Angel wonders how they missed the creaking of the door, desperate as it is to be oiled, but there's Raven, hands on her hips, looking only slightly less mutinous than she had during dinner.
"Where's Charles?" Erik asks, because he's maybe a little braver than Angel realized, even after he admitted he actually wanted to marry Charles.
"Upstairs," Raven says, still looking like an angry goddess. "Cleaning up."
Erik drops his cigarette to the pavement and grinds it out with his heel.
"I'd better go make sure he doesn't hurt himself doing something so unfamiliar."
Something like a smile flickers across Raven's face very briefly and, yeah, Angel's pretty sure that by the next family holiday, Erik and Raven will be ganging up on Charles like old friends. For now, Erik gives Raven a wide berth as he heads back inside, and once the door squeals shut behind him, Raven sighs and leans against the wall he just vacated.
"Smoke?" Angel asks, and Raven accepts eagerly. She stands closer than Erik did, and Angel lights the cigarette herself, her fingers absently brushing Raven's cheek as she does so.
"I just don't get it," Raven says, letting out her first lungful of smoke on a sigh. "After seeing what Kurt did his mother, I don't understand how Charles could just agree to marry some stranger. I mean, sure, he says for the visa, but I know my brother. He's head over fucking heels for this guy who's just gonna take his money and break his heart and abandon him."
Angel tips her head back and stares into the sky contemplatively. Across the street, the door to one of the other buildings opens, a sea of rambunctious college students spilling out onto the sidewalk, shouting and laughing at each other. Angel watches them as she takes another drag.
"Imagine for a minute," she finally says, "that this isn't why you were coming here. Your brother and Erik met a long time ago and everyone knew they'd be getting married one day and you're here to celebrate their engagement. But you've still never taken the T and you still needed my help to get here."
Raven turns on her side, propped up against the building by her shoulder, her eyes dilated in the dark and from the rush of nicotine, but focused on Angel intensely.
"Okay," she says.
"And you still invite me up and dinner is nice and you're in town for a week and we go out a few times," Angel continues. "And, the day you're set to leave we have coffee and I look a little down, so you say, 'Hey, New York's not that far, we can still see each other sometimes.' And I say, 'No, it's not that--I'm here on a student visa and it's up at the end of the semester and I really don't want to leave my house and my friends and my job, but I've been through all my other options and there's no way out at this point, unless I can rope some chick into marrying me.'"
Raven sucks on her lip and breathes out noisily through her nose. The cigarette dangles from her fingers, forgotten. Angel drops the butt of her own cigarette and crushes the burning tip, before turning to face Raven.
"I'm just saying, sometimes you meet someone and you just...feel something. And the choices are to let it go and always wonder or take a chance and see what happens. From what you said, your step-father is a fucking dick who'd been eyeing your mom before your dad's body was cold. Erik seems like a genuinely okay guy in a bad spot who doesn't want to lose his fellowship or his place or his life or your brother."
Angel plucks the cigarette from Raven's fingers and breathes deeply around it. The end is chilly and tastes like strawberry lip gloss.
"I'm just saying," she says again, "if it was you...what would you do?"
Raven stares at Angel for a moment and then leans forward, capturing her mouth in a kiss. Her lips are soft and slick and taste like artificial strawberries and her fingers resting on Angel's hip startle her into dropping the cigarette in favor of tangling their fingers together.
The air between them is warm and moist and Angel doesn't want to pull away.
A cab speeds down the street, breaking the spell, and Raven jerks back, but only enough to smile wryly. Angel reaches out to tuck Raven's hair behind her ear and lets her fingers linger there.
no subject
"Where's Charles?" Erik asks, because he's maybe a little braver than Angel realized, even after he admitted he actually wanted to marry Charles.
"Upstairs," Raven says, still looking like an angry goddess. "Cleaning up."
Erik drops his cigarette to the pavement and grinds it out with his heel.
"I'd better go make sure he doesn't hurt himself doing something so unfamiliar."
Something like a smile flickers across Raven's face very briefly and, yeah, Angel's pretty sure that by the next family holiday, Erik and Raven will be ganging up on Charles like old friends. For now, Erik gives Raven a wide berth as he heads back inside, and once the door squeals shut behind him, Raven sighs and leans against the wall he just vacated.
"Smoke?" Angel asks, and Raven accepts eagerly. She stands closer than Erik did, and Angel lights the cigarette herself, her fingers absently brushing Raven's cheek as she does so.
"I just don't get it," Raven says, letting out her first lungful of smoke on a sigh. "After seeing what Kurt did his mother, I don't understand how Charles could just agree to marry some stranger. I mean, sure, he says for the visa, but I know my brother. He's head over fucking heels for this guy who's just gonna take his money and break his heart and abandon him."
Angel tips her head back and stares into the sky contemplatively. Across the street, the door to one of the other buildings opens, a sea of rambunctious college students spilling out onto the sidewalk, shouting and laughing at each other. Angel watches them as she takes another drag.
"Imagine for a minute," she finally says, "that this isn't why you were coming here. Your brother and Erik met a long time ago and everyone knew they'd be getting married one day and you're here to celebrate their engagement. But you've still never taken the T and you still needed my help to get here."
Raven turns on her side, propped up against the building by her shoulder, her eyes dilated in the dark and from the rush of nicotine, but focused on Angel intensely.
"Okay," she says.
"And you still invite me up and dinner is nice and you're in town for a week and we go out a few times," Angel continues. "And, the day you're set to leave we have coffee and I look a little down, so you say, 'Hey, New York's not that far, we can still see each other sometimes.' And I say, 'No, it's not that--I'm here on a student visa and it's up at the end of the semester and I really don't want to leave my house and my friends and my job, but I've been through all my other options and there's no way out at this point, unless I can rope some chick into marrying me.'"
Raven sucks on her lip and breathes out noisily through her nose. The cigarette dangles from her fingers, forgotten. Angel drops the butt of her own cigarette and crushes the burning tip, before turning to face Raven.
"I'm just saying, sometimes you meet someone and you just...feel something. And the choices are to let it go and always wonder or take a chance and see what happens. From what you said, your step-father is a fucking dick who'd been eyeing your mom before your dad's body was cold. Erik seems like a genuinely okay guy in a bad spot who doesn't want to lose his fellowship or his place or his life or your brother."
Angel plucks the cigarette from Raven's fingers and breathes deeply around it. The end is chilly and tastes like strawberry lip gloss.
"I'm just saying," she says again, "if it was you...what would you do?"
Raven stares at Angel for a moment and then leans forward, capturing her mouth in a kiss. Her lips are soft and slick and taste like artificial strawberries and her fingers resting on Angel's hip startle her into dropping the cigarette in favor of tangling their fingers together.
The air between them is warm and moist and Angel doesn't want to pull away.
A cab speeds down the street, breaking the spell, and Raven jerks back, but only enough to smile wryly. Angel reaches out to tuck Raven's hair behind her ear and lets her fingers linger there.