Chapter Text
Feyre was nervous. She had tried to convince herself that she wasn’t, but she was.
She put much more thought than she should have as to what long sleeved shirt and pair of jeans she should wear. And then triple-checked to make sure that her hair looked okay, even though her brown locks were simply pulled up into a ponytail.
She didn’t want it to look like she had put a lot of thought into what she would wear. But she didn’t want to look bad.
When her phone beeped with a text message from Alis saying she was outside, Feyre took one last look at herself in her bedroom mirror, put her boots on, and walked out the door.
Class went by in a blur. Feyre worked with Layton as he put the final touches on the artwork he had designed on the computer, then walked around the room with him, admiring everyone else’s work.
At the end of class, Alis sent Jayce and Layton out to look for books to borrow before grabbing Feyre’s arm and walking up to Rhys.
“Feyre and I always go out to lunch after these classes. Do you want to join us? We’ll be going to the small cafe on Gold Street with the big glass windows.”
Feyre tried not to show her confusion. She loved Gold Street Cafe - they served brioche french toast that was to die for - and she and Alis had been there several times in the past, but for the last three weeks they had gone to Flying Star Coffee, a coffee shop that was more child-friendly.
To her surprise, Rhys smiled and said “I love that place. I’ll meet you there in about 30 minutes? I need to make sure everything gets cleaned up…” He seemed almost nervous at making them wait.
“Not a problem,” Alis responded. “Jacye and Layton will need that time to decide what books they’re borrowing for the week. See you there!”
The moment they stepped outside of the multi-purpose room, Feyre grabbed Alis’s arm and whispered “What are you doing?”
Alis grinned. “Giving you the chance to practice making friends.”
“Fine,” Feyred huffed in mostly faked irritation.
Feyre could see the mild surprise on Rhys’s face when only Feyre was waiting in the foyer of the cafe.
“Layton had a sore stomach, so Alis wanted to take him home in case it was a stomach bug. She said that we couldn’t abandon you entirely, and dropped me off before heading home,” Feyre explained, not voicing her suspicion that Layton was perfectly healthy and that Alis had planned this stunt in advance. This cafe was a reasonable walk from her apartment whereas Flying Star wasn’t.
“Ah. Well, please tell them that I hope he feels better soon.” If the slight amusement in his eyes was any indication, Rhys probably had a similar suspicion.
The hostess led them to a small table set for two. Feyre glanced over the menu, already knowing that she would be ordering the brioche French Toast.
Rhys put the menu aside without even opening it. It seemed he had a standard order as well.
“Are you a regular here, or something?” Feyre asked, trying to make conversation.
“Yeah… I know the owner.” He had paused, as though he had to think through the explanation. “I’ve been subjected to so many dishes in various stages of development. Everything on the menu is delicious.”
“Rhysand!” their waitress exclaimed, bringing two cups of water. “It’s been too long!”
“Sorry, I’ve been a bit busy…” he replied, meekly.
The waitress turned to Feyre, saying “It looks like you’re ready to order. What’ll it be?”
“The french toast, please. With the fruit on the side.”
“Okay.” Turning to Rhys, she asked “The usual?”
“Yes.”
The waitress jotted some stuff down on her pad, then looked at Feyre. “Tea for you, too? Coffee? Something else?”
“Tea would be great,” Feyre replied. Their waitress noted it down, and left the table. Returning shortly with two pots of water and an assortment of tea bags to choose from. Rhys waited for Feyre to grab her peppermint tea bag before choosing English breakfast for himself.
“So, have you always lived in Albuquerque?” Rhys asked. Feyre was relieved to not have to be the one to instigate a conversation.
“No,” she replied. “I’ve only been here since June. I just graduated from college. During my last semester, I was job hunting and my… friend... found a posting to do IT stuff for the Albuquerque Museum. I’d been looking for jobs both in the comp sci world and the fine arts world, and the position sounded like it would kind of combine both. I moved out here to take the job.”
“Those are two rather different interests.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve always loved art. Especially painting. But when it came time to declare a major, I could just see my older sister’s face when I told her that I chose the BA in Fine Art over a ‘practical’ degree, so I signed up for Computer Science instead. Comp sci is fascinating, and programming is creative in its own way, and my advisor ended up talking me into double-majoring, so I’ve got the best of both worlds anyway.” Feyre didn’t want to bore him by only talking about herself, so she turned the conversation back on him. “So what about you? Have you always lived in New Mexico?”
“Actually, yes. Born and raised in Albuquerque. I spent a lot of time on the rez with my mom’s family, especially during school breaks. I’m half Navajo, but my dad’s white and he wanted me to get a traditional ‘American’ education.” Ah, that explained his blue eyes. “It’s that juxtaposition that made me embrace Velaris’s mission.”
“So what do you have to do with Velaris?” Feyre asked. “To be honest, I don’t even know what they do - I’d never heard of them until Alis brought up the workshop series.”
“Velaris does a lot of different things. But the basic idea is that it helps to support under-served youth, especially those in the Navajo nation. Education programs, health initiatives, trying to get better infrastructure in place, general advocacy work, that sort of stuff. I help to run some of the programming that they put together.”
It seemed as though Rhys didn’t want to go in depth about his role, but he’d seemed passionate about Velaris itself, so Feyre asked him, “So what’s some other stuff they’ve done?”
Rhys talked about a summer camp they organized on a reservation about an hour out of the city, to provide children with a place to go when school was out during the summer. “It’s a good chance to give the children the kind of experiences that kids in big cities have - again, something I got to experience that a lot of my friends on the rez didn’t. And it also lets us offer some employment opportunities for school staff that otherwise have to go two months without a paycheck.”
At that moment, Feyre’s phone vibrated with an incoming call. A quick glance at the screen showed it was Alis. She was probably calling to give Feyre the opportunity to escape if it was going poorly. Feyre sent the call to voicemail, and typed a one-word message to Alis: “Meddler” before looking back at Rhys and apologizing for the brief interruption.
Feyre was wondering how to restart the conversation when their food arrived and saved her from the awkwardness. As expected, her french toast looked delectable. Rhys had something that looked like a variation on eggs benedict. “Eggs benedict on a green chile biscuit,” he explained, when he noticed her attention on his plate. “The hollandaise also has some green chile mixed in.”
Rhys paused, but then pushed his plate slightly toward her. “Do you want to try a bite?”
It felt rather intimate, but Feyre did indeed want to sample the dish, so she said “Yeah, if you’re okay with it,” and carefully cut off a bite. She chewed slowly, savoring the flavor. “It’s good!” she exclaimed. “It’s got a bite, but not as spicy as I was afraid it would be. I’d consider getting it the next time I come here.” She started on her own meal, before realizing that she probably should have offered him a taste. “Did you want to try?” she asked, gesturing to her plate and trying not to grimace.
“It’s fine,” he replied with a smile. “I’ve had it before.”
They ate in silence for a while, before Rhys picked up the conversation again. “Since you haven’t been in New Mexico for very long, is it presumptuous to assume you haven’t been out to any of the Navajo reservations?”
Feyre shook her head. “No, it’s not, and I haven’t. I actually don’t have a car here. I have my license, but basically everything I need is within walking distance, so I rent a Zipcar or catch an Uber when I actually need to go far.”
“Any interest in heading out to a rez with me for the day next Saturday? There’s a middle school about 30 minutes out of town that’s putting on a community fair as a fundraiser. Velaris has a booth, so I’ll be going to help out. You could see more of what we do and see another side of the state. I’m happy to give you a ride.”
It was a nice invitation, and Feyre was supposed to be making a friend. On the other hand, it felt a little reckless to get in a car and go out in the middle of nowhere with a man she barely knew. The tiny voice in the back of her head was saying that she should go.
Seeing her hesitation, Rhys added, “Alis would be more than welcome to join us and bring her nephews, too. They’ll be lots for kids to do.”
That was enough to push Feyre toward a decision. “Okay. I’ll come. And I’ll ask Alis. What should I tell her if she wants details about where it will be?”
Rhys gave her the name of the town, and Feyre verified that her maps application put the pin in the correct location, before saving it all to her calendar.
The conversation comfortably flowed for a while more, but then their plates were empty and the restaurant was closing. Time had flown a lot faster than Feyre had expected, and she was surprised that she felt glad that she’d be seeing Rhys again in a week. They split the bill at Feyre’s insistence then made their way toward the entrance. As they put on their winter coats, Rhys took a deep breath before carefully asking “Do you want to trade phone numbers? It would make it easier to coordinate for Saturday.”
“Okay.” Feyre held out her phone. “Put your number in. I’ll text you.”
Rhys handed her phone back. “You mentioned that you don’t have a car. Do you need a ride?” It was a bit forward for someone she had just met, but Feyre couldn’t fault him for being polite.
“I’m good, this is one of the places that’s walking distance from my apartment.” Rhys raised an eyebrow as Feyre continued, “Alis chose a good place to meet.”
“How lucky we are for Alis’s decisions, then.”