This is a gift-fic for Shiloh Moon, lilaclily, and all my Substitute Soul fans who were bummed out that I didn't want to write Sheska. Here you go; her very own oneshot. Let's see if I can't make her shine…
This will also include one of my OCs from Subsoul. All you need to know about him is that he once worked for Yoki and now works for Hughes in the investigation's department. He's based off a minor (and by minor, I mean he showed up for three seconds) character from the Youswell arc though, so I wonder if he really is an OC…anyway, enjoy.
The first time she saw him was not the most graceful moment of her life.
In fact, if she could be honest with herself, there weren't many moments in her life she was proud of. As a smallish woman of 21, she didn't have much going for her. Short brown hair, never quite neat enough, large glasses that obscured brown eyes, and a small, thin frame. She was, well…inconspicuous.
That in itself wouldn't be quite so bad, if she had one of those outspoken, easygoing personalities. But that was definitely not the case. Soft-spoken, clumsy, and shy under normal circumstances, it was safe to say that 'social bird' was not a description she would be very comfortable with.
Now, that's not to say that there was nothing positive about this young woman. There was one ability that she prided in herself above all others: the ability to memorize and reproduce any piece of literature she ever set eyes on. Unfortunately, that particular skill did not help her the afternoon her entire world was turned on its head, literally.
Sheska, librarian's assistant and self professed bibliophile, was in her element. That is to say, in Central Library First Branch, surrounded by piles and piles of books.
It was a warm, beautiful day in the first throws of spring, flowers budding and peaceful winds blowing under a perfectly blue sky. It was the kind of day where mothers would take their children to the park to play, or young men would go for a run, cooped up after the long winter. Not that Sheska would have noticed, sequestered in the deepest recesses of the library as she was. The light in these halls were quite dim, and the young woman was pacing slowly through the isles of dusty bookshelves, delighted to read her most recent find. She took slow, small steps, her feet making not a noise on the soft carpet and not particularly paying attention to where she was going. Held in her hands and occupying her entire single-minded focus was a medium-sized, handwritten journal. A lock of brown hair slipped from behind her ear and fell into her eyes, but she merely blew it aside with a puff of air and continued to read.
A thrill of excitement tingled through her as she ran delicate fingers over the crinkled and oft turned pages of the book. She loved handwritten journals. It wasn't particularly old, only being written about ten years prior, but Sheska delighted in decoding the journey of its covers just as much as the content itself. Here, an old fingerprint told her he might have spilled some ink, or there, a leaf was stuck in the spine, suggesting he must have been traveling when he wrote it. As this book was a journal about alchemy, the young woman could hardly understand it very well, never having really studied the subject, but she had to giggle a bit to herself when she noticed a mustard stain on the edge of a page the author clearly turned to often.
A vague thought flitted through her mind that she should probably begin to organize the books in this not often visited section of the library like she was asked to do by her boss, but a second later that thought was brushed aside as she became absorbed by the detailed illustrations of a transmutation circle and the cramped, hard to read text that surrounded it. The way this man's mind worked really was fascinating….
It was because of this single-minded focus that Sheska missed the presence of someone walking up behind right her.
"Excuse me," a deep, strangely blank but soothing voice said from behind, breaking the almost deathlike silence in the library, "but could you–"
He was interrupted abruptly when Sheska, having been completely oblivious to his entrance, let out a high pitched screech and jumped a foot into the air. She spun around almost fast enough to give herself whiplash and only got a glimpse of a tall black haired man in a uniform before her backpedalling caused her to lose her footing. Another girlish scream was pulled from the startled girl when she fell against a bookshelf, hard. Now, usually, a person her size wouldn't be able to budge such a heavy object, but Sheska had another strange ability that may or may not have been a completely imagined on her part, but was nonetheless a major factor in her life.
She liked to call it the 'Bad Luck Chain Reaction'.
For a second, nothing happened but a few books falling against her shoulders, but Sheska could almost physically feel it when her innate 'talent' took over the universe and distorted the laws of physics.
The bookcase shuddered and let out a resounding crack, the old wood seeming to give out after decades of being weighed down by heavy tomes and never maintained. Sheska only had time to groan resignedly on the inside as the wavering shelf wobbled back and forth before deciding it wanted its new place of residence to be…right where Sheska was standing.
"Why meeee," she yelled, covering her head pathetically and crouching down. The next few seconds were a blur of confusion and loud thunks as the shelf dumped its contents onto the floor before slamming into the shelf across from it. That of course led to the toppling of three more shelves, the old tomes falling to the floor with crinkling pages, sending dust clouding into the air.
Finally, the chain of disaster seemed to cease, and all was quiet once more.
Hyperventilating and choking a bit on the dust, the young woman took stock. Did she have any broken bones? Was he spine still intact? Did she somehow catch fire…?
Once assured that nothing was broken and she had not burst into flames–this time, at least–Sheska cracked open her squinted eyes. She blinked through dusted glasses at the empty space around her, devoid of any books. Huh, weird. Slowly, she looked up from her position crouched down on the floor…and got a facefull of blue fabric.
"Miss," the man from earlier said in a strained voice, and Sheska removed her face from his chest to look at his face. He had black hair, just like she had thought, and a strong jaw, grimacing with effort. Still, his chocolate eyes seemed to be completely emotionless, even as he was straining to hold up an entire 20 foot long bookshelf from the floor. "Miss," he repeated, and he was so close that his breath brushed the young woman's face. "Are you alright?"
Sheska, realizing that she had been staring at him from only half a foot away, blushed and stammered a response, fluttering her hands in front of her and nearly brushing his chest with them in the tight space between the shelf and the floor. "Y-yes, I'm fine!"
"Then if you don't mind…get out of the way so I can put this shelf down." The man's voice never seemed to get irritated, but even as he spoke, the shelf groaned again and he fell to one knee, shoulders straining.
With a yelp, Sheska removed herself from underneath her savior and kneeled on the ground a few feet away. "Oh! I'm so sorry!"
Ignoring her apology, the man grunted and let down the bookshelf with a heavy thunk on the floor. Straightening, he stood to his full height, which was considerable, and adjusted his uniform, brushing off centuries worth of dust. He surveyed the damage with an intense expression before turning his chocolate gaze on the woman kneeling before him.
Sheska flinched, thinking she was about to be yelled at. Instead, he merely extended a white gloved hand, helping the surprised woman to her feet.
An awkward silence fell over the two for all of three seconds before Sheska bowed deeply and began rambling. "Thank you so much for saving me," she exclaimed, clenching her eyes shut. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there!"
"Well, it probably wouldn't have happened…"
But Sheska popped back upright, suddenly cheered, as if she hadn't heard his statement. "My name is Sheska, and I'm forever in your debt!"
The man only stared blankly. "Okay…well then, could you help me–"
"Aaaaah! What happened here!?" A large, dark skinned woman stood in the doorway, clutching at her roped hair in distress. Suddenly her black eyes snapped to Sheska, who meeped and flinched back. "You! What have you done this time?"
Sheska flicked her eyes nervously at the damage, which was actually quite astronomical. Still, it wasn't enough to be a record for her, not that that little revelation was enough to get her out of trouble. Deciding the best way to handle this situation, Sheska bowed several times in quick succession, apologizing profusely. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
"Urgh, child, I told you last week that if you were on thin ice! First it's reading instead of doing your job and now it's destroying the whole library!" At this point Sheska was holding her bow under the ferocity of her boss, eyes clenched painfully tight and shoulders trembling. She was going to get fired this time, she just knew it.
"Excuse me," the man interceded politely, "but that's not what happened."
The formidable woman turned her angry eyes on the officer before softening slightly, falling back into a less aggressive stance. "And who might you be?"
"Second Lieutenant Barret, ma'am," Barret gave a slight bow.
"I see," the head librarian fluttered her lashes. She always had had a weakness for a man in uniform. Sheska, still in her bowed position, discreetly flicked her eyes between the two, wondering just what was going on, but at least grateful she was no longer being yelled at. "If I may ask then, since you were here; what happened?"
Barret looked over at the shelving now on the floor. "Judging by the aging of the wood, I would say this section of the library is at least one hundred years old, dating back from before the cultural reform. Am I correct?"
"Why, yes," the head librarian said, surprised.
"I thought so," he replied, voice deep and concise, void of inflection but unerringly polite, "I'm afraid that this shelf was structurally unstable. I leaned against it to adjust my boot, and it simply collapsed."
Sheska watched with wide eyes and a small gasp as the man who saved her lied to her bosses face. For her!
"Oh, my sweet child!" The head librarian gasped loudly, fluttering her hands over her considerable chest in exaggerated concern. "I'm so sorry that happened to you! Were you injured at all?" She glared at the bookshelves on the floor, as if she held them personally responsible for any harm the handsome man came in contact with in his entire life.
"No, ma'am, thank you for your concern," Barret said, although Sheska seemed a little skeptical that he got away without even a bruise. "You might consider having all of these shelves removed and rebuilt before incidents like this happen again."
"Oh, you are absolutely right! I will go get them commissioned right this minute." She strode up to the younger and much taller man and patted him on the cheek affectionately. To his credit, he did not pull away, though it was a severe violation of his space. "You just take care of yourself, sweet thing." She let out a girlish giggle, sounding ridiculous on such an intense looking woman, before turning away. Taking her characteristic shuffling steps, the woman began muttering to herself as she walked out the door. "Can't believe this happened in my library, what would the Furer say…" Barret quirked an eyebrow at this and Sheska had to agree. She seriously doubted that the Furer would have anything to say about this. Or if he did, this country had more to worry about than faulty shelves…
Just as the head librarian's broad shoulders rounded the corner and Sheska began to relax, her deep voice filled the room once more, causing the young woman to jump. "And Sheska, don't you dare let me catch you slacking off again, you here! I will fire you next time, I swear on my mama's grave…!"
"Yes ma'am," Sheska exclaimed, bowing once more although her boss could no longer see her. The young woman held her position for several more seconds until she was sure she would not come back.
"Um…"
Certain she was gone this time, Sheska stood and turned sparkling eyes on the man beside her, clenching her hands together and smiling widely. Taken slightly aback, Barret leaned back a little from the suddenly exuberant woman.
"Oh thank you!" She completely bowled over whatever he was about to say. "Thank you so much for helping me! First you saved me from being crushed by books and then you saved me from being fired!" Just as quickly as she became excited her demeanor changed once more, becoming shy. She tucked her chin down and looked up at the much larger man through her brown lashes. "My name is Sheska."
Her heart fluttered in her chest and she blushed as the handsome man tilted his head to the side, seeming to observe her. "Nice to meet you…Now, could you–"
Sheska's face turned crimson at his regard and put her hands to her face, quite embarrassed. "N-nice to meet you too!" His gaze was just so…intense! And no one had ever stood up for her like that before…she looked back with stars in her eyes.
"Right…do you think you could help me find…"
Sheska stared intently, shivering slightly while listening to his voice. It was just so….deep…and formal! Just like a man of the military should be! Just like she imagined a hero from a book! A second later she realized that while she had been analyzing his voice patterns, she hadn't been listening to what he was saying. Berk! She needed to get her head out of the clouds!
"Um, miss?" Barret tilted his head once more and stared at her with those blank eyes of his, startling her out of her thoughts. "Are you alright?"
Sheska put her hands to her face in delight. He was worried about her now! Oh my goodness! Suddenly she felt a bit nervous. She had never garnered such attention from a man before…
"Miss?" Barret almost sounded worried by now, though it might have been her overactive imagination. He lifted a hand as if to touch her shoulder.
Sheska shrieked and pulled back several steps. "Wh-what?"
At this point the man was gaping slightly, his hand lifted in the air still, though his eyes never changed.
Sheska shivered as a thought occurred to her. It was something bold, something she never would have considered before, but well…this man saved her life! And her job. Her heart began pounding as she tried to get up the courage to go through with what she was planning to do.
"Well, I…look, I just need–" Barret was interrupted once more as he suddenly had his arms full of a small, warm body crackling with nervous energy, and just had a second to register the color brown before thin lips were pressed against his cheek.
Before the man could even react, she was out of his space once more, bowing deeply at the waist. Her eyes clenched closed, Sheska exclaimed in a trembling voice, "Thank you so much! I like you a lot!" With that, she turned on her heal and ran as fast as she could out of the room, disappearing around the corner and racing out into the hall.
As soon as she was sure she was out of sight and well out of hearing range, she leaned against a bookshelf and panted harshly, face red as a beat.
She had done it! She kissed him! For once in her book filled life she had been bold. Sheska giggled, face hot. She had never felt this way before, about anyone.
I think…I think I'm in love!
o-0-o
Back in the destroyed room, Barret stood still, mouth gaping comically and hand still hanging in the air. Books lay scattered around his feet haphazardly, and the air still fluttered with settling dust.
He watched the door, half expecting that strange girl to return and still feeling the warmth of her body pressed against his. He lifted his hovering hand to the place he was kissed on the cheek and rested it there.
"I just…I just wanted to know where the legal section was…"
End
Hello readers. Welcome to Mayhem Arena, where I take FMA characters and the characters of my book Substitute Soul and throw them into all manner of situations. Prepare to be entertained, disgusted, enraptured and maybe even bored as I get out all of the ridiculous plot bunnies that plague me while writing more serious works.
What can I say, I can't take a break to save my life. To tell the truth, I really needed to write something light and fluffy after the dark ending of Substitute Soul. Well…I have no excuse. It's weird.
What you can expect from Mayhem Arena:
I'll mostly be writing stories based on my interpretations of the characters of FMA as well as characters I've created. There will be some deleted scenes, cracks, omakes, and missing moments, as well as character studies, action sequences and romance. They will range from K to M, so warnings will be posted before each chapter. Don't worry, there will be something for everyone.
I'm a girl who loves romance of all types; dark, light, fluffy, comical, explicit, you name it. There will be pairings both het and slash, and will have pairings that were suggested in reviews or directly requested. So far I have: Alex/Ed, Alex/Russel, Alex/Mustang, Alex/Lust, Alex/Psiren…you get the idea. But I'll also have fun with other pairings as they come to me, and not all will involve Alex, just like the one I just wrote.
Thanks for reading. See you peeps next time.