It's been long since i last posted! Since we still have another two weeks before the next chapter, here's a one-shot to keep us company. Enjoy 😉
It had been raining the whole afternoon, something that was missed off by the weather forcast. The ever-ready Loid marched the road to the subway with his umbrella.
"I guess I have no choice..." He quietly mumbled as he decided to go by one of his shortcuts to cut off his time of travel.
With quick but careful steps, he walked through isolated alleyways. Nothing seems to be out of ordinary until he passed by the old closed-down shop.
"Yor?!"
"Loid?"
By rare instance, he ran into Yor who was taking shelter from the rain.
"You're taking shelter here?"
"Yes. I didn't bring an umbrella. I didn't know it will be raining this afternoon." Yor replied.
Loid thought that Yor would be home by now that's why it surprised him to see her. He wondered how she ended up there.
"My work at the hospital ended later than usual so I got off just now. How about you? How long have you been stranded? How did you ended up here?"
"Actually, I wanted to borrow some books from the library so I went there but it was already closed. And then it started to rain before I could make it to the station."
"Maybe we should get going. Anya is probably home by now. We have to go home quick and prepare dinner. Let's hurry so we can still catch the train." Loid said with a glance on his watch.
"But I don't have an umbrella."
"We can share mine."
Yor stared at Loid with widened eyes.
"Share? But..." Her voice trailed off.
She thought if by agreeing to it would mean intrusion of Loid's personal space. Is the umbrella even big enough to cover them in the first place?
Loid must have noticed her hesitation.
"Don't worry, it's big enough for us." He said in reassurance.
"W-Well then..."
And so the two of them stepped out of the shelter and carefully walked the drenched street. Loid held the umbrella while Yor held his briefcase. At first they were able walk just fine but Yor is slowly walking out of pace.
It finally dawned on her that their closeness under the umbrella is making her uneasy.
She knew that there's nothing wrong with sharing an umbrella together. But she wondered if it is a mandatory thing for couples to always share an umbrella, despite only doing this for the first time. They are a couple, though a fake one at that. Yor told herself that she ought to get used to having to share and doing things together. That this is also part of a married couple's normalcy.
While Yor thought of all these things, Loid tried to keep up with her walking pace. In doing so, he could not avoid brushing against her shoulder. He did not think too much of it but he thinks that he is still fine with this proximity. So far, he's been able to match up with Yor. But when they reached the end of block, Yor suddenly took a wrong footing on the cracked pavement and almost tripped. In a flash, Loid's hand grabbed Yor by the shoulder and pulled her close.
"Oops! That was close! Be careful on your steps."
"T-Thank you, Loid. And I-I'm sorry!"
The sudden gesture certainly saved Yor from being hurt and drenched but it did no good to her current state of mind. She was about to combust from anxiety and embarrassment. She could feel the pressure of Loid's hand despite her thick coat. Loid again noticed her reaction.
"Are you o-"
Loid was cut off by a low rumble. Then came a sudden gust that blew the rain against them. The rain poured stronger.
"Let's stop there for a while."
"Okay."
They hurried to the turn of the street where they stopped outside the nearby establishment. They were barely sheltered but it was better than walking in the strong downpour. Loid kept his umbrella open to add protection from the rain. Then he turned to Yor.
"How are you, Yor? Are you alright? You look feverish."
The man didn't know that Yor's feverish countenance had nothing to do with fever at all. The few minutes they spent close together under the umbrella felt longer and Yor was relieved to be freed from the queasy feeling she had to endure.
"No, no, it's nothing! I'm fine... How about you? You've been holding the umbrella for me. Aren't you drenched?" Yor tried diverting the question.
"I'm okay. I'm not that wet."
"It seems like we're stuck again... How about if I go home first? I can just run all the way-"
"No, Yor! You can't risk getting sick. It will be safer to wait for a little while." Loid protested and thought for a moment if Yor really meant to run all the way home.
"But no one is with Anya."
"Anya is with Bond. They are probably having fun together watching cartoons. Besides, she can be more independent than you might imagine." Loid reasoned, trying to convince himself too at the same time.
"I hope so."
After that, silence ensued and only the rain can be heard. The rain is giving no sign of faltering. Loid and Yor start to feel the dampness through their coats. The both of them are rather confident on their own that they won't get sick even if they dashed out in the rain. But so as to not worry the other, they opted to stay put.
Quickly, more and more people took shelter with them. And as the place became more crowded, Loid and Yor had to adjust closer until they're practically stuck together. Yor felt the agitation coming back again and Loid also realized his own uneasiness.
What felt like an hour was only a mere span of fifteen minutes. It's been only fifteen minutes since Loid and Yor walked through the rain under the same umbrella.
It was only a short time. But they both knew that it will take more than a strong downpour to wash the memory away.
Headcanon: Balloon Party cries every time she has to leave someone she likes or a person she likes has to leave.
One time Vertin left for like a minute or two and when she came back Balloon Party was sobbing on the ground. Then she immediately stopped crying when she saw her back and hugged Vertin, much to the timekeeper's confusion.
Also if she doesn't cry when someone leaves, that means she doesn't like them in the slightest.
Do you ever meet someone who makes you run in circles claw at the walls foam at the mouth and scratch the curtains with how much you care about them or is it just me
headcanon that postal dude would mansplain his special interest at least once
he would eventually stop but now instead of manplaing he just straights up infodumps on any unsuspecting person because he just assumes everyone must know the same amount of information he does about something he likes