Before Us [Wriolette]

Chapter 15: Collecting his Thoughts

Neuvillette sat down at a lonely table by the window, his hands fiddling with the straw in his glass. His elegant fingers shifted from the straw to the base of the cup and smoothly raised it to his lips taking a sip. In an attempt to more comfortably gaze out the window, Neuvillette shifted a tad and rested his cheek on the palm of his glove.

He watched the people crossing the wide street outside and the scarce bird swoop down from the desolate roofs of houses. The tangy aftertaste of the crisp water hung is his mouth like amethysts in a cavern. Such a delicacy is not easy to obtain in a city-scape such as this.

The recent frenzy had become rather confusing lately, and Neuvillette knew that it would only be getting worse, so he cherished moments like these where he could get lost in his thoughts. Neuvillette had noticed by now that he had grown some, say, "attachment" to Wriothesley as of late. Although unsure of the feeling he harbored, he could tell that they were different, per say. Recently, he could feel his lungs tighten whenever they were in close proximity, and Neuvillette had been trying his hardest to ignore it. He was still unsure of what it meant, but he couldn't ruminate the thoughts further as a certain someone plopped down on the seat across from himself.

Sigewinne, standing on her chair, smoothie in hand, assessed: "Wooooow~ someone's distracted. I waved to you from outside and you didn't even notice me!"

A small flinch erupted from the man as he acknowledged the presence in front of him. Sitting up straight, he defended, "My apologies, however you do realize that-" "Rather, it's strange you didn't realize I was here 5 minutes ago!" she mocked, interrupting him prematurely.

"5 minutes? Have you been waiting for my attention that long? In that case, I might inquire why you did not inform me of your presence sooner." Neuvillette apologized, pausing as he saw the blank look in Sigewinne's face.

Taking a long sip of her smoothie, the woman remarked, "Of course not. Well, I did at first, but the guy at the register, you probably don't know him, Wriothesley, talked with me for a bit as there hasn't been too much of a rush right now. Don't be too hard on yourself, I was entertained," she brushed him off, readjusting her hat.

Neuvillette choked on his water at this change of topic and was sent into a minor fit of quiet coughs, making sure they were all directed into his arm.

"You-" *cough* "You know Wriothesley?" he questioned weakly, still half choking.

Sigewinne rocked to and fro on her seat, gazing at the man inquisitively, "Oh, you do know him! And yes, I know him. Before I was transferred to the hospital up north, I was the on-site medical technician for his police force branch. We happened to get sent on multiple of the same missions and over time we got closer. Now, how do you know him...?" she explained, raising an eyebrow at the last question.

Neuvillette smiled as he answered, "Unfortunately for you, not in a very interesting way. He happens to be one of my... students." For a reason unbeknownst to Neuvillette, his voice faltered as he called Wriothesley his student. What was Wriothesley to him? He wasn't quite sure.

(...Yet.)

A subtle, unnoticeable (or at least Neuvillette didn't notice) shade of disappointment bloomed across Sigewinne's face at the boring response. Even so, she cracked a smile and continued talking about various nothings for an hour or so.

As the two sat and chattered, Neuvillette noticed someone leaving from the corner of his eye. Obviously this is a common occurrence but the person departing this time was none other than Wriothesley. Sigewinne seemed to have noticed too as she hopped down from her seat and ran over to the man. Neuvillette sat and watched the two converse as warmth spread throughout his face. Sigewinne and Wriothesley were quite the adorable pair, each strong in their own ways, it's no wonder they're such great friends.

As Neuvillette watched them, he saw Sigewinne point in his direction before Wriothesley looked his way and gave a small smile and a wave. This gesture, albeit simple and common, felt different in a way coming from Wriothesley. Although not quite sure why, Neuvillette felt happy as he waved back.

Before long, Wriothesley actually left and Sigewinne returned to her seat as if perched upon a throne. They had both finished their refreshments and were prepared to leave, themselves. The two said their goodbyes and parted ways, separately heading to their respective homes.

Wriothesley parked his motorcycle outside of his apartment complex and strapped his helmet around one of the handles. Hands fiddling through the different cards in his wallet, he stumbled upon the key card and flashed it across the sensor, the green light signalling his allowed entrance. With a click, the door shut behind him and he began his journey to the fifth floor via stairs.

Each stair more painful than the last, the final step was heaven to the man's sore legs. Staggering to his room, he fumbled his keycard between shaking fingers and wishes he had taken the elevator. Of course, he kept a straight face through it all as if to prove a point to himself. As Wriothesley tossed phone and wallet onto the nearest chair, he collapsed onto the sofa, snatched up the remote and flipped through the channels. Settling on a hockey tournament, he closed his eyes and listened to the announcers as a sort of white noise, drowning out the background. He could feel his eyelids grow heavier as the minutes drew on and snapped himself out of his half-conscious state.

Wriothesley picked his phone up from the chair and checked his calendar. Seeing as there were no plans, he headed straight for the bathroom, got ready for bed, and hit the hay pretty much as soon as possible

***HEY GUYS SORRY FOR POSTING LATE I ACTUALLY FORGOT AND PASSED OUT RIGHT AS I HIT THE PILLOW (Wriothesley is just a projection of me last night) I think that you can really see my vocabulary disintegrate as this chapter progresses. Im more tired than usual ig. lemme know what u think!!!! (unless its mean)***

****Edit: shout out to the Philippines! almost 10% of my readers live there!****