awickedtime | (no subject)

(no subject)

He's way on his way to healing. The scar under the dressing still twinges if he leans the wrong way, if he moves too quickly, but he's up and about, padding around the apartment in pajamas, glasses on in place of his contacts, his hair ruffled into disarray. He's in the kitchen, making coffee, when he hears the apartment door open and close.

"In here!" he calls, glancing over his shoulder and automatically reaching for another mug, his free hand pressed against his side.

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Sabrina takes a moment to just look at him, leaning against the kitchen counter and smiling. "Good to see you up and around this morning," she says, and it is. Her heart feels full almost to bursting, and then she moves to take the other mug from him, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

He smiles, leaning into the kiss on his cheek, picking up his coffee and cradling it between his hands. "I think I'm definitely on the mend," he says. "Barely hurts to move."

"Even better," she answers, content just to watch him. She has such a thing for those glasses. "I still think you should come sit down with me. I can tell you all about the latest people I've horrified at school."

"Sounds good to me," he says, bringing his coffee with him as he pads towards the sofa. "You haven't gotten yourself suspended again, have you?"

"Not yet," Sabrina answers, with mock offense. "But it's only September."

She follows along, managing not to remark on the glasses. By now he's sure to know they have an effect of her. "They're still pretty afraid of me after what happened with David."

"Good," says Nick, sitting down on the sofa a little gingerly. "Won't hurt them to be a little bit scared of you."

"Especially if it keeps them from even looking at Rosie," she adds, a bit fiercely. "It makes me so angry that-- that that had to be her first experience with all of this." She settles next to him, by now having found all the right ways to curl around him without hurting him any further.

She curls in against him and he wraps his free arm around her, tucking her in close.

"It's a shitty way to start off," he agrees. "I'm sure she'll find someone better for her." He ignores the slight, jealous bitterness that bubbles up in the pit of his chest when he says that.

Aha,

It's the kind of timing she's been looking for, expecting, and she presses forward, ever so slightly.

"He didn't even make her feel good," she complains. "He probably can't make any girl come."

"Some guys just don't take seriously," says Nick, taking a sip of his coffee to cover the fact that he's blushing at the thought of anyone making Rosie come. "Usually they're not worth dealing with."

He knows Charlie's not like that.

"A good mortal is hard to find," Sabrina answers. "It did make me think how lucky I got with Charlie. I mean, how lucky I am. And then doubly lucky to have you, too. And now we have Rosie, and she just fits in so many ways."

She takes her own sip of coffee as she lets that settle.

"Charlie's a good guy," says Nick, and Sabrina knows what high praise that is, how little he'd cared for Harvey. He nods. "She does, doesn't she? More so, since Kagura."

Harvey had just not been cut out for what would come, Sabrina has thought in the time since she'd last seen him. Much as she hadn't wanted to see it, he wouldn't have gotten over the fear of her other side.

Sabrina leaves that thought where it is, setting her coffee down so she can take Nick's hand. "You two really bonded," she murmurs. "It's funny, when Rosie was telling me about how David had treated her, one of my first thoughts was, Nick would have done it properly."

He lets her thread their fingers together, sipping his coffee, turning ihs head so that he can look at her. "We really did. All that time in the dark when I was the only one who could get to her." He smiles at that, a little shocked. "You really thought that?"

She's as careful as she can be, keeping his gaze.

"I did think that," she says. "Not only because you're so much better than that idiot mortal. But I think because... because you both might have liked that a lot better. You and Rosie."

He really does blush then, because, of course, she sees that. Because she knows him better than anyone in the world.

"I haven't really been thinking about it," he says. "Seemed...pointless, I guess. To think about it too much."

She pulls their entwined hands up to her chest, practically hugging his forearm. "Nick, I..." She bites at her lip, measuring her words here. "I love you. I want you to be happy. I want Rosie to be happy. Maybe it doesn't have to be pointless."

"Wait," says Nick, putting down his coffee cup so that he can turn towards her a little bit. "Are you saying what I think you're saying, Sabrina?"

"I'm saying that I want you to be happy, and I think this will make you happy. So if it will, then-- then you should try." She bites her lower lip. "You and Charlie have given me what I need. I want the same for you."

He lets out a shivering breath at that, draws another one in before he looks up into her eyes.

"You're...that's..." He swallows. "Thank you. I love you so much."

Sabrina feels the corner of her mouth tugging up, and she leans forward to kiss his forehead. "I love you," she whispers. "I'm right? This is what you want?"

After a long moment, Nick nods.

"I hadn't even been letting myself think about it as a possibility, but..." He nods. "Yes. It's what I want."

She closes her eyes, lips still against his forehead. "Then assuming you're half as good at wooing mortal girls as you used to be, it's yours." Because she doesn't think Rosie would say no.

"I'll definitely give it my best shot," he says, relaxing a little. "You really think she'll...You know. Be into it? I assume Charlie's got opinions on this, too."

"Nick," she says, sounding fond and amused and mildly frustrated. "Of course I think that. We think that. And why wouldn't she be? Do you have any idea what a catch you are?"

It's a bit teasing, but there's a firmness in her voice that comes from belief.

"I mean, I think you're maybe a little bit biased, Spellman," he says, leaning in and pressing a kiss against the corner of her mouth. "I..I was nervous enough about you being half mortal. I've really got no experience of what girls like Rosie really want."

"I may be biased, but it's biased in the right direction," she insists. "You're kind and brilliant and talented, and that's all without getting into the fact that you're incredibly attractive, and charming..." She kisses him back. "Rosie... she wants someone to be good to her, to treat her well and love her."

"Well, I'm pretty sure I can do all of those things," he says, ducking his head as he flushes darker. He's pretty sure he's doing most of that already. "You're pretty amazing, Spellman. You know that, right?"

Sabrina's also pretty sure she hears the unspoken in there, and she curls close into him. "I do what I can," she says, hiding a smile in her hair. "Charlie helped talk me through. He loves her too-- as a friend. This is the right thing. It just feels like it's supposed to be."

"If it was going to be anyone, it makes sense that it would be here, doesn't it?" says Nick, his tone a little bit wondering at it. "Like the universe clicking into place, somehow."

"I don't think it could be just anyone," Sabrina says. "Just like-- like with Charlie. You and me, I have absolute faith that we find each other again, back in Greendale or Hell, or wherever. This is so-- I don't want to say singular because I can't bear the thought, but isn't it? Like some rare intersection in sacred geometry."

He likes that comparison, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth when she says it. He nods. "Like we were supposed to be here together, so that we can find them and make it work."

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