Hana has started her own ask blog on tumblr. Look for her under the name askhanaeve. She is accepting any question at all pertaining to the Guardians, Halloween, or of herself. No question is too far out there. She has issued the simple challenge "make me blush."
30 Day OTP Challenge
Day 8: Shopping
Set: After "What Is Your Center?"
Shadows cannot create everything. Not for me, anyway. For him, he never had to bathe, never really had to change clothes. He did join me in the pools often enough but his excuse was to usually see me naked. Not that he needed an excuse. "It's something about your wet skin. Don't ask why." So I never did.
Regardless, he could manipulate shadows to do what he wanted because he was a shadow himself. He only took the form he was in now for reasons I couldn't quite understand. Something about lingering human emotion. I couldn't do quite as much with shadows as he. I could manipulate them, I could do all sorts of things, but shedding layers of the day/night, creating things like furniture, it wasn't in my talents. For this, I didn't want there to be.
Of course it meant I had to steal a few things, but, well, whatever. Whenever I needed something physical, stealing was my only option. Though it did help that I could slip through the Void to get to places. I typically went on these runs alone, but tonight, I wanted the company.
"We'll need it all eventually," I argued. "The shops are closed for Christmas. And it's better to do it now than when I'm tripping over myself or whatever it is women do in my situation."
"What would the child need that I can't form myself?"
"I don't know. I don't even know what they need. The closest I can compare it to is a dog."
He tried to keep a straight face but he failed. A snort escaped, which made him put a hand to his face in amusement.
"Well excuse me, but one of us has never had a baby before!"
His mirth faded as he caught on. "You're scared."
"Damn right I'm scared; did you have to read me to know that?"
He went silent for a moment, thoughts running behind his pale eyes. I took the moment to calm myself down. I had been scared since the day I found out. I had been barren for four hundred and sixty-one years. I had accepted the fact I would never be a mother. I had been a twenty-year-old woman when I died who had only had sex once. I was sentenced to death almost immediately after that. So there I was, almost five hundred, just now having a baby. I think my fear was well placed.
"You win. You shouldn't be looking for things on your own anyway if the only thing you can compare a child to is a dog."
I rolled my eyes. "It's the only thing I could think of."
"However, let me illuminate the situation." He leaned against the back of his chair by the fire. "Humans will give their children the brightest things imaginable. Blue and pink everything. White cradles with happy little mobiles. Think of all the nursery setups we've seen over the years. That's all you'll find in these shops." He crossed his arms. "Now if that's what you want, I'll help you. If not, I can form things myself into something more suitable that wouldn't stick out so tremendously horrid here."
The sneaky devil made me realize I had never won in the first place. "I hadn't thought of that."
I wanted to slap his smug grin. Or kiss it. I couldn't make up my mind. Pregnancy hormones. I could do without them. He motioned for me to come closer to him and I did, letting him pull me into his arms. "I know you're scared, Serah. How do you think I feel? Don't let it get to you though. It isn't hard when you get used to it."
"You were barely home for your daughter though," I snapped, knowing full well he didn't deserve it. "You were always at war."
If the words bothered him he made no indication of it. "I know. I want to make up for that this time." He pushed me back enough so I could look at him. "I'll still take you around. If you see anything, we'll take it."
I nodded. Any excuse to get me out of the lair. I couldn't ride Hessian anymore due to a few reasons, and so nights had gotten dull as I had to let my Shadowbats and Pitch have all the fun. If I wanted to do anything myself I'd have to travel the Void alone and be limited to what I could reach on foot. Which, even as a Spirit, hurts like hell. Excuse the expression.
"See, I can be a fair Boogeyman when I feel like it."
"Stow it and let's get this over with."
The whole night he taught me things about children I never would have even thought to factor in. When you looked at his situation, it was hard to believe that the man who plagued children's dreams would have ever been a loving father. After knowing him for so long, I still had trouble believing it. But, when I thought about it, it made the most sense. He knew things about children most didn't. Their darkest fears. What made them squirm. What their most dire secrets were.
I held a black stuffed bear the size of my torso close to my chest as we stopped on a snow-laden bridge. My gaze was taken to the gondolas, ready to be taken out in the morning if it wasn't too cold. I pulled my coat tighter and stood close to his still form, trying to glean some heat from him. "Jack has been busy, I see."
"Yes, and I think North has already done his rounds here for the night."
"I'm sorry I dragged you out into the cold just to find one stupid bear."
"Honestly? It's nice to do something mortal from time to time. Makes the monotony of eternity something I can tolerate again. I don't stop often enough to look at what they can make in such a short time."
"It's been centuries though, thousands of years over here." I frowned and looked at him, catching his gaze. "That's not a short time."
He chuckled and moved to stand behind me, leaning on the rails of the bridge, effectively warming me up. "You forget how long I've been trapped here, and how long I was a renegade space pirate for, and the days I was human. They all add up."
I had to give him that. My existence alone was something of a blip in time for him, despite being almost five centuries old now. "What was it you used to do as a human? As a general in the Golden Age?" I paused before adding, "As a husband."
"Well, as all that I did the usual. Fight in wars, avoided being killed. My wife was skilled with those kitchen knives." I snorted as he continued. "When I was home I took her around similar to this, let her have what she wanted. I didn't mind being taken to the shops. So long as she was happy, so was I."
I grew quiet and held the bear closer. I knew it was a long time ago, and that his wife was long dead, but he still did love her in a way that he would still never love me.
"Now this is where we call it a night and get out of the cold. I'll figure out what else the growth will need and work on it."
"Before we do, what about a Nightmare run? It's been awhile since I've been with you doing it."
He laughed and leaned against my ear. "When have you known me to turn that request down?"
"Never."
He pulled away and offered me his arm like a gentleman. "Well then, we should be working, my Queen."
I took the arm with a laugh, still holding on to the bear. I may not have gotten the proper shopping down that I initially wanted to do, but I could at least have some of my own nightmares. And that in itself was a vast improvement. I say it would make the most sense, him being the perfect father figure, due to his intimate knowledge of fear. Most parents will only hear a child's dreams, and so know how to support them and push them in the right direction. Most would never hear the nightmares. The fears. Most would never know the child's nagging thoughts while they led them along. Pitch would know exactly what they were, and would know how to prevent it. Or make it worse. That made him a more sensible father figure than any of the others. I bit my lip and glanced at him with a half smile. "I love you."
He let out a chuckle. "What brought this on?"
I shrugged and tucked the bear under my free arm to rest my hand under the slight protrusion. "It just feels right to say is all." I bumped into him as we walked. "Why, don't you?"
He only continued to grin. "What, love me? Why of course I love myself. I'm fantastic and delightfully evil, and, according to your subconscious self, deliciously sinful."
"Oh so you did see that dream? Good, now you know what I'd like later."
"We do have plenty of chocolates left over from Halloween that the Skels haven't dug into."
"Mm, looking forward to it." Fucking hormones. Again. It wasn't like I could even eat the chocolates. Though he could... Oh hormones, please stop. "So really, don't you?"
He sighed, his wicked grin fading. "Honestly Hana, I've no idea what you're talking about."
Him and his devious tricks. "Don't you love me?"
"See, why couldn't you just say that from the beginning?"
I rolled my eyes and hit him with the bear. "You're dodging my question."
"No, now you're dodging mine. And hitting me with the poorest representation of a bear I've ever seen."
I pushed on his shoulder, sending him into an alleyway that would lead to the inner-city areas. "Why can't you say it?"
"I can say it just fine. The question is, do you want me to?"
I was starting to get so flustered, the only thing I could do was laugh and lean my back on the opposite wall. "You're a nightmare."
"Well I am king of them. Wouldn't I be one myself?"
Just his quirky expression made me laugh again, and I took his hand when he offered it. "You do deserve that title, you know."
"You deserve the title of Queen just as much." He took me back to the path we were on, venturing towards the residential areas. We walked in silence for awhile, and it was all we really needed. I teased him a lot, and he teased back. He wasn't one to verbally express himself like that. He could physically just fine, and usually his subtle actions would be enough. The small glances, short kisses when no one was looking if he was in the mood to be sweet, a squeeze of my hand, shoulder, or leg. Little things not many would notice. They were enough, and honestly more personal. I almost jumped as he broke the silence. "I love you."
I hit him with the bear. "King of Jackasses. That's what you are. King of Nightmarish Jackasses."
