#thefaeriequeen | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

renee561 · 5 years ago

Text

On My Way to London for You in October

For lovely @futureauthor-mabye. Using her oc's I created a little fic for her and for the nonny that wanted "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."-L.M

The woman sitting by the window of one of the rows looked distracted, even as she looked immaculate. Her suit was without wrinkles and her black hair tied back, only two strands were neatly accenting her features, almost framing her heart shaped face. Almost as if she just sat down, instead of being in her seat for most of her direct flight from Japan. One couldn't fathom she felt anything besides curiosity as she looked out her the tiny window. No one would know how anxiously she waited for the plane to land if one only glanced at her. She kept moving her palms up and down the fabric of her pants, almost a rhythm of back and forth, her other leg bouncing lightly, and the little heel on her boot making a light tapping sound should anyone hear it over the engines or loud chatter in the cabin.

Out of the tiny surface, the clouds started to disappear and she could see more outside than the white clouds and dark blue sky. The sun was just rising and she saw the orange, yellow, brown, and green landscape for the first time. As far as her eyesight traveled, the ground to her looked like a patch quilt made up of large squares of land as the plane continued its decent. Thankfully her trip was almost at an end.

One would never know that the woman, Ms.Haru Kobayashi, hated flying. She rather have taken a boat, but she hadn't wanted to be more delayed, especially considering it was near the end of October, which meant it was autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. In a few short weeks, winter would make traveling more horrendous than it was currently. She rather liked the spring and summer months where there was no cold or white, frozen raindrops she had to worry about; just warm weather and the sun. Besides she had work to do and a friend to meet.

Her PenPal, TheFaerieQueene had messaged to meet up with one another while she was in London for work. She was dreading and looking forward to this meeting in equal measures.

Her father ran the museum in their city and asked her to talk with the British Museum Director. Or rather his assistant, which also happened to be his daughter or some relation, she believes. They were so formal in their emails, she never felt comfortable to ask about it in case she offended the woman, wcwn by accident. Her mission was to discuss a potential collaboration between their museums, face to face after the board had agreed for them to talk. She was to start negotiations and then as far as she was concerned it would be her father who interacted with them for the rest of the time. She was in need of a vacation anyway.

The child sitting next to her smile brightly and giggled as they finally hit the tarmac. Haru closed her eyes and tried not to whimper from the rough landing. She hated international flights. Business class was not bad for her, if she had a window seat. She had checked in precisely when meant to, to ensure she would be comfortable during travel.

She made sure everything was in her carry-on bag, ready for when there was enough people off the plane, all except her phone. She disliked the crowds, people standing so close to one another after a long flight, nearly pushing and shoving one another to get off. Making the situation worse not better.

Haru wondered if her friend had messaged her, a friend that she hoped didn't think her too weird in person. Turning the airplane mode off, she grunted at the number of emails she had. She had not paid extra for the airplane wifi, now she would have to deal with answering them today before her meeting. Exiting her email app, she went to her other website, well hidden in her phone. The one where she and her friend cheated nearly all day and just about everyday. There were only a few days where she was not chatting with TheFaerieQueene. There were also times when they would send real letters and items to each other though they both didn't use their real names only their screen ones.

It wasn't until Haru told her friend she would be in London for work that they decided to actually meet up. Each giving the other a description of an article of clothing in hopes of being able to recognize the other in the overcrowded Piccadilly Circus.

They were to meet up on Saturday night, and she was very excited to finally put a face and a name to her online friend.

There was only one message from her: Have a safe flight!! Message me when you get through customs and before you leave the airport! Is someone picking you up? Or will you take the tube? If no one is there, take the tube! That way you already have an oyster card and can get around without going out of your way to get one! Have a great time and see you Saturday!

She smiled and looking up from her tiny screen, saw the people on the plane had lesson considerably was she was able to get off without someone trying to shove her into another in their hurry to get on solid ground.

Customs was a nightmare! Two hours before she made it through was ridiculous! Thankfully she was able to answer some of her emails during that time, making sure to save the ones that needed a thorough answer were left for later. Once she made it through British Customs, she headed straight for Luggage Claim, the luggage was sure to be left on the side of the conveyor by now. She checked all the bags that were left on the floor for her suitcase, or at least the ten that looked similar to her shiny silver one. Three weeks with a mandatory event and mostly work related activities made her pack as much as she could into both her carry on and her suitcase. She didn't have time to go shopping for the first week for items she forgot to pack. Her weekends were thankfully free, hopefully London and the surrounding area offered things for her and her friend to do. Should their meeting go well this weekend. She bit her lip, feeling the familiar wave of restless energy in her body as she thought of her online friend. Pushing the feelings in a little box for later, she grabbed the handle and started to make er way to the exit.

Taking out the phone from her pocket, she made sure to message her friend, hoping that she was online . It was 8am here, and her friend was at work at this time. According to her friend, she worked long hours so was usually at work early in case a delay happened to avoid causing her boss to yell at her. More than he did. Haru did not care for bad bosses.

Made it through customs after two hours! Will check if there is anyone from work to pick me up. If I don't see someone, I'll head to the underground tube! Should be to the hotel shortly, then I have to head back out to make it to work on time. Wish me luck!

After a moment of hesitation, she placed a flirty wink at the end of her sentence, before pressing send. She really wasn't sure it was appropriate, but too late to take it back. Or so she justified to her nerves.

Following the crowds and signs, she made her way to Arrivals; nodding when she didn't see anyone from the museum there. Good, she had time to purchase her travel card and take the first train to the middle of the city, that way she can get to her hotel without delay. She bought her new blue transport card, loaded it with £25 and went on her way.

The woman sat at the desk, typing fast as she filled in an address into the system. she clicked out of the application and pulled up the Dictator's calendar for the day. The frown on her face made her forehead furrow and her dark eyes roll. She rubbed the bridge of her nose. Meetings, another meeting, lunch, more meetings, a break, and then another meeting. The Dictator was not going to be happy stuck in meetings all day. Ms Faye Ellingworth, would feel his displeasure as much as she felt her own.

His title was Director of Arts and Culture, though he treated her no better than he had at home before she moved out, the dictator of her life. He was cruel and degrading, belittling all her hard work in favor of making sure she knew her place in his eyes, as a father first and always. Even though he hated the biology that existed between them, blamed her from being born. Faye wished her mother lived, at least then she could have had someone who loved her to raise her. Andrew hated her, and she knew the feeling was mutual.

When she entered University, the expectation became that she would obtain her degree, then shoot off to parts unknown; the world expanded beyond England after all. That didn't happen. Like all expectations they fell short, due to her lack. Lack of confidence, lack of experience, lack of perceived ability. She was too scared, fearing failure, fearing having to ask Andrew for a handout. The man never did anything without strings attached.

He had a full day, which meant she was not going to leave until very late. Which also meant eating on the go rather than having a meal with her roommate... again. She was sure Thomas would be over anyway, but any time she didn't eat with her roommate was time wasted being with one of her oldest friends. She disliked full days, more than she hated the boredom of slow days where she was about to go crazy from the lack of things to do. It came with the territory of working here.

The job was safe and she did utilize the stuff she learned for her fashion degree when dealing with pieces of art that got shipped to the museum either by mistake or as part as an exhibit they were presenting to the public. Usually by looking at a piece she could tell the type of fabric used and the design could explain which era that it came from, and sometimes which country made it at the time. She did love that part of the job, but the fact that Andrew demanded she be his receptionist made her grind her teeth and want to quit and do what she could now with five years out of university of experience under her belt.

Who would hire her in London? Andrew knew all the higher ups in the art world and while her degree was in fashion, her passion lay in the arts. He knew that and if word got back to him she was looking for a different position under his boots, she would have a much more difficult time of things. She was no painter, but she liked to piece together the puzzle of a previous era, do research, and fit another piece into the larger picture. In fact, she enjoyed it so much her spare time was spent in online chat rooms and on social media platforms for art and even wrote short stories for a free online site so that others could be inspired and love art as much as she did. It was how she met TheCherryBlossomsBlooms.

The woman she was meeting this Saturday, and she was excited! Her legs bounced at random intervals whenever her mind traveled to the thought that in three days she would meet her friend before the self-doubt entered her mind. She fretted to her roommate on more than one occasion that her friend was going to be severely disappointed at her and never want to talk to her again. Annie was her best friend since they were fourteen and was always telling her that Faye was more than what her father told her she was. And she knew that, logically, but sometimes she slipped back into that mind frame of the scared little girl who felt no one loved her and it was all an act.

Looking around the office and at Andrew's office door, went to her secret tab and punched in her online credentials to the art chatroom that she communicated with her fellow art lovers and dabblers. TheCherryBlossomsBlooms wrote her!

Her heart froze, her breath shortened, and she felt light-headed as she moved her mouse to open the message. Her eyes looked once more to the closed door, before her hand clicked the unread message. Her eyes roamed and she felt the familiar swoop of excitement whenever a message was there, but the excitement bubbled in her throat as she read the fact that her friend was here! Here in London! Fuck!

She wanted to dance and not caring if anyone saw her; Faye wiggled in her seat her hands clasped over her heart a grin so large it made her cheeks hurt. She knew if anyone walked in they should see her glow, and she wasn’t sure it would have anything to do with the light streaming from the window behind her.

Saturday couldn't come quick enough!

---

Three days felt like double the time and she really rather be in her hotel room sleeping until morning, but she had been waiting to meet her friend for days! Especially as her days have been meaningless meetings of circular talks with the Director and the board members of the museum. Her only bright spot has been flirting with the Director’s receptionist. She thinks the woman was not at all disinterested if the looks and blushing contrasting from her skin tone and the red that filled her cheeks, were any indication.

The woman was different than anyone she’s met before. There was a steel underneath that shaky shell of hers. Not to mention she was gorgeous to Haru. Her brown skin glowed with sunlight pouring in behind the desk, setting off her dark eyes that looked like fresh honey in the sunbeams if she tilted her head at the right angle. The woman was passionate about art, though seemed to go from a flower in the sunlight to a wilting flower during a heavy rainstorm anytime the Director entered the office space. It was almost as if he was sucking the joy from her frame, just by his presence, the leech.

She had the brief notion that the woman was her friend, but she hadn’t been able to articulate to the woman, or put it in a message to her friend online, in case she was wrong. Therefore she dismissed it, and made sure to keep flirting, even inviting the woman to a party an old university acquaintance was throwing. Apparently he found out through a picture posted in the newsprint found out she was in town and invited her next weekend, telling her she had to bring someone. The only person she thought of was Faye, so she had asked, not stating it was a date, if that made the woman uncomfortable. Faye had smiled so shyly, and said she would love to.

Her friend was a businessman for the famous, so she knew that she would need to go shopping, maybe if Faye wouldn’t object they could go together, get to know the woman better, away from the leech. Away from the toxic atmosphere that was that office. The relations were not very friendly at the moment as three days of negotiations came to nothing except bad feelings on both sides. Her partner in these negotiations was much more on equal footing in their eyes, and yet that did not mean she was going to sit back and take it.

She kept checking her messages hoping that her friend was still going to show, even though signal in the underground was spotty and more than once she had to curse in frustration when they came to a delay. Japan’s transportation was much more efficient than this country’s. She was headed first to Piccadilly Circus and then they will travel to Hyde Park where there was a little fall festival. It was mostly for children, but it would do her wonders to see something beside the museum's marble for a change. It was the best solution as she needed to get something for her father before she forgot and according to her friend, Piccadilly Circus was the best tourist destination in London to get gifts and her friend didn’t live too far from there.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself she traveled slowly up on her messages to read past messages to distract her mind from the butterflies in her stomach.

“Piccadilly Circus. Mind the gap,” the disembodied voice spoke as the train stopped and the doors opened.

Haru slipped out of the train carriage and hurried up the stairs, making sure to stay to the left as she hurriedly passed those that were taking their time. She had someone to meet and she was both filled with excitement and anxiety. The ups and downs of the past few weeks of this trip and then the planning of meeting up of her favorite art enthusiast, not to mention someone she felt she could be truthful to without barriers. There was something almost releasing about the anonymity of the online world, something of being real without the repercussions of daily life creeping in. It was a life away from her life. Her oasis in the world she came from.

Her face hit the brisk October air and with a grimace placed on her black jacket with a skull and crossbones on the back of it. It was what she told her friend she was wearing so that they could recognise one another. FaeireQueene would be wearing a black jacket with the red leaves on the shoulders, something her roommate had given to her as a gift. Wrapping the bottom of her face with her scarf and her head down, Haru peaked around for any sign of black and red that wasn’t the trees in the setting sun.

She weaved her body past the others that were coming towards her, trying to not hit anyone or let anyone push her around. The streets were crowded as people headed out to the ticket booths and the pubs for dinner. She ducked into a shop as a huge crowd came towards her practically coming side by side, no space between them to avoid them. It was almost like a brick wall of humans and Haru was not going to get run over in her attempt to clear them. She would wait for the crowd to pass.

She luckily saw something of interest, a shirt that she could give her father as a joke. Taking it from the shelf, she saw something that interested her so she grabbed one. This was fun and easy! She laughed at the different things in the small shop. The fact that she was supposed to meet someone slipping from her mind as each item brought her joy at the quintessential tourist items she found.

"Ms. Kobayashi?" She froze as the familiar voice hit her ear drums, her heart rate increased, and her throat felt as if it would close. She slowly took her hand from one of the small keychains, licking her lips as she turned her body towards the woman she had been flirting with since she came to London.

The woman was shorter than Haru, younger by a few years, and yet the look of mixed emotions in her eyes confused and hurt her more than she could say. Especially as she noticed the black with red tree leaves garb on the woman's slender frame, hands were no doubt fisted in the pockets.

Well this was awkward, and just a bit exciting!

"I guess that solves that puzzle then,” She muttered to herself, smiling slightly at the beautiful woman.

“Ms Ellingworth. Or do you prefer FaiereQueene? I thought I told you to call me Haru, when it was the two of us. You know I should have recognized your handwriting, but meetings with the Director use far too many brain cells than he's worth," she was suddenly nervous. There had been many ways she imagined this meeting going, this was not even close.

In her imagination, there should have been more excitement, exclamations of joy, maybe even a hug. Instead she has been unknowingly flirting with her friend for the past few days and had been completely ignorant. And it really did not diminish the view she had of her friend or the woman before her. In fact it pieced together rather like the puzzles her friend was so fond of. The two merging into a picture she rather liked...quite a lot. It also made the fact that they made plans for the next weekend shakier than they were yesterday.

"As you know, Faye's fine. I thought recognized your handwriting, but dismissed it as something as lame as wishful thinking. Because you flirted with me from the start and I was so excited for meeting you for the first time. You haven't been online these past few days so I figured you were too busy and was disappointed when you didn't say anything about the party next week, if it was a date or just because I was convenient. So I was going to search for an hour then go back home. Because then I would wait for Monday in my room and then be upset that you had fallen asleep and not met up like we planned God this is confusing!" It was honestly adorable how she babbled and turned a deep red as she blushed.

She raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at her friend and she felt the corners of her mouth twitch in amusement. Taking a few steps closer towards the woman that had been her friend for a short time, a colleague for only a couple days. But she thinks that she wouldn't be rebuked.

"So you were hoping that it was a date? I didn’t want to make you ucomfotable. I was going to email you, since you gave me your email yesterday or talk to you about going to buy something for the party on Monday. As I have nothing of style that would pass as high class for this party. So if you wouldn't mind I'd like to hug the friend I've been so anxious an excited to meet since you suggested it. Would that be ok?" She made sure to pull out her hand from her pocket, clasping their hands together.

Faye looked at her with her mouth parted just so that had Haru wanting to press her lips to hers just once. Or more than once. And maybe if Faye gasped just right, maybe take this back to a spot where they could do more than kiss. If she did not object to it.

Faye nodded and she promptly threw her arms around her. Holding Faye tight and pressing her face into the crook of her neck, smelling the faint traces of perfume she wore. It smelled like the perfume she sent over to her last spring.

They parted and Haru grabbed Faye's hand and placed it in the crook of her elbow. "Let me pay for these items and then we can be on our way. You promised me a fall festival, and I hate October, but I know you like it. What was that quote you sent me?"

Faye seemed to still be in shock, so she said nothing. Smiling she moved with her friend to the teller and once she paid for her items they were off once more.

Once on the bus, Faye whispered in her ear, “I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. And I do, but I think this might be the best one yet.”

Haru was sure she beamed, for she too felt the same.

#renee does halloween fics #this took way too long #i'm sorry #faye x haru #not my character but original character #taking liberties here #honestly just a 4k fic of something i pictured in my hard. Could have easily shorten this but naaa #my writing things #my writing

9 notes · View notes