cloaked heart | detective rogers/killian jones
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[ “cloaked heart” will take place in season 7, when everyone is cursed ]
It was a sunny, lovely day at Hyperion Heights. Zella walked towards her favorite coffee shop, saying hello to all the town people she saw everyday.
If there was something that Zella valued, was her routine. She came into the coffee shop where her best friend was already waiting for her, her blonde hair peeking through a booth.
“Good morning, Tilly” she smiled, sitting in front of the girl.
“Hi Zells!” she giggled, the familiar nickname making Arya giggle too.
“What are we craving today?”
“I can’t decide if I want pancakes or cake”
“Well, it’s your lucky day, because I can’t decide either. Let’s order both and share”
Tilly squealed happily, and called the waitress, Ruby, to order.
While they waited for their food, and talked about what they were going to do that day, someone else walked in the coffee shop.
“Hi, Tilly” he smiled, standing in front of the table.
“Rogers! How do you do?” the girl’s face lit up as he caught sight of the man.
He returned the happy expression, which faded away considerably, as he turned his gaze to Tilly’s companion.
“Zella”
“Detective Rogers” she replied, equally cold.
Zella wasn’t really sure why she and Rogers couldn’t seem to get along. He was always very protective of Tilly, and when she and Zella started getting closer, he made sure to keep an eye on her. Also, the fact that Zella was a street artist and he worked for the police, didn’t make things easier. But that’s how Zella and Tilly had met in the first place, by making a mural together. Zella had always admired Tilly’s graffitis, filled with rare drawings of clocks, rabbits, and all sorts of bizarre things. So when she actually met the artist, she was thrilled, and it was only a matter of time before they became great friends.
Zella had tried to be friendly with Rogers, but he seemed to always be studying her, waiting for her to crack and prove that she wasn’t worthy of Tilly’s friendship. The last straw was when Rogers gave Zella a fine for graffiting. It was clearly because of his personal agenda, since he had never punished Tilly. And ever since that day, she had stopped making an effort to try to gain the man’s trust.
Who did he think he was, anyway, constantly having a say in Tilly’s life?
“Do you want to join us?” asked Tilly, who even though was aware of her friends’ tension, always tried to get them together.
“Maybe some other time” he nodded, said goodbye, and left the coffee shop.
When he left, Zella groaned and rolled her eyes, lying her head on the table. Tilly made a face.
“I really wish you two would get along”
“And I really wish I was a famous millionaire, but we have to keep our dreams realistic” Zella answered, mockingly.
Ruby arrived with their food before Tilly could say something else, and just like that, the subject was dropped.
~•~
Zella stood smiling in front of a blank wall, with her paint and tools, pondering over the million possibilities opening up to her. Deciding what she would draw each day was always an adventure.
Still, even though Zella saw all the people she liked in her everyday life, she also came across the people she didn’t like so much. And so Victoria Belfrey appeared, standing next to her with a fake smile.
“Hello, Zella. I thought we had agreed you would stop painting these… things, on my property” She glared at the buckets of paint the girl was setting up.
“You agreed, I didn’t” Zella replied sharply.
“Very well. I guess you won’t mind if I talk to Detective Rogers about this again, then”
“Be my guest” Zella sneered, and Victoria left, her high heels clicking behind her. “Bitch” she muttered under her breath.
Zella tried to shake away the bad feeling Victoria always caused her, and got to work.
~•~
By dusk, Zella had already finished the mural, and she now sat on the street, admiring it with pride. She had painted different types of flowers, full of colors and shades. Finishing a piece gave her a satisfaction she didn’t get from anything else. She thought about how lifeless and hollow the wall looked before she filled it with vividness and color, as if it had actually bloomed. She sighed contentedly.
At some point, Tilly joined her, sitting next to her with wide eyes.
“Zells, this is amazing!” she exclaimed, observing her friend’s art with admiration and delight.
“It’s pretty great, right?”
“It’s one of my favorites you’ve ever made”
“You say that about every one, Tilly” Zella giggled.
The two friends sat there, wondering at the mural, when Rogers showed up. He, too, stared at what the friends were attentively looking at.
“Wow” he expressed. “This is beautiful, Tilly”
Zella rolled her eyes.
“It wasn’t me” the blonde girl chuckled. “This was all Zella”
Speechless, Rogers gazed at the woman, who looked at him defiantly.
“Oh” he simply said.
“Come on, Rogers. Give Zella a compliment!” Tilly insisted.
“I just said it is good”
“No, you said beautiful”
“Well, okay, it is beautiful. Good job, Zella” Rogers said quickly, as if talking fast would make the wind dissolve the words in the air.
“Does that mean you won’t give me a fine again?” Zella raised an eyebrow, and Rogers rolled his eyes.
“I’ll see you later, Tilly” he said, walking away.
Tilly waved at him, and she immediately turned to Zella, with a big grin and big eyes.
“You’ve got crazy face, what’s going on?” Zella teased.
“He found your art beautiful” she said, smirking.
“Only because he thought it was yours”
“No, he found your art beautiful”
“Yeah, whatever” Zella brushed it off. But she smiled smugly at herself.











