Fic: Orchids and Cherries
Author: Socchan
Summary: A tale of loneliness and ice cream.
Pairing: Ran/Aoko pre-slash.
Disclaimer: Magic Kaito and Detective Conan do not belong to me.
Notes: Had it lying around for a while, but ysabet reminded me it existed, so I decided to post it.
Title: Orchids and Cherries
Ran sighed forlornly, not really looking at her parfait. She always felt a little lonely after Shin'ichi's calls--lonely and disappointed--but usually she had company. Unfortunately, Conan was on a camping trip with his friends and Professor Agasa, Kazuha was at a tournament with Heiji, and even Sonoko was out--Makoto was on one of his rare trips back home, and Ran wouldn't begrudge her best friend time with her would-be boyfriend. All in all, Ran's emotions were a cocktail of abandonment and jealousy.
"Excuse me." A polite voice interrupted Ran's thoughts and she turned to see a girl her age hovering across the table from her. "Do you mind if I sit here?"
"Not at all," Ran assured her, surprised.
The girl smiled, blue eyes warm. "Thank you." She sat down opposite Ran and set a dish of chocolate ice cream in front of herself. The girl took a bite, then set the spoon aside and extended her right hand, as if just remembering. "My name's Nakamori Aoko," Aoko told her, swallowing.
Ran managed a weak smile. "Mouri Ran," she said in return, "Nice to meet you." She took Aoko's hand and was startled for a moment by the reassuring grip.
Aoko's smile widened and she took another bite of her ice cream. With her new acquaintence momentarily occupied, Ran glanced around. There were plenty of other tables available, so why did Aoko want to sit with her? Ran found herself asking the question aloud. Aoko set her spoon down again and studied Ran, her chin resting in the palm of her hand. Ran felt her face heat up under the other girl's scrutiny. "You looked lonely," Aoko told her at last.
Ran blushed harder and looked away. Her eyes landed on her uneaten parfait, her spoon beside it. "Is it obvious?"
"A little," Aoko answered, "But I think I saw it better than most people would." Her words prompted Ran to look up again. Aoko was still smiling, but her expression had an undercurrent of sadness to it that Ran hadn't seen before. "I have a friend," Aoko explained. "His name is Kaito. We've known each other since we were about eight and we were really close for a while. Now, though, we're sort of drifting apart. We had one date," Aoko confessed, "and it wasn't a very good one. Nowadays he keeps vanishing with hardly a word to anyone and is so preoccupied with his 'night job' that--" She broke off, blushing slightly. "I'm sorry. I came over here to try and make you feel better, and here I am, dumping all of my problems onto you."
"It's okay," Ran assured her. She tried another smile; it was small and sad, but it was more real than her last one. "I have someone like that too. He left almost a year ago to work on this case, and he's hardly been back since. He asked me to wait for him, but..." A lump lodged itself in Ran's throat and she swallowed around it, tears pricking at her eyes. "...It's difficult. Sometimes I just want to give up and move on."
Aoko nodded and toyed with her spoon. "I told Kaito once that he was like ice cream--so cold that it hurt sometimes. He just laughed and told me that ice cream was sweet enough that people ignored the temperature." She heaved a sigh and mumbled, "Chocolate's his favorite, too."
Aoko grinned suddenly and shook her head sheepishly. "Look at me, getting all sentimental over ice cream. If we don't eat it quick, it'll melt and we'll have wasted a perfectly good dessert."
"Here here," Ran agreed, picking up her spoon at last. Swiping the maraschino cherry from the top, Ran licked it clean of whipped cream before drawing the small fruit past her lips with her tongue. She pulled the stem out almost as an afterthought. "I love these," she admitted, wiping a trace of juice from her mouth with a finger then sucking it clean. She frowned slightly. "Are you okay, Aoko-chan?"
Aoko's eyes had gone wide, her spoon frozen mid-way to her partly open mouth. Blushing suddenly, Aoko squeaked, "Yes, I'm fine!" before popping the spoon hurriedly into her mouth.
"That's good." Ran took a contemplative bite of her parfait. "Say, after this, would you like to go shopping, Aoko-chan? And maybe after that we can walk around the park for a bit."
Back under control, Aoko nodded. "Sounds good to me."
Ran smiled brightly. "Great! It's a date." She extended her hand to Aoko, and they shook on it.
Ran could feel Aoko's hand in her own many hours later.
--Fin--
For the really, really naive (like me), orchids and cherries are both sexual euphamisms (though I'm still a little unclear on all the uses for cherries). Ran's first name also translates to 'orchid', so.
Viva la Yuri.
x-posted to socchan and manycases1truth.
Summary: A tale of loneliness and ice cream.
Pairing: Ran/Aoko pre-slash.
Disclaimer: Magic Kaito and Detective Conan do not belong to me.
Notes: Had it lying around for a while, but ysabet reminded me it existed, so I decided to post it.
Title: Orchids and Cherries
Ran sighed forlornly, not really looking at her parfait. She always felt a little lonely after Shin'ichi's calls--lonely and disappointed--but usually she had company. Unfortunately, Conan was on a camping trip with his friends and Professor Agasa, Kazuha was at a tournament with Heiji, and even Sonoko was out--Makoto was on one of his rare trips back home, and Ran wouldn't begrudge her best friend time with her would-be boyfriend. All in all, Ran's emotions were a cocktail of abandonment and jealousy.
"Excuse me." A polite voice interrupted Ran's thoughts and she turned to see a girl her age hovering across the table from her. "Do you mind if I sit here?"
"Not at all," Ran assured her, surprised.
The girl smiled, blue eyes warm. "Thank you." She sat down opposite Ran and set a dish of chocolate ice cream in front of herself. The girl took a bite, then set the spoon aside and extended her right hand, as if just remembering. "My name's Nakamori Aoko," Aoko told her, swallowing.
Ran managed a weak smile. "Mouri Ran," she said in return, "Nice to meet you." She took Aoko's hand and was startled for a moment by the reassuring grip.
Aoko's smile widened and she took another bite of her ice cream. With her new acquaintence momentarily occupied, Ran glanced around. There were plenty of other tables available, so why did Aoko want to sit with her? Ran found herself asking the question aloud. Aoko set her spoon down again and studied Ran, her chin resting in the palm of her hand. Ran felt her face heat up under the other girl's scrutiny. "You looked lonely," Aoko told her at last.
Ran blushed harder and looked away. Her eyes landed on her uneaten parfait, her spoon beside it. "Is it obvious?"
"A little," Aoko answered, "But I think I saw it better than most people would." Her words prompted Ran to look up again. Aoko was still smiling, but her expression had an undercurrent of sadness to it that Ran hadn't seen before. "I have a friend," Aoko explained. "His name is Kaito. We've known each other since we were about eight and we were really close for a while. Now, though, we're sort of drifting apart. We had one date," Aoko confessed, "and it wasn't a very good one. Nowadays he keeps vanishing with hardly a word to anyone and is so preoccupied with his 'night job' that--" She broke off, blushing slightly. "I'm sorry. I came over here to try and make you feel better, and here I am, dumping all of my problems onto you."
"It's okay," Ran assured her. She tried another smile; it was small and sad, but it was more real than her last one. "I have someone like that too. He left almost a year ago to work on this case, and he's hardly been back since. He asked me to wait for him, but..." A lump lodged itself in Ran's throat and she swallowed around it, tears pricking at her eyes. "...It's difficult. Sometimes I just want to give up and move on."
Aoko nodded and toyed with her spoon. "I told Kaito once that he was like ice cream--so cold that it hurt sometimes. He just laughed and told me that ice cream was sweet enough that people ignored the temperature." She heaved a sigh and mumbled, "Chocolate's his favorite, too."
Aoko grinned suddenly and shook her head sheepishly. "Look at me, getting all sentimental over ice cream. If we don't eat it quick, it'll melt and we'll have wasted a perfectly good dessert."
"Here here," Ran agreed, picking up her spoon at last. Swiping the maraschino cherry from the top, Ran licked it clean of whipped cream before drawing the small fruit past her lips with her tongue. She pulled the stem out almost as an afterthought. "I love these," she admitted, wiping a trace of juice from her mouth with a finger then sucking it clean. She frowned slightly. "Are you okay, Aoko-chan?"
Aoko's eyes had gone wide, her spoon frozen mid-way to her partly open mouth. Blushing suddenly, Aoko squeaked, "Yes, I'm fine!" before popping the spoon hurriedly into her mouth.
"That's good." Ran took a contemplative bite of her parfait. "Say, after this, would you like to go shopping, Aoko-chan? And maybe after that we can walk around the park for a bit."
Back under control, Aoko nodded. "Sounds good to me."
Ran smiled brightly. "Great! It's a date." She extended her hand to Aoko, and they shook on it.
Ran could feel Aoko's hand in her own many hours later.
--Fin--
For the really, really naive (like me), orchids and cherries are both sexual euphamisms (though I'm still a little unclear on all the uses for cherries). Ran's first name also translates to 'orchid', so.
Viva la Yuri.
x-posted to socchan and manycases1truth.