Searching [Romance AU]
Fandom: Original fiction
Summary: Shodin does a bit of investigating.
Rating: M
Notes: Light touching in bed and discussions of sex.
So, going for human!Marland has one issue, which stems from being asexual.
This doesn't mesh with the previous parts. ^ ^;
Writing this because it wouldn't stop hopping around in my head. Ugh. I ended up with so many scenes in my head they crowded out the ones from Searching and Trail. Which, obviously, then disappeared when I try to write them. DX *flails*
Surprisingly, this is from Shodin's pov. XDD; That's probably why this was so difficult for me to write. If this'd been from Marland's, it would have just been the one scene.
Doing this in such a regular setting where there's no magic, fighting or monsters is weird. XDD I'm not used to it!
I may be mixing and matching Shodin and Ronthar since I'm writing this at the same time as Searching, but they are the same person, but not quite… XDD;;
¬ ¬ I always have pronoun problems…
Genre: Romance
Word count: 1,118
Status: Complete
It had been a couple of weeks since Shodin had informed Marland that he liked him and nothing much had changed. Marland had at least stopped giving him wide-eyed, studying looks most of the time and hadn't objected when Shodin touched him. If anything, Marland had started to not freeze when he did, and had begun to lean into them as well.
But that was the problem. Shodin knew Marland wasn't used to interacting with people, was awkward as anything, but he would have thought Marland might have wanted to go a little further than leaning against him while they sat on the couch as they watched TV. Nothing happened when they shared the same bed either, apart from Marland eventually getting used to his presence and falling asleep faster.
Shodin adjusted the grip on his mug and sighed. He had two options: be blunt and ask Marland about it, or do some investigating first and then be blunt and ask Marland about it.
As funny as Marland's reaction had been when he'd told him he liked him, Shodin would prefer that he had some information to back him up first. Marland had been rather skittish the first number of times Shodin had touched him, after all. Maybe it was nothing.
* * *
The fridge was stocked up, there was nothing interesting on the TV, and Marland wouldn't be up for another couple of hours, so Shodin grabbed his coat and went out, no particular destination in mind.
He found himself wandering around a park, his hands in his pockets to save them from the cool wind, the sun fighting to break through the cloud cover.
He had only been there for a few minutes before he recognised someone sprawled on the benches.
"Yo," Kendal drawled, waving her hand lazily.
Smiling, Shodin waved back and sat down next to her.
"What's up?" she asked, her head tilted up to the sky.
"Marland," Shodin said dryly, a corner of his mouth going up.
"Heh." She looked at him, her smile mirroring his. "Yeah?"
"Have you ever seen him…" -he waved a hand around as he groped for the words- "with anyone?"
"As far as we know," Kendal said with a shrug, "we've never seen him with anyone."
Hm. The conversation drifted away from that as moved on to other topics.
* * *
A couple of nights later, Shodin lay next to Marland after they'd spent the last few hours watching a movie. Shodin thought it'd went on for a little too long, some things hadn't been explained in a lot of detail, but the magic effects and the monsters had been well done, so it hadn't been a total waste of money.
Marland was drifting in and out of sleep and Shodin burrowed his head further into Marland's shoulder, breathing in his scent. He then trailed a hand down Marland's torso until he found the bottom of his top and slipped his hand underneath it, feeling the smooth, warm skin there.
Marland twitched, sounding a lot more awake. Smiling against Marland's shoulder, Shodin left his hand there, splayed across his stomach.
"Shodin…?"
It wasn't a squeak, but Marland's voice was definitely higher than it normally was, and Shodin could feel Marland's heartbeat suddenly double its pace under his fingertips. He frowned, lifting his head to peer at Marland.
In the dim light, he could see Marland's eyes were wider than usual.
Slowly, Shodin removed his hand.
"Sorry," Marland said, trying to disentangle himself from Shodin, "I don't…"
Shodin didn't let him move away, knowing if they didn't talk about it now, they might not ever.
Marland froze against him. "I'm not going to do anything," Shodin assured him. "Just…don't get off the bed, okay?"
Marland nodded, a long breath puffing past Shodin's ear.
"Though if you could get the light…" Marland had better night vision that he did; Shodin chalked it up to spending more time up at night than day.
There was a rustle as Marland reached over to switch the lamp on and Shodin closed his eyes in preparation for when it did.
When Shodin opened his eyes again, Marland's eyes were downcast, not looking at him, his body still. "Sorry, I just...don't want sex," Marland said quietly.
Shodin turned that idea over in his head, a finger tapping by Marland's shoulder as he thought. "Ever?"
Swallowing, Marland nodded. "I've never wanted it, or been sexually attracted to anyone."
Hm. That wasn't what Shodin had expected. "Do you mind kissing?"
"Shodin, I-"
Shodin shushed him by covering his mouth with his hand. Smiling gently, he said, "I want to know so I don't make you uncomfortable again."
Marland's eyes widened. When Shodin pulled his hand away, Marland didn't speak straight away, gaping at him. "You don't…?"
Shodin was finally able to place the look on Marland's face - it was the one where Marland knew Shodin was going to react to something, but he wasn't sure how. Shodin had started seeing that look more the longer they lived together and Marland became used to Shodin never reacting in the way he'd expected.
"You don't think that's weird?"
He chuckled, brushing his own hair back behind his ear. "I don't have a basis for what's 'normal' - but why should I? If you don't want sex, then you don't want sex; I'm not going to force you into something you don't want."
Marland looked at him doubtfully. "But you want it."
"Yes," he answered honestly. "There are, however, other things I can do myself; I'm not going to stop going out with you because we're not having sex." Seeing Marland's face wasn't changing, Shodin sighed, wanting to lean forward and at least press his forehead to Marland's, but that could easily be taken the wrong way. "You like me, right?"
Marland nodded carefully. "Yeah."
"Then I see no problem," Shodin said frankly.
Their eyes locked together for a few seconds before Marland sighed, covering his eyes with his other arm. "I've got to stop assuming what you're going to do," he muttered.
Shodin hummed, smiling. "It would be boring if you could do that."
Marland snorted. After letting out a long breath, Marland said, "Thanks."
Shodin's response was lost as he yawned widely, Marland following him a few seconds later. "You don't need to."
He didn't get an answer to that and Marland's arm didn't move away from his head.
Another yawn and Shodin shook his head, settling back into the crook of Marland's arm, which shifted to bring him closer.
"Tomorrow?" he murmured, sleepiness suddenly making itself known and demanding he rest.
There was a pause. "Yeah."
Smiling, Shodin curled up against Marland and fell asleep.
________________________________________________________________________________________
There was going to be more musing and realisations from Shodin, but he just went straight to acceptance. XDD
Damn. Now I wanna know what'd happen if Ronthar came into the picture... *thinks about it* *snorts* Essentially the same conversation.
Summary: Shodin does a bit of investigating.
Rating: M
Notes: Light touching in bed and discussions of sex.
So, going for human!Marland has one issue, which stems from being asexual.
This doesn't mesh with the previous parts. ^ ^;
Writing this because it wouldn't stop hopping around in my head. Ugh. I ended up with so many scenes in my head they crowded out the ones from Searching and Trail. Which, obviously, then disappeared when I try to write them. DX *flails*
Surprisingly, this is from Shodin's pov. XDD; That's probably why this was so difficult for me to write. If this'd been from Marland's, it would have just been the one scene.
Doing this in such a regular setting where there's no magic, fighting or monsters is weird. XDD I'm not used to it!
I may be mixing and matching Shodin and Ronthar since I'm writing this at the same time as Searching, but they are the same person, but not quite… XDD;;
¬ ¬ I always have pronoun problems…
Genre: Romance
Word count: 1,118
Status: Complete
It had been a couple of weeks since Shodin had informed Marland that he liked him and nothing much had changed. Marland had at least stopped giving him wide-eyed, studying looks most of the time and hadn't objected when Shodin touched him. If anything, Marland had started to not freeze when he did, and had begun to lean into them as well.
But that was the problem. Shodin knew Marland wasn't used to interacting with people, was awkward as anything, but he would have thought Marland might have wanted to go a little further than leaning against him while they sat on the couch as they watched TV. Nothing happened when they shared the same bed either, apart from Marland eventually getting used to his presence and falling asleep faster.
Shodin adjusted the grip on his mug and sighed. He had two options: be blunt and ask Marland about it, or do some investigating first and then be blunt and ask Marland about it.
As funny as Marland's reaction had been when he'd told him he liked him, Shodin would prefer that he had some information to back him up first. Marland had been rather skittish the first number of times Shodin had touched him, after all. Maybe it was nothing.
* * *
The fridge was stocked up, there was nothing interesting on the TV, and Marland wouldn't be up for another couple of hours, so Shodin grabbed his coat and went out, no particular destination in mind.
He found himself wandering around a park, his hands in his pockets to save them from the cool wind, the sun fighting to break through the cloud cover.
He had only been there for a few minutes before he recognised someone sprawled on the benches.
"Yo," Kendal drawled, waving her hand lazily.
Smiling, Shodin waved back and sat down next to her.
"What's up?" she asked, her head tilted up to the sky.
"Marland," Shodin said dryly, a corner of his mouth going up.
"Heh." She looked at him, her smile mirroring his. "Yeah?"
"Have you ever seen him…" -he waved a hand around as he groped for the words- "with anyone?"
"As far as we know," Kendal said with a shrug, "we've never seen him with anyone."
Hm. The conversation drifted away from that as moved on to other topics.
* * *
A couple of nights later, Shodin lay next to Marland after they'd spent the last few hours watching a movie. Shodin thought it'd went on for a little too long, some things hadn't been explained in a lot of detail, but the magic effects and the monsters had been well done, so it hadn't been a total waste of money.
Marland was drifting in and out of sleep and Shodin burrowed his head further into Marland's shoulder, breathing in his scent. He then trailed a hand down Marland's torso until he found the bottom of his top and slipped his hand underneath it, feeling the smooth, warm skin there.
Marland twitched, sounding a lot more awake. Smiling against Marland's shoulder, Shodin left his hand there, splayed across his stomach.
"Shodin…?"
It wasn't a squeak, but Marland's voice was definitely higher than it normally was, and Shodin could feel Marland's heartbeat suddenly double its pace under his fingertips. He frowned, lifting his head to peer at Marland.
In the dim light, he could see Marland's eyes were wider than usual.
Slowly, Shodin removed his hand.
"Sorry," Marland said, trying to disentangle himself from Shodin, "I don't…"
Shodin didn't let him move away, knowing if they didn't talk about it now, they might not ever.
Marland froze against him. "I'm not going to do anything," Shodin assured him. "Just…don't get off the bed, okay?"
Marland nodded, a long breath puffing past Shodin's ear.
"Though if you could get the light…" Marland had better night vision that he did; Shodin chalked it up to spending more time up at night than day.
There was a rustle as Marland reached over to switch the lamp on and Shodin closed his eyes in preparation for when it did.
When Shodin opened his eyes again, Marland's eyes were downcast, not looking at him, his body still. "Sorry, I just...don't want sex," Marland said quietly.
Shodin turned that idea over in his head, a finger tapping by Marland's shoulder as he thought. "Ever?"
Swallowing, Marland nodded. "I've never wanted it, or been sexually attracted to anyone."
Hm. That wasn't what Shodin had expected. "Do you mind kissing?"
"Shodin, I-"
Shodin shushed him by covering his mouth with his hand. Smiling gently, he said, "I want to know so I don't make you uncomfortable again."
Marland's eyes widened. When Shodin pulled his hand away, Marland didn't speak straight away, gaping at him. "You don't…?"
Shodin was finally able to place the look on Marland's face - it was the one where Marland knew Shodin was going to react to something, but he wasn't sure how. Shodin had started seeing that look more the longer they lived together and Marland became used to Shodin never reacting in the way he'd expected.
"You don't think that's weird?"
He chuckled, brushing his own hair back behind his ear. "I don't have a basis for what's 'normal' - but why should I? If you don't want sex, then you don't want sex; I'm not going to force you into something you don't want."
Marland looked at him doubtfully. "But you want it."
"Yes," he answered honestly. "There are, however, other things I can do myself; I'm not going to stop going out with you because we're not having sex." Seeing Marland's face wasn't changing, Shodin sighed, wanting to lean forward and at least press his forehead to Marland's, but that could easily be taken the wrong way. "You like me, right?"
Marland nodded carefully. "Yeah."
"Then I see no problem," Shodin said frankly.
Their eyes locked together for a few seconds before Marland sighed, covering his eyes with his other arm. "I've got to stop assuming what you're going to do," he muttered.
Shodin hummed, smiling. "It would be boring if you could do that."
Marland snorted. After letting out a long breath, Marland said, "Thanks."
Shodin's response was lost as he yawned widely, Marland following him a few seconds later. "You don't need to."
He didn't get an answer to that and Marland's arm didn't move away from his head.
Another yawn and Shodin shook his head, settling back into the crook of Marland's arm, which shifted to bring him closer.
"Tomorrow?" he murmured, sleepiness suddenly making itself known and demanding he rest.
There was a pause. "Yeah."
Smiling, Shodin curled up against Marland and fell asleep.
________________________________________________________________________________________
There was going to be more musing and realisations from Shodin, but he just went straight to acceptance. XDD
Damn. Now I wanna know what'd happen if Ronthar came into the picture... *thinks about it* *snorts* Essentially the same conversation.