Chapter Text
The sizzle and crack of the frying pan intensified as the room temperature ham hit the grease. The lowered volume of the news broadcast of the radio from the windowsill filled the small kitchen's walls with the words and opinions it spewed out. Filling a glass of water, a young man watched the beautiful mid summer landscape of the valley outside the window. His head still throbbed from the events of the previous day and he did his best to not think about what had happened. Looking at the two pill bottles sitting on the table—he sighed as he shook out two of the red colored lozenges—this was the one thing that he hated about this process to cleanse his body from the possession. He knew that this was necessary to ensure the safety of his friends, but the bitter taste made it indigestible. Gulping it down with a swig of watter and a mouthful of ham, he gagged a little as the bitterness mixed with the savory flavor of the meat. Running his hands through the soapy water, he tried not to think about what had happened, especially with his roommate. Slipping into his coveralls, the young man left a note on the countertop before he left the apartment.
The whine and clang of tools was muffled by the young man's headphones as he worked on the suspension of a car in one of the workshop's bays. He hummed along to the music playing on the device as he turned the ratchet on a locked up bolt. Cursing to himself under his breath as the bolt head snapped off—he knew that his boss would have his pay docked for this infraction, but being one of the two skilled mechanics in this shop, the boss wouldn't want to lose him. Besides, it would be easy to remove the rest of the bolt from the hole and a lot was on his mind at the moment. His stomach gurgled as he clocked out and washed his hands in the crummy bathroom. Ignoring the customer waiting in the lobby, he exited the shop to get some food. Walking into town, he entered into an old diner to get some lunch. After he sat down, a familiar face greeted him as he took his order.
"Afternoon Willy," A short haired woman greeted him, "I already know what you like here, so no worries about that."
Giving her a slight smile as he handed her the menu in his hands, he chuckled, "Guess living with me for a couple of months makes you know everything that goes in my mind."
"Well I think Mr. Garrin also knows, cause the moment he saw you open the door, he started your order," Sarai answered as she went behind the counter, "It'll be ready in a few moments, and is cream soda okay?"
"As always," Wilhelm replied, thought a doubt filled his mind as Sarai's smile seemed too friendly, but that might be from the effects from her medication. Looking into her emerald green eyes, the seed of doubt was snuffed as he heard her faint laugh as she chatted with a coworker.
By the time his order had arrived, most of the lunch crowd had cleared out, which was expected since it was about an hour after noon when he entered. Sarai set down the warm plate with a sandwich and fries in front of him—along with a second bottle of cream soda—though he was caught off guard by her sitting down on the other side of the booth.
"Hey Sarai, I hate to be a killjoy," Wilhelm carefully asked as he ate a mouthful of fries, "But shouldn't you be helping out Dagmar and Caroline with taking and delivering orders?"
"I know that, but didn't you see the work schedule on the fridge," She replied smugly, "I'm off of my shift for today, it's one thirty. I just wanted to chat with you until we get home together, cause ever since we got jobs, we haven't had a lot of these moments together."
Feeling guilty about even asking the question, he put his hand on hers and smiled, "Well now that we have this moment, what do you want to talk about? Cause I don't know if Mr. Garrin would allow us to loiter here."
"It looks like he's giving us the look already, so I'll go grab a box for it anyways," sighed Sarai as she stood up.
The golden evening sunrays were starting to break through the window as the pair finished eating dinner. Wilhelm sat there in thought as he looked back at the trees swaying in the wind through the sliding door that led to the balcony. His entire thought process about the previous days oddities was interrupted by the bright flash of a camera. Sarai giggled as she shook the developing photo that emerged from the vintage camera. Looking at her in bewilderment, another flash came as her giggles turned into full on laughter as she set down the camera. It was hard for her to calm down, but when she had placed her fist on her chest to catch her breath—the flash of the camera lit up her smiling face as Wilhelm stared at her with a smug look on his face. Sarai's face and cheeks as she blushed in embarrassment and realized what he had done.
Handing over the developed photo, Wilhelm exhaled and responded to her silence, "So how did it turn out, because as a part time photographer myself, I want to see your opinions on it."
"Wilhelm," Sarai answered with sultry, "It is wonderful."
Staring into each other's glistening eyes, they ignored the phone call as they silently kissed on the lips, setting down the photos they took of each other and took in this rare moment between one another. Though as they ended their catatonia from their kiss, Sarai fought off a voice inside her head trying to ruin this scenic moment between them.