Ruby Eclipse | Tim Drake

Ch. 3: Preposterous Theory

Jade POV

I sit on the now familiar bench warming my hands with a delightful smelling cup of French vanilla latte that Terry kindly bought for me. I don't bother offering to reimburse him anymore as I know he will persistently resist. We've settled into a bit of a routine since meeting each other three weeks ago: We take our breaks from work at 11:30 and walk to the park that happens to be the exact median between the small publishing company I work at and Wayne Enterprises where Terry holds some sort of management position. Terry always stops to buy coffee because he says it's on his way and we both need it. I bring some homemade muffins or other foods to share. We sit on the same bench and discuss theories and research of where the goose might have come from and what its intention is. After twenty minutes together, we head back to our jobs.

The goose in question led us to the park for the first few days but eventually stopped showing once we settled into the habit of meeting each other. However, when we tested the limit of our time, the goose would appear and make a huge fuss if we spent less than eighteen minutes outside of each other's presence. Aside from that, the sum total of all we learned about the mysterious bird amounts to... nothing! We both researched and collaborated with nothing to show for it. We've learned nothing. Well, maybe "nothing" isn't entirely accurate.

Things I have learned since what we refer to as the "Fowl Incident":

1. Terry likes his coffee black. I can smell the bittersweet beverage across our short distance.

2. He's highly intelligent but doesn't handle being wrong very well. Last week when I corrected him on a statistic, he stubbornly insisted I prove it. Once I did he became flustered and I watched as he turned pink up to the ears in embarrassment.

3. This man is a massive superhero nerd. In our investigations, he's brought up countless villains Batman and other vigilantes have faced whom I'd never even heard of. When I asked him about it, he smiled sheepishly and told me he admired Batman since he was a little kid. He clipped out every newspaper article and researched him at every chance.

"Jade?" His voice breaks me from my thoughts.

"Sorry, sorry, what were you saying? I didn't mean to ignore you, I just spaced out for a second."

"It's just as well," he replied with a sigh. "I was just listing more dead ends on my end of the research. I'm starting to think this might really be hopeless. Maybe my family is right and I really am just losing my mind to the lack of sleep. Maybe there was never any goose to begin with, it was a figment of my imagination."

"And what about me? I was chased by the 'imaginary' goose too," I respond pretending to be offended.

"So, we're both crazy," he said with a smirk. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"I guess not," I laugh. He seemed to be good at that. Since the first day we met and he thought I was kidnapping him, he's been making me smile and laugh more genuinely than I had in a while.

Silence starts to set in between us, and I realize how quickly we've grown comfortable with one another. On days when we run out of things to say, sometimes I rant about my day and he listens, or we just sit quietly like this and there's nowhere I'd rather be.

Terry glances over at me and we lock eyes. We look at each other for just a second too long before he clears his throat and breaks the silence. "So, what about you? Found anything groundbreaking in this investigation?"

I hesitate before answering. There was that one thing.

Terry, annoyingly insightful as he is, notices the change in my expression. "Wait...you actually did?!?" he asks, excitement brightening his normally dark and tired blue eyes. "What have you been holding out on me for?"

"Well, it might not be anything... it's just that... we might be, um, well, uh... soulmates..." The word comes out barely a whisper and I already regret saying it. I can't bring myself to look him in the eye. What was once comfortable silence has become painfully agonizing.

"...W-What?" is all he manages to say after what feels like an eternity.

Part of me hoped he hadn't heard me, but he did and now I can't stop the rush of words pouring from my mouth. "I was just doing some late-night reading when I stumbled across this fairytale about a goose that harasses soulmates until they get together. I was curious so I did some more searching and found a couple of really old congratulatory anniversary posts with offhand comments that mention meeting because of geese. It's probably nothing though, just some weird coincidences. The whole thing is ridiculous really now that I'm saying it out loud." I chuckle nervously not sure what else to do.

"Right, that's...that's crazy..." he said then thought better of it. "Not that being soulmates with you would be crazy, but the notions of soulmates, in general, is a little... well... and I'm not really in a place to go out with anyone at the moment because of my family and...things," Terry struggled to correct himself.

"No, no, I get it. I totally understand," I attempted to reassure him but could feel a small lump forming in the back of my throat.

With the worst or possibly the best timing, my phone alarm started to go off.

"Guess that's our que to head back." Terry stands.

"Yeah, time really flies, huh? Same time tomorrow?" I say trying to clear some of the awkwardness before leaving.

"Of course. As if we have a choice, right?" He smiles and we both make our ways back to work.

I try to ignore the slight heaviness weighing in my heart.