Tessa opened a cup of ramen, putting it in the microwave. She grabbed some Hershey Kisses while she waited for it to heat up, popping them in her mouth and turning on her music. She jammed to it, bouncing around the kitchen and occasionally singing the words that she knew by heart. She didn't notice the sticky note on her door.
he heard singing as he reached the end of the hallway, and smiled to himself. look how happy she is.
Her microwave beeped, and she ignored it as the rap verse came up. She had this part memorized to the T. She grinned to herself as she easily kept up with the artist, hands flying around as she did the rap.
he flung open the door to the restaurant, knowing it was usually abandoned around this time. he made his way up to the person at the register, giving his usual hello and having a bit of back-and-forth before giving his order. he walked back to his apartment with the bag of food swinging from one hand, a pep in his walk that had been present since he moved.
her door was still ajar when he looked. she hadn't shut it yet, nor seen the note. huh.
She was now on the floor in the middle of her living room, laying on her stomach with her bare feet in the air. A piece of paper was in front of her, and she tapped a pencil against the carpeted floor in a sort of rhythm. She had been told to write a song before the end of the week. Her new boss wanted to get a taste of her musical capabilities.
Tessa wasn't sure what songwriting had to do with dance, but she wasn't complaining. It had been forever since she sat down and wrote a song. As for producing music… well, she'd be lucky if she knew what buttons and switches did what.
nik somehow ended up sitting on his kitchen counter, food in his lap.
((do you want to timeskip to when they interact again? how do you think they should end up talking))
(hmm, maybe Tessa works up the courage to go to Nik's place and ask for an opinion on her song once she's done writing it?)
((yeah that works! do you want me to start?))
(Sure)
two days later, nik was writing down some points for a story when there was a knock at his door. "huh. who'd be here?" he murmured to himself, getting up to go to the door.
he cracked it before fully opening it to reveal tessa, a sheet of paper in her hand. "oh! hey, there."
She offered a slight smile and held up the paper. "Hey, sorry to bother you. But I've got something that I want someone other than myself to take a look at. Do you mind?"
"oh no, i don't mind. come on in." he gestured to the couch, holding the door open for her to walk in.
"make yourself at home. can i get you anything?"
She stepped in, suppressing her nerves with an easygoing smile. "Ah, don't worry about me too much. I just want an opinion on this, and then I'll be out of your hair." She handed Nik the paper with the song lyrics. She didn't have the music planned out just yet, but she'll get there once the words were figured out.
he raised an eyebrow at the expression "out of your hair", but took the paper regardless. he gave them a quick scan, only afterwards going in and actually reading.
after a few minutes, he handed it back. "they're good, tess. they'll go really nicely with music, and i can tell you put some work into it. what brings the occasion of writing?"
(how wild would it be if the song was about like,,, their relationship and nik's a clueless bitch but supports her anyway)
(I'm actually thinking of using P!nk's Walk Me Home as her song–cause I am not a songwriter and I can never make a good song)
Tessa shrugged and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear as she took the paper. "My new boss wanted to get a feel for my 'musical capabilities.' Not sure why–I'm only there to teach dance. But it's nice to get back into songwriting."
(i read the lyrics to walk me home and it seems oddly appropriate for her situation lmao nice job)
"awh, that's cool. bit strange, but i mean." he shrugged with one shoulder. "sometimes dance studios write their own music, if they record their dances. copyright and all."
(Thanks)
Tessa nodded and looked around, biting her lip. "Uh… thanks, I guess. I should get back to start making the music. Just gotta figure out what does what again…" However, despite her words, she looked reluctant to leave.
"alright. you're welcome over any time, llllll-tess." YOU DUMB FUCK just pray she didn't catch that slip. almost calling her 'love' again like the sap you are. die.
he told his higher brain to shut up, and managed to maintain a neutral expression. "if you need help with anything i'll be happy to assist."
She raised a brow but didn't comment on the obvious L he had said before her name. "Thanks. I might have at least a sample down by tomorrow. You wanna head out for coffee then to check it out?" She tried staying casual, but she was wringing her fingers nervously. Please say yes. Please don't say the obvious–that you can just walk across the hall and listen to it.
"yeah, that sounds nice! where were you thinking?" he noticed her body language, having a small internal conflict. you could play hard to get, you know. you've always been easy. but it's a new life, why not be a little stubborn? he briefly made some sort of compromise, if only to get his intrusive thoughts to stop.
She shrugged and looked out towards the hall as if that would give her ideas. "I dunno. There's this one coffee shop about a block from here. You wanna meet there tomorrow afternoon?"
"yeah, i think i know the place. what time?" he moved to lean his back against the wall next to the door.
"Uhhh, how about 2ish? Unless you want to meet some other time…" Goddammit, why are acting like a nervous school girl? You're an adult now, get over yourself!
he looked up, thinking momentarily. shit, i have to turn in that story at 2. after some pondering, he looked back at tessa.
"i have work then, if you're good to meet earlier i can do that." after he finished talking, he paused before cracking a smile and quipping "crazy, amory fischer having a legal job. never thought it'd happen."
She smiled as well, falling back into her old habits for once during this entire conversation. "Yeah, who knew we would end up as law-abiding citizens?" She loosely crossed her arms, the paper still pinched between her index and middle finger. "And earlier works for me. I've been given this entire week to myself to work on this, so my schedule is currently pretty flexible."
"great! how about 12?" nik responded brightly, mildly excited by the outlook of a free week. maybe they could hang out again sometime after this one, no song involved.
"12 works. See you then?" She smiled easily, hoping that they could do their relationship. She hasn't gone out with anybody since Nik… And she had no interest in doing so either. But seeing him again had her wanting him yet again. It was crazy, she knew, but she couldn't help it.
he returned the smile, a familiar (yet rare) beam that he had usually saved for her.
"see you then."
She was happy to see that smile once more. She waved to him and headed over to her apartment.
he waved back, closing the door after her. after it was fully shut, he slid down against the closed door like some cliche post-date girl.
"fuck. this is really happening, huh?"