Tintin and Rosa In Between'quals'

Coffee Day/ Coffee Night

The cool summer breeze blew through Rosa's hair as she sat on her stool by the cafe. The smell of the coffee filled her senses and gave her a calming sense of home. She cracked her knuckles before grabbing her charcoal once more and continuing her drawing.

     Ever since she made herself at home in Brussels, she found herself more at peace than at any point in her life. That may be because she wasn't being held prisoner or being tracked down to be killed, but that didn't matter anymore.

     Rosa smiled as she sipped her coffee and looked up to the muse in front of her. Mmm. I forgot I don't like coffee. She raised an eyebrow and tried to scope out their face properly to get the correct dimensions. 'Alright. His pupils line up with where his mouth ends and his nose is in line with the tips of his ears.' She thought to herself.

     She brushed some charcoal onto her pad of paper and smoothed it out with her finger. She tapped her foot as she concentrated on her work. The lull of the people around in the cafe soothed her mind as she continued drawing.

Suddenly, her concentration was broken by a familiar smooth toned voice. "I never noticed that before." He said intrigued. Rosa stopped her charcoal and looked up at her muse with a raised eyebrow once more.

"What are you talking about, Tin?" Rosa joked from across the table. Tintin scribbled away on his notepad as he gave a half-smile. He was working on his article on the Unicorn while Rosa tagged along.

"You hum while you draw. I just never noticed that before." Tintin spoke without looking up from his notepad. Rosa looked at the table. She never noticed her humming either. She chuckled slightly.

"I guess I never really noticed it before. But I'll stop if it's bothering you. I know you have to finish that story soon," Rosa said as she looked back up at Tintin. He chuckled.

"Please don't. I find it rather calming. I quite like it, to be honest. It's sweet." He spoke softly as he sipped his coffee.

"Well, thank you." Rosa leaned over the table after she wiped an itch off her forehead and watched Tintin write. "How's it coming? Got anything good?"

"It's coming along fine. I'm about done with my rough draft. After I do a little cleaning, I'll send it to my editor. Did you finish the illustration?"

"You bet," Rosa said eagerly as she flipped through her sketchbook pages. "I think I'm a genius for thinking up this little beauty." Rosa found the page she was looking for and turned it to Tintin. It was a portrait of Haddock with a mirrored reflection of Sir Francis next to him. Tintin widened his eyes as he looked at the illustration with an impressed nod.

"That's amazing! You found the portrait of Sir Francis I told you about. They look so similar, don't they?" Tintin exclaimed as he leaned closer to the artwork.

"I did indeed. It took a little digging in the old man's attic but I found it. I had to dig through a bunch of books of poetry too. And yea, it's weird how similar they look... It's almost like they're related," Rosa joked before Tintin rolled his eyes jokingly and they broke into a small fit of laughter. It was such a relief to finally have someone to joke with. Mrs. Finch is a wonderful landlady, but Tintin needed some people his age. Someone who understood him. And after the multiple near-death experiences of earlier that month, he finally found someone with who he had something in common.

"Do you remember who the author of the poetry you found was?" Tintin asked cheerfully curious.

"Edgar Poe was his name I think." Rosa put down her sketchbook.

Tintin raised his eyebrows. "Edgar Allen Poe. One of the greatest writers of his generation. I get a lot of inspiration from him. You should read those poems and see what you think. You might enjoy them."

"And then what, I'll become a nerd like you?" Rosa joked with a cock of her head. They both laughed and Tintin leaned onto his arm with a sweet sigh before noticing something on Rosa's forehead and laughing.

     "What?" Rosa cocked her head. Tintin shook his head and leaned over the table to wipe the large charcoal smudge off her face with his sleeve. After realizing what was going on, Rosa squinted embarrassingly. "What can I say? Art is messy."

"I'm glad I asked you to join me today. It's nice getting to spend time with you away from all the chaos," Tintin added as he closed his notepad and focused on her.

"Me too. We make a pretty good team if I do say so myself. You're the brains and I'm... the other... brains," Rosa stammered. "I'll think of something better later."

"Well, you certainly are the brains," Tintin smiled as he leaned over and kissed Rosa on the cheek before standing. She beamed ear to ear. "Are you ready to go? I suspect Haddock is on his way back to Marlinspike."

"Yep. All ready. Lead the way, my good man," Rosa joked as she stood from her table. Tintin chuckled once more and opened the door of the cafe.

"After you madam." He held his hand in front of the door to beckon Rosa. She smiled and took his hand before they left the cafe, on their way back home.

——————

Tintin took another large swig from his coffee as he readjusted the lamp on the library desk and stretched his cramping hand. Rosa sat on the side opposite of him shuffling through slightly crumpled notes. They were reassigning aliases to known criminals of the area. Thompson and Thomson were on a hunt for someone with the alias Black Cat and desperately needed Tintin to help them determine who that was. So Tintin put his journalism to work and went collecting names, following tips, using random information people gave him to determine all the possibilities of who Black Cat could be.

"Gustav and Mike Bird..." Tintin mumbled groggily.

"Bird Brothers. No connection," Rosa tossed another piece of paper behind her as Tintin crossed another two names of the list.

"Ivan Ivanovich."

"Goes by Sakharine. He's been in jail for weeks. No connection." Rosa hit her head on the table a few times and shook harshly to wake herself up before she threw another note behind her.

"Wolfgang."

"Mathew Chaat. Arrested a year ago. No connection."

Tintin groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. There's no way they would be able to narrow it down. There were hundreds of known criminal aliases in their region. How would they match one specific name to one specific alias? Tintin let out a large yawn.

"Tell me about it. I feel like I haven't slept in years." Rosa let out a yawn as well.

"I'm sorry I kept you up so late. You didn't have to help me." Tintin put down his notepad for a moment.

"I just wanted a glimpse into the world of crime journalism. I didn't know it would be so tiring," Rosa chuckled. Having her there was amazing. Normally, he would be alone into all hours of the night surveying documents or pouring through encyclopedias to find what he needed. Having someone else here was a blessing.

"It's not normally like this. I just wish we could find out who this guy is."

"You know what I just realized. We're looking through a massive list of registered criminals and aliases. What if Black Cat isn't a registered criminal. He may not even be on this list at all," Rosa mumbled as the charisma drained away from her voice while she rested her head on her arms. She leaned on the table somewhat peacefully.

Tintin leaned back in his chair with a frustrated thud. He didn't even think of that. What if all that work had been for nothing?! He sighed and tried to collect himself. This was pointless. There's no use in staying up this late for nothing. He was ready to throw in the towel. He looked back at Rosa who was now already asleep on her end of the table. He smiled. And walked around the table to put his coat over her shoulders. "There's no use trying to find a Black Cat at night. You won't even see them."

Tintin went over to his chair and leaned onto the table as well. Hopefully, the librarians wouldn't mind if they stayed the night. They let Tintin overnight stay all the time for research. What's one more?

*a/n What would you guys like to see next? Leave a comment*