ELECTRIC FEEL ↝ Schmidt

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  TAPPING HER FINGER against the counter of her store, Elise was looking down at the notebook she was supposed to use for writing down calculations to make sure she wouldn't be broke for the rest of her life, but somehow she had ended up writing about Schmidt. Maybe it was only fair, after all, they had kissed the previous night and it would potentially take Elise her entire life to get over the intense clash of lips they shared against the kitchen counter in the dark of the night.

Soon after the kiss, they had went to sleep, but not before they had admitted that they did indeed carry feelings for each other — however, since then, they hadn't spoken and frankly, Elise wasn't sure what they were now. The love between them was clear and spoken of now, but Elise didn't know if Schmidt wanted it to be serious or not, nor if she had the courage in her to bring up the subject. So when Elise thought about the relationship she had with Schmidt currently, she decided to settle and be happy with what she had, instead of pushing the limits of their bond, which could lead into it snapping entirely.

The day at Comic Planet had been slow and casual, like every day seemed to be, and whilst Elise enjoyed the freedom, she also understood that it wasn't such a good thing. She needed more people to visit, and therefore, each single ding by the door earned her attention just to smile at the customer and make them feel welcome in the cozy shop, with Metallica playing from the speakers in the corners. When the door opened once again and someone entered, Elise had moved from behind the counter to one of the shelves where she was sorting comics that a couple of little kids had left in the wrong order. Looking up from the Fantastic Four comic she had ended up reading, Elise smiled already, but the expression only brightened when her eyes met Nick's.

"Hi, Nick!", Elise greeted happily and put away the comic book in her hands, before pushing her glasses up and walking over to Nick, who met her in the middle. Left behind one of the shelves, Nick greeted her as well, and after giving the space a quick but thorough look, he sighed and gave Elise a faint smile.

"Business not going very well?", Nick asked, lifting his eyebrows and once Elise shrugged, he crossed his arms over his chest and did the same. "Have you advertised enough? We could make some flyers, put them around the city and I can do something at the bar to get attention", Nick suggested, and Elise opened her mouth to say something, but then she understood how truly brilliant his idea was, and she shut her mouth, just nodding in agreement. It sounded good — Comic Planet needed the promo, and it sounded like a good way to do it.

"That sounds great, thank you Nick", Elise beamed and placed her hand on Nick's shoulder in gratitude, the expression on her face alike to the gentle touch. Unsure how to accept the compliment or how to feel about the friendly affection between them, Nick forced an awkward smile and shrugged again, but Elise didn't judge. If anything, she understood and related to how he was feeling, but she considered them to be quite close already, after all they did live together and what not.

Suddenly, Nick's face lit up and his eyes started to shine with realization. "That's not what I came for, but now when I think about it, it could be. There's this Halloween party tonight and Jess is working at the Haunted House at the fair so we promised to go, and we thought you'd want to join us. We could do some advertisement there too!", Nick began explaining, and in an instant, Elise grew a liking to the idea. Her store desperately needed it, and any chance that was at her hands, she would take with no hesitation of any kind. Excitement brightened her features up, her eyes shining with happiness as she nodded in enthusiasm and agreed to do what Nick had suggested.

"Sounds amazing."

»

It was already getting late and dark when Elise and Nick arrived at the carnival, accompanied by Amelia whom Nick was sleeping with, however Elise didn't mind the additional person since she agreed to hand out flyers for Comic Planet as well. The atmosphere at the carnival was lovely, even if Nick hadn't bothered to put effort into his Halloween costume, but Elise had done the opposite and dressed up as Agent Peggy Carter, with a surprising amount of resemblance and accuracy in her appearance.