"I left my bag at the park and you saw that it was mine so you chased after me to give it back and now you want to know why I have a bag full of acorns and no umbrella ‘cuz it’s raining" Nikolina/Alarkling cuz both of them are painfully cute ships and Leigh Bardugo made a huge mistake when she forced Alina to marry that Malaria.
alkdjasdj bold anon, I commend you!
anyways, thanks for this random prompt! It’s so funny aksjdkasd and so very NIKOLINA esque. Hope you enjoy!
Thunder roared. She lifted her eyes to the sky, and a raindrop fell onher head.
Cursing softly under her breath, Alina reached for her umbrella andsprung it open in a haste, awkwardly keeping it over her body and her things asshe tried to put everything back in the bag before the rain grew any heavier.
She looked up towards the large and ancient oak and frowned. The guythat had been exploring its roots was nowhere to be seen, yet his bag was stillthere. Feeling stupid for caring too much, Alina rushed towards the tree andgrabbed the bag before it got too wet. She let out a yelp of surprise when sherealised it was heavier than expected.
“What the…?” She looked around as rain started to pour. The park wasempty. And she needed to know who owned the bag. Or if it was a bomb.
Cautiously, she unzipped it open.
“Hey! Hey you!!” A feminine voice called after him and he turned around,lazily wiping wet hair off his forehead as a small young woman rushed up tohim.
He watched her with interest, his eyes taking in every detail of herpetite frame. She was probably his age, maybe a couple of years younger atmost. Her hair was a delicious shade of dark chocolate and so were her eyes.She was dressed for rainy weather, including the most incredible pair of sunnyyellow rain boots, paired with an umbrella in the same shade of yellow. Heinstantly liked her and wanted to know everything that made her tick.
Then he realised she was speaking to him and his gaze fell on her hand.And the bag she was holding out to him.
“Is this yours?” She asked, and he noticed she was breathless.
He nodded, a tiny smile on his lips. “Yes, thank you for getting it.” Hereached for the bag but sunshine girl refused to hand it over. He arched aneyebrow at her.
“Why is it full of acorns? And why the hell are you walking aroundwithout umbrella? And why did you leave it behind?”
A chuckle broke free off of him before he could help it. An angryexpression crossed sunshine girl’s face and he tried to sober up a little. “Iwas picking them for a project of mine.”
“And?” God, she had the cutest angry face ever. She could punch him andhe would thank her.
“I didn’t hear the weather forecast so I didn’t come prepared. When Isaw the rainclouds it was too late.” He paused, watching her as she ran hiswords through her mind, probably looking for any lie in there. Then he added,“And I was going for a coffee when it started to rain.”
“Why didn’t you take your bag with you?” She asked, “What if someonestole it?”
“Well, I figured once they noticed it was heavy and had only acorns init, they’d leave it there.”
She blinked at him, as if his mere existence was a riddle she couldn’tbelieve existed. She shook her head and licked her lips once, drawing hisattention there. They were soft and delicate, the Cupid’s bow was a perfectarch and they had the prettiest shade of pink. He noticed they were cracked alittle here and there, but it only made them even more attractive.
“What are you staring at?” She asked, her voice just a tad annoyed.
He looked up and flashed his mischievous grin, “I’m afraid if I tell youI may die in this park, sunshine.” The way her cheeks turned a darker shade ofpink at that nickname had his stomach flipping on its head. Could this womanget any prettier?
“That’s not my name and you didn’t answer me.” Her voice gained an edge.
“I can’t answer you, sunshine, or else you’ll kill me.” Then he winked,happy to see it only made her blush harder and bowed a little, “My name’sNikolai. Thank you for recovering my bag, can I have it back?”
She blinked again and handed it over. Then she gestured at his body,needing to take a long swipe of her hand as he was at least a head taller thanher, and asked, “Aren’t you cold?”
He looked down at his soaking clothes and shrugged, “Hardly notice it. Ilive close by so it’s not like I’ll have these on for long.” He grinned at herblush, “Picturing it, are you?”
She rolled her eyes and he realised that yes, this woman could get anyprettier. Saints above help him, he needed her name and to see her again.
“Got a rather big ego, don’t you?” She said, clutching her umbrella alittle harder. She looked around and heaved a breath, “Right, ok. You have yourbag. I’ll be going.”
Oh no, he couldn’t let her go without knowing her name at least!
“Wait!” He reached for her, his fingertips brushing her exposed wristfor one dizzying heartbeat.
She looked back at him, looking just as startled at the electric touchas he was. “What?”
“I don’t know your name.”
“Ah.” She looked away again and bit her lip. He suddenly had an urge tokiss her. Then he mentally slapped himself, reminding his stupid brain thatthey were strangers and he couldn’t just kiss her like that. Sunshine girllooked back at him and sighed, “I’m Alina.”
A blissful smile spread on his face, “Alina.” What a beautiful,wonderful name. “A pleasure to meet you, Alina.”
She nodded, “Yeah, nice to meet you too, Nikolai.” Good grief, his namesounded even better on her lips. He really, truly needed this woman in hislife. At least a few more moments.
“Wait, don’t leave. Let me thank you.” He added when she made to wavegoodbye.
“You already have.” She said, a confused line forming between hereyebrows.
“Let me thank you properly.” He amended, flashing a sheepish smile forgood measure.
A long silence spread between them, as Alina looked away to think on it.Then, “I guess you could pay me coffee or something. But not right now!” Sheadded when he beamed at her. “Go shower. I—We’ll meet at the rotunda café intwo hours, ok?”
He couldn’t be happier, “I’ll be there, Alina. I promise.”
She rolled her eyes andwaved goodbye, “Yeah, yeah. Just, don’t catch a cold or something.” Then shewas off, and Nikolai swore she’d taken a piece of his heart with her.
