Lavender and Gold - Dante Reyes x Reader [Fast X]

Chapter 3: 1/2 Way to Batman

It's been a few months since you met Dante last and your paper towel dispenser plan has been working magnificently. You and Dante have created something like a routine where you deposit new magazines and take the old ones out, missing pages and pictures, along with letters to each other of increasing length. You write to Dante on dedicated stationary from a set you got for your birthday, glamorized with Lisa Frank stickers, puff paint, and spritzes of your orange creamsicle perfume, a gesture you saw in a telenovela where the protagonist would send letters to her husband at war. Dante writes to you on the backs of medication forms, receipts, napkins, cardboard, whatever he seems to be able to find.

He makes up for the unconventional materials with little gifts like bottle caps from the foreign sodas an orderly drinks, amateur origami he attempts based on fuzzy memories of a past mental ward's 'art class', and collages he makes from pictures in the magazines you bring him. You have a handful of playing card sized collages from him, in red, orange, yellow, and green so far. Your backpack is frequently filled with whatever you could get your hands on to leave for Dante and whatever he gifted you in return. You've started hoarding the pieces of candy your teacher gives you for turning in your reading log so you can leave them with the magazines and letters for Dante. You haven't been able to see him since you snuck around and found him in ward nine, which he has since left for his original and much more guarded room.

Your father has noticed a shift in your attitude but hasn't questioned you which you are thankful for. You have to be careful about how much or how little pouting you do, not wanting your father to wonder why you are seemingly so eager to go sleep in a glorified cleaning closet but also not wanting to pout so much that he changes his mind and lets you stay home. Over meals you've taken to regaling your father with all of the neighborhood gossip to make sure he is well aware of just how dangerous it is for a girl your age alone at night. You mentally pat yourself on the back at what you see as your successful parental manipulation.

Through your letters you coordinate a meeting with Dante, deciding on the day, time, and hospital room you'll both go to. Tonight's the night and you are barely containing your excitement at seeing Dante again after your friendship with him has progressed so much over the dozens of letters you have exchanged so far. When your father finally drops you off at his office you sit on the desk and swing your legs in excitement as you stare at your digital Sailor Moon wristwatch, counting down to the agreed-upon time. Five minutes before the meeting time you jump off the desk and grab your drawstring backpack from inside your normal backpack. The drawstring one is for your meeting with Dante and the normal one is to be left behind so your father won't think you left if he happens to come and check on you.

You cautiously leave the room and make your way further into the hospital to room Dante identified as the best option due to its seclusion, location between his room and the 'office', and its disuse. You stand on tippy toes outside the door, just barely being able to peer in through the glass window. It's empty except for some stored furniture like he said it would be so you slowly pull the door open and close it behind you with a muffled thump. You don't turn on the light as you're worried about it alerting a passerby and the windows let the city lights leak in enough to move comfortably.

You are sitting on an armchair, spacing out looking out of the window at the neon lights with your backpack at your feet when the door opens. Your head snaps to the door and your face breaks out with an exhilarated smile when you spot Dante who matches your smile and excitement. You jump out of your chair, cringing at the sound it makes, but you don't have time to think about it before Dante's arms are around you. You hug him back with a giggle. When he pulls back from you, you see that his hair has grown out about an inch now hinting at curls, his eyelids shine subtly with the gold body glitter you slipped him a couple of weeks ago, and his pinky fingers are both violet, the rest of his fingers blank.