Work Text:
Navia wasn't sure when it started.
Perhaps it was the way Clorinde would purposely brush over Navia's hand when handing things over to her with an undetectable smile. Or how Clorinde would stare at her as she spoke with wonder in her eyes, gaze so fixated on her that Navia would be nearly pressured to look away. Or the way that Clorinde purposely set time out of her day to talk to her, whether it be over the phone or a little hangout session. Or how her heart would flutter when she heard Clorinde's name in idle conversation. Or her ever-increasing thoughts about Clorinde, hoping she'll text, hoping she'll come over, hoping she's thinking about Navia, too; hoping she might see her again, and soon.
Whatever the case may be, Navia's leg was bouncing relentlessly in her seat, and she didn't know what had her more shaky; the coffee, which she hadn't even ordered yet, or Clorinde, who was sitting beside her, phone in hand, as beautiful and remarkable as ever.
It wasn't often that Navia got the opportunity to join Clorinde for her morning coffee run, but this time was as good as any.
Typically, their outings would end up being sharing their lunch hours at work, or perhaps giving each other rides, or even dinners after long shifts– but those were usually accompanied by their other coworkers.
Navia was wholly unused to waking up so early in the morning, and only did so if she ever needed to come into work two hours early, which never happened.
Lots of her coworkers assumed that she was a morning person, as the moment she stepped into the office doors, she put on a refined smile, donned her usual graceful aura with her sweet & confident perfume, and sat diligently at her desk, typing away while answering emails and organizing files. It was little known that just half an hour before, she had detrimental eyebags and a big slouch problem.
She would have never guessed in a million years that Clorinde, so intimidating in her own beautiful, striking way, would choose to wake at the crack hours of dawn to get coffee and watch the sunrise. Navia almost assumed she was "grouchy" because she had just barely woken up and collected herself in the hour before, but clearly, as Clorinde sat in front of her and patiently waited for her name to be called, she was quite ahead of the game.
Not even an eyebag in sight! Preposterous!
Navia herself very nervously suppressed a yawn as she waited for her eyes to feel any less heavy, praying for a miracle situation in which she doesn't embarrass herself in front of her work crush.
Many people would think that an intimidating, stern aura wouldn't be attractive, that people should be drawn in by fun, livelier personas like Navia's— at least, that's what Charlotte would say as she chatted her ear off mid-shift. But Navia's thoughts were vastly different.
It was riveting, in fact; the way that Clorinde made her feel. Since they were in different departments, Navia wasn't afraid of her. But oh, Archons, did she enjoy watching other people writhe under Clorinde's sharp gaze, listening from across the hall as Clorinde would sternly and honestly tell someone off for being wrong. She liked a commanding presence.
Her commanding presence, however, was absent; and now, sitting across from her, was a cool and collected young woman with a
And she was staring directly back at Navia.
Startled by the unknown situation, her breath hitched, and she leaned back slightly, heart racing from the eye contact she had apparently missed for Archons only know how long.
"You were staring," Clorinde stated matter-of-factly.
Navia's mouth went agape.
"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to!"
At Navia's show of embarrassment, Clorinde likely attempted to lighten the mood, but instead made Navia's head spin even harder.
"It's alright. Your eyes are very pretty," she stated with no detectable ounce of sarcasm in her tone. Navia screwed her head back on to push out a response.
"Oh. …Thank you. Um… yours, too."
Clorinde nodded silently, mouthing a quick "thank you," and Navia sank in her seat.
What was she doing, letting herself get carried away like that?! Anything else, and she would likely end up a Navia puddle on this poor establishment's shabby floors. She resisted the urge to bite her nails, hoping that Clorinde would look away.
"Order for Clorinde?"
Clorinde turned over to look at the counter, then looked back at Navia. Wordlessly, she gestured with a head tilt to the counter and left Navia sat, bewildered.
How could someone be so nonchalant? Getting profusely stared at for an incomprehensible amount of time, and instead of making an acceptable remark such as "that's weird," or "please go away," she instead opted to compliment her eyes!?
Navia was not going to last the rest of the morning. She might not even live to walk through the door of her workplace come 7 AM.
"Order for Navia?"
She quickly snapped back to reality, the smell of fresh coffee purging her nose at the thought of taking her cup from the counter. Like a perfectly composed toy robot, she sat up straight, then clinked her heels to the floor and strutted politely over to the counter, where she then realized that Clorinde had grabbed her drink as well.
She looked back at Navia with a kind look, and something reminiscent of a smile— it wasn't on her face yet, but Navia could see it in her eyes of bright violet. Her hand shook lightly as she held out the small cup, which contained a cold and iced vanilla latte. Perhaps she trembled because of the cold. That was surely it.
"Oh, gosh, thank you," Navia stuttered, as politely as possible. It was sincere, of course, but somewhere in there was a fragile attempt to hide her growing nervousness. She dared not remark on Clorinde's sweet nod back to her.
They awkwardly– or, at least "awkwardly" in Navia's eyes– sat back down at the table they came from, right against the window, feet shuffling against the footrests of each of their barstools. For a moment too long to be comfortable, they sat in silence, save for the other guests chatting and various ambient noises of the establishment.
"So, do you–"
"What have you–"
Both Clorinde and Navia looked up at each other, stunned for a few thick moments, then they each awkwardly laughed to each other. Navia quickly recollected herself.
"Ahaha… sorry! You go first," she insisted.
Clorinde hid her soft chuckles behind her hand, and Navia felt absolutely blessed to be able to witness such a vulnerable thing from someone as stoic and stubborn as Clorinde. The way her lips curved upwards reminded Navia of those smiles she'd see on the women modeling for her favorite magazines, a bashful expression on her face characteristic of children who were affected by a severe case of puppy love. Clorinde lowered her wrist, and her smile never faded.
"No worries…" Clorinde started, "I was wondering, do you come here often?"
Navia was slightly taken aback by the question, but did not let her preppy demeanor fade.
"Not at all. Actually, this is my first time ever being here."
"Really?" Clorinde's tone lightened even further, "I would've imagined you've been here at least once. It's right on your route." She prodded the side of her lid with her fingers. "I suppose that begs the question– do you like coffee?"
Navia nodded. "It's not my go-to, but I can enjoy a good cup, for sure!"
Clorinde gave a quick hum of approval before reforming slightly back into her professional demeanor. "I see. I'm typically more partial to tea, myself," she raised her cup, "a close friend of mine is quite the connoisseur. Most of my taste comes from him, especially my order here."
The thought of Clorinde having someone else to chat with over tea, specifically a man, made Navia's stomach drop just a tad. Regrettably, she could not let her disappointment show, but she hoped and prayed that he was not anything more than a friend, lest her chances be spoiled.
Instead, all she could mutter was a positive-sounding "fun," before looking down to take a sip of her latte.
Clorinde, seemingly noticing the sudden silence, spoke up from in front of her, clearing her throat before speaking. "So, Navia, what was your question?" She asked, another rare smile yet again gracing her sharp-featured face.
Well– "rare," Navia could say, but Clorinde's shows of emotion were beginning to no longer feel so scarce the more time passed.
"Oh, well, I just… wanted to ask what you've been up to lately! A little bit of small talk to keep the… momentum going." Navia forced out a weak chuckle, then took another sip of her coffee before slowly looking up at Clorinde, who sat so diligently and gracefully.
"Momentum" her ass. Clorinde's beauty kept Navia intimidated and severely off track.
Clorinde broke the eye contact soon after, eyes fluttering down to her side in what appeared to be nervousness. "Well, mostly work… but occasionally I get together with some of my friends, and we play a bit of Tabletop Troupe. I GM, actually…" she quickly raised her hands in front of her face and waved Navia off, "assuming you know what that means."
Tabletop Troupe wasn't something Navia thought about often, but she had played a few campaigns back in college. They were great memories; Marechaussee Hunter Navia (or whatever she had named her character so long ago) was a force to be reckoned with, and her fighting spirit still roared inside her, even after all this time.
Navia's stomach soon churned with butterflies, but she didn't let them dampen her spirit.
She grinned and leaned in closer to Clorinde, excitedly chirping, "Well, of course I do! I actually participated in a few campaigns back in my college days. Gosh, those were the days. They might actually be some of my best college memories!"
Something flickered in Clorinde's eyes; a new show of excitement, or perhaps wonder? Navia hadn't a clue. She was just grateful to notice her beloved work friend's new anticipating emotions; all on a random Tuesday! How delightful for Navia to witness!
Clorinde failed at biting back a wide smile, eyes still glistening with curiosity. "Really? That's wonderful." Quickly, however, her face momentarily dropped, and she sat up straighter than usual. Navia prepared for something unfortunate to be sent her way, but she was instead met with Clorinde's excited voice masked behind a wide-eyed expression and faint smile. "That's… actually quite wonderful. You see, we just lost a member— well, I say loss, but it was truly for the better— and in any case, we have an open spot available that I'd love to fill up. If you ever wanted to participate with us…" Clorinde twiddled her fingers, "We'd be quite honored to have you. I'd be quite honored to have you."
It was incredibly difficult for Navia to hide her expression, and every feeling her body exuded was only useful to prove that Navia's feelings for Clorinde were, in fact, a major crush.
If the suspicions had started long ago, then the feelings truly set in now.
Navia's heart nearly stopped.
"Well, I- Yeah, I'd love to!" She happily exclaimed, "So long as it doesn't interfere with my schedule, I'd totally love to be part of it!"
If Clorinde had a tail, Navia was incredibly sure that it would be wagging.
Her entire face practically beamed at the revelation, now grinning ear to ear, and prattled, "That's great! Though," Clorinde started, face barely hiding behind her cup of tea, "if I must be honest, I'd been meaning to find more new opportunities for us to hang out, Navia. I rather like your company."
Navia's skin prickled in excitement, heart thumping wildly behind her ribcage.
Upon arriving at the coffee shop, Navia would have never expected to even catch a glimpse of Clorinde's emotions, or even just her intentions. But now, it seemed that Clorinde wasn't much different from her after all; both stupidly excited to spend more time with the other. They simply had much different ways of showing it.
"I'd like that a lot."
Navia, without even needing another word communicated to her, soon understood that she would have to wake up a lot earlier in the mornings to join Clorinde on her coffee runs more often. And each day, she would grow more and more accustomed to the way Clorinde would purposely brush over Navia's hand when handing things over to her with a bright smile, and how Clorinde would stare at her as she spoke with excitement twinkling in her eyes, and the way that her and Clorinde would chat on their lunch breaks about where they wanted to hang out next and what the next Tabletop Troupe sessions might bring, and how her heart would flutter when she heard Clorinde's voice as they exchanged words like secrets never to be shared, and her ever-increasing thoughts about Clorinde, hoping she'd call, hoping she'd come over, hoping she'd be thinking about Navia, too; hoping the opportunity to see her next would come even sooner.