Eichhornia
“What do you think, Remus? Should I put the calla lilies by the bay window or behind the counter?” Regulus walks between the two spots in his shop, holding his precious lilies up to the light.
“I don’t know, Regulus, you know plants aren't my specialty. That’s why you run your side of the shop and I run mine.” Remus sighs, peeking out from behind the book stacks and over towards the plant counter. “But I suppose the window,” he grumbles, rolling his eyes.
Regulus’ face lights up. “Yeah, right? The sun on the purple flowers will really open up the view through the window.” He sets down the pot of black calla lilies and brushes his hands off of dirt.
He and Remus have been running this joint plant-and-bookshop for the past six months and it’s been a daydream. Regulus loves plants with such passion and loves books as well. Remus is the same vice-versa, but his plant knowledge is limited.
So after getting fed up with their shite old jobs, with encouragement from their friends, they came together to open R&R’s Fictions and Foliage. Regulus thinks it has a nice ring to it. He also just enjoys the alliteration. They even have their closest friends to help them out. Dorcas and Lily are their best, albeit only, employees, and the four of them enjoy their work immensely.
They split the space into two sections, leaving the open, window-filled area to Regulus and the darker, shelved one to Remus. There’s a wall between the two sides with a large archway to connect them. The ceilings are high, and there’s a loft to the bookshop to allow for more shelving space. Overall, Regulus thinks they’ve done a fantastic job with the place. Sometimes the shop doesn’t even feel real. He finds it difficult to feel sad in a place like this, surrounded by his plants, his books, and his friends.
They aren’t ridiculously successful but they have their regular customers they love and enough income to keep up rent and food costs. And most importantly, they’re happy. For the first time in his life, Regulus doesn’t think anything can screw that up.
Regulus Black is happy. He’s lost a lot in his life, and he’s come to accept that he’ll never get those things back, least of all his brother. But he has a business and a job he adores, friends who love and support him, and a passion for cooking and caring for his plants. He’s lost Sirius, but now he has Remus, Barty, Evan, Dorcas and Lily. And best of all, he has Pandora.
Regulus had met Pandora Lovegood three years ago, during his last year of uni. University was a rough time for Regulus. By the time he graduated, he had just managed to escape from his parents’ grasp and go his own way.
He was an adult, he had a right to choose his own life, and Pandora helped him with that immensely. They’d met when Pandora walked into the campus coffee shop one morning and complimented Regulus’ outfit. She insisted on talking to him and buying him some tea and a biscuit, much to Regulus’ dismay at the time. After that, she’d just never left him alone, and Regulus is so grateful for that.
He and Pandora are soulmates, there’s no question. Where he’s rough with sharp edges, they’re light and carefree. Without her interference, Regulus might still be back at Grimmauld Place under his parents’ thumb, hiding away inside himself. He’d probably be engaged to some “suitable” girl from a well-off family, his whole life planned out ahead of him.
But he’s here, working with one of his best friends on one of his greatest passions, whatever he wants to do with his life ahead of him. And he’s happy. He will forever be in Pandora’s debt no matter how many times they insist otherwise.
“Hello? Earth to Reg.” A smooth voice pulls Regulus back to reality and he realises he’s been standing by the window for a few minutes. He spins around to find Remus leaning against the archway between the stores with a smug grin. Regulus’ cheeks flush red.
“Sorry,” he says. Remus smiles and shakes his head.
“No worries, now come on, it’s almost time to open.” And with that, Remus turns around to sort through a stack of books. He glances up at the clock, it’s almost nine. Sighing, Regulus goes to the back room to pull on his apron and quickly straightens out his desk before leaning out to give Remus the nod. He puts on some soft lofi music over the speakers and watches as Remus flips the CLOSED sign to OPEN and settles in behind the book counter.
Today is Wednesday, not their most popular day, so Regulus assumes it’ll be slow and quiet. But he has tonight to look forward to. Pandora and Dorcas are coming over for dinner. As he smiles to himself, the bell by the door rings and a tall man with bronze skin, messy dark brown hair, and the deepest, warmest brown eyes behind thick round lenses Regulus has ever seen steps in, looking lost and ecstatic all at once.
Regulus quickly realises that Remus has gone to the back room to sort out some books and he has to greet this man himself. He curses under his breath before striding over towards the stacks of books.
“Hello there, anything I can help with, sir?” he asks as kind as he can. Regulus has never been the best with people, despite his line of work. He tends to leave as much of the customer service to Remus as possible, but sometimes it’s necessary for him to step in, and he hates every second of it. Of course, this man’s astounding beauty and kind aura make it just a touch easier.
The man looks up at Regulus with nothing less than pure awe and he feels suddenly very warm and uncomfortable. He feels his face being scanned and wants to run away and hide in the back room now but he has to be kind to his customers so he just waits, awkwardly looking around.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to be rude!” The man says, shifting a bit awkwardly himself. “I’m James,” he smiles. Is this a normal part of customer interactions? He asks himself. Am I supposed to introduce myself?
“Er- Regulus,” he replies rather ungracefully.
“I suppose that makes you the R in R&R, then, doesn’t it?” James asks. Regulus finds himself unable to hold back a laugh at that. Such a simple, dumb comment, yet coming from this man, it makes Regulus light up inside.
“Mm I suppose it does, doesn’t it?” Gathering himself again, he clears his throat. “Anything I can help you with then, James?”
“Oh yes, of course! Sorry, Regulus.” He apologises again, bringing a hand up to the back of his neck. “I suppose I’m not entirely sure what I’m looking for but this shop looked lovely and I just had to check it out!”
“Oh, thank you,” Regulus says, feeling his cheeks get a bit warm. “No need to apologise, I’ll just leave you to look around then. I’ll be over there behind the flower counter should you need anything else.” He quickly ducks his head and walks away to his counter, finding his new collection of eichhornia suddenly fascinating.
He quickly chastises himself for getting all caught up in the handsome stranger – James, rather. But he is objectively attractive, there’s nothing wrong with recognising that, is there? No, nope, he isn’t doing this right now.
He instead focuses his attention on transferring a few of the water hyacinths into pots of water and wiping down the table when he’s done, now covered in water spills. A few minutes later, Regulus hears somebody clear their throat and looks up to find James looking down at him with a crooked grin. Fuck, that’s cute.
“Oh! Sorry, I got lost in thought, I suppose, what can I do for you?” Regulus says, intentionally trying to avoid looking James in the eye.
“Those flowers are beautiful, eichhornia, water hyacinths, right?” He asks, much to Regulus’ surprise. Eichhornia are beautiful flowers, but not one of the commonly known varieties.
“Yes, I just got them in yesterday,” he says, still mildly startled.
“Wondering how I know the name?” James asks, maintaining that crooked grin. Regulus nods bashfully, feeling a blush creep up his cheeks yet again. “My dad loves gardening, my mum too but she’s not as into it. They always planted water hyacinths in the springtime in the pond. They’re my favourite flowers now.” James leans down, resting his elbows on the counter, yet again letting his strong gaze fall across Regulus’ face.
Regulus looks back, noting the way the sunlight in the room almost feels like it’s radiating off of James rather than coming through the window. His glasses fall down his nose and Regulus has the overwhelming urge to push them back up for him but resists, trying to remind himself that that would be an incredibly weird thing to do. Regulus clears his throat, setting the flowers down on the counter and standing up fully.
“Right, so,” James starts, standing up again and shifting between his feet, looking like he’d been caught doing something bad. “I had a couple books I wanted to buy, but I’d also love to buy a water hyacinth if you’re selling them.” Regulus feels his lips tug up a bit at the corners and tries to suppress it, but he can tell James already noticed by the way his face lights up.
“I’ll need to ring up the books over there,” Regulus says motioning to the book counter, “but I can get you started with that water hyacinth here.” James nods. Regulus reaches under the counter to grab a pamphlet on taking care of eichhornia and sets it down next to the pot. He’d just finished putting this one together this morning.
Regulus takes great pride in his plant-care pamphlets. He isn’t sure if anybody actually takes the proper time to read them, but either way he enjoys putting them together with all his personal tips and tricks. So he continues to distribute them anyway.
“Here’s a guide on how to care for the plant, but I’d encourage you to do your own research or consult your parents too. You’re also welcome to come back here any time if you need help.” He says, ringing up the flower at the register. James tucks the pamphlet in his pocket, smiling blindingly at Regulus as he pays. “Do you have a way to get this all home alright?”
“Yeah, my car’s parked just in front,” James nods.
“It’ll be heavy because of all the water, so make sure to be careful. Are you sure you can carry it?” Regulus asks. James simply grins, subtly (not-so-subtly) flexing his arms in response.
Regulus nods, trying to look away and ignore the way his breath stopped momentarily at the sight – gods, this bloke is fit, what is he some kind of coach or trainer? – and starts walking over towards the book counter, James trailing behind him. He sets the two books down and Regulus takes note of the titles he chose. An interesting combination.
He finds himself trying to fight back a smile yet again, despite James looking nervous about his choices. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson.
“Good choices,” Regulus smiles. James’ face fills with hope.
“Yeah?” He asks, looking strangely anxious. Regulus hums and nods, ringing him up.
“Find everything alright?” He asks the obligatory question. James brings back his crooked grin. Regulus never wants to see that go away again.
“Fantastic,” he smiles, pulling the books back into his arms and swiping his card. Regulus walks over to hand James the flower and watches him head towards the door. “By the way,” he turns around, hand on the doorknob, “Leo is my favourite constellation.” With that, James winks and walks out the door, and Regulus stops breathing. He stays rooted to the spot for a few moments, unsure of what to do with himself. Was James flirting with him? Is that what just happened?
“Leo is my favourite constellation,” that’s what he’d said. Regulus, the star, is the heart of Leo. He must’ve known that. What does that mean?
“What happened to you, Reg?” Regulus hears the familiar voice pull him back to reality, Remus. He shakes his head, turning around.
“Nothing, everything’s fine,” he says, voice shaky. Remus looks him up and down, eyebrow raised, unconvinced. “I think the bloke who was just in here was flirting with me,” he grumbles and watches as Remus’ face turns into a grin.
“Oh, really? Regulus Black is a wanted man, isn’t he,” he says, teasingly. Regulus shoves him away, rolling his eyes.
“Oh shut it, It’s not like I’ll ever see him again,” Regulus says, walking back over towards the flower counter.
“But you want to, don’t you?” Remus asks, following him. Regulus shoots him a glare but doesn’t deny it. What would be the point? Remus always knows when he’s lying and he would just make fun of him more. Remus seems to know Regulus’ inner turmoil and hums in victory. “Gotcha,” he grins, leaning against the archway again.
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The next hour passes by without any other remarkable events. Try as he might, Regulus cannot get the man, James, from that morning out of his head. He hates it. Luckily, Remus decides against bringing it up again.
“Lily, my love!” Remus exclaims as Lily Evans walks into the store looking both half-dead and more alive than he’s ever seen her, kombucha in one hand. Lily is remarkable like that. No matter how tired, sick, sad, or any other negative emotion she’s feeling, she always manages to breathe life into every room she steps into. She reminds Regulus of Pandora in that way. She sets her kombucha down on the book counter and sighs, leaning against it.
“Remind me why I thought it was a good idea to wake up at 6 A.M. every morning to go watch screaming children?” She asks exasperatedly. Remus merely smiles and walks forward, throwing his hands around her neck.
“Oh shut up, you love it,” he mumbles.
“You’re right, I do,” she says, eyes sparkling. Regulus smiles, watching them. Remus and Lily have a friendship very much like Regulus and Dorcas’. He supposes that’s why the four of them work so well together. Remus and Lily have known each other forever. They used to be part of the same friendship group in high school but fell out with the rest of them in university. Remus never told Regulus what happened so he doesn’t push.
But Remus and Lily remained best friends and still are, to this day. Regulus had known Dorcas from high school too; they still kept up with their old friends, though. The four of them were in the same English class in uni, and have stuck together ever since.
“Hey, Cas is busy all morning at her other job so why don't we meet her for lunch? There’s a new Mexican place around the corner with a vegan burrito I’ve been dying to try!” Lily exclaims, pushing away from Remus to look at Regulus expectantly.
“Sounds lovely,” he says with a small smile.
“Wonderful!” She says, jumping up and down a bit. “Now you’re coming with me,” she grabs Regulus’ arm, “I have so many ideas for an outside display!” Regulus allows himself to be pulled along by Lily. He knows whatever she has in mind will be perfect but she enjoys having his input anyway.
“So, Earth Day is in a few weeks and I thought we could compile some of our favourite oxygenating plants and I’ll write some facts and figures on the chalk boards!” Lily pulls out her phone to show him some sketches she's made. Diagrams of the Earth with facts about trees and forests fill the screen. Regulus smiles.
“Perfect,” he says. Lily has always been passionate about caring for the Earth. It's one of the things that makes her so perfect to work here. She really cares about every plant just like Regulus does, and she cares about teaching other people. She treats the nonfiction centre of the store like her children.
“Yay!” Lily squeals heading into the back room. “Is it okay if I work on some planning and spreadsheets?” She asks hopefully.
“Sure, I have to water the plants anyway.”
“Holler if you need me!” She calls, already grabbing papers from the office and settling behind the computer.
“We’ve lost her until April 22nd,” Regulus remarks, turning to Remus. Remus smiles.
“Ah, of course, her yearly Earth Day project.” Regulus nods in reply. Just then, an older woman with greying hair tied up in a tight bun walks in.
“Hello, I was hoping to purchase an Emily Dickinson collection?” She asks with a kind voice.
“Yes, of course! Follow me,” Remus says, walking towards the poetry section. Regulus hears them chatting excitedly as he steps over to the sink.
He decides to put on some more interesting music given the slow day, and walks around watering his plants and spinning, singing along to a shuffle of Bears In Trees.
“I’m not looking for deletion of my entropy, I just wanna feel evergreen.”
Regulus doesn’t sing very often but he enjoys it. He’s been told he's a good singer . He just enjoys doing it for fun, getting caught up in the music.
“But I must possess the thought that progress is a process, And it ain’t one step backward if you rotate your axis.”
He pauses by his calla lilies, admiring their deep purple flowers in the sunlight and letting the light, the smell of the flowers, and the lilt of the song consume him for a few moments. He tries not to think about the fact that it’s reminding him of James.
“Well, you two lads have something really special going here.” The voice of the woman from earlier floats back through the room. She and Remus approach Regulus. “Minerva McGonagall,” she says, extending a hand to Remus.
“Remus Lupin,” he replies, shaking her hand. She turns to Regulus next.
“Regulus Black, It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am,” he says with a firm handshake. He hates to admit it, but the business degree and the constant lessons in etiquette and formality from his parents have come in greatly handy running this shop with Remus. Remus studied English literature in university, and while that does make him an expert in books, and he’s naturally good with people, it didn’t teach him the first thing about how to run a bookstore.
“It’s lovely to make your acquaintances Mr. Lupin, Mr. Black,” she greets. “I’m the principal at the local high school, if you’d ever like to set up something with the kids, let me know.”
“That would be great, Ms. McGonagall!” Remus says.
“It’s Dr. McGonagall, but don’t worry about it, you didn’t know. If you need anything, please call, here’s my card.” She smiles at them.
“Thank you so much, Dr. McGonagall,” Regulus says.
“I hope to see much more of you two in the future,” she says with a wave, walking out the door.
“She was lovely,” Remus says. “Her wife’s birthday is coming up soon and she loves Dickinson so she wanted to get a poetry collection for her.” Regulus smiles at that. The rest of the morning goes by uneventfully and at 12:30, right on schedule for their lunch break, Lily finally reappears.
“We’ve got ourselves a new admirer, Evans,” Remus says as she emerges from the back room.
“Oh? Is that so? Who is it?” she asks, pulling out a compact to fix her hair which clearly got messed up in her rush to plan.
“Principal of the local high school, Dr. McGonagall,” Regulus offers.
“Isn’t that nice,” Lily asks, rhetorically.
“She said we could maybe set something up in partnership with the school some time,” Remus says, holding his arm for Lily to loop hers through.
“Really? That’s excellent! I would absolutely love to help with that.” The sparkle in Lily’s eye is back again. The three of them walk out to the sidewalk and Regulus locks up, putting up a Lunch Break: Be back at 2 P.M. sign while Lily speaks excitedly about the work she’d done that morning and possible ideas for an activity at the school. She offers her free arm to Regulus who takes it and they walk around the corner to the Mexican restaurant.
Dorcas is outside, leaning against the wall, one foot propped up against the brick.
“There you all are! I was starting to think my best friend had gotten kidnapped,” she shouts, running towards Regulus and practically tackling him into a hug.
“Hey, what about us?” Remus asks in mock offence.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll get to you in a second.” Dorcas finally drops her arms, reaching her hands up instead to straighten out Regulus’ hair. He’s learned to stop fighting her on it. She’s a hair and makeup artist so at least he can trust her not to fuck up his precious hair. “Reg, love, you have to let me do your makeup when we get back to the store.” Regulus just rolls his eyes and nods and Dorcas squeals in excitement going over to squeeze the life out of Lily and Remus.
“You just saw us all yesterday, you know,” Regulus points out.
“What? I’m not allowed to be happy about seeing my friends?”
“The nerve of that one,” Lily says in agreement. Regulus huffs. They all enter, finding a table by the window to eat, conveniently missing the early afternoon rain that falls.
After a delicious lunch – the vegan burrito was incredible, Lily had said – Remus and Lily left to enjoy an afternoon off and Dorcas and Regulus walked back to the store together.
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“Sooooo, Remus told me there was some hot guy ogling you in here this morning,” Dorcas prompts, smartly right after finishing Regulus’ eyeliner, otherwise the way his head jerked in shock would’ve left a black streak across his whole face.
“What?” He chokes.
“So it’s true, then!” Dorcas exclaims. It’s a statement, not a question.
“He was not ogling!” Regulus defends, standing up to busy himself with the blue orchids.
“But there was a hot guy?” Dorcas grins widely. He’s stuck now.
“There was a man who was… not unpleasant to look at,” Regulus sighs, moving over to rotate his window plants. Dorcas squeals again. “He bought an eichhornia, said his parents used to plant them when he was younger.” Regulus feels his mouth threatening to curl upwards and quickly fastens it into a scowl.
“Oh, you so like him,” she says, gathering up her makeup and putting it away.
“Do not!”
“Great argument there, love.” Regulus just flips her off. She’s got a point. The fact that James was on his mind all morning is, regrettably, a fact. So he caves. Dorcas senses this immediately and smirks.
“He was so pretty Dorcas, you have no idea,” he says, accepting defeat. “And he kept looking at me! And he fucking showed off his muscles.” Regulus leans against the wall, angry at James’ perfect existence.
“Did he now?” Dorcas asks, walking over to him.
“He’s so fit.” Regulus puts his head in his hands and Dorcas puts a hand on his back in comfort. “And then as he left he said Leo was his favourite constellation and he winked at me! He winked, Dorcas.” Dorcas hums.
“You’ve already got it bad don’t you?” She says softly. Regulus whimpers.
“I barely know him!” he exclaims in frustration.
“So?” Dorcas asks.
“It’s not fair! He’s so pretty,” Regulus groans.
“I’m sure he is.”
“I’m so gay.”
“I know.”
A customer very rudely walks in whilst Regulus is having his gay crisis and luckily Dorcas takes care of them. They work in tandem for the next hour before closing. At 4, Dorcas flips the OPEN sign to CLOSED and changes the music to her playlist and they sweep and reorganise to Hayley Kiyoko.
“Summer’s for the girls! The girls that like girls, the girls that like boys, the girls, the girls, the girls,” Dorcas sings along, pointing at Regulus to finish the chorus.
“Summer’s for the girls. The run the night girls, the change your life girls, the girls, the girls the girls.” They dance around the store before finally locking up and walking to the market.
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“What are you making for dinner?” Dorcas asks as they weave through crowds in the outdoor market.
“Chicken Milanese,” Regulus replies. “I have most of the ingredients at home. I just need chicken, eggs, pesto, and some fresh berries for dessert” He counts off each item on his fingers.
“Sounds wonderful,” Dorcas replies wistfully. “Divide and conquer?” She gives him a grin. That’s what the two of them always used to say when they got stuck with too much to do in high school and uni. Divide and conquer usually meant split up the work between them and then immediately get distracted and procrastinate, but there are a lot of happy memories associated with the phrase anyway.
“You take care of the fruit and pesto, I’ll get the chicken and eggs,” Regulus says and dashes off.
They find each other again in 15 minutes, both holding one of Lily’s handmade reusable grocery bags with their purchases inside.
Lily’s Earth Day project last year was a huge undertaking that she spent months on. She made all of her friends reusable grocery bags crocheted out of plastic bags. They all adored their bags and used them whenever they could. She’d insisted they bring them out to use, both to help the planet and to make a statement, and they held up their end of the bargain.
Dorcas and Regulus run just in time to catch the bus and clamber up to the top floor to get a nice view on the ride to Regulus’ flat. Regulus loves spending time with Dorcas because it’s effortless. No matter what they do or where they go, they always end up having fun. It's nice to have that security in a friendship, Regulus feels.
After the short bus ride, they’re disembarking, sending a smile and a thank you to the bus driver, and walking up the steps of Regulus’ building. Regulus unlocks the door to his flat and Dorcas immediately rushes inside, dropping her bags on the counter and flopping onto the sofa.
Both Regulus and Dorcas are absolute drama queens, that’s another thing that makes them such good friends.
“Don’t mess up my nice cushions!” Regulus calls from the entryway. He has his comfy pillows, for himself, and his show pillows, which he puts out when he knows he’ll be having guests. The show pillows were expensive and he doesn’t need Dorcas rolling all over them and messing them up. He drapes his jacket on the coat rack and steps into the kitchen.
“You should really stop putting out the show pillows when your friends come over, you know we’re going to mess them up.”
“Well nobody comes over except my friends, when am I supposed to put out my nice pillows?” he asks. Dorcas just shrugs, making a point to burrow into the cushions and Regulus groans.
The kitchen, dining room, and living room are all connected, so Regulus can still see Dorcas and the majority of his flat from the kitchen counter. Dorcas used to offer to help him in the kitchen but quickly learned Regulus did not appreciate help with cooking. The kitchen is a safe space of his, he likes to be in control and know everything that’s happening, and having another person just messes that up.
“Bears in Trees?” Dorcas asks, wiggling her phone in the air.
“You know me so well,” Regulus smiles. She connects her phone to the bluetooth speaker and music fills the flat while Regulus gets to work. He throws the pesto and fruit into the fridge and lays out bowls to coat the chicken.
He cooks while Dorcas tells him all the latest gossip from her morning job. He gets really into the music again, dancing and cooking simultaneously.
“It’s disillusion, and confusion this illusion of me,” Regulus starts singing along, heating up a pan on the stove and grabbing some olive oil.
“Through solemn seclusion,” he spins around to set the olive oil back on the counter, “And my neurons’ delusion,” he places the first piece of chicken into the pan. “I’ve come to this conclusion that I’ll never fully be.”
Starting the pasta water and putting the tart crust in the oven, Regulus hears a knock at the door.
“That must be Pandora! I’ll get it!” Dorcas jumps up from her spot on the sofa , skipping to the door. “Dora!” She exclaims as the door opens.
“Cas!” They call, giving her a hug.
“Hey, Pan,” Regulus says from the kitchen. Pandora takes off her coat and glides into the kitchen.
“Reg! It’s been way too long,” she says rushing forward to give him a hug.
“It’s been a week,” he corrects, hugging them back.
“Exactly, far too long to not see the love of my life. Now, what are you making? It smells incredible!” Pandora tends to speak in this sort of sing-songy voice. It always brings Regulus great comfort. He chuckles at the comment.
“Chicken Milanese and angel hair with pesto, go sit with Cas, it’ll be done in about 5 minutes.” He returns to the stove. Pandora takes it upon themself to set the table in the meantime. “Oh, thanks, you didn’t have to do that.”
“Shush, of course I did. Worry about your cooking and ignore me.” In 10 minutes they’re all sitting around the table enjoying Regulus’ food and chatting happily. Regulus is never happier than when he’s with Dorcas and Pandora and he doesn’t think that will ever change. When Regulus returns to the kitchen to finish up his tart for dessert, Pandora notices the water hyacinths.
“What are those flowers, Regulus? They’re lovely,” she comments.
“They’re water hyacinths, I just got them in at the shop.” He smiles, plopping the last few berries on top.
“He met this really hot guy this morning who loves them,” Dorcas butts in and Regulus scowls. Pandora wheels back around to Regulus.
“Oh, did you now?” she asks, smiling genuinely. Regulus rolls his eyes, sifting powdered sugar.
“Yes,” he says quietly, bringing the tart to the table. He goes back for some plates and forks while Dorcas and Pandora exchange knowing looks with giggles. He returns, serving a slice of tart to each of his friends, then himself, and sitting down. “Whatever, it’s not like I’m ever gonna see James again.”
“You didn’t tell me you knew his name!” Dorcas exclaims, mouth full of fruit tart.
“Didn’t seem relevant,” Regulus shrugs. “And close your mouth when you’re eating.” Dorcas rolls her eyes, but swallows before speaking again.
“It is so relevant. Now come on, tell Pandora all about James,” she says, clearly excited by the name reveal. Regulus relents and recounts the story of that morning to his friends. Pandora gets quite excited, grilling Regulus on his personality so she can try to work out his zodiac sign to see if they’re compatible. He reminds them that the likelihood of them meeting again is slim. Dorcas simply assured him that wasn’t true and he didn’t have the energy to argue.
They clean up from dinner and throw on a movie, the 2019 Charlie’s Angels, Dorcas’ favourite movie. She claims it’s a mix between it being a fantastic film, and her being a raging lesbian. The soundtrack isn’t half bad either. The three of them stay up far too late and Dorcas and Pandora end up staying overnight.
The next morning, Regulus pushes Pandora out the door so she won’t be late for work – “The butterflies won’t miss me for 15 minutes!” they tried to argue, but Regulus insisted anyway – and reluctantly gets ready himself. Thankfully, Dorcas is a morning person and happily makes him breakfast and some tea. They eat and get dressed and get on the bus together.
And if Regulus is secretly hoping he’ll see James again today, well that’s nobody’s business but his own.