[fanfiction] Goblin Markets
Challenge Name and Number: #01, Favorite Characters
Story Title: Goblin Markets
Word Count: 792
Warnings (if applicable): Mild horror
Pairings (if applicable): Nick x Juliette
Summary: “Their fruits like honey to the throat, but poison in the blood,” she whispered. “I like you. I think I’ll keep you.”
Author's Note: Pre-canon AU; inspired by this Rossetti poem. First-Place winner and Most Creative winner of the first Grimm Challenge on LJ! I hope you enjoy.
“We must not look at goblin men,
We must not buy their fruits:
Who knows upon what soil they fed
Their hungry thirsty roots?"
Goblin Markets
The city kept a farmer’s market on Saturdays, nearby the coffeehouse he frequented for breakfast. It was off a side street, in an area that didn’t get a whole lot of pedestrian traffic, and seemed to specialize in organic and exotic fruits and produce. Nick had heard about it from someone-couldn’t remember who-but had never before been tempted to go, as it was probably overpriced and the convenience was low.
The most beautiful woman he’d ever seen was standing behind one of the fruit stands, and Nick was almost embarrassed at how he lingered behind a stack of crates, watching her as she set up, arranging signs and lifting the cloths that covered a series of long baskets filled with fruit.
The market wasn’t by any means packed - more people stood in lines than milled around, and he stopped to look at a few displays as he made his way closer to the fruit stand. He could hear her, waving and calling out to a few of the others working at the market, carrying crates down the center lane. He bumped into someone in line and murmured an apology, but the man just stood there blankly, turned away from him, more content to rearrange the contents of the basket in their hands. There wasn’t a line at that particular fruit stand yet, and he moved closer.
Her hair seemed to shine so brightly under the sun; it captivated him. He hadn’t thought he was hungry-he had just come from breakfast-but the thought of buying something here seemed to become more appealing the longer he was there. The produce cart beside him had some of the freshest vegetables he’d ever seen, from bright peppers to faultless gourds. There was a smell, too, crisp in the air, and the longer he stood there the more his senses became attuned to it. He approached the stand.
“Hey,” he said. “What do you have here?”
She kept eye contact with him as she gestured towards the different bins. “Starfruit, Bosc pears, Honey-Crisp apples, peaches from Samarkand. All perfect, I assure you.”
“I can see that.”
She looked away, the corners of her mouth lifting up in a pleased smile. “Tell me what you’d like, then.”
“I’ll take a few pears. Make it three.” He reached in his pocket for some money as she opened a plastic bag and began to fill it. “I’ll try one now. I’d like your name, too,” he added.
His hand closed around one of the cinnamon-colored, long-necked pears, lifting it to his mouth. He inhaled it first, closing his teeth around the flesh before biting in. The taste of it was immediate, like a punch to the stomach. It was almost unbearably sweet, and he found himself involuntarily taking a second bite.
His vision seemed to tilt and swim, and she was by his side in a second, one hand bracing the side of his head, the other sliding up his arm to where he held the pear. “It’s indescribable, isn’t it?”
Something was horribly wrong, he knew that on some level, but at that moment all he could think about was getting more of the pear. It was an itch in his bloodstream now, and he frowned as she pulled the pear away from him, her fingers cool against his own, and bit into the other side of the fruit. “And it’s Juliette.”
She took another bite, and he couldn’t take it any longer. His hands grasped the sides of her face, bringing him closer as he crashed his lips onto hers, using her surprise to slide the piece of pear from behind her teeth with his tongue and bring it into his own mouth. He broke the kiss but remained close, stealing her breath as the taste of pear calmed him again.
“What…did you do to me?” He spit out the words.
“Their fruits like honey to the throat, but poison in the blood,” she whispered. “I like you. I think I’ll keep you.” Her voice turned teasing, accusing.
She reached for another basket. “The pears are addictive, aren’t they? I’ve got another one I think you’ll like. The peaches…they’ll make you forget certain things.”
He blinked twice as something about her appearance changed; her hair began to shimmer, and something in her face sharpened. It was over in a flash, and he was left staring at her as she offered him the second fruit, pressing it against his mouth.
He took a bite, and the world disappeared.
--
“Dinner’s ready,” Juliette called. “Let me fix you a plate. How was work today?”
The table between them was full of platters of chicken and vegetables, and for the centerpiece, a bowl of perfectly ripened fruit.
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