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Felix enjoyed reading as a pastime, but he loved returning library books to their shelves almost as much. There was something oddly satisfying about placing an object back from where it came after you’d absorbed that which it had to offer. It was almost like you were keeping a part of it with you, even after your fingers slid off it for what might be a long time. That was how Felix liked to think about Bridgette’s hand, now that he held it in public. As if even though they were apart, a part of her hand had woven it’s way under the skin of his fingers like golden thread through a dark tapestry.
Today, Felix had several books to return after his assignment. He held them in a stack atop his left forearm, systematically making his way through the aisles to the appropriate section for whichever book lay at the top. His fingers had barely finished grazing across the fat spine of a textbook before he heard a soft clatter of footsteps coupled with a pair of feminine giggles. He recognised one of them as Bridgette right away, and his currently absent cat ears pricked up at the unique tone, her silvery peal of laughter tinkling like a bell in the next aisle. Felix took a small step down the aisle as he made to meet her, but a voice he recognised as Allegra’s halted him midway.
“I love Damocles’s face when he gets angry! He looks like a disgruntled owl!” she guffawed, her voice shaking with the effort of holding back her laughter.
“And the way his chest puffs out! I can practically see the fluffy feathers now!” Bridgette giggled back, her voice cracking slightly as the pair broke into fresh peals of laughter.
“He’s almost as bad as Felix,” Allegra snickered, and Felix froze on the spot, suddenly aware that the girls hadn’t noticed his presence.
“W-what?” Bridgette asked, the last shakes of laughter skipping out of her mouth.
“You know, your boyfriend? Mr Doom And Gloom? Bitter espresso boy? Looks like that cat off the internet, you know the one,” Allegra supplied helpfully, chuckling at her descriptions.
“Are… are you likening my boyfriend to an internet meme?” Bridgette sputtered, a slight lilt of indignation creeping into her tone.
Felix held himself very still, not wanting to alert the girls in the next aisle about the fact that he could hear every word. Summoning his inner chat, he slowed his breathing, feeling his heart rate drop to an almost dangerously slow pace.
“He’s classier than that,” Bridgette continued, and Felix had to stop himself from snorting.
“Just because he has a chauffeur doesn’t mean he’s not a total sourpuss,” Allegra responded, and Felix could practically feel Bridgette’s smile at her own private acknowledgement behind the words.
“Or supremely offended by the common folk, or whatever the upper class equivalent of being a grumpy git is,” Allegra continued, putting on her best impression of a clipped tone.
There was a strange shift in the air at that, and had they been outside Felix would have thought the temperature had dropped a few degrees with a new air current.
“He’s not like that,” Bridgette said after a beat too long.
Her tone wasn’t harsh, but there was a firmness behind the words, as if she were challenging Allegra to take it further.
“Oh come on,” Allegra scoffed, ignoring the silent warning Bridgette was shooting her. “Bridge he’s, like, the antithesis of you!”
Felix heard a foot hit the wooden floor of the library, and he knew Bridgette was most likely standing with one hip cocked, her hands planted firmly on her hips.
“Yeah, so we balance each other,” she shot back, the same firmness lying just below the surface in her voice.
Allegra sighed, and Felix suddenly bristled. He didn’t particularly care what his classmates thought of him, and even though he respected Allegra he often found himself impatient with her obnoxiousness. However, he strongly disliked the idea that Bridgette had to put up with people prying into their relationship simply because of the way he acted. It was as if they were trying to find out something private about the two of them in order to justify Bridgette’s involvement with him, as if they could ever understand what they meant to each other. Felix focused on levelling his breathing as his heart had picked up at the sudden wave of anger. He closed his eyes, letting his fingers uncurl from where they had balled into fists at his side.
“I don’t know how you put up with him, Bridge. I mean seriously! The guy is just so… Ugh! He seems like so much hard work! Everyone I know can hardly get three words out of him, and even with you he’s pretty tight lipped,” Allegra ranted, a soft creak telling Felix that she’d leaned her back against the bookshelf.
“So he’s quiet,” Bridgette replied, another soft thud suggesting that she had leant back as well.
Felix smiled slightly at her comment, remembering multiple occasions on which the two of them had whooped with laughter as they sailed over the Parisian skyline, the picture of two loud reckless teens.
“You don’t know him like I do,” she murmured softly, and her soft smile was audible.
The silence stretched out for a second before Felix heard Allegra turn her head, most likely shooting Bridgette a quizzical look.
“Felix doesn’t like to say things he doesn’t mean,” Bridgette explained, “that’s why he isn’t naturally chatty, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have thoughts and feelings like everyone else. He’s actually incredibly sensitive.”
Felix bit down on his lip to stop his incredulous scoff from leaping out of his windpipe.
“Even if he doesn’t think so himself,” Bridgette continued, her voice deliberately raising a few decibels, and Felix realised with a sharp DING! that she knew he was there.
“He’s kind, and loyal, and a true gentleman… When he isn’t being a total dork.”
Felix felt the tips of his ears tingle, and he had to stop himself from lifting his hand to feel the heat rising to his face.
“Felix Agreste? A DORK?” Allegra giggled in disbelief.
“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Bridgette quipped before continuing. “He cares deeply about his friends and family, and he’s the bravest person I’ve ever met. Also, he does this really cute thing where he sticks his tongue out the side of his mouth when he’s helping my cousin with her designs, it’s the sweetest.”
Felix wasn’t aware of the habit that Bridgette had listed, but hearing her speak about him so reverently had him realising that he didn’t mind. Bridgette sighed happily.
“I think if you took the time to get to know him, you’d get along really well.”
Felix felt his throat constrict almost painfully as a strange heat flooded in his chest. He could feel a flush crawling up his throat and the back of his neck, and his cheeks felt hot with the crimson that blossomed under his skin.
“Woah you’ve got it bad, sweetie,” Allegra chimed in with a low whistle after a few seconds. "Maybe I should break into his house, demand a heart to heart over a cup of France's finest."
"Are you talking about wine or coffee?" Bridgette queried.
"Yes."
Bridgette chuckled lightly at her friend's change of tone.
"He'd hate that, you know," she warned.
"He can deal with it," Allegra said curtly. "He wants you, he gets me: We're a package deal. And besides, a guy like that probably needs a few inconveniences in his otherwise sleek lifestyle. Builds character."
Felix knew Bridgette wanted to say something about him having more than enough character already, but that would be stepping into dangerous waters, and so she simply gave a breathy laugh in response.
In the silence that followed, Felix could feel himself practically glowing in the muted light of the library, a flare in the mist. He knew that Bridgette loved him, and he loved her too, but there was something about hearing exactly why someone like her could feel that way about someone like him was overwhelming. Felix’s heart swelled so much at his utter adoration for his partner that he was sure he could feel it banging against his ribs, demanding to be let out so he could wrap his arms around her slight frame and bury his face in her inky black hair, and his skin felt tingly as if someone had plugged him into a power outlet, charging him up.
“Well I’m gonna go poke the angry owl with a stick, see if his hoots sound offended, you wanna come lover girl?” Allegra said after a moment had passed, effectively kicking Felix out of his flustered reverie.
“I’ll catch you up,” Bridgette assured her, “There’s a book I’ve got to… Check out.”
“Hm, suit yourself,” Allegra replied nonchalantly, “if you hear indignant screeching you’ll know I was right. Also, send help.”
Felix waited until he heard her skip out o the library, the door slamming behind her causing the rickety shelves to tremble slightly. Bridgette stepped around the aisle, shooting him a sly smirk as her eyes took him in thoroughly. Felix gulped against the dryness that had suddenly taken over his mouth.
“You know…” Bridgette purred in a voice he usually only heard on the other side of a mask. “I thought that red was my colour, but I’d say it suits you even better pussycat.”
Felix wanted to say something witty in response, but the way Bridgette was looking at him, eyes hooded, a cocky grin curving her lips, caused his words to fail, and in attempt to skirt a reply, he turned his attention back to the books in his arm. He heard Bridgette cackle as she glided away, and Felix couldn’t help the genuinely happy smile from pouring out of his mouth, making a mental reminder to get her back for embarrassing him on patrol later. A sudden thought of exactly what to do came to mind, and a fresh flood of colour stained his cheeks as he made a resolute decision of what to do:
He was going to live up to Bridgette’s description of him, and say something that he meant.