007. Speak
Title: Standing in the Rain
'Verse: The Blue Crystal, a tie-in to Lefthanded Sun
Prompt: 007. Speak
Characters: Daniel, Carolinae
Rating: G
Carolinae Wong was just another human being. She had been born in the month of March in a small village. It was gone now, located 50 miles away from Shanghai, the closest to civilization she had ever been. Her village was off the map completely now, especially after the famine there had killed everyone, including her own parents. To this day, she had never set foot in Shanghai, the place where she claimed to come from since no one had ever heard of the village name. It was something she never really talked about, especially after she mentioned her parents were dead.
She worked with what she thought were the best people on Earth. Nerds. And she loved every one of them as one nerd loves another nerd. Carolinae herself had graduated out of the local Seattle University, been quickly picked up by this rather large company for her knack with machines. It was often mentioned that she had a knack for learning, seeing things only once before she could try it herself. It often needed some fine tuning, but she never heard any complaints from people who she worked with. She hung out with them when she wasn't in her cubicle (and they were fairly spread out, being only about 20 of them working in the basement of this place) or on the street doing a repair job.
Carolinae was just another human being who needed to pay the bills. She worked overtime, more than any human being should have worked in order to pay her landlady, someone from the old country of China who could only speak Chinese. Dealing with her was like dealing with her grandmother, and it was with affection that she translated for the Americans who were rather intimidated by the Chinese old lady wielding a broom and a newspaper. In exchange for her rent and English duties, her landlady invited her over to her apartment once a week to eat some traditional Chinese food, something that Carolinae was thankful for.
Carolinae was a human being who happened to be a woman around the age of 24. And she tended to attract attention, something that she seemed almost oblivious to. She was very pretty by Asian standards. She had a perfectly pretty face, with pronounced, strong features that could twist into almost any expression. Her hair was straight and black, more often than not tied back into a ponytail when she was working on a repair case. Even in her worst, she could have been considered pretty. But how would you tell a Chinese girl surrounded by what seemed like gorgeous Caucasian blonds and brunettes everywhere that she was pretty?
One man did, on the rainiest day in all of Seattle.
Daniel had been around the block a few times with girls of all kinds. It didn't matter what kind, he had done them all at one point or another. He was the quiet leader-type, bashful even. But even those qualities couldn't hide the fact that he was handsome in his own way (how else would he have gotten with so many women?), which was exactly why he had jumped at the chance to work with men. Until Carolinae came along. He had been reluctant to take her in, afraid that she would disrupt the careful haven he had constructed to keep away from women in general. She had just nodded politely and replied that she didn't let her personal opinion get in the way of her professional life. And she had been right.
Everyone thought that Carolinae would fall for Daniel. They were right and wrong at the same time. She did eventually fall for Daniel, but he fell for her first.
Everyone was equal in the basement of the office building. There was no pecking order, except maybe in terms of seniority, and even then, that didn't hold a lot. To Daniel's surprise, she pulled her own weight. Part of him should have suspected that she was going to, or else she wouldn't have taken on the challenge in working in a male environment. But still, he had been amazed, although at first, he admitted that he had written her off. She hadn't shown any interest in him at all, something uncommon, yet not unexpected. He thought she had an Asian guy waiting to be married to her somewhere. At least, none that he could tell.
It wasn't until he got sick that he really looked at her. Upon his return at work, all of his work had practically been done for him, everything neatly piled on his desk that he needed to do. When asked about it, all of his coworkers had simply pointed to Carolinae's cubicle, the oblivious Asian typing away at her station to catch up on the work that she needed to do (or the lack of things she needed to do). From that day on, he took a good look at her every single day. Underneath the loose clothing, the almost same pair of jeans and the brown jacket was a woman.
So on the rainiest day of the year, the day it was predicted that there would be sunshine and close to 80 degree weather was the day Seattle was plunged into Noah's Ark condition weather. It was also the day that Carolinae hadn't brought her umbrella that she usually carried with her. She had simply clenched her jaw in resignation, tucked her laptop into her bag (that was waterproof) and headed outside after punching out and saying goodnight to the night shift.
It was lucky for her that Daniel had decided to wait up that way. He found her outside, waiting for a light to change when it was green for her to cross the street. She was carrying something, and it wasn't until he opened his umbrella and covered the two of them with it that she finally moved as the light turned red again. Wiping the water away from her eyes, she blinked before looking up to see who it was. She was nearly a full foot shorter than him, but it just seemed to make her all the more cuter.
"Wha-" Speech was slowly returning to her, even as she shivered. She had barely gotten ten feet away from the shelter of the office building before getting soaked.
"The light was green but you weren't moving," he replied, glancing down at her wet form. Sometimes he was thankful that she wore that brown jacket. He wasn't the best person in terms of control at times.
"Oh. Sorry." She ducked her head, and she would have to admit that if she had done that against him in a hug, she would have fit just there.........
"Heading home?" It was small talk, his fists clenching and then not. Her hair looked so smooth when it was wet, that if he were to slide it through her hair........
"Yeah. My landlady needs me back there for translation duty and all."
"Kind of like the guys?"
"Exactly like the guys. Except she doesn't call my phone every two seconds like they do." That brought a laugh. Belatedly, she realized that the light must have turned green at least twice for her to walk, and she hadn't moved an inch away from the dry spot underneath his umbrella.
"I probably ought to go. You probably have places to be." With that, she stepped away from him into the rain, and was promptly soaked again. "You know, I normally love the rain. Just not this much," she told him.
"Why?" he asked her, the light preparing to turn green again.
"Because you're the only one who can feel it on your own skin!" The light turned green, and she crossed the street, struggling to find a dry spot.
"Hey!" he shouted over the rain in the streets, which was enough for her to turn around and cup her hands over her eyes to see him. "Wanna go out for dinner one day or something?"
"What? Like a date?" she shouted back, hugging her arms in her effort to stay warm. Didn't she have a car?
"Maybe!" He could have sworn that in the dim Seattle lighting she grinned.
"Sure. Why not?" It wasn't shouted back, but it was a reply all the same that brought a goofy grin to his face, even as the light turned green again and he ran across the street to bring her back under that umbrella.
"Good," he said with some degree of finality, because he tilted her head up and kissed her softly in reply. It wasn't heavy, or even open. It was a beginning, a greeting, a brief brush to say 'hello', more than a peck but less than an actual kiss. He could almost feel the heat going to her cheeks, warming them in a way as she tilted her head back down and rocked on her feet.
"Bet you get that from all the ladies."
'Verse: The Blue Crystal, a tie-in to Lefthanded Sun
Prompt: 007. Speak
Characters: Daniel, Carolinae
Rating: G
Carolinae Wong was just another human being. She had been born in the month of March in a small village. It was gone now, located 50 miles away from Shanghai, the closest to civilization she had ever been. Her village was off the map completely now, especially after the famine there had killed everyone, including her own parents. To this day, she had never set foot in Shanghai, the place where she claimed to come from since no one had ever heard of the village name. It was something she never really talked about, especially after she mentioned her parents were dead.
She worked with what she thought were the best people on Earth. Nerds. And she loved every one of them as one nerd loves another nerd. Carolinae herself had graduated out of the local Seattle University, been quickly picked up by this rather large company for her knack with machines. It was often mentioned that she had a knack for learning, seeing things only once before she could try it herself. It often needed some fine tuning, but she never heard any complaints from people who she worked with. She hung out with them when she wasn't in her cubicle (and they were fairly spread out, being only about 20 of them working in the basement of this place) or on the street doing a repair job.
Carolinae was just another human being who needed to pay the bills. She worked overtime, more than any human being should have worked in order to pay her landlady, someone from the old country of China who could only speak Chinese. Dealing with her was like dealing with her grandmother, and it was with affection that she translated for the Americans who were rather intimidated by the Chinese old lady wielding a broom and a newspaper. In exchange for her rent and English duties, her landlady invited her over to her apartment once a week to eat some traditional Chinese food, something that Carolinae was thankful for.
Carolinae was a human being who happened to be a woman around the age of 24. And she tended to attract attention, something that she seemed almost oblivious to. She was very pretty by Asian standards. She had a perfectly pretty face, with pronounced, strong features that could twist into almost any expression. Her hair was straight and black, more often than not tied back into a ponytail when she was working on a repair case. Even in her worst, she could have been considered pretty. But how would you tell a Chinese girl surrounded by what seemed like gorgeous Caucasian blonds and brunettes everywhere that she was pretty?
One man did, on the rainiest day in all of Seattle.
Daniel had been around the block a few times with girls of all kinds. It didn't matter what kind, he had done them all at one point or another. He was the quiet leader-type, bashful even. But even those qualities couldn't hide the fact that he was handsome in his own way (how else would he have gotten with so many women?), which was exactly why he had jumped at the chance to work with men. Until Carolinae came along. He had been reluctant to take her in, afraid that she would disrupt the careful haven he had constructed to keep away from women in general. She had just nodded politely and replied that she didn't let her personal opinion get in the way of her professional life. And she had been right.
Everyone thought that Carolinae would fall for Daniel. They were right and wrong at the same time. She did eventually fall for Daniel, but he fell for her first.
Everyone was equal in the basement of the office building. There was no pecking order, except maybe in terms of seniority, and even then, that didn't hold a lot. To Daniel's surprise, she pulled her own weight. Part of him should have suspected that she was going to, or else she wouldn't have taken on the challenge in working in a male environment. But still, he had been amazed, although at first, he admitted that he had written her off. She hadn't shown any interest in him at all, something uncommon, yet not unexpected. He thought she had an Asian guy waiting to be married to her somewhere. At least, none that he could tell.
It wasn't until he got sick that he really looked at her. Upon his return at work, all of his work had practically been done for him, everything neatly piled on his desk that he needed to do. When asked about it, all of his coworkers had simply pointed to Carolinae's cubicle, the oblivious Asian typing away at her station to catch up on the work that she needed to do (or the lack of things she needed to do). From that day on, he took a good look at her every single day. Underneath the loose clothing, the almost same pair of jeans and the brown jacket was a woman.
So on the rainiest day of the year, the day it was predicted that there would be sunshine and close to 80 degree weather was the day Seattle was plunged into Noah's Ark condition weather. It was also the day that Carolinae hadn't brought her umbrella that she usually carried with her. She had simply clenched her jaw in resignation, tucked her laptop into her bag (that was waterproof) and headed outside after punching out and saying goodnight to the night shift.
It was lucky for her that Daniel had decided to wait up that way. He found her outside, waiting for a light to change when it was green for her to cross the street. She was carrying something, and it wasn't until he opened his umbrella and covered the two of them with it that she finally moved as the light turned red again. Wiping the water away from her eyes, she blinked before looking up to see who it was. She was nearly a full foot shorter than him, but it just seemed to make her all the more cuter.
"Wha-" Speech was slowly returning to her, even as she shivered. She had barely gotten ten feet away from the shelter of the office building before getting soaked.
"The light was green but you weren't moving," he replied, glancing down at her wet form. Sometimes he was thankful that she wore that brown jacket. He wasn't the best person in terms of control at times.
"Oh. Sorry." She ducked her head, and she would have to admit that if she had done that against him in a hug, she would have fit just there.........
"Heading home?" It was small talk, his fists clenching and then not. Her hair looked so smooth when it was wet, that if he were to slide it through her hair........
"Yeah. My landlady needs me back there for translation duty and all."
"Kind of like the guys?"
"Exactly like the guys. Except she doesn't call my phone every two seconds like they do." That brought a laugh. Belatedly, she realized that the light must have turned green at least twice for her to walk, and she hadn't moved an inch away from the dry spot underneath his umbrella.
"I probably ought to go. You probably have places to be." With that, she stepped away from him into the rain, and was promptly soaked again. "You know, I normally love the rain. Just not this much," she told him.
"Why?" he asked her, the light preparing to turn green again.
"Because you're the only one who can feel it on your own skin!" The light turned green, and she crossed the street, struggling to find a dry spot.
"Hey!" he shouted over the rain in the streets, which was enough for her to turn around and cup her hands over her eyes to see him. "Wanna go out for dinner one day or something?"
"What? Like a date?" she shouted back, hugging her arms in her effort to stay warm. Didn't she have a car?
"Maybe!" He could have sworn that in the dim Seattle lighting she grinned.
"Sure. Why not?" It wasn't shouted back, but it was a reply all the same that brought a goofy grin to his face, even as the light turned green again and he ran across the street to bring her back under that umbrella.
"Good," he said with some degree of finality, because he tilted her head up and kissed her softly in reply. It wasn't heavy, or even open. It was a beginning, a greeting, a brief brush to say 'hello', more than a peck but less than an actual kiss. He could almost feel the heat going to her cheeks, warming them in a way as she tilted her head back down and rocked on her feet.
"Bet you get that from all the ladies."