Pizza || Xera & Gavin
His last text rang through just as she put the car in reserve. She didn’t bother to grab it from the inside of her handbag, she was already on her way over. They could talk when she got there. She hadn’t even grabbed the papers she was supposed to grade. Gavin had tempted her with food, food she didn’t need to pay for and that was really all Xera needed.
Her apartment was already boxed up and ready for moving, even if she didn’t have a place lined up. Cash was short for her, as it always was. Eventually, she would pay off her student loans and the world wouldn’t seem quite so similar to a hamster running in place on a big wheel, but until then, free food and friendly company weren’t things she was likely to pass up.
The trip was quick, only 10 minutes. Everything in this town was 10 minutes away. She’d told him 15 only because she’d been sitting on her couch with her earbuds in, listening to a random station on Spotify or Amazon music while an old TV show played on the tv in a pair of boy shorts and a tank top. She liked the multitasking, she didn’t like getting dressed.
For pizza, she would get dressed.
She parked on the street, not wanting to obstruct the driveway for Victor should he come home while she was there not grading papers with Gavin. Her chucks made barely any noise on the pavement as she got out of the car and made her way up the walkway and knocked on the door. Her outfit today was unlike any she wore at school. When she was in the classroom, Xera was always well dressed and put together. Makeup on her face, pencil skirts, heels. She wore none of that. Jeans, an old sweatshirt from the University of Arizona, and her chucks. Ever her hair, that was normally stick straight and down the middle of her back was thrown up in a messy bun. She looked far more human and less robotic.
@gothic-gavin
As Gavin waited for Xera to get there, he threw on one of his favorite records, humming along to David Bowie's "Five Years." He'd never been an especially good singer, but he was at least on key, and the music was a delightful backdrop for preparing the living room for Xera's arrival. He retrieved glasses for them both, selecting a soda for him and bringing in another for Xera, along with a bottle of wine that was kept in the house for guests. He didn't know if she'd want a drink, but he throught it good to offer. He also grabbed plates, napkins... He couldn't think of what else she might need, and he made a note to ask when she got there. Gavin loved to be a good host when he could, but he so rarely invited people over anymore. When Victor was home, he devoted as much of his to him as possible, loving nothing more than an evening curled up with his boyfriend.
The doorbell sounded and he got it quickly, scratching lightly at his beard as he opened the door. It was the pizza, and he was glad that it had come first. He paid, tipping generously, and placed the pizza and breadsticks he'd ordered onto the coffee table before walking back into the kitchen. He glanced around quickly, still wondering if there was something else she might want. Should he have ordered a salad? Dessert? Looking down at the dark jeans and button down he wore, he chuckled softly, thinking it not unlike the clothes he wore to work, minus the occasional tweedy vest or jacket. "Presentable," he murmured, "but unpretentious."
He wondered why he was thinking so hard about this. He usually didn't feel such a strong need to impress anyone, but the desire was there, and he thought perhaps that it came from the fact that she was a collegue. He hadn't gotten close with many of the collegues at his school, feeling a little out of place with some of the stuffier old American professors. His Britishness had always othered him, but he was also quite a bit younger, and that was why he'd latched on to Xera when she'd come to Havenoaks, eager to meet someone who did what he did while being much closer to his age.
When he heard the knock, he hurried back to the door, bare feet padding softly against the floor. "Moonage Daydream" had just started, and he hummed along as he opened the door to her, grinning as he said, "You're just on time. The pizza just arrived, the coffee table has been set, and I've just completed all of my overthinking for the evening." Stepping back to give her room, he held an arm out toward the living room to invite her in. "I tried so hard to think of everything you might want that I couldn't think of anything."
