‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

BY THE TIME Devina resurfaced from the tidal wave of books and scrap papers she'd somehow become submerged in during their studying, the sun had already disappeared from the windows, leaving both the brunette and Brian to study by the dimmed down light of the apartment living room. Her eyes felt weighted down with exhaustion as she let out a gentle yawn, stacking the loose sheets of note paper in her lap before she moved it onto the coffee table and stood up.

"Turning in so soon?" Brian watched her stretch her arms above her head with a slight grin, "it's only seven pm."

"Feels a lot later when we stayed up most of last night though, doesn't it?" Devina replied, pushing her hand back through her mess of loose curls in an effort to tame them. "I can't believe we've spent two days on this stupid project and I'm barely half way through it."

Brian nodded as he set the textbook down on the cushion next to him so he could stand up as well. "I wouldn't be so hard on yourself," he told her. "After all, it's literal rocket science."

Despite herself, Devina found herself laughing at Brian's terrible attempt at humour, shaking her head at him. "I shouldn't laugh, that was terrible."

"Well I'm a musician, not a comedian. I just do what I can," Brian shrugged, although he was still grinning at the fact that he'd gotten the girl to laugh. He liked that sight far better than the one of her glowering persistently at her paper. "But I do think it's time for a break," he continued on, "I'll admit I don't have a lot to eat. But what I do have is tea and a surprisingly broad range of cereals. It was Roger's turn to do the grocery shopping."

Devina rose an eyebrow at the taller astrophysicists in amusement. "Don't worry about it. You had me at tea," she told him, following him as he walked over to the tiny kitchen. She sat herself down at the red leather stool in front of the bench, resting her chin on the heel of her hand while he set the kettle on. "I think I'll pass on the cereal, though. Remind me to bring something actually substantial next time."

     Brian quirked an eyebrow as he turned away from the two mugs he'd lined up to look at Devina with a crooked grin. He liked the thought of a 'next time' being on the table, and he was also proud of the fact that he didn't have to be the first one to suggest it. "Well there is a coffee place open until late underneath our apartment block if you're hungry," he suggested. "I usually go down there when Roger kicks me out to hang out with his new girlfriend of the month."

     "No offence, Brian, but your roommate is an ass," Devina told him, shaking her head with a small laugh.

     "He's more tolerable once you get used to him," he promised her. "Don't tell him I said this, but he can actually be kind of funny when he's not making a total jerk of himself."

      Devina nodded as she took the steaming mug from him once he held it out. "Maybe I'll stick around and find out," she shrugged as she rose the warm ceramic to her lips to take a sip. But it still wasn't enough to distract her from her empty stomach for long. "On another note, I wouldn't turn down some hot food right now. You think we can extend our break a little bit more and go get some?"

★彡

A LIGHT DRIZZLE had begun to fall when Devina pulled Brian into a small, dainty looking diner a few blocks away from his apartment. It was small, and smelt like burnt coffee and cigarettes, but Devina didn't care, as long as the menu was full and cheap. "I can't wait for summer to come," she shivered as she pulled her damp coat off her shoulders and sat down in one of the plush red booths, "I miss the sun."

     "You're in the wrong country then," Brian told her, laughing as he ran his hand through the front of his curls to shake some of the water out. "All it does here is rain, and when it's not, it's overcast anyway."

     "Pessimism isn't a good look on you, Brian," Devina rolled her eyes as she snatched up the menu from the table to take a look. Her face lit up when she saw the breakfast section with a little 'available all day!' sticker at the top. "Oh I'm definitely getting waffles."

"At eight pm?" Brian laughed, "I though the point of leaving the apartment was to get non-breakfast-related items?"

"Everyone knows waffles are an exception to that rule," Devina told him matter-of-factly as she folded her menu closed, apparently committed to her decision. "Besides, I need a sugar rush if I'm going to make it through another night of this project."

"Don't even remind me about that," Brian groaned as he leant back in his seat, rubbing his hand over his face in sheer exhaustion. "This is a safe space, Devina. From now on, there is not allowed to be any talk about university while we are in this building."

"Deal," she nodded, right as their waitress came over to take their orders from them. She ignored the woman's raised-eyebrow look when she ordered her waffles, Brian following her lead when he ordered some breakfast eggs and more coffee for them both.

They talked about music while they waited, something she knew little about, and he was more than happy to educate her on. It was the first time since she'd met him that she'd seen him get so excited, chattering admiringly about his love for the blues and his favourite guitar. He almost shouted at her when she admitted that she'd didn't own a Hendrix album, as if that was the most absurd thing he'd ever heard, and then promised to lend her his own so that she could have 'a proper musical experience.'

     He didn't notice, but she liked to watch his hands while he played with the silver band around his pinky finger, as if he didn't even realise he was doing it. It had been a long time since she'd felt so instantly comfortable with someone like she did with Brian. She used to think of herself as a lonely moon lost in a vast space, but if that were true, then Brian May was a sun; bright, warm, and ever so slowly drawing her into his orbit. It was scary, but inevitably left her craving more.

"Wait— I never did get around to asking you to come to my gig this weekend, did I?" He suddenly ended his rambling to ask her a question while their food got set down in front of them.

     Devina laughed, pulling her plate towards her while she shook her head at his question. "I thought we agreed to wait until we finished this essay."

     "Well then this might be a bit premature of me," he admitted with a slight grin, "but I would really love it if you came to watch me perform on Saturday night."

     Devina hummed in though as she poked at her waffles with her fork. "I don't usually go out during semester," she told him, frowning a little bit when she watched his smile fade a little into disappointment. "But I... I suppose I could make an exception for you."

     She couldn't really explain why her chest lit up a little but when she saw his face break into a smile. "That's great!" He grinned, "I'll have to introduce you to Tim. He's our lead singer. And before you give me that look... no he's not like Roger."

     "What? What look?" Devina rolled her eyes with a vaguely suppressed laugh, making Brian's grow even larger. "I didn't even say anything!"

     Brian shook his head with a satisfied smirk, "You didn't have to."

     Devina leant towards him, resting her arms against the table as she narrowed her eyes at the curly haired man in front of her. "You think you know me that well after just two days?"

     "You're not so mysterious, Devina Pierce," Brian told her with a slight grin as he popped a fork-full of eggs into his mouth and chewed on them. And when she caught his hazel-eyed stare, she was sure he wasn't lying — he really was seeing straight through her. She wasn't so sure how she felt about that, and she knew she didn't have time in her life to figure it out.

"I love this song," she said suddenly to distract the conversation, leaning back into the plush red leather seat as the sugar-sweet voice of Etta James floated out of the juke box on the other side of the room. She let out a content sigh as she closed her eyes, pretending for a moment like she wasn't supposed to be anywhere but in that diner with the curly-haired astrophysicist, the sweet taste of sugar and tea on her tongue and her mind free from the floating equations that seemed to plague her nightmares. For a moment, it seemed to work, and the world was reduced to two teenagers and one song, their knees touching every time they shifted a little closer on their chairs.

"So you like blues then?" Brian asked her, momentarily recapturing her attention as her dark eyes opened to look at his small smile again.

"It's what my grandmother loved to play," Devina admitted with a small shrug. "She used to lend me all of her Elvis and Ella Gitzgerald vinyls to listen to them while I studied. Dad didn't like much music in the house, but I always found a way to get it by him."

Brian nodded as he set his fork down on the empty plate. "She sounds like she has good taste."

     "You'd probably love her," Devina agreed, "she was the one who brought me my first telescope and showed me the Orion constellation. If it weren't for her, my biggest aspiration probably would've been marrying some guy and getting a house in a good neighbourhood."

     She bit her lip when she saw Brian laugh at her admission and shake his head.  "I don't think so. You don't strike me as the kind of girl to let a man take care of you," he told her with a small tilt of his head, her brown eyes following his curls as they tipped over the edge of his shoulders from behind his ear. "I mean... unless they have a textbook you desperately need."

     "Ha ha," she rolled her eyes, pushing her plate away from her and sliding out of the little booth. "Come on, we've wasted enough time talking about me already. Let's finish this essay and then you can show me that Hendrix record you told me about."

     "Deal," Brian said a little too eagerly as he took her outstretched hand to help him out of his bench, letting it linger in hers for just a little bit too long before he suddenly seemed to realise and shoved them both into his back pockets. He left enough cash on the table for both their food before they left, the both of them humming the soft, content tune of Etta's 'At Last' as they walked back out the door and into the chilly nighttime mist.