𝖍𝖊𝖒𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖙𝖊 | ʙ.ᴡᴇᴀꜱʟᴇʏ

chapter twenty four .

peacock ore .

✧

"YOU BETTER KNOW A GOOD PLACE AROUND HERE, Tilda," Bill teased, nudging her gently with his elbow. Matilda turned to him and stuck her tongue out, pulling a laugh from the man. "I trust you, don't worry. You'd probably know somewhere really nice."

"You say that like I'm taking you to a fancy restaurant, Bill," Matilda mused.

"Oh, but I got all dressed up!" He gestured to the casual clothes he wore with a broad grin. Matilda let out a hushed giggle and knocked her body against his. "Where are you taking me, then?"

"Small restaurant that Loki's aunt runs. It's a quaint little pastry cafe in the daytime, too." Matilda turned her head to him with a soft smile.

"Is Vivian also Loki's cousin?" Bill asked, suddenly remembering the woman's family connections.

"Oh, no," Matilda shook her head and diverted her gaze ahead. Her fingers fiddled with the end of her jacket sleeve as she spoke. "My mum had two sisters, one of which is Viv's mum, and my dad had a sister, that's Loki's. Loki's dad has two brothers and a sister." Matilda listed off her relatives, tapping her fingers against the sleeve for each one.

Bill hummed as he listened. His eyes observed her, noting her fiddling. He held back a smile when she looked back up at him. She frowned at his silence, furrowing her eyebrows at him

"Sorry," Bill turned his gaze away. "I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"About the conversation we had when Charlie got really drunk. When we were fake-dating." Matilda's face heated at the mention of that period of time. "I told you how reserved you were and stuff, how you closed up when you spoke to me. I was just thinking that it's different, now," he looked over with a smile, "we're different, now."

"I still don't think I've caught up to your level of talking," Matilda joked, referencing his past words. Bill let out a laugh and shook his head.

"You have a long way to go before you get there, Tilda," he added.

The pair fell into a comfortable silence. Matilda stuck close by Bill's side, neither mentioning the moments their hands brushed together or how their hearts skipped a beat at the sparing contact either. Matilda kept glancing over to him, not looking back up at his face, and tried her best to hide her gleeful smile behind her curls of hair. Bill could tell she was looking at him, only realising by the slight inclination of her head every few moments. He smiled at her actions, brushing his hand against her once more.

"Ah! Matilda!" The curly-haired girl was assaulted by a hug from a familiar blonde woman.

"Ally," Matilda gasped. Her eyes flicked to Bill, who stared with wide eyes and the hint of a smile. "Um, Bill, this is Loki's Aunt, Ally. Ally, this is--"

"Oh, is this your date?" Ally gave Bill a once over, and the male turned red under her scrutinising gaze. The older woman leant toward Matilda and smirked. "Red-heads aren't usually my type, but he's handsome."

"Ally, can we please just sit?" Matilda hissed back, her face burning now. She couldn't bear to look at Bill as embarrassment chewed away at her.

"Oh, fine, fine," Ally let out a dramatic sigh and grabbed the younger woman's hand, then began to pull her away. Startled, Matilda's hand reached to Bill's, pulling him along as well. "You two have the perfect table."

Matilda glanced over to Bill as Ally stopped. He raised his eyebrow at her, a slight smirk on his lips.

"You two enjoy your date, and just give me a shout if you need anything," Ally sent Matilda a wink, then scurried away to go help another customer.