Research: Romance

wallpaper

The smell of Clorox was the first thing to rouse me awake, the smell of instant coffee the second. My eyes cracked open slowly and I winced, feeling the hammering of my brain against my skull. Raising my hand, I touched the tender spot and pulled it away, checking my fingertips for blood. Thankfully, there was nothing which eased my conscience, but not the pain.

I was lying under a blanket, on a scratchy gray couch. There was a table with old wooden chairs, a bar where the coffee and tea were stationed along with some fruit and muffins. Grey-blue plush chairs sat around a small white coffee table, which was scattered with crumbs (from a muffin, presumably). The lights were bright, and fluorescent making me squint as I took in my surroundings. On the rectangular rug below me were my things, I pulled them near, then feeling tired, laid slowly back down with a groan.

A knock sounded at the door before it clicked open, and a familiar face surfaced. He laughed through his nose, trying to hide his smile. "Morning."

Groaning again, I hid my face in my arms, "Tell me I'm dreaming."

"Is concussing yourself on a marble floor something you dream of often?" Robin laughs, coming to sit next to me. The smell of peppermint floats off him in strong waves. Heat curls by the side of my head and I peek out to see he's offering me a cup of tea. "Or were you referring to me?"

Enticed, I moved my arms away and took the tea into my hands. Not wanting to meet his eyes yet, I stared at the tea. Why couldn't it have been Desi or Henry? Why did it have to be the one person I needed to impress the most today?

"As a matter of fact, I have been training for this moment. Today is a major setback."

"Not me then, I take it." He jokes, resting his hands on his knees as he sits on the rug in front of me. It makes me feel like I'm about to read to a kindergartener the way he stares with his head slightly tilted. He doesn't try to hide his smile anymore. "So, you dream of making that barrier one day?"

"Yes, and my form was incredible." He snorts as I take a sip of tea. It burns my mouth instantly, and I flinch. The boiling contents spill over my hand, making me inhale sharply and I struggle to set it down somewhere that isn't me.

Robin is quick to remove it from my hand, setting it down on the floor. He hands me a tissue off the side table, "Sorry, I forgot to tell you it's hot."

I shake my head, focusing on drying off my hand. My skin stings against the peppermint droplets, which started to cool. "No, this is my fault. I left my lucky pen at home. That's why everything is going wrong, and why I was really running. I was going back out after it."

He stares at the side of my face quizzically, then finally asks: "That's why you were running like an actor about to be eaten on the Walking Dead?"

This forces a laugh out of me, and I finally meet his eyes. They're just...I blinked a couple times then reached for the tea on the floor. "Yeah, it was."

Robin notices my reach and passes me the mug carefully. I blow on it a bit more before drinking it, studying the ringlets on the surface, "Why aren't you upstairs? What time is it?"

Robin shrugs, "+They started the meeting without us. I asked them to. Seeing how you were... indisposed." He chuckles a bit and adds on, "And by indisposed, I mean this--" 

He clicks on his phone for a moment only to pull up a photo of me sprawled out unconscious on the floor in a very inhuman way. There's a small crowd of people staring at me with gaping mouths and large eyes.

"What is that!?" I shriek, reaching for the phone as he jerks it away.

Robin laughs shamelessly, staring at the photo with the same fondness people usually have when looking at baby animals. "My new wallpaper."