#puhh we are in the home stretch

[wind-becomes-lightning]

Can I get a Rukia celebrating Shino's birthday? I know it doesn't have to be birthday themed but i like the theme haha..

hiiii!! you are last but not least! <3 I tried my best, though I wasn't sure if I had the right voice on your girl. I hope this is fine and not too out of character and if it is, please forgive me. with some cameo of some @nightingaleflow babies.

Aburame Shino x OC

2185 words.

Finding a birthday present for a boy you have a crush on is harder than one would suspect, Rukia finds that out the hard way.

Who would have thought that the biggest problem Rukia would ever have would be to choose a birthday present? She had faced formidable foes, fought and defeated her famous teammates not only physically but with her sharp tongue alone, had mastered the cornerstones of each jutsu that was presented to her, learned her worth and learned how to use and abuse it. In all matters, Rukia had gone through hell in the back, dealt with problems in front and behind her, she had done it all and solved it all with a wink and a throw of her hair.

But this? This was impossible! An absolute high wall of a task, so mundane that it annoyed her how bad she was doing at it. This couldn’t be, could it? It couldn’t be so hard for a normal human being to just pick a present- any present - to buy for someone’s birthday, especially if it was someone they knew so well, someone they’ d always grown up alongside of, right? This couldn’t be.

Still, nothing Rukia looked at seemed good enough for Shino, nothing, no matter how much money it costs. What was even worse was how nervous she was about it, as if Shino would cast her away, force her to leave his celebration, if she brought him something that was less than perfect. As if Shino would ever do anything like that, but she could not stop her thoughts from circeling. What could she possibly get him that he didn’t already have? That he wouldn’T hate? That wouldn’t give away that she was way too nervous around him to act like the functioning human being she was so proud of being?

Worse, the deadline slowly crept in. There were only three days left and so far she had nothing but a bad drawing of a sting beetle and a book about beetles in sunagakure, which she was pretty sure was the lamest present one could ever buy for someone like shino. He knew everything about insects anyway, why was she trying to please him that way, no wouldn’t laugh at her for it. Her head was way too full, her heart way too nervous, so one afternoon she pushed the book off her table and got up, like a robot, to find someone to help her out of this situation.

Not far from her own apartment she ran into her father, who was walking around, as always shoulders slouched forward as if he was carrying something heavy. Rukia’s eyes widened a little in surprise when she saw him and she almost asked him why he wasn’t at work, but he was faster than her. “Why is your face so red?” he asked and sounded genuinely concerned. 

Rukia spun around to look at herself in a mirrored surface and noticed that she did in fact have red cheeks. She’d just been imagining Shino’s reaction to the present she didn’t have, a handshake, maybe he would take off his glasses and smile at her, maybe… The image had clearly gotten away from her.

“Present”, she said quickly and once she realised that this wasn’t what a normal person would call a normal sentence, she added: “I need a present for someone and I am out here looking for it.”

Her father was no idiot, even though he was not that old yet, he’d made many experiences in life. He looked over her again up and down and up again and then concluded correctly: “For a boy?”

For a boy? She almost mocked him back, which didn’t mean he was wrong of course, but he didn’t have to say it that way. “Just Shino.” She almost swallowed her tongue saying his name out loud. In her mind she thought over and over again “Don't ask, don’t ask, don't ask don’t ask.” 

Kakashi didn’t ask. “Well, I think he likes stuff related to beetles, so maybe something like that?” Copy- Nin, sixth Hokage, genius of his time indeed, but in the end he had no idea of anything. Rukia pushed him to the side and walked past him: “Thanks, I did not think of that.” 

While she walked away she could hear him get out his book and mumble: “Teenage rebellion so late?” but she ignored him.

Instead, she made her way to where Nezumi lived, up in an apartment complex that was now going to be a new town. There was no way anyone else could help her, Rukia thought. Natsumi after all had a boyfriend, or something that at least was some sort of relationship, and so she clearly would know what to buy a boy like that. Not that Rukia had a boyfriend, Shino was just somebody, somebody who wasn’t just anybody. It wasn’t easy to explain and even harder to feel correctly.

She stopped in front of Nezumi’s apartment, listening intently to find out if her friend was at home. There were no voices inside so Lee wasn’t around, Rukia thought. Lee was loud and excited at all times and could be heard through every door and concrete walls. Which was nice, Lee was nice, there was nothing wrong with his excitement, just that today Rukia felt like she wanted to rather be alone with Nezumi.

When the door opened, Rukia could see (and hear) immediately that she had been wrong. Lee was there, sitting on the floor, legs crossed, arms crossed, eyes closed as if he was sleeping, but a face frowned as if he was concentrating. When Rukia blinked in confusion at her friend Nezumi whispered: “Meditation.”

“Uh-Oh,” Rukia made and watched her friend step outside the apartment and close the door behind her. The two girls now looked at each other, with Nezumi’s face bearing a wide smile. “I didn’t know you’d be coming over”, she said and put her head to the side. “Did something happen?”

Rukia almost let out an enthusiastic “yes!” but held herself back just enough. She didn’t want to scare Nezumi about something that was essentially just her panicking about a guy. Instead, she shook her head and then shrugged her shoulders: “I needed your advice, so I came here.”

“I see.” Nezumi seemed surprised. Rukia just wasn’t the person to need advice, especially not with that red face and her now fidgeting hands.

“Have you bought Lee-kun presents before?” The question fell out of her before she could think of a better way to phrase it. Better go kick in the door right away. 

The other girl blinked, once, twice, then she said: “A few. Nothing too special. Why? Do you want to buy him something?”

“Who? Oh- Lee! No!” Rukia shook her head. She put her hand in her hair and sighed deeply, then she began to fill Nezumi in, about the birthday party she’d been invited to, about the fruitless quest to buy a present for Shino, that nothing seemed good enough, that her father had been a total disaster when she’d seen him and that she’d come here, in desperation, to ask her friend for help.

Nezumi listened closely, nodding along with every new word spoken. She looked a little like she was taking in the details of a very important mission she had to go on, as if every detail coming out of Rukia’s mouth was vital for their survival. Brows furrowed and hand on her chin, Rukia wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d pulled out a board to write it all down next.

“So?” Rukia said once she was done, the nerves made her pull on her shirt over and over again. “This shouldn’t be so complicated, right? Why is it so complicated?” She hated how childish and desperate she sounded.

“I think that is completely normal with the way you are feeling.” Nezumi smiled knowingly to herself . “You just want it to be special.” 

That was when the door burst open in a loud noise which had both girls jump to the side and assume attack mode. Lee had apparently given up meditation and had decided to go right into training mode. He put the door back: “Oh no, I didn’t mean to scare you, I was just so excited about  love being discussed that I wanted to be part of this, please don’t be worried I will make sure your door is alright.” He winked at Nezumi, who blushed like a signal.

“You know, Rukia,” Lee said as he tested if the door still opened and closed normally, “I understand your feelings. You want him to have something of you that he can remember you by, maybe miss you buy, that maybe makes him consider recirculating your feelings.” Rukia considered just jumping. She could run down the side of the building easily. It was just 8 stories high, no big deal. “And so nothing seems good enough for you, because your feelings are bigger than just one present. But in reality all you need to give him is any present, because Shino-kun would be happy with anything you would give him.”

Lee gave Ruka a thumbs up and she gave a weak one back. “Thanks Lee,” she said and then to Nezumi: “I don’t think that is it, though. I just haven’t seen the perfect thing yet.”

“Actually I think he is right.” Nezumi gave Lee a smile that let him blush on signal now. “I think Shino likes you plenty already, it is very clear once you are near each other, and so whatever you bring him will make him happy.” 

Rukia sighed. Why was everybody so averted to giving her actual advice? “Alright,” she said and  nodded to Lee and then to Nezumi to say that she was leaving. “Thanks for your help.” She couldn’t help that her words sounded like sarcasm. 

Two more sleepless nights passed and she still didn’t have a present. The book and the beetle were still laying on the floor behind her desk, she hadn’t even made an effort to pick them up. But no matter how many times Rukia had gone through the vendors that Konoha had to offer, she could not find a present, nothing but the stuff she had already picked out and so, when the day came, she eventually did wrap the beetle and the book, as much as she hated that.

With a heavy heart she went over to the Aburame area of the village, the present wrapped in her bag. Rukia’s heart hammered against her chest and her head hurt a little, probably from the lack of sleep in the last few nights. In the end she had decided to listen to Lee, as weird as that sounded, and just brought the present she had thought of first. She wasn’t entirely convinced that this was the best choice, but she didn’t really many options, mostly because she had not thought of anything better.

Shino was there, at the door, when she knocked and she tried not to run away at the spot when his face lit up seeing her. “Happy Birthday”, she said and handed the bag over to him, hands shaking so much that she worried she might drop it. Shino took it, bowed a little, always the gentleman and said: “Thank you very much.” Rukia thought maybe she would pass out right there.

Nobody else was there yet, it was just Rukia and him, which just heightened her nervosity to a before unknown level. “Can I open it already?”, he asked friendly and thought she felt like she would rather hide behind the door that she had come in through, she nodded. Of course he could open it, it was her present after all. A bad present, but it was the only one she got.

First, he opened the book. Rukia was so embarrassed that she couldn’t look directly at him as he unpacked it. She only looked once he made a loud “Oh”-sound and saw that he was genuinely smiling. “I always wanted this. Did you know that the new edition even mentioned those sorts of beetles that were only recently discovered? There is some new species that they found in the furthest deserts that’s incredibly interesting.” 

“I- I did not, no”, she replied and made a mental note to talk to Aki about it next time they ran into each other. Not that that happened regularly, but anything that could help Rukia make small talk with Shino was very much appreciated. She grabbed the fabric of her pants again. 

He now opened the second gift, getting the picture of the stag beetle out of its cover. “Oh, did you make this?” She nodded. “It looks really good! This will be great in my office at the school.” He wanted to take it into his office, she thought and there it was again, that feeling of almost passing out.

Shino put both things down, smiling so wide that it made Rukia dizzy, then he said: “Thank you so much, those are wonderful. I’ll always think of you when I see them.”

My god, she thought, Lee was right. Who’d have thought.

#fanfiction things #nisi turns 30 #puhh we are in the home stretch #this is the 22nd story i finish #only one left! #it is the 22n of august coincidentally #whooop

[cowandcalf]

Hiiya, for the fanfic ask game, would you answer F, K and Y? =)

Hi, babe. Wow! I wasn’t expecting any ask and here you are, sending me such great questions! Thank you a million times!

Okay, let’s see.

F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

This is Steve and Mary talking from my McDanno story ‘I See You’.

"Get it over with, Mary. Spill the fucking beans. It's not funny. I'm mildly annoyed and I'm starving, I need a shower, and you know how unpredictable I get with low blood sugar," Steve complained in fake anger. She didn't need to know that he respected her advice.

"Shut up, Steve." She gave his stretched, taut belly a hard slap and made him jack-knife. He cursed fiercely, giving her the stink eye.

Mary giggled. "Okay, two weeks ago, you spent your Friday night at the club. You came home drunk at five in the morning. I was already up, getting ready for our big day at the surf school. That's when I saw you being sweet and all. I don't see you so loose very often, acting funny and sharing news willingly from your sex/love life. I enjoyed it tremendously. We had a great discussion because I could ask you anything, always getting detailed answers, and it made my freaking day." Mary laughed with a sweet sound at the memory and nudged Steve's calf with her toes.

I’m not proud of it, it’s more a deep inner satisfaction to create a universe where Steve and Mary are normal siblings, loving each other, teasing, quarreling, caring and supporting one another. I love that moment because of how Steve trusts Mary although he sounds pissed and fake-angry and Mary isn’t impressed in the slightest. I love how comfortable they are with touching the other, being close, knowing there is only love and fun and support. I cherish moments where Steve has Mary around, that’s why I always try to get her into my stories somehow.

K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with?

Puhh, that’s a difficult one but okay. I know I might write it someday and it floats around in my mind like a cork on water. It’s about Steve in season 2 and the way he loses weight, looking haggard and wild-eyed. Danny would find out that Steve has a drug problem, as a result, being a SEAL, being in black ops, killing people, torturing men, losing his father, feeling guilty about it and the only way he manages to silence his demons are drugs. And that would be a dark, angsty fic with a Steve who would be lost in the arms of a momentary fix of chemicals to give him a short time of inner peace. Yeah...

Y: A character you want to protect.

Mary Ann McGarrett. Full stop. She’s strong, fragile, a fighter, she went through so much, she struggles but she deserves a good life. She deserves a family, happiness with her ohana. I’m actually so happy about how her character developed throughout the seasons. I need her to be okay, always. And I provide that for her in all my stories where she plays a part.

I hope you like the answers. Thank you again so very much for your interest, babe! Big hug for you!

Fan Fic Ask Game 

#ask game #ask answered #fan fic ask game #thank you so much #cinco-cero