Chapter 7 #3
Lately Eris’ urge to seek refuge in alcohol had subsided.
Her source of comfort had become sitting on the couch with Denny in perfect silence—one with her books, the other with her podcasts and documentaries—until they both started nodding off.
No loud chatter, no pointless small talk.
The pleasure of being together with nothing to prove.
In calm moments like this, Eris went slack against Denny, feet rubbing against one another.
Despite her ever-buzzing energy, Denny had a pacifying effect on her.
Sometimes Eris even set her phone aside and Denny read out loud for her; other times Denny forgot about her book and ended up sucked into Eris’ questionable documentaries.
Eris loved being read to by Denny. Since moving out of her parents’, keeping up with life had taken a toll on her, leaving no mental energy to invest in reading. It was like a part of her brain had shut down, leaving her unable to process printed text.
At bedtime, as usual, she stopped by Denny’s room for a goodnight nod and found her still glued to the book. Her face lit up when she sensed Eris’ presence.
“Hey.” Those nerdy glasses that sat on her nose made her, if possible, even prettier. She patted the empty spot beside her. Eris grudgingly plopped down. “Thank you for what you did today.”
I just stood there.
“I didn’t know what to do. His aggressiveness caught me off guard.”
Eris pursed her lips. You’re too soft, Sunshine.
“I reckon we’re even now?” Denny’s befuddling eyes raised into Eris’ like a caress. They were golden brown now. “I saved you, you saved me.”
We’re fucking not. You saved my life. All I did was stare down some twat.
Eris had a feeling Denny wouldn’t have heard any of that even if it’d been spoken out loud. She was watching Eris with an aching tenderness, something sweet but laced with blue.
“I keep trying to imagine what your voice sounds like.”
Eris’ heart did that thing it’d done in the shop again, a tiny leap that hurt a little, but not in a bad way.
She gave Denny an impish smirk that didn’t match the softness of what she was feeling.
I wish I had to imagine yours.
Had she had her voice, it would’ve come out thin and breathless. There was a claw in her chest, crushing all the air out. It got tighter the longer she stared into those siren eyes.
Denny’s lips puckered. “You’re wishing it were the other way around, aren’t you?”
Eris jolted out of her stupor with a hearty laugh.
“You can jab me when I’m talking too much.” Denny bit her lip. “Or physically shut me up. Like you did in the van when we met, you know? I don’t want to annoy you.”
It wasn’t annoyance. Not any more. Eris didn’t have a name for it. All she knew was that the memory of her hand clasped over Denny’s mouth had no business being so sweet.
Don’t get your knickers in a twist. She gave Denny’s head a lenient pat. There are more annoying things than your yapping.
She made to leave, but her attention fell on the screen in front of the bed. She tilted her head to one side, then the other, then other one again.
“Yeah, it’s a bit lopsided.”
Eris goggled. A BIT?
“It’s barely noticeable!”
Dude, it’s the Leaning Tower of Pisa of TV screens!
“I’m not good with drills and nails, alright?”
Eris shook her head. Screws.
“No what?”
A frustrated groan scratched up Eris’ throat. Screws, not nails. Nails go with hammers.
Denny blinked vacantly, so Eris grabbed her hand and spelled the word on her palm.
Denny frowned. “Screw what? Oooh, right! Drills and screws, not nails!” She exhaled a self-conscious giggle. “See? That’s how good I am at DIY.”
Eris chuckled. Spying behind the screen, she found an orientable mount. The screen came forward when she pulled. Perhaps there was hope.
She went downstairs to fetch the tool box from the broom closet at the entrance. She was getting acquainted with the flat and by now she was faster than Denny at locating things.
She loosened some of the screws under Denny’s transfixed gaze, stepping back from time to time to check the angle of the screen with the level app on her phone, then she tightened the screws back one by one.
It was like the hinge of a cabinet: a bit of twisting and pulling and it was set.
Final level check: straightened to perfection.
“You fixed it!” Denny exclaimed in awe, gawking at her as if she’d performed some wondrous act of magic.
Jesus, chill. I just adjusted the joints.
“You’re amazing!”
Eris walked out before things got out of hand.
“Wait! I forgot to give you something!” Denny scrambled out of bed to get something from the chest of drawers in the corner. “I saw it in a window and thought it might be helpful.”
Eris was handed a stack of flashcards with cutesy captioned illustrations of actions and emotions.
It was for children, but it would definitely come in handy.
She glanced up, more moved than she was willing to admit; Denny was surveying her so expectantly that Eris couldn’t deny her a grateful half smile.
There was a funny, warm flutter in her chest she’d never felt before.
She chased it away, too weirded out by it to confront it.
Cheers, Sunshine. It was a nice thought.
She left with her flashcards. From outside, she heard Denny mutter: “Goodnight, Eris.”
An invisible string tugged her back. No matter how hard she tried, she could never be grumpy for too long with Denny.
Unable to believe her own sappiness, she stuck her hand past the doorframe, thumb and index finger crossed into a heart.
She could practically feel Denny’s radiant grin through the wall when she said: “Ditto.”