AN: I just watched epic today(May 27, 2013)! IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! BUT SERIOUSLY GUYS! WE NEED WAY MORE EPIC FANFICTION! Especially since I ship MK and Nod so MUCH! So come on and get cracking!
This story is an AU because I felt like it!
Disclaimer: I don't own epic(2013) or else M.K. would probably still be the same size as Nod and they'd both be dating dating rather than just webcamming XD
"Dad! I'm going out for a while!" I shout, lacing up my grungy pink combat boots. The laptop inside my worn leather satchel starts to uncomfortably poke my stomach.
"Where are you going?" My dad shouts from his study.
"Nowhere," I say innocently as I stand to grab my pink striped black helmet from the coat rack, "Just the tea spot in town."
"Oh," my dad says tired, then with sudden realization he repeats, "Oh!" Rolling his chair out into the hallway he starts smirk.
"Since when does my dad smirk?" I thought. "What?" I ask tentatively as I secure my helmet to my noggin.
"Nothing," my dad states with a little sing-song voice, "It's just, you know, you've been spending a lot of time at that 'tea spot in town' recently huh?"
My eyes widen and suddenly I'm glad I haven't turned to face him because from the temperature of my face, I'm pretty sure I'm the color of a tomato.
Play it cool M.K. "Y-Yeah, y'know they got really nice blends!" Shoot! I stuttered. I need a nice recovery! "Besides my, ummm, Ecology teacher assigned us this really huge assignment and you know how I get right? I just love my tea! Plus they have the greatest snacks! Besides they have free wi-fi! That's a really great feature for places like that." Okay M.K. that was a bit too much, I think wincing at my nervous spew of words.
"Mmmmhmmmm," my dad hums knowingly, "Have fun!"
That's how I knew I had it bad.
Even my dad is starting to say things.
I pedal over to Moonhaven's local tea joint, Tara's Teahouse, on the chrome pink bicycle my dad got me last month, the memory of the day still fresh in my mind.
"If you're going to be living with me your going to need some form of transportation, and since I don't have a car, I got you this!" my dad exclaimed, eyes wide and a goofy smile on his face as he grandly gestures towards the bike behind him. Its frame is a brilliant shade of a chrome dusty rose and its wheels are white rather than regular black to match the white shade of the handlebars and seat.
"Thanks dad!" I say enthusiastically, "But I think I could have done without the pink bike horn." I point to the children's horn, amused that he got me one at my age.
"Really? I thought it fit pretty nicely," his brows scrunched up in confusion.
"Don't worry about it dad! The basket was a nice touch though." I say gratefully moving to kiss his cheek, "Now I don't have to carry all of my textbooks in my backpack!"
"Yeah," he agrees with his signature goofy grin, "It was! Wasn't it?"
I finally reach Tara's and park my bike in the alleyway near the back exit. I quickly snap on my silver bike lock, grab my Ecology textbook from the front basket, and head into the teahouse.
As soon as I enter Tara's Teahouse, the smell of the earth invades my senses. Not the smell of gross dirt and rotting wood, but the sweet scent of blooming flowers and freshly blended tea leaves. Then I see him. As I walk over to my typical booth, I nervously adjust my bag strap, stuff my free hand into the pocket of my pale pink hoodie, and sneak a glance at him.
He's taking someone's order. His bored face is lightly sprinkled with little freckles, his brown hair is a bit disheveled, but something about him intrigues me. Maybe it's that glow in his eyes or the way his mouth occasionally pulls up into a heart melting, lopsided smile.
But it's not like I've really ever talked to him before. He always seems to be so busy, whether it's taking orders from the manager or getting trained by the manager or getting scolded by the manager. The last happens quite often.
He walks from the table to the back of the shop and I sigh. I don't even know his name, but I just can't stop coming here. Plus the tea blends and pastries here are really great.
Sliding into my regular booth, I set my textbook and my bag on the table. As I wait for someone to give me a menu, I begin to set up my chrome green laptop.
I take the power cord and lean under the table in an attempt to plug it into the wall outlet, but it doesn't reach and I only succeed in having my bangs fall, covering my eyes. With a huff I blow my bangs back into place and I slide back out of my booth to crawl under the table on all fours with power cord in hand. It's too dark under the table and my hair falls back out of place. Just as I find the sneaky little power outlet I think hear a noise coming up from behind me. I ignore it and proceed to plug my charger into the wall. Or I try at least.
The darn plug won't go in and the noise I heard before is growing louder. I try again, realigning the plug to the outlet and pushing it in with all of my might. Still it doesn't go in and I let out a cry of frustration that is ahem not so ladylike if I do say so myself.
"Ummm…Can I help you?"
My eyes quickly widen in recognition and in shock my head hits the table with a loud "BANG!"
"Owwwwww!" I groan, closing my eyes, as I clutch my now throbbing head.
"Are you okay?" the same voice asks again with a hint of worry.
I slowly open my eyes and my fears are confirmed. It's him. He's crouched down, pen and pad in hand and staring at me with the bored look on his face replaced with one of concern.
"You're good M.K. You got this!" I think to myself. I slowly crawl back out, power cord in hand, "Yeah, I'm fine." I say. Looking up I see that I've crawled a bit too far and my face is a mere inch away from his. I quickly look away hoping my face isn't as red as it feels.
"What were you doing down there?" He asks with a laugh.
My face heats up even more and I weakly reply, "My power cord won't go in."
"Awww really? That again?" He says with a moan, "That table has been through a lot recently. We're getting it fixed up soon as soon as Ronin gets off his lazy butt."
"Really? I was here a few days ago and it was perfectly fine." I say, confused.
"Yeah, it would have been," He sighs as he lifts his free hand to tangle his fingers in his brown hair, "Yesterday some kid thought it would be a good idea to stick a toothpick in there and another though it would be a pretty good idea to kick it in as far as it could go." He explains as he runs his free hand through his hair again, obviously exasperated.
I wince, "Not a good day huh?"
"Nope," he says tiredly, "Especially since the insurance company has all this paperwork to cover the 'damage of property caused by minors' as they put it." He shakes his head and pulls his hand from his brown hair which is even messier than before. "Anyways," He says with a sigh, "I'm sure you've got better things to do than to listen to me complain." He smiles that lopsided smile and stands, "Nod, the Leafman, at your service."
He offers a hand to me, but I can't help it and I start to laugh.
"What?" he asks confused.
"Nod, the Leafman?" I ask as I take his hand which, I note, is quite warm.
"It's what the manager likes us to call ourselves, Leafmen, protectors of the forest. Tea leaves come from the forest. Just seemed to click." He grinned weakly as he helped me stand.
"So Leafman," I say slyly, "Is there something you can do for me?"
"Ummm…depends on the definition of something." He says cautiously, his eyes filled with uncertainty.
I lift up my power cord, "For starters, anything you can do to help me with this?"
It's not like I like him. I think as my eyes just happen to travel over to the brunette waiter who identified himself as Nod, the Leafman.
I turn back focusing on the menu he handed me. He had handed one to me after he had amazingly plugged the power cord to the power outlet in the next booth over. Then he had proceeded to serve the table he had helped earlier.
My eyes glance over the different types of tea, the different blends, tea of the day, and the different pastries they served. I finally decide on a chrysanthemum tea and a pastry plate that comes with a poppy seed muffin and two chocolate Madelines.
As I wait again for someone to take my order, I power up my laptop and open my email to find that my friend, Jack, has just sent me a ton of pictures of him and his girlfriend at the beach. I open one in particular of him at the beach next to a twilight sky. For some reason the thumbnail looked a bit off and as I examine it up close I see his blonde girlfriend creepily emerging halfway from the ocean water to scare him.
I can't hold back my laugh as I can imagine how much he probably freaked out when she clamped his shoulder from behind. The prankster, Jack Frost, of all people was terrified by his own princess of the Sun as he liked to call her.
"Ahem"
I hear someone clear their throat sounding a bit annoyed. Turning I see it's Nod and he seems a little uncomfortable.
"Hi, are you waiting for somebody or are you ready to order?" He asks fidgeting with his pen.
"Yeah," I say.
"Oh" He says softly. His face seems to fall a bit and he starts to turn away.
"Oh! Wait! I mean, 'Yeah, I'm ready to order.' I'm not waiting for anyone." I say quickly.
"Isn't your boyfriend coming?" Nod asks slowly.
"Who?" I ask confused. "I don't have a boyfriend. Do I look like I have a boyfriend? Would he be my boyfriend?" At that last thought I quickly shake the idea from my head in time to hear him ask one of the most ridiculous questions I have ever heard.
"Isn't that guy," he says pointing to Jack's picture, "you know?"
"Ew," I say a bit grossed out, "I don't have a boyfriend and if I did it would not be him. Jack's way too much like a little brother. Besides, he's got his own little princess of the sun." Just to prove my point I click on a picture of Jack and his girlfriend holding hands while smiling at the camera.
"Oh," Nod's face softens and seems to lighten a bit, "So your order?"
"Right!" I grab my menu. "I'll have this and this pastry plate," I say pointing to the aforementioned items with a smile.
"What color would you prefer?" He asks quickly.
"What color what?" I say confused.
He clears his throat again, "Chrysanthemum. What color do you want your chrysanthemum to be? White or Yellow?"
"Hmmmm," I hum thoughtfully, "I'm not sure, just surprise me." I say with a smile. Then I notice that he looks a bit redder than before, "Are you okay?" I ask, "You seem a bit red."
"Hmm?" He mumbles, "Yeah. Yeah! I'm fine. I'll be back with your order in a little bit!"
He turns and as he walks towards the back, I notice that the tips of his ears are a bit red as well.
As I type up my essay about the use of plants in society and ancient civilizations as remedies and medicines, Nod returns with my order. He lightly places a china teacup and pastry plate, both decorated with beautiful pink gloxinia flowers, on the table.
"So what color?" I ask, tugging his shirt before he turns to leave.
"Huh?" Nod says surprised.
"The chrysanthemum," I ask as I peer into the china teacup, "What color did you give me?"
"Oh," He says with a squeak, "White. I g-gave you a white one."
"Thanks," I say as I take a quick sip, "It tastes delicious."
"No problem," Nod says as he stuffs his hands into the pockets of his apron. "Call me back if you need anything!" He calls over his shoulder with a boyish grin.
I lift my teacup in his direction and I turn back to my laptop.
AN: Whoever gets the meaning of the color of the chrysanthemum gets a virtual cookie! Whoever has heard of gloxinia flowers gets a virtual pastry plate like the one M.K. ordered ;) I just want to note now that I am not a tea expert and I don't drink tea often. Lol I just thought it would fit y'know! Leafmen and Tea Leaves XD Plus I am not an expert in the language of flowers, but I do know that there are many different translations. I'll try to be as accurate as possible, but all meanings are going to be explained sooner or later :)
For all those you are Big Four fans, I am a Jackunzel shipper ;D So Jack is Jack Frost and Jack's girlfriend is Rapunzel :3
Anyways I don't have school after this week so I'll update ALL my stories soon! Time taken to complete chapter: 4 hours.
Read, Review, and Favorite and you'll bring a smile to my face :D