Chapter Text
An average Tuesday afternoon in late October found Harrow clicking through an obnoxious amount of emails, half of which she couldn't be bothered with.
She tapped delete on an email from Ianthe without even opening it based solely on the subject line.
‘Lunch?’
She quickly turned her eyes back to the real work at hand but movement in the corner of her eye made her look up. Abigail was walking quickly past her office, eyes down on her phone. Harrow didn’t think much of it and turned her attention fully back to her work.
Then it happened again… and again… and again, each time with increasing franticness and looking more distressed than before. Harrow sighed and resigned herself to the fact that she wasn’t going to get anything done so long as her supervisor was pacing around in front of her open office door.
She got up and closed the door before returning to her desk; much better.
Her relief was short-lived.
Harrow could still see her passing by through the glass front and with a sigh, stood and opened the door again.
"Abigail," she called the next time the woman walked by. She stopped and looked up, as if startled to see Harrow.
"Oh, good morning, Harrowhark, I didn't see you there. How are you?" she asked. Now that Harrow was standing in front of her, she could see how frazzled the other woman looked. Her normally carefully brushed hair, twisted into a perfectly askew bun, was a frizzy mess and she had a hint of dark circles beginning to form beneath her eyes. Her white coat was haphazardly thrown over even more rumpled clothes. It was a far cry from her normally put-together look.
"I'm fine…," she started slowly. "...how are you?"
"Oh… well." She adjusted her glasses, sitting a little askew on her face. "I've… been better," she finally said and glanced down at her phone again.
"What's the matter?" Harrow asked. She'd never seen the older woman so frazzled. Abigail sighed.
"My grandmother is dying," she said and Harrow's eyes widened a bit before Abigail went on. "They expect her to go within the next day or two and the funeral is right after. Magnus and I have a flight tonight but we can't find anyone to take Jeannemary and Isaac for a week." She reached up and massaged her temples. "I know they're fifteen and sixteen but a week is too long…"
"Oh, I'm sorry for your impending loss…"
"Thank you… I just.." her phone started ringing. "Excuse me, Harrowhark." She held up the phone and Harrow nodded as she turned and started walking down the hall. "Hello? Oh, Pro, yes, can you take them? No, no, it's alright, I understand. Thank you anyway." Then she turned the corner.
Once she was gone, Harrow went back into her office and sat in her chair.
She tried to work but her mind kept wandering back to Abigail and her problem.
On the one hand, she could help, but on the other, two teenagers. Though, generally well-behaved ones. Harrow had never been good with children. She simply couldn't relate to small children. She had ever so slightly better luck with older ones but still, it was abysmal. Like being transported back in time to high school… junior high… or elementary…
School had not been easy for Harrow.
She tapped her fingers on the desk a minute before sighing, resigned, and picking up her phone. She checked the time and hit the first contact. It picked up on the second ring.
"You've reached the office of Gideon Nav, professional lover, and stud muffin. All requests for dirty talk require a two-week minimum notice, shall I pencil you in?"
Harrow rolled her eyes even as she smirked at the phone. "I hope none of your students are around." A chuckle was her answer.
"Naw, sitting in the teacher's lounge by myself. What's up, Sugarlips?"
"How would you feel about watching some children for a week?" she asked and there was a brief moment of silence over the phone.
"What children? Did you steal some children? Where did you steal children from, Harrowhark?"
Harrow grunted into the receiver.
"I did not steal any children. I mean the Pent-Quinn children."
"Jeannemary and Isaac? What's up with Abigail and Magnus?" she sounded concerned now.
"They have to leave tonight for a week. Abigail's grandmother is about to pass and she expressed her concern to me about not being able to find anyone to watch them."
"And… you thought of volunteering?" Gideon's surprised voice echoed through the phone.
"Is that so strange? That I would want to help our friends?" Harrow asked.
"I mean… with their children? Yeah but I'm glad you finally have friends you'd do that kind of stuff for," she said and Harrow hummed.
"Answer the question, Gideon."
"Oh, yeah, sure, that's cool with me so long as they don't mind camping out in the living room."
"I'll speak to Abigail then."
"Sounds good, I gotta go back to class, love you!"
"I love you, too." Then she hung up and stood. Abigail was no longer pacing a rut in front of her office door when she poked her head out. She walked down the hall to the older woman's office. The door was open and Abigail was sitting at her desk. Her phone was in front of her and her head was held in her hands, looking terribly defeated.
She tapped her knuckles on the door and Abigail looked up and Harrow did the respectable thing and pretended not to see the tears in her eyes. She surreptitiously wiped at her eyes and adjusted her glasses
"Oh, Harrow. Yes, what can I do for you?" She sniffled quietly.
"I just came to inform you that if you hadn't yet found someone to watch your children, Gideon and I wouldn't mind taking them while you're gone."
Abigail jumped up, crossed the office, and the next thing Harrow knew, she was being squished against Abigail's chest. She was shorter than Gideon, so thankfully, her face fell into her boss' shoulder rather than her cleavage. She would never have been able to look her in the eye again.
"Oh, thank you so much, Harrow. You and Gideon are godsends!"
Harrow stood, frozen as Abigail squeezed her, arms pinned to her sides.
"This is a tremendous favor to us, thank you." She pulled back, smiling at her.
"You're welcome." Harrow straightened her coat, fussing with the lapels.
"Ah, apologies," she said and Harrow grunted. "I'll call Magnus and let him know to stop looking. We still need to have them get some things together…," she trailed off and Harrow could see her mind kicking into overdrive as she mentally planned everything that needed to be done between now and their leaving.
"Let me know what you decide to do and I will inform Gideon accordingly," she said and Abigail looked back at her, nodding.
"Yes, of course, thank you, Harrow. I'll call him now." She moved back to her desk and Harrow took her leave.
When she got home, Gideon was laying some extra blankets and comforters on the couch and floor.
"Hey," she greeted as Harrow toed off her shoes in the entryway. "Magnus called me about twenty minutes ago and said they would drop the kids off at five." She threw down another pillow and Harrow nodded, moving to lean over the back of the couch, watching her. "Also, that we were wonderful people and he could kiss us both on the mouth… I politely declined for both of us." She grinned and Harrow snorted.
"I'd gladly go unthanked…"
"What about me?" Gideon asked and leaned over, puckering her lips. Harrow made an amused sound but leaned in to press a quick kiss to her mouth. "He's right though. You are wonderful."
Harrow rolled her eyes. "Hardly, you would have done the same thing if Magnus had come to you."
"Yeah, but I like Abigail and Magnus and I like kids. I really like Jeannemary and Isaac. Of course I would help them out. I'm just surprised you extended the offer to them."
Harrow narrowed her eyes at her.
"You know what I mean. You've never really been one to put yourself out for anyone except me. You've become pretty good friends with all the nerds at work and I'm proud of you." She moved around the couch to wrap her wife up in her arms.
That might have sounded patronizing from anyone else, but Gideon was right. Friend-making had never been a thing that Harrow considered herself good at. Or even decent at. Her school career had been filled with acquaintances at best. Only after she entered college had she met people that she might, on a good day, consider her friend. All of which she had met through Gideon.
Only her coworkers at the museum -with the exception of Ianthe- had she somehow managed to befriend on her own.
And even then, her wife had played an instrumental part. Encouraging outings and double dates. No one could ever accuse Gideon of being unsocial.
She meanwhile was the textbook definition of a recluse. Or, she would be if her wife would allow it. It was probably better for the mental stability of everyone involved that Gideon made her go out and interact with people.
Even the majority of the time she would prefer not to.
Harrow hummed, letting Gideon hold her and resting her head against her wife's sternum.
"What do you want to do for dinner? We're gonna have to feed them and I didn't set anything out this morning…"
"Take out?" Harrow glanced up at her and Gideon grinned before leaning down to kiss her forehead.
"Sounds good to me, Mistress of Melancholy. I've been having a hankering for noodles anyway."
Harrow nodded and pulled out of Gideon's arms. "I'm going to go work in my office, let me know when they arrive?"
Gideon nodded and she shut herself up in her office. She didn't realize how much time had passed until she heard telltale yelling from the living room.
"They're here!" She heard Gideon yell from down the hall over the sound of hollering teenagers.
She set her work aside and made her way back out to the living room where Gideon was standing, a teenager hanging off each arm and Abigail and Magnus trying to corral them into behaving.
"Harrow!" Magnus called, the moment he saw her and smiled. "I can't express to you and Gideon how grateful Abby and I are to the two of you for doing this."
"I keep telling them it's no big thing," Gideon said, finally shaking the two teens off.
"It's no trouble," Harrow agreed.
"Still, thank you two so much. They should have everything they need for the week, but if not, here's a key to the house in case they need something and this is food money for the week." She handed an envelope to Harrow.
"We don't mind feeding them, we don't need your money," Gideon tried to say but Abigail was already shaking her head and Magnus crossed his arms.
"We won't hear of it, you're already doing us a huge favor we're not going to let our children eat you out of house and home on top of it," Abigail insisted
"Especially, Jeanne," Magnus grinned.
"Hey!" Jeanne puffed up. Isaac snickered.
"Very well," Harrow kept the envelope. She knew very well the futility of trying to argue with Abigail when she had made up her mind.
The older couple hugged and kissed their children and thanked them again before finally heading out the door for the airport.
Gideon turned to the two teens, who had settled on the couch already digging things out of their backpacks.
"Chinese takeout for dinner?" she offered.
"Can I get crab rangoons and soup with my sesame chicken?" Isaac looked at her.
"Can I get spring rolls and an egg roll?!" Jeanne piped in and Gideon chuckled.
"Whatever, ya want guys." She pulled out her phone and glanced at Harrow. "Soup and plain white rice, babe?" she asked and Harrow nodded, leaning against the kitchen entryway, arms folded over her chest and watching the two teens claim their sleeping places for the next week and start pulling blankets and pillows from their bags.
"Plain white rice?" Jeanne made a face at her.
"I have a sensitive palate," was all she could think to say to the girl.
"I like white rice," Isaac bobbed his head.
"You're both lame," Jeanne rolled her eyes.
"Hey, I watched you eat a donut someone dropped on the gym floor your sophomore year. Don't even." Gideon pointed an accusing finger at her and she ducked her head. Isaac prodded at her "Placing orders speak now or forever hold your peace!"
"Beef and broccoli with a spring roll and egg roll!
"Sesame chicken, crab rangoons, and egg drop soup!"
"All right all right, I got it ya heathens." Gideon waved a hand and held the phone up to her ear as she wandered off into the kitchen past Harrow. She bumped her hip as she passed.
Harrow stood awkwardly in the doorway, unsure what to do with herself. They seemed alright. Would they even notice if she disappeared back into her office?
Gideon would… she would deal with that when it came up and silently slunk down the hall to her office.
She had only been working for the better part of ten minutes when Gideon knocked on her door.
“Yes?”
She stepped inside and leaned against the doorway, arms crossed over her chest. “You just gonna hide in your office for a week?” she asked and Harrow frowned.
“They’re fifteen and sixteen, am I meant to entertain them?” she asked back and Gideon cocked a brow.
“No, but you could stand to be a little more present, at least tonight. I know kids aren’t really your thing, but you are the one who offered to watch them for Magnus and Abigail,” she reminded.
“I am aware. I will come… be social when dinner arrives,” she offered and Gideon smiled.
“That’s all I ask, honeybun.” She then left, closing the door behind her and leaving Harrow to her work. She felt a strange sense of anxiety settling in her stomach that she couldn’t quite place. There was no reason for it. She had interacted with the Pent-Quinn children many times.
Well, she had been in their presence a number of times. She could probably count on her hands the number of times she had actually spoken to them. Which was normally fine because they didn’t come to her, they went straight to Gideon. So why did she suddenly feel so on edge?
She still hadn’t shaken the feeling when Gideon yelled down the hall to announce that dinner had arrived. When she walked into the kitchen, Gideon was fending off a large and grease-stained paper bag from the two terrible teens.
“Relax, relax!” Gideon slapped away Jeanne’s hand as she popped it open and dug around inside. “Sesame chicken.” She slid the container to Isaac. “Soup… egg rolls… my lo mein,” she set it aside. “Jeanne, I swear to god…” she warned when the teen made a grab for a container.
She finished unloading the bag and dividing up the items.
“I don’t need a bowl, Gideon. I usually just shrink the soup out of the container,” Isaac said, popping open the lid to his food and letting out a cloud of steam.
“Okay, first, half the soup is Harrow’s, second, yes you do.” Gideon punctuated the statement by getting two bowls out of the cupboard. Isaac mumbled under his breath but poured some of the soup into a bowl.
“Bone apple teeth,” Gideon declared once they were all settled, making her wife roll her eyes and the kids laugh before digging in as well. Harrow was totally absorbed in eating her rice and half listening to Isaac and Gideon chatter when she felt eyes on her. She looked up to find Jeannemary’s dark eyes watching her.
“Yes?” she prompted.
“Oh, sorry, nothing.” Jeanne shook her head. “Just thinking bout how weirdly different you two are,” she said and Harrow blinked.
“By ‘you two’ you mean?” she asked.
“You and Gideon,” she nodded at the ginger, who stopped what she was doing, noodles dangling out of her mouth to look at them questioningly.
“Hmm?” she looked between the two.
“You and Harrow. How wild different you two are from each other.” Gideon slurped the noodles up into her mouth and swallowed after far too little chewing in Harrow’s opinion. Not that it would be the first time she’d had to perform the Heimlich on her wife.
“What’s wrong with that?” she asked and Jeanne shrugged.
“Nothin’ just, ya know,” she said. “I thought married couples had a lot more in common, like mom and dad. They have a lot of the same interests. Books and tea…”
“They listen to a lot of the same music too,” Isaac added before crunching on a rangoon. Jeanne nodded.
“I mean, usually, yeah. But not always. Also, who said we don’t have common interests?”
“Do you?” she looked between the two and Gideon looked at her with that crooked smile. She nodded.
“Old horror movies,” she said simply.
“Oh, those cringey black and white ones?” Jeanne looked at Gideon, betrayed and she nodded.
“The cringier the better.” She grinned.
“I just lost all respect for you.” The girl shook her head and Gideon shrugged.
“Then it won’t matter if I eat this…” She reached over and plucked one of Jeanne’s spring rolls off the plate and popped the whole thing in her mouth, making Jeanne shriek.
“Gideon!”
“I like horror movies, They’ve been playing them all week on tv for Halloween.” Isaac looked at Harrow, who wasn’t really sure how to respond, and just nodded and took a bite of her rice.
“Shit, Halloween!” Jeanne suddenly whipped around to look at her brother. “We never got out costumes.”
“We didn’t!” he yelped.
“Halloween costumes?” Gideon looked between them. “For what?”
“Trick or treating,” Isaac said.
“You two still trick or treat?” she asked and Jeanne huffed.
“Yes. Dad says it’s perfectly fine. We could be out vandalizing property or doing drugs. So what’s wrong with getting candy?”
“Can’t argue with that logic.” Gideon shrugged.
“Except they were supposed to take us to get costumes tomorrow and now they're gone…” Isaac grumbled.
“Eh, we can take you to go pick out costumes,” Gideon said and Harrow shot her a look. Harrow could scarcely think of places she wanted to go than a Halloween store three days before Halloween. It would no doubt be crowded and maybe even picked over by now.
“What about actual trick or treating, you're just gonna let us go by ourselves.”
“You wish. No, we’ll just have to go with you. Hell, I'll trick or treat,” she laughed and Jeanne snorted.
Again, not something Harrow would choose to do… but she did find it preferable to the alternative.
“You are twenty-nine years old… and I take it, that means no Halloween party at Coronabeth’s?” she asked and Gideon looked at her.
“There’s no age limit on candy, my Osseous Overlord and it’s just as well. She couldn’t promise me Ianthe wouldn’t be there,” she grumbled.
“Still afraid she’s going to steal Harrow from you?” Jeanne asked and Gideon sputtered.
“I am not afraid of that pasty ass-!”
“Gideon!” Harrow scolded and the teens snickered.