asparklethatisblue sent me several prompts from this list. The first one got away with me a bit. (I pretty much perpetually take prompts, because I suck at working on my longer things. Here are two more.)
Hair references: fierce crest
twists
Nori nearly choked on his cigarette and looked up to see Dwalin Durin, who had been the dark goddess of his wet dreams for the past few months - at a very conservative estimate - looking down at him. It was the second time she had really spoken to him, and he couldn’t help comparing the severe look on her face now to the one hazily remembered from the night they had spent together.
It had been a party. He didn’t know the guy who was holding it, but that had never stopped him. There were free drinks, and that meant he was going to be there. It wasn’t like he could do any of that at home. Not with so much of Dori’s money still going to the medical bills their mom had built up before she finally died. And then there was Ori, and they both needed to give his just-seven self everything they couldn’t justify giving themselves. But sometimes he just needed to go out and be a stupid teenager.
He’d had some drinks, joked with friends who had also crashed the party. Then he’d turned, and there she was, dancing. Her hair was in a fierce crest on top of her head. He’d noticed it in school when they passed, so he knew it had to be her. He’d never seen her in any dress, let alone one like the deep green dress she wore, which showed off her curves gloriously. She had boots on with it, knee high and so dark brown it took Nori a moment to realize she wasn’t barefoot.
With some drink in him to give him courage, Nori had approached the girl who he had long thought was out of his league. He pressed up close behind to dance with her and felt her tense at the touch. But when she turned to see who it was, she smiled and he saw pleasure glint in her dark eyes. She had leaned into his touch, and it didn’t take long or much whispered conversation for them to go find someplace to be alone.
They hadn’t spoken in school after that. They were in two very different groups. A party was one thing, but they couldn’t do more than let their eyes catch from time to time once they were back in the daylight world.
And here she was, looking how he had always seen her before in jeans and a t-shirt. Her hair hung long around her face and shoulders in twists, and there was little pleasure in her eyes today.
He scrambled to his feet, cigarette falling into the dust under the bleachers where he had hid to smoke. “Anything you want,” he said before he could control his tongue.
There was a flicker of a smile across her lips, but it didn’t last. “Neither of us thought about protection,” she said without any further lead up.
“I’m pretty sure I’m clean, but I’ll get tested if you want,” he offered, unsure why this was coming up after almost three months.
Her eyes flashed. “It’s not all about STDs, Nori. Not every girl is on the pill.”
The blood slowly drained from his face. “You’re sure it’s mine?” he asked faintly.
He probably deserved the punch that sent him sprawling.
“You’re the only one I’ve been with!” Dwalin answered hotly.
Nori waited for her to estimate how long it had been since she’d been with someone else. When it didn’t come, the blood that had started to rise again fled. “You were…. You mean you never….?”
“That’s not important,” Dwalin snapped, looking embarrassed through her anger. “The important thing is what now.”
“What do you want?” Nori asked, scrambling back to his feet. “I’ll support you.”
Dwalin crossed her arms and looked at him. “If I want an abortion?”
He nodded. “I can go with you.”
He swallowed. “Then I’ll…. Help? It’s your choice.”
“This is useless,” Dwalin spat, turning on her heel.
Nori stared after her, then sprinted to catch her before she left the shelter of the bleachers. “What do you want from me? I’m trying to be supportive! You’re the one who’s going through this. It’s your body, so it’s your choice!”
She shook his hand off. “In that case, there’s no point in talking to you, is there?” she growled.
“What do you want from me?” Nori demanded, voice rising. “I’m a teenager with a baby brother and no parents. There’s no way I can support–”
“Money,” Dwalin spat. “I don’t need your fucking money.”
“Then what the hell do you want?”
“You! If I’m going to do this, I want you there. I don’t want to do it alone, I want you with me.”
Nori stared. “You do?” He reached out again, hesitantly this time, and she met his hand with her own. They walked back deeper into the bleachers to have a real talk.
