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Julia watches Clarice stare after Ardelia, eyes wide and wistful. She smiles, the look familiar.
"That's your roommate?" she asks.
Clarice nods, watching the door through which Ardelia disappears, into some bureau hallway beyond.
"Erin and I started out as roommates."
Clarice turns towards her painfully slowly, eyes first. "What do you mean by that?" she asks, faux casual.
"Just a statement," she says, hiding a smirk. "We were college roommates."
"We're best friends," Clarice defends.
"Ah, I see." Julia laughs. "We were that, too."
"I'm not," she looks around at the spattering of passing agents and leans in to whisper, "a lesbian."
"No one's saying you have to be," she whispers back. "I'm just not blind to the way you look at her."
"She's," Starling pauses, as if overwhelmed by the possibilities of the sentence, "important to me. But not in, well," this word comes out even quieter, barely more than a breath, "that way."
"A gay way?" Julia deadpans.
"What? No! Well, yes. Maybe."
She looks almost childlike, between her tiny stature and the pout stretching across her face.
Julia really works to suppress her mirth. Based on Clarice's confused and slightly offended look, it doesn't work too well.
"I don't know what you think is so funny."
"Nothing. You remind me of me. It's endearing."
Clarice huffs.
Clarice calls her that night, trying to seem nonchalant. "I'm just checking in on you," she says, "making sure your new job is treating you well."
Julia rolls her eyes at Erin and mouths, "Clarice." She tells the receiver, "It's going just as well as it was when you asked this afternoon."
"Sexuality crisis?" Erin whispers. Julia nods.
"Right," comes the voice over the phone, "we did talk about that earlier."
"Speaking of things we talked about earlier, how's Ardelia?"
"The roommate?" Erin asks, which Julia confirms.
"She's good," Clarice squeaks. "She's out grabbing dinner."
"Good."
Julia lets her stew for a second, feeling a question building.
"How did you know Erin wasn't just a friend? That your feelings for her were... different?" she blurts.
She grins. There it is. "I realized that every time I saw her, my heart fluttered. It didn't do that with any of my other friends."
Erin smiles. "Are you talking about me?"
"Maybe," she breathes.
"Sap."
Something crackles over the phone. "So, then what am I– what is someone supposed to do about it?"
"Come on, I know you're not a coward. Just talk to Ardelia already."
"I– this isn't about Ardelia. This is purely a hypothetical."
"You're a bad liar, Clarice."
"Rude."
"I expect the results of your purely hypothetical considerations by tomorrow. Good night, Clarice."
"I'm never calling you again." The phone clicks, and then the dial tone sounds.
"That kid is a disaster," Erin states.
"Tell me about it."
The moment Julia shows up for her last day of organizing FBI paperwork, Clarice turns bright pink. But as she passes, she murmurs, "Thanks for your advice."
"How's Ardelia?"
Clarice breaks into an adorable little smile. "She's good. She's really, really good."