[#230] In Their Multitudes (Twin Peaks)

[tildytwo]

Theme Prompt: Stargazing
Title: In Their Multitudes
Fandom: Twin Peaks
Rating/Warnings: NA
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1000
Summary: Albert makes a friend.

Buckhorn, South Dakota is uncommonly quiet after dark. Not as quiet as some towns Albert has visited, but quiet enough that when Constance Talbot leads him up on the roof of the hotel he can hear the door click open.

"Some day somebody's going to come up here and fall," she explains, holding the door open for him. "But until then, this is a good place to enjoy the evening."

"You spend a lot of time on hotel rooftops, do you?" Albert asks.

"My mother was a housekeeper here," she says. "I've been coming up here for two decades or more."

"The housekeeper's daughter is a coroner," he says thoughtfully. "That's a lot of student loans."

"Not if you get the right job."

For a moment he doesn't understand. When he does, he's glad the darkness covers his reddening face. "Whatever pays the bills, I suppose."

"Don't knock it 'til you've tried it. Dancing's no different than any other customer service job, except the clothes are a little smaller."

"Guess I wouldn't know."

She pulls a cigarette from her pocket and lights it, then turns her face up to the sky and slowly lets out a stream of smoke. She offers the cigarette to him. Neither of them speak as he takes a drag.

They pass the cigarette back and forth for a while, gazing up at what stars are visible through Buckhorn's very typical light pollution.

It's been a long time since he's spent any length of time looking at the stars. Five years, six, maybe seven? He was out west then, too, visiting Harry. The sky was darker out there, not enough to see the Milky Way—Harry had tried to convince him to go out to a state park, swore it was a view to die for, but Albert knows enough about the wilderness to know he'd rather live—but dark enough for Harry to point out various constellations. Albert had been sure he was making some of them up, had watched his face carefully in the dark for any sign of deception, but Harry swore they were all real. It hardly mattered; Albert spent more time looking at Harry than at the sky.

They smoke the cigarette down to the filter, and Constance taps it out on the heel of her shoe. The two of them have barely spoken since they left the table on the restaurant downstairs, but it's nice to be around someone who doesn't feel the need to automatically fill silence.

Despite the weather, that breeze is cool. Albert pulls his jacket a little tighter around him. Without a word, Constance whips off her jacket and drapes it around his shoulders.

"I'm fine," he says.

"Southern boy," she says, as if he hails from Arkansas and not DC, but she says it so fondly that he doesn't correct her.

"Besides," he says instead, "isn't that my job?"

She looks at him closely. "Is it?"

He doesn't know what to say.

"I have to be honest with you, Albert. I'm not looking for a relationship."

Again, for a moment he doesn't understand. Where did that come from? And then it occurs to him—the dinner, the drinks, the sharing of a cigarette under the stars... Son of a bitch. This is a date.

Constance laughs. "By the look on your face, neither are you."

"I'm not," he stammers. "That is, I would if I were..." But he can't bring himself to say the words, to admit our loud what he is. "I thought we were..."

But Constance finally takes pity on him. "Friends," she finishes. "So did I. But I've been wrong before, so I thought I'd clarify."

He ought to be embarrassed, but right now he's overwhelmed by his victory. He has a friend. She wants nothing from him except his companionship.

Constance smiles at him in the darkness of the rooftop. "I'm glad we're on the same page. I would hate to have to dump you before we've known each other a week."

"I'll bet you would." He smiles back. She's his friend.

"This has been fun, Albert. Too bad you don't live closer, or I'd say we should do it again some time."

Right. The smile fades. This is South Dakota, and sooner or later he's going to go home. This may very well be the last time they see each other face to face like this.

"The night's still young," she reminds him. "What do you say we go to my place? Kid's probably in bed, but you can meet my partner."

"You're gonna bring a homewrecker like me to your actual home?"

Constance laughs and waves him off. "She knows you're not my type."

The smile catches again, burning bright in the dark. "In that case, let's do it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. You've met Cole and Preston. I might as well meet your people." He grabs the door handle and pulls.

The door doesn't move.

He pulls again. The knob doesn't even twist. He pulls and twists and kicks, and is getting ready to start biting when Constance puts her hand on his shoulder.

"Well, gold star for effort," she says. "But I think it's locked."

"Oh, to guarantee that somebody's gonna fall off this damn building?" he snaps.

She shrugs. "We don't have to take the fire escape. Somebody's bound to miss us."

True. He takes out his phone and thinks for a moment. He can't call Cole—he'll take the fact of Albert being alone with a woman and jump to conclusions. He'll text Preston. Even if she jumps to conclusions, she's more likely to keep them to herself.

"On roof of hotel," he writes. "Need the door opened." After a moment's consideration, he adds, "Please."

When he's finished, Constance offers him another smile.

"My hero," she says.

"Save it for Tammy," he tells her.

"Who did you think I was talking about?"

He scowls at her, but his heart is warm. A friend. He has a friend.