coffee breaks [ Charlie Barber ]

IV

It's raining.

Charlie is in LA and it is fucking raining.

Back in New York he'd beat himself up over not checking the forecast, but here? In LA, where the lack of rainy days was one of the main promises the place made? Here he blames God for fucking with him.

He speeds through the rain, messenger bag that he'd usually use to cover his head tucked inside of his jacket to keep it from getting wet. It has way too many printed out scripts in it, and Charlie isn't in the mood to print them all out again.

"Charlie! In here!"

Charlie's head whips around to the voice piercing through the rain's pitter-patter to see you, like an angel glowing in the artificial halo the cafe's lights are making behind you. He doesn't think twice about crossing the street to run into the Coven's warm embrace, face flushing at the sudden change of temperature.

"Hold on, I'll get you a towel," you say as you disappear into what seems to be the staff room. Charlie looks around as you busy yourself fetching a towel, smiling softly when he sees the hot cup of tea and blanket located at the window, together with a messily placed down book.

He looks away from the cozy scene when you re-enter the main area, caramel brown towel in hand. Charlie laughs as you practically shove it in his hands, quietly fussing under your breath. "You're gonna catch a cold that way, you dumb giant! For god's sake, for a guy that seems smart you sure do dumb shit like walking in the rain at night-"

"-may I defend myself because I swear, your Honor, that I didn't realize it'd be raining when I tried walking home after a very long day at work." You roll your eyes with a smile while he aggressively dries his hair off, shaking his head around inside of the towel like a madman.

"I sentence you to a stay inside the Coven until it stops raining and a cup of tea. Perhaps you'll get a piece of apple pie too, with good behavior at least." Charlie can't help but grin widely at that. "I accept the sentence, your Honor," he says before handing you the towel and placing his bag down on the doormat and hanging his coat by the nearest coat rack.

A marble is rolling through your head, ricocheting against your skull's curves as you watch Charlie from the corner of your eye while preparing his tea. You've thanked whichever god was responsible for this moment under your breath countless of times so far, the smile plastered on your face not having left even once.

"How come no one's ever told me about the fact that rain is possible in LA? They completely forgot to add that on the brochure," Charlie quips from the other side of the counter, watching you as you diligently prepare his tea. "I think the existence of rain is knowledge they assumed everybody has," you shoot back with a teasing grin, handing him his tea with a quick "careful, it's hot," as you walk from behind the counter to sit back in your original spot.

Charlie awkwardly goes to sit next to you, leaving more space than required between the two of you. Even so, his large stature makes the large space seem smaller than it is. His knee is seconds away from touching yours-- something you're both so annoyingly aware of that neither of you want to move in fear of your knees actually making contact.

You go to grab your book, and in turn Charlie goes to grab his laptop from his bag to work on his own thing. He joins you on the couch again, this time inched just the tiniest bit closer.

For a good twenty minutes you both stay quiet as you do your own thing, the sound of his fingers against his keyboard or the occasional sip from either one of you. After those twenty minutes Charlie starts becoming... antsy.