Work Text:
Adrian’s palms were damp with sweat by the time he was almost near Nova’s cubicle.
He didn’t know why he was so nervous, it wasn’t like he was gonna ask her out or anything. He just wanted to sit down and have a chat. Just to know more about her.
Adrian knew Nova was a reserved person when it came to her personal life. He would have to tiptoe around her to see how much information he could pry out. He wanted to talk until their voices turned raspy by morning. He wanted to make her laugh. She wasn’t a smiley person but he wondered what it would feel like to see her flash a real smile. He just wanted to sit and talk about life with a friend he didn’t know much about.
Finally, he reached her cubicle and could see the warm lighting from it. His heart jolted when he saw hints of Nova’s jet black waves. He breathed in a sharp breath and walked toward it.
As soon as he stepped foot into her cubicle Nova’s sharp eyes immediately darted his way. He couldn’t help but notice that she looked on the verge of tears.
Adrian cleared his throat, “Uh..hey.”
The awkward silence was thick like fog.
Then finally it broke, “Are you o-“ “What are you-“ they both questioned at the same time.
“Uh..you can go first,” said Nova.
“No! You can go,” Adrian responded.
“Just go,” she sighed.
“Are you okay?” He asked.
“I’m fine,” she furrowed her eyebrows and broke eye contact.
“Nova-“
“Adrian, it’s ok, I’m ok. Just drop it. I don’t wanna talk about that right now.”
Adrian swallowed, not wanting to drop it but not wanting to irritate her further.
“What’s that you have there,” said Nova.
He lifted the large brown bag in his hands, it was littered with grease from the amount of sandwiches inside. They were still very hot. “Oh! Um..I thought you might be hungry, y’know, working this late and all.”
Adrian watched as Nova’s previous uncomfortable expression shifted to one of surprise. He might have even seen a bit of color bloom on her cheeks, although that one might have just been his imagination.
“Would..would you like some?” He asked calmly to the naked eye, though, really, his palms were coated with sweat and he was afraid she would reject the idea, tell him he was interrupting her work.
Instead of that, to his surprise, she responded, “Sure,” with a casual shrug.
Adrian couldn’t stop the grin that was growing on his face.
Not knowing what to do, he just placed the bag on her desk and wiped the grease off on his jeans.
Nova stood there for a moment before realizing, “Oh, you need a seat. It’s okay I’ll go grab a chair,” said Nova pointing her thumb towards the cubicle neighboring hers.
She went to the empty cubicle, grabbed the chair, and wheeled it toward her cubicle.
“I’ll put it back after,” she reassured as if that wasn’t the obvious thing to do.
She set the chair in front of hers before sitting back in hers.
Adrian took his bag and opened it. The scent of different breads and cheeses greeted him warmly.
“What would you like?” He asked her.
“Uh, what?”
“I brought multiple types just in case. I don’t know what you like so I thought I’d cover the basics?”
He felt heat coming to his cheeks and, in the corner of his eye, he could see her trying to stifle a laugh…and failing. That only made his cheeks hotter. He was grateful for his dark skin, since basically no one can tell if you’re blushing, probably. Maybe to the regular person but he assumed, observant as Nova is, she would notice he was blushing based on his facial expression. But it was worth it to earn at least a little giggle.
She continued to look at him with amusement after her fit of snickers, reaching for a grilled cheese while shaking her head, smiling.
“Well, thank you,” she said finally.
“You’re welcome,” Adrian replied, still embarrassed.
He grabbed a sandwich and started eating as well.
Now that they were together all the questions Adrian had faded just like he thought they would. Well, all except one.
Did she have a boyfriend?
The words echoed in his mind repeatedly like a broken record. He shook his head. He couldn’t. He would have to come up with another question now.
“How’s it going down in the artifacts department?”
“Just fine,” she said, picking at something in the sandwich, “I quite enjoy studying the things they have in there. Pretty neat stuff they’ve got in there. It’s a shame not many people care about it. They have things that could be very useful for everyone, you know?”
“Oh, really?” Adrian coughed, “maybe you could show me around sometime.”
Nova looked up at him with her beautiful eyes and gave him a small smile, “Yeah, sure, if I have time that is.”
He felt heat in his cheeks, “Okay…cool,” he mumbled.
They sat chewing in awkward silence for a little while.
As he swallowed his bite he reached into his mind, trying to catch one of the questions he had while getting the sandwiches. He had so many before, it was infuriating that the second he was with her he forgot all of them.
Still, in the back of his mind, was the question. It was so tempting. He was so curious to know.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” Adrian blurted so fast that it didn’t sound like a coherent sentence.
“Excuse me?” Nova asked.
Adrian cleared his throat and said, nervously, “Do you have a boyfriend..?”
Nova stared at him, eyes wide, as her cheeks turned into a cherry red color that beautifully matched her tanned skin tone. Something about her dumbfounded expression was cute to him.
“No, why?” She asked, though they both knew why. It was clear as day.
Adrian took a deep breath and asked, “If I asked you out…would you say yes?”
He watched her intently, looking for any signs of disgust, rejection, or just discomfort.
They were both blushing now and the air felt heavy.
“Maybe..” Nova mumbled.