After Hours

[Aurora]

To say the night had not gone as planned was the understatement of the year. Things took a turn that had been completely unexpected. And yet, not unwanted.

Her normal reaction was to pick up and leave once he was asleep; but she didn’t want to. Simply picking up her clothes and walking out, no looking back. It used to be so easy. But not right now, for some reason, she wanted to stay where she was. Feeling relaxed and at ease, a feeling she hadn’t felt in a few years.

She felt vulnerable, exposed. Her guard had been let down, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

But why? She had laid awake, trying to figure this out. When did things get complicated? When did she become unsure?

So she laid there, arm stretched over her forehead, eyes focused on the ceiling, lost in thought.
Guru Shane

[Guru]

Guru’s home was definitely a clash of cultures, modernity clashing with the other aspects of his alternative lifestyle. The Kitchen was the most modern and it slowly bled away from there. His bedroom was meant for sleeping, the wide room had windows on both sides with the wooden blinds drawn down, the rays of light pouring in from underneath even as the timer they were on began to activate and open them letting more of the light in and causing him to stir. There were plants in each window, leaves reaching for the sun as they began opening.

The bed itself was on the firmer side, light blue sheets adorned it with a navy blue comforter on top of it. It was the middle of a Sacramento summer so he did the practical thing and kept the AC on in the house which whirred quietly on and off in the background regulating the temperature of the interior. There was a vanity on one side, walk in closet on the other next to the master bath. Besides the bed and vanity there was a short nightstand on both sides of the bed where his phone currently rest. The only other thing of note was the painting. Each wall was painted with a mural to look like a landscape the ceiling was painted to look like the night sky including both LED and glow in the dark stars. The wall in front of them was a dark forest using optical illusion to make it look like it stretched back farther. The wall behind them was a shoreline during a storm, to the left was golden fields of wheat on a sunny day, and the right was a savannah. Each painted in an imitation of Van Gogh’s style though a pale shadow to the actual artist.

He gave a small frustrated groan as light splashed across his eyes bringing him to wakefulness. He felt the weight on the bed and turned toward her. His eyes still half asleep and confused as they narrowed at her, a sleepy smile stretching across those lips clearly surprised to see her. “Good morning.” He hadn’t expected her to stay honestly, he expected her to do what he would have done and that’s creep out in the middle of the night so this was a pleasant surprise. “If you’re…” he began, about to start the dazed conversation about breakfast before he noticed the look on her face. That was actually a look he recognized. “What’s on your mind?” He asked softly before joining her in staring at the stars for now, not wanting to get out of bed just yet.

[Aurora]

It had been easy to not only get lost in her thoughts, but the stars that adorned the ceiling. A neat touch. Kind of like the lights she had around her own bed, yet different. Music playing in the background, trying to match her thoughts.

‘Oh why is everything so confusing
Maybe I'm just out of my mind’

Could she be out of her mind? It was possibility.

Feeling Guru stir, she realizes there is light. Evil light that was just too damn bright right now. The arm slides from her forehead to her eyes. Must block it out.

As he turns, she turns her head as well, blue eyes a grayer color, studying him. Though the sleepy smile makes her smile softly as well, “Surprised?” she asks, knowing she was. To still be here in the morning. Not her style. But then again, so much had been up in the air, what was her style exactly?

There was a deep breath, “I,” she begins, then a light shake of her head, “honestly don’t know.” And it didn’t seem to sit well with her. She also wasn’t sure how honest she could be. “Things just seem a bit,” pausing, searching for the word, “confusing right now.” She didn’t like confusing. It made things difficult.

But did she want to open up? Part of her did. It was an odd feeling, wanting to be open and honest with someone.

Turning onto her side, she props her head up with her arm, “What about you?” only fair.

[Guru]

His hand moved up to rub the sleep from his eyes as she responded. “Honestly? Yea.” He finished with a yawn, glancing in her direction from the corner of his eyes but kept looking up at the stars with her. He wanted to laugh along with her, just chase away the confusion with merriment. Sadly things didn’t just get better because they wanted them to, as much as he tried. He listened as she shifted, chuckling softly at her response, head slowly bobbing his agreement before he turned to face her adopting a similar pose.

“The same, man. I had a plan for my life, shit happened, I developed a new one; simple, easy, just keep my nose clean and do the work. But…” He sighed, deflating a little. “It’s a lot man. I’ve done what I can so people DON’T have any expectations from me. So, I don’t get asked to make a commitment. It means being invested; it means having something to lose.” He cleared his throat and rubbed at his eyes, preventing them from even thinking about watering as he shifted gears.

“Everyone’s expecting me to step up and I can’t possibly meet their expectations.” It wasn’t just her, it was all of his friends too, he knew it. They were waiting for him to DO something, but that’s what he’d been avoiding this entire time. Now wasn’t he doing the same to her? He could tell himself he wasn’t expecting anything but deep inside there was hope and that hope is what would hurt him the most. “I don’t know when it started, I can only tell you when I recognized it. Last time we were all playing pool together there was something, a spark, and I knew then I had feelings for you. I just, never had a good opportunity to do or say something. It never felt right. Then you were telling me you were leaving…” It was there he was at a loss for words, he was trying to think of what to say and how to say it.

[Aurora]

And she had a laugh. It was soft in sound, but filled with amusement, “Well, that is typically my style. It makes things easier.” No risk of attachment. Or, it used to. There was an interesting road unfolding in her mind.

Studying him as he spoke, “What was your plan?” he seemed to be struggling with something. Then an understand nod, “Getting invested is dangerous. I’ve avoided it almost my whole life. Invested means emotions and pain and I’m just not equipped for it.” Maybe emotionally stunted? She never knew. “Are others expecting something from you all bad? In my opinion, it means the trust you and the knowledge you bring. They look up to you.” Not always a bad thing.

Then pieces click. “The only expectations you have to live up to are your own. You will never be able to live up to what others expect from you, it’s just not going to happen. You can only be you and do the best you can. Someone gives you shit for it? Tell them to fuck off. Trust me, it feels amazing!” she’d learn to enjoy doing that.

Eyes shift slightly as she listens. So he had felt it to. And that was a good thing…right? Honestly, she didn’t know, this was new. But now she was at a loss of words. What does she say? These are moments when being able to manipulate Fate and Time would come in handy.

Her mouth begins to form a sentence, but stops. Why were things difficult?

“I won’t lie to you, I did as well.” No sense lying about it. “And it seemed like a good idea to say something?” she says, her tone one of teasing as a smile touches her lips. “I’m glad you did though.” She admits with a hint of a blush. But not liking how vulnerable that admittance made her feel.

[Guru]

There was pain and loss as she studied him and spoke on the pain of attachment, it was a pain he knew well and it was written all over him. “No one is.” He confessed readily; it was what he felt to be the truth. He didn’t know anyone could be ready to lose people you were close to until it had already happened. The second half had him bristling though, that was something he didn’t have an answer for, nothing but confusion and conflict for that branch. “I don’t know. I grew up with a lot of expectations and I hated it, it’s how I ended up here. I did everything I could to say fuck you to those expectations including tanking my own life.” A small shrug, he wasn’t a child anymore, he wasn’t that person anymore. He wouldn’t know now until he tried. He still felt the expectations bristling against him though, could he accept it or not? Time would tell.

He laughed, nodding his agreement. “That’s true, I just have to keep on as I have been and accept I can’t make everyone happy.” A hand running through his hair knowing there were times he’d have to put his foot down and make enemies. It was his time for his eyes to narrow and watch, not that he’d see much beyond the surface. Then his thoughts began to wander as the silence stretched, noting the way the light was currently spilling across her.

The pause got him to raise an eyebrow before she continued, his eyes widening at her confession. It was nice to have it confirmed, to know it didn’t just exist in his head as a delusion, there was already enough of those up there. He couldn’t help but chuckle, his smile bright and beaming as the conversation continue to pump more and more life into his eyes, waking up gradually as the time ebbed forward. “I mean, you were leaving, seemed like the moment I had been waiting for.” The blush stared him straight in the face and he couldn’t help but keep smiling, though it turned down at the corners and he let out a breath. “If you still want to leave, I fully understand though. I want you to be happy, healthy, and well. That hasn’t changed at all.”

[Aurora]

She listened, eyes studying him as he spoke, feeling pain for someone having to tank their own life. “I’m sorry you had to do that. In some ways, I get it. My parents had expected me to stay with them, perform with them, and keep the family trade going. But it wasn’t what I wanted. They pretty much disowned me after that.” But she thinks it went well enough. She found success. “Not exactly the same, but I know what it’s like to have other expect things from you that you don’t want.” It was hard.

“Unfortunately, that’s the secret to life. Make yourself happy first, the rest will fall into place. Or, at least, that’s the plan.” She didn’t have all the answers.

This was a situation and conversation she was no ready for. Something she had never been equipped to deal with. How do you handle it? What do you say? Was this why she held people at arm’s length? To have them not see how broken she was in regards to relationships.

“Suppose I can’t fault that logic.” A smile on her face.

But it wavered with his own and with his words. She simply looks at him for a few moments, trying to sort things out. Eyes shifting off to the side, searching for words she didn’t know how to form.

Finally, a deep breath, “I don’t know anymore.” Finally looking to him again, her usual confidence gone, “You’ve thrown me for a loop here and it’s making me question so many things. Leaving, for me, was a way of running away from a place that held nothing for me anymore. There was no one to keep me here, nothing to ground me. And yet,” eyes searching his, “I wonder if there now is.” A small shake of her head, “It’s confusing for me, to be this conflicted, and yet to not want to leave.” Leaving had always been easy. It had always been her go to. A weak smile, “So yeah, I don’t know.” How would she figure this out? This was new, this was terrifying. “What do you want? If I had not told you I was thinking of leaving, what would you want?” she had a feeling not many had asked him that before.

[Guru]

When she spoke of her family there was a knowing look on his face as he nodded, “Yea, I always got so when are you going to become a Doctor. It was just never what I wanted either.” He let out the breath he’d been holding before shrugging softly, it was pain he’d left long in the past. A life gone and dusted. Though his mouth quirked up at the following remark. “Did that too, didn’t end well. I’ll tell you about it sometime. I’m trying my best, and you’re right, if it’s not good enough then fuck ‘em.” That was the way it had to be sometime, he knew that even if he didn’t like it.

A look, a smile, and a long stretch of silence filled the air and all the while he didn’t shift, didn’t fidget. She had his full attention. Though he couldn’t help but smile as she spoke, a shine to his eyes as he felt his heart speed up in his chest. Now it was his turn for the loop, Guru wasn’t one for long, masterful plans. He’d decided and ran with it, there hadn’t been any thought beyond the next moment at all. “I was also not expecting this, I just took a leap. It’s been a long time since I’ve trusted anyone enough to let them get close like this. My usual answer is to wing it, just go with the flow and see what happens.

“If you hadn’t told me, I think I’d want the same thing. To see what’s here, to see if it works, and see where it leads.” He let out a soft breath, his hand reaching across to brush some hair from her face as he offered her a soft smile. “I care about you. A place is just a place, it’s who’s there that holds value. It would mean more if you stayed but I also don’t want to be another chain holding you back. Never that. Now, is there anything you’d like for breakfast at least?”

[Aurora]

A brief look of surprise, “A doctor huh?” then a smile, “You know what? I could see that.” He had the intelligence. “But I also get it not being what you wanted. I never understood why people and family push what they want on others. Like, let your friend or kid become what makes them happy and fulfills them.” But maybe that was just her. Though she had always been chasing happiness, and it always seemed to slip through her hands. A softer smile, “I’d like to hear about it sometime.” It was odd how easy it was to talk to him.

“It’s all you can do, your best. And those that truly know you will see that, and will support you, have your back.” She was one of them.

“Well, usually just winging it is the best answer. Let the universe decide what is best.” She had done it many times.

Her eyes study his face as he speaks, apprehension evident in them, but with the touch, her eyes soften. Fluttering closed for a second. “I like that answer, see what’s here, see if it works.” She could do that. Then a smirk, “I’m not one to be held to a place unless I want to be. But I think I’m curious too,” a half smile, “see if it leads anywhere.” It either would, or it wouldn’t. And would she be less of a person if she tried? For once, just tried? Experience told her yes, logic told her no.

But wait…he cared about her? That took her by surprise, and she was pretty sure it was written all over her face. “Care about me? But I haven’t done anything to deserve that.” Confused by this notion. She cared about Phoenyx because the Arrow had kept her safe. But she’d never been in a dangerous situation with Guru.

Now at the mention of breakfast, her stomach spoke before she did, and she laughed, “I suppose that means I’m hungry.” Stupid stomach. “Usually, I just have coffee or toast. Or whatever is leftover in the fridge.”

[Guru]

"It's what Dad did." He shrugged one shoulder in dismissal. He appreciated the compliment, he'd heard it all his life but he hadn't heard one he believed before now. He moved a sleepy hand up to scratch at the back of his head and awkward half frown on his face. "I get it, it's Dynasty. It's a parent trying to ensure it's offspring's well being to make sure it can continue the genetic line as best it can." When he thought about it that way he could distance himself from his lived experience.


"That will definitely require some drinks at least. Going to need all the help I can get, used to being the unheard minority." He shrugged, he'd been used to being told what the new rules were...for him. He was the Outsider technically, he got it. He smiled as she spoke, it was a soft one that pulled at the eyes. "Exactly. To winging it. I have no intentions of holding you back, we're partners sharing the road together. Worst case we can just bolt together." A soft chuckle, he'd done it once before which is how he got here.


It was Guru's turn to look confused, "You don't have to do anything to have someone care about you Aurora. It's not supposed to be quid pro quo. It's a feeling." He opened his mouth, smiled, and then stopped realizing he was about to ruin the moment. "Oh, no, no that will not do in the house of Guru. I can fulfill your need for coffee. Now for breakfast I was thinking," and at this point he was already moving his brain activating to full speed now. Making sure he got dressed first, his voice echoing out of his walk-in closet. "we could do eggs benedict. Then you have your coffee, your toast, and a little extra protein to start the day out right.


"If you need a change of clothes I have plenty work shirts and shorts you can snag for now. If you need to brush your teeth, I don't have a spare toothbrush, sorry. But I do have a water pick and some mouthwash..." His face twisted up in a teasing apology. "Either way I can handle breakfast and coffee, coffee will at least be done quickly. How do you take it?"