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cecilspeaks · 5 years

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162 - “Alpha”

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Fear makes the heart grow louder. And death makes the heart grow flowers. Welcome to Night Vale.

Amelia Anna Alfaro was always the best at everything. On the day she was born, she was named the healthiest baby at Night Vale General Hospital. The doctors had never seen a healthier baby. “What a healthy baby,” they said from behind a bullet proof two-way mirror, as they operated the robotic arms that carefully held the infant aloft. The doctors high-fived each other, missing slightly. The trick, by the way, is to keep your eye on the other person’s elbow. That or glue high-powered magnets to each person’s hand. And all of the nurses cheered from dozens of feet down the hallway, where they were playing with a standard Tarot deck, common in most neonatal units. This cheering was unrelated to Amelia’s birth. The nurses had drawn the ten of swords, which is everyone’s favorite card. It features a relaxed man receiving acupuncture by a river.

Amelia learned to walk at 4 months, and to talk at 6 months. She read Plato’s “Republic” for the first time at age 4. She taught herself German and began to write sonnets in that language at age 7. At age 10, she won her first engineering competition after designing a concrete canoe that could float even on the most turbulent water. There is no body of water in Night Vale, so she had to prove her work using a software she wrote that generated three-dimensional models to corroborate her advanced mechanical physics formulas. She even won the state spelling bee five years in a row, from ages 9 to 13. Her streak was only broken when the spelling bee was canceled, after the sponsors lost their dictionary.

Amelia was always the best, and her mother knew it. Her mother was proud of her daughter, or rather, her mother was proud of herself for producing such a daughter. Or rather, she was proud of both, in a way that was difficult for them to untangle. Amelia’s mother was named Yvette. Yvette could not afford much for her daughter. She worked long hours to earn the respect of her bosses, which (-) [0:04:32] her promotions and larger paychecks, but Yvette had hit the glass ceiling. She did not want this limitation for her daughter. Her daughter would need to be smarter, more talented, and more driven than she. Yvette wanted Amelia’s value to the world to be so great that no one could deny her success.

Yvette recognized Amelia’s specialness and pushed hard to make her even more special, signing Amelia up for athletics and adult learning classes and piano lessons. Amelia sometimes pushed against this. “Mother, I don’t want to” was met with, “But you will, Amelia.” “Why?” was met with, “Because I said so.” “I hate you for this” was met with, “You will love me for it later.”

Begrudgingly, Amelia fulfilled her mother’s wishes. It wasn’t because she understood her mother’s motivation to secure her child a better life, nor was it because Amelia did not have the stomach to fight back. No, Amelia did it because it all came so easy. She was a black belt, a sharp shooter, an academic decathlon champion. She wrote her first novel at age 12, it was called “A Golden Age for Parachuting”, in which an all-Jewish female parachute team wins Olympic gold in 1936 Berlin in front of Adolf Hitler. In the publisher’s rejection letter, the editor said the novel was “immaculately written, however parachuting stories are out of vogue. Do you have anything about magical baseball players?” Amelia did. It was a novel called “One Last Swing for the Tuesday Boys”, but she had written it in German and did not have time to translate the “Dienstag Jungen” manuscript, because she was currently taking a course on bird husbandry.

Yvette enrolled the teenage Amelia in night classes at the community college, where she took English 113, “Sonnets are for lovers”; structural engineering 212, “Buttress is a funny word”; and meteorology 301, “Clouds y’all, amirite?” She earned all As and scores for college credit before she even graduated high school. None of these challenges were difficult for Amelia. She was the best at everything.

But her life was not perfect. Because of the voices. It was the voices that made life hard for Amelia. From birth, she heard the constant chatter of dozens of people. None of the voices spoke directly to Amelia, they just talked and talked about their lives, and Amelia was afraid of the voices and what the voices might imply about herself. She found solace in puzzles, crosswords, nonograms, acrostics, cryptics, Sudoku, which I think is the one where you have to catch a bunch of marbles with a lever operated hippopotamus. Her mother hated Amelia’s puzzle vice. If she caught Amelia doing puzzles, Yvette would make Amelia go practice archery or write poetry or at least listen to classical music. Amelia’s favorite was Van Cliburn’s masterful 1961 record of Rachmaninoff’s “Piano Concerto nr 13: Knuckles on the Black Keys”. When she was thinking through the solution of a puzzle, the voices did not speak to her. All was silent. It was her only time of peace. It was the only time her body could rest and curl up comfortably into her own thoughts. Anything that took her away from her logic problems including music, no matter how soothing, invited the voices back into Amelia’s thoughts.

Amelia was accepted to several top colleges across the country, including MIT, Stanford, Rice and The University of What It Is, but she wanted to stay near her home town and her family, so she went to State. Hey, that’s where my brother-in-law went! Go State! [chuckles] Ahem. She was elected the youngest president of the student body ever at age 17, and graduated valedictorian two years later. Her friends, her professors, her mother all knew the world was Amelia’s. She could become poet laureate or a senator or a supreme court justice or a quantum physicist. But she became none of those. This is not to say Amelia was not successful or that she amounted to nothing. It is to say, the semantics of success were her own and no one else’s. Amelia became an air traffic controller. The voices never told Amelia to become an air traffic controller, they were never that specific. The voices did not tell her to do anything, they simply talked about first dates, about apartment hunting, about their grandmothers’ improved health, about a bad movie they sort of loved. None of the voices talked directly to her, it was simply as though she overheard conversations from lives lived somewhere else. Other people and their quotidian hopes and worries and interests. She tried seeing therapists and psychiatrists. She tried medication to stop the voices, but nothing worked. Eventually she decided they were not harmful voices and that she was not dealing with schizophrenia. She simply heard people talking at all hours about all things, having nothing to do with her. And they never told her to become an air traffic controller. Amelia chose her own career, her own path. Others though the reason was that it was the fist job opportunity to present itself for her. Maybe it was her admiration of aircraft, maybe a moral sense of serving humanity through public safety and comfort. In fact, it was none of these reasons. But it should not be surprising to know that Amelia was very good at air traffic control. She was calm, clear, and efficient. The Night Vale international airport, although when Amelia started it was just a commuter hub, has never had a high volume of plane traffic and almost all of those are departures. There are very few arrivals. My husband Carlos, he’s a scientist and he is also very good at his job, tells me that it’s impossible to have far more departures than arrivals, but I told him, not everything has to make sense all the time.

So, in some ways, air traffic control in Night Vale was easier for Amelia than just about any other class or job or task she’d ever attempted. It appeared from the outside to be far below her capabilities. She held that job for 20 years, even taking over as president of the Night Vale chapter of air traffic controllers’ union. In 2004, she was featured in the cover of “Afformative”, a monthly trade magazine for air traffic controllers. The headline of the article was “You’re cleared for success”. In 2006, she was asked to deliver the keynote speech at the annual Roger Con, a conventional for air traffic controllers and fans of air traffic control. It’s a huge deal, held every year in Orlando. People dress like their favorite airline pilots and wait in long lines for autographs from top flight attendants. There are even panel discussions about everything from the best textiles for seat cushions to secret first class meal offerings. Amelia was the best at what she did. She probably would have been the best poet laureate or senator, but this was the path she chose. She chose this path because of the voices, not from what they said, but what they didn’t say. When Amelia was in the control tower, when she was communicating with captains and co-pilots and navigators, her head was clear. All was silent. It was like those many nights, sneaking a copy of the crossword from the newspaper on the kitchenette and solving it by flashlight under her covers. She became an air traffic controller to be by herself, to become her own person. Her mother was disappointed, but loved her in spite of it. Her professors were let down, but still had many fabulous of their greatest student. Her friends were just happy she was happy.

Things changed on June 15, 2012, when Delta flight 18713 made radio contact. In her tall tower, at her tiny airport, in the middle of a vast desert, in the middle of the American Southwest, an airplane appeared on Amelia’s radar. It was carrying 143 passengers and 6 crew members and was flying from Detroit to Albany over the great lakes of the American Northeast. It appeared briefly, the green dot blinking in and out of existence like the sun glinting off a water ripple. It was almost unnoticeable. But everyone noticed it. Later, Amelia was the only one who admitted to noticing it. The radio transmission was equally brief, a surge of static and only one word, difficult to discern but she heard it. “Alpha” was the single word. The letter A in the Nato alphabet. It was garbled, so maybe it wasn’t that word, maybe it was some more adult variation of “Oh fudge”. Alpha. Oh fudge. It was unclear. Amelia requested identification of the aircraft. She requested further communication, but nothing came. As soon as it had squawked, it had gone silent. But while the radio communication was silent, the voices were not. On June 15, 2012, upon hearing a word that sounded like “alpha”, these myriad conversations returned. No one else in the tower could hear them, but Amelia Anna Alfaro could. And for the first time in her life, she began to speak back to them. Everyone else in the tower could hear that. The voices did not cease. The voices continued for days and days and Amelia tried to talk back with them. As one voice said: “I have an interview on Monday,” Amelia would ask “for what job” or if a voice said, “We went to Palm Springs on vacation,” Amelia would say, “Did you also travel out to the Salton Sea?” But over and over, no response. The voices did not affect the quality of Amelia’s work, but it did affect the perceived quality of her work, and her colleagues became uncomfortable with and distrusting of Amelia.

A month later, Amelia heard that word again from one of the voices. “Alpha”. The same voice that radioed in June. But upon hearing it again, she realizes that they didn’t say “alpha” at all. What they said, coming up.

But first The weather.

[“Skinchanger” by Skeptic skepticdeath.bandcamp.com]

The voices said “Alfaro”. The word had been truncated just as the airplane’s appearance in Night Vale had been truncated. The voice saying the word was the captain of the aircraft, and he had been trying to tell Amelia something. The pilot was trying to tell Amelia that he knew her, had always known her since her birth. He didn’t know how he knew her, just that he did, and he wanted to tell her he had found her. And she should find him. “Where are you,” Amelia asked the captain. “No Where,” the voice said. “Did you land?” Amelia asked. “Yes,” the voice said. “Were there injuries?” Amelia asked. “Minor,” the voice said. “Do you hear the other voices too?” Amelia asked. “Yes,” the captain said. “I’m with them right now. Find us, Amelia.” “Where are you?” Amelia asked again, louder, more scared than before. “No Where,” the voice said, not like the vague concept of in no place but No Where, two words capitalized like the name of a specific place. Amelia felt a tap on her shoulder. It was another air traffic controller. “Uh, boss wants to see you, Amelia,” they said. But Amelia did not go to see the boss. She knew. She knew her time in the tower was done. She grabbed her belongings and walked to the elevator, out across the tarmac to a shuttle to a parking lot and into her car, and no one saw her again. Her friends said she always talked about going back to school to get an advanced degree. Maybe she went to Stanford. Or Rice, or The University of What It Is. Other friends said she had lost all touch with reality, talking to people who were not there, and maybe her mother checked Amelia into the Night Vale asylum.

Yvette says Amelia knew too much, that agents from a vague yet menacing government agency had been to their house and that Amelia must have been taken to a secret location. Representatives from the National Safety and Transportation Bureau in Washington, DC, came to Night Vale two months ago to investigate the disappearance of flight 18713. They are on an undercover mission inside the Night Vale asylum right now, on a tip from Sheriff Sam, to discover more clues into this mystery. Perhaps Amelia is in there too. But I don’t think so. I think she went to find the plane. I think the voices were the passengers on Delta 18713. I think she set out looking for them. Perhaps wandering the desert, the great No Where, to find the people who had been a part of her life since birth.

Amelia. Anna. Alfaro. was always the best at everything. And if anyone will find the plane, she will.

Stay tuned next for our new investment advice show “Billionaire Roulette”.

And as always, Good night, Night Vale, Good night.

Today’s proverb: Love means never having to say “you’re a werewolf”.

#welcome to night vale #wtnv transcripts #episode 162 #alpha

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akaashisupremacy · 4 years

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Chapter 3: Chasing Springtime (Autumn)

Tsukki x fem!reader/Oc

Genre: romance, fluff, lil bit of angst, (wc: 9967 yall I got carried away)

Summary: Kei Tsukishima, now in college is reacquainting himself with a childhood friend. Old feelings that he has long shoved aside resurface as they deal into new territory.

Notes: Kaori Miyahara is an original character, but readers are free to put themselves into her shoes! There will be more chapters to come and let me know if you have any feedback or if you want to be in the taglist.

Also I’m new here so if you wanna be friends I’m down huhu

Chap. 1 (A03) || Chap. 2 (A03) || Chap. 3 (A03)

Summer (2014) || Ishi Acupuncture Clinic || Sendai City || 2:00 PM

Miyahara Kaori breathed out a sigh of relief after her doctor took out the last ventosa cup from her back. She was given some time off to rest and go to rehab. Unfortunately, her mom had taken the opportunity to book her an appointment with an acupuncturist to help with her sore back. After worrying about the appointment for days, she could finally set her mind to something else.

Tsukishima Kei was seated on the bench in the reception area reading a magazine. He sat mildly hunched over having not yet fully grown into his height. Even when he was seated, he still looked incredibly tall. Kaori had forgotten his exact height, but he was about to hit six feet for someone who was only 14 going on 15. He was waiting for Kaori, his neighbor and friend who constantly dragged him out to join her adventures in the city. The two were set to go to the library today. She had always been jus a friend, but sometimes he couldn't help but feel they were on a date when they hung out just the two of them. They were in their Third Year in Junior High.

Tsukki looked up from his magazine to find Kaori dressed in a red and white striped top and khaki shorts. It wasn’t often he saw her out of her athletic wear or school uniform. Seeing her a little more dressed up than usual made his heart skip a beat.

“How was the session?” he asked, putting the magazine back into its place.

“Still not a fan of needles,” she sniffed, stretching her back a bit.

“Let’s get out of here.” she shuddered, nudging him towards the door.

Tsukki led Kaori as they navigated through the streets on their way to the library. He normally never ventured into the city just for a library considering there were a few district libraries closer to their neighborhood, but Kaori had run out of books she was interested in and asked him to bring her to the bigger city library.

“Can I please just draw you a map from the clinic or something?” he sulked.

“You labelled the streets wrong last time. You skipped a street and moved an entire’s district worth of streets into the wrong direction!” she frowned, crossing her arms.

“The street names got cut so I had to write them myself, ok? I already said I was sorry.” he said, exasperated at her attempt to use him as a tour guide again. Kaori would often ask her friends to bring her to unfamiliar places she wanted to explore, but she asked him the most often because he lived closest to her.

To begin with, Kaori was not great at reading maps and he was equally terrible at making or even just printing them. Something was almost always missing or wrong, so he often brought her to places she asked in concession of getting her lost. Tsukki sighed deeply and grudgingly agreed.

The city library was in view. They could see its large rectangular architecture and its imposing glass windows from where they stood. The building looked daunting, but as they walked closer, they could see the comfortable couches and chairs scattered around its interior. A sense of excitement brewed inside of them.

“Kaori, why don’t you just buy the books?” he asked, turning to her. Her family was relatively well-off and her parents were well-read. Surely they see the value of keeping books in their home? He thought about his own book collection at home and how convenient it was.

“We moved around a lot,” she explained, “My mom said it was impractical to buy lots of books when I could just borrow them. Saves us the trouble of having to ship and store them.”

“But when I get my own house, a house where I don’t ever have to move away from again I want my own book shelf that I can fill with my books and trinkets - a place where I can keep books for years and still be able to read the same one.” she beamed. Kaori was so excited at the sight of the building she was almost skipping.

“Having my own bookshelf is pretty great,” he agreed. He liked having his own collection.

Tsukki was struck by the realization that Kaori never had a permanent home and that she actually longed for one. He made a mental note. One day when she finally had her own place, he would save up and get her a bookshelf as a housewarming gift, so that she too could experience the joy of collecting her own books.

As they approached the library steps, a boy in a bicycle rushed past them barely missing Kaori on his way. Kaori stumbled, almost falling out of balance. She hit Tsukki’s shoulder as she got back onto her own feet.

The weight of her shoulder pressed against his arm sent his heart on a rollercoaster and the hairs on his arm stand. Lately he had been feeling awkward and jittery around her and it amplified when she touched him in any capacity. He didn’t know where the feeling came from and he really wished it would stop.

“That was rude,” she huffed, brushing things off.

“Super reckless,” he added, glaring at the boy’s direction and hoping Kaori couldn’t hear how loud his heart was beating.

While Kaori signed up for a library card, Tsukki found a four-seater table that they could share. He waved to Kaori as she wandered into the library holding her new card. She waved back as soon as she saw him and put her things down. He placed his things on the seat of the table near the glass windows while she placed her bag opposite to him.

Tsukki decided to pull out some books on dinosaurs. Kaori headed to the section of English books, but instead she came back with a book on Aichi, Nagoya.

“I got carried away reading it,” she confessed, taking her seat. “Look at those flowers and endless fields. Doesn’t it look amazing for a spring vacation? I could paint there all day!”

She pointed at the pictures, shoving the book in his face. Tsukki stood up and sat beside her. Kaori’s arms could barely reach him because of the table between them. He pulled up the chair where her bag was and sat beside her.

“I thought you hated being in the thicket.” he whispered, giving her the side-eye, “You make fun for our neighborhood for being a forest under the mountain. This isn’t a city at all!”

“Clearly Aichi is not just a thicket. It’s a pretty thicket with more interesting plant life especially during spring.” she argued, pointing towards a field of yellow flowers.

Tsukki peered over the book to have a closer look at the picture. He became conscious of how close his face was to hers. He could feel her breath at the side of his face and the weight of her gaze on the book. His nose almost touched her cheek. His cheeks warmed the longer he stayed so close to her. He quickly backed away when he realized his cheeks were hot. If Kaori had turned to look at him at that moment, he just knew he would melt in embarrassment.

“Spring is done this year, so maybe you can go next year.” he shrugged, walking back to his seat.

“I’m not in a rush to visit Aichi. I could be when I’m an adult. I just hope to be able to visit someday. My gymnastics schedule is still tight right now. Maybe when I retire.” she said, flipping through the book.

Kaori eventually found her way to the section with English books. She pulled out around ten and narrowed down the five she wanted to borrow. Because Kaori spent some time abroad, her English was better than most local students. Her mother encouraged her to begin reading books in English a year before they began living abroad so that Kaori would be able to read signs and other things by the time they moved. Tsukki borrowed a couple of books on world history that were not among his collection. He liked history, but not enough to buy much books on the topic.

After their trip to the library, they stopped by the convenience store for some snacks. Kaori bought two mini-cartons of croquettes and gave half to Tsukki. The croquette was still warm and its juices flowed when Kaori sank her teeth in. Sometimes she bought Tsukki food to make up for having dragged him into her adventures. That and she wanted to make sure he was eating. Tsukki didn’t have much of an appetite.

They ate as they walked. Neither one of them talked as they walked side by side. The sun began turning orange when they finally reached the station.

When they entered the station, Kaori lost herself in the crowd. Her eyes were searching for which platform to head to when she realized Tsukki was gone. He would know where to go. It was probably the first platform on the right, but he would confirm it for her. She liked to be better than him in many things except for directions. He could be better at that.

She walked deeper into the station where everyone was heading to before they separated into their respective platforms. Kaori made sure to keep pace so as not to bump into anyone.

Tsukki was a human giraffe. He would not be difficult to find. Sure enough she found a tall, relatively slim boy looking left and right beside the ticketing booths, frantically adjusting his glasses. She placed a hand on his elbow. He jolted back to look at her.

“There you are!” she said calmly.

Tsukki sighed in relief. He felt like the past few minutes had made him sweat, in part because the station was warm but also because he thought Kaori was lost.

“You should walk slower next time. You take really long strides.” she said, pushing him in the direction of the first platform. He looked slightly shaken. Tsukki slowly relaxed and let her walk in front of him. His eyes on her this time. He was so relieved to find her he didn’t retort.

The train they got in was not extremely packed, but wasn’t empty either. All the seats were taken and the two of them stood for the trip home. Kaori picked a spot near the door where she could lean back and read her book. Tsukki stood opposite her. His arms were crossed and his headphones were on.

Kaori felt the gentle shuttling of the train as she lightly bounced against the acrylic stands of the seats. The rhythm calmed her down. She became quickly absorbed with the book in her hand. The rest of her borrowed loot was in a paper bag between her feet. Trains were nice. She wished she could ride them every day to school if they were actually in her route.

Tsukki found it difficult not to be absorbed by Kaori. Her hair had turned into a warm shade of brown and her skin was illuminated by sunset. He cocked his head to quickly look at her. He wanted to lean forward and stand closer to her, but he was shy and she probably didn’t like him that way, so he stood where he was. He turned to look outside the window and occasionally sneak glances at her through his lashes.

When they got to their home station, Kaori darted for their bikes parked just outside. She dropped her books into her bike’s basket and sighed.

“My back feels really heavy after the acupuncture session.” she stretched a bit bending backwards until she looked like a table. Tsukki felt like his back would snap in half if he tried that stretch.

He followed behind her and placed his books on his basket. They carefully pulled out their bikes and prepared to head back home.

“Probably didn’t help that you borrowed so many books too,” he said, bringing out his own bike from the thicket of bikes.

“My back will get over itself tomorrow anyways,” she said defensively brushing him off.

Tsukki didn’t feel like going home just yet. He wanted to stretch the day just a little longer. The sun was still out albeit setting and there was still time before dinner.

“Let’s drop by the convenience store. I want some popsicles.” he said.

They biked towards the nearest store and Tsukki came out with two popsicles. He handed one to Kaori. They stood with their bikes at the parking of the store. They ate in silence.

“Our Junior High team is having a game sometime in October. You should come. Yamaguchi will be playing too.” he said awkwardly attempting to fill the stillness.

“I’ll go if I don’t have to be competing that weekend.” she promised, licking her popsicle. Kaori liked watching competitions, especially if she was not the one competing.

“When are your fall competitions?” he asked, “Has the Federation said anything? Assignments for the grand prix circuit should be out by now.

“I don’t know the exact dates, but Coach did already announce them. I don’t want to think about them until I actually have to.” she shrugged her shoulders, “It’s summer, I don’t want to think about competing, I just want to have fun!”

Kaori had been thinking about her career next to Tsukki’s. She was competing in the elite level. Aside from finally competing as a senior, there was no place higher for her to go. Gymnasts typically peaked quite early with most women retiring in their twenties or even in their teens.

Tsukki meanwhile was playing at the Junior High level. Currently, he is just starting out on his volleyball career. He had a long way to go before he reached his peak because his sport depended on height, power and experience in contrast to hers which placed a bigger emphasis on smaller body frames.

“Do you think you’ll play professionally one day?” she asked, “Like in a big gym with crowds cheering after High School?” she asked.

Tsukki is competing on a Junior High level, but one day she imagined him in a professional team playing in center court with posters of his team all over the venue. People would know him by name and know his stats by heart. She wasn’t exactly sure if he could make it to the top tier of the professional division, but playing professionally seemed possible.

“I’m not sure I’m good enough. Who knows? Maybe I’ll quit after High School, maybe I won’t.” he shrugged. He didn’t particularly like volleyball. It was mostly just a club activity he picked up because his brother also played.

“But if you do though…” she trailed.

“Then your first tickets are on me.” he scoffed, biting off the last piece of popsicle from the stick. He doubted he would be good enough.

“Would you sign it too?” she asked eagerly. When Kaori had the chance to attend international senior events for rhythmic gymnastics, she would ask her idols to sign her program guide or her notebook. She thought it would be cool if they signed her ticket, but she attended these events with a pass (as a fellow athlete) and not a ticket.

“If I really made it to a pro-league, sure. But I’d have to make it in first,” he said skeptically, getting ready to get back onto his bike. A professional career was so far off.

Kaori got on her bike, “Tsukishima, hear me out. I think you could make it. You’re tall and competitive. You have good game sense. You need more training, strength and stamina, but that will come in time. If you get good coaching and more fired up about winning, you will probably get scouted.” She spoke with such confidence. He was dazed by how certain she sounded.

Tsukki turned to her puzzled, “Developing more strength and faster reflexes is an issue I’m kind of dealing with right now. How would you know if I will be scouted? I’m not a stand out player or anything. Don’t be patronizing.”

Kaori tutted with her hands on her hips, “I’m on the Junior National Team remember? That’s right Miyahara Kaori of Team Japan. I know a thing or two about being scouted. I wasn’t a stand out gymnast either but I made it. It’s about working on your weaknesses and building on your strengths. Don’t worry about those Junior High prefectural awards. Not everyone stands out when they’re young. In fact that’s the most recognition some of them will ever get. Make your move in High School.”

They started biking homewards. Tsukki was a little astounded and grateful by Kaori’s belief in him. Could he really make it as a pro-player?

The route back home was nearly empty. They could bike freely on the lanes. Tsukki rode near Kaori, attempting to push her off the bike by poking her. He would ride near her then move away when she started to attack. Kaori fought back by trying to push him off his bike with a book. Although he had a clear advantage because of his long arm Kaori was persistent and quick. She tried to surprise him when she could.

They sparred back and forth until their fingers touched. A buzz of electricity shot through his veins. He tried to remember what it was like to touch her finger. He only remembered the pressure of her finger on his.

Kaori quickly jabbed him on the side and rode off on her own while he was distracted. She stopped at the intersection.

“Hey! That hurt.” he said winced, clutching his side. He pedalled faster to catch up to her. He lowered his eyelids and stared down at her.

“You started it!” she laughed and biked again. He biked to catch up with her.

Kaori was laughing as the wind carried her hair. Her laugh was music to his ears. He smiled to himself when she looked ahead. He was so helplessly crushing to her. He wished the day could extend itself so he could spend a little more time together. Their houses appeared within their view. Tsukki wished they had lived on the next street instead.

——————————————————————————————----

Fall (2018) || Sendai City Gymnasium || Sendai City || 2:00 PM

The Fukushima City Stadium was abuzz for today’s game. The Sendai Frogs, a Division 2 professional volleyball league, were playing a game against the hometown Fukushima Red Warriors. There were lines on the snack counters and people looking for their event’s program sheet. Former volleyball players were chatting in groups just outside the court and families were walking to and fro the hallway.

Tadashi Yamaguchi headed into the court. He walked into the bleachers to find Kaori Miyahara already seated and browsing through the event profiles. Her hair was down and she was dressed in a denim jacket and a dress. He recognized her even though he could hardly see her face because she was covered by the book. He hardly remembered the last time he saw more than just a glance of her. It seemed so long ago.

Kaori looked mostly the same from her middle school self. She had always been poised and neat with a constant air of dignity about her but there was something different about her this time around. As he climbed the stairs, he felt it was strange to watch a volleyball game in the bleachers with her. It used to be that he was on the court and she was on the bleachers during volleyball games.

“Kaori! Hi…” he said, waving at her.

Kaori waved back and motioned to the empty seat beside her.

“How have you been?” he asked casually, seating himself beside her. He had bought snacks just before he entered the court and offered some onigiri to her. She politely declined.

“I just came off my physical therapy session and rushed here. Tsukki thought I might not make the game because of the travel, but here I am.” she smiled, “How have you been?”

Kaori Miyahara, Tadashi Yamaguchi and Kei Tsukishima went to the same Junior High and High School up until Kaori transferred out during her first year second semester. They were even in the same class in Junior High. Yamaguchi was Tsukishima’s (or Tsukki as they both called him) best friend and volleyball teammate while Kaori was Tsukki’s next door neighbor. She used to attend their games and they did their best to cheer her on in her gymnastics competitions.

“I’m doing well. It’s been a while. Feels a bit strange that we’re on the same side of the bleachers now too.” he nodded.

In the somewhat distant past of Junior High, Kaori would gather up their other classmates who attended their games and turn them into a mini-cheer squad. He still remembered her voice ringing through the court when they scored a point.

“If this feels really strange, maybe you and Tsukki should catch one of my competitions so it will be just like Junior High.” she joked.

Yamaguchi laughed. He remembered afternoons in the local gym when Kaori used to compete in local competitions to warm up for her pre-season. There were not that many competitors from the prefecture and the bleachers were hardly packed, but Kaori always participated to test her routines under competition pressure. It would be one of the few chances for her friends to see her too considering at that time she either competed away from the prefecture or internationally. Tsukki would make him go so that he didn’t attend alone.

Kaori would typically medal on most of her apparatuses and Yamaguchi would cheer with her other friends from school. Tsukki would religiously clap just because he didn’t really cheer.

“We really should. Tsukki’s schedule is always busy with practice, but we really should make time. You mostly compete within the area now, it's a poor excuse not to go.” he nodded in agreement.

“Yeah and Tsukki would complain about going just like old times!” she laughed, remembering many a walk to school where she was coming up for reasons for him to go.

“He would pretend to complain, but he always went.” said Yamaguchi with a knowing smile.

Kaori couldn’t help but grin. It was true. She would invite him and he would grudgingly agree to go, but he never failed to show up, noisemakers and program guide in hand. Just before the court started filling with people, Yamaguchi suggested they move down to the lower seats to get a better view of the game.

They made their way down and chose seats at the visiting team’s side towards the side of the net. Tsukki was the type that didn’t invite people to his games because he felt it added pressure to an already high stakes event. His friends and family often disregarded and went anyway.

The players began warming up. They appeared on the court and some fans cheered the name of individual players. Somewhere behind them, someone yelled “Tsukishima!”

“They look like they’re probably from the university. I can’t believe they travelled here for this.” said Kaori banging her noisemaker, a little surprised ”I didn’t know he had gotten so popular during our time apart.”

Kaori hadn’t watched his games for years. This was Tsukki’s first game of the season. Although technically he was in his second year as a professional player. This was Kaori’s first game since they reconnected towards the end of winter term earlier on this year.

“After we qualified for our first prefectural finals for volleyball, girls started coming up to me to ask about Tsukki. He’s had a following since then.” explained Yamaguchi, turning to her.

“He’s not as good looking as Oikawa, how did that happen?” she asked in confusion. Tooru Oikawa was a player for another school in the prefecture. He was wildly popular among high school girls when they were freshmen for his looks, charm and skill. He almost always had fans waiting for him to arrive at the stadium during matches to give him gifts. He was the type to get fans, not stoic giants like Tsukki.

Yamaguchi chuckled, “I guess girls like tall boys and star players? I don’t really know either, they just said he looked cool.”

“I’ve always wondered if you ever get jealous when girls cheer for him on games.” he added hesitantly.

“No, not really. Honestly he’s not really into this kind of attention either.” she said, shrugging with ease.

“I’m more interested in Tsukki as a player because he sets up mind games. He finds it fun to strategize. Watching him play is a great way to see how his mind works.” she explained.

Yamaguchi nodded. Kaori’s observations were true. Tsukki was an athlete that did not run on instinct. All his plays were distilled from his observations at court. Yamaguchi was a little jealous that his best friend had found someone who knew how he ticked as an athlete.

“You know when our team was doing in High School I kept thinking of how much you’d enjoy our games. We got really competitive with the top schools. Tsukki really honed his game sense during those years. You would’ve been very proud of him. He wouldn’t admit it, but I think he would have liked you to have seen his growth too.” he reminisced.

Yamaguchi remembered the time in Junior High when Tsukki let slip his crush towards Kaori. It was a week before their match and he had been too nervous to eat lunch.

“Tsukki! I’m so nervous for our game on Saturday I can barely eat lunch.” groaned Yamaguchi, sitting in front of his still wrapped lunch box.

“It’s just a Junior High game, you shouldn’t put so much time worrying about it.” he said, unwrapping his own lunch on his table.

Yamaguchi sighed and threw his head back.

“Is Kaori coming to watch? I think I’d be even more nervous if she brought some of our classmates to watch.” he sighed.

“She’s out competing right now but she said she’ll come to our game next week.” he said, smiling smugly to himself.

The smile did not go unnoticed.

“Tsukki, are you smiling?” asked Yamaguchi.

Tsukki quickly recoiled into a scowl, “No, why would I?”

Yamaguchi began teasing him, “Do you like her? You were definitely smiling!”

Tsukki’s eyes narrowed. He shooed Yamaguchi, “Shut up! That’s not true.” Even if it was kind of true. He continued to frown even though his cheeks were turning a light shade of pink.

“I fully support you!” encouraged Yamaguchi, “She’s a great athlete and she knows how to play volleyball. She’s smart and she’s funny too. Tsukki, she’s perfect for you.”

“If she’s so great, why don’t you ask her out then?” he retorted.

“Because like I said, she’s perfect for YOU.” nodded Yamaguchi with finality, “You should try asking her out before some other boys do.”

When Kaori moved away during High School, Tsukki was beyond crushed. He pretended like it didn’t bother him, but Yamaguchi knew that it was all just a facade.

“I am proud of him. I sometimes catch your games when they’re in Tokyo, you know? Or if there are replays online.” she said, “I’ve always believed in him. When I found out he had been signed onto the Sendai Frogs, I definitely called it.” She smiled. There was an unabashed affection and respect in the way she spoke about him.

“Ughhh, see this is why you’re perfect for him! I was hoping you guys would get together in High School before you moved away. In my mind, you were the perfect sports couple. It’s such a waste Tsukki didn’t make a move then,” sighed Yamaguchi.

“I don’t think he was ready then,” she chuckled, “Besides, I would have turned him down. I knew Tsukki had feelings for me, but I really didn’t feel the same way.”

Yamaguchi’s jaw dropped. He had always thought that she liked him back. The two of them always carved out time during the weekends for each other, not to mention they walked to school almost every day. Kaori put up her hands and waved it from side to side.

“We’re properly dating now though, so everything worked out in the end I guess.” she rambled.

“I guess it’s not completely surprising. Tsukki can be anti-social and thorny. He takes some being used to.” he acknowledged, “It can be difficult to get along with him, much less like him.”

“That’s rich coming from his best friend.” she snorted.

“It’s true though and you know it too.” he said, throwing up his hands.

Kaori reluctantly conceded that it was.

“Which I guess makes you dating him, a bigger mystery really…” he mumbled, his hand on his chin.

Kaori couldn’t help but laugh.

“I think I’ve told you that I’m only half Japanese. It may not mean much to you because you’ve known me for a long time now but when you’re a gymnast who starts vying for the national team, people question your spot because they view you as a foreigner. I wasn’t half white either so I wasn’t even a special kind of happa (term used to refer to half-Japanese people). I was just not Japanese enough to some people.

In fact I like that he never tells me how I should be or what to do. When it wasn’t my Japanese-ness people were questioning, it was the way I ate, the way I talked, it was always not feminine enough or too rough around the edges. Tsukki just expects me to be with me earnestly. He was never fazed by my ethnicity or my femininity.” she shrugged.

The referee’s whistle blew and signalled the captains to shake before the game. The players from the starting order were introduced. Tsukki was one of few in today’s starting line-up who was still in school. It provided Yamaguchi and Kaori a swell of pride to hear his name and jersey number announced.

When the players got into position just before the game started, Tsukki’s eyes wandered in the audience, stopping at the sight of Kaori. She smiled and made a small wave. She made it after all.

After the game ended, fans gathered around players to ask for pictures and autographs. They formed circles around the players, who were later shuffled off to booths for signing. Kaori and Yamaguchi took their time before leaving the stands.

“I usually just wait for people to finish their picture-taking sessions before I approach Tsukki. We’ll be able to talk more with him then.” he said.

“We should have a picture. The three of us! It will be like a class reunion.” she suggested brightly.

Kaori took out her ticket from her wallet and waved it. “I’m going to ask him to sign my ticket too.”

“What for?” he asked. The couple probably saw each other almost every day at school. Couldn’t she ask him to sign then?

“When we were in Junior High, I told him that he should sign my ticket for his first professional game. I mean, I’m like over a year late to his first actual game, but it’s still my first game.” she said.

Yamaguchi nodded in understanding, “When the line gets shorter, we should line up for autographs too! You have the ticket signed and I’ll have my program signed too.” He grinned with a twinkle in his eye.

“He’s going to hate it,” she grinned back, “But let’s do it!”

Yamaguchi and Kaori found the line for the autographs when it began waning. They patiently lined up and chatted until it was their turn (which was not long). Tsukki didn’t have as many fans as they thought he would.

“What are you doing here? I said I would meet with you guys later.” Tsukki looked a little confused and embarrassed. It never ceased to feel weird when people he knew were standing in line.

Yamaguchi peeked from behind Kaori, “We’re working towards an authentic experience for Kaori’s first game. She hasn’t been to any professional games here you know.”

Tsukki tried not to growl at him. He should have known Yamaguchi was going to try to pull this stunt again. Tsukki preferred to meet people he knew after his contractual obligations. Yamaguchi defied his request half the time. Kaori held up her ticket and handed it to him.

“You said you would sign my first game ticket,” she reminded him.

Tsukki was confused for a moment before his eyes widened at the realization of his promise. He hadn’t taken the promise seriously at that time, but he supposed he still made it.

He pulled a clean piece of paper from under the table and made a makeshift envelope. While he wrote, he used the envelope to cover the ticket as if he was taking a quiz. After he was done, he placed the ticket in an envelope and gave it to her.

“You can read it when you get home.” he said.

Yamaguchi had him sign the program guide as usual.

After Tsukki was “released” as he put it, he went for a quick chat with Kaori and Yamaguchi. They got their picture right before the team was preparing to head back to the bus for their ride home. His coach called for him. He excused himself to join his team. Yamaguchi and Kaori took the train home together, catching up as they commuted. They too hadn’t seen each other in years.

When Kaori got home, she took out the ticket out of the envelope to see what Tsukki wrote. The ink had been slightly smudged but his writing was still legible.

“This win was because you knew I’d get here. Thank you for believing in me before my scout did. - Tsukishima”

Kaori read his note twice, thrice, four times, savoring her promise that had come true. She tacked the ticket on the cork board above her small desk. Tsukki is always dismissive about other people’s opinion. It hadn’t fully sunk in that he had taken her word from Junior High to heart.

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

“Sato-san, I have a favor to ask.” Tsukki approached his senior hastily.

The Sendai Frogs’ first game in their home city had just ended and fans were just starting to descend from the bleachers. After a few pictures here and there. Tsukki snuck back to the locker room to quickly wipe himself down and put on a jacket without his team logo.

“Tsukki, are you headed back out? Let’s go together.” nudged Seiji Arakawa, one of his team mates.

“I’ll join in a few, you go ahead.” he said, switching from his sports goggles to his regular glasses.

Tsukki had no plans on running back to the Sendai Frog fans just yet. He was headed to Kaori’s competition. Her coach had entered her into her first competition for the fall. She was scheduled to come up in a few minutes. He had already missed her individual qualifiers and hoop individual finals because of his match, he was not going to miss her best event which was the ribbon apparatus. Akira Sato, the vice-captain, stopped him in the hallway. Just his luck!

“Tsukishima, you’re not in your team jacket. Are you trying to sneak off again?” he said, lifting a brow.

Tsukishima stopped dead on his tracks.

“I have to- I got - ribbon finals-“ he stuttered to his senior.

Tsukki guiltily gritted his teeth, “Please Sato-san, it will just be a few minutes. The performance will last less than two minutes. I’ve already missed some events. This is the last one.”

“Please cover for me.” he pleaded. Tsukki was not one to plead, but he was getting desperate.

Sato patted him at the back, “The game’s over now so you can go. In fact you got me really curious so I’ll go with you!” Sato smiled and ran by Tsukki’s side.

They passed a few team mates on the hallway on their way to Court C, where Kaori’s competition was held and Sato managed to invite them to come watch with them including Seiji.

“I think Tsukishima’s gymnast girlfriend is competing! Let’s go cheer her on guys.” he called out.

“Sato-san—“ said Tsukki, mortified. Thank god they weren’t in the public halls. He would have died of embarrassment.

“With all due respect to the sport and organizers Tsukki, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of people in that court. We have to bring our own cheer squad.” he said, winking.

A few of them were approached by fans as they passed the part of the city gymnasium that was open to the public, but most of them made it into the darkened court where Kaori’s was performing. They had gotten there just in time to see her walk in after her name was called out. Seiji, who managed to snag a program guide on the way, looked up the time slot to see who was performing. The vice captain captain quickly seated everyone at the rows nearest to the exit. The team clapped on cue following Tsukki’s lead when Kaori settled into her starting pose.

“Tsukishima said something about ribbons,” said Sato, reading the guide with Seiji.

“What’s her last name?” said Konegawa trying to read through the program guide in the dark, peering over Seiji’s shoulder, “Miya something right?”

“She’s not really my girlfriend - ” Tsukki interjected.

“Oh, competing for the Sendai University team. You two go to the same university. It’s her, isn’t it?” confirmed Seiji, pointing at the guide.

“Miyahara Kaori sounds like the name they just announced, must be her.” said Konegawa, scanning through the guide to see if there was a name just like hers.

“Only cheer when the routine is over. If we cheer too loudly during the performance, they might get distracted.” he snapped.

Tsukki felt hot in the face and folded his arms. He shot a dirty look at Akira Sato, who only chuckled and turned his eyes onto the floor where all the lights were pointed.

As soon as Kaori began her routine, the team behaved themselves. It was a traditional Japanese folk song recomposed as a classical music piece expanded through chords in the style of classical music. The piece began with the familiar opening melancholic notes of the original song.

The music progressed to undulating waves, emulating the rise and fall of a cool spring breeze. The pace picked up a couple minutes in, whipping petals that were frolicking in the wind. The petals basked in a state of in-between. They had fallen off their branches, but they had not yet touched the ground. Although the music was steadily building, a segment of the piece devoid of its thick chords played with gentle, tingling notes. The piano sounded like hope.

The piece brought Tsukki back into his Modern Art class where he saw Kaori in his classroom for the first time. The utter shock of seeing her after three years washed over him as he stood at the doorway. She was completely unconscious of him, going over her syllabus in her own desk. The sight of her filled him renewed hope. For a moment, all the pain he had felt about her sudden departure erased itself.

Tsukki walked around in shock for two days. He felt as if he had been wandering around the campus, unable to focus on any task at hand. He couldn’t believe it. She was back and she seemed happier too. He had prayed to the gods. He pleaded that if they truly listened to the prayers of mortals, they would hear him, that they would keep Kaori safe and that he would be able to see her again. He was beyond overjoyed that his prayers were answered.

Kaori responded beautifully to the music jumping to the swells and catching her ribbon to the correct beat of the music. He watched her. He couldn’t help feeling like the piece was about her return. His mind ran through the memory of seeing her in class again, reliving his joy and relief.

The team was completely enamored. They gasped when she leaped and threw her ribbon. They oohed and ahed when she did any of her spins and standing splits. When she finished there was a moment of dead silence. It was as if the entire audience held their breath, unable to believe that the routine was over. Tsukki was quiet too. The silence slowly transported him back to the audience.The ambient noise of the court had melted off and he could only look at her softly.

The team clapped and cheered enthusiastically when they realized the routine ended.

“She’s so good!” commented Seiji to Tsukki.

“That was so beautiful, Miyahara-san!” yelled Konegawa.

Kaori squinted in their direction during her bows. Tsukki felt obliged to unfold his arms and wave at her sheepishly. He could die of embarrassment right now. His team mates cheered even louder. He wanted to bury himself onto the ground. After she exited, the team quickly scrambled back outside to meet fans and do a bit of press.

Sato urged everyone to not say anything about where they went until they hit the bus. He didn’t want their coach in a foul mood just yet and besides it was unlikely that they would notice where the went anyways because they were only gone for 10 minutes.

“Thank you for doing this Sato-san,” bowed Tsukki as they jogged back.

Sato jogged in contemplative silence, replying to Tsukki a few seconds later.

“No, thank you Tsukishima. That was very beautiful. You were right to want to see it. I won’t forget her performance any time soon.” he said in a hushed voice.

“She’s hoping to perfect the program for her spring competitions.” he nodded gratefully, Tsukki was surprised by Sato’s reaction. It wasn’t just him who was moved. Hopefully his vice-captain would help him sneak out again should he need to.

“If she’s competing again sometime in spring, when the sakura are ready to bloom, I would like to see that performance again. If you don’t mind,” Sato added.

Before they began loading the bus, Konegawa saw a gymnast with the Sendai University varsity uniform walk around flowers in hand medals around her neck taking pictures with a young fan. He nudged Sato and asked him if that was indeed Miyahara-san. Sato approached her and asked her for her name. When they confirmed it was indeed her, they called over their other team mates who watched her perform to congratulate her.

“Miyahara-san, we loved your performance! It was so cool! I’ve never seen anything like it before.” cried Konegawa.

“Excuse him,” apologized Sato at Konegawa’s casualness, “We loved your performance. We hope you could allow us to congratulate you.”

The team flocked Kaori. Tsukki was more than mortified at the sound of Konegawa’s public announcement. They asked for a quick photo with Kaori. She found it hilarious when they dragged Tsukishima into the photo against his will. His eyes were wide with panic when Sato pushed him to the front for the picture.

Kaori excused herself and ran back into her bus. The whole situation amused her and she had no idea how it came to be. Tsukki promised to try to catch at least one event even though she had said it was alright that he missed her competition. In her mind she imagined him sneaking out on his own. It was totally unexpected that his team would involve themselves into the ordeal. Nevertheless she was quite touched that he had showed up like he promised. She was so excited that he had seen her at her best event that she could hardly sleep on the way home.

On the bus back to the Sendai Frog’s home gym, members of the team that had watched Kaori gathered around Tsukki to interrogate him about Kaori.

“How did you meet her?” asked Seiji.

“She moved into the house beside ours during Junior High. She moved out during High School.” he answered.

“Ohmygod, you’re childhood sweethearts!” squealed Konegawa, with his hand on his heart. Despite his towering height, Konegawa had a happy-go-lucky nature and was a softie. He loved tropes like childhood sweethearts.

“No, well actually she moved away during High School. She moved back to do college gymnastics during college.” clarified Tsukki. They certainly did not date during High School.

“You mentioned she had a team…can you ask her to introduce us to her team? I bet they’re also graceful fairies! I’ve always wanted to date a gymnast. That would be so cool! We could watch each other’s competitions.” waxed another teammate.

“I mean Tsukki didn’t exactly get to watch her and she missed his entire game because she had her own competition. If you wanted to date someone who would always be at your games, maybe you should look for someone else.” said Seiji, calmly scrolling on his phone on the chair opposite to Tsukki.

At the front of the bus, Sato sat beside their captain, Koki Hino. He turned to their vice-captain and asked what the commotion was about. Sato skimmed through the events of the day and mentioned that Tsukishima’s girlfriend was in the stadium and some of the members had met her.

“Tsukishima has a girlfriend? Did I hear that right?” said Hino, shaking his head in disbelief. He had suspected that some of his teammates had girlfriends, but Tsukishima was not one of them.

“I was surprised too!” laughed Sato, “Although if we’re being honest everyone is equally shocked.” --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was 2 am in the morning. Kaori had just woken up. After she got home from her competition, she only had enough energy to eat dinner and take a quick shower before falling asleep on her tatami floor. She checked the time on her phone. The dishes were still on the table and she hadn’t even laid out her futon bed. She got up, washed the dishes and unfurled her bed.

Her phone buzzed with a message from Tsukki, “Can’t sleep, let me know if you’re up.”

Kaori: I’m up finishing some chores.

Tsukki: Can I call?

Kaori hesitated. She put her dishes on the rack. She put on her headphones and tucked herself in between the blankets.

Kaori: Sure. What’s the matter?

Tsukki quietly rolled out of his bed and put on a warm jacket. He headed outside making sure to close the bedroom door carefully as to not wake his brother up. He dialed her number and waited for her to pick up. He was speaking in hushed tones.

“Hey, Kaori,” he said.

“Tsukki, are you still in your bedroom? You sound like your whispering. ” she said, unconsciously hushing her tone.

“No, I’m outside the bedroom but still inside the house.” he replied, “Anyways, I can’t stop thinking about your solo ribbon performance and the music you used. I don’t know why.”

Tsukki placed himself the furthest away from the bedroom door, which was the corner of the house with the telephone. Unbothered by how cold the living room was with the heater turned off, he sat crouched by his brother’s bookshelf.

“Today was an especially good competition day.” she admitted.

“Everything I did was going super well, even I knew I could feel that I was balanced and in control of my apparatus.” she nodded, thinking back to how she was hyper-aware of all her performances but without the usual nerves.

“What made you choose that rendition of Sakura, Sakura?” he asked.

“I’m a big fan of Belle Chen. I download all her new releases. Hearing this piece though was a totally soul-stirring experience. I was so moved when I first heard it. That bit in the end where it slows down, picks up then swells? I was crying when I first truly sat down to listen to it. Tears were just pouring. The experience was so visceral.” her voice rang with fervor. It was like she was reliving the first time she heard it. He could almost feel her hairs stand on the back of her neck as she spoke.

“Later, I thought it would be neat to show up to my later spring competitions with Sakura themed-music so there was that too.” she added, cheekily.

“You looked so ethereal during your routine. It was unlike any of your performances I’ve caught.” he breathed slowly, replaying her performance in his head.

“I feel like the music captured the last few years for me you know…? At the end of High School, I thought I had exhausted all my good experiences from gymnastics. I had recovered from my injuries by then and I was even winning some local competitions, but I was ready to move on.

Sendai University made an offer. I was ready to turn it down, but my coach asked me to give my career a shot one last time. I told her I was exhausted. Trying to get back all my difficult skills from when I competed as an elite-level junior had worn me to the ground. I just wanted to dance without feeling like a former shadow of myself.

She said she would work with what I had. No more adding of skills unless I wanted to. I could have more say in my choreography and music. Japanese coaches tend to emphasize on repetitions. Coach has trained abroad so I guess she had a more liberal philosophy to her work. I agreed to come back to Miyagi after that and the rest is history.” she said wistfully.

“I used to think that Sakura was about the impermanence of beauty. It bloomed and then it was blown away, kind of like my career, but listening to the piece reminded me that endings open up new beginnings. I could still find joy in gymnastics even though I was not the gymnast I was. I could still be happy living in Sendai even when it was here that I had experienced many pains. I’m so glad I came back, Tsukki. And her music reminds me of that every time I listen to it.” her voice went quiet.

Tsukki felt slightly taken aback by how Kaori spoke about herself. Although she no longer competed at the elite level, she was still competitive locally. He hated to think that she peaked as an elite junior and implying that the lack of difficulty in her routine made her a lesser athlete.

“I mean you were not as technical, but it’s not like you aren’t better than before. You’re competing more freely because you’re not constantly on the brink of injury. You’re not pressured to keep a certain weight as much. Also, you’re closing out your career with an equally passionate team. You’ve spent six years in high school competing against everyone else. Isn’t this more fun way to discover your love for gymnastics?

You moved the entire audience. They forgot to clap because of you. Everyone was in awe. Competing in the elite is not the end all be all of your career. Aren’t you much happier now?”

Kaori was quiet on the other line, “You’re right. I guess I am better now and healthier and happier. Competing in college is great. I chose Sakura, Sakura you know. This would never have happened in high school.”

“So is your comeback the memory you’d place with this piece?” he asked.

She shook her head. He could hear the rustling of her hair against the phone. “I don’t want to attach a memory to this piece just yet because I don’t think the memory that is right for this has come yet. Maybe the memory isn’t completed yet. I don’t know I want to save it for the future.”

“While listening to this piece, do you have a memory that you would score this piece to?” she asked. By the way he talked, it seemed that he had a strong memory already attached to the music.

Tsukki contemplated in silence before he answered. “After you left, I had a dream while I was still in High School that you had come back. Just before the winter started, I had that dream again,” he gulped and felt the weight of his words as he swallowed, ignoring pounding in his chest.

“When I went into our first class during winter term, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw you in the room. We lived our high school careers completely away from each other and now we’re here again. Beginnings and endings were part of a cycle, and I was beginning again.”

When Tsukki saw Kaori, he wanted to yell of joy, pain and relief. He walked around in shock and disbelief for two days. Despite his real feelings, he wanted to maintain a facade of indifference.

“You go here now?” were his first words to her. It was like nothing had happened as he settled on a desk beside her.

“I couldn’t believe it. I thought I must be dreaming.” he said, shaking his head.

“I was so happy that you were back and healthy. I couldn’t care less if you were with someone else or whatever. It was like all this time you were gone I couldn’t breathe and you just sitting there made me realize how much I worried about you. I was so relieved just to be able to see you.” Tsukki realized he was rambling, but he had bottled up for so long. The words were pouring out his mouth like a release.

There was a moment of silence before Kaori spoke up again.

“Have you ever been upset that I’ve ruined your peace by coming back?” she asked curiously in a hushed voice.

“Of course not. I would never say no to you coming back to my life.” he said earnestly.

“That’s very kind of you.” she said softly.

“No, I mean it. It was devastating when you left, but I was also too young to know how to help you if you had stayed. Besides Tokyo seems great, I wouldn’t want to deprive you of your time there.” he smiled to himself.

Towards the end of her time in Miyagi back then, a cloud constantly weighed over Kaori. She tried to hide it yet Tsukki easily saw through it. Kaori was silent on the other line. What he said was true. He wouldn’t know how to help her through her ordeals at that time, but his earnestness of his well wishes surprised her. She had hurt him and yet his biggest worry about her safety and health.

“Are ever you worried that happiness - this happiness we’re feeling now is impermanent?” she asked, “Aren’t you scared you don’t know if all this will suddenly disappear?”

Tsukki’s joy at her return was plain of course. However, if things won’t pan out well between them she feared that he would have been through an emotional rollercoaster for nothing. Tsukki nodded. He realized she couldn’t see him so he answered yes.

“All the time,” he murmured. “I’m scared because I don’t know how this will last, but I’m so glad you’re back. I can’t even begin to describe the happiness I feel even if that means I have something to lose again.” he swallowed hard.

Kaori could feel his fear, his ecstasy, his anxieties and his hope rushing through her veins as she listened to him over the phone. She hated to hear the distress in his voice.

“Kei, I said I’m not going anywhere soon, ok? I’ll tell you when I have to go this time so you can come with me. I’m so sorry, please don’t cry.” she pleaded.

“I never thought we’d get to this point, where I get to see you when you come back.” he was choking up. The dryness in his throat cracked his voice.

“I could hold your hand right now...” she whispered, intently listening to him.

“Hey, don’t be sad…we have many springs to score right? The one this year has passed, but we have the one next year and the year after that and so on…and we can go to Aichi, Nagoya some day.” she rambled, trying to cheer him up.

“And live in a house where we won’t have to move so you can have your own bookshelf.” he said softly.

“We’ll do just that.” she whispered, nodding in silence.

“I love you…so so much…” his expression softened. He closed his eyes as he felt his tears warm his face. He could hear her steady breathing on the phone.

When Kaori first met Tsukki, he was just her next door neighbor. She had never imagined that she would spend every morning walking to school or endless afternoons running around Miyagi. Kaori moved many times during her living but leaving Miyagi had been the hardest. Signing her contract with the university filled her with apprehension and excitement, knowing that she might see him again. And here they were now calling in the middle of the night, in between spring competitions toiling away in their fall season just as they did when they were younger.

When Kaori finally put down the phone, she briefly glanced at the ticket with his signature on the cork board and today’s medals on her desk. When she gets her own bookshelf, those have to make it into the trinkets section too.

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Deleted scene:

He thought back to his dream where he was walking along the hallways of Karasuno High School on his way back to the classroom from the canteen. His left hand was throbbing in pain. During his prefectural’s final match, he injured himself while blocking a spike but earned his team’s ticket to Nationals. His hand had been feeling better, but his pain reminded him that he had not healed. Before he steps foot into the classroom, Kaori from the next class appears. He stops his steps.

“Tsukki, how is your hand?” she asks.

He weaves his way into his seat and sets his lunch down on his desk. She follows him and pulls a chair to sit across him. He glances at his hand, his pinky was still taped, splintered with his ring finger. The tape was running across his wrist and over his hand to protect his dislocated finger.

He nodded, “It’s getting better though, thanks for asking.” He looks down on his desk, suddenly bashful.

“Good luck with Nationals. It’s going to be great. Everyone’s so excited for the team.” she said. She takes his hand into hers and gently inspects his injury. Her other hand moves to cover his hand.

Tsukki holds her right hand between his hands. His heart was beating a hundred miles a second. He was nervous as hell. He kept his eyes on her hand. People were staring - he was so sure of it he didn’t even need to look up. He just wanted to be able to keep holding her. His heart beat faster and faster. Just as he has the courage to look up into her eyes. He wakes up. Tsukki was too embarrassed to tell her the entirety of his recurring dream. His cheeks turned pink just at the thought of it.

#haikyuu #haikyuu!!#haikyuu fanfiction #haikyuu fanfic #hq fanfic #hq x y/n #hq x you #hq x reader #hq tsukishima #haikyuu tsukishima #tsukishima x y/n #tsukishima kei #tsukishima x oc #tsukishima x reader #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu scenarios #hq imagines

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blankdblank · 4 years

Text

Next Caller Pt 18

Straight to your room you went stealing the chance to let him in for once luring out his grin again at your amusement in the task. At the hall past the main living area you split up in the hall and his hand reluctantly left your side.

Behind closed doors nerves were still there at having to strip, even in private. Your formerly untidy bed now made up with an odd colored toffee on the pillow next to a fish keychain you smirked at the little puffer fish that when squeezed and it’s eyes lit up. Adding that to your bag you started with your shoes, socks followed after and in a slight wiggle you lowered your jeans after emptying our pockets on the bed.

A tug over your head had your shirt off and added to the folded pile you returned to your suitcase and in just your bra and panties in a tempting lace coated black bra with cute boy shorts to match you pulled your hair tie out and wound your hair up into a high bun hoping to keep it mainly out of the way. From the foot of the bed you lifted the embroidered fish coated robe waiting there and eased it on and slid your feet into the slippers coated in colorful embroidered fish.

Tying the sash you crossed the room and let yourself out with phone in hand after locking your wallet in your satchel inside the suitcase with your goody bag. Out into the living room you walked and sat on the edge of the couch wondering how this would go. After all it would be your first time next to naked with not just him but any man that wasn’t a physician doing a check up.

And in his exit from the hall it seemed he had caught your nerves or found some of his own by his timid blush and throat clearing to say, “Just a small walk now. Then we get to rubbing.” At that his brows inched up and he said, “Not, us, but-, we’re getting rubbers.” But that only made him inhale as you giggled to yourself and stood.

“Come on, before all the blood goes to your head and your feet go numb.” You said taking a step to him claiming his hand leading the way to the door, by which you had left your key and picked it up to pocket ensuring you wouldn’t forget it. “Let’s go find our rubbers,” you murmured, giggling at his next sharp inhale.

“At least you find my verbal blunders amusing.”

“How could I not? What a thrill make a guy like you blush.”

To himself he muttered, “Guy like me…” within sight of the door to the spa with golden fish blowing jets of golden sculpted water forming the frame to the screen like white door revealing the lights from inside with golden letters on the door naming it he spa center for your floor.

A grin eased across the face of the woman at the desk as well as the pair of masseuses who walked around a half wall bowing their heads and naming themselves as Bo and Jo.

Bo, “I see you are from #,” motioning to the room number on the pin on the collar of your robes.

Jo however said, “Miss, if you are uncomfortable with a male massaging you we do have a Dam available to swap with me.”

You shook your head to the sweet seeming burly probably could blink a Boulder in half hunk of a Dwarf beside his identical brother, in all but a couple inches in the belly and his darker chocolate hair. “A male is fine.”

At that their hands motioned to the side, saying together, “This way, if you please.”

A spacious orange tinted room filled with the scent of grapefruit welcomed you and Bo said, “Now we have chosen the lavender free room, it is not uncommon for some to have an aversion or irritation to the supposedly calming scent. Are there any injuries or tender spots we should be aware of?”

Thorin said, “My left hip, had a bad dislocation once and it might give off a bad pop but other than that I should be fine.”

The pair looked to you and you said, “My left shoulder is a bit tender, well it’s more along he collarbone really, and my right hamstring doesn’t flex as much as the left. Pulled or tore something ages ago, and it just hasn’t been the same.”

Jo smirked saying, “I will certainly see what I can do about that.”

Bo stated in his turn for the covered tables a couple feet apart, “If you would remove your robes and stretch out on your bellies please.”

The pair turned with towels in their hands and lowering your eyes you turned to the table easing off your robe you had loosened the sash to feeling the Dwarf eyeing the scattered former nicks and cuts across your back.

Jo, “Do you play contact sports?”

“No, I was an engineer for naval carriers.”

“Wow,” the Twins replied.

“Used to be the go to one for all the tight places.”

Up onto the table you climbed and shifted to lay out on your belly reaching back to unhook your bra you shifted your shoulders free from the straps while he covered your backside wondering at the brand like scar on the back of your thigh just under your butt cheek halfway hidden by your underwear.

Bo asked as Thorin laid out on his, “Did you serve as well?”

Softly you said holding your bra over your cleavage in settling flat, “You know I’ve never asked you that.”

After a weak chuckle he said in a glance at you, “Tank mechanic mostly. Me and Dwalin, Balin has just retired, not much action but we did get to work on a HailBird Jet once. Couldn’t find anyone else around so they settled for us, but it was amazing.”

“Not much action is a good thing,” you said laying flat aligning your face in the cushioned pocket while he did the same and the brothers guided your arms back how they wanted them at your sides. From your shoulders down the pair worked and slowly you could feel your eyes trying to droop at the combination of their healing chants to help relax your bodies and hidden aches. Though as soon as his hand touched just above your right knee your eyes shot wide open at the intense shooting pain you felt in your knee. In biting our lip you kept quiet, only deepening your breaths to show your pain and Jo said, “Ah, that’s what it is. You’ve got a Mburr knot.”

Bo said, “Nasty things.”

Jo reached over grabbing a small set of acupuncture needles he warned you and tapped his finger where each was going. A simple count down later and you felt the pricks of the needles and the pain simply circling inside the barriers of the needles. Below the needles he worked his thumbs down to the heel of your foot he pressed on hard sliding his thumbs down into the arch of your foot dissipating the pain steadily. Down to your toes he curled back his hand molded then slowly he raised your leg to bend back. A few simple rotations of your ankle and it popped loudly making you lift your head only to lay it down again at Bo’s saying, “Should be eased out now, Miss.”

Jo lowered your leg and removed the needles and began to rub your leg again instantly making you realize the tension was gone. “See, all better.”

“I got no clue how the doctors I’ve seen on that couldn’t fix it before.”

Jo, “Mainly Dwarves get them. Did you have a bad fall?”

“My carrier was attacked. It came when it tipped over, tried to stop myself on a wall.”

Bo, “That’ll do it.”

Carefully after your other legs were done the pair lifted the towels and Jo raised the second above the one covering your hips to lay over your chest in their instruction for you to turn over. After securing your bra strap again you shifted to turn onto your back stealing a glimpse at Thorin’s tiny adjustments to be in the center of the table and dark hair coated chest rising in a deep breath. In your look back he stole a glimpse of his own at your arms shifting allowing the momentarily stunned Jo to fold the towel over your chest you laid your arms over. Clearly both brothers had seen your piercings and in a rubbing of their palms together they said, “Alright, starting at the top again.”

Carefully inspecting your left shoulder Jo said, “Nice tattoo,”

“Thank you, Thorin’s,” you looked at Thorin on your right, “Dwalin and Bilbo aren’t married yet, are they?”

“Not yet, no. Still partners.” he replied catching your eye, having already been looking at you still when you turned your head.

Looking back to Jo you said, “His cousin’s partner helped to cover some old scars.”

Jo nodded, “It’s incredible work, couldn’t tell there was a scar there.” Lowering his hands to smooth his fingers around your shoulders to do a slight adjustment on your head to trail his fingers around your neck and work his way down. Feeling how serious the scars are. Carefully working each arm to the fingers then moved onto the other. Skipping your pectorals his hands eased to your ribs below the towel and over your belly he worked down to your hips and made slight shifts of your legs to press his way down them. Trailing his fingers firmly over the tops of your feet he worked around your ankles and the bottoms of your feet asking, “You like bunnies?”

“They are adorable.”

Bo feeling the swirling tension growing in Thorin stated, “You know our sister had a vicious bunny when we were little. Couldn’t do anything with it, not even pet it, used to try to bite and claw at us.”

“She must have had a hare then, domestic variations are less hostile in cages.”

Bo, “She did find it hurt in our yard and patched him up. That explains a lot.” Before his brother could speak he said, “I think it’s time for some hot rocks and meditations.”

Across your bodies hot rocks were placed with comments to alert them if they were too hot then the pair left the room and you couldn’t help but giggle and ask near to a whisper, “So we just lay here? How long are they gone for?”

Thorin hummed back, “They were gone for 673 Khazad-Dum’s last year by Dwalin’s count.”

Again you giggled making him chuckle again, “I can’t imagine how relaxing 673 would be. Probably more unsettling than relaxing.”

“Not really. I usually try to name as many of a thing as possible.”

“I can’t imagine how thrilling your family gatherings are with you at the helm.”

Lowly he chuckled trying not to laugh too hard and shift the stones or alert the pair you were not relaxing as planned. “I am rarely at the helm.”

“Pity,”

“Keep teasing and you’ll find yourself at ample.”

“Oh I don’t doubt I’ve been penned into several already even before your threat. Or did you forget how your cousin simply put my name on a ticket and bought me a shirt for this without even you knowing.”

“He truly didn’t want to leave Frodo, I don’t doubt that.”

“Who would want to? Adorable big blue eyes, those curls and adorably big footed little sunflower. I got one hug and I almost didn’t want to let go, so sweet.”

“Do you want kids?”

With a smirk you teased back, “Depends,” that had his head turn to glance your way, “Are you offering or asking for someone else?”

Thorin scoffed and rumbled back with a cracked grin, “I’m asking to ask. Dis wanted one, she’s will having three and four now, Amad wanted seven, was only gifted three, Balin’s wife was told she couldn’t have any, they were blessed a bit ago with their girl.”

“I don’t know. I helped with my sisters, so I’ve successfully minded them for vacations for Naneth when they were toddlers. I could handle the, bad term, but work for it. I don’t know. For Elleth’s it really isn’t uncommon, until you meet someone that sort of lights that, yearning for a nest and a family. I know she was scared when she had me she wouldn’t be able to love me.” That had him look at you again, “Most women face that, I’ve read, when they conceive unwillingly. I don’t harbor resentment for that, I understand, she said the moment of the first flutter she was enamored, fears just melted away. Prayed to the Valar so hard for guidance and strength, then she felt it.”

“I doubt she could have done anything else.”

“So, I don’t know. Though I’d always assumed I’d either have one or a whole herd, no medium ground.”

“You mean middle.” You glanced at him, “The phrase, middle ground.”

“Is it?” he nodded and you turned your head, “Hmm. Very odd. Doesn’t taste right.” Making him smirk in his try not to laugh. “You?”

“Do I taste right?”

It was your turn to giggle but you didn’t and fired back, “Well I haven’t tried, but you certainly haven’t offered permission.”

Again he chuckled and rolled his eyes, “Pebbles, yes, I want pebbles.”

Giggling to yourself you muttered, “Pebbles.” Deepening his smirk, “Suppose you can really say chip off the old block then, huh?”

“Yes, you could.”

“It’s figurative stone, right?”

“Hmm?”

“I mean, and I wouldn’t, but, if I say cut off your arm there wouldn’t be actual stone, in you?”

Again he chuckled and replied, “Elves have a sort of misty, glittery substance, similar to Hobbits’ and our bones are sort of like that. If you looked at an xray of us our bones, sort of, pulse on the image. It seeps into our blood, which inside us, glows.”

“Hmm.”

“I always wanted a big hoard of Pebbles. Even Gran hoped I would, assumed more like.”

“Your Hobbit Gran?”

“Yes.”

“They tend to do that, get a feeling.”

“She had a lot of those.”

“They do. How many Moria’s do you think that was?”

“I think we’re close.”

“Have you been to Moria?”

“Yes, clan insists on it, pay our respects to Durin. You?”

“Couple times with Thranduil,”

“Greenleaf?”

“Yup, art based charity events mostly. Though, and you can’t tell anyone this,” he glanced at you again with an expecting smirk, “I have a jar of Mirromere water.”

Softly he faked a gasp then rumbled back playfully, “So do I. It glows in the moonlight.”

“I’m tempted to add it to my fountain, but I think that might give me away. Legolas actually filled two, just little ones, like travel shot glasses, he was just so small I couldn’t turn him in. So proud of his jar of starlight, just like in the stories.”

“Frerin asked me for my paint jars I’d emptied the day before on our trip, after he’d already taken them. Showed me and Dis later that night, ‘our little secret’ said Durin wouldn’t mind, us being his heirs and all that.”

“Devious Durin boys.” Making him chuckle to himself and steal a glimpse and grin wider seeing you grinning to yourself.

In a hum he replied, “Amad didn’t name me Darer for nothing.” Making you giggle again then fall silent at the door handle turning.

The rocks were removed and coated in a sprits of oils you eyed the pair as they said, “Your nail team is ready if you wanted to get back into your robes.” Claiming the towels the pair brought over your robes and once you were on your feet, and had looped your arms back into your bra straps and eased your arms back into your robe.

In tying your sash again Jo flashed you a grin, “Leg feel better?”

“Yes, thank you.”

His eyes scanned over you and he said, “Well if you need anything, you can call here and ask for us.” You nodded and took in his hinting tone in their joint path to the door not giving you or Thorin a chance to say anything.

Playfully to Thorin, fully blocked from view by his chest you mouthed, “Us,” making him smirk again in the duo of Hobbit ladies wheeling in their pre stocked carts with supplies for the treatments Dwalin had given them over the phone.

Into the lounging seats you were guided at the joint uv equipped tables and from filing, cuticle trimming, buffing a simple base coat was laid beginning the swapping of your green coating to your nails. Thorin however was getting a fuller hand massage ending in the final segment of your nail process with a simpler manicure for his nails finishing just as yours did. A simple layer of lotion came with your being moved over to the pedicure chairs. The one with heavy cushions in it clearly yours enabling you to sit back and relax as Thorin did while being pampered. Simple clear coats were for you both and with some more lotion slicked on and given a moment to settle in you sat chatting about what you might watch while waiting for the dinner you would have to decide on once you got back.

“Seriously, we’re meditating again?”

Thorin couldn’t help but chuckle and run his hand over his eyebrows at your soft whisper after the pair of Hobbits had gone.

“The creams have to soak in.”

“Huh..”

He glanced at you and said, “So you both enjoy and have little patience for being pampered. Intriguing notion.”

“I mean they could leave a puzzle or something. I don’t have much downtime. Even then I have hobbies or chores.”

“You watch tv.”

“Yes but that’s my nestling time. It’s designated do nothing time.”

“We’re meant to clear our minds and relax fully.” Your brow inched up and his grin split wider, “Alright, I can’t stand it either, Dwalin and I usually make up games. I seriously debate on trusting people if they can really clear their minds. Every time I’ve cleared mine it seems like I’m snapped back into every horror film ever and any tiny noise just drives me insane. I need some rambling or elevator music in my head to be calm.”

“Exactly. Naturally silence is more of a trigger for panic than anything. I mean you take nature for instance, you should hear birds or squirrels or tiny little toads, the odd deer and bugs in the woods, lizards and buzzards and sand bunnies and foxes in the dessert. Even in snowy places they have bears and foxes and seals and such. Dead silence means everyone’s watching the big bad guy come down on somebody.”

To himself he chuckled and said, “So, what was running through your mind then in the pedicure?”

“I think I’m gonna order that tree desk and table when I get paid.”

“That’s good.”

“Not really.”

“How so?”

“You know about my father and his family,” he nodded, “Well, I’m the only living heir, legally public one at least. So I inherited everything. Billions, I have, billions, do you have billions?!”

Chuckling thorough his answer he replied, “With a b no, with an m yes. My own inheritance in a trust set up from a relative when I was born. We all got the same amount to help us start.”

“It’s so freaking odd. Just having money.”

“You could buy a car now.”

You pointed at him, “Don’t even, I don’t need to be blowing money. I need to be sensible.”

“How is a car not sensible?”

“I just bought a house! A house! Which I could pay off much sooner...I might double my payments each month maybe...but I think a desk and a table would be an ok start.”

Curiously he asked, “Is it the money or who you got it from?”

“They wouldn’t even let me touch their furniture, now I have the liquidated assets from everything all of them had. Everything Even those fake books with bills and rolls of gold and silver coins tucked inside, full trunk of them the lawyer’s sending my way. More money than I could ever spend.” After a pause you added in a disheartened tone, “Right when I was going to make my own money, build my own little hoard.”

Instantly feeling the meaning of your words he said, “You could start a scholarship fund or something. Or maybe one day you’ll need a wad of cash for a building or, home base for a business venture you might like. You don’t have to touch it if it bothers you.”

“I know.” In a sigh you said, “I know I shouldn’t complain...”

“You have no reason to apologize. I understand, with my family it’s hard to be set apart and find your own stride and wealth, even I have my own funds set apart from my trust. For what you’ve managed alone in spite of their efforts is astounding to say the least. To manage alone, especially in Dwarven territories is spectacular, you have to know that. Please don’t ever apologize for being proud of what you’ve earned on your own. I understand completely. Just, think of better things for now, like dinner,” he said with a smirk at your creeping grin coming back out again.

The pair came back in and aided in your climb down off the recliners saying, “We do hope you feel refreshed and will be able to sleep well for tomorrow’s portion of the expo. We will show you out.”

The same halls wound in reverse finding you back at the lobby staring at the other side of the double doors. Behind the wall again Bo and Jo perked up seeing you again and said, “Sleep well, and if you need anything to help you sleep we’re a call away.”

You nodded and turned, “Will do, and thank you again, for fixing my leg.”

Jo beamed looking you over in your plushy robe and slippers, “Any time.” Holding his expression in the closing of the door behind you that Thorin has opened.

In the hall you smirked turning to take an extra step to be at Thorin’s side. Until you rounded the first corner you held in your giggle, the one that had Thorin looking down at you curiously snapping out of his mental spin at the pair that had been waiting to say goodbye to you. Lowly you whispered, “I wonder what they might have had hidden away to help sleep. Hopefully not more meditations.”

Lowly Thorin chuckled and smiled facing forward again shifting his arm back at your step into his side avoiding a dinner cart with a man who nodded his head and greeted you both kindly. In the next turn he replied, “Probably tapes of whale sounds or something.”

“Great, wailing mammals, that really knocks me out,” You said sarcastically making him chuckle again. Bumping your elbow into his when he brought out his card key for the door he turned his head to find you looking up at him, “Thank you, again.”

“I’m glad even in their flirting you got some help out of it. Your leg feels better?”

Inside the door you raised up on your toes and lowered again bending your leg at the knee and rotating your ankle, “Still a bit sore, but it’s nowhere near at tight as it was. Finally let up. How’s your hip?”

“Hip’s good.”

“Did you want me to try rubbing your leg? Maybe without the meditations and needles it could help.”

“I’ll be fine, can’t have you pay for someone to rub me down then do it yourself.”

“Why not? If you’re in pain and I can help-,”

“It’s sore, that will fade. Focus on dinner Mr Mug Dealer.”

Through a sigh he gave you a plotting narrowed gaze and turned for the smaller couch by the phone he sat down on with the menu on his lap that when you sat down he shifted for you to see as well. At the crossing of your sore leg over the other he smirked and waited through deciding on what you wanted and his calling in the order and the one for breakfast the following morning. While he hung up the phone you turned on the tv at his saying you could choose the channel only to glance at his arm dropping over your crossed legs his hand folded around. Easily they were shifted to lay across his lap and he chuckled to himself at your scoff. “Just can’t help yourself.”

“Or you apparently without a fight.” Easing his palms against the back of your leg feeling where the muscle was a bit tense still but loosening up while he smoothed pressure across it.

“I just realized something,” he said in your shift to lounge sideways easing his task luring your eyes back to him, “That first stop into the shop you said you pulled a stunt at the station, then the next day you said you got put on a new project, I never asked what the project was. Said it came with a raise.”

“You haven’t figured it out yet?” His brow inched up, “You listen to it four days a week.”

His lips parted, “Ah, so you got put on the Bunny show. One of the voice actors? I read online you’ve done voice over before on a show that lasted three seasons, they are in the mail still so I haven’t exactly been able to see what you can do yet.”

To yourself you giggled and said, “That show, ya, wrote, drew and voiced for it.”

“So you’re one of the voice actors?”

“You could say that, ya, one of them.”

Playfully his eyes narrowed at you in his smirk, “I can’t imagine which, they all sound so-,”

“You’d be surprised who I can sound like if I put some practice into it. Could even fool a Dwarf or two with some Khuzdul. Certainly had the time to practice.”

“I bet, especially after learning Raven tongue.”

With the channel the topic changed and it wasn’t till the food had arrived and well into your first glasses of the raspberry wine you dared to try tonight over the last where you stuck to tamer drinks that the topic shifted again.

“Could I ask you something probably a bit painful?”

“Sure, what’s on your mind?” You said lifting your glass to finish the last of it off.

“Growing up we obviously studied the wars, and Ruun came up. There are pictures, it was a deserted junk heap from our view, but you lived there and I’m curious, what was it like?” He said refilling your glass.

“Well, it’s hard to say exactly.”

“No, I understand, I know the carrier attack must have been terrifying, to think back to that time, I shouldn’t have asked.”

“That’s not what I meant.” His eyes snapped to yours from his glass he was reaching for to finish off his own bit of wine washing the taste of regret for asking out of his mouth had been his intention.

“The carrier was sinking, and these arms would just come down out of, I don’t know what to call it, not a drone, but bigger, attached to their own ship and your names would be read and they would decipher who was worth keeping or not. We got thrown into these pitch black tubes, clinging to one another till they tore us out for processing. Cutting our outer robes off us, taking our weapons if we had any, tearing off the sleeves to our tunics and then hurl us into the tagging benches. And my arm was already so badly damaged from the blast,” at the crack in your voice his chest clenched only to see you give a slight shake to your head to keep going. Lost if he should move his chair closer to try and hold one of the hands you were wringing on your lap.

“And they had such little security, so I found a way to try and stop it all. I was so scared of what my Naneth would read about how I was taken and what they might do. I got this idea she could just start over, no me to look to the mailbox for, no reason to look back again. But they found me and they dosed me, the others said we were in that place for weeks, but I woke up in that cage when the shoot opened, falling to the ground.

They had these books on Ruun, mountains looked like, just thousands of them just bleaching in the sun. They would raid libraries and cast the unusable ones on Ruun. And I found this book on Durin the Deathless, in bits and fragments I learned what I could about anything.” A faint grin easing across his lips at your arms rising to cross on the table in front of you marking your returning ease on the subject.

“I would burrow under this large tree in this mini cave I found to sleep since the others wouldn’t let me near their camp without arming themselves. Through the day I would take breaks on the beach between books, you can go three weeks without food, and they would drop it every two weeks. The others got first dibs, but by the first one I found this stretch of land where this seed canister had exploded and there was carrots and wheat and corn. They were small sprouts but I got the encyclopedia on planting and fixed their positions and they just exploded. Wasn’t hard to work up pots and utensils and a makeshift stove. Between planting and reading I had found this typewriter that I worked on, and between working that back into shape and hearing the ocean lapping and reciting old interesting tidbits from the book I met the Countess.”

“She’s real then?” He all but hummed out.

“She was to me. Growing up with laws, no art, no stories, no dreams, then they drop me on that island and it all just exploded. She showed up next to me on the breeze and said,” At once his grin deepened seeing the glow in your eyes growing and spreading grin with his lips just barely parting as you spoke in the Countess’ voice flawlessly, “‘You look like you need a story. Well have I got one for you Darling.’” Snapping out of the voice his tongue darted out to wet his lips as things started to fall into place for him. “You can learn a lot about someone in 48 years, and she told me it all. From Wolsey and their first meeting, him bleeding every time they met, my comment of my Naneth told me an ounce of blood for an ounce of love and she fired back, ‘Well then Darling I had love by the gallon.’” Again you had flinched in and out of her voice so fluidly it stunned him.

“Your Naneth truly said that? Ounce of blood for an ounce of love?”

“What wouldn’t you sacrifice for the ones you love? She sacrificed and endured for hers.”

“She must be phenomenal if you are in her likeness.” Seeing your bashful blush and hint of glancing away in another sip he asked, “What happened next? With the Countess?”

“After a few months of mental noting of the stories I started to take the bleached books, once the typewriter was fixed, and I would apologize, tearing the pages out to write out the first draft. There were some spots where the old letters and new ones would bleed together, and it always seemed to be in the sad parts, like tear drops. I still have them, and some of the others used to come and double check I wasn’t building weapons or anything but they started to listen to my drafts and word spread I was writing stories. They needed a distraction, and we started to talk. I was more than my name for once.

I got back and I had my typewriter and these stories and every doctor my father sent my way tried to say I had a break with reality, but it was something so much more powerful than that. It’s like, the most vivid daydreams and imaginary friends and worlds. I know they weren’t there, they would pop up and then pop off. And I came home telling my Naneth about these stories and she was so happy, she knew I was ok, a bit sad, but I made it through. So no, other than the crabs trying to run me out of my bed Ruun was fairly amiable of a place, at least for me.”

Seeping in slowly the notion began to settle, and he couldn’t tell if it was the day together or the wine that had eased this truth out of you, but all this time he’d known the elusive Bunny. You had said days prior it was your show that got picked up by Gorgo, hinted to Balin you knew the tale best and seems to be the only one around not reciting or commenting about the show at all.

And it all made perfect sense, you had stolen that first spot of dead air and hooked the world on your tale of freedom. Why the tale was so perfect and fully fleshed out, over 700 years you had perfected it and it showed in every addictive word leaving you hanging on for more. From the moment you landed on that island you realized you were free to find yourself and do as you wished for once, found yourself in a wasteland turned haven by your words. With a pride bolstering hint of help from a book on his ancestors. No doubt those tales had helped to guide your fellow soldiers through the harsh day to day. No doubt the internal explosion you felt enough to have imagined all this up to where you could actually picture them beside you as your very first true friends out for just you and your happiness without any remorse or regrets. You became Bunny on that island, and he had no clue how it had taken him this long to see.

It was casually slipped in, mention of the book, and in a glance at the empty wine bottle he would wait on delving in for details on the book, waiting to see if you remembered telling him, if and when you would show full trust to show him this side of you without being bashful. 800+ years could be borderline passion or obsession, and by the glow in your eyes, joy in your tone and the beaming smile on your face in the fleeting topic he found your balance to his tea.

This could work. He kept reciting it in his head. He had shown his passion and you were easing out yours, tea and a great story go hand in hand and it really did seem dated to be that the day you walked into his life his little shop that had nearly grown stagnant in interest for others had blossomed into so much more. It was more than financial or work based coexistence, there was a true friendship there that could only grow from here, now all he had to do was to be patient and let you in your exuberant yet timid glory come out full tilt as you gained more confidence that you were free. Free to set down roots, to have friends, to choose him if you were so inclined. It had been hinted and boldly stated that you found him attractive and post, still in your robes and undies dinner, off to separate beds you went with a statement to see one another at breakfast.

It was the most grueling thing to say goodnight with that natural candlelit glow reflecting off you and your tipsy adoring smile being sent his way he no doubt was a beet red idiot beaming right back. But he had to wait and not allow himself to ruin your friendship by taking advantage of you being alone or ever making you assume anything physical was his intention in bringing you here.

Sprawled across his bed he couldn’t stop thinking about the nonexistent candles you put to shame. You were glowing, sparkling ever so slightly like moonlit snow and his brain just equated it to candle light he clearly hadn’t noticed wasn’t there. He hated hearing about Elves glowing. Expecting mothers glowed, giggling babies glowed, that was true, but from years of hearing Frerin then the boys in their dabbles with Elves in their dating lives he had heard way too much about this fabled glow blissful Elves gave off. Even Hobbits seemed to have their own aura of loveliness according to Dwalin, a fact he knew to be true seeing his Hobbit relatives and most recently his love struck cousin and soon to be cousin in law and young nephew he absolutely adored as well. Dams were also said to glow when in love, but deep in his pit of denial for years he loathed hearing about a glow he never saw on his ex who clearly had her muffin boy to glow for while all he got was her shrewd left overs.

Yet staring up at the ceiling all his mind could circle on was how unabashedly ethereal you looked in that light shimmering and radiating off your exposed bits of skin under that plushy robe and your equally as radiant hair slipping free from its messy bun just beckoning him to tie it back into as many braids as his heart desired. And damnit all didn’t he ache to have that sight of you like that across the table from him each morning and night. All his, for no one else, decades eased before his eyes in leaving his robe at the foot of the bed he crawled into ignorant of the stiffness underneath him with the clouds he was floating on to be in the presence of an angel like you.

Contently sighing you sat on your bed you had just pulled the covers back on and turned with lips pursed a moment in search of your ringing phone you brought out of your pocket. A grin eased across your face as you answered your friend’s call. “Millie Mal! There you are!”

Blinking in confusion at the nickname Mal shifted on her bench of her vanity as if there had been another she could share an odd expression with, bolstering her former point she wet her lips saying, “What is this I hear that you’re in Rohan?! From my uncle of all people in passing through my shift at the shop.”

“Well Dwalin planned it.”

“My point being, you’re in Rohan with Thorin and you didn’t tell me! You’ve been there a night already, now on your second and this is the first I am hearing of it! Now you spill everything.”

“I didn’t plan it. Not much to tell, other than I go for tea, and there’s a ticket with my name on it and Dwalin gave me the shirt and then I have luggage now, with these cute phrases on them and white corners and handles, oh you have to see them! There was the plane then a long drive over a lake into this mountain and the walls here are aquariums, the beds are dreadful but I suppose Men have their flimsy bones to protect...and these fish keep staring at me. Why do fish always stare at me,” you rambled not realizing your natural glow and shimmer had grown as you were closer to dozing off.

“Jaqi are you drunk? You don’t drink and you sound drunk.”

“No, if I were drunk I would be naked. I’m in my underwear, and this robe, it’s so soft I think I’m gonna keep it, they’re gonna charge fifty for it but it’s got fish on it and Thorin keeps trying to encourage me to shop. Not a fan of the slippers though, but they are a set I suppose.”

“Where is Thorin?”

“He’s in bed.”

“With you?!”

“No, there’s another one, that way.” You said pointing in clearly the wrong direction by mistake haven climbed into the bed on the opposite side from the night before.

“Jaqi go to sleep.”

“But we’re talking, and you sound like you’re pretty tonight. Fixed your hair or something..”

Mal trying not to cry while grinning at her actually having fixed her hair for herself in a fancy braid that night her fingers smoothed over as it laid across her chest feeling accomplished at having mastered the style from a video online. Saying again, “Jaqi go to bed I’ll text you tomorrow.”

“Ok, night night pretty lady.” You said laying out across the bed stretching out your legs with eyes easing shut already in your body wiggling out of the open robe.

Giggling her reply she said, “Goodnight yourself, lovely lady.” Hanging up at your content sigh turning to glance at her mirror again she stole a few more pictures of the style she had told the boys about and would send to them tomorrow when they were off their flight.

Pt 19

@himoverflowers, @theincaprincess, @aspiringtranslator, @sweeticedtea, @ggbbhehe4455, @thegreyberet, @patanghill17, @jesgisborne, @curvestrology, @alishlieb, @jogregor, @armitageadoration, @fizzyxcustard, @here2have-fun, @lilith15000, @marvels-ghost, @catthefearless, @imjusthereforthereads, @c-s-stars, @otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore, @mariannetora, @shesakillerkween

Hobbit/LotR – @abiwim, @jotink78, @pastelhexmaniac

#Thorin x Reader OC

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jonathankais · 11 months

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Top 5 benefits of chiropractic care for auto accident victims

Majority of auto accident victims have doubts and concerns about their recovery. Some like to go with treatment options that promise faster recovery. While for some the key priority is quick reduction in the chronic pain. Some like to be mobile and functional as soon as possible, while some are concerned about the effects of surgeries and pain-relievers on their body.

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relifehospitaljaipur · 3 years

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Physical Therapy Methods and Benefits

Physical therapy or physiotherapy is a therapy helpful in restoring muscular, emotional, and mental strength. It also assists in treatment of various health conditions such as sprains, strains, back pain, arthritis, bad posture problems, spinal cord injury, sports and workplace injuries, mobility issues, and many more.

Some of the common physiotherapy methods and techniques

Following are the some widely used common physiotherapy methods and techniques.

Hands-on physiotherapy methods : Hands-on physical therapy techniques include massaging and soft tissue methods, muscle stretching exercises, neurodynamics, METs (minimal energy techniques), joint mobilization methods, manipulation of joints, PIM (Physiotherapy instrument mobilization)

Physical therapy taping : It is all about preventing injuries with the help of strapping and taping methods. Sometimes it also includes kinesiology taping.

Sports Physiotherapy : This type of physiotherapy deals with the way of preventing sports injuries and improving performance.

Workplace physiotherapy : This Physiotherapy method helps in improving postures and setting up workstations. It includes improving lifting technique, education programs or workstation setups.

Acupuncture and dry needling : Acupuncture and dry needling methods help in eliminating or reducing pain. They also assist in improving muscle function.

Biomechanical Analysis : Physiotherapists use biomechanical analysis in order to diagnose, detect, and prevent sports injuries.

Physiotherapy exercises : Physiotherapy exercises are proven to improve muscle function, reduce pain, and increase mobility of the joint and restoring muscle strength.

However, physiotherapy method still varies from person to person. It depends on the injury and health condition of the person taking physiotherapy.

Benefits of Physiotherapy

Physical therapy provides a lot of benefits to an individual. Some of them are listed below:

Improves mobility, promotes physical activity as well as overall health of an individual.

It helps in preventing any injury, disability, and disease

It helps in controlling participation hindrances, acute and chronic health conditions and activity limitations

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It provides therapeutic exercise programs.

It ensures faster recovery of the body.

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lirlovesfic · 6 years

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The Choice

A Doctor Who fanfic

Summary: After GitF, the TARDIS brings the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey back to the estate to solve a problem involving the TARDIS herself. But when they see a familiar face, the face of someone who should not exist, they realize the problem is deeper than they thought and could endanger the Doctor’s very existence. Primary characters: Ninth Doctor, Tenth Doctor, Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, Jackie Tyler. Genres: Romance, mystery, adventure, drama, character study, HN AU, fobbed!Nine, sick TARDIS. Pairings: Nine/Rose, Ten/Rose Rating: Adult

Warning: none for this chaper

a/n: I am currently working on editing this chapter-by-chapter, with the hopes of completing a chapter a day until I catch up with myself. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m doing it to try to get back into the swing of writing and to build some momentum in order to finish this. Also, there have been some tiny things nagging at me for a while (grammar, punctuation, etc.) so I’ll be correcting as many of them as I can find as I go. The story will not change. In fact, most of the changes are going to be so minor that I doubt anyone (besides myself) will notice. But to keep myself on target, I’ll be posting it all here as I go, with links to the other websites it’s on. I hope you enjoy it.

Catch up: on AO3, on TSP, on ffnet

This chapter: on AO3, on TSP, on ffnet

Chapter Sixteen—London, 15 July, 2007, and the Titanic Dock, Southampton, 10 April 1912

As soon as Rose left, John got dressed in his typical work clothes: jeans, work shirt, heavy boots. He had told her the truth. Despite it being Sunday, he had a bunch of things to do that afternoon.

First stop was the garage. Since he and Rose had left work so abruptly the day before, courtesy Jimmy Stone, John still had a few things to finish up before Monday morning. If nothing else, he needed to put away his tools. After yelling at his coworkers for leaving theirs lying around, he didn't want to be caught doing the same thing.

After he was done at the garage, he made his way through a list of minor repairs he needed to do around the Powell Estate. Cleaning out the drain filter of a washing machine. Replacing the washer on a leaky tap. Unclogging a stopped-up toilet.

Although he occasionally had jobs to do for some of the harried single mothers on the Estate—removing an entire bag's worth of marshmallows that had been shoved down a kitchen sink by a three-year-old was a memorable, and sticky, one—most were for the pensioners who could no longer do the things for themselves and had no relatives to do for them. Helping them out sometimes meant the difference between them staying in their own flats versus being forced into a home.

Halfway down his repair list, while he was wedged under a kitchen sink fixing a broken garbage disposal for an older woman who had recently lost her husband, he realized that he missed Rose. He told himself that it was just because she'd have been a help handing him tools or holding things in place while he repaired them, but really he just… missed her company. Having her around, knowing she was nearby, brightened his day. Helped relieve the loneliness he had felt ever since waking up in that alley on New Year's. Something as simple as just holding her hand grounded him.

He had it bad, a tiny voice said in the back of his head, a voice he was finding it harder and harder to ignore.

After repairing an electrical switch that had stopped working—something that could have started a fire and burned down the entire building if it hadn't been fixed—he looked at the last item on the list. Instead of a repair, there was only an address. He sighed. It was for the elderly sisters on the floor below him, Irene and Gladys. They always had a list for him as long as his arm, usually for small tasks like replacing a lightbulb or unsticking a window. He strongly suspected they only put themselves on the repair list to have him stop by for a visit. Normally he didn't mind, in fact he enjoyed the visits, but today he was anxious to get done and get ready for his date with Rose.

At that thought he stopped in his tracks.

Was it a date? He wasn't sure.

But more importantly, did Rose think it was a date? Maybe not. It was just takeaway and telly after all.

Well, whether it was a date or not, he needed to finish up and get ready.

Oh, well. At least he was likely to get a cuppa and some biscuits while he fixed everything for them. He was getting hungry.

~oOo~

While John was busy doing minor repairs all over the Estate, Rose sat on the ground with her back against the TARDIS, grateful for the shade of the tall buildings on either side of her. She was reluctant to leave the ship. If the Doctor, as John, had been wandering around England for the past six months, that meant the TARDIS had been alone all that time.

Did a semi-sentient Time and Space ship get lonely? She didn't know, but she feared the answer was yes.

Finally, after her back got a crick in it and her bum was sore from sitting on the rough pavement, Rose was forced to get up. She had no idea how long she'd been there, but if she had to hazard a guess it probably had been well over an hour. She stood and stretched, first pushing her hands outward and then high over her head. She sighed in relief as she felt her back slip back into alignment with an audible crack.

"Sorry, I've got to go," she said. She rubbed her hand along the ridge of the door again. "But I'll be back soon. Promise."

The TARDIS made a weak, sickly sound, and impulsively, Rose wrapped her arms around the tall, blue box as far as they would go, again promising to be back soon. And then, after a final pat on the door, she reluctantly headed out of the alley.

The street was blindingly bright compared to the relative darkness of the alley, and she squinted her eyes against the glare. She glanced backwards. The TARDIS was barely visible, parked where she was at the end of the blind alley. She felt guilty leaving her there alone, but there wasn't really anything she could do at the moment. She couldn't get inside, and it wasn't as if she could set up camp in the alley. The best she could do was to come back every day and check on her.

As she began to walk back to the bus stop, she felt a wave of nervousness and anxiety, just as she had when she had arrived there.

But no, this was different. Then she had been worried about what might happen when she got to the TARDIS, but now she knew she couldn't get in yet. And she knew that the TARDIS was okay, at least for the moment. Frequently visiting the Time ship would help her monitor the ship's condition, and she hoped it might even help her get better. Plus, this felt less like worry about the TARDIS and more like an itch between her shoulder blades.

Almost like she was being watched.

She stopped and slowly turned around, scanning the street behind her. Although it was nowhere near crowded, neither was it empty. People were walking up and down the pavement, mostly in groups of two or three. Some, who looked like tourists, were stopping to look at the wares that had been placed outside some of the shop doors. Others held bags of groceries from the market on the corner or the bakery down the way. One couple was entering a pub, which looked as if it had just opened. No one seemed to be paying particular attention to her. Or any attention at all, really.

Everything looked normal. Ordinary. Boring. Typical for a Sunday afternoon.

Must be her imagination, she decided, brought on by more than a year traveling with the Doctor. After having werewolves and clockwork robots try to kill you, a little paranoia was normal. Sensible even.

The scent of chips and burgers, probably coming from one of the nearby pubs, jerked her from her thoughts. Her stomach growled loudly. The toast she had shared with John had been hours earlier. She needed to go back to the flat and get something to eat.

She turned back to head to the bus stop, only to see the bus already there.

Damn, she thought, and ran for it, waving at him to wait for her. To her relief the driver spotted her and waited, a true rarity. As she got on the bus, she pulled her mum's travel card out of her pocket and showed it to him. He nodded and she collapsed onto an empty seat, suddenly knackered.

As the bus drove down the street, she yawned. She hadn't really had much sleep the night before, just a couple of hours before the business with Rita and Chuck, and then a few more afterwards on the sofa with John. As good as the sleep had been in John's arms—and it had been really, really good—it didn't make up for a complete night's worth, and the lack was catching up to her.

And she didn't like to admit it, but she was still a little sore from the business with Jimmy yesterday. Had that been only yesterday? After such an eventful few hours, it didn't seem possible that the confrontation with Jimmy had been less than a day earlier.

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat on the bus. Another dose of paracetamol when she got back to the flat maybe, she thought. But what she really needed was another back rub. What had John called it again? Accu…something or other. Acupuncture? No, that was with needles. She knew that much. But it was something like that.

Oh, yeah, acupressure!

She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to relax the bruised muscles. Her mind wandered: to fingers gently massaging the back of her head, her neck; to thumbs lightly working their way across her shoulders, down her spine; to arms wrapping around her, pulling her close, her back against his chest; to hands caressing, one sneaking under her top to cup her breast, the other dropping down, slipping beneath the waistband of her jeans, her knickers...

She forced her eyes open. No, she shouldn't go there. Hadn't she just decided that she should cool things down between them so that John wouldn't do anything the Doctor would regret later? Fantasizing about him wouldn't help, would in fact make it much more difficult to resist temptation.

In an effort to distract herself, she stared out the window. She wondered what time it was. She needed to get back and get ready for her date with John.

Her date with John.

Inwardly she groaned. If she thought fantasizing about him would make it tough to resist her impulse to snog him into next week, what would a date do?

But was it a date? She wasn't sure. It was just takeaway and telly. She and the Doctor often ate takeaway and watched telly together—albeit telly from the 76th century rather than the 21st and exotic food from some planet or other instead of pizza from the place on the corner—and she wasn't dating him.

But it didn't really matter what she thought about it. The real issue was, did John think it was a date? She wasn't sure.

She tried to picture their relationship from his point of view. They had spent a lot of time together in the last week, walked to and from work together every day, and he had taken her to a café after work yesterday. And he had even paid.

And she had kissed his cheek before they had fallen asleep. Together. And he had kissed her goodbye this morning. After she had made him breakfast.

Her jaw dropped as realization struck.

Oh my God, she thought, not only was it a date, but they were already dating.

~oOo~

If Mickey had thought their previous landings had been difficult, they had been nothing compared to trying to land in Southampton in 1912. As the Doctor pulled the last lever to take them out of the Vortex, the console began to shake violently. And instead of the familiar metal-on metal groan the TARDIS typically made upon materialization, the room was filled with an unearthly shriek that sounded like a woman screaming in pain.

"Hang on!" the Doctor shouted over the din.

Mickey grabbed onto the handrail in front of him with both hands and hung on for dear life as the entire room shuddered and quaked. The floor rolled and heaved under their feet, the metal access panels in the floor rattling and then coming loose, repeatedly lifting of their own accord and then, with a loud bang, slamming shut again.

On the opposite side of the console, the Doctor clung to another handrail, eyes tightly shut and mouth moving. Although he couldn't hear him, Mickey guessed that the Doctor was whispering encouragements to the TARDIS herself, but to Mickey's eyes it looked like he was praying.

With that thought, a vision of his Gran passed through his mind. Mickey himself wasn't religious, but she had been. Relying on her faith, he whispered a prayer of his own.

The shriek of the engines turned into a deafening roar. The shaking grew impossibly stronger. Tiny bits of the TARDIS's ceiling and walls began to break off and fly about the room, creating a coral sandstorm that stung his face and hands. A thick, choking gray-green smoke poured from the console.

From somewhere in the depths of the TARDIS, the Cloister bell again began its ominous toll.

And then, just as soon as Mickey was convinced that it would never end, that they would be trapped in the Vortex forever with the TARDIS disintegrating around them, one final, massive jolt flung them both to the floor.

And then all of it—the bone-jarring shaking, the roar of the engines, the bong bong bong of the Cloister bell—just... stopped. Silence fell over the console room. The TARDIS's main lights blinked out, plunging them into semi-darkness. The only light in the room was provided by the fading blue-green glow of the time rotor and the only sound, the quiet whirr of the TARDIS's air filtration system. The smoke quickly dissipated.

The Doctor picked himself up off the floor and ran to the console, pulling his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket as he moved.

Mickey staggered to his feet and joined him at the console. "Are we there?"

The Doctor didn't answer immediately. Instead he scanned the controls with his screwdriver and examined the readings. A fleeting expression of a combination of disappointment and sadness crossed face, only to be replaced by a mask of what Mickey knew was false cheerfulness.

"Let's take a look, shall we?" He pointed his sonic at the monitor, and the screen came to life.

Mickey peered over the Doctor's shoulder.

"Another alley?" he asked.

"Appears so. Which is good, because we don't want anyone noticing us. Police Boxes didn't exist yet, and we don't want anyone, particularly past versions of me, spotting the TARDIS." He stuck his screwdriver back in his pocket and pulled out the tiny telepathic dampers he had made. He shoved them into his ears as he headed to the door. "Now we just have to see if we've arrived at the proper place and time. That's not anywhere near a certainty, not with the way the TARDIS has been acting lately." He flung open the doors and stepped outside.

Mickey swallowed nervously. If they hadn't arrived at the correct time and place, the trip would have been for nothing. And they'd probably be stuck there, if their landing was anything to judge.

"Mickey!"

At the sound of the Doctor's voice, Mickey took a deep breath and put on an air of nonchalance before following the Doctor out the door.

For a moment, Mickey thought they'd returned to Dallas. There was a bit of a nip in the air, and the alley looked almost exactly the same: brick walls, metal fire escapes, bins… But then he noticed the walls weren't quite as close together, the brick was a different color, the fire escapes were a different design, and he could smell the salty, slightly fishy smell of the sea.

"So are we…" Mickey began.

The Doctor interrupted him. "Look up," he said.

Mickey looked up. The huge smokestacks of a ship towered over the top of the building.

"Bloody hell."

"Looks like we made it," the Doctor said, grinning widely.

"Those things… those things are huge!"

"Well, they didn't exactly call it the Titanic for nothing." As they left the alley, the Doctor continued. "At the time, it was the largest ship that had ever been built. Even by your time, it was still one of the largest ships ever built."

The Titanic's whistle blew, loud enough to rattle nearby windows. Startled, Mickey jumped. The Doctor snickered.

"I didn't expect it, that's all," Mickey said defensively, ears still ringing.

"If you're near one of the biggest ocean liners in the world, you've got to expect you're gonna hear one of the loudest whistles."

They rounded a corner and saw dozens, no, hundreds of people headed in the same general direction as they were. Most of the men wore jackets and trousers made of a rough wool, while the women wore plain, full-length dresses of either brown or black. Almost all had children in tow, and everyone, children included, carried bulging rucksacks or carpet bags.

"Third class," the Doctor said quietly. "Traveling to the New World in search of a better life, carrying all their worldly possessions on their backs."

Mickey watched them for a moment, sickened by the realization that most of the people in front of him would never make it to America. Instead, they would be dead in less than a week. And there was nothing he could do about it.

No wonder the Doctor didn't want to go to fixed points like this.

But he had, Mickey remembered suddenly. Not only was the Doctor there, he was there in triplicate.

"I just thought of something," he said. "If the Titanic sinking was a fixed point and you don't like to go to fixed points, why did you come here the first time?"

"Well…" the Doctor began. And then he froze, wide-eyed.

At the Doctor's expression, Mickey looked around wildly. "What is it? What's goin' on?" he asked. And then he heard it. The unmistakable sound of the TARDIS materializing.

"Fantastic! We found him already!" he exclaimed. "Now we just gotta figure out why he's here, what happened, then we can fix it and go home!" He headed off in the direction of the sound.

The Doctor grabbed at his arm. "Mickey, wait!"

Glaring at him, Mickey yanked his arm out of reach. He jogged down the street, dodging people as he looked down side streets and alleys, trying to spot the dark blue of the TARDIS. He found it just as the Doctor caught up to him.

The Doctor grabbed Mickey by the lapel and pulled them both into a recessed doorway. "Shhhhhh," the Doctor whispered, holding a finger up to his lips.

Puzzled, Mickey pulled away from him and peered around the edge of the doorway. The door to the TARDIS opened, but instead of the tall man with big ears, close-cropped hair and a leather jacket that he expected to see, someone else walked out. A man with shoulder-length, wavy chestnut hair wearing a long, dark brown velvet coat, an intricately patterned waistcoat, and a silk cravat. He was closely followed by a young woman with dark blonde hair wearing a full-length dress in a shade of pale green. She had a lace shawl wrapped loosely around her shoulders, and on her head sat a large green hat with a feather sticking out of it.

The man pulled a key out of his pocket and locked the door.

"Shall we, Charley?" the man asked as he offered her his arm. She gave him a bright, mischievous grin and placed her hand on his sleeve.

The Doctor yanked Mickey further back into the shadows as the two walked past, seemingly not noticing them hiding in the doorway.

Once they were gone, Mickey turned and stared at the Doctor. The other man was leaning against the door, his face more pale than normal.

"I don't get it," Mickey said. "Who are they?"

"The girl's name is Charlotte Pollard. Charley. And the man…" He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Well… that was me."

#the choice #nine x rose #ten x rose #ficandchips #fobbed!Nine #this chapter was really tough #i hate hate HATE writing descriptions #and this chapter had a lot of them #bleh

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