Work Text:
Tora woke to the sound of voices in the main area. Quincey hadn’t left any notice to warn him of company coming over this morning, scratch that… looking at his phone he realized it was lunch time. The scent of grilled meat and some kind of baked good was beginning to invade his room. Groaning and rolling over, he thought to go back to sleep, his growling stomach suggesting otherwise. Standing and stretching he started towards the door to go see what take out Quincey had ordered and to give a reprieve to whatever poor delivery person Quincey had trapped in conversation. As he approached the end of the hall before the great room, a familiar voice carried to him, stopping him in his tracks. Quickly, Tora pulled himself against the wall clutching his chest and holding his breath. Poppy and Quincey’s laughter lightly reaching his ears. It had been a month since he told her goodbye, only for her to sign with Quincey as his new editor and pop immediately back into his life, the life he wanted to protect her from.
“My dear, that has got to be the worst date disaster I’ve ever heard of, and now they are getting married? You have to introduce me to these friends of yours, maybe their whirlwind romance can inspire me. Enough about them, though, I want to learn all about your great loves and maybe you can help to push me through this rut I'm in.”
Poppy sighed, “I’m afraid I don’t even have enough to fill a chapter. I have only had one boyfriend, and to put it lightly, he was a real jerk. Looking back I can’t even remember why I agreed to go out with him in the first place, much less stay with him for a few years. He’ll never be a lead, but he can be the inspiration for your next villain,” she chuckled.
“Oh Honey, If you were with him for that long, surely the sex was good!”
Tora caught himself leaning closer to hear her response, his fists were balled, the thought of her with that fucker made him see red.
“We, um... never, or I guess I should say, I never--”
“NO! A blushing virgin! We have to fix this right away, Honey I’m going to get you laid, and then I’m going to need to hear about it, for research of course,” he quickly added.
Tora was clenching his jaw so tightly his teeth were at risk of shattering. She was a virgin, of course she was, he was so fucking stupid. No wonder she had been able to tease him so easily was such innocent flirting, she really was innocent. He was right to stop things when he did, she deserved better than him. He’d go back to his room, he probably had a protein bar somewhere in there, he could wait to eat a real meal until after she was gone. When he heard her voice again, he stopped his retreat, stilling again in the hall.
“I’m not interested in that right now Quincey, I just want to focus on you and your work.”
“Oh no, that’s no fun, a cute little thing like you, you could have any guy wrapped around your finger, or your body, if you just said the word.”
“Pfft, Quincey!"
"Did your ex really treat you so badly that you're not ready to get back out there yet?" Quincey reached over and put a hand on hers, concern in his voice.
“No, it's not him. Right after we broke up I met someone, he was so kind and sweet, he made me feel valued, and attractive and for the first time in a long time, I was able to believe that someone wanted me and not some version of myself that they were trying to warp me into. But there were things beyond my control and we had to end things before they were really even started. I don’t even really know if he felt the same way about me as I did him, but it felt so real, I can’t imagine that it was one sided”
Quincey watched as she spoke she twisted a leather bracelet around, one that was far too large for her dainty wrist and looked suspiciously like the one that had disappeared from the daily wear of his friend and bodyguard a few weeks ago.
In the hall, Tora closed his eyes and let the weight of her admission sink in. His heart was racing, he shouldn’t be here, he shouldn’t be hearing this. Stuffing his hand into the pocket of his sweatpants, he rubbed his thumb across the surface of the hard plastic strawberry on the hair tie. He’d repeated this action so frequently in the past month the painted on seeds had worn away and the small divots they had been seated in were now rubbed smooth. He inhaled and remembered how soft she’d felt against him, kissing him on the rooftop. He opened his eyes and exhaled a heavy sigh and quietly went back to his room dejected, his heart at war with the feet carrying him away from the source of it’s desire.
In the main room Poppy turned her attention from the bracelet back to Quincey, “So, we have to do something about this slump you’re in! I’ve been thinking maybe it would be good to go back to basics and so I’ve signed us up to do a creative writing for beginners workshop this Thursday night. I will be there with you and I registered you as B. Quinceton to keep your identity secret. Our first assignment will be to come up with what ‘B.’ stands for, I’m partial to Bennett as a nod to Austen, but I want to hear your thoughts on it.”
“Dear that sounds absolutely delightful, but I'm afraid you’ll need to register for one more or I won’t be able to attend. I just don’t feel comfortable without a bodyguard these days.”
“Alright, I’ll check availability and get back with you, but I'm sure it won't be a problem. I have to return to the office now, but thank you for the lunch and the company. We’ll get you through this and back to your writing desk in no time,” she grinned.
Quincey helped her gather her things and walked her to the door, locking it behind her. Turning around he walked to the hallway and yelled into the depths of the apartment, “The tiny, scary editor is gone, you can come out of hiding now!”
Tora emerged from his room wearing a scowl, not finding the humor in Quincey’s words, “Fuck off Quinceton, I’m not afraid of her.”
“Really? I find that hard to believe, since you always seem to slink away and hide when she’s here. She might not have noticed you in the hallway, but I have known you long enough to recognize the sounds of you creeping around my home. Come and have some lunch, I ordered enough for you to join us. I can hear your stomach growling.”
Tora went into the kitchen and began to prepare himself a plate ignoring the other man as he walked past him. He gestured towards a box full of pastries, “What’s all this shit?”
Quincey looked at the baked goods, "Poppy asked if we could get dessert, I didn't know what to pick, so I just asked for a half dozen of their best sellers. She did ask to include a strawberry danish, although she didn't eat it, she had a chocolate croissant instead." Quincey was trying his best to keep a blank, uninterested face as he dropped that tidbit, watching the brooding man carefully to see if he would react. When he wasn't given the satisfaction, he continued. "She's signed me up for a workshop Thursday night."
“Ya can’t go. Ya know that.”
“I can’t go without a bodyguard. She’s going to call and register an extra spot.”
Tora glared at him, realizing the implications of his statement. He wanted to argue, but knew that Quincey was dying for socialization and this would probably be one of the safest avenues he could pursue. He turned back to his plate in silent acceptance, the strawberry treat delicately balanced on the side.
~~~
A month ago when Vincent had come to him and told him that he would have ‘round the clock guards and that he wouldn’t be allowed to leave his apartment without Tora, Quincey had been distraught. He was already struggling with his worst case of writer’s block yet and now he would be further stifled by a home confinement. How was a romance writer to find inspiration when he couldn’t leave his house without an armed detail? All these years of distancing himself from clan affairs still couldn’t protect him from being targeted for retaliation with things escalating between the rival gangs. Tora seemed equally as upset, since he had been in a bad mood stomping around the apartment once he was assigned there. Quincey had been wallowing in self pity over his situation and his brooding roommate when Poppy contacted him asking if he would be open to working with her at Giant Goldfish. He was taken aback initially, but allowed his curiosity over the small woman to overpower his shock and agreed to meet with her and grant her an appointment to show her proposal.
To say that he had been pleasantly surprised would have been an understatement. Having only met her briefly before, under less than positive circumstances, he had not been able to see how delightful the petite woman was, not only was she a breath of fresh air, he had found her proposal and presentation to be thorough and expansive. She was the most adorable professional he had ever dealt with and was excited to have her as his new editor, feeling more certain with her than he ever had with Morrison. His reputation as a reclusive author preceded him, making their one-on-one meetings in his home a common expectation on her part. Once he knew his business needs would be met, he permitted himself to indulge his curiosity. Tora had been his usual infuriatingly tight-lipped self when Quincey had asked if he had been able to take the girl home without incident the night she brought Benjamin over, replying with only an affirmative grunt. Any further attempts to talk about her had been shut down by the gruff man immediately, anyone else who didn’t know him as well would have missed the nearly imperceptible smirk that crossed his face, piquing Quincey’s interest more. Almost as quickly as it started, the smirk was gone, replaced by a scowl that seemed to have found a permanent home across his visage. Quincey would never say it, but if he looked at Tora long enough, he could almost see the sadness that the scowl was hiding underneath it. He had a hunch it was related to the young woman Tora escorted out by her hand and now that she was his editor, Quincey was determined to know more about her.
Poppy had become an off-limits topic between the two roommates. Quincey would inform Tora of any impending visits with his new editor and Tora would suddenly find himself needing to be somewhere else, sometimes returning to the weights he had only abandoned moments before. The few instances where Tora had been caught off-guard of her arrival or unable to leave the apartment, he would busy himself in his room. Once he had tried to play games with his headset on, but he found himself having the worst game of his life, distracted by the sound and presence of Poppy at the table behind him. Tora could live with her causing an occasional interruption as Quincey's editor, but the two had found they had more in common than just business and a fast friendship was formed pulling Tora into turmoil. Poppy was invited over constantly and when she wasn't there, Quincey would often call her and have her on speaker, acting oblivious to the distress it was causing his roommate. Quincey had hoped Poppy would be more forthright with information when it came to the nature of her's and Tora's relationship, but so far she had deflected any of Quincey's attempts beyond saying that she considered Tora a new friend and then would veer the conversation elsewhere. He had not failed to notice the way Tora would look at Poppy with a sad longing when he thought no one was watching, or the way Poppy would twirl the bracelet when Tora's name was brought up. Quincey was so focused on what was going on between them that he decided that his writing slump could only be cured by bringing them together.
~~~
The first time Quincey tried to meddle was two weeks after Poppy's presentation. He had invited her over without telling Tora and welcomed her while his friend was in the shower so he wouldn't hear her arrival. “Help yourself to the fridge, Honey, I’ve got a variety of drinks in there. I set out some cheese, crackers and fruit for us to snack on while we run through your notes.” Quincey was setting himself down at his large table that would be their desk for the meeting.
“Wow, Quincey, do you mind if I have one of these strawberry juices? I haven’t had one in forever.” Poppy looked into the fridge with amusement, the juice standing out against an assortment of designer sparkling waters.
“Sure, those are Tora’s but there’s more than enough in there. I know that he wouldn’t mind sharing, especially with someone as cute as you. He has a weakness for all things cute.” Quincey looked at her pointedly, eyes twinkled with mischief.
Poppy’s smile faltered briefly, “Ok, if you don’t think he’ll mind I’ll have one.” She turned, putting a grin back on her face and directed it at Quincey.
Walking to the table, she adjusted her notes and turned on her laptop, across from her Quincey scrolled through his phone absentmindedly. She thought she heard the sound of water being turned off.
“Oh my, I just got an urgent text from the building manager. You just sit there and relax, I’m going to have to take care of this now, I’ll be back in two shakes of a lamb’s tail,” he was out the door before she could react.
“QUINCEY! WHERE THE FUCK ARE ALL MY CLOTHES!” Tora roared, running out of the hall into the main room dripping wet wearing only a towel. “I’m gonna kill you, you spoiled brat!” His eyes were on the living area, not finding Quincey there, he turned to the kitchen and immediately blanched finding a startled Poppy sitting alone.
“Pop… Bobby, what are ya doin’ here?” He hadn’t known that she would be there today. He quickly put together his missing clothes, Poppy’s presence and sudden disappearance of his roommate. He had been set up. He was going to put hair remover in all of Quincey’s products. He looked at her, shock still written on her face after seeing his angry outburst, he moved towards her to comfort her, letting her know he wasn’t angry any more, at least not until he and Quincey were alone together again. He was almost to her when he realized what he was doing, seeing her unexpectedly had made him temporarily forget he was supposed to be keeping her at a distance.
Poppy had witnessed Tora’s temper before, the initial shock from his yell wore off almost as immediately as it had registered. It was seeing him nearly naked and coming towards her that had set her heart racing and caused the butterflies in her stomach. She had caught glimpses of his tattoos on his arms, but had never seen them on full display, the bath towel was the only obstruction keeping her from seeing the end of the tiger tattoo on his leg. She wondered if it was normal to be jealous of a towel. When she noticed he stopped his progression to her she went to speak, but found her mouth suddenly went dry, on impulse she reached out and took a long swallow from the strawberry juice. Her eyes never leaving his.
Tora watched her drink, his drink, did she know how incredibly sexy she was doing that? She had to know. He couldn’t do this, if he stayed out here any longer he was going to do something he would regret, something they would both regret. He let out a sigh and turned to walk away. He had a gym bag that he doubted Quincey had raided. He needed to get some clothes on before Poppy saw how she affected him. His long legs carrying him quickly back to his room.
“Tora, wait.” Poppy ran to catch him as he reached his door. “I know there are things you can’t tell me, and I know you want to protect me, but I don’t want you to hide from me every time I meet with Quincey. This is your home too and you deserve to be comfortable here,” she touched his forearm causing him to turn to face her. “I want us to be friends, even if it’s only possible inside this apartment.” Her large eyes searched his for agreement.
“I can’t be ya friend Bobby, but don’t worry, I won’t cause ya any problems.” With that he entered his room and locked the door behind him. He found some gym shorts and sat on his bed rubbing his hands over his eyes. She was right, of course, he needed to try to be her friend. It was just so damn painful to be around her and know that she would always be out of reach for him.
When Quincey found him an hour later, after Poppy left, he was still sulking in his room. He would continue to try and avoid her out of self-preservation, but he resolved to stop ignoring her when he couldn’t. It was a step towards friendship, right?
~~~
Poppy exited her building waving a small goodbye to the new security guard, Gyu, and walked out the gate to Tora and Quincey waiting in Tora’s car.
Quincey waved at her and jumped out of the car, “Honey, you take the front seat, I consider myself a gentleman, and a gentleman should always offer the best seat to a lady.” He leaned forward and gave her a big welcoming hug before opening her door for her and pushing her into the passenger seat. His hair was almost fully back to it’s natural blonde color after an emergency home visit from his stylist. If Poppy looked closely she could almost make out the brassy orange streaks in the sunlight, the remaining evidence of Tora’s revenge.
Tora was trying his best to keep his eyes forward while Quincey pushed Poppy into the car beside him. “Hi Tora, I hope you’re not too upset about joining us tonight. You don’t have to do the exercises if you don’t want to. I know you said you could barely hold a pen right before.” He could hear the nerves in her voice as she tried to make pleasant small talk. No matter how many times he iced her out, she still tried to be friendly.
"S'alright. Can’t be too hard if Quincey can do it.” Tora said, taking a small dig at his friend for his little display outside of the car.
The drive to the class was filled with Quincey and Poppy chattering. If either noticed that Tora drove in silence, they didn’t mention it for fear of his sour mood dampening theirs. Upon arriving, Tora looked around for any potential threats and found none. Good. He had enough distractions without them.
The trio found their way to the classroom where the workshop would be conducted. Quincey quickly approached a group of participants who were mingling before the workshop started. Poppy could hear him jumping into conversations and introducing himself to a handsome man that had caught his attention. She turned to Tora and asked, "Are you ready to go in?"
“Guess so.” Walking past her he settled in at a small table and pulled out his phone.
Poppy followed and sat down beside him. “Where are your materials? Does Quincey have your notebook and pencils?”
He looked up at her, slightly alarmed, “What?”
“I had told Quincey to let you know you would need paper and something to write with for tonight. Did he not pass that on to you?”
Tora considered it. Had Quincey told him? He had been upset after the hair dye and gave Tora a pouty silent treatment for most of the past week. Was this an attempt to get back at him?
Before he could form an answer, Poppy spoke up, “You’re in luck, I over prepared. I just bought 2 new notebooks and I couldn't decide which one to bring, so I’ll let you use one. Take your pick.”
She had set two very sparkly spiral notebooks on the table in front of him. One was covered in some kind of cat-mermaid creatures with pink frosted sprinkle doughnuts flying in the background. Across the bottom it read, “Living the Purrmaid Life.” He pointed at the other, “What’s wrong with that fish?”
“That’s not a fish, that’s a narwhal, the real-life unicorn of the seas,” she was grinning widely at him.
He could feel a blush starting on his cheeks, why’d she have to be so damn adorable? He swiped at the narwhal and rainbow covered spiral. “I’ll take the fish unicorn.”
“Good that one reminds me of you, look,” she pointed at the bottom of the picture, where it had been covered by the other notebook. It’s text read, “I’m cute, but stabby.” She reached back into her bag and pulled out a pack of sparkle gel pens. She handed him 2, “this one will be easiest to see when you write,” she pointed at a black one, “But this one is good for editing, and it reminds me of your eyes,” she pointed to the gold one, her cheeks turning slightly pink.
He looked at the notebook and pens in front of him. The hell she was ever getting these back.
Soon after the instructor entered and the class began. Quincey found a seat beside the handsome man who’d caught his attention before class, no one other than Poppy wanted to sit at the table with Tora. They started by writing a stream of consciousness. Poppy tried writing everything she could think of, except for her thoughts on the man beside her. She glanced over at his notes, curious to see what was on his mind. Tora was scribbling little doodles of fish stabbing each other with horns in the margins. The only words he had written were unintelligible to her without a closer look.
The next exercise had them looking at a picture of a family on a farm. They were to practice writing from different narratives and points of view as to what was going on. Poppy finished her writing a little early and snuck a peek at Tora’s again. She was rewarded with his difficult to read script, but it looked like he had increased his participation.
Finally, they were to list five of their favorite memories. Poppy found the challenge difficult, how could she narrow it down to 5? She settled on ones that included her dad and granny, mostly birthdays and family gatherings. Pleased, she looked at Tora’s notes again. He seemed to be struggling. Before he had finished, the instructor spoke again, they were to choose one of the memories and expand it into a short story. Poppy abandoned trying to decipher his writing over his shoulder and began the story of her favorite birthday party.
Tora wasn’t planning on participating much. He watched Poppy throw herself into each exercise with enthusiasm and found himself wanting to try a little harder, if only to see what it was that excited her. He found himself finding something to write about for the farm picture and was beginning to enjoy it when the instructor switched to the list of favorite memories. Well, shit. Some things he couldn’t put down on paper, lest it ever get tied back to him, and well, other things seemed to revolve around the feisty hamster beside him, the one he had caught peeking at his paper a few times already. He sat for a minute thinking of something that hadn’t been tainted by the clan. Finally, he settled on the day he got his first apartment. That was a good day, not having to go home to Vincent; his first taste of freedom. Next he listed the first time he’d been able to Ollie down stairs, landing that without busting had been euphoric. He shifted, obscuring his notebook from her view and wrote one word, “Bobby.” Before he could add to his list any more, it was time to take one of his memories and write about it. He considered his options. He knew his handwriting looked like shit, would she be able to read what he wrote if he shielded it with his body? She was always on his mind, he could write about her easily for a short story. He turned away from Poppy more and began writing.
“Alright everyone,” the instructor addressed the room, “now the final part of tonight will be editing. It’s not always easy to edit yourself in the beginning, so tonight I want you to trade stories with someone else at your tables and help them edit their work.”
Tora froze. Why was it that Poppy and notebooks were such a fatal combination to him? He looked at her, she was smiling sweetly sliding her story to him, expecting his in return. He closed it and shoved it to the far side of the table, out of her reach.
“Hey, it’s okay, I know it might seem intimidating because I’m a professional editor, but I promise I won’t go too hard on you.” She extended her hand palm up, waiting for his work. When he only stared back at her, with what was that, terror (?!) on his face, she tried again. “Tora, I promise I won’t say anything negative. I know that this isn’t your thing. I’m not going to judge you, you know me better than that,” she coaxed, sweetly and gently.
He thought about grabbing the notebook and bolting, but after looking into her pleading eyes, he sighed and passed it to her. “Here, I’m only givin’ ya this ‘cause I don’t wanna fight. Don’t say I didn’t try and stop you.” He watched her nervously as she turned to his story, no thought to reading hers crossing his mind.
Poppy looked at his list. It was short, but she knew he was a man who kept things to himself so it wasn’t exactly surprising. What was surprising, was when she saw, “Bobby” on there. She felt her cheeks warm and continued on to his story. It was difficult to read his handwriting at first, but once she read a few words, it began to jump out at her. This was all about her. He wrote about recognizing her in his jacket, up a tree and how warm it had felt to be thanked for catching her fall. How her gentle touch tucking his hair behind his ear had caught him off-guard. How unprepared he was for her to have a mean right hook. How after holding her hand he knew he wanted to spend more time with her, but it would be better if he left her alone.
She stopped reading, pulling her eyes away from the page and searching his. It was all too much. Suddenly Poppy felt like she was suffocating and excused herself to the restroom. Tora watched as her face gave way to her emotions and walked out, hands already in pockets, one searching for cigarettes, the other clenching the strawberry hair tie in an effort to calm himself.
He found an alcove behind the building to shield him from the cool drizzle that had started while they were inside the class. He was into his second cigarette when he heard a noise and turned to see Poppy before him. “I thought ya went to the ladies?”
“I did, but it was just a single stall and someone else needed it. I wasn’t ready to go back in yet, do you mind if I join you out here?” Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears.
He grunted in agreement and moved over closer to the outside edge so that she could have more shelter. “I’m sorry I upset ya.” Tora glanced down at her, Poppy’s eyes were still looking into his, full of unasked questions. "I'm bad news sweetheart, it’s best to stay away from me. I'm just going to break ya heart."
"You big thug," she pushed him softly, but kept her hands against his chest, she looked up at him with a small sly smile. "You're giving yourself too much credit."
Tora covered her hands with one of his and reached out to cup her face with the other. Her touch melting the last of his resolve. "What ya said to Quincey, about how ya met someone who made you feel wanted, it was me, wasn't it?"
She blushed and looked down at her hands under his, "He told you?"
"No, I was home, I was walkin’ out to get some food, but when I heard ya talkin’ it sounded too personal, so I went back to my room."
Poppy looked up at his face again. "Do you?"
His cheeks reddened “Christ, Bobby, look at you, who wouldn’t? Didn’t ya read what I wrote? You’re all I think about ”
Poppy reached up, catching his face and pulling it to hers in an instant. Tora met her halfway, his lips a whisper from hers. “I can’t promise you anything beyond tonight,” he admitted.
Poppy kissed him softly and pulled back, “Then I’ll take tonight.” She pulled him back down to her and caught his lips again.
The class was finishing and Quincey was wondering where his friends had gone. He exchanged numbers with Tall Dark and Handsome promising to contact each other soon and went in search of Tora. Poppy had left the class going to the restrooms on the right, whereas he had watched Tora disappear through a fire exit on the left. Quincey considered Tora would probably be outside smoking and would be the easier of the two to track down. As he approached the fire door, he saw movement in the alley beyond through the small safety window. Peering through to get a better look, he quickly jumped back before being noticed. The view he had seen was Poppy, arms wrapped around Tora’s neck, with Tora burying one hand in her hair, the other grasping her ass holding her to him as he kissed her deeply. Quincey's cheeks burned in surprise and embarrassment for witnessing such a private moment. He quickly ran back to the classroom to retrieve his journal and begin a story of star-crossed lovers, inspiration burning through him. He was more than a few lines deep when Tora and Poppy walked in to find him some moments later with sheepish looks on their faces and swollen lips.