Raising Isla | ENGLOT AU

Chapter 2: Lasagna & Empty Apartments

"You're not very talkative are you?" Emery noted; the conversation had turned quiet after a while. But comfortable.

"Sorry," Calypso said, unsure what there was to even be talking about, and fully aware that was only proving her point.

"It wasn't a complaint." Emery assured her, downing the last of her wine. "Talking is overrated most of the time anyway."

She disappeared after a few minutes of inquisitively watching her tinkering, her gaze eventually drawn up to the dark-grey sky that only seemed to be getting darker, colder. As Calypso realized she'd wasted another whole day stuck at her desk. She had to stop doing that.

A hint of relief settling in her veins when Emery stopped watching her so closely and disappeared back into the kitchen. She wasn't sure if it was curiosity or scrutiny. But she'd seemed content to just observe, though she was half certain it wasn't just her hands she'd been watching. Yet Calypso still found herself missing her company beside her after she'd gone.

She had to shake the thought from her head.

Twig joined her a few minutes later, the noise of the drill no longer keeping her to the other side of the room, as she found a game in batting the collection of tools off the table onto the floor. The rug was muffling the sound, but she still hoped it wasn't bothering the neighbours below.

She checked it after she'd finished, locking the window firmly closed and making sure it didn't budge. Twig seemed satisfied, and she decided that was probably all the approval she needed. Before she went in search of Emery to let her know she was done.

She found her in the kitchen, the table set and a warm dish of something that was making her mouth water held in between her oven mitt covered hands.

"It's, uh -" she stuttered, as she watched her place the dish down on a wooden trivet. That seemed like far too much food for one human being to eat. "Your window is all sorted."

"Oh!" She almost looked sheepish, she thought, as if she'd only just noticed the arrangement of food herself. "Dinner?" She offered cautiously. "As a thank you?"

"How did you even have time?" She asked, confusion clear on her face - it was almost pitch black outside but she hadn't been working that long, had she?

"I had it pre-prepared." Emery explained. "It had been sitting in my freezer for a special occasion, and I owe you for looking after Twig today, and for your help with the window and I just thought you might be hungry and -"

"Em," She interrupted, trying to stop the smile from taking over her face completely.

"Yeah?"

It wasn't working very well. "I'd love to."

...

Calypso hadn't had a homemade meal in what felt like far too long. She had to stop herself from making near explicit noises as she ate, realising by the state of her overly enthusiastic appetite that she must have forgotten to eat lunch. Again.

Emery didn't seem to mind though.

"So," She began, grinning. "I'm assuming you don't go around fixing people's things for a living?"

"No. That's just more of a hobby" Calypso laughed softly. "I'm actually a lawyer."

Emery seemed genuinely taken aback by that. "A lawyer? I thought lawyers were supposed to be rich. What are you doing stuck in this hell hole?" She gestured to the building around them to emphasize her point. And, as if one cue, the lights decided to flicker the room into darkness before they kicked back to life a few seconds later.