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"...you said you wanted to come out here. To watch the fucking...sunset or some shit."
"Yeah, I did."
"How long are you gonna keep your nose in the paper for, then?"
Brit can already sense the annoyance in Mallick's tone, and she puts the paper down for a moment to look at him. This was meant to be a date, all things considered; a quarter-assed version of one at best, but Brit didn't want to risk going somewhere even halfway fancy while she was still coughing up flower petals. She had some level of pride to keep up, after all.
"Did you want to talk about something?" Brit's grip on the paper loosens a bit, and she starts to fold it up and place it on the bench they're sharing. It's not an admonishing tone, for what it's worth; it seems to be genuinely curious.
"...Not really?" Mallick at least acquiesced that much, though there was still a fair amount of twitching going on, and fiddling with his collar from his spot on the bench. "Just. Real quiet, that's all."
Brit shakes her head a bit, and tries to speak up--it's apparently enough to disturb something that's still in her chest, and she quickly moves to get the paper in front of her again so she doesn't get petals everywhere.
Mallick's surprisingly quick when startled, and his hands seem like they're either trying to steady her, or grab her--she wouldn't put either past him, though dragging her to the hospital seems like the highest probability. "S--Shit, are you gonna--"
"I'm fine." It's firm, and in a tone that's all business with none of the customer service, and Brit raises a hand in front of her while she recovers her balance. Mallick's hands withdraw, and Brit's eyes quickly dart around the park, making sure no one sees as she gathers up the petals that scattered in front of her into her hand. "Just...disturbed something, that's all."
"...no blood, right?"
"None." Brit looks the petals over quickly, but the yellow of the rue and the white of the hydrangea would have made any blood stand out easily. "The doctor did say I was going to be coughing these up for a while longer."
"Well...yeah, but..." Mallick's look goes just a bit off to the side at that, clearly remembering the weeks prior. It wasn't a good time for either of them, and when she looks back over at him, she really doesn't like the way his face is starting to go--it's almost like he's scared.
Brit's quick to act, though, going to grab one of his hands. "Hey," He's quick to jolt back into reality and withdraws his hand on instinct, but he turns around to face her--that gives her time to interject. "I told you, I'm not going to die because of that. You trust me with that much, right?"
"Yeah." That answer is immediate, and Mallick seems to will his shaking down a little bit when he speaks up. "Yeah, I...I know. I just...it still fucks me up? I keep thinking that you're just...gonna up and die, and you won't let me do anything about it."
...Her own pride really had gotten in the way of that, hadn't it. It's an idle thought, but Brit doesn't let it show in her face. "Not everything is a worst case scenario. Just because I'm coughing up a few petals doesn't mean I'm going to die."
"You--you said that already, and look where that got you." His tone's dour, and that much is clear. "Just...I don't know, let me do something."
Brit withdraws a bit, going back to her side of the bench. Still, her tone seems a little more amiable when she speaks up again. "Do you want to start collecting petals off the ground? I'm pretty sure there's a few scattered around here."
"Real funny." Despite his apparent annoyance, Brit watches his lips twitch a bit. "I'm not going on a scavenger hunt to pick up that shit."
"It could be fun. You never know."
"Look, I pretty much just decided I was okay with dating you? Picking up your...I don't know, love leftovers or whatever the fuck comes later."
That gets Brit to turn away, clearly trying to stifle some immature laughter and failing spectacularly, if her corpsing between sentences is any indication. "Love leftovers--fucking, really? So that's what we're calling it now?"
"That's exactly what they are!" He at least seems to have perked up a bit, if his tone is any indication.
"Well, thanks for the worst possible terminology for it." Brit turns back, having gained her composure back in some small amount. "I can't wait for these to be gone. I've had enough flowers for more than one lifetime."
"Same here. I ever see one of those shits again, it'll be way too soon." Mallick adjusts a bit, seeming almost at ease for once. Brit turns back to look at him, and it's...honestly disgusting, in a way, how she likes the way he looks when he's content. But it's something positive out of him, and really, that makes it worth the while.
"I can't wait for the apartment to stop smelling like them." She admits that idly, staring out to the sky. "I don't like the reminders."
The silence hangs in the air for a little while longer--it's when Brit feels something brush against her hand that she snaps back into reality a bit, and turns to face Mallick. He's not staring at her, but it's definitely his hand brushing up against hers. "Just...give it time, alright? I'll be the reminder, when it goes away."
Brit seems to pause a bit at that, not quite moving yet. It honestly just takes a bit to process the meaning of that--things she didn't think she'd hear before that garden in her chest bloomed out of her dead body, but it's...nice. It's really nice.
She takes the job of lacing their fingers together, and turns back to look at the scenery. "...I look forward to it."