Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Alrest is a relatively quiet city during the day, Brighid had found so far. It’s a welcome change to the last few places she’d stayed, where it almost seemed like a competition to have the busiest traffic and loudest citizens. She sipped at her tea, closing her eyes for a moment as she relished in the herbal taste and the sunshine on her face. She thinks she might come to this “Addam’s” more often. It was a rare moment of peace in her often chaotic life, she could only hope this potential roommate of hers wouldn’t ruin her otherwise pleasant lunchtime.

As if on cue, the sound of a revving engine broke through the quiet ambiance as a sleek black motorcycle came whirring it’s way down the side street that this little café situated itself on. Brighid couldn’t help the beginnings of a scowl as it came to a stop right outside Addam’s, pulling into the parking space just behind her car. Fantastic. The driver slips off of the bike and kicks the stand into place, reaching up to take their helmet off and- Uh. Wow.

Black hair tumbles out of the helmet to frame a face of strong, sharp features that still manage to hold a sense of femininity to them. Her cheekbones are well-defined, and if they couldn’t cut through glass then her gaze certainly could - Brighid feels it pierce through her as those deep hazel eyes flick her way, or maybe that’s just the result of her gay little heart fluttering in her chest for a moment. She’s gorgeous.

She must have been staring, because the mystery woman’s eyebrows furrow a little in what seems like confusion. Brighid had been about to look away, only to see that hardened look soften and eyes widen in realisation.

“Ah, my apologies, I hadn’t recognised you at first.” Her words drip with the sweet honey of her accent, thick and undeniably Ardanian. There’s confidence and purpose in her stride as she makes her way over, shrugging off the leather jacket she’d had on while riding her bike to reveal a smart button-up shirt that wouldn’t look out of place beneath a suit. She’d be stunning in a suit, Brighid’s sure of it.

“It was Brighid, yes?” She’s standing right before her now, hovering behind the chair on the other side of the two-person table as if waiting for permission to sit down. Her hands reach up to pull her long hair into a bun with a hair tie on her wrist.

Thankfully Brighid manages to slip herself into a mask of composure, a gentle smile curving her lips as she gestures invitingly for the stranger to sit. “That would be me. And I can only assume you’re the one who answered my advertisement for a roommate.”

“Indeed.” She curtly responds, draping her jacket over the back of the chair before offering out a hand. “Mòrag Ladair, pleasure to meet you.”

Mòrag is not one to beat around the bush, it seems. She sits and quickly starts establishing ‘house rules’. It’s all rather standard affairs - rent by the end of the month, try not to make too much noise after 10 PM, and absolutely no feet on the coffee table. She was pretty adamant about that one. Brighid chipped in a few of her own, mainly that she would prefer not to be disturbed while she was working from home, to which Mòrag assured she would cause her no fuss unless the apartment was burning down around them. They were getting along rather well, or that is until they were interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

“Are you gonna buy something bike lady, or just keep making googoo eyes?” A blonde woman stood off to the side of their table, a black apron around her waist and a serving tray folded under her arm. Judging by that and the name badge proclaiming her to be ‘Mythra’, it seemed that she worked here.

“Oh, of course. May we have a menu?” Mòrag asks without missing a beat, unfazed by this woman’s attempt at teasing. The waitress narrows her eyes and fishes a menu out of her apron pocket, handing it over wordlessly.

She keeps eyeing the two of them even as Mòrag ponders over the menu, and Brighid can’t help but return the sour gaze. She’s broken out of her stupor by a gentle touch to her hand.

“Would you like anything, Brighid? My treat.”

“Oh, no I am fine thank you, I’ll get some lunch elsewhere.”

“Are you sure? They do seem to have a lovely selection of cakes here.”

Damn, her weakness. She hesitates, the corner of her mouth curving up into a little smile. “Well, I suppose it would be a shame to miss out on that.”

They each get a sandwich, and Brighid orders a slice of cake afterwards. Mòrag insists that she isn’t terribly fond of desserts and simply gets a mug of coffee - Brighid convinces her to give the cake a try and they end up sharing it, talking about anything and everything that comes to mind. She finds out that Mòrag is a firefighter and has a younger brother called Niall who, judging by the amount of stories she is eager to share, she is quite fond of. Brighid talks sparingly about her makeup business, and is a little surprised to hear the Ardanian woman’s knowledge on the subject.

All too soon they have to say their goodbyes.

“I would love to stay, but I must pick my brother up from school.” Mòrag says, fiddling with her helmet as she stands beside her bike. “I shall see you when we move in, I suppose?”

“I look forward to it.” Brighid smiles. She watches Mòrag get onto her bike and waves as she drives away, unable to will that smile of hers away.

Things will certainly be interesting from now on.

Chapter Text

There were few things Mòrag didn’t expect, given her tendency to think two steps ahead. Most notably as of late was the revelation that her new roommate was extremely pretty, that certainly threw her off guard.

However, this morning added a loud knock at the door to her list. She was certain she had only told her family her new address so far and they’d already paid a visit - a quick check with Brighid confirmed that she wasn’t expecting anyone. A neighbourly welcome, maybe? No, they’d been here a few days now, that would have certainly happened earlier.

“Mòrag!” An eager shout greets her as soon as the door is opened, and without time to react, she’s wrapped up in a hug by a pair of strong arms.

“Zeke.” She states with a sigh, tilting her head a little to take a cursory glance over the man’s shoulder. “Pandoria.”

“Heeey Mòrag.” Greets the green-haired woman leaning against the wall opposite with a grin and a little waggle of her fingers.

“Say, this is a pretty nice place you got!” Zeke declares as he lets go of Mòrag and strides on in, gesturing his arms around.

“And how, might I ask, did you even find out I had moved here?”

“Bah! You should know by now, you can’t keep secrets from the Zekenator.” He turns around to grin, still walking backwards as he does which causes him to bump into the coffee table.

Pandoria giggles as she slinks in too, perching herself on the arm of the couch. “In other words, he totally bribed your brother to tell us.”

“And here I thought Niall wouldn’t sell me out to the likes of you.”

“He would for a new Xbox!”

“‘New’.” Pandoria mimes some quotation marks in the air, and Zeke promptly swats at her hands.

“It’s new to him! I had to see dad again to get that bloody thing, he’d better be grateful.” Zeke grimaces with a shake of his head, then waves a hand to try and shoo away any thoughts of his father. A subject change comes quickly. “Why’re you trying to hide where you’re at, anyways? That’s kinda rude to do to your bestie.”

“We are not besties.” Mòrag scowls.

The both of them give an offended gasp in unison, placing a hand on their chests.

“Oh c’mon Mòrag!” Pandoria pipes up, leaning forward so precariously that Mòrag is worried she will slip off of the couch’s arm and faceplant on the floor. “Apart from me, you’re like the only person my prince talks to!”

Mòrag simply raises an eyebrow, turning her gaze to Zeke. “I see. Lonely are we, Ozychlyrus?”

“No! That’s not how it is! I just… Only grace certain people with my presence! You’d better consider yourself lucky, Flame-douser.”

“I told you to stop calling me that.”

“And I told you to stop using my full name. Besides, I’ve gotta have a cool nickname for my bestie! It’s like, the law.” He crosses his arms over his chest and nods resolutely, which Pandoria mimics. Mòrag just rolls her eyes.

The sound of a door opening catches her attention, and she turns to see Brighid emerge from her room and hover uncertainly in the hall. Her gaze lingers on Mòrag for a moment, then flicks to their visitors with a slight squint. “Such a commotion.”

“Ah, apologies if we disturbed you Brighid. This is-” Mòrag looks back to the troublesome two just in time to catch Zeke flopping onto the couch and propping his feet up on the coffee table. “Zeke!”

“What?”

Mòrag promptly rolls up one of the magazines on the table and swats him over the head with it. She doesn’t need to utter a word, as Zeke throws his hands up in surrender and his feet return to the floor. Pandoria snickers, then raises a hand in a wave to Brighid.

“What up, you must be the roomie. I’m Pandoria, and this hot mess of a dweeb is Zeke. We’re basically Mòrag’s only friends.”

The woman in question scoffs, looking offended for a moment before she tries to play it down and remain cool-headed. “I do have a social life outside of you two, surprisingly enough.”

“Oh yeah? Name your other friends.” Pandoria crosses her arms over her chest and tilts her head upwards so she’s looking down her nose at Mòrag with a smirk.

“Well, I. There’s Brighid, to start. I consider Niall a good friend. … My cousin, Hugo-”

“God, just stop, this is sad to watch.” She waves a hand, sparkly turquoise nail polish glinting in the light. “I guess that basically confirms it, huh prince?”

Zeke startles a little when he’s nudged by the woman next to him, tearing his attention away from the staredown Brighid and himself had seemingly been locked in. “Huh? Oh, yeah, totally.”

“Geez, what’s up with you? There was like, no dramatic flair to that at all.”

“Well, I was just thinking. There’s that new burger place near here, right?”

Pandoria gasps, immediately catching on. “Oh my god, we should get lunch there!”

“Exactly!” Zeke declares, pointing a finger at his companion excitedly before standing up. “We’ll see you gals later, those burgers aren’t gonna eat themselves. C’mon Pandy!”

He strides out of the apartment, Pandoria following closely behind until she reaches the door and spins on her heels. “You’d better treat our Mòrag right, Brighid!” A wink and a giggle preface her shutting the door rather forcefully behind her, leaving the roommates alone in a suddenly very quiet apartment.

“Well, they were certainly… Something.” Brighid comments after a long pause. Looking back at her though, Mòrag finds she looks more amused than anything. Their eyes meet, and Brighid quirks an eyebrow upwards. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d be friends with people like them.”

“Neither would I, but there is a long history between us.”

“Oh?”

“A story for another time.” Mòrag sighs and shakes her head a little. Brighid is lovely, but she doesn’t quite feel comfortable talking with her about how stupid she was when she was younger just yet.

Thankfully, the woman in question smiles. “I look forward to it then.”