Verdigris

Bougainvillea Blooms by the Windowsill - Leni/Risa

Rating: T
Pairing: Leni/Risa
Summary: Colorblind from grief, Leni moves into her new duplex, next to a mysterious yet friendly neighbor. Then her world slowly changes, one thing at a time.

Notes

Soulmates AU, where you can only see in monochrome until you meet your soulmate + Neighbors AU.

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For Leni Gerona, the world was in greyscale since Jesse died.

She had resigned herself to the idea that it would be this way for her forever. No more rainbows for her, or the striking sunset and sunrise, or the bright blue of the sea. When she mourned Jesse's death, she mourned the beauty of her world. Two permanent losses, whose only consolations were the experience of a great love, and her memory.

And life went on as it usually did, and Leni swore to never forget, like how her favorite pair of shoes was a light tan, how the indoor plant near the door in her old house was a deep green with yellow streaks, how she kept on switching her favorite color from blue to pink to blue to pink again back when she still could tell the difference. (It didn't matter as much to her now: in certain shades, blue and pink looked exactly the same.)

The boxes sitting on the floor of her new duplex were brown — carton boxes filled with picture frames of family and friends, pretty plates and cups she barely used and only took out when there were visitors, her collection of books and DVDs, and a little bit of everything that she couldn't bear to throw away.

A man emerged from the main doorway carrying a big box in his arms. Leni got up from where she was crouched on the floor, patting away the dust from her pants.

"Thanks, Kit," Leni said, smiling at him. She pointed to a spot on the floor beside the couches. "Dito mo na lang ilagay iyan."

Kit placed the last of the boxes on the floor of Leni's living room.

"Sure ka hindi mo na kailangan ng tulong sa pagligpit, Len?" he asked. "Sabi ko sa'yo, free naman ako buong araw."

Kit was one of her oldest friends from her university days. When Leni told him that she was thinking of moving to a new place, he volunteered his car to help her transfer her stuff for her. Leni had gladly taken the help. She had sold her car since she lost her color vision many years ago.

"Hindi na. Kaya ko na. I'm sure pagod ka na rin sa pagbubuhat."

Kit grinned and playfully flexed his bicep in front of her. "Wala 'to. Ako pa."

Leni rolled her eyes at him with a laugh. "Tara na nga. Libre muna kita ng kape bago ka umalis. Pang-thank you ko na rin sa'yo."

They left her duplex and walked down the street to the café just a few blocks away. It was a quiet neighborhood, one of the reasons why Leni chose the place, and a fair distance away from major thoroughfares and the pollution of the city. The best part was the trees. In Leni's mind, they were green, like they always were.

-

Leni was hunched in front of her laptop at her desk when her phone rang. She hadn't finished arranging everything yet, but she had some work to catch up on before tomorrow. She answered the call on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Ma'am, foodpanda po. Nasa labas na po ako."

She got up from her chair and swiftly walked to the door. Outside, a man wearing a helmet waved to her and got off his bicycle. Between the cleaning, unpacking, and catching up on work, she hadn't really had any time to cook, not to mention she hadn't stocked up on groceries yet.