Typing…
7:42 PM
A: hey. made it home. rain tried to interview me on the walk.
B: lol. did you give good quotes
A: i said “no comment” and then immediately commented
Three minutes where neither of them leaves the app.
B: just reheated the leftover noodles
A: civilian bravery
B: the real hero’s journey is the microwave beep
They both watch the little typing… appear and vanish like a shy animal.
A: i liked today
B: me too
A: like-liked
B: i suspected
A pauses on a draft: Do you want to— deletes. Types Are you free Fri— deletes. Tries This is silly but— deletes.
B: my train did the thing where it becomes a boat
A: congratulations on your amphibious commute
B: thank u, gills just dropped
The shared photo from earlier (two cups, one table) sits between them like a small witness.
A: i keep thinking about the part where you said the cinnamon makes the cocoa taste like a memory
B: i was trying to sound deep and accidentally was
They both open the calendar and close it without booking anything. Weather checks out of nervousness. Someone in the building drops a pan on purpose.
B: i have an unpopular opinion
A: bold
B: i think we should do that again
A: oh no wildly controversial take
B: sources: feeling + evidence
A drafts come over now and backspaces to soon and backspaces to nothing.
A: okay, proposal: we pick a day neither of us will cancel on, even if it rains inside the train
B: ambitious
A: statistically defensible
A small galaxy of options spins: coffee, gallery, grocery run as date disguise, the bench by the bakery that pretends to be Paris.
B: friday?
A: yes. wait i typed that too fast. YES
A’s heart does the thing birds do when they remember sky exists.
B: cool cool chill composed extremely normal response
A: same very casual shrieking internally
They hover over the part where you clarify what this is and decide to let Friday carry some of the meaning.
B: time?
A: 6?
B: 6 works
They both stare at the screen, grinning at pixels, inventorying fear and finding it lighter than usual.
A: one more thing
B: ?
A types: i like you and watches it blink on the glass, honest and too bright. Backspace. Types: i— Backspace. Types:
…
