IT HAS BEEN SO LONG! Sorry!
These two are so cute. Thanks for the all the views- but reviews are even better. Also; CAPJHMP and Chuchu- thank you guys so much. You encourage me to keep posting these!
RodXTina
[Somebody had to put the two kids together eventually]
She fancied herself in love with him.
Felicity- the waitress she deemed her friend- thought it was ridiculous, always did and always would. Tina argues that she liked a challenge, but Felicity refused to believe that this kind of challenge was the right kind.
Okay, so maybe she was right.
"Please? C'mon, Neil! I need to interview somebody about this."
The handsome animal dealer grunts, refusing to look at his only customer; which was a shame, because he had really cool eyes. "Go hit up Allen, then. He likes to talk. Or that farmer girl. She has animals too." There was an unspoken word floating there, beneath the meanness; Please?
Tina paid it no mind. "I already interviewed Allen- " and that was hard enough, she thinks to herself, thank you- "and Rio is always super-busy."
"…And I'm not?"
Tina is biting frustration. How thick is his skull? Dude, I like you and I'm using my newest project as an excuse to try and go out with you! "A bit less than her, sorry. I really want an animal dealer's opinion on this, so if you would please-"
"…Hit up him, then." The man's eyes drift to a spot behind Tina.
Who? Tina turns around to see a boy she's never seen before carting up shop- and with him, horses and cats and dogs. Turning back around, Tina sees that Neil is victoriously catering to Rio- who was really the only person who bought from him, and- of course- she had to come around at this particular moment. Tina gives the farmer a little wave, but the older woman just nods, not even realizing she had just snapped Tina's chances in two. I guess he successfully weaseled his way out of that one. Tina looks to the new guy- she really did need an interview for that article…
Tina straightens up her stockings and walks over to the barely set-up stand.
The guy- also a blond- looks up at her. "Sorry, we're not open yet." He grins, and it's a nice smile. "If you'll come back later, I can set you up with a nice pet. A cat, maybe? You look like the cat type."
At the mention of her fluffy favorites, Tina loses her direction. The formal 'Hi, I'm Tina, and I'd like to interview you' was lost to the wind. "Really? I love cats! I've always wanted my own!"
"That's awesome! I didn't think I'd get a costumer this early!" He gets off his knees. "Do you prefer long hair or short hair?"
At this point, Tina's notepad has settled deep into her back pocket- why she keeps it in such a forgetful place, she doesn't know. She didn't bother to say she wasn't really planning on buying a cat. "Long hair. At least that was what my childhood kitty was. When she died, my parents wouldn't let us get another one."
"A house without pets?" He seems truly startled by the idea. "Okay, we can set you up with a pretty long-hair."
Tina brushes a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Thank you, new guy, for being much nicer! He's good-looking too, but in a much different way than Neil; his eyes lit up with kindness and green sparks instead of red flowers and social awkwardness. The brunette shifts to the other leg, practically bouncing with anticipation; she will be Fleur Jr.! She'd have to buy a dish, maybe get Rebecca to install a cat door… "When can I expect her? Please say soon!"
He laughs, and it's a light, happy laugh; the kind that Felicity has when she's relaxed and Tina just said something really weird. "Soon enough, depending on the color you want. Hey, you know, it's nice talking to you, but you still should leave… I have work to do, you know!"
"No!" Tina finds herself yelling, much to the guy's surprise. She covers her mouth with her sleeve. "I mean, I don't even know your name!"
"I'm Rod."
"Tina." She blushes, rather embarrassed. " I'll be going now." She turns to leave, not noticing when something falls out of her back pocket.
"Tina?" She whips around at the sound, hoping that he'll have something more to say. About anything. She likes the sound of his voice; it is a male voice that isn't constantly traced with annoyance. "I think this is yours."
His hands hold her notepad. Tina pulls a chameleon, turning bright red, and takes the notepad. Oops. Totally forgot about that. "Thanks… and er… do you mind if I interview you about something?"
In typical Tina fashion, she learns everything about him she possibly can. This time, Felicity laughs and asks him questions and serves him Lasagna. Felicity likes him- he is bright, colorful, and would play with her friend if she asked him to- and he does. Tina is merely curious, for a long time- she bugs Neil every Wednesday at precisely two thirty-three- she prefers odd numbers to perfectly even ones, if you must know- but finds herself at Rod's stall by two thirty-five.
She never did get the cat, though.
He doesn't have any siblings, he adores Lasagna, his middle name is Gene- after his Grandpa-, his favorite color is orange; Tina could list off things about him like she could list off stuff about herself. Rod likes to brag that he can do the same, and they challenge each other who can say more- and Tina always wins, but he doesn't tell her he lets it happen. Tina jots down things she learns about him, and places him right next to Felicity's stack- by Winter, he nearly topples hers.
On a day in the late Winter, the trees outside sparkling with frost, Felicity paces back and forth in Tina's house, a piece of paper in her pale hands. "He's never been in a relationship, huh? Was he blushing when he said it?"
Tina crosses her legs, dangling her head off the side of her bed- a pose suggesting she was unconcerned, but designed to hide her own red face. "Yeah, a little. Why?"
Felicity squeals- having a new crush on the exotic Butler made her squeal about everything- and places the paper back on Rod's stack, knocking the whole thing over- but the older woman pays no mind. "He likes you! Oh, you have to like him, you have to!"
Tina flips over onto her back. "I like Neil, remember?" She says it, but she doesn't really believe it, not anymore.
Felicity frowns. "Really? You're still on that?"
"No." The words are tangy, like blood in her mouth- she doesn't like giving up, but Rio told her that Neil had his eye on his own special someone, and it wasn't bright-and-colorful Tina. Tina had thought about it, and proclaimed it to either be Yuri or Iroha- he would be cute with Felicity, but that thought was painful to bare. The two quiet girls would be good for him, either one of them. "I guess not."
Felicity turns to face her friend, violet eyes shining- she must really like this Sanjay guy to look like that! Tina wonders, absent mindedly, if she ever looks like that talking about Rod. "Yes! You are just too cute with Rod to give it up. Thank goodness! I never saw why you liked that Neil anyway."
There are the common excuses for liking the anti-social boy that emerge themselves on the tip of her tongue; He's cute, I want him to open up, I'm curious- but suddenly, none of them make sense. Tina knows that she would prefer to spend the day happy- and happy meant Rod.
"I don't know either."
"Tag, you're it!"
It smells like Summer and love; Rio was with child, Felicity had moved into the Exotic Mansion- keeping her day job, of course-, Michelle and Allen had just gotten married, and Niko proposed to Hina again- Toni kept saying that she'd eventually accept, and Niko doesn't mind trying. Tina loves the smell of Summer, the tang of fresh leaves and grass whipping across your nose, but the smell of love was new to her- but she liked it all the same.
"Uh-uh. No tag backs!" Hina was adamant, stopping her running to pout, and bringing Tina's mind back to center stage.
"Is that a rule?" Tina is just as adamant; she doesn't like to lose to a six year-old, especially with Rod around.
"Have you never played tag before? Of course, it's a rule." Toni- high and mighty at nearly nine- shouts. "Now tag somebody else!"
Rod laughs at the display, and she catches him in the corner of her eye- she needed an excuse to go after him, and this was a perfect one. "I'll show you what you get for laughing at me!"
Niko sighs loudly. "Are they really going to do this again? I'm starting to get hungry."
Toni laughs. "Niko, you're always hungry."
Hina sits down. "Shh! It's romantic! Even if they do it a lot…"
Tina doesn't understand how chasing around her almost-boyfriend could be anywhere close to the romance Amir and Rio shared, or even the one Felicity and Sanjay had- but she didn't care. Rod's eyes sparkled as he whipped around, dropping his puffy vest to the ground.
"Oh yeah? Come and get me!"
The kids were right; whenever invited to play tag, an episode like this would come along soon enough. The only reason Hina, Toni, and Niko stood for it was because Hina thought it was cute and 'you can't play a good round of tag with three people'.
Tina was more fit than Rod, but Rod was not a force to reckon with- he was barely faster than her, leaving her sitting on the edge of anticipation, the edge of catching him. They weave along the Festival clearing as the kids watch, running in and out of ear. Tina's breath catches up with her, and her legs hit the ground with increasingly loud thumps- I'm getting tired! The panic lasts only a moment before common sense kicks in; So he must be too! Tina pushes one last surge forward, her feet hitting the ground in awkward angles that couldn't possibly be good for her knees- and pushes Rod to the ground.
"Told ya' so," Tina says proudly, bouncing up off his back at the moment he hit the ground. "You think you would learn not to mess with me."
Rod turns himself around, and Tina offers him a hand- he pulls himself up, dusting the dirt off his shirt. Toni brings him his puffy jacket, looking slightly annoyed. "You think I would learn," Rod grins, "but I like having you chase me around."
Tina laughs, pushing his shoulder. Hina, who followed the silent Niko and the indignant Toni to the two spot Tina and Rod had ended up in, sighs dreamily. "I don't understand why you two don't just get married… Mama and Daddy are so happy, and Miss Felicity is so cute with … it seems like everybody's doing it."
Tina leaned down to speak to the girl. "Hina, it doesn't work like that…"
"Why not?" Rod asks, curiosity tracing his voice.
Tina stands up, looking him straight in the face- though he was taller; she could be much more intimidating. "Because… Well, it's a tradition around here, to propose with a blue feather at the perfect time, I guess." She doesn't like her lack of an answer, but that's all she has.
Rod gets closer, and they're standing nose-to-nose. "A tradition for a new town born out of the old one?"
"Well… yes, that's exactly what it is."
Tina can hear Toni asking what they are doing, and Hina shushing him again, but her focus is mostly on Rod. "It was remade to be broken, don't you think?" Tina can feel her own breath getting shallow; realizing the words that were about to come out of Rod's mouth. "I think getting married is a great idea."
She blinks, trying to recognize the look in his eyes- and she sees that it is genuine love. "Are you seriously…?"
It is a rhetorical question- Tina knows Rod, and she knows when he is joking. His eyes hold the sparkle- the light in the depths that never turns off- but also a tone of seriousness. Hina squeals. "Say, yes, say, yes, say, yes!"
Tina has never liked commitment- she doesn't mind settling down, but she needs to be moving in place. There has only been one thing she has been able to commit to in her life, truly and completely- her newspaper. In a way, Rod is like her newspaper- he is there when she falls, laughs at her bad jokes. He is the one other thing she could see herself committing to.
They were lonely now; their best friends had upped and found happiness where the two of them didn't know they could.
Besides, their babies would have blue eyes.
As soon as the "yes" falls out of her mouth, Rod is kissing it. They've never kissed before, for real, but it feels like they have.
After a moment, Rod pulls back, smiling. "I love you."
"I love you too, Rod."
"Okay," Toni grunts, "we all love each other. Can we go back to tag now?"
And they do.
