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Nathan and Leslie worked together a lot, but it really didn't explain the shock that came from her simply standing next to him.
It was only briefly, that she walked by him during the school halls. A stoic 'hello,' followed by a brush of hands. And for a while, that was all that Nathan could really think about. For "business reasons," he found himself asking her miscellaneous details. Like what kind of flowers she liked or what her favorite colour was. To which she would only scoff. Doing nothing but scribbling down plan ideas, or if he was lucky, asked to join in on a scheme to kill Jimmy.
She would point out the flaws in his ideas. In ways that Mimsy would, but instead she would never back down. Admittedly, that may have ruined his attempts to seem tough. But it also might have saved him the trouble of accidently landing in the hospital or something tragic.
Mid way through crisp morning air, he took a prideful walk to school. Mimsy was cheerfully rambling behind him. All while the breeze whistled cold crystals into a swirl. Only mixing between the smoke from his cigarette.
"And I feels like Popee the Performer only got popular because of-"
"Mimsy," Nathan interrupted, "for the love of… Have some class and watch Looney Toons. That shits pretty much just gore."
"Didn't you say gore was badass, Boss?"
"Only if it's on Jimmy."
Mimsy only scratched his head while Nathan continued.
"Leslie's gonna help me kill him," Nathan smiled, "you can help too, if you want. But I'm pretty sure she'd just swoon as soon as I bring her Jimmy's head." Taking another drag of his cigarette, Nathan scoffed. "That's what they uhh... That's what girl's do when you kick someone's ass, that they don't like. They swoon."
"Wow..." Mimsy replied.
Taking the occasional, although shady, shortcut, Nathan was the one rambling now.
Really anything he'd tell Mimsy always connected back to Leslie in one way or another. If he was talking about camp, she would have loved Counselors Steve’s VHS tape collection. If the conversation diverted to art, she would have loved his latest drawing. And when Mimsy asked about how his most recent deal with the 5th graders went...
"-she overheard that- asshole Stephen Tamil threaten to beat my ass..."
"And then what happened?" Mimsy asked.
"She cracked his skull open against the pavement," he looked away, trying to hide a flushed look, "she did it like it was nothing..."
"Duhh, that's cool, Boss!" Mimsy smiled down at him. "I bet he nearly bled to death!"
"Pfft, damn right," Nathan took another drag, "isn't she perfect, Mims? After that, she even touched my shoulder… I bet her hand would be nice... To hold..."
Mimsy stopped in his tracks, which meant that Nathan did too. He could hear Mimsy's eyes, before reluctantly looking back to him. He shot Nathan a look. One that merely made Nathan's eye twitch.
"D'aww you like her!" He poked Nathan's shoulder. Almost as though trying to tease him. Which only caused his hands to ball into fists.
"I don't," Nathan sneered.
Mimsy however, only kept smiling. "Duhh, you think she's cute, don't ya Boss?"
Not even thinking, Nathan frantically started punching Mimsy's side.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut uppp!! She's just my business ally, not someone I have fucking feelings for!"
Mimsy only pushed him away, ruffling his friend's hair. The punching didn't hurt him. "Alright Boss, you don't have ta get all pissed off at me," Mimsy smiled, "if yous didn't want me knowing you hadda crush, then maybe don't make it so obvious next time." He kept looking down at him cheerfully, with Nathan crossing his arms.
"Fuck you..." He murmured under his breath.
The walk to school was then only less than two blocks.
As the bell rang for recess, Nathan and Mimsy were hanging out by a secluded field that had minimal snow. With the latter only picking grass, meanwhile Nathan was on his phone. But it didn't take long for that to be interrupted. Sneaking up behind them, a familiar, hazy voice rambled to herself. But there was only one person Nathan knew who got wide eyed looks for doing so.
"Good afternoon, Nathan." Looking up, he adjusted his glasses. With no surprise, it was Leslie. She always managed to track anyone down. But of course she just had to find him when Mimsy was literally right there. "I assume we are still working on that plan to override Stark's with ads today? I believe we can toss Jimmy's crutches into the water."
"Uhh, yeah we are-" before Nathan could say anything else, Leslie sat down next to him. In which Mimsy smiled at Nathan and lightly pushed on the side of his arm so he'd be closer to her. He would have shaken a fist, but was completely distracted by how that made their shoulders touch.
"We are?" She clarified, tilting her head.
"Yeah... We can do that...." He replied, as she nodded.
There weren't many words said after. With the mere proximity still taunting his mind. As soon as Leslie got out a compact mirror to put on some blush, Nathan tried to look busy too. Going back to his phone, while Mimsy was still picking at the grass.
Still touching up her makeup, Leslie eyed Nathan.
"Remember when you inquired me about what flowers are to my liking?" She asked. "W- Well, if you're still wondering, they are blue daisies. Because my favorite colours are yellow and, blue."
"Huh… Interesting,” Nathan responded, “we, uhh…. What time are we going to Stark's?... Like what, after school?"
"I suppose that would be best,” she cheerfully smiled.
The three hung out together for the rest of recess. With each class bell only dragging on longer, as once the final one hit, Nathan was the first to leave. Leslie so happened to be waiting outside Temp 12 A.
Before he could talk to her, Mimsy handed him a paper bag. One from an online order that they made during English class, when they were supposed to be using the laptops to type up their essays.
"Hello again,” Leslie greeted.
"Hello Leslie," Nathan replied, although a little smug, "I got you a present."
“Despite not thinking much for others? That's, peculiar…”
Leslie looked a little flabbergasted, with Nathan not exactly knowing if that was an insult. But to his surprise, she extended a hand. Which as soon as he took, caused him to suddenly become aware of his own heart beat. The 5th graders cleared a path for them in front of the school’s exit. Allowing them to be some of the first kids to leave. Everything was too fuzzy to tell, but perhaps she shot him a look. Was he squeezing her hand too hard? Did she even want to hold hands? If anything, she was the one who offered. But why did she? He wanted to scoff at himself for even having these feelings. They were useless. Girls were supposed to be after him, not the other way around. But there he was, blindly following Leslie's every step as though he would lose her. They walked past the dirt pathway between the entrance of dead fields. The welcome sign to Stark's Pond being placed against it, (possibly with a Visitor hiding behind it). Sitting on one of the benches, Leslie got out a diary to note ideas and Nathan got a sketchbook to draw them.
"Now, I promise I won't killlll you if you say no, butttt… " Leslie had a small, slightly corrupt smile. “May I see what's in the bag?”
Nathan eyed her, taking out a small bouquet of blue daisies from it and handing them to her. Her expression turned slightly shaky and flushed. Taking the flowers, she placed them by her side. Fumbling with her pockets, she passed him her makeup mirror. Like it was her way of thanking him.
"That's for you." She stated.
"You uhhh... You like the flowers, righ-"
Before Nathan could finish that sentence, she kissed him on the cheek.
For the remainder of that time, he found himself staring at Stark's. Unable to even focus on his sketchbook.