sleeping soundly through the door that had been left ajar.
She couldn't say why exactly, but she would not have been surprised at all if North actually was wide awake and monitoring the apartment in wait for her to return.
Anyways, upon entering the kitchen she checked the clock to see that it was around seven in the morning. So it was just about time to eat breakfast and then get to bed afterwards to get some hours of sleep on the couch before leaving for her mission in the evening.
When she was done preparing, she poured herself a cup of freshly brewed coffee and sat down at the kitchen table.
Grabbing a bun out of the basket she had prepared, she cut it open and spread butter and jam on one of the halves.
Biting into it, she absentmindedly stirred her coffee and thought about the happenings of last night.
Swallowing down the bite, she took a sip of coffee. The buns were better today than any other days when she had them before. Probably because the baker had a good day. Maybe he and his wife had sex or something, which is why the buns were so good.
Grinning in amusement about her own mental joke, she took another sip of coffee when a voice came from the entrance of the kitchen, "What's so funny?"
Out of shock, she dropped the mug and its contents spilled over her dark blue tank top as the mug shattered on the kitchen floor.
"Aw, fuck!" she cursed, though there was no real venom in her voice—only disappointment.
"Shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." North immediately replied, crouching down in the same moment that Ala did to pick up the shattered pieces of the mug.
This resulted in them both banging their foreheads together.
Falling back on her rear, she held her hurting head.
"Ouch!" Tears stung her eyes.
"Ow!" she heard North mutter, holding onto what was nearly the same spot on his head.
"You have quite a hard skull." the Freelancer remarked with an apologetic smile.
"I can give that compliment right back to you." Ala muttered, blinking away the tears in her eyes and slowly starting to get up.
"Wait, let me help you." North was faster on his feet than she was, extending a hand to help her up.
Although Alaska usually wouldn't take a man up on such an offer as this subsequently would lead to men thinking that she was weaker, but here… Firstly, she was out of the service at the moment and wouldn't need to keep up her reputation. Secondly, it wasn't the time to play the stubborn asshole. She decided to put her pride aside for once and accept the offer.
With a thankful smile she grabbed the hand and let herself be pulled up.
She was wearing only slippers, having put them on when she entered the apartment.
This, in the end, caused her to slip on the puddle of coffee and start to fall forward. Her only thought in that moment was a rather inelegant 'Oh shit!' before she landed smoothly on something.
Or… Rather into someone's arms. North's arms, since he was the only person besides her in her apartment.
"Smooth." Came the dry comment of the Freelancer.
"Yeah, fuck you." Ala muttered, pushing herself away from him with a red face, and immediately turning around to start picking up the shards on the ground.
When she had thrown away the shards, she turned around to North, who was still standing there and regarding the woman with a strange expression in his eyes.
"I- uh- Thanks." Ala muttered, her cheeks reddening again, "I mean, for saving me from a bloody nose." She added, standing there some moments before she, as if having remembering something suddenly, grabbed a hankie and started cleaning up the coffee that had spilled on the ground.
"That's… okay." North's muttered reply came after seemingly having snapped out of his daze, "I wanted to say sorry actually before this happened."
"For?"
Fuck, was her brain turning into such fucking goo that she didn't even remember what had happened more than five minutes ago?
"For the dispute yesterday. I was angry about South and took that out on you. That wasn't right and I am sorry for that. I am well aware of the fact that you know how to defend yourself given that you were a Special Ops like South and I had been." He explained, scratching the back of his blond head.
Right… the dispute they had yesterday.
Actually, she had already forgotten about it after blowing off some steam since she had come to the same conclusion as North had when she thought about it with some emotional distance.
With her free hand, she made a dismissive gesture, "Forgiven and forgotten. Just… don't do it again."
There was a sigh, which sounded oddly like a relieved one, before North answered, "Okay, deal."
With that, he went over to the cabinet to take another mug out but noticed that there was only one left.
"Looks like you are lacking mugs?" the Freelancer asked casually.
North saw very well how she blushed. Luckily, Ala didn't notice that he did the same. With that question, he was only trying to keep their discussion away from that incident. It was a cover up so to speak, because it was as awkward for him as it must have been for her.
Theta giggled in the back of his mind when remembering the incident. He could hear him saying something about North having a thing for Ala, which North denied with a bit an annoyed sigh, but Theta wouldn't listen. He felt the same sort of childish joy as when a little brother just found out that the bigger brother had a crush on someone—which usually always resulted in the little brother teasing the older one relentlessly about it.
Being so caught up in his mental dispute with Theta, he almost missed Ala's answer. She now had cleaned up everything on the ground, washing out the hankie before hanging it back over the tap.
"Yeah, those were the last two I had. Since I had been living alone before you guys came, two or three mugs were enough for me." She replied.
North hummed appreciatively, taking out the last mug along with a glass out of the cabinet and filling them with coffee. He brought them to the table, putting down the mug at Ala's space and taking the glass for himself.
Only moments later, the black haired woman sat down at the table too. She felt relieved that North stirred the conversation almost professionally away from the earlier massive awkward subject for her.
It was just her libido going crazy that was it. It was not like she had a crush on him, mind you!
When they both sat down at the table, North then snorted with an amused grin, "You brought breakfast?"
"Had nothing left here to eat and I was out anyways." She replied curtly, deliberately taking a swig of her cup. Since she was sitting angular towards North, the whole hiding-behind-the-mug-trick didn't work.
Luckily he didn't call bullshit on her act and let it pass.
"Hm, thanks." the Freelancer replied then, taking one of the buns and starting to eat.
It was some moments later, when North again spoke up, the silence having settled between them into a strange blend of comfortable and awkward.
"So, looks like you need new mugs?" his tone was conversational, looking for an even ground without any possibilities to put their feet in their mouths.
"Yep, guess I will go and get some when I go for a grocery run tomorrow." She replied, emptying her cup and getting another one.
North's glass wasn't even half empty.
"I see." He took a swig of it now, "Mind if I accompany you? I can't stay locked up in here all the time."
Ala stared at him a long time, trying to assess his motives behind the request. She didn't know what to make of this sudden question, but she supposed it was because he was healed up completely by now.
He needed to go outside and live a normal life. He was right. He couldn't be locked up here for the rest of his life.
She threw him her trademark smirk, which some might consider threatening, "Sure, why not. Now that you're better, you could also help me out a bit."
North answered that with a soft "Heh." before taking another bun and starting to eat.
When Ala was done with her coffee, she got up and put her dish in the sink, "Do you mind if I leave? Gotta hit the hay for tonight."
"Absolutely not." He reminded himself to swallow first before talking. He was speaking with a woman at least. This wasn't the Project's mess hall where he was talking to York, who had absolutely no manners and didn't care about them in the slightest unless it came to Carolina.
Emptying his glass, he went over to the coffee pot, taking the last cup and pouring the coffee until the pot was empty, "Shall I make another pot for when you wake up?"
"You sure can." Ala yawned heartily, stretching herself until one of her shoulders popped, "I'm going to need the coffee to boot up properly."
"Guess you're getting up around five?" North was standing at the counter, regarding the woman yawning again.
He was only happy that she didn't notice him checking her out.
With a big gulp of coffee, he covered up the mental dispute between him and Theta again flaring up when the Fragment started getting cheeky.
'You like what you see?' Theta asked with a laugh in his voice.
'Shut up.' North replied with a mental cough.
'So you do. When are you going to tell her?' Theta could be so fucking persistent.
'How about never? She's our host… It would be kinda impolite.'
'You had better excuses in the past, North.' the Fragment replied dryly.
'I know.' North admitted with a defeated sigh.
'At least you admit that you like her.' Was the last statement before Theta decided to shut his trap for the moment and again play the silent onlooker.
"Hey, North, you in there somewhere?" A hand waving in front of his face made him jump a bit in surprise.
"Uh sorry, I was lost in thought." He lied, trying to cover up the fact that Theta was needling him about his crush – Okay, he was admitting it! – and trying to play his wingman.
"Obviously." the black haired woman snorted sarcastically before continuing, "Anyways, I said that I would crash on the couch. If you want, you can have my laptop to watch some TV."
She was just about to turn around and leave when North held her back by grabbing her shoulder. It was a strange but not unwelcomed touch.
"I propose something else. You take the bedroom and I take the living room." North decided with a smile, which was quickly answered by Ala with a shake of her head.
"That's your place. I am fine with the couch."
"It's your home." North stated, "And your bedroom. And you need the sleep. So you are going to your bedroom and getting your sleep since bedrooms are meant for that."
"And what about you, when you get tired?" Ala asked after some moments, when she came to the realization that she wouldn't be able to persuade North otherwise. She knew by now that he could be fucking stubborn once he had made up his mind on something, just as she could be.
"I can sleep in your office. I just need to get back in shape still, but I am well enough that I can take up the bed in there. I won't accept any back talking. You're getting back your bed and I will sleep in the office like South did. End of discussion."
This drew a long sigh out of Ala.
"Okay, okay. I surrender." She yawned again, the tiredness kicking in for real now.
"You want to change the bedsheets before you go to sleep?" North asked with consideration woven into his voice.
"I changed them yesterday." Ala answered like that would be the end of the discussion, but North didn't accept that.
"I already slept on them one night. Not everyone would feel okay with that." He embarrassedly scratched the back of his head again, looking away from her.
"Yeah. But it was only one night, and I am no princess. I've slept in worse conditions. Besides, I only have two sets of duvet and my next washing day is in one week." She replied, starting to walk away.
"Then you could take South's since they are freshly washed." North was trailing behind her.
Before the bedroom, Alaska stopped and turned around.
"Jeez, North, stop playing the mother hen." She said with an eye roll and a laugh, "You're my guest here and you are not supposed to pamper me. Take it as a new rule of the community in here. You're a nice guy, but stop this taking care of others bit and worrying about everything." She laughed again, adding after noticing North being a bit shocked, "No offense, but seriously. It's okay. End of discussion."
With that, she turned around again, shortly changing clothes and then going to the bathroom to clean her teeth, brush her hair and braid it again.
When she came out of the bathroom again, she could see North sitting on the couch and watching some kind of news, still reporting about the crash of the ship and about several Agents having gone missing.
She could see the worry in his face about the crash.
Walking over, she laid both hands on his shoulders from behind him, giving them a reassuring squeeze.
"South and the others are doing fine, don't worry."
"Yeah…." A small smile appeared on the man's lips.
Ala took her hands off him, slowly to not alert him. She had just become aware of the proximity they had and with the events in the kitchen shortly ago fresh in her mind…
Well… Awkward.
"Anyways. I am going to bed. Have fun watching TV." She turned around to hide her blush and started walking towards her bedroom. Behind her, she could hear North wishing her a good night.
Entering the room and cuddling in her blanket, she could smell North's distinctive smell. It smelled a bit like the wind promising refreshing rain, like gun oil and like, hmm… If she had to put it into words, the smell somehow also reminded her of the sun. Bright, gentle, and warm.
Turning around and squeezing her eyes shut, she forced all those thoughts aside and concentrated on falling asleep, which she did moments later. She really must have been tired.
In the living room, the news reader turned to a heavy shooting having taken place in New Shanghai, about 1000 Kilometers away from here. Some kind of terrorist act, but North wasn't really listening.
He had his arms on the backrest, as well as his head and was staring up at the ceiling. Seriously, why was he feeling so strange?
'Because you like her.' Theta obviously took it as a cue to chime in again.
North sighed, a long and suffering one, before closing his eyes, 'I know, it's just… It's strange… I never felt like that for someone who is a complete stranger to me so fast.'
He heard Theta snort in his head and lifted an eyebrow, 'What's so funny?'
Theta's tone definitely was amused when he replied, 'Didn't you once tell York about love on first sight or that people immediately feel connected and drawn towards each other when meeting? Wait, what was it called…?'
'Soulmates?'
'Yeah, that.'
'There isn't such a thing as soulmates, Theta.' North's parental side came through again.
'But love on first sight…!' Theta insisted.
'Hardly.' North tried to brush Theta's reasoning off.
'What about York and Carolina then? And didn't you also once tell York that love sometimes chooses the strangest times and places to appear?' His Fragment wouldn't stop needling him, North just knew it.
'We've already had been through this, Theta. I like her. I admitted it.' He at least admitted defeat on this point. He could feel Theta being happy that he was right for once and had won an argument.
'And when are you going to tell her?' Theta then continued the topic.
'I don't even know if she feels the same way I do.' North replied with a sigh, now leaning forward and bracing his elbows on his upper legs right above his knees. He put his chin in one of his hands.
'She does. Stop being such a coward.'
'Now you're being an asshole.' North stated dryly.
'Alpha is my brother. Are you really surprised about that?' Theta replied in the same dry voice that North used.
'Right…' he sighed again, 'Anyways, how do you know that she likes me the way I do her?' he couldn't help but wonder if his Fragment knew something he didn't.
'She does. Trust me.' Theta replied, almost gently as if he could understand North's situation.
Given the fact that they were connected in their minds, it was pretty logical that he could follow all of North's thoughts.
'I guess I have no other option than that, huh?' He smiled, a bit relieved to have at least someone to talk to who would understand him when his sister wasn't around.
He doubted anyway that South would understand his reasoning on this subject as she did in other cases since she obviously didn't like Alaska very much.
'Yep.' Theta obviously considered this subject thoroughly discussed and focused back on the TV, materializing to watch the TV and let North dwell on his thoughts.