Like Emeralds and Pearls
Summary: Elfman/Evergreen. Elfman gathers his courage to ask a lovely mage a question after a mission. Request fic written for Suikodengel.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything; I'm really just playing in someone else's sandbox for a little while.
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As they walked through the sea side town to return to their hotel for the night after completing their mission and getting paid for it, Elfman glanced down at the beautiful brunette woman walking by his side. After the events of the promotion exams on Tenrou Island, he had found that he was becoming closer to Evergreen. Once things had calmed down and he had had a chance to think over what had happened, he had started to reconsider his own feelings for her after remembering telling Mira that they were engaged. After remembering how she had felt in his arms after he pushed them both out of the way of the beast that was attacking them. He had always thought of Evergreen as being an extremely attractive lady and as he thought over what had happened and their interactions, he realised that he had started to become very attached to her. As time had passed since then, up until the present time, his attachment and attraction to her had grown and deepened, past a simple crush and into what felt a lot like love. However, although he would dearly like to confess his feelings, Elfman was finding that just as soon as he thought he had resolved to tell her how he felt, once he was faced with her all his resolve promptly fled and he couldn't do it. He felt startlingly like the shy somewhat timid boy he had once been. It was highly disconcerting to the powerful and manly mage.
Shaking himself from his thoughts, Elfman realised that they were getting close to their hotel and that it was quite a nice night. As the sun had only just set, it was still fairly warm. Perfect for a romantic stroll along the beach? Taking a deep breath, he gathered every shred of courage he could find within him, turned to look at her and asked, "Ever, would you like to take a walk along the beach with me?"
For a long moment there was silence as Evergreen seemed to study him and he waited, chest tight with painful hope. Slowly, her lips curled with a sweet smile. "Alright. A walk along the beach sounds nice."
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As they strolled along the beach; lightly chatting, and stopping every so often so Evergreen could look at the shells sitting in the sand, picking the ones she liked until she had so many that he ended carrying them in his pockets; Elfman couldn't help but wish the night would last forever. Suddenly, after picking up a couple more shells and giving them to him to carry, Evergreen asked, "So why the sudden invite to walk along the beach at night under the stars. I wouldn't have thought you'd have asked something so romantic."
He stared at her, momentarily taken back at the sudden question and wondering how to answer it. Should he tell her the truth or make something up? No, he couldn't lie to her, it wouldn't be manly. "I – I, to tell you the t – truth," He started, before gaining some small measure of confidence, "Ever, you're an amazing, intelligent, beautiful woman and, and, ILOVEYOU!" He found his nerves got the best of him, so he finished his confession as quickly as possible. He watched her nervously, waiting for, what was to him, the inevitable rejection of him and his feelings.
Evergreen stared at him, shocked by the unexpected confession. As she continued to stare at the large man, she found she was touched by the honest compliment. Seeing how clearly nervous the usually confident man was, she realised that she found his shyness to be incredibly cute. Evergreen had always found Elfman to be very handsome (and he had a fantastic body, let's be honest – all those muscles? Yes, please!) and although he could be irritating sometimes with his manliness rants and come across as a bit stupid, she knew he was fairly intelligent and there were far more annoying men in the guild. Now that she thought about it actually, she had been getting a lot closer to him lately, and she had been finding him a lot less annoying than she used to. Was she actually attracted to him? Did she actually have feelings for Elfman? Carefully considering everything, she could come to only one conclusion – yes, she was and yes she did.
Realising how long she had been silent, she looked back at Elfman who looked half terrified of her reaction and dare she say it…almost depressed at what he obviously thought would be a rejection. With a faint smile, she said softly, "Elfman." His eyes locked onto hers, searching desperately. "You gave me a lot to think about, you know? I really didn't expect you to tell me you loved me. You're crazy and sometimes you just won't shut up," She moved closer, reached up and cupped his cheeks in her hands, "But, you know, I think I love you anyway." Saying that, she stood on her tiptoes and leaning up, she closed the distance between them and kissed him softly.
Startled, Elfman stood frozen for a moment, but before he was able to return the kiss, she pulled away and came down off her tiptoes. "You're quite handsome and you're fairly intelligent yourself." She started. "Let's call this our first date, but I expect the next one to be more than a walk on the beach, alright?"
He stared at her, before grinning and wrapping his well-muscled arms around her and pulling her close. With one hand he lightly tilted her head up, bent his head down and kissed her. Evergreen was all too happy to return the kiss.
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After getting up early and checking out of the hotel the next morning, the new couple wandered through town towards the train station holding hands, and casually window shopping for any interesting souvenirs for various friends and family.
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AN First time I've ever wrote Elfman or Evergreen, so hopefully they're relatively in character. I'm pretty happy with how it's turned out, though. Here's hoping Hiro Mashima makes ElfmanxEvergreen a cannon pairing. Though little fluffy moments are nice too. Suikodengel, you've made me a fan of this pairing!