#sloane x f!mc

[endlessly-searching-for-you]

Hi lovely! Requesting 34 "stuck in the rain" from Fluffy Fridays!! whichever pairing you'd like, I'm just a sucker for rain scenes. :)

I've got you covered! https://endlessly-searching-for-you.tumblr.com/post/180663124724/hail-rain-or-sunshine-sloane-x-fmc

[endlessly-searching-for-you]

Hail, Rain or Sunshine (Sloane x F!MC)

A/N: Hello, it’s @dancetothestoriesinyoursoul Fluffy Friday again! This time my girl Sloane gets some love (ha! Surprise!). As requested by @zaffrenotes - “The text that changed everything” and @likethetailofacomet - “Stuck in the rain”. Hope you enjoy :) 

PS. I swear I wrote most of it before I was snatched for a surprise weekend in the mountains!

Warnings: none, pure fluff

Word Count: ~1300

As usual, title stolen from a song (by The Script)

Tagging the rest of my usual squad: @darley1101 @brightpinkpeppercorn @mind-reader1

Hiking. Of all things they could do together this weekend, Kai had to choose hiking. Sloane rubbed her eyes and sighed. She wasn't an outdoorsy person, and she didn't like to wake up early either, but how could she say no to her girlfriend?

Her girlfriend. Even thinking about her was giving Sloane butterflies in the stomach. It's been almost a month, but sometimes it was still too hard to believe it's happening for real.

One day she had a drink too much and confessed her crush. What's even worse, via text. Not that she hoped for anything—just like they say, a drunk mind speaks a sober heart—and she regretted sending it almost immediately. But the next day, when she sat in a chair curled up in a miserable bundle with her cat Ruby in her lap, nursing the headache and looking for programmer jobs in Alaska, Kai called her back.

Well... tried to call. When Sloane recognized the caller ID, she let out a loud shriek and threw her phone like a football champion. The phone hit the wall, making a dent and cracking the screen, bounced off and landed in Ruby's water bowl. That last thing was too much for the fragile electronics' dignity to handle, and despite her best efforts to revive it, the phone stayed dead.

Just as she widened her search area to the remote outskirts of Europe (was Bydgoszcz even a real city?!), she heard a noise behind the door. Two people whispered animatedly, female voice soft and pleading, male hoarse and annoyed. She moved closer, wondering which of her neighbors were it this time.

“Come on, Kai. You know I can't just break into her apartment because she doesn't answer your calls!”

“But Damien, please... I know her. I'm worried. She would never... never...” Kai choked with sobs. “What if it's this Eros thing all over again—”

“Kai, please. You know we shut them down for good.”

“What if we didn't?”

Oh crap. Sloane didn't expect Kai to come here, let alone take Damien with her. And she definitely didn't expect her to be in tears because she thought Eros kidnapped her. Think, think, think!!! She pressed her forehead to the door and tried to collect her thoughts. It was too late to run. Time to face the music. She cracked open the door just a little and peeked sheepishly at her two friends.

“Hey.”

“Oh God, Sloane, you're fine!” Kai jumped into her arms, almost knocking her down. “I can't believe it! What were you thinking?! You had me worried!” She whispered, peppering her face with kisses.

“Uh... Clearly, you two don't need me. I'll see myself out.” Damien smiled awkwardly, but they didn't even hear or see him, already headed inside the apartment.

Sloane smiled at the memory. It was probably the only time when drunk texting made someone happy.

She grabbed her coffee and went through the checklist again. She spent the last few nights looking for a perfect packing list and helpful tips on the internet, barely getting any sleep, just to make sure they were prepared for everything the wildlife could throw at them.

If only that thing wasn't so heavy, she sighed, looking at the giant backpack propped against the wall. The seller insisted it was too big for a woman her size, but Sloane snapped at him. She heard the phrase way too many times and was already tired with it. Can't graduate from MIT? Can't be a programmer? Can't have a girlfriend? Can't have the backpack she wants?! Oh yes, she can and she will! She left the store with her head up, clutching the backpack to her chest, feeling like she had won a battle. But right now, when she tried to pull it up from the floor, she started to consider the possibility of the seller being just a little bit right.

Maybe we don't really need the tent, she thought. Or the camping stove. Or the electric marshmallow toaster. Yes, the toaster was definitely overkill, but it was too late to repack the whole thing again. With a loud groan, she lifted it from the floor and took one last glance in the mirror. Kai would love her khaki shorts, she thought and felt a surge of panic. Weather! Out of habit, she was checking the forecasts for the city, and the two wasn't necessarily the same. She dashed to her laptop, but at the same time, Kai knocked at the door and burst in without waiting for her response.

“Hurry up! We're gonna miss our bus!” Her eyes widened, and she broke into a fit of giggles when she noticed Sloane's luggage. “Oh dear. You know you didn't have to take the whole house with you, right? It's just two days!”

“You know I like to be prepared.”

“Fine. But don't come to me for help!”

“We'll see who will be asking for help!” Sloane scowled at her girlfriend, running down the stairs. “You'll come back begging me to share my tent when it rains!”

“Relax. There won't be any rain, I checked.”

***

“I think we're walking in circles,” Sloane sighed, looking around. “I'm pretty sure I saw this rock already.”

“We're in the mountains. There are a lot of rocks.”

“Yes, but this one looks like a cat. See? Here are his ears...” She pointed at the rock, her finger drawing shapes in the air, and Kai chuckled.

“You're right!” She looked at her girlfriend. “On both counts. We lost the trail.”

“And it looks like it's going to rain, too.”

Sloane was right on that one as well. The sky, bright blue just an hour ago, was now filling quickly with grey clouds. Sun was still peeking through the leaves, but the gentle breeze had a hint of stinging cold. Kai shivered a little and looked to Sloane with a smile, fluttering her eyelashes.

“You don't happen to have an umbrella?”

“No.”

“Even for me?  Pretty please?”

“Especially for you!” Sloane snapped in response, but her eyes crinkled and a smile played at the corners of her mouth.

Kai sighed and rolled her eyes dramatically. “Very well. It will be your fault if I get sick. Bring it on, heavens! My girlfriend doesn't care about me!” She tilted her head to the clouds and spread her hands, and as if on cue, the first drop landed on her nose, eliciting a scream of surprise from her lips.

Sloane dropped her backpack on the ground and tried to unstrap the shelter tent, but Kai stopped her, grabbing her hand. The rain around them grew thicker, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant. It was still warm, feeling more like a morning shower than rain. The leaves glittered, the soil under their feet grew darker, thousands of tiny droplets trickled down their skin.

Kai took a deep breath, closing her eyes and reveling in a childlike joy. “Can you smell it?”

“You mean the wet soil? It's called petrichor, from Greek words petra meaning stone, and ichor - the blood of the gods, but it's actually caused by a type of bacteria—”

Kai's lips landed on hers, silencing her, and the world fell away. It was slow and soft, Kai's thumb caressing her cheek, her other hand pulling her closer and closer until there was no space between them left. She began to sway her hips rhythmically, forcing Sloane to move with her, and she gasped in surprise.

“What are you doing?!”

“Dancing in the rain!”

“You're mad.”

“I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are.” She touched her forehead to Sloane's. “And before you ask, yes, it's a quote.”

“From Alice in Wonderland. I know. I could never understand that book.”

“Oh dear. Are you sure you're not switched with a Match? Can you describe one of Nadia's paintings for me?” Kai giggled, looking at her girlfriend's shocked face and pushing a wet lock off her face. “I'm just kidding! Just kidding!” She kissed her nose. “It's not like I can understand them, either.”

---

And now, before you ask why Sloane’s cat doesn’t have a geeky name - she does! Ruby is a programming language (used by yours truly). And while it’s not a first choice for AI programming, it can be used with good results. Python and Java (top choices) doesn’t sound as nice, don’t you think?