Dancing in the Dark ✓

14 | theo

High Park was definitely one of my favourite places to hang out in Toronto. Especially in autumn, with the leaves changing to hues of brown, red, orange, and yellow.

"Does anyone want waffles?" Davi chirped.

Halima cringed. "Could you be any louder?"

Raphael interrupted before Davi actually tried to prove Halima's point. "Get one for me, please."

"I know you want one, greedy pie," Davi said to Halima, then turned to me. "Alright. So one for her, one of Raphael, one for me. One for Theo, because he deserves one."

"One, please, too," Lars added.

"Get one for Sasha as well," I reminded him.

Davi saluted. "Aye aye, captain! One for everyone. Gosh, my wallet will feel significantly lighter when I get back."

"We can put this in our team budget," I laughed. 

Lars arched an eyebrow at Davi's retreating figure. "I follow?"

"I think it's fine," Halima shrugged. "When there's food involved, Davi knows the way. If you don't trust him on not getting lost on the way back, however... you're free to follow him."

Lars nodded wordlessly and followed Davi.

Raphael turned to me. "Where is Sasha, by the way?"

As if on cue, Halima gasped, looking past my shoulder. "Sasha!"

Sasha, clad in a long, brown lapel coat, matching brown boots, a simple black T-shirt and dark pants, was heading in our direction with a blush tinting her cheeks.

"I made it," she announced breathlessly. "That was quite a walk."

"Isn't the view worth it, though?" Raphael prompted. 

"Yeah," Halima agreed amusedly. "The view is very worth it."

She nudged Raphael, who was glancing back and forth between Sasha and I, and suppressing a smile. "Oh, uh, yeah. The view."

"Huh?" I asked, then realised what they were laughing at. Sasha and I were wearing nearly identical outfits.

"Oh," Sasha smiled briefly as she realised at the same time.

I winked at her. "Great minds think alike."

"Stay put!" Halima ordered, fumbling for her phone. "I need to take a picture of this. Dark academia fashion is chef's kiss."

"Come closer to us!" Raphael instructed, whipping out his camera. "And then move towards your right a bit more, too, so that we can get the trees in the background. Stop right there! Yeah, now stand closer to one another, please. Goodness, guys. Why is there such a large gap in between?"

Sasha and I exchanged a glance. Before I could think twice, I wrapped an arm around Sasha's shoulders, and she leaned into me, plastering on a tentative smile.

Raphael and Halima then proceeded to crouch in various positions, instructing us on how to pose, and squabbled over who was taking better pictures. 

"I'm a videographer," Raphael huffed. 

"Videographer, not photographer," Halima rebutted. "Also, you're not taking them vertical shots well."

"Uh, could we have a look?" I asked. 

Sasha pulled away from me gently to peer over Halima's shoulder. "Hey, these are actually really nice."

"I'll put mine up on Google Drive," Raphael said importantly. "Definitely have some worthy to be used as part of the team photos."