love, like rain

2. uncertain feelings

Sting watched the city blur by out the window of the taxi. Downtown Magnolia was noisy and colorful, and every few blocks the pounding of music from a club spilled out into the night, accompanied by people with cigarettes and loud voices.

It was so different than home.

Sting pulled out his phone, swiping to the photo of him and Rogue with baby Lector. Rogue's soft smile made Sting's chest tighten, and he hesitated for a second before opening up their text conversation.

Hey babe, how's it going? I miss you. Sting typed out the message, then deleted it, sighing. He tried again – Thinking about you, hope everything's good – before deleting it as well and finally replacing it with, Babe, I'm pretty sure I'm in love, and you're gonna be too.

Only a few seconds passed before he got a response – Please don't tell me you adopted a kitten already.

Sting snorted. No kitties, promise.

The cab driver pulled up in front of his building and Sting hopped out, passing the driver a handful of what he hoped was the correct amount of cash and then taking the stairs two at a time up to their apartment.

He'd just locked the door behind him when his phone began to ring. Rogue's name popped up and Sting swiped it to answer.

"Hoesit," he said, kicking off his shoes and then heading for the bedroom. He flopped down onto the mattress – they still didn't have the box spring yet – and yawned.

"Hey, you," Rogue said softly. "Love you."

"Mm, love you too," Sting said, flopping back onto the mattress and sighing. "Bed's too big without you."

"Yeah, this hotel sucks," Rogue said, and Sting could hear him running water in the background. "So, what's this about falling in love? The cute guy from the café who invited you for dinner?" He could hear the amusement in Rogue's voice.

Sting sighed, running a hand over his face. "Yeah, I... he's got a boyfriend."

"You knew that already, didn't you?" Rogue asked.

"Yeah, but it turns out his boyfriend is also super hot," Sting said, voice almost petulant. "And funny, and it turns out his grandparents are from Johannesburg."

"Oh?" Rogue definitely sounded interested now.

"Hang on," Sting said, "lemme send you a picture."

"You took a picture of him?" Rogue asked.

"I... might have told him I wanted a picture of their kitty to show you," Sting said defensively. He pulled up the most recent picture on his phone – Gray pressing his nose to Happy's while Natsu looked on fondly in the background.

"Is the cat even in the picture?" Rogue teased. Sting stuck out his tongue, even though Rogue couldn't see him, then hit send.

Several seconds later, Rogue said, "oh."

"Right?"

"He's... very pretty," Rogue admitted. "So, on a scale of the scuba guy to the airplane steward last week," he added, a teasing note in his voice, "how in love are you?"

_____

The rest of the week passed by in a blur. Between getting settled in at the zoo, unpacking some of their belongings, filling out a thousand forms for Immigrations, and finding their way around the city, Rogue and Sting were exhausted. By the time Friday came around, they were both eager for a break.