Louisa woke up to the unpleasant sound of her alarm clock, reaching an arm out to shut the thing off before fumbling for her glasses in the dark; almost knocking them off her bedside table as she did so.
A few minutes later the curtains were drawn back and the weak, early-morning sunlight filtered through into her small room. She set to work washing her face and getting dressed in her usual attire, rushing unnecessarily in fear that she might arrive to work late, despite making sure she left plenty of time for any little mishaps that may happen in the morning.
Next came breakfast that was always kept simple, just in case disaster struck and she ended up late. She ate in her usual spot by the window, either admiring the view or engrossed in a book; though occasionally she would be reading over notes from the day before.
A quick brush of the teeth and one last glimpse in the mirror were all she needed before she picked up her books, put on her shoes, and left for work.
She entered the offices in a rush and hastily reported to Fitzgerald who, as usual, told her that there was nothing to worry about and that she was, as usual, early.
Once Fitzgerald had given her all the information she needed, for now, she hurried off to her own little office and activated her ability, getting to work on battle plans and strategies The Guild could use against their enemies.
A little while later and the rest of the members began to arrive, including Poe who was always in awe of how dedicated Louisa was to her work. He would always watch her during her breaks, noticing that even though her ability wasn’t activated, she was still thinking things over. He was also very proud that he could offer her information to help her write the most effective strategies and plans, feeling his heart swell as he realised he could be of some use to her.
Today, however, he immediately noticed when she didn’t come out for her customary mid-morning break. He didn’t want to disturb her and batted the notion of asking Fitzgerald backwards and forwards in his head.
“What do you think I should do, Karl?” He asked his pet racoon, who simply chittered in response. “I could ask someone, but, everyone seems so busy! I wouldn’t want to disturb them, least of all Louisa!” He spoke quietly so that no one who happened to be walking outside his office door could hear.
Karl continued to chitter and Poe listened carefully. “You’re right, I’ll wait until lunch. If she’s not out by then, then I’ll take action and talk to someone on their lunch break. Oh, but I’ll have to catch them before they sit down to eat, I couldn’t have them going hungry because I want a chat.”
Poe continued to work on-and-off, throwing his ideas both work-related and Louisa-related at Karl, who patiently answered all of his questions with various chitters, squeaks and tilts of the head. Unfortunately for him, however, he was so caught up worrying that he forgot about lunch and just missed Louisa when he rushed out to find someone, stuttering and waving his hands about as he tried to speak his mind. Dejectedly walking back to his office when he found out Louisa would be working for the rest of the day.
Eventually, it was time to go home, yet Poe waited patiently for Louisa to finish, knowing she would work overtime like always.
Louisa deactivated her ability and sighed, rubbing her eyes before jumping up to hand her strategies to Fitzgerald, knowing that he was waiting behind for her to finish. She opened the door only to jump in fright and drop her papers as she heard a shout from an equally scared Poe who had been startled by the door suddenly bursting open, Karl darting off to hide.
“O-Oh, I’m s-so sorry, Poe-!”
“I-I’m so sorry L-Louisa-!”
The pair of them apologised simultaneously, both taking the blame upon themselves.
“N-No no! It’s ok-!” They continued to chorus, each becoming more embarrassed by the moment.
“L-Let me help you with those,” Poe dropped to the floor and began picking up papers, Louisa quickly joining him and telling him over and over that he didn’t need to help her, though she was very grateful of his help.
Together, the two of them managed to get all of Louisa’s work to Fitzgerald, who thanked Louisa greatly for working overtime today.
With that done, Poe and Louisa made their way out of the offices.
“S-Say...Louisa?” Poe started hesitantly, glancing across at her.
“Oh! Um, yes?” Louisa jumped a little, not expecting Poe to start a conversation with her.
“You...were working really hard today...and...you look r-really tired...so...” Poe continued slowly, causing Louisa to look at him curiously. “...I was wondering...would...you...” He looked away, building up his courage. “Would you...like to spend the evening with me?”
Louisa was no doubt, surprised at Poe’s words and didn’t know how to react. “Oh, well, um, I..I think, ah...” She stuttered, trying to piece a sentence together.
“J-Just a yes or no is ok,” Poe said with a small smile, wanting to save her the embarrassment.
“Oh! Ok! Well...yes...I think,” She managed to say, returning Poe’s smile and causing it to widen.
“Great! Let’s go then!” He began to lead Louisa towards his house, checking to make sure she was next to him in case he accidentally sped up out of nervousness and determination to be a good host for her this evening.
Once they got home, Poe led Louisa to the living room and she perched on the edge of a chair, watching him.
“So, um, can I get you anything?” Poe asked, Karl making himself comfortable in Louisa’s lap.
“Y-Yes please, a cup of tea would be nice,”
Poe disappeared into the kitchen and Louisa took a look around, noticing the bookshelf along one wall. She wondered if it would be rude to stand up and take a look, settling for squinting from her seat as she tried to recognise any of the volumes.
When Poe returned with two cups of tea, Louisa said a quiet thank you and summoned up the courage to ask about Poe’s book collection.
“S-So...Poe...you seem to have q-quite a few books on your bookcase,” Louisa started while sipping her tea.
“Oh yes, I’m a big fan of books,” Poe smiled and rubbed the back of his head shyly. “Do you...want to take a look?” He asked and saw Louisa’s face light up.
“Yes, please! I’d like that very much!” She said and stood up, following Poe with her tea still in hand.
The two spent a good couple of hours talking about books, their confidence growing as they compared opinions on book, after book, after book. Eventually, they ended up pulling a couple of chairs over so they could sit down and discuss at lengths the ins and outs of whatever books they were passionate about. At one point Poe was Louisa’s eyes light up in a way he hadn’t seen yet as she pulled out a certain book from his bookshelf.
“I’ve always wanted to read this...” She breathed quietly.
“Hm? You haven’t read this yet?” Poe peered over her shoulder at the cover.
“I could never find it in the shops even though I’ve been searching for years! Would you let me borrow it?” She turned around to look at Poe with pleading eyes.
“Of course! Then we can discuss it once you have!” He grinned and the two continued scanning Poe’s bookshelf until every book had been exhausted.
“Whew, that was fun,” Poe sighed as he sat on the sofa with Louisa next to him. What would you like to do now? Perhaps a film? You look pretty exhausted after that,” He gave her a kind smile.
“Sounds great! What shall we watch?”
“Hmm...how about you go pick one from my collection and I’ll get us some blankets and popcorn.” Poe stood up and went to fetch the blankets, leaving Louisa to find a film. Considering they had such similar tastes in books, it wasn’t hard to pick a film the both of them would like.
A short time later they were snuggled under the blankets with the popcorn between them, enjoying each other’s company as the film started. They had both pledged not to start commenting until after the film had finished, or they would be here all night. As such, they watched it in comfortable silence until Poe felt something touch his shoulder.
“Hm?” He looked down to find Louisa fast asleep, her head resting on his shoulder peacefully. He smiled fondly at her, glad that she was getting some rest after such a busy day. He continued to watch the film until the end, but once it had finished he didn’t want to move and disturb the sleeping figure, and as such, ended up falling asleep there too, his head resting gently against hers, with Karl curled up between them.
Hello, I was chatting with someone on Insta and how there weren’t may PoeCott fics about so I decided to add to the collection with my own little oneshot! Apologies if Poe and Louisa aren’t in character - this is my first time writing them and I’m sure there’s a lot more to their personalities than ‘shy and socially awkward’ but I’m afraid I don’t know them well enough yet to appreciate the subtleties. Hopefully, as I do get to know them better, my portrayal of them will improve.
Anyway, apologies for throwing stuff at you while not giving you Chapter 13, I think I’m just not very motivated at the moment to continue stuff I started a while ago so bear with me while I try to boost my motivation (to be honest my motivation all round is at a low so I’m trying to write while the idea is fresh in my head so it doesn’t just become yet another half-finished work in my drafts).
Have a great day/night and thank you for your patience!