Special Episode: Spark
This episode is part of a larger story, Soft Touch. If you haven’t yet, you can go back and read it from the beginning right here.
Being the new guy, Luca is the one who has to ride in the back. He gazes out through the window at the far end of the ambulance, which is too blurred by the light rain to see through.
He lets out a soft, tired sigh that he hopes went unheard by the two other EMTs in the front.
Giving up being a dive medic, coming back to land after so long living on the ship, moving to a town he’d never even heard of before - he knew it was going to be a huge change, and that it would be hard.
At the time, all of his reasons for the decision felt like very good ones. He’s faced much harder challenges than this, first of all. He’s saved lives at the bottom of the fucking ocean. This should have been a cakewalk compared to that.
Yeah, it sucked that he realized too late that he’d fallen completely out of touch with all of his friends while he was away on the boat without access to an internet connection. Definitely felt bad when he came home to discover that his friend group had broken up and scattered in all different directions. He was the only one left.
But Luca always tries to look at the positive side of things. Hurt as he was, it didn’t take him long to realize that the situation left him completely free to choose anywhere on the map as his next place to live. Around the same time, he happened to read an article about how hospitals in small towns often struggle to attract and retain medical staff, sometimes leaving people without the care they need.
He figured that going from the sparsely-populated ship to a jam-packed big city would be too much, anyways.
So he picked this tiny dot on the map called Ketterbridge.
It’s a beautiful place, and he loves it. It just - hasn’t given him what he’d hoped for. It’s not that the locals here aren’t nice. They definitely are. People have mostly been kind and friendly to Luca, even to a surprising extent.
The real problem with moving to a town as small as Ketterbridge, Luca has found, is that most of the people who live there grew up together. They know each other. They already have firmly-established relationships.
The threads are already woven tightly together. There’s no need for an extra one that wasn’t there in the first place.
Luca feels like he hasn’t seen his opening yet. Not for a real friend, or a relationship, or anything beyond light professional friendship. Maybe he doesn’t know what signs he’s supposed to be looking for.
He has a painful, growing sense of being on the outside. Only existing on the peripheries of people’s lives. Spending nearly all of his time outside of work alone.
Luca is a cheerful, smiling spirit at his heart. He has a lot of energy, and an unshakeable willingness to go with the flow. It’s a natural instinct for Luca to stay good-natured about the things that life brings him. His ex-girlfriend used to say that he reminded her of a puppy in that way.
You know how they topple over or stumble into things, but then they get right back and up, tail wagging like nothing happened, and keep doing what they were doing without losing any steam? You’re like that.
But Luca’s customary bright perspective on things is starting to dim, despite his best efforts to stay upbeat about it. His status as the new guy from out of town with no friends beyond work acquaintances - and the coinciding discovery that his social skills have badly atrophied after so long on the ship - it’s all making things very difficult for him.
Luca is starting to feel forlorn, even discouraged, which is, just - not something he’s used to. It’s slowly starting to make him sad, deep down, and… lonely. Which is beyond frustrating, because that’s the whole reason he decided to come back to land, he was too lonely…
He leans back, listening to the wail of the sirens, watching the rain slant down beyond the little window. He’s pretty sure they’re almost there.
He takes a deep breath, concentrating, bringing himself back to his work headspace. He pictures a wave of cold, clear water sweeping away his tangled thoughts. Calm and clarity slowly settle down over him, steadying out his heartbeat, opening his eyes.
“Luca, we’re one minute out,” Emily says from the front, speaking over her shoulder.
Luca manages to summon a friendly smile onto his face. “Okay, got it!”
“Last call of the night, hopefully,” Emily yawns, slumping back against the seat. Then she sits up again quickly, peering through the windshield. “Oh, shit. Looks like the fire was pretty serious, huh?”
“There was a stack of hay bales lined up against the side of the house,” Raoul explains, keeping his eyes on the road. “Something electric must have sparked and caught, ended up burning out of control. The fire department has it handled now, though. From what I’ve heard on the radio.”
That’s as far as the conversation gets before they’re there, and Luca is hopping out of the back into the rainy night. Emily and Raoul come to stand with him. The three of them do a brief visual sweep of the situation.
They’re out on the farthest edge of Ketterbridge, farming country. The night is deeply dark, here. The sky is pitch black, without much moonlight, but the scene is soaked with red and blue light from all of the first responder vehicles. A white evening mist, tinted by the colored lights, rolls softly along above the pavement.
Much darker smoke rises in thick plumes from the smoldering remains of the house.
It’s a small house, with white paint and a blue roof. Roughly half of it is charred and burnt, stained black, putting off smoke. And one of the side walls - probably the wall the hay was stacked against - has collapsed completely into the house.
Luca’s heart twists at the sight. He looks around for injured people, anyone he can help.
His eyes land on an elderly woman in her pajamas, talking to the firefighters. A little girl is clinging tightly to her legs, staring at the house with wide, panicked eyes and a slight tremble in her lower lip. Luca’s sympathetic eyes linger on her, giving his heartstrings a painful tug. But she seems unharmed, so far as he can tell from here.
Tired firefighters are everywhere, packing up their gear at a speed that tells Luca they’re almost to the end of their late shift, too.
“Hey, Cassie,” Raoul calls, as one of the firefighters comes up to him. “Updates for us?”
“Fire’s handled, no urgent injuries.” The firefighter pushes her hair out of her face tiredly. “This woman and her granddaughter were asleep when the blaze started. It was out of control when they woke up, so they were trapped inside for a little bit. They need checking out. And we had a firefighter run back in at the last second, so he was inside the building when the wall collapsed. He made his way out alright, but I’m pretty sure he breathed in some smoke.”
She says this last bit with warm, affectionate exasperation in her voice and eyes.
Raoul and Emily give Cassie a nod and set off for the woman and her granddaughter, leaving Luca.
Cassie does a double-take, having just noticed him. “Hey, you’re new!”
“Yeah, hi!” Luca spreads his hand in a little wave. “I’m Luca. I’m not that new, anymore, but - guess this is my first fire.”
“Big occasion!” she laughs. “I’m Cassie. Nice to meet you.”
“You, too!” Luca matches her friendly smile, shifting his EMT bag on his shoulder. “Where’s the firefighter who needs attention? I can take care of him.”
“Right around the other side of the truck. You’ll see him. He’s the one who looks the most beaten up out of all of us, since he’s the one who got the kid out. Take good care of him, okay? He’s my favorite!”
Luca gives Cassie a thumbs-up over his shoulder, already in motion. “You got it!”
He strides quickly around the firetruck, crossing splashes of blue and red light, which tint the droplets of light rainfall. Luca gazes through it all, and spots the firefighter.
He’s sitting alone, on the mossy trunk of a fallen tree a little way down from the house. His elbows are resting on his parted knees, his head hanging down. His helmet and jacket are piled next to him, leaving him in his firefighting pants and heavy boots, but only his navy blue station t-shirt on top.
His hair is spilling down into his face, mostly hiding it, but Luca can read in every aspect of his body language how exhausted he is.
Luca can make out smudges of ash on the firefighter, but no obvious burns or external injuries, that’s good. He doesn’t seem to be wracked with coughing fits, either.
Initial assessment suggests everything will be okay, Luca thinks, with an instant burst of warm relief.
Another firefighter is hovering nearby, keeping an eye on his friend. He sets off for the truck when he sees Luca coming, murmuring something to the downed firefighter, who nods tiredly, without raising his head. There are a few broken bits of plaster tangled in his hair.
Luca strides over, drops down onto one knee in front of him, and slips his EMT bag off of his shoulder. He aims for his most comforting smile, his most soothing voice. Something he’s gotten good at over the years.
“Hey,” he says warmly, very gently knocking the firefighter’s knee with his fist to get his attention. “You with me?”
The firefighter slowly lifts his head, looks into Luca’s face, and draws his breath in sharply.
Luca unzips his EMT bag, waiting for the firefighter to answer, but he doesn’t say anything. He stares at Luca in wide-eyed silence, motionless.
Luca hesitates and takes a second look at him, slightly concerned. The guy wasn’t showing any signs of shock before, but now he looks like - like he has no conception of where he is or what’s going on, all of a sudden. He’s just staring blankly at Luca, staring and staring.
Luca decides that he should get the firefighter’s vitals, just in case. He takes out his penlight and clicks it on. He holds up the light to do a pupil test, then blinks in alarm when he sees that the firefighter’s pupils are blown all the way out. Completely dilated, only reacting a little to the light.
And the firefighter isn’t looking at the light. He’s still looking right at Luca, with enormous eyes.
Luca reaches out and gently tucks two fingertips just below the firefighter’s jaw, then blinks in surprise when he feels the other man’s rapidfire pulse. Its racing tempo kicks up even faster as soon as Luca’s fingertips press against him.
But the firefighter’s skin isn’t cold, has no blue tinge. If anything, his cheeks are flushed a rosy shade of scarlet, presumably from the heat of the fire. And Luca isn’t seeing any other signs of shock. Not in the medical sense, anyways.
He narrows his eyes at the other man, surprised to find himself unsure about what’s happening.
“Um… okay,” Luca murmurs to himself, at a loss, then shakes it off. “Well, no problem. First thing’s first, and the first thing is oxygen.”
He’s got the partial rebreather ready to go right as the firefighter seems to snap back into it. He gives himself a shake, apparently struggling to pull his thoughts together so he can finally answer. Then he opens his mouth, and instantly starts coughing too hard to say anything.
“Hey, it’s okay!” Luca casts him a reassuring smile. “Don’t try to talk for a minute. I need to put this on you, anyways.”
The firefighter manages to gasp in a breath and tries to say something, fully ignoring Luca’s instructions, so Luca pretends he didn’t notice and seals the mask firmly over his mouth and nose.
“Hey, you’re doing fine,” Luca murmurs, in a coaxing voice. “Take some deep breaths for me?”
The firefighter blinks hard at him. He takes a few deep breaths, then reaches up to take the mask off. Luca quickly catches his hand, gently pushes it away.
“Nope, let’s leave that where it is.” He takes a blood pressure monitor out of his bag, then draws upright in surprise when he immediately has to stop the firefighter from trying to take his mask off again. “Hey. Stop with that, please. I need you to keep the mask on, man, because of the smoke inhalation. It’s just oxygen, I promise it’s nothing that…”
Luca trails off in confusion. The firefighter is gesturing at him pleadingly, like he’s got something important he needs to say. Pointing at the mask like - I can’t say it with this thing on my face.
“Okay…” Luca hesitates, tilting his head to the side. “Is it something that urgently needs to be communicated to me?”
The firefighter nods earnestly.
Luca reaches out and gently draws the mask down from his face, then looks at him, waiting. And the firefighter… falters.
He looks caught off-guard, almost. Like he’d been waiting with immense excitement for this moment, but now that it’s here he doesn’t know what to do with it. There’s a silence as he looks down at Luca, struggling, the blush slowly deepening in his cheeks. And then -
“I’m Roger,” he says meekly.
Luca waits, expecting more, but that’s all.
A bright, sparkling little shiver runs up Luca’s spine, answering something in Roger’s voice. Luca is stopped mid-inhale by it.
He’s baffled, at first. His thoughts are slow to catch up with whatever it was that his subconscious already liked so much.
A fiery blush spreads across his nose and cheeks as soon as he figures it out. He drops his head for a second and laughs quietly, hoping desperately that Roger didn’t notice the spike of color in his face.
“You’re making yourself very troublesome, Roger,” he scolds gently, reaching up to get the mask.
“I’m sorry,” Roger murmurs, breaking into a small smile, still gazing right into Luca’s face.
“It’s - you’re fine.” Luca begins to lift the mask to Roger’s mouth, trying not to sound as flustered as he is. “Come on, though, you need-”
Roger catches his hand, stopping him. “Who are you?”
Luca sees a lot of faces in a day. When he’s not out on a call, he helps out in the ICU, which has an endless parade of new people going in and out. It all tends to become a blur towards the end of his shift, and he stops seeing the defining features.
Now, for the first time, he really looks at Roger.
He’s a tall, hunky man, built big. The flashing blue and red emergency lights glide over his thick arms, revealing the supple muscle of them. He’s muscle all over, actually, from what Luca can see.
His strong neck is tattooed up to his jaw with sharp, intricately-fitted patterns. Maori designs, Luca thinks, or maybe Samoan. His skin is a warm shade of golden amber. His hair is as black as the midnight sky overhead, falling softly towards his eyes like a spill of ink.
But it’s his face that freezes Luca to the spot.
Roger’s face… it’s like some genius artist took every feature that shouldn’t work together, that should be too exaggerated to be proportional - and then arranged them flawlessly, so that they met perfection in Roger. His face is startlingly, piercingly beautiful, and in a warm way that Luca has never seen before.
His full, soft mouth, the dusky color of his lips. The infinitely subtle arch of his almost flat nose. His high and rounded cheekbones. His low, angular, masculine eyebrows. The dark fringe of long eyelashes. None of it should go together, but it does. Oh, it does. Even smudged with ash, it does.
His eyes are an unusual color, like dark blue and forest green mixed and flecked together. Eyes the color of a sunken garden, but full of warmth. Staring intently, searchingly into Luca’s.
Luca’s heart stutters. He spends a few seconds lost in astonished silence, his hands slack around the blood pressure cuff.
He tells himself not to stare, then realizes he’s right in the middle of doing exactly that. He wrenches his gaze away from Roger’s face, blinking hard and fast.
Oh, shit. Didn’t Roger ask him something? He’s looking at Luca like he’s waiting for an answer, but Luca has completely forgotten the question.
Fuck. What was it?
Roger unintentionally helps him out. “Come on, tell me. I want to know the name of the man saving my life.”
Luca breathes out a soft, nervous laugh. “I’m not saving your life.”
“Really? I made you that mad, huh?”
Luca fights back another laugh. “No. I’m not saving your life because you’re not dying.”
“Oh, that’s good,” Roger says brightly, his voice roughened from the smoke. “That probably means we’ll be working together in the future, so. Be cool if you told me your name.”
Luca makes a face at him, then lets out a helpless laugh.
“Luca.”
“Luca.” Roger says it like he’s trying it out, his head cocked slightly to the side. “How have we not met yet?”
“I’m - new.” Luca gently nudges Roger’s sleeve higher up on his arm, then wraps the cuff around it. Roger lets him, but never breaks his eyes away from Luca’s face. “Maybe we’ve seen each other? I walk past the station on my way to the hospital most mornings. Usually around dawn.”
“No, we haven’t seen each other,” Roger says, with complete certainty. “I would - no, we haven’t.”
Luca keeps his eyes trained on what he’s doing, but inside he’s going through something.
He’s been hit with a sudden storm of nerves and shyness and excitement. His cheeks are burning hot. He feels a bright, restless, trembling shiver in his chest, around the fringe of his whole being.
He feels slightly bewildered, unsure of how to proceed from here.
“Could - could you put the mask back on?” he manages. “If only so that I don’t get in trouble?”
“Oh, come on,” Roger groans, as if his voice isn’t hoarse and raspy from the smoke. “I got the kid out of the house, didn’t I? Can’t I have at least two minutes to get to know the new guy as my reward?”
Luca lets out a soft laugh, stealing a fast glance at Roger. “Yeah, I heard that you ran back into the fire.”
Roger makes a pained face, smearing some ash off of his cheek. “That wasn’t exactly for the kid.”
Luca doesn’t know what that means. “You’re just a renegade, huh?”
“Sure, let’s go with that.”
“Well, either way, you did good,” Luca says with genuine admiration, risking another swift glance at Roger. “You brought someone out of the fire. And you’re done doing anything else for the night, so. Call it a day on hero stuff. Blow a kiss to the crowd.”
Luca stops still, caught by surprise as Roger actually does it. Blows a kiss right at him.
Luca draws back, then lets out a startled laugh, shaking his head. Roger breaks into a big smile, watching him closely.
It’s hard for Luca to pull himself back together with those beautiful eyes on him. He casts his mind around wildly for what to do - then remembers that there’s something he’s actually supposed to be doing.
“How do you feel, Roger? Are you breathing alright? If you don’t want me to make you put the mask back on, give me five deep breaths.”
Roger does, making his broad, muscled chest rise and fall slowly beneath the soft navy blue fabric. Luca busies himself with taking his blood pressure, hiding the blush in his cheeks.
“Okay, great.” Luca takes the mask back, flashing Roger a quick smile. “I’m pretty sure you’re fine. Unless - are you hurt anywhere, experiencing any pain?”
“N-” Roger cuts himself off and falls silent for a moment, reconsidering. “Yeah, you know what? I knocked my wrist on the door on the way out. Think it’s probably broken.”
Luca looks down at Roger’s wrist, which has been giving him no problems this whole time. “Um - it’s definitely not broken.”
“Well, something’s wrong.”
Luca takes Roger’s big, warm hand in both of his. He turns it over, then very gently, carefully prods Roger’s wrist.
Roger instantly exhales a dramatic, fake hiss of pain, then proceeds to let out such an unbelievable stream of curses that Luca bursts into laughter, startled out of all professional cool and calm.
“Definitely broken,” Roger sighs deeply, trying his hardest to sound sincere. “Guess I probably have to go with you in the ambulance, don’t I?”
“For fuck’s sake,” Luca sputters, still laughing as he shoves Roger’s hand back at him. “Yeah, right! I try to never assume that my patients are faking pain, but I’m gonna make a special exception just for you.”
“Maybe my wrist really is injured, you don’t know.”
Luca arches a doubtful eyebrow and holds up one hand. “High five.”
Roger does it automatically, then pauses, realizing. “Ah.”
“Oh my god,” Luca groan-laughs. “I’m gonna schedule a CAT scan for you. I’m increasingly convinced that it’s necessary. Something must have fallen on your head in that house.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Roger answers brightly, not really listening, his smiling eyes gazing down into Luca’s face.
Luca blinks hard at him, then quickly starts packing up his bag again, going to pieces inside.
He’s been out of the game for a while, being on the ship. The slightest taste of this conversation with Roger would have been enough to make him feel intoxicated. As it is, his head is spinning, and his chest is full of showers of shivery, glowing lights.
He realizes abruptly that the little girl Roger saved from the fire is watching the two of them. Twisting her fingers together anxiously, her lower lip wobbling.
Luca gets to his feet, slings his EMT back onto his shoulder, and gives her a friendly wave. She hesitates, then comes over at a slow, halting pace, making right for Roger.
Luca isn’t sure what’s going on, but Roger doesn’t look thrown. He sits up and smiles warmly at the little girl as she comes to a stop before him.
“Did-” she stammers, dashing a tear away on the back of her hand. “Did you get-?”
“Yep,” Roger interrupts gently, reaching for his helmet. “Got him right here.”
Luca watches in total bewilderment as Roger lifts his helmet, revealing - a clear plastic hamster ball, complete with a tiny, terrified hamster inside.
The instant she sees it, the little girl lets out a shriek of relief. She bursts into tears, snatches the hamster ball out of Roger’s hands, and hugs it tightly to her chest.
Roger watches her, smiling tiredly.
“Thanks for letting me know he was still in the house, Ella.” Roger gets to his feet, unfolding to his full, considerable height. “He’s probably freaked out, so don’t open that thing, okay?”
Ella gives Roger a grateful, tearful nod, then spins around and rushes off to show her grandma.
Luca stands there silently holding tight to the strap of his bag for a moment.
“Roger,” he finally says, very slowly. “Is - is that why you ran back in? For the hamster?”
Roger shoots him an exhausted look. “That little bastard gave me one hell of a runaround, let me tell you. A panicked hamster in a hamster ball can get up to goddamn ridiculous speeds, as I learned tonight.”
Luca stares at him in disbelief. “Why - why’d you have him under your helmet?”
Roger shrugs, confused by the question. “Thought the lil’ guy would probably be scared by all the lights and sirens, right? Figured that would be a good place for him.”
For the second time tonight, Luca looks at Roger with new eyes. Something shifts in his heart, flooding his chest with indescribable warmth.
“Luca!” Raoul calls, waving him over to the ambulance. “Can you come help with this?”
Luca gives himself a shake, remembering abruptly that he’s working. He nervously straightens out his navy-blue uniform, then flashes Roger a smile.
“Nice meeting you,” he calls, already heading towards where he’s needed, waving at Roger over his shoulder. “Take it easy on your lungs for a little bit, okay?”
Roger’s answer is lost in the sirens and general chaos of everyone packing up to go. Luca has to force himself to keep his eyes on where he’s supposed to be going, what he’s supposed to be doing.
The rush of wrapping up and readying the ambulance to leave passes by in a blur. It’s only when Luca is settled in the driver’s seat, ready to go, that he feels like he’s finally caught a real breath.
That was definitely their last call of the shift, and they didn’t have to load up any patients to take to the hospital. Thank god, because it means Luca can go home and lay down, which he desperately needs to do. He feels breathless, almost a little dizzy, but in a way that keeps drawing a smile back onto his face.
He hesitates, glancing over at Emily, who’s busy on her phone in the seat next to him.
The hospital and the fire station in this town are situated on opposite ends of the same block. As a result, the bar halfway between the two is usually full of both kinds of first responders when shifts let out. Most of the firefighters and EMTs have met each other there, and worked repeatedly with each other, so they’re on friendly terms.
Emily is new to the team, too. But less new than Luca. She might know more about the firefighters, and Luca can’t help but be curious.
“So, I got to meet Roger,” Luca begins, choosing his words carefully. “He’s really nice.”
“God, Roger.” Emily lets out a dreamy sigh, leaning her head back against the seat. “He’s so fine. It’s unbearable, really.”
Luca is a little ashamed to feel an instant stab of jealousy go through him. “You, um - thinking about making a move?”
“No.” This time Emily lets out a regretful sigh, dropping her eyes back to her phone. “I have a feeling that would be a bad idea. When I told some of the other firefighters that I was interested in him, the guys laughed like they knew something I didn’t, then said I definitely shouldn’t try.”
Luca stares at Emily, then turns his gaze back to the rainy windshield. The sparks in his chest flutter and flare up brightly.
“Besides,” Emily goes on, “Word is that Roger’s still pretty hung up on his ex. Trying to work things out, get back together, all that, even though they broke up ages ago. So. I don’t think anybody else is gonna catch his attention.”
Luca blinks rapidly, crestfallen. “Oh.”
“Guess it doesn’t matter, though, right?” Emily asks, typing away on a text. “Not like anyone’s trying to.”
Luca blushes.
Then he goes perfectly still, his eyes landing on one tall firefighter who’s wandered away from the rest as they hop up into the truck.
As Luca watches, Roger weaves his way through the remaining crowd and over to the second ambulance, the one that got there a little late. He pauses in the light rainfall, peering up into the front, then turns away and starts heading towards Luca’s ambulance.
He stops when he sees Luca in the driver’s seat, gazing up at him through the soft, slanting rain. A small, shy, sideways smile quirks up the corner of his mouth.
“Alright!” Raoul hops into the back and closes it up after himself. “That’s it. Let’s roll.”
Luca hesitates, realizing that he had been reaching for the door, like he was going to get out. He gives himself a tiny shake, forcibly pulling himself back into his own head.
He gives Roger a friendly wave goodbye before they set out, though. And Roger, with that shy smile still on his face, gives him one back.
~~~~
Luca walks past the fire station every day on his way to work, but this morning it feels completely different.
There’s a strange, restless light in his chest. One that comes purely from knowing there’s an off-chance that Roger is in there, right now.
Luca spent the rest of last night trying to get his mind off of his conversation with Roger, with almost no success. Reminding himself over and over again that it’s very possible Roger is just the kind of guy who flirts with everyone he meets, without meaning anything by it. That’s actually what would make the most sense, given what Emily said yesterday. It sounds like Roger already knows who he really wants.
Besides, it’s been a long time since Luca was last involved with a guy. He was mostly dating girls before he left for the ship, and then he was on the ship for a while. He’s probably not the best judge of whether or not a man is flirting with him, right now.
Luca can easily see himself tripping over his own heart in its excited rush, stumbling badly. Better not to make any assumptions.
All of this logic didn’t prevent Luca from thinking about Roger all night. Or from getting up even earlier than usual this morning to try and make himself look nice, in case he and Roger cross paths today.
Despite his best efforts to stay calm and chill about all of this, his chest feels full of bright, fluttering things as he crosses the street and turns the corner.
He jolts to a stop as soon as the fire station comes into view, his heart skipping a few beats. The station door is open, revealing the parked truck and drowsy firefighters inside, going about their morning routines.
And - Roger is there.
He’s the only one standing outside in the light rain. Leaning his broad shoulders back against the wall of the station, a cup of coffee clasped in his hands. All the ash and broken plaster from last night is gone, his unruly black hair a little bedheaded.
He’s nervously tapping his thumb against his coffee cup, keeping warm in one of the early, pale-gold shafts of sunlight breaking through the rain clouds.
Luca freezes for a split second, then surges into movement again, walking faster. Roger hears his footsteps and snaps upright, peering through the rain.
Luca waves at him, smiling happily, brimming with nervous excitement. Roger waves back, breaking into a very similar kind of smile.
“Hey, man,” he calls, as Luca strides down the sidewalk to meet him. “Guess you were right, we had to run into each other one of these days, huh?”
“Guess so,” Luca says brightly, stopping in front of Roger, weaving his fingers around his own to-go cup of coffee. “How are you feeling? No problems breathing, right?”
“Not - yeah, no, mostly not,” Roger says breathlessly, gazing down into Luca’s face. “Wait, is that why you came over to say hi to me? To check up on my breathing? And here I thought I made a friend. Sad.”
“Stop,” Luca groans, as Roger makes a wounded face at him. “Honestly, I - I’d love that. I could really use a friend. I’ve been in town for a while now, but you know, it’s - it’s so hard to meet people, I’ve been starting to feel so, like…”
He trails off, realizing with slow horror what he’s saying. Something about Roger’s warm, kind-hearted eyes knocked his guard down. He’s pretty sure he just blurted out something way too serious and personal to someone he barely knows.
But Roger’s expression softens as he takes in Luca’s words. He looks surprised, but not at all in a bad way.
He hesitates, then gives Luca a slow, warm smile. “So, you’re saying you didn’t come over here purely to check on the state of my breathing?”
“No.” Luca steps back and gives Roger a deep, sweeping bow. “I came to pay my respects to Sir Roger, Valiant Protector of the Hamsters. Obviously.”
Roger lets out a deep, aggrieved sigh, running a hand over his face. “This hamster thing is turning out to be a painful experience in every possible way.”
Luca laughs as he straightens up, and Roger lets out a helpless laugh, too.
“How long before your shift starts?”
Luca checks his watch. “About… fifteen minutes.”
“Well, the hospital is about thirty seconds in that direction, so I guess that means we’ve got… yeah, fifteen minutes to hang. Drink our coffee.”
“Wow, actually stopping to drink my coffee?” Luca stares down at the cup like it’s full of possibilities he’d never considered before. “This is going to be a whole new experience.”
“I think you can handle slowing down for fifteen minutes, Luca,” Roger laughs, tossing his onyx curls out of his face. “Or ten, or five, or however long you want to chill for. No pressure.”
It turns out to be about seventeen minutes. Luca has to sprint down the sidewalk to make his shift on time.
They spend another fifteen minutes together before work the next day, and the day after that. The day after that, too, and the next, until they’ve done it for a full week.
For some reason Luca is anxious at the start of the new week, like maybe this time Roger won’t be there. But he’s waiting when Luca comes around the corner, and this time he has cups of coffee for both of them.
They have their fifteen minutes together, as always.
And those fifteen minutes quietly come to be the highlight of every day, the brightest beam of sunshine in Luca’s life.
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