Work Text:
It was a slow day for the pharmacy. Mrs. Williamson had taken her lunch break early and had been gone for over two hours. Behind the counter, Simone was leafing through a magazine boredly, each second dragging like an hour.
The bell chimed, and Simone looked up from the “Is Your Crush Your Soulmate?” quiz.
Her first thought was that she would have to take the quiz again because she just found herself a new crush.
In the words of Taylor Swift, he was tall and handsome as hell. The deep red sweater and black jeans hugged his athletic figure in all the right places. His raven hair looked incredibly soft and swayed around his face as he glanced around the pharmacy, allowing Simone to admire his killer cheekbones from multiple angles. When he faced the counter she was met with the most piercing eyes, eyes that would not look out of place in an adventure novel or on the Hollywood screen.
“Hello,” he said, and his voice was slightly higher than she expected it would be. Still, very smooth and nice.
“Hello, how may I help you?” she smiled, subtly sliding the magazine under the counter.
He glanced down at a slip of paper in his hands. Lovely hands with long fingers and painted nails. She wondered if he played the piano or some other instrument. He–
“My girlfriend is on her cycle.”
–was taken.
Simone quickly composed her face in a sympathetic grimace despite her disappointment. Girls have to stick together. And if a girl snatched up a divine boyfriend who was willing to buy her intimate supplies, Simone was going to be happy for her. Even as she was green with envy.
“Does she have a history of unpleasant reactions to ibuprofen, aspirin or other NSAIDs?” she asked, for the girl’s best friend.
“We both take Ibuprofen to counter headaches,” he shook his head. His curls bounced ever so slightly with the motion. Simone had to hold back a love-sick sigh. There was nothing wrong with just looking.
She held up two boxes. “A ten tablets packaging or a hundred tablets packaging?”
“The big one please.”
“Uh-huh. Take with food, wait at least 4 hours before taking another,” she recounted even though he must’ve already known. “Then there’s Magnesium for the cramps,” she set a tube of fizzy magnesium pills on the counter.
He picked it up and read the label. His eyelashes weren’t very long but they were thick and dark, framing his grey eyes like liquid eyeliner. His grey, grey eyes. “Do you have a flavour that’s not orange?”
“There’s… raspberry.”
“Raspberry is good, thank you.”
“Herbal tea, are you going to need pads too?”
“Uum,” he hesitated, then tipped his head. “Better safe than sorry.”
When he opened his bag to put away his purchase, Simone caught a glimpse of fresh strawberries and what might be chocolate chips.
She imagined having a boyfriend who would bring her painkillers and chocolate strawberries to bed on her period and sighed, going back to the first question of the quiz to start anew.
Her standards have just gotten so much higher.
whoosh
Lily took deep, measured breaths as another wave of nausea rolled over her. Small paws kneaded her stomach before the warm weight settled down again, purring like a chainsaw. Lily petted the soft fur in thanks.
She was never going to say a single bad thing about the cat again. Not even when it shedded all over her clothes or tried to eat yoghurt straight off her spoon. Or bit the blossoms off her plants. Or peed in the bathtub instead of the litter box. So long as it acted as a vibrating heating bottle, Lily didn’t really care anymore.
The door opened with a soft clack.
“Hello my lovelies,”
The cat meowed loudly, purring even louder. “Have you been a good girl, Kritter? Have you been a good girl for Lily?”
Involuntarily, Lily left out a harsher breath. Who greeted a bloody cat before they greeted their suffering girlfriend? Lily was taking back what she said before. The grudge was back on.
“You don’t have to whisper,” she said, pouting at herself. Jealous of a cat. Unbelievable.
“Sorry,” he whispered, “I wasn’t sure you weren’t asleep.”
“I’m not.”
His lips brushed against her forehead softly and then she felt the mattress dip under his weight. He carefully slotted himself between the headboard and her back, pulled at her until she was half seated between his thighs, all without dislodging the horrible, wonderful feline.
“Baby bird,” he ordered, and she opened her mouth to allow the pill on tongue. She opened her eyes when she smelled chocolate on his fingers.
“Hm?” she inquired around a gulp of flavoured water, recognising the artificial raspberry taste. She craned her neck, the pain feeling duller with the distractions.
Regulus grinned and held up a fresh strawberry, the chocolate still warm and little runny. Lily opened up without prompting.
The cat chripped and sniffed at Lily’s lips as she chewed, its long whiskers tickling Lily’s face. “Tough luck,” Lily told it.
She drew a line at sharing chocolate strawberries.