Work Text:
Their routines were simple.
A bell would ring and chatter would fade to silence as their day started with a nod of acknowledgement and then silence until the second bell that signaled their freedom.
Neil would arrive in class a few minutes early and greet Eva who was a few minutes earlier. They wouldn’t say much, but it was all part of their routine, so they didn’t mind.
They didn’t mind when their routine changed. When Eva decided to say a few more sentences than usual every morning, and Neil would decide to say a few more sentences back. So that became a new part of their routine.
And so their routine shifted. A morning conversation turned into afternoon breaks together, a routine where Neil would wait outside somewhere and Eva would find him and they would talk a little longer until they returned home for their nightly routines of homework, dinner, and sleep.
They had to change again when Neil got asked out by a girl. Their routines made her jealous, so conversations became less frequent and less fun. It took a few months before Eva and Neil could have their old routine back. Neil would never tell her he ended his first relationship for her.
Their routines made them happy.
Looking up from notes and books and screens to greet the other with a smile as they were handed a coffee in the library. Words weren’t spoken often there but they weren’t necessary.
Nights in the dining hall full of jokes and laughter about the low quality of the food, the harshness of teachers, the most recent annoyance in the dorms.
The temporary new routines for midterms and finals with long restless nights of revising notes and cramming as much information into their sleep deprived brains as humanly possible.
The occasional walks to classes together when they happened to be going in the same direction or the occasional hangout between classes when they saw each other unexpectedly.
Their routines made them efficient
They were a good team, no one would deny that. That would show up to their clients homes, do their job as well as they could, and leave. Sometimes things would stray from the norm, but there was nothing that couldn’t be fixed within a few hours
They would return to the offices and file their reports and paperwork. Definitely the worst part of their routine, but copious amounts of coffee helped ease the process along.
Neil would do something- anything- to get a rise out of Eva. A new prank, a new game, a new distraction to break up the monotony of their routine that ended up becoming part of the routine itself. Eva would feign annoyance, play along, and then settle back into the working part of her routine, but with higher spirits.
They added smaller, more affectionate acts to their routines. It started with lingering touches on hands, a joking flirt. It evolved to an occasional shy kiss on the cheek. Treating themselves to fancy dinners and fun activities for them and them alone. Nights spent at the other’s apartments became more and more frequent in their routines until it felt more permanent than temporary.
Their routines split at a point. One would be working relentlessly to perfect a technology that could fix him in a world of his own. The other one would be worrying about the other and his possible path of pills and self destruction.
Their routines made them feel normal
Doctor appointments became more frequent. At first it was Neil’s routine and Neil’s routine alone. His routine changed a few months later, and Eva would start accompanying him. The appointments made their way into their schedules and they never said a word about it
The routine changed when Neil got worse. He was less capable of leaving the house and doing physical activities.
Eva’s routine changed for Neil, as it always did. She would visit between work and sometimes between cases if her and her temporary partner were in the area.
Later, Eva’s temporary partner would become permanent. That was her least favorite part of her new routine.
Then one day their routines would stop. It wasn’t a gradual transition like they normally were. It was abrupt and painful, as most endings were.
Although death was routine in the livelihoods of Eva Rosalene and Neil Watts, it was still capable of making their routines crumble to an empty nothingness.
Her routines kept her going
Her routine was a mental checklist.
Water the plants
Make coffee
Have breakfast
Shower
Go to work
Visit
Come home
Sleep
Her routine felt empty. Her routine was going through the motions that mirror their routines together that they would never share again. She decided her routine would forever involve grieving for him.
Her routine was dull and lifeless but at least it kept her going. It felt impossible when she first started the routine, but slowly and painfully it became more and more normal. Her grieving would not last forever, such as her routine wouldn't.
Eventually her routine began to involve chatting with coworkers and friends. Seeing other people again. Visiting him less and less. Making new friends and making new routines with them.
Her routine visits to his resting place never truly stopped, they just became less frequent. At first it was every day with lavender and hot tears. As life became busy again, she would visit every week or so, with lavender and pouring apologies to a man who couldn’t hear her. She would visit once a month, with lavender and stories about what people from his old routines were up to. She would visit once a year with lavender and warm tears, with unheard apologies and stories of her life that had passed by without him that he couldn’t experience with her.
Their routines had inevitably ended. So she had to find new ones without him.