shit man i haven't posted fanfiction in a really long time that's crazy

i started writing this a long while ago and idk man i just wanted to finish it its not too great but hey whatever

Handing a cheque to the waiter at the counter, I felt my phone buzz lightly against my thigh.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Comrade! Didn't catch you at a bad time, did I?" All pretences of tension I'd had tonight melted into the pavement beneath me and I instantly felt relief. Rose.

"No, no, it's always a good time for you to call, Roza."

"Alright, I'll just call you back when you're strapped to some creepy evil mutant scientist's lab table or something equally weird then, shall I?" I felt a smile tug my lips up. Shortly after making arrangements to meet Sonya later, I left the restaurant and wandered a little way away to a quiet corner beside a scrapbooking store, keeping a watchful eye as the two women rounded the edge of the block.

"Actually, that would be an excellent time for you to call." Rose laughed outright and the sound sent warmth throughout my chest, tingling. Sometimes – like now – I would touch simple semblances of life and would again be reminded, with these small treasures, of how lucky I was to feel warmth and life and love.

"So," she began, "how are things Down Under?" I'd long since understood that it would never be in between with Rose, no geographical grey – it was either a barren Antarctic wasteland or the sweltering outback.

"It's okay. There hasn't been much progress with the experiments; no promising results have been recorded so far." And I doubted there ever would be.

"I'm sure you guys will find something…Is Adrian still giving you a hard time?" She was quieter now. Adrian and I had been having more contact here than we both would have preferred, but I had contributed a large amount of effort – and restraint and endless patience – to remain civilised. Unfortunately, it had, firstly, been none of his concern. At all.

"He's better now, I guess. More serious about his work here – though he likes to make it painstakingly clear that he doesn't envision any breakthroughs in the future." There was one thing we agreed on.

Adrian had also been attending art classes in college and seemed to be holding up extraordinarily well with such a low income. It was admirable of him.

"Good, good. Ugh, I still hate what I did to him…I just want him to forget about me, you know? It's like I can always just feel it." It troubled Rose often. She wanted the best for Adrian – even though things had ended messily between them, but she also yearned to be his friend again. We both knew that was a farfetched dream, a dim, small light in the darkness, but she never stopped wishing.

"I know, Roza. All things take time to heal. Let Adrian heal himself and find something that will be better for him than you were."

"I never notice how much I miss your Zen Life Lessons until you're gone." She sighed. "I miss you." I heard the tell-tale fwoosh of a bed giving in beneath her weight and I desperately wished I was right there with her.

"I miss you, too, Roza." I leaned against the rough surface of the stone wall beside me, closing my eyes against the sound of her voice, trying to feel the warmth of her body against my side and the soft volume of her curves in my hand.

"When will you be back? Life gets boring when I have to go to University during the week and attend council meetings every other minute without having you there to stare at."

"I don't know. Hopefully soon. Sonya's going back to Court for her wedding in the next month or so…I should be leaving shortly."

"Great, because I'm not sure how much longer I can last," her voice lowered sensually, "…without you." I think my heart palpitated for a second (my body constantly just disregarded the fact that I was a grown man).

"I may be on the phone to you, but I'm still working!" I chastised hurriedly.

"But baaaaaabbbyyy!" she whined and I knew then that she was toying with me. I'm pretty sure that Rose felt more enthusiastic playing her games with me than she did killing Strigoi. These were just the things that she did.

"Shut up."

"Oh, watch your mouth, you bad, bad boy!" She laughed again, louder this time. In a brief lapse of control, I responded again.

"I don't recall you ever being bothered when I don't."

Rose gasped dramatically. "You may be on the phone to me, but you're still working!" she mocked.

We held up meaningless conversation for a little while, just to hear each others voices; I told her about work and Rose talked, well, groaned to me about classes in LeHigh. It was completely normal and boring and beautiful.

I began to wrap up the conversation when I wandered toward where I'd left the women, noticing that they weren't in sight. I walked down the block a little, but all stores were closed. I frowned.

"Roza, I have to go now. We'll talk later?"

Rose sighed, "Of course, but that's going to be -" but her words on the phone were cut off on my end by a shrill cry for help a block or so away, my advanced dhampir hearing picking it up as not only a sign of danger, but a sign sent out by Sydney. Immediately, I began to run toward the source, abruptly ending the conversation with Rose.

"Something's happened," I stated as a way of goodbye.

"Be careful," she replied quietly, no questions asked, just duty.

We ended the call, and I couldn't help but wonder if I could have kept the girls safe from danger if I hadn't have been on the phone, distracted. It made me think of Ivan Zeklos. But, as I fought off the threat, a voice in my head reminded me that, just like Ivan, this wasn't my fault and things just happened the way they happened; the important thing was that everybody remained unharmed and there was no reason to feel guilty. And I decided that it was right. Guilt didn't suit me, and as I checked up on Sydney, Jill and Sonya, I saw that arriving when I did was better than not showing up at all. They were safe.

The voice I was hearing, I realised later, sounded a lot like Rose.