Work Text:
marly <3: hey love when are you off work today?
dorcas <333: five
dorcas <333: why?
marly <3: ill pick you up, maybe we can get dinner and walk around for a bit? its going to be a gorgeous evening
dorcas <333: that sounds fucking incredible
dorcas <333: yes absolutely lets do that
dorcas <333: you’re absolutely wonderful love
marly <3: and u!!
marly <3: are also wonderful
marly <3: <333333
marly <3: see you later darling :)))
dorcas <333: see youuu :))) <333
It’s five minutes to five o’clock when Marlene arrives at the bookstore. She opens the door just enough to poke her head in and wave to Dorcas, then sits down on the outside edge of the bottom step to wait.
It’s a warm summer evening, and the sun is casting long shadows on the pavement. The breeze ruffles Marlene’s hair gently, and she tilts her face up to the sky, closes her eyes, and smiles.
A tap on her shoulder pulls Marlene back down to earth, and she looks up to see Dorcas smiling down at her.
“Hello, love.” Marlene puts her hand on top of Dorcas’s and twines their fingers together. “How was your day?”
“Long.” Dorcas says. “Exhausting. I hate customers.” She squeezes Marlene’s hand. Marlene nods sagely.
“Customers are horrible,” she says sympathetically. She leans her head against Dorcas’s leg. “Shall we go get some chips as solace?”
“Yes, please.” Dorcas tugs on Marlene’s hand, and Marlene lets herself get pulled up. She finds herself face to face with Dorcas and kisses her, a laugh bubbling up inside her.
“What’s so funny?” Dorcas asks. She’s looking at Marlene, a bright smile on her face.
“Nothing,” Marlene says, “I’m just happy.”
Dorcas laughs as well, and kisses Marlene again. “Me too.”
They walk hand in hand down the street to the chippy. Marlene orders, and Dorcas pays, and they sit in a corner booth to eat. Dorcas tells Marlene about Frank and his wife Alice, and their new baby, Neville. Marlene suggests that they introduce Neville to her friends’ baby, Harry.
“Babies like other babies, right?” she asks. Dorcas shrugs.
“Probably? I’ll ask Frank, I’m sure he knows.” Dorcas pops a chip into her mouth. “He’s a father now, he knows everything.” She laughs, and Marlene throws a chip at her.
“I’m sure he does know lots about babies! He must have learned something by now, it’s been nearly a month, hasn’t it?”
Dorcas nods. “Three weeks and four days,” she says. “He updates me every morning.”
“That’s sweet,” Marlene says, and laughs at Dorcas’s eye roll. “Come on, I know you think it’s sweet!”
Dorcas’s face melts into a smile. “Yeah, I do. It’s very sweet.” She reaches over to take one of Marlene’s chips. Marlene swats her hand away.
“You’ve got your own!”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I thought they were up for grabs after you threw one at me.” Dorcas grins, and Marlene is momentarily taken aback by her sheer beauty. Dorcas takes the opportunity to steal a chip and laughs at Marlene’s frown as she eats it.
“Rude,” Marlene says.
“Me? Never.”
~~~
By the time they finish eating, the sky is turning orange at the edges. There’s a bookshop a few blocks away, and Dorcas knows that it’s open late most nights, and she pulls Marlene by the hand, talking enthusiastically the whole time.
“It’s this tiny little place, and it’s absolutely filled with books. They’re all secondhand, and I’ve found some of my favourites there. You know how I have three copies of that one Jane Austen book?” Marlene nods, knowing that all Dorcas wants is affirmation that she’s listening. “Well this shop is why! I had the one copy new, and then I found the one with the most gorgeous cover and it had that old book smell and I couldn’t resist, and then I found another copy here that had been all annotated in this lovely cursive writing and how could I turn that down?” Marlene laughs and nods again, and Dorcas grins at her before continuing. “Anyway, it’s one of my favourite places and I can’t believe I’ve not taken you there yet! You’ll absolutely love it.”
“I can’t wait to see it!” Marlene says, and she squeezes Dorcas’s hand.
They stop in front of a small building. Its front window is covered with books, and the door is old and scratched. When Dorcas pushes it open, it creaks.
Inside, the shop is just as tiny and book-filled as Dorcas described. Marlene looks around almost in awe at the sheer amount of books. They’re on shelves, stacked on the floor, laid out on tables and chairs––they cover every available surface. Dorcas waves to the old man at the counter, and he waves back. Neither of them speak, and Marlene doesn’t dare break the silence. Instead, she lets Dorcas guide her to the back corner, where together they clear a space to sit. It feels secluded, private, perfect. Marlene is reminded of the forts she used to build with her brother when they were younger. The two of them used to spend hours in their forts, giggling as they denied anyone else entry. This feels the same, but different somehow. Marlene loves it.
She and Dorcas sit down facing each other, cross legged with their knees touching. Dorcas smiles, and Marlene smiles back.
“What do we do now?” she asks.
Dorcas twists around, getting a good look at the books surrounding her, then carefully extracts one from a stack. “Pick a book!” She opens it to the first page and appears to be immediately immersed in the story. Marlene watches her for a moment, her heart giving a little flutter. She loves Dorcas so much, she realizes, and she bites the inside of her lip as she smiles.
Dorcas looks up from her book and gives Marlene a curious look. “Everything okay?”
Marlene nods. She’s not sure she can trust herself to speak right now, so instead she gets on her knees and leans forward to kiss Dorcas.
“Alright,” she says, “I’ll pick a book now.”