- Dimples -
Between the miles of pearly white beaches, blue skies and a seemingly endless supply of sun, the Spanish coastline had a lot to offer. Add to that a couple of ancient buildings, overpriced restaurants and a slew of tacky souvenir shops and you had yourself a proper tourist attraction. It should come as no surprise then that even such an isolated little seaside town as this one would attract its fair share of tourists.
Even Eruka, who wasn't much of a tourist herself, could see the appeal. Despite the extravagant prices, the little seaside restaurant seemed cozy enough. Given a little time and another cup of boba tea, she could probably learn to like this place.
At least, that's what she thought before she spotted Free.
Sipping on her boba in icy silence, Eruka frowned as she watched the wolf-man cheerfully engage in conversation with two young women. (Locals, by the looks of it.) Needless to say, this wasn't quite the kind of "attraction" that Eruka had expected to see when she agreed to come along. Even from afar, it was pretty obvious that they were flirting: eager eyes fluttering between his chiselled jaw and his toned physique, slender hands brushing against his muscular figure every chance they got, slim-fit jeans and low-cut shirts flaunting their "assets" at every turn.
"Floozies!" Eruka mumbled to herself as she suppressed the urge to turn them both into newts.
As expected, Free didn't seem to have picked up on their advances yet. Ever the cheerful simpleton, he seemed perfectly content to just keep on chatting.
Still mulling over whether or not to turn them both into a pair of busty bull frogs, Eruka watched as Free suddenly turned and pointed towards her with a grin. She couldn't make out what he was saying, but whatever it was it seemed to earn her the attention of the two girls as they both looked over with curious eyes. Seeing Free wave at her, Eruka instinctively raised her hand to do the same, only to realize how awkward she must have looked, just sitting there, waving like an idiot. No sooner had the thought crossed her mind before the two girls suddenly burst into a fit of giggles before waving their hands in a dismissive gesture and walking off, leaving Free looking all kinds of confused.
Pulling her hat down to hide her face, Eruka silently wished she could just disappear.
Without so much as a care in the world, Free proceeded to sit at the table.
"Man! The locals here sure are friendly!" he grinned as he began to dig into his food, still oblivious to the way Eruka glared at him from under her hat. Glancing off to the side, she watched as the two girls disappeared around the corner, still chatting and giggling to each other. Seeing her sullen expression, Free stopped chewing. "What's wrong?" he asked, his voice filtered through a mouthful of paella.
Normally, Eruka probably would've burst out laughing – or at the very least snorted – at the sight of his dumb expression, all puffed up with beans and rice. But right now she didn't really feel like laughing.
"Nothing." she lied lamely as she picked up her fork and began to pick at the tortilla Española that Free had placed before her.
The wolf-man said nothing as he slowly but surely resumed his chewing, still watching in silent confusion as the girl across the table continued to poke and prod her omelette. He wasn't very good with social cues – reading between the lines and such. A couple of hundred years in prison will do that to a man. Eruka knew this. Even so, she often insisted on saying things she didn't really mean or telling him that things were fine when they actually weren't. He suspected that might be a girl-thing, but he wasn't quite sure yet. Either way, it bugged him.
How was he supposed to know if he had done something wrong if she wouldn't tell him? Why did these things always have to turn into a riddle?
Still prodding her omelette with silent disdain, Eruka proceeded to glance at the people down at the beach. She couldn't help but notice that a lot of the women, especially the young ones, seemed to share that same allure that the two giggling girls had: dark, curly hair, revealing swimsuits and almond skin, tanned to perfection. She didn't even need to look in the mirror to realize she had more in common with the sea foam than any of those girls.
She may have been a bit of a wallflower, but she wasn't naïve. It had been almost six months now since they started living together and at this point there was no denying her attraction to the wolf-man, flaws and all. Sure, he was a doofus, but a lovable doofus nonetheless. Despite his looks, he was both kind and caring, honest to a fault and fiercely loyal. Not to mention... really, really hot.
"Not hungry?"
Still sulking, Eruka looked up at Free, who was staring at her from across the table with a distinct look of concern on his face.
Speaking from experience, Free knew that when her words didn't match her expression, she was usually upset. Which meant that something was bothering her and she wanted him to figure out what. Again, he wasn't sure if this applied to all women or just Eruka, but it almost seemed like she was testing him, to see how far he was willing to pursue her in order to make it up to her – which meant he couldn't just give up after a single deflection.
As if to spite him, Eruka proceeded to stab her omelette with the fork before bringing a piece to her mouth and beginning to chew.
"You seem a bit... on edge." he ventured, struggling to find the right words. "Did I do something to upset you?"
Eruka stabbed the omelette again.
"I told you: it's nothing!" she said, scowling at the food, before glancing off to the side. "Why do you care anyway? Wouldn't you rather be somewhere else, hanging out with some cute girls than be stuck here with me?"
Once again, Free's expression shifted in confusion.
"Huh? What are you talkin' about?" he asked, a bit slack-jawed by her statement. "I think you're plenty cute!"
Eruka had to spit to stop herself from choking on the omelette.
"D-d-did y-you just call me–"
"Cute." Free supplied with a deadpan expression. "Yeah!"
He said it again! Eruka's mind blared.
"Especially your dimples!" Free continued with a smile, pointing to the corners of his mouth.
"D-dimples?" Eruka asked, confused.
"Yeah! Y'know, those little things at the corners of your mouth that always get bigger when you laugh."
Feeling a wave of heart rush to her face, Eruka proceeded to slap both hands across her mouth and avert her eyes.
"I-I-I never knew they d-d-did that!" she stuttered, her voice muffled by the palm of her hand.
"I also like your eyes."
"M-my eyes?" Eruka asked suspiciously as she turned to squint at the wolf-man, only to squeal at the sight of him leaning across the table, his face now mere inches away from her own.
"Yeah! They're very kind!" he said without a hint of hesitation, punctuating his statement with a broad and lovable grin. "You've got good eyes, Eruka!"
"Th-that's... that's..." Eruka stuttered as she averted her eyes once again.
"Also, your lips."
Eruka' eyes went wide as she suppressed another nervous squeal. This was getting out of hand! Did this idiot have no sense of embarrassment whatsoever? There was only so much he could say before she would start to get the wrong idea!
As if to give her just that, Free proceeded to reach out and grab her gently by the chin, bringing her face back to him. Using his other hand, he then gently forced her hands away, revealing her flustered expression, dimples and all. Eruka felt her heart skip a beat as he began to brush his thumb across her lips.
"They have a nice shape and look very soft." he mused, smiling all the while. "If it were me..." he said, pausing only to reveal his canines in a toothy grin. "I wouldn't mind kissing them."
Fearing her heart might give up at this rate, Eruka squeezed her eyes shut, waiting with baited breath for whatever would happen next.
"But that's just me!" Free concluded merrily as he let go of her chin, before leaning back into his chair.
Feeling her body practically deflate after all that tension, Eruka released the breath she had been holding in a deep sigh. Part of her felt a bit annoyed – and just a little bit disappointed – at him for teasing her like that. Then again, she would be lying through her teeth if she said his words didn't make her at least a little bit happy.
Author's note: Didn't feel right to leave this story on such a bittersweet note, so here's a feelgood chapter to help you recover from the last one! I've been struggling with this chapter - working on and off, that is - for a couple of months now. Then, one evening, it finally clicked and everything just fell into place. Guess I just needed the right mindset or something, huh? Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed reading these short stories! Those are all the ones I have to offer right now. Can't say when or even if I'll get to writing more of them, but like I said: I hope you enjoy them all the same! God bless you! Have a wonderful day!
