#like staring directly into the face of a brilliant solar eclipse

[quirinah]

please stay by me!

[padfootagain]

The Flower Shop Around The Corner (VI)

Part 6 : After The Rain

Here's another chapter! The cloud has passed, now let's get back to something a little sweeter, shall we ;)

I hope you all like this chapter!

Gif not mine

Word Count: 2220

It felt good to have him back into your life. It felt good to be expecting his letter again, and it felt even better to read about his day. It was wonderful to have someone to talk to. Although, if the Wallet Guy was back into your life in a pretty normal pattern, one thing was changing.

Chris Evans.

You had noticed over the past couple of weeks how much your relationship with him had evolved at work. You were actually having full conversations with him without being annoyed. You found out that he was pretty funny, actually. Not a full on funny – not yet – but he was making you smile quite often. He seemed to be a better listener than you had thought too. And he was quite… sweet…

What was happening? Was hell freezing over or something?

Although, Chris and you were merely seeing each other at work. You were becoming almost work-friends, which was much more than what you would have imagined only weeks before.

You were thinking about this change when Chris let himself fall on the chair next to yours at lunchbreak.

"A penny for your thoughts?" he asked with a smile and a curious glint in his eyes, grabbing his fork and studying the piece of meat in his plate with a perplex expression.

"Nothing really, just daydreaming."

"Daydreaming? About what? Or… whom?"

You chuckled.

"It's none of your business."

"Alright, keep your secrets then," he wriggled his eyebrows in a dramatic gesture that had you laughing this time.

Oh good Lord, you were even laughing with him now… you would have to check if pigs might have learned to fly over the last few days.

Meanwhile, Chris was smiling at the sound of your laughter. The sound echoed through his heart spreading warmth like sunshine in summer. The more he learned to know you, the brighter you seemed to become to him. You were solar now. Smiling and laughing, and he had to admit that you were even funny. In some of your deepest conversations, he could recognize Peony in you: in the way you spoke, in the words you chose, in the kindness you showed… Slowly but irrevocably, you and Peony were mingling to become one, the fusion of what he saw as two souls into one more complex being. And the more he knew you, the more he liked what he saw.

Was he on his way into falling for you?

He chose to push the thought away, for now at least. But what could not be delayed any longer was the test he had imagined: for now, you only spoke to each other at work, but what were you like outside? Around a dinner in a nice restaurant, with a beer in your hand at a bar, taking a walk down the Hudson River… what were you like outside the studio? Were you more like Peony then, or were you yet another part of you then?

He took a deep breath, wearing his most casual expression and making sure his tone was calm and nonchalant.

"You know… it's been a tiring week. We've been doing crazy hours and our scenes were quite rough."

"Yes, I guess."

"What about we grab a drink tonight? I've asked a few other people around, and we're already four going out. Would you like to come as well?"

You considered the offer for a moment. You would have been lying if you hadn't admitted that you were rather nervous at the idea of going out with Chris. But then, it was simply to grab a drink with other co-workers, what were the risks?

"Yeah, sure. Why not?" you accepted the offer with a grin.

Chris made a lot of efforts to ignore the way his heart sped up in his chest.

"Great! Great… We'll just leave directly after work, I think. Is that okay?"

"Yes, sure. Perfect."

Chris smiled.

"Perfect…"

 ------------------------------------------------------------

 "You're ridiculous, mate. You realize that you're calling me in the middle of the day, panicked, to ask me advices about Y/N Y/L/N. You're acting like a teenage boy."

"I'm not behaving like a teenage boy, and I just needed to talk about it with someone, because I'm a little… nervous, I guess."

"Nervous? You're panicked."

"I'm not panicked!"

"You are."

"No, I'm not."

Anthony merely chuckled.

"Where are you hiding to make this call anyway? In your trailer?"

Chris fiercely blushed.

"A cupboard," he answered, pushing with the tip of his shoe the bottle of detergent at his feet.

Anthony exploded in laughter, and Chris rolled his eyes, heaving an annoyed sigh.

"Just… you know what? Drop it. I'll manage."

"I'm sorry, man. Go ahead, go ahead, tell me everything."

"Drop it."

"No, no, no. Go ahead," Chris's friend insisted, ceasing his laughing and teasing.

"I'm just… nervous. What if I let something slip? What if everything goes sour? Then what? I'll have lost Peony all over again."

"Chris, that's were you're wrong, buddy. It's not about Peony. It's about Y/N. You have to forget about these letters, cause they won't show you who Y/N truly is. Peony… she's just a fragment, mate. She's not real. Y/N is the real person, she's the complex, filled with paradox being you need to like or dislike. Forget about Peony, and learn about Y/N instead."

Chris remained silent for a moment, letting his friend's words sink in. He could see the truth in his words, but somehow, he just couldn't apply the advice on his life for now. Peony was too much in his thoughts, too present in his heart. She surrounded his whole existence, defined the rhythm of his days, still brought some of the best moments of his days. If you had become solar, Peony was brighter still, an entire galaxy, clouds shining as they gathered and mingled in her shape. He realized then that he didn't only need to know you better and make you brighter, he also needed to give you a chance to eclipse Peony. And for now, this tiny fragment of you outshined too much the rest of the world, to allow him to see you.

"Thank you," he breathed into the phone.

"For tonight, just… have a nice time. Don't overthink things too much. Don't think about how Y/N acts like Peony or differently. Just think about how Y/N acts, and you'll be fine."

"Thank you again. You're rather good at giving advices, have you ever thought about starting a show for broken hearts or something?"

"Very funny. Good luck for tonight."

"Thanks."

Chris hung up and leaned against a shelf covered with bottles behind him, heaving a sigh. He needed to get Peony out of his system, and yet… yet he couldn't stop writing to you and reading your notes, he knew it. He didn't have the strength to do it.

And somehow, deep down, he knew that the reason behind his doubts and difficulties was that he was afraid to lose you completely. At least, if he lost the real you, he would still have Peony. And if he couldn't have all of you, then he would accept all the pieces you would grant him. He realized then that maybe, just maybe, if he liked Peony so much, it was simply because he liked you more.

 -------------------------------------------------------------------

 "Come on, Y/N. Focus! Focus! You're our only chance!"

"Don't stress me out!"

"I'm not!"

"You are! Just shut up!"

"Okay, okay…"

Chris was standing right behind you, staring at the target. You turned between your fingers the last dart in your hand.

If you hit the centre, you and Chris won. Otherwise, you lost. Your fate depended only on this dart.

"You can do it, Y/N, come on."

You took a couple of deep breaths, raising your hand before you and taking aim. Your hand swung a couple of times before you, and then…

3…

2…

1…

You threw the dart towards the target and…

"YES!"

Chris's shout made you jump a little, but your own joy made you cheer as well instead.

You spun around, and found yourself trapped in a tight hug as he lifted you up and made you twirl, making you laugh harder.

"WE WON! You're brilliant!"

You merely laughed in response. Eventually, he stopped making you spin, and his eyes met yours as more laughter passed your lips and his. Suddenly, you were both very aware of how close you two were…

Your breath got stuck in your throat, but you didn't let go of your hold on Chris's upper arms. You could feel the muscles tense and flex under your fingers. Your chest was pressed against his, and as air left and entered your lungs the feeling only increased. Why did you notice so many silly details? Like… how blue his eyes were up close, in the pale light of the crowded pub. How long his eyelashes were… how was it even humanly possible to have eyelashes that long? You noticed the droplets of light caught in his beard, and the way his lips parted slightly… every detail. Why was that?

And as all these questions and acknowledgements passed through your mind, Chris's brain had gone completely blank. He could use his sense, and he reacted to them, but he had no way to comprehend what was happening. There were feelings and chemical reactions to them, but no analyses. How could he? His entire body was on overload.

He lost himself in your stare as if falling in an endless, beautiful pit. He was aware of each detail of your fingers upon his upper arms, even though the contact was only through his T-shirt. He didn't dare to move his arms that were still wrapped around you, he was too much aware of how perfectly you fitted in his arms. Your breath bloomed against his face and brushed his lips, making him barely able to breathe himself. The warmth irradiating from your body and passing through him, the feeling of your heart beating against him… His heart was surely going to explode. He could barely breathe.

Slowly – too slowly for it not to make the air between the two of you get filled with electricity- he put you down. An invisible tension appeared between you, the kind that prevented any of you to break eye-contact. At one point, Chris wondered if time had merely slowed down, or if his movements truly were too slow. But it didn't really matter. After all, even if he had wanted to, he couldn't move faster. It was already requiring an extraordinary effort from him to summon the sufficient will to gently put you down to the ground.

He kept his arms wrapped around you for a long while, and you didn't make any movement to break free. You could feel his hear beating against yours, almost in sync despite their crazy speed. There was this tension, this electricity buzzing through the air between the two of you. The crowded pub was filled with noises, and yet none of you could notice any of the energy and life going on around you.

Chris caught himself right before he would lean forward to kiss you. He glimpsed at your lips and realized then that in the dim light of the pub, you were so absolutely gorgeous. There was something about you that made him forget the entire universe. Something in your eyes that captured his soul and he didn't recall having ever felt this way with anyone else. Somehow, you were outshining everyone else.

Even Peony…

He glimpsed a second time at your lips, and God… did he want to kiss you… He wondered how it would feel like, what would your lips taste like, how would your hair run through his fingers… How would it feel to kiss you?

He wanted to kiss you so badly… and finally the truth hit him. It caught the air in his lungs like a punch in the stomach, it shook his entire being to his soul.

He was falling for you…

He had kept his doubts until this very evening, but there he was now, holding you with his heart ready to explode, and there was no denial possible this time. He had not even thought about Peony this evening, he had considered only you. That was it, you were outshining even her. Because right now you were funny and gentle and simply such a wonderful person to be around. And he was ready to fall for you, the real you, the complete version of you, instead of the pieces he could see through Peony.

Should he try to kiss you? Damn, he wanted to do so so badly, but he didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable, and you were still working together, and you were just starting to not hate him anymore… should he kiss you?

But you finally pushed him away gently, and he snapped out of the trance he seemed to have entered. Red shades coloured his cheeks, and he let go of you in hurried movements before uncomfortably passing a hand through his hair.

"Well done… with the game," he gave you a shy smile.

"Thank you, partner," you joked, making him laugh.

You turned to grab your drink, and he admired how the light embraced your form, how your lips curved in a little smile, how your fingers embraced the cool glass…

He couldn't refrain a discreet sigh. He was falling hard for you… but could you fall for him too?

*******************************************

Tag list : @ponycake27 @horsesreign @xinyourdreamsx @jbluevelvet @notkeppeki @daynigt-dreamer-stuff @fudgeflyss @stuckupstucky @snek-shit @suchatinyinfinity @i-padfootblack-things  @buckybsarmy @heyohheyitsgabi @madamrogers @marvelcapsicle @theonelittleone @bookgirlunicorn  @simamenickk  @tessxblxckthorn​ @xceafh @illi-vanilli @panic-naran @lahoete @humandasaster @thenormreedus @symonlyjen5 @panic-naran @whothehellisspideypool @sing4mejensen  @draqcnheartstrinq  @humandasaster  @beckastark @biba3434 

[kaermenna]

The Pointy End

@idonthatemaiko​ READ ON FF.NET || READ ON AO3

A\N: Yes, I’m a month late, but I missed writing maiko stuff, so here I am. Also, this is an old draft that I only managed to finish now. It’s not as polished as I wanted, but with the mess that is my life now, it’s the best I can get. But hey, it’s Maiko! Maiko is always good!

Mai loved practicing. She really did.

It was a little tedious and dull, but whenever she took the time to practice her knife throwing, darts throwing, or any kind of projectile throwing, she was comfortable. The sound of the target being hit always gave her a small proud feeling, even though it was too easy, even though she was always alone in a confined room.

Of course, it would always end quickly, unless she was trying a really troublesome routine, or trying to perfect a new move or weapon, in which case she would end up staying a little more than one hour in the practice room. But the short time she needed to spend on it was part of the reason why she loved practicing.

However, at that specific moment, she thought practice was a torture.

“I missed it again!” Zuko’s cry of frustration could have been funny or at least amusing in any other situation. But at that moment it was annoying, so Mai rolled her eyes to not give in to the temptation of throwing her knife at him.

“Of course you did,” she said through her clenched teeth, “You suck at this.”

She walked to the few fallen knives, five feet away from the target they were using, hoping he would now stop being stubborn and finally go to anywhere else, putting an end to her agony. 

“But, how? I aimed them perfectly!” Mai didn’t have to stare at him to know that he was with his eyes bulged incredulously, even though this outcome was pretty much just as expected.

“If you did, you wouldn’t have missed it.”

Her hopes of peace at last were crushed when he walked towards her, hands raised to take the knives back, ready for a new endless set of throws. So she held them protectively, not very eager to watch him fail helplessly and disturbing her own practice time.  

At her reluctance, Zuko took a deep breath, eyes shining with a new determination. When he spoke again, his voice wasn’t whiny nor angry, “Let me do it again, I’ll get it right this time.”

"You won’t get it right that fast. It took months of practice for me…”

“Just give me the knives.” 

Mai sighed and pushed the knives to his chest and walking away to sit in the corner of the room. Between hours of annoyance at his insistence and a heated argument around pointy objects, she decided to just let her boyfriend have his way. 

The first throw went straight to the floor and she grunted out loud. The second hit the vicinity of the target, but it just bounced off the wall and fell down to the floor. One would think, by this pattern, that he was showing progress, and that the third would come closer to the bull's eye, or finally perforate the practicing wood, but she had seen enough to know that it was just dumb luck, and he would oscillate between getting better and getting worse.

Finally, she grows tired of watching. Any other day she would love to just ogle at him practicing; she used to do it so often and so attentively to his movements, that she had basically memorized the way his body fluidly moved during his firebending routine.

And that was what was annoying her the most right now.

“You’re moving as if you're bending,” she mutters. 

“What?” Her comment puzzled him, but he stopped throwing the knives for a second, so she took it as a win.

“The knife. Your posture. Your aiming. The way you throw,” Mai explained vaguely, still too impatient with him to offer substantial help.

That time her anger didn't pass by unnoticed by him, so he quickly changed his question to a more submissive tone, “What do you mean by that?”

Mai only stared at him silently for a few seconds, trying hard to ignore the way his eyes glinted in expectation, just like a puppy hoping to be taken out for a walk. So she sighed, thinking that if she provided a more detailed explanation he’d get it right at least once and then leave her alone, and she approached him.

 “Your arm.” She held it and slowly moved it just like he was doing a few moments ago, and then paused, freezing it midair, “Here. You start it right, but then you do this, like when you are bending.” Mai let go of his arm and moved around him as he stood perfectly still, paying careful attention to her instructions. Then she tapped on his back, pointing something else out, “Your posture. This. It’s too stiff. Your moves have to flow smoothly for the knife to fly properly.” She held his hand that wielded the knife and, leaning her face close to his shoulder, rose it a bit higher, “You have to aim even higher than this. Steel is heavier than flames, so it loses altitude easily. And the strength. You’re going too light. You need to give enough power to the knife, so it will pierce the wall, not just hit it.” 

“Okay, I got it.” 

“Did you really?” Her face got a little brighter, the hope that she would be able to leave the practice room in the near future growing on her. Maybe he could do it. He was smart, maybe not a genius nor a prodigy, but he had a brilliant mind nevertheless. He could understand that and just hit the target at least once.

“No, I have no idea of what you just said,” he deadpanned and she felt like tearing at her hair.

“For crying out loud, Zuko!" She actually shrieked in frustration, her patient gone to the point that she couldn’t even keep a straight face anymore, "Aren’t you a twin sword user? Don’t you know at least the basics?” 

“I never had to throw them!" He shrieked back, frustrated at himself as well, but refusing to give up, "I could use firebending for that!”

“Then keep using them. Quit the knife throwing mania.”

Mai’s position was final and unshakeable. She was not going to stay another hour in there, helping him to achieve something he most certainly wasn’t going to in one single afternoon. Otherwise, if she spent one more minute supervising his practice, she’d end up actually hating him – and knives.

Zuko, however, refuses to relent.

“But I need a different skill. What if something happens and I’m momentarily incapable of firebending?”

“Just use with your damn swords.” 

“But what if…”

Mai’s sharp glance made him stop his sentence halfway and just forget about protesting. And that was when, after seeing his distressed and troubled expression, she hesitated and felt her irritation subside a little bit.

She had been a nonbender for her entire life, she was used to not having bending as a resource. But the prospects of being completely out of touch with it would be dreadful for someone who had been reliant on bending through most of their lives. And yes, Zuko was quite proficient with his swords, but as knife-thrower, Mai knew better than anyone that, unlike firebending, they were a limited resource. 

Of course, she could handle herself. In a world where benders were the supreme force of a nation, she learned very early how to defend herself and survive. But perhaps for someone used to always having a boundless source of power, it was too scary to suddenly be faced with a restricted amount and reach of weaponry, just like he did during the Solar Eclipse. And because of that - because she just couldn't handle when he looked at her like that - Mai felt the need to reassure him, even if it was just a bit. Even if she wasn't used to it.

“If you’re benderless and your swords are suddenly gone, you know you don’t have to worry, right?" She felt weird by saying stuff like that directly, but since it was him needing some comfort, she would look past her embarrassment and just try to lift his mood, "You’ll have me to protect you.”

Zuko finally settled his hands then, and didn’t try to resist when she took her knives back. On the contrary, he smiled like a goofy little boy, all of the uneasiness gone, as he teased her.

“I don’t need any protection,” he said with a laugh.

“Of course you do! You're lame and you need me for everything," she raised her voice for the second time, which was a clear sign of just how much Zuko managed  to irk her. Seeing that he wasn't disappointed in the slightest, and was only trying to convince her with his teary eyes, made all of her compassion and gentleness fade away, "Now, pick up your swords. I’ve got a lot of pent up frustration and I know exactly the best target to get rid of it.”

Mai had never seen a more satisfied target before.