My head has been swarming with ideas lately, and I just had to get this one out. Here’s Hande who may or may not have a crush on a certain Nøkken. Thank you, Viking, for creating these wonderful characters and them being Hande’s friends. I hope I managed to do justice for them!
The name of this drabble is from a song On The Street Where You Live from My Fair Lady Musical (and here’s the mandatory rant about how they dubbed Jeremy Brett’s singing in the film - he had remarkable singing voice so it’s a crime they didn’t use it)
Characters: Hande Kuura, Lydik (mentioned) & Reidunn (mentioned - Lydik and Reidunn belong to @vikinglumberjack)
No content warnings.
Words: 955
Once again Hande found herself near Reidunn's and Lydik's place. She didn't intend to go there, she only wanted to go for a walk after a long day at work. Still, there she is, looking at a window, that just happens to be the window to a room of a certain Nøkken. Well, why wouldn't she look at it? Reidunn has been her friend for a decade, at least, and once she has come to know Lydik, Hande has really started to enjoy his company, too. Of course, it's not the easiest to have a conversation with someone who can't speak, but at first Reidunn had interpreted his social cues, and later Hande has learnt to understand them herself. The magician has also studied Morse code and sign language in order to discuss with the Nøkken.
Thinking of Lydik causes Hande to chuckle: to be entirely honest, befriending a Nøkken is a little bizarre for someone with her background. During her childhood she was always warned about Nøkken, or as they call the creature in Hongas, ”näkki”. They weren't a thing in Karnassos, but in Hjalle you could be certain, that every lake or pond might be a home of one. And Nøkken were always mean and wanted to drag you under surface to drown you and then eat you. Hande knows lots of spells for getting a Nøkken out of water when you're going to swim, and has used them just in case.
Hande may have even encountered a Nøkken on the shore of the lake her vaari's house is, when she was 12 years old. She had heard someone playing a violin, but she didn't think any of it, because she didn't have an urge to go to the water after hearing it. Armas-vaari was horrified, tho, after hearing Hande was trying to play a tune she'd heard with her own violin. He told Hande there was no one else, except for Hande, who could play violin in that area.
Still, when Reidunn had introduced Lydik to Hande, and told her he is a Nøkken, the woman had thought she's no one to judge. If Lydik was Reidunn's friend, he should be trustworthy. Hande could also sense he is secretly a little shy, although he was very easygoing from the start. And well, Hande has a soft spot for the shy ones. Despite of the language barrier, they have gotten along pretty well, and it didn't take long time for Hande to grow fond of the Nøkken. It was nice to hear him play his fiddle, and after some time Hande even had the courage to play her violin in front of him – something she didn't do with anyone. Lydik also seemed to like, when the magician read books to him.
The Nøkken has visited Hande's thoughts pretty often recently. How he pews every time he sees Hande, his beautiful fiddle playing and cute pets, the smirk on his face, his hypnotizing eyes... No matter which form Lydik's in, Hande finds him beautiful. She hasn't noticed that before, but for a few weeks she's caught herself thinking that Lydik is rather attractive. Well, it's probably because she finds him such a good friend – people (or Nøkken or huldras) tend to look more beautiful in her eyes when she grows to like them more. For her, it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with romantic feelings, oh no... Definitely not in Lydik's case.
The Nøkken has also started to gift her flowers. Since her earth magic is one of her strongest magical abilities, she was delighted by his gesture. Hande has pressed all of them in her books and glued them to her journal (a detail she hasn't told to anyone). When Hande found out, that Lydik had stolen the flowers from Reidunn, she asked him not to do that – Hande felt bad for receiving flowers that were from her best friend, taken without permission. She still couldn't deny that the Nøkken's behavior was endearing in her opinion.
Hmph, all this stream of consciousness, all of it about Lydik... That name... Hande finds it rather lyrical. The woman notices she's still staring at his window, and bashfully lowers her gaze, hoping no one has noticed her staring or grinning. Feeling confused, Hande wonders if she should try to knock on their front door and see, if either Reidunn or Lydik was home. After pacing a little she decides against it – she wouldn't want to disturb them and well, she wouldn't want anyone to notice where her mind has been lately. Especially Reidunn has known Hande so long that she'd probably notice something's amiss. The magician also rather enjoyed her daydreaming, tho she definitely wouldn't admit it – not even to herself.
Still, Hande walks towards the backyard of the home of her friends. Smiling to herself, she gently twists a wrist of her right hand, concentrating on the ground below Lydik's window. A bush of gardenias appears from the ground. Hande hadn't thought about what flowers she wanted to grow, but was satisfied with the result – gardenias look rather pretty next to the wall. With that, Hande turns around, intending to go home. Her steps feel lighter than before, almost like she's flying. The magician restrains herself from whistling, although she can't help but hum a tune she's not sure where she'd heard that.
After wandering for a while, the woman suddenly stops. Gardenias... Why gardenias? Could it be that her feelings have... Nah, there's no way. It's been so long since Hande has had a crush on, let alone fallen in love with someone. Lydik is a good friend of hers, nothing more. No one – not even a charming Nøkken – could steal her heart.
The name of this fic is from a song Can’t Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon.
Characters: Hande Kuura, Reidunn, Lydik & Sargon Hakimi (mentioned) - Reidunn and Lydik belong to @vikinglumberjack
The story is set a couple of months after On The Street Where You Live.
Content warning: self-loathing
Words: 1 576
”Oh, Hande! I'm so happy to see you, this is a lovely surprise!” Reidunn calls out excitedly and hugs her friend. Hande gives the huldra a bashful smile, ”I hope I'm not interrupting anything important. Can we talk about something? Alone.”
Reidunn gives Hande a worried look. She can sense something is troubling her best friend, and by the looks of the magician, it's been haunting her a long time. The huldra gives way to Hande so she can come in. Accustomedly the blonde climbs to upstairs and sits down at a table of the living area while the redhead makes some calming tea for them. Hande keeps fidgeting her fingers and seems like she regrets coming here and wants to flee at once. Still, the woman stays put, although Reidunn can hear her nervously tapping her toes on the floor.
The huldra hands a cup to her friend who takes it tentatively. After thanking her host Hande stays quiet for some time. This doesn't ease Reidunn's worry, but she doesn't want to push the magician – it is rare that Hande is left speechless, so this must be serious. The blonde carefully blows to her cup before she takes a sip. ”I... Uhm... What I'm going to say, it probably sounds silly to you, so please, don't laugh at me,” she rambles uncontrollably. Reidunn looks at the woman and answers seriously, ”Hande, I would never laugh at you if you weren't trying to be funny,” she reaches out her hand and places it on her friend's, squeezing lightly, ”You can always talk to me, you know that.”
Hande sighs, looking at the redhead apologetically, ”Yeah, I know... I'm sorry, Dunna... This is just so difficult to me... I still haven't quite accepted this and I've never been good at talking about topics like this...” She takes another sip from her tea, trying to muster some courage to say the words she's dreading to say out loud. The magician doesn't want to make those words true – like it would change anything, but still.
Reidunn waits patiently for her friend to finally reveal the reason she has come to see her. Hande closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and finally splutters, ”I think I'm in love...”
Silence. Hande keeps looking at her cup while Reidunn is looking at her friend. The huldra is a little confused: she had expected the magician would tell about some kind of disaster. Still, Hande looks pretty pained, so Reidunn gives her hand another friendly squeeze, ”Oh, Hande, that's wonderful! Why do you say it like it's a death penalty?”
Hande gives the huldra a pained look. ”Well, you haven't seen me in a relationship for all these years, have you?” the blonde whispers, ”I haven't even been in love since... you know... That pesky feeling has only brought me harm and I don't want to purposely get kicked in the head again.”
”Nonsense!” Reidunn exclaims indulgently, ”To be honest, I have been suspecting you might have a crush. Who's the lucky one?” The magician looks at her friend incredulously before she answers, ”Pfft, I wouldn't say they are lucky – quite the contrary. It doesn't matter who they are, I'm not going to tell them. I just wanted to get this off my chest before it would explode.”
Now it's the huldra's turn to look surprised, ”Why wouldn't you? Of course that person would be lucky: I don't know anyone as kind or smart as you.” Reidunn moves closer to Hande, taking her friend in one of her arms. Hande stares at the table, looking embarrassed. ”Dunna, now you're way too kind, ” she manages to mumble, ”You don't have to say that because you're my friend, really. I know... I know... I know I've never been beautiful... In this society beauty is the most important thing, I've noticed it way too many times... Salma was the beautiful one, everyone back home always said that...”
Mentioning her sister causes the magician to sniff, memories overwhelming her, ”And look at me, still bawling about my sister who has been dead for 11 freaking years! I'm a burden, I've always been and that's why most people left me after she...” Tears are now falling freely across Hande's cheeks and she sobs, ”There's nothing lovable in me!”
Reidunn gives Hande a tight hug and lets her cry a while. She feels so sad about the fact how badly her friend talks about herself. After Hande has calmed down Reidunn lifts her jaw so the magician would meet her gaze, ”Hande, now listen to me,” she says, sternness in her voice, ”Don't you ever. Ever. Talk about yourself like that. You are a wonderful person and you deserve love, like anyone else! I understand you're afraid because of your previous experiences, but that's only human.” The huldra changes her tone into a friendlier one, giving Hande an encouraging smile, ”There are still people who love you, including me, and they have stayed by your side all this time. Besides, I'm sure this time will be different: you aren't a teenager anymore, and this is not Sargon, but a different person. If they're right for you, they'll understand, and love you for who you really are.”
Hande wipes her eyes, looking slightly ashamed. ”I promised all those years ago I'd never give my heart to someone again... Being alone has kept me safe. I just... This is too much for me, and this feeling is eating me alive... I keep thinking about them almost all of the time...” The magician rises her head a little to meet Reidunn's eyes, ”I'm an idiot... I'm sorry.”
The huldra hugs Hande again, stroking her arms, ”There's no reason for you to apologize me. The only one you should say that to, is yourself. It really hurts me to hear you selling yourself short.” Hande detaches herself from the hug, sighs and buries her face in her hands, ”Ugh, everything is a mess... Dunna, what should I do?” Reidunn gives her friend a bright smile and boops her nose, which puts a bashful smile on Hande's face. Then the huldra responds, ”Tell this person how you feel.” Hande makes a grimace, ”Do I have to? I don't want to get rejected...”
”Well, if you want to be happy, sometimes you have to take risks. And if you don't try, you might miss your opportunity to happiness. This person might feel the same about you,” Reidunn says with a warm voice. Hande gives her a weak chuckle and snorts, ”Bah, as if.”
Hande laughs on the other side of her face when she senses someone is looking at her. The magician turns around and blinks: it's Lydik. Shit. Hande gets butterflies in her stomach, but on the same time dread fills her mind: has Lydik heard her discussion with Dunna? Still, trying to keep her cool, she smiles brightly at Lydik and greets him, ”Hey, Lydik! I didn't know you're here, too. I hope you're doing well.” The Nøkken pews to her as a reply, smiling back to her. After that Lydik keeps looking at Hande and cocks his head, as if to ask a question from her.
Suddenly self-conscious about her swollen and red eyes, Hande gives the Nøkken a nervous laughter, ”Well, what do you know! Even stone-hearted can cry sometimes. Don't worry, it was silly, nothing serious.” The smile on her face is lopsided, but she manages to meet Lydik's eyes, although he's in his Nøkken form. After a moment he approaches Hande and crouches to give her a hug. The magician is surprised by his gesture, but answers it, trying her best to reach her arms up enough. Despite of their current height difference, being in Lydik's arms feels so safe, so right. Hande closes her eyes and hopes her foolish heart wouldn't betray her.
Way too soon, at least in Hande's opinion, the embrace is over. Still holding her hand, Lydik taps a question on the back of her palm, ”Feeling better?” She clears her throat before speaking, ”Yes, I'm okay now, really. Thank you, Lydik.” Then she turns to Reidunn and thanks her too. The huldra scrutinises her friend, but doesn't say anything, and gives her one last hug. ”Remember, you can always talk to me,” Reidunn reminds the magician. Hande smiles, waves at both of her friends and leaves.
Ugh, what a fiasco... She's been opening her heart to Reidunn while Lydik has been in his room all the time. Hande had avoided using his pronouns on purpose, but what if the Nøkken still could connect the dots? Or if he didn't hear the conversation between the women, he could still smell or sense something from the magician. Well, he still had been delighted to see her – he had pewed, after all. Why would she risk the friendship she had with Lydik by telling him that he had managed to steal her heart? And it was all her fault...
Kicking a stone from the street, Hande lets out a tired sigh. She hates to admit, that Dunna was right – even some little space in her own mind dares to hope: ”What if, by some miracle, Lydik feels the same way towards me?” Being none the wiser she strolls towards her home. Oh well, maybe one day Hande would have enough courage to confess her feelings to Lydik.
Lydik hands Hande some water Lilies. He doesn't know much about human romantic gestures. But since Reidunn was excited about today, it must be significant. Humans like Flowers right?
Hande takes the flowers looking surprised, but pleased, “You picked these for me? From your garden? You really didn’t need to...” Hande sniffs, moved by the Nøkken’s gesture, and tries not to cry - it would be so embarrassing. “Thank you, Lydik! I really like water lilies!” she says happily and hugs him.
“Actually I got some something for you, too,” Hande states and brings out a swamp rose-mallow in a pot, “You can plant it, if you want. Happy Valentine’s day!”
