A new island, a new adventure, and new bookstores to shop at. Aya loved this part of the job - every new island had interesting and unique books to offer, books you couldn’t find elsewhere. Even if it was simply just the history of the island, Aya loved them all and always bought a copy of any new work she found to be added to the library. History was history, no matter how small, and it was all important.
So when she was given her book-buying allowance for this trip, Aya immediately went and sought out any and all bookstores she could find. Thankfully there had been a few, and by noon, Aya had several bags with books in them, and was still searching for more.
It was then that she spotted one, a bright open sign in the window, but no lights on. Or at least, none she could see. Curious, she approached the shop and peered in. The windows were too dark to see much of anything, but Aya wasn’t going to let that deter her. She’d been in much darker, much more run-down bookstores before. They almost always had the greatest finds.
She tried to door, and it was unlocked. Walking inside, Aya couldn’t see much at first. “Hello? I’m, um, sorry for just coming in but the sign says you’re open?”
⌈ — Was Ushi making fun of him? Even after all the months they were apart? Tsk, Oharano guessed he had to take it a bit further to get what he wanted. Glaring up at his boyfriend, he grabbed the male from the collar of his shirt to pull him down before kissing him hard. Afterward, he let him go, returning the smirk, “Thought you can get away so easily, think again.” ⌋
Yet another island with a heavy marine presence, yet another island where Martha had to rely on her cover of being a street performer to earn extra money. She had her helmsman dock the ship on a more remote side of the island for a bit of extra security, sighing when she saw the ships but resigned that she would need to get ready.
“Okay boys! There are marines around, so this is no time t’ be reckless and draw attention, yeah?” There were echos of ‘aye captain!’ from several men before she nodded and went to change.
In towns like this she always went in using the guise of being a simple street performer, a dancer; and her dancing always drew a crowd.
The observers were mainly younger citizens and marines, though after the performance most cleared out some young marines lingered.
“Hey, babe! How much?”
“How much?” She repeated the question back to him with an insulted look. “Im not a hooker, im a dancer. Go away.” Martha turned her back on them to walk away, though they followed.
“Aw! C’mon! How much?”
‘Martha…you cant punch a marine….just ignore them’ The captain thought to herself, an irritated tone lacing into even her own thoughts.
“I told ya im not a hooker! Im a dancer! Dan! Cer! Now get lost!” She was getting sick of them tailing after her like lovesick puppies (well if puppies were teenagers in desperate need of getting laid.)
Send me a ship and a number and I’ll write a mini-fic || Anon || @dangerandfun
[Sorry I didn’t get to this last night! I fell asleep x-x ]
9. things you said when i was crying
In the dead of the night, Aya sat on her bed, legs drawn up to her body, face pressed against them and eyes screwed shut as she tried to stem the tide of quiet tears. When she’d overheard rumors of Howl’s latest fling, she had thought they were speaking of her at first. Then she saw him - cooing and flirting with another woman - a pretty blonde, all doe eyes and long legs. So much prettier than her.
And she’d felt her heart drop out of her chest.
This is why they called him the Heart Eater, after all. He stole women’s hearts, ate them and left soulless husks in his wake. And now, alone and crying in her room, Aya realized he’d stolen her heart too.
She didn’t hear the door open, but she felt the weight of another person on her bed, the mattress dipping as Howl sat down, drew her up into his arms and held her. He stroked her head, murmuring soft, comforting words into her ear. His voice always relaxed her, made her feel safe and warm, and she leaned into his touch, let herself be swept up in the sensation of being held by the wizard.
“Shh, shh... it’s okay. You’re safe here.” Howl didn’t know what was wrong, but his words were both a stab in the heart and a comfort. After all, why would he bother to comfort her if he had already moved on?
In the end, it had all been a misunderstanding on her part. But still, Howl promised her to let her know when he’d have to use his charms for information in the future. And that’s all Aya could ask for.
A loud gasp was emitted from the shaken figure on the bed. Arms wrapped themselves around a thin frame, trying to calm their nerves before slowly taking deep breath. It took a while for Oharano to finally come to his senses, his tired, still groggy eyes looked around his darken room, realizing that he was merely dreaming again.
But what a horrible dream it was.
It had happened before. Numerous times for sure, so much so that it was starting to make him nervous that he could be suffering from something; but he had done some research about nightmares, and had reach about keeping a dream journal, writing down whatever he could remember and it could help ease the mind from the horrible images of the dream.
He wondered if it work. He just hoped it wasn’t something serious. So Oharano started to do just that. Of course, without letting his family and friends know about it. He didn’t want them to worry so he kept the book hidden, close to his bed and never speak of it.
Etsugo leaned over to turn on his light, grabbing his journal from between his mattress and began to write down what he could remember before it fades. It was still fresh on his mind. His hands still shook as he wrote down what the dream was before shutting it close.
He closed his eyes, leaning back against the headboard while trying to not cry.
Oharano did notice a difference once he began his journal, the nightmares were less frequent, but unfortunately more vivid. It was like he had been there before, that those things that was happening to him actually did. And the worst part was….Ushijima was there. In every dream.
He never really believed in silly things like dreams were a gateway to one’s consciousnesses. That somethings it remembered things form past lives, reincarnation if you will. It was just too surreal….too abstract to think that you could have lived before. A different time, different persona. It was utterly ridiculous.
And yet, it had always been him and Ushi.
In the beginning, he didn’t know who this male was. He remembered he was tall, probably a foot taller than himself; dark eyes, dark hair, strong body and a gaze that could freeze enemies, and yet…whenever those amber hues were on him, they were soft and humble. It was like he was meant to be with him.
Caramel eyes opened, turned downward to look over the journal. He sighed softly as he opened it, turning page after page. Gaze scanning what he had written over the years. A total of 90 dreams.
Some were of good times, one where they had been together; had a family, a home. A great life.
Others were of pain. Being killed because of their statuses; of their faith, of their orientation.
Some were of him as a woman, others of the other male’s. They would be both of the same sex as well.
Oharano had watched Ushi die before him, many times. Or he would see himself dying in front of him. Whether it be from a firing squad, burning, during childbirth. From accidents to being murdered. From when they were young, to when they were old. It was like watching it like a movie sometimes, other times it was from his point of view. Which was more scarier than the last.
His eyes watered when he read over the details of the dreams. He felt his heart break, a lump forming in his throat; his hands shaking. Reading about how horrified he was as seeing Ushi die….it was…just feeling like a small piece of yourself had died with him.
He finally reached the latest dream. The one he had written a few minutes ago and tears fell from his eyes.
It had been one of those dreams where they were of different statues. One where he was a Prince, ready to rule the kingdom once his father had passed. Ushi was a Knight, a guardsman of the royal palace. It was forbidden of two men, especially one of them being of high rank. Despite how they had kept it a secret, eventually something gave way and the King was furious.
He placed his hands over his eyes; feeling more drops of his tears falling.
Ushi took the blame. Lying to the court that he had seduced the Prince, wanting to ruin him and the Royal family just to secretly spare Etsugo’s life. The Prince knew he was lying, he could tell by those eyes. Those amber eyes always spoke the truth where he only knew of.
But no matter how much he fought, how much he begged….Ushijima, the former Knight of the Royal Guards, was to be executed in public. And Etsugo was to be force to watch.
Etsugo sobbed quietly; trying to shake the dream out of his mind as he didn’t want to remember. Didn’t want to remember how he had to be there; hearing those horrible cries and insults to Ushi as he was placed in the guilonite. How one last look Ushijima gave him was a small smile and his mouth moving…before he was executed.
I love you…
Oharano did his best to calm down. It was just another stupid dream. But it felt so real, his chest ached at the thought of losing him again.
He turned to grab his phone; seeing how it was almost 3am and wondered if he should bother in waking Ushijima up at this late hour. But the image of him dying such a horrible death before him, he just…needed to reach out to him.
With shaky hands, he typed a message; pressing send and slowly let out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding. Leaning back against his pillow, he felt like he was acting stupid, it was one of those dreams and that he knew Ushi was alive. But…it felt so real. He could feel his skin crawl at the faded memo ries of his past dreams, he really wanted these dreams to stop because he had enough of them. But again, it was happening less and less frequent…come to think of it, it began to be less once he met Ushi.
This had to mean something. But for now, he was just happy that it was slowly stopping these nightmares.
And just as he was about to get comfortable, he felt his phone vibrate. Etsugo frowned, not expecting Ushi to returned his message as he knew his boyfriend was asleep; he checked the message. His caramel eyes scanned the words, causing a small smile….making him feel as a heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulder, helping him fall into a peaceful sleep.
