#untitled tuc fic

[faejilly]

last line meme

tagged by @junemermaid

my last line is very short and lacks context. so have more than that! As always!

no pressure tagging (anyone who wants! please blame me. I love seeing things even if I have no fandom connection or context! ilu all!) and @foodsies4me @tarysande @thievinghippo @defira85 @angstmongertina if you are writing & wish to share

Ricky sends her a pin on the way to the subway so she knows they're on their way and she goes to splash cold water on her face before they arrive.

If she takes a moment leaning over the basin, cold water dripping off her chin, fingers pressed too tight against the counter, no one has to know.

Keep it together, Esther.

That's what you're for.

[lovevalley45]

untitled ficlet #174

a/n: i often don't write author's notes for these smaller fics, but this is sort of a 'what if' scenario for my tuc fic, if it's all we ever wanted, then baby play along. up until i finally posted it, i thought abt rewriting the scene where sofia asks pete to be her fake boyfriend to be pete offering, but i never followed through. thus, i wrote this instead. enjoy!

When Pete had asked Sofia if she was free for coffee that day on a whim, he hadn’t known what he’d signed up for. It pretty much had been what he had expected, really - Unsleeping City business, catching up on more mundane affairs, and comparing the ways they avoided any sort of mention of wizards in AA or NA groups. Strange for other people, but normal for them. That was how it went.

They’d been talking for long enough for their drinks to start to get tepid, but neither of them were tempted to leave. It was always nice to catch up with the Dream Team, whether the circumstances - though usually, it was preferable if it wasn’t because of some disaster. Coffee after work was first choice over dealing with SantaCon.

And of course, seeing Sofia was always nice.

She put her latte down, raising a finger in the air. “You know, one of the worst things about being sober is that my mother suddenly thinks I have time for dating in my life,” she said. “She asked me if I was meeting with ‘just a friend’ while I was getting ready.”

“Very subtle,” he said with a scoff.

“I know.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s getting ridiculous. And if I say I’m busy, she just tries to tell me about all the other single men who go to our church. ‘Dot’s boy is single, do you want his number?’”

Pete knew he was no expert at getting parents off of someone’s back - his solution had been to run away to New York City, and that certainly hadn’t turned out how he expected. But an idea struck him. “Maybe... if you bring someone home, she’ll get off your back,” he suggested as he took a sip of his tea.

“What, are you on the set up Sofia with a man team too?” she asked.

“No, of course not-” He tried to act casual, shaking his head with a laugh. “Just bring someone home and say that you’re dating them. Then, in a few weeks, pretend you two broke up and mope around until she gets off your case.”

“Pete,” Sofia said. Her gaze was intense enough that he worried he’d overstepped, before she gave him a grin. “Has anyone told you you’re a genius?”

“This would be the first time in a while it was for a good reason,” he joked, playing off his nervousness.

“Well, that’s concerning,” she said bluntly.

“Yeah, a little,” he muttered.

She sat back in her chair, tapping the side of her mug. Though she was quiet, he could tell she was considering her options. He wondered for a moment if he was one of them.

“I’m free on Sunday,” Pete finally said, once she’d been lost in thought long enough to him to finish his tea. Sofia looked back at him, as if she hadn’t heard what he said. “If you’re looking for someone to pretend to date.”

He braced himself for rejection - somehow, the idea of her saying she wouldn’t even pretend to be with him seemed worse than if he straight up confessed and she said no. The moment he said it, those alarms in the back of his head went off that seemed to scream, Could’ve been smarter there, bud. He could play it off as just a favor - that’s what friends do for each other, right? Friends who complain about stale cookies at meetings together agree to pretend to be date each other to get persistent parents off their backs.

Well, okay, maybe she couldn’t do the same for him. Mostly because he didn’t want to have to pull her away from his dad. (She’d definitely win, though.)

“You’d have to come to Staten Island,” Sofia said finally. “You know that, right?”

It had the same time those alarms went off, that had hit him. Well. A worthy sacrifice. “Yeah, I know,” he said.

“You could sound a little less disappointed about it,” she teased. But she smiled at him over the table, leaning her elbows onto it as she sat forward. “My mother would love you… though I hope she doesn’t say anything about the age difference.”

“That’s the only thing you’re worried about?” Pete asked. There were about a thousand more things on his mind, ranging from accidentally letting it slip that though they weren’t dating he did have a crush on her to accidentally setting fire to a table cloth. The latter seemed less like since he’d gotten his magic back under control, but that didn’t mean he didn’t still worry.

“I probably would have ended up asking you anyways. Taking Ricky would feel awkward between me and Esther,” Sofia assured him. He didn’t know what face he’d made, but she added, “Don’t worry, you were only third on the list.”

It actually was reassuring, just a little. “I mean, it’s just one dinner, right?” he asked, trying to play it off. Casual, he told himself. It’s not a real date.

She held up a finger. “Only one dinner. Plus, free food.”

“Mm, yeah, free food.” Pete hadn’t considered the free food much. It was a nice bonus for probably making a fool of himself. “Sounds good.”

He was so going to have to ask Kingston for advice.