ephemeral // matty healy

snapshot

"See? I told you it would be faster with two people." Blair had somehow roped Bo into whitewashing her bedframe, although he didn't put up a fight to leave. Bo had just finished the foot of the bed when Blair came back into the bedroom with snacks.

"Sweet chilli crisps?" Bo exclaimed. "Alright, I was going to call you out for the whole 'free labour' thing, but all is forgiven." Blair sat on the floor next to Bo, the two of them leaning against the wall, opposite from the bed, to admire their handiwork.

"Don't just fill up on crisps, there's fruit and veggies here, too." Bo purposefully pushed the celery sticks and apple slices away from him.

"I think it looks good. We're almost ready to put the mattress on. I'd say you should keep the windows open and it'll dry in time for this evening. You should be able to sleep on it tonight." Bo examined the paint can closely and read the drying instructions, crunching on crisps the whole time.

"That's good! Because Stella's couch gave me a major backache this morning."

"Yeah, after sitting on that thing for a while, I feel like my butt disappears entirely." Blair burst into a laughing fit. Bo continued fearlessly, "I mean I don't have much cushion there to begin with but when I stand up, I'm like an empty scarecrow."

"Shut up!" Blair desperately clutched her sides, "Please! I'm going to wee!" Bo was laughing at her now, which caused Blair to quickly excuse herself.

Bo started to look at her room while she relieved herself - nothing serious, just peering into her room setup. It had a nice flow and good, natural lighting, which he thought would be valuable. He skimmed the papers on her desk, her planner was empty except for "BIG DAY" written in sharp red ink for tomorrow's date. Bo looked up at the shelves above her desk and noticed various camera lenses looked back at him. He grew uneasy, like he had seen too much.

"What are you doing, snoopy?" Blair asked. She stood in the doorway awkwardly but her voice was calm.

"Just looking," Bo pointed at the camera. "I didn't know you took photos."

"Yeah, it helps with designing sometimes. I bought the camera for someone else, funny enough, but I kept it for myself." Blair stepped toward the shelf and looked at her equipment with Bo.

"What did you give them instead?" Bo asked as Blair tucked her silver streaks behind her ears.

"A breakup." Neither of them flinched, but Bo didn't move until Blair spoke again. "I'm only joking, I got him a kick in the nads."

"At least you got a camera out of it." Bo never prodded into the story of the one who received the nad-kicking because of the fear he would suffer the same fate - though he never admitted to it.

"Hello?" Stella called from the front door. Blair poked her head out of her room. Bo followed suit, carrying the now empty plate into the kitchen, he tried not to look at how gorgeous she was. She was adorably dishevelled in his eyes, with skin aglow and hair voluminous and windswept.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"Yes! But I forgot my Rosco's bag! This is my babysitting bag!" She hurled a pink duffle bag onto the couch and then leapt into her bedroom.

"Hey! Your shoes are on!" Blair bellowed.

Stella pulled a green bag out of her pile and wiped the sweat from her brow before jumping up and into the main room again. She was late and Chef was going to kill her in a worse way than last time when he yelled at her in front of the whole kitchen. She had a feeling of impending doom that shadowed over her.

"Sorry about that!" She yelled as she made her exit. "I'll clean later!" The door slid into a swift slam.

Bo ran toward the front window to watch her red coat bolt across the road. She didn't bother waiting for cars to slow down before running in front of them, and then he looked until she ducked into an alley. Dramatically, Bo rolled back onto the wall and placed a limp hand on his forehead. 

"Herregud, hon är söt," he breathed.

"My, my, my," Blair wandered in front of Bo, pretending to take his temperature with a plastic straw. "You've got it bad, chum, you love her so much that she's making you go back to your native tongue."

"Maybe I should give up with her, just go back to Sweden and give up." He flopped face-first onto the sofa. "I'll get plastic surgery and change my name."

Blair patted his back as he looked down at her pathetic mess of a friend. "Don't give up, kiddo. She never gives any romantic partner the time of day. She's too focused on herself." Bo groaned and flipped his body over.

"That's one of the many things I admire about her. She doesn't care what it takes, she will do what she loves because she loves it." He sighed again and ran both his hands through his hair. "I feel like she is everything I want to be."

Blair knelt down next to Bo, listening to him drone on about Stella for a while. Blair knew her girlfriend was special, but after hearing Bo talk about her, she understood why he loved her. Most of what he talked about weren't her physical traits, either. Bo was enchanted by her work ethic, her artistry, her kindness, her generosity. When he tired himself out, it was dinnertime. The two kept talking while they ordered Chinese food and Blair confessed she was feeling a bit nervous about her job tomorrow.

"I just can't believe that I'm finally starting." Blair chewed her lo mein at the same time. "I feel like it's been a long time coming and now I'm not ready for it."

"I think you're ready," Bo reassured her, even though he still wasn't sure what she did.

"Thanks, Bo, that means a lot." She smiled at him.