#the worst part about having a rarepair crackship is that it's /your city/ and you have to do stuff for it UGH

[todayisafridaynight]

whenever you srb your masadai content i always start to tear up bc its just soooooooo good and i need more

bro imagine how my brain must feel with havin thoughts about these knuckleheads every other hour and not being able to share them all

[tlozypaka-tina]

20 and 34 FE Fic of choice?

Happy Valentine’s special! I planned to do more but unfortunally that wasn’t possible ah- but alas!

I had to skip some parts of the fic in order to get it done today but I’ll continue to review it and once it’s complete, I’ll summit the updated version.

And now, you will all fall victim to rarepair/crackship hell: 20.- Teacher + 34.- Vacation. (Kliff/Julia)

Five years of restless nights had finally paid off. A diploma framed on his wall proved that Kliff had, finally, become a full-fledged teacher.

It took him a couple of months handing away curriculums to receive a call back for an interview, which thankfully got him hired- Finally. If he had to put up with more drunk morons late at night before closing that god-forsaken bar one more week he would have lost it.

The school that he would be working for grouped primary and middle schoolers together inside their main building, while a smaller section of the school was dedicated for the kindergartens. By 2 PM, that area would be empty and closed off, even for the rest of the students. The principal did not want any conflicts to rise due to missing materials or broken property.

When the school year began, Kliff was prepared for the worst- lots of yelling with a side of disrespect for the new Science teacher. After all, middle schoolers could be quite rumbustious. But alas, his love for knowledge and recently found passion for teaching others was slightly stronger that his desire for peace and quiet.

Just slightly.

But there was no way in hell he was going to mess with high schoolers. Now they were an absolute nightmare.

The bell rang and so, first period started. Kliff’s name was already written on the whiteboard by the time all of the students got inside the room and took their seats. Some had their backs turned; talking loudly- as if the little rascals would never have another chance to talk again- Others tried to sleep on their recently claimed cubicles, and a very small number fiddled with their fingers, waiting for class to start.

Well. This will be a long semester.

–

During the breaks, he would seek refuge in the teacher’s room, which his colleagues found extremely funny as he practically dashed into the room less than 1 minute after the bell ring. His seniors would reassure the young blood that it would get easier the more experienced he got. Kliff just nodded and replied “I know”, only to go back to shug his coffee.

He did make friends, of course, mainly with the rest of the Science department- but he didn’t hang out with them often since they were a bit loud for his liking.

Sometimes, around midday, he would catch a glimpse of the kindergarten teachers as they took turns to gather their things and just bolt once the last child had been picked up. They cycled on groups of three while the remaining ones kept watch on the gate.

One of them seemed to be a newcomer, just like him- well, if her young age was not an indicator, her attitude sure was: Didn’t chat with the rest of the teachers, apologized constantly when going to her locker, and left in a hurry once she was done. Kliff would instantly know when she had entered the room, even when buried deep grading papers, because of the quiet “Excuse me-” she mumbled on her way. Other than that, he didn’t interact with the kindergarten department much.

Months went by, and winter break finally came. Two and a half whole weeks of no noise, grading, or rising up early than the sun.

By the gods, finally.

Even if the time was limited, he was willing to enjoy it at its fullest, in his own way.

This is why he had booked a small cabin in a nearby camp to spend at least a few days of his vacation. That camp was just outside of the city, next to a beautiful forest, whose main attraction was the round, clear lake in the middle of it all.

He arrived to the camp by afternoon, and 15 minutes later he had the keys and was inside the cabin.

First things first…he had to start a fire on the chimney and unpack his clothes. Nighttime would fall soon and he was warned that it would get rather cold during that time.

Thankfully, some logs and old newspapers were available to use, conveniently next to the chimney. He kneeled in front of the chimney to place the logs correctly and surround them with the newspaper, pushing the ashes away from the wood. Some of it got to his nose, making him sneeze- creating a mess. “Ugh, just great…”

After the stack of wood and paper was done, Kliff started to look for matches to start the fire, but there were none in sight. The box that had been left on top of the chimney was completely empty, so, Kliff threw it inside.

As much of an annoyance as it was to get out and ask for matches or a lighter, he had to do it unless he wanted to wake up ill, and there was no way we would spend his vacations sick. He took some paper towels and cleaned his soot-covered face before going outside. His shirt would have to get washed during the night.

After making sure that he looked presentable, Kliff ventured out of the cabin, keys in hand, and walked towards the entrance, where he remembered seeing a small store there when he arrived. The dim lighting signaled that the moon would rise soon enough, and thus, he would need to hurry before it was too dark to see the way back.

Kliff entered the store, closing his eyes harshly thanks to the lamp’s bright light. The store clerk- who he was certain he had seen before- greeted him cheerfully. “Welcome! How may I help you with?”

“Uh, Good afternoon. Do you have any match boxes?” He asked, resting his arms on the desk.

“Of course! I have to look for them at the back, it’ll be just a minute!” And with that, the clerk disappeared to the back. Kliff sighed, reaching out for his wallet.

Just at that moment, someone else came into the shop, approaching the front desk. He wasn’t really in the mood to socialize thanks to the chimney fiasco, nor he particularly cared to see who had come in- so, he kept digging holes to the door where the clerk had disappeared to.

Until the mystery person was on his peripheral vision.

He recognized her; it was his co-worker- the one that worked with the young children. Of all places to be, they just happened to pick the same spot, and arrive the very same day, didn’t they? If that wasn’t a big, convoluted coincidence, he didn’t know what would be.

She moved her head to look at him, feeling stared at, to which he responded by clearing his throat and pretending to look at something in the stands by the side.

After a couple of seconds of awkward silence, the back door opened once more, the clerk coming out of it with a bright smile on her face. “Here you go Mister! A brand new box of matches! Please come to the register with me.”

He walked towards the register, and payed for the somewhat large box. “Thanks. I’m leaving now.” He replied, tired.

“Come back soon, and have a cozy night!” Closed the clerk, turning her attention towards the other customer. Kliff prepared to leave the store and stumble in the darkness back to his cabin, but the chit-chat happening behind him made him stop.

“Well, hello there Julia! Time sure flies if you are already here, huh?”

“Ahaha…Good afternoon to you too, Anna. It’s nice to see you again.”

A warm and welcoming chuckle left Anna. “Well, how long are you staying this time?”

The purple haired woman- who he now knew was named Julia- sighed. “Only 3 days. Everyone else has different compromises to tend to these weeks.”

Anna pouted, resting her cheek on the palm of her hand. “Aww, that’s a shame, but at least I’m glad that you get to spend a couple of days with us! Your presence and patronage is always appreciated.” She finished, with her trademark smile coming back to her face.

The woman in front of the desk returned the smile. “Of course, I would never miss a chance to come here.”

Anna, after a short-lived chuckle, clasped her hands together once. “Well! Reminiscing is nice and all but as you know, the policy in this store is ‘Time is money’.” Leaning over the desk, she continued. “What can I help you with?”

Julia blinked once, before straightening her back, she had forgotten momentarily the reason she had come into the store. “Oh! Right, I was wondering if you had some candles and sugar? We forgot to bring them…”

Another chuckle. “No problem! Wait here just a moment!” With that said, Anna disappeared once again to the back of the store, leaving both adults alone once more.

Kliff had been standing in the same place since the conversation started, unable to come closer towards the door. It wasn’t like him to eavesdrop- hell, he didn’t really care about their idle chattering, but for some reason his co-worker sparked interest.

…Maybe it was because she was a fellow newbie, like him.

It was only when he caught Julia staring intensely at him that Kliff realized what he had done until that moment. He probably looked like a dumbass at best and a creep at worst.

He felt self-conscious and was about to bolt towards his cabin, powering through the darkness and forget this awkward interaction ever happened, but before he had a chance to react, Julia spoke up. “…Um, excuse me? Have we met?”

'Well- shit. Can’t escape this conversation now.’ He thought.

He looked to the sides and adjusted his stance, so it wasn’t awkwardly leaning towards the door, he attempted to look relaxed by placing his hands in his pockets, but it was clear that he was not comfortable.

With an out-of-habit shrug, he commenced. “You work at the 'Askran Plains School’, don’t you? I have seen you there a couple of times.” ’Yeah- that sure doesn’t sound creepy.’ Kliff chasticiced himself. He even cringed quite visibly once he proceeded at what had just been said.

By some miracle, she didn’t freak out. Instead, Julia stared at his face some more, before a light bulb went off in her head. “Oh! That’s why your face was so familiar! You are a professor there too.” Julia rubbed her upper arm, retreating to herself. “Ahaha…I apologize for not recognizing you. I- don’t pay the most attention, sometimes.”

Kliff sighed in relief on his mind, but moved his head to the side to avoid her glance, just in case. “Eh, it’s no big deal, we never really talked.”

She lowered her head. “N-no, we didn’t.”

More silence. He scratched his head. She looked back at the counter. 'Fantastic.’

He coughed, “Do you, like- own the place or something…?” Kliff questioned, now curious about her casual chatting with Anna earlier.

The question caught her off guard. “What? Oh! No, no! It’s just…” Julia took hold of one of her long strands of hair falling on the sides of her face, rolling it around her finger sheepishly. “We…I mean, my family and I, come here rather often, so the owners and staff are familiar with us.”

“Ah…I see.”

Another wave of silence followed, this time less tense. The woman was the one that coughed this time, standing properly and allowing her hands to fall to the front of her body. It was the 'teacher pose’. “I-I guess that I should introduce myself. My name is Julia, Julia Velthomer.” She followed with a quick bop of the head. “It’s n-nice to meet you.”

“Uuh…” He stammered, slipping a quiet 'ejem’ while gathering his own thoughts in a, less formal presentation. “I’m Kliff Cinderand.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Same to you.”

Just then, the door from the back swung open once more. “I’m baaaack! Sorry, we recently got restacked so the storage is quite messy.” Anna, noisy and cherry as ever, was holding the requested items on her arms, ignoring the situation that her two customers were in.

Julia had been startled by the sudden noises, holding her hands near her chest. “Ah- don’t apologize for that, Anna, I understand.” She made her way towards the counter as she spoke, taking out her wallet to pay. The exchange happened without any extra derails. “Here you go! Come back soon!”

“Thank you Anna, and-” Turning around, she looked at her colleague. “See you soon, Kliff.”

Julia reached out to her bag once more, pulling out a flashlight. She started to head towards the door, when Kliff reached out his hand towards her, realizing something. “Wait!” He called out, pausing for an instant to moderate his voice. “…I’ll go with you.”

To say that said action surprised her would put it lightly. “H-huh?”

Anna raised her eyebrows from her spot.

“…It’s, uh, a bit dark outside and I don’t have a flashlight on hand.” He continued, looking downcast. 'Should have followed up with that from the start…’

The lavender lady blinked, switching her gaze between the lantern in her hands and the science teacher. “Oh! Of course, I’ll accompany you to your cabin.”

He rubbed the back of his head again, ignoring the chuckle of the clerk as they left the store. “T-thanks.”

The walk was silent, at first, other than the crunching sounds beneath them of the grass, dry leaves and stones that they stepped on. The flashlight fixated on the path ahead. “So…What do you plan on doing during your stay here?” Was the question that broke the quiet ambience, coming from the shy woman.

Kliff glanced at her direction raising an eyebrow at her curiosity. He expected that she wouldn’t talk to him after his pathetic attempts at conversation…but maybe she was bored or just wanted to kill the tension. “Enjoy the silence, the view…probably visit the lake on these days, I’ve heard a lot about it.” Was his answer, albeit by his tone of voice at the start of the sentence, she could identify traces of exhaustion.

“Goodness…Rough semester, I assume?” Inquired the teacher, turning at her companion. Kliff huffed, releasing some pent-up frustration of his students’ antics. “Tell me about it…”

Her eyes softened, as she understood the feeling from experience. Frowning, she pondered if it would be uncalled for to offer some suggestions so his vacations wouldn’t be so aimless. Mustering her strength, she took a chance. “Do you…know of the events the camp offers during your stay?”

“Erm- I gave them a glance at the entrance but, I would like to wake up after the sun rises during my break.” He confessed. It’s not like he considered them boring per se, but he missed sleeping in more.

“A-ah, I understand that. It’s just…” She hesitated. “Tomorrow there will be a guided stroll that will go around the forest. We will stop at the lake and then head back by lunch…And since you said you wanted to see it I thought that…I should let you know.” Julia exhaled, turning her eyes towards the path.

But that didn’t last for very long, as she started to feel self-conscious about her invitation. It sounded demanding, in her eyes. “N-not that I’m forcing you to come! It’s up to you, after all…” She cleared up, waving one hand in front of her dismissively. “But it’s good to have ideas in the back of your mind, at least, I think so.” 'There- I said it. Deep breaths Julia…He can agree or disagree, but you did your part…’

He shifted his eyes rapidly, weighting the pros and cons of the proposal. On one hand, waiting for his friends to get here by the afternoon would be eternal…but his precious first day of sleep would be postponed. One hand held his chin in thought. “…I’ll…think about it. Don’t get your hopes up, though.” Just then, the light of a lamp just outside a cabin caught his eye, making him stop in his tracks to stare at it. “Oh, we arrived.”

She stopped around the same time as he did, turning off the flashlight and staring in awe at the building. “So this is your cabin? That’s nice…I like the wood carvings above the doors. Makes it feel more…fancy." 

'Huh, she really likes these things…’ He realized, taking a tentative glance towards her. Julia’s lavender eyes had the spark of admiration in them. Kliff turned to the marking she was so intent in admiring, tilting his head. "It’s…nice to look at, I’ll admit.”

Silence once more reigned between the two, only this time, without the uncomfortable tension, with only the soft wind of the night echoing.

Many minutes passed when Julia recalled that she was needed back on her own cabin. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of worrying her family into looking for her just because she had lost track of time. “O-oh, well um-” She stammered, adjusting the flashlight and the groceries firmly on her arms. “Ahah…I’ll go back to my place now. It was nice talking to you.”

“Er- right. Goodnight Julia.” He wished her, taking his eyes off the decorations. It was starting to get both late and cold, and he would prefer not to freeze.

Who could have expected that going to buy matches would be so lengthy?

He waved at her from the door, gesture that she returned greatly flustered. “G-goodnight.” With that said and done, she turned on her heel and disappeared, farther away into the camp.

–

…And just like that, the vacations flew by. There weren’t many who were really excited to come back to class- but alas, such is life. They would have to smile and wave as the principal made their greeting speech for the second term- which no one would pay attention to- and then painfully wait for their class to be called, from youngest year to oldest, so they would depart to their classrooms.

Why couldn’t they just dismiss everyone at once was a mystery.

The first group to leave was Julia’s. She stood up, made the kids pair up with each other and then walked out of the auditory, holding the hand of the one kid who didn’t have a partner, in front of all others. He waved at her during a moment where she had turned around, and she quickly returned the gesture.

And then, more waiting, as his group was one of the last ones to depart. But, unlike the younger kids, they didn’t need to pair up and hold hands when leaving.

–

Break time arrived once again, and, on cue, Kliff was already dashing towards the break room to escape from the chaos of the unleashed students that ran all over.

The moment he went through that door, a familiar face made him stop in his tracks. Standing still, clearly nervous but looking around the room, was Julia. “Oh, Kliff! I feared I would miss you today.”

“Ah, it’s you, Julia.” He replied, much relaxed than before. “Don’t worry; I’m always here once the bell rings, so you’ll never miss me.” He arched a brow. “Did you need something?”

“Well…kind of.” She rummaged through the bag that hanged from her shoulder, taking out a familiar book. “I wanted to return this to you…Since I forgot to do so earlier.”

The newly graduated blinked slowly, recognizing the object in her hands. “Oh…I had almost forgotten about it."  

She came closer, placing the object carefully on his hands. "Well- I guess it’s a good thing that I remembered to bring it today.” A smile appeared on her face, her hands resting on top of the cover. Kliff took hold of book, his own fingers lingering for a short time on the back of her hand. “Heh, yeah. It was a good thing, Thank you, Julia.”

Once the item was safely back with its owner, Julia stepped back, taking her hand away and began to turn around, but at that moment the break room door burst open, causing both teachers to jump. “Professor! We have our assignments-” Recognizing those voices, Kliff turned around, seeing two of his students with the sheets he had handed out that morning on their hands. “Ah.” He sighed, approaching his students, retrieving the papers. “Thank you for returning these. Remind the rest of your classmates that they have until the end of the day.”

The two teens looked at each other, nodded, and bolted from the room.

Kliff turned to Julia, who was holding her bag tightly. “Are you okay?”

“O-oh, I am! I just…got startled.” She awkwardly laughed. “My…your students are quite rowdy, aren’t they?”

“Eeh, they have been worse in the short time I’ve met them. But I’ll manage.” he said, visibly cringing at one specific memory regarding a desk and a broken chair…

Some silence lingered between them, as Julia recovered her composure. In the midst of that silence she realized that she had stayed longer than the usual time, and her co-workers would start to worry.

Adjusting her bag on her shoulder, Julia walked backwards towards the door somewhat rapidly. “Well- I guess I’ll see you later!” Julia said, waving as she left the room from the back door.

He sighed, disappointed from being unable to say anything else during that quiet moment. Sitting on his desk, he left the book on one side, and the small mountain of work sheets on the other.

Maybe they could hang out again soon, but for now, he had to focus on work.