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31_days2009-01-14 01:01 pm
seta-suzume.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2009-01-14 01:01 pm
[Jan. 14][Suikoden III] Caught up in a Crush
Title: Caught up in a Crush
Day/Theme: Jan. 14, 2009 "some mad hope"
Series: Suikoden III
Character/Pairing: Utsumi -> Jeane, Yumi, Yuiri, etc.
Rating: PG, shoujo-ai
Utsumi shuffled her feet nervously, fidgeting and looking back and forth from her boots to the door of the rune shop. She had saved her money carefully for the last few weeks, storing each potch in a leather potch attached to her quiver. It wasn't really that the archer was in dire need of a rune. Yumi, Amane, and others in the tribe were far better suited to be mages than Utsumi, but the rune mistress...Jeane... Ever since Utsumi's arrival at Budehuc and her first brief glance at the tall, sexy woman, she had been smitten. She had debated whether or not to approach her for days, hanging shyly around the shop or sitting by the fountain watching others go about their business.
At least she didn't appear to be the only one with trouble speaking to Jeane. She'd seen Kidd come out one afternoon oddly spooked, the notepad shaking in his hands. Ace would peek in the door some days before suddenly running away as if he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't have. Plenty of men (and a few women) came to ogle Jeane, but still Utsumi found she couldn't motivate herself to just go it.
Just as Utsumi was always watching the rune shop, Yuiri kept an eye on the long-haired girl, as she tired her best to do with all the Alma Kinan who had come to Budehuc to support the new Flame Champion. Utsumi had always been a standoffish, quiet girl, but at Budehuc she appeared more remote than ever. She stood in the square, seemingly staring into space, a strawberry flush coloring her cheeks. Could she be ill? Before confronting Utsumi, Yuiri decided to do what she believe Great-Auntie would do in a similar situation and went to Yumi for a second opinion.
"Have you seen Utsumi lately? ...She doesn't look quite right to me," Yuiri expressed her concerns over a bowl of soup at Mamie's restaurant.
Yumi broke a cracker into tiny pieces and scattered them over her steaming tomato soup. She rubbed her gloved fingers together to brush off the finer, dust-like crumbs. "Tee hee," she giggled sweetly, "Well, she's not her usual self, but I wouldn't be too worried, Yuiri. I'm pretty sure I know what's going on with Utsumi... She's in love."
"In l-love?" Yuiri's eyebrows rose quizzically, "You really think so?"
"Oh, it's nothing to get so worked about!" Yumi tried to calm her sister's troubled mind. Yuiri's own romantic urges had been considerably stirred up, much to her discomfort, by her close interactions with some of Budehuc's inhabitants (including, but not limited to, Sasarai's subordinate Dios), so it was understandable that the idea helping Utsumi tackle her own confusing romantic problems was not particularly appealing. "I'm sure she'll be just fine. She just needs a little encouragement."
"I'm not sure I'm the one to give it..." the older woman sighed. She blew on her spoonful of tea and swallowed it solemnly.
"Don't give it another thought! I'd be happy to do my part and give her a bit of motivation! You don't have to take everything on yourself, Yuiri. I'm always ready to help out."
"Hmm, I guess you are. Thank you."
Utsumi sighed dreamily. Her reverie was broken for a moment as the door opened, but it wasn't Jeane coming out. Instead Percival and Borus left the rune shop without giving her a second glance. "H-how could you embarrass me like that?!! making me an appointment to have a unicorn rune attached to my- my- I can't say it in public!" the blond knight screeched angrily, shoving his laughing comrade aside as he stormed away.
Utsumi wasn't interested in them, but Yumi had to stifle a giggle as she came down the steps. "Utsumi, I see you're still here."
"Oh, hi, Yumi," she shyly turned to her life-long acquaintance, "Is something going on?"
"No, not really. We don't need you to go into battle, if that's what you mean. It's just that Yuiri and I have noticed you hanging around the rune shop a lot lately."
"Uh, yeah. I'm a bit embarrassed to go in," Utsumi admitted.
"You don't need to be intimidated by Jeane. ...Unless you're planning on trying to ask her to reveal her secrets, that is," Yumi encouraged Utsumi in her usual upbeat manner. "I'll go with you. We can go right now."
"But I, I don't even know what kind of rune I want," the nervous girl blustered, trying in vain to come up with a reasonable excuse.
"Then you'll have a reason to ask Jeane for a recommendation," was Yumi's quick reply.
It didn't look like it would be easy to get out of it now. ...This was what she had wanted anyway...right? Utsumi took a deep breath to steel herself for her first actual conversation with Jeane (just saying "Hi" one day didn't seem like it should really count). "...okay."
Yumi held the door for her colleague, and Utsumi gingerly slunk into the room. The flush that Yuiri had observed returned to her cheeks as her brown eyes met Jeane's. "Hi," she tried to say, but her voice came out as nothing more than a whisper.
Jeane didn't seem to hear it at all, but she still smiled, welcoming and enigmatic. "Is there something I can do for you?"
As Utsumi seemed to have been suddenly struck dumb, Yumi took over for her, trying to keep the situation from becoming too awkward, "Utsumi wants to buy a rune- a magic one, I think, but she's not sure what type would suit her."
The silver-haired woman was amenable to the request and spoke to Utsumi in her best business tone, "You're an archer, right?"
"Yes," Utsumi supported her quiet answer with a firm nod of her head.
"You're not entirely without potential. I think that a wind rune might best suit your needs. They are fairly versatile after all," Jeane suggested, with her familiar giggle at the end.
Utsumi felt her knees go slightly weak, "Yes, I'd like that." While she fumbled to count out the necessary coins, Yumi and Jeane shared a knowing glance. Jeane was certainly experienced enough with admirers to know a crush when she saw one.
"Now give me your hand," the rune mistress instructed her customer. Utsumi did as requested, looking away in embarrassment when Jeane's hand touched her own. The rune was affixed quickly in a pale glow of green light and Jeane took her hand away, leaving Utsumi to examine the design on the back of her right hand.
"Th-thank you, Ma'am," the extremely satisfied customer beamed awkwardly for a moment that felt much longer to herself than to anyone else present.
"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Yumi remarked to Utsumi as they strolled out the door.
"No, I suppose not," Utsumi answered, clutching her hand to her chest.
Day/Theme: Jan. 14, 2009 "some mad hope"
Series: Suikoden III
Character/Pairing: Utsumi -> Jeane, Yumi, Yuiri, etc.
Rating: PG, shoujo-ai
Utsumi shuffled her feet nervously, fidgeting and looking back and forth from her boots to the door of the rune shop. She had saved her money carefully for the last few weeks, storing each potch in a leather potch attached to her quiver. It wasn't really that the archer was in dire need of a rune. Yumi, Amane, and others in the tribe were far better suited to be mages than Utsumi, but the rune mistress...Jeane... Ever since Utsumi's arrival at Budehuc and her first brief glance at the tall, sexy woman, she had been smitten. She had debated whether or not to approach her for days, hanging shyly around the shop or sitting by the fountain watching others go about their business.
At least she didn't appear to be the only one with trouble speaking to Jeane. She'd seen Kidd come out one afternoon oddly spooked, the notepad shaking in his hands. Ace would peek in the door some days before suddenly running away as if he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't have. Plenty of men (and a few women) came to ogle Jeane, but still Utsumi found she couldn't motivate herself to just go it.
Just as Utsumi was always watching the rune shop, Yuiri kept an eye on the long-haired girl, as she tired her best to do with all the Alma Kinan who had come to Budehuc to support the new Flame Champion. Utsumi had always been a standoffish, quiet girl, but at Budehuc she appeared more remote than ever. She stood in the square, seemingly staring into space, a strawberry flush coloring her cheeks. Could she be ill? Before confronting Utsumi, Yuiri decided to do what she believe Great-Auntie would do in a similar situation and went to Yumi for a second opinion.
"Have you seen Utsumi lately? ...She doesn't look quite right to me," Yuiri expressed her concerns over a bowl of soup at Mamie's restaurant.
Yumi broke a cracker into tiny pieces and scattered them over her steaming tomato soup. She rubbed her gloved fingers together to brush off the finer, dust-like crumbs. "Tee hee," she giggled sweetly, "Well, she's not her usual self, but I wouldn't be too worried, Yuiri. I'm pretty sure I know what's going on with Utsumi... She's in love."
"In l-love?" Yuiri's eyebrows rose quizzically, "You really think so?"
"Oh, it's nothing to get so worked about!" Yumi tried to calm her sister's troubled mind. Yuiri's own romantic urges had been considerably stirred up, much to her discomfort, by her close interactions with some of Budehuc's inhabitants (including, but not limited to, Sasarai's subordinate Dios), so it was understandable that the idea helping Utsumi tackle her own confusing romantic problems was not particularly appealing. "I'm sure she'll be just fine. She just needs a little encouragement."
"I'm not sure I'm the one to give it..." the older woman sighed. She blew on her spoonful of tea and swallowed it solemnly.
"Don't give it another thought! I'd be happy to do my part and give her a bit of motivation! You don't have to take everything on yourself, Yuiri. I'm always ready to help out."
"Hmm, I guess you are. Thank you."
Utsumi sighed dreamily. Her reverie was broken for a moment as the door opened, but it wasn't Jeane coming out. Instead Percival and Borus left the rune shop without giving her a second glance. "H-how could you embarrass me like that?!! making me an appointment to have a unicorn rune attached to my- my- I can't say it in public!" the blond knight screeched angrily, shoving his laughing comrade aside as he stormed away.
Utsumi wasn't interested in them, but Yumi had to stifle a giggle as she came down the steps. "Utsumi, I see you're still here."
"Oh, hi, Yumi," she shyly turned to her life-long acquaintance, "Is something going on?"
"No, not really. We don't need you to go into battle, if that's what you mean. It's just that Yuiri and I have noticed you hanging around the rune shop a lot lately."
"Uh, yeah. I'm a bit embarrassed to go in," Utsumi admitted.
"You don't need to be intimidated by Jeane. ...Unless you're planning on trying to ask her to reveal her secrets, that is," Yumi encouraged Utsumi in her usual upbeat manner. "I'll go with you. We can go right now."
"But I, I don't even know what kind of rune I want," the nervous girl blustered, trying in vain to come up with a reasonable excuse.
"Then you'll have a reason to ask Jeane for a recommendation," was Yumi's quick reply.
It didn't look like it would be easy to get out of it now. ...This was what she had wanted anyway...right? Utsumi took a deep breath to steel herself for her first actual conversation with Jeane (just saying "Hi" one day didn't seem like it should really count). "...okay."
Yumi held the door for her colleague, and Utsumi gingerly slunk into the room. The flush that Yuiri had observed returned to her cheeks as her brown eyes met Jeane's. "Hi," she tried to say, but her voice came out as nothing more than a whisper.
Jeane didn't seem to hear it at all, but she still smiled, welcoming and enigmatic. "Is there something I can do for you?"
As Utsumi seemed to have been suddenly struck dumb, Yumi took over for her, trying to keep the situation from becoming too awkward, "Utsumi wants to buy a rune- a magic one, I think, but she's not sure what type would suit her."
The silver-haired woman was amenable to the request and spoke to Utsumi in her best business tone, "You're an archer, right?"
"Yes," Utsumi supported her quiet answer with a firm nod of her head.
"You're not entirely without potential. I think that a wind rune might best suit your needs. They are fairly versatile after all," Jeane suggested, with her familiar giggle at the end.
Utsumi felt her knees go slightly weak, "Yes, I'd like that." While she fumbled to count out the necessary coins, Yumi and Jeane shared a knowing glance. Jeane was certainly experienced enough with admirers to know a crush when she saw one.
"Now give me your hand," the rune mistress instructed her customer. Utsumi did as requested, looking away in embarrassment when Jeane's hand touched her own. The rune was affixed quickly in a pale glow of green light and Jeane took her hand away, leaving Utsumi to examine the design on the back of her right hand.
"Th-thank you, Ma'am," the extremely satisfied customer beamed awkwardly for a moment that felt much longer to herself than to anyone else present.
"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Yumi remarked to Utsumi as they strolled out the door.
"No, I suppose not," Utsumi answered, clutching her hand to her chest.