interdit, ˚⊹ jules koundé

𝟎𝟎𝟖.

𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬

jules stood before the viridian door of aline's townhouse apartment. he stared down at his beautifully arranged and carefully chosen bouquet of vibrant, dark orange inca lilies, worrying that it was too much and she would turn her nose up in disgust at the sight of them.

he did his best to brush off the shadow of overthought doubt that loomed behind him, and rapped loudly on the green door before he could be entirely consumed by his second thoughts.

not having to wait for longer than a few moments, jules dithered on the top step as a somehow perfectly unkempt version of the barcelona defender edged the door open, balanced on a pair of steel crutches.

"hi." jules quietly breathed out.

"hi, jules." aline replied, and the boy could have sworn he'd seen a hint of a smile on her usually clouded and unreadable face. "to what do i owe this pleasure?"

he twisted a few strands of his doily hair nervously, failing to appear as collected as he had wanted to. "i wanted to see how you were doing." he told her softly. "and i thought these might cheer you up." jules bashfully revealed the copper coloured flowers from behind his back.

"inca lilies." she smiled, tilting her head to the side questioningly. "why inca lilies?"

jules cleared his throat. "they remind me of you." he began. "fiery on the outside, but they graduate to more mellow tones as you get closer to their core." he handed her the bouquet, and it felt as though he had left his heart in there somewhere with the flowers.

she gazed up at him tenderly, before letting go of one of her crutches to retrieve the flowers from his outstretched hand. she steadily leaned down to smell the flowers that were now in her grasp, seemingly appeased by the scent. "thank you, koundé. this was really thoughtful of you."

he nodded at her in response, unsure of what to say.

aline also hesitated, before she opened her mouth with a sigh. "i guess i'd be a bad coworker if i didn't invite you in," she gestured towards the inside of her home with the point of her crutch. "would you like to come in?"

jules felt somewhat dejected, somewhat reduced by the use of the term coworker after he had gone to the length of showing up to her home with flowers, but he for once ignored his hostile psyche and decided to accept her suggestion nonetheless.

as he entered her home, he was greeted by a tiny little tabby cat that rubbed herself against his calves. jules knelt down, scratching the little cat under its chin as its welcoming demeanour filled him with a warm, comforting feeling.

"hi." he whispered. "what's your name?"

aline laughed. "you're going to have to mentally prepare yourself." she told him.

"okay..." he frowned at her response, confusion written all over his face.

the woman cleared her throat. "that's...busquets, and i also have an orange cat named iniesta who is asleep in the kitchen right now." 

jules began quietly chuckling, before he couldn't control himself and threw his head back with bellowing laughter. "putain, that's fucking brilliant. you really are a culer."

a hint of a blush crept onto aline's face, and she was glad to be blessed with skin dark enough to conceal her timid reaction. something about the way she had made him laugh so deafeningly made her stomach turn. a feeling aline saw as nausea, that other's would refer to as butterflies.

──★ ˙ ̟🌷 !!

i love cats so much.