"Alright that's the last box, we've officially moved into Bellwood!" You announce to your Golden Retriever, Riley. You heard her pad toward you with her leash in jaw. She sat in front of you and whimpered.
"You really want to go to this mysterious place we've never seen or met anyone there before?" You ask her, she began to wag her tail.
"Alright, let me just grab the letter" an alien by the name of ML-E, who sent you a letter a few weeks ago. You got it off the table and read it to yourself for the thousandth time. The handwriting was large and a little messy yes, but you managed to read it nonetheless.
'Dear Miss (Y/N),
A lot of aliens are talking about you and your curiosities of us aliens. Well if you want to find out more about us then move to Bellwood! There's plenty of aliens for you to interview! Me and my friends hang out on Bellwood avenue which is a nice neighborhood. We're usually there between 10 am and 5 pm. We all agreed to let you interview us, but if we like you enough and think you're a nice person we'll introduce you to a place with more aliens than you could ever imagine. Though you have to promise not to tell anyone about us though. We aren't ready to open to the public yet. We look forward to meeting you!
Signed ML-E
I'm a Kineceleran!'
A lot of words were jumbled and misspelled but that was essentially what the letter said. You, being the determined person you were, decided to move out. You were writing a book on aliens and each chapter was devoted to a different alien you've met. Though it was still in the planning stages. Back where you lived there weren't many aliens to interview but you guessed word travels fast. You double checked to make sure you had everything and entered the street on your phone before hooking up Riley's leash to her collar and leading her outside. You followed the phone's directions and found yourself on Bellwood avenue. Seeing some aliens playing some street hockey. They stopped when you and Riley approached.
"Are you (Y/N) (L/N)?" A shirtless alien asks with a metal pipe. He wore shorts and an orange cap.
"Yeah, that's me. And this is Riley." A little girl in a pink coat ran up to you holding out her hand.
"I'm ML-E, I was the one who contacted you by the mail." You squatted and shook hands with her.
"It's very nice to meet you, I suppose since you wrote the letter I should be the one to interview you first then."
"Really!? Yay!" You sat on a pair of stairs after ML-E reassured you the people who lived here didn't mind and you reached for your recorder in your satchel and your sketchbook.
"What's that for?" She asks, petting Riley as she rested in the small girl's lap.
"It's a recorder"
"What for?"
"So I can remember what you say word for word of course I don't want to misquote you and it's good to keep the information later on when I try to remember a specific phrase you said or something. So ML-E, why don't you tell me your story?" You ask her as you began to sketch her. You also did this with every alien you met so you didn't forget their face or what they looked like.
-Timeskip-
You finished interviewing the Kineceleran kids and now they were talking amongst themselves about whether or not to take you to the new alien place. You honestly wondered what it was as you were keeping an eye on Riley who seemed to be the center of attention as they talked quietly.
"Yo (Y/N)! Follow us!" They call, you got up with your satchel and sketchbook and followed them. They lead you to a construction site with a giant pipe and went in, you followed hesitantly with Riley, keeping a good hold on her leash as you went in. You heard it before you saw it, there were a lot of aliens walking around and doing a ton of different stuff.
"Whoa, this place is amazing!" You grin.
"Remember, just don't tell anyone" ML-8 tells you.
"Trust me your secret is safe with me, who should I interview first, there's so many interesting aliens with so many interesting stories" you marvel.
"Whoever you want, almost everyone knows who you are down here" E-N answers you.
"Could you um, give me a tour and introduce me to an alien or two maybe?" You ask.
"Sure follow us, we know exactly who you should meet!"
-Timeskip about a month-
Over the past month you got a job at a local bookstore run by a sweet elderly couple and your hours were flexible so you arranged to work every other day. It was a very nice job and since it was in walking distance they would let you step out every once in awhile to check on Riley since you were new and not yet have met anyone trusting enough to take care of Riley and you were way too broke to put her in a kennel. They were super nice and understanding and you wondered why nobody wanted to work there. The rest of the free time you had on your work days would be spent going over your interviews and typing up your first draft. Then every other day you would go into Undertown and find a random alien who looked like they had time on their hands to talk to you or one or two would approach you almost immediately. Being able to recognize you as not only one, being human but two, having a golden retriever. Word with aliens travels even faster than word with people. Though right now you decided to take Riley out and on your way back to Undertown you decided to stop at the Groovy Smoothie. You never tried a smoothie from this specific chain before and you were curious as to how they tasted. You were thinking of getting a (f/f) smoothie and maybe a blackberry smoothie for Riley. You knew she liked those from the local smoothie chain back home. She began tugging on your leash and whining, obviously wanting to give affection to the person behind you. You turned halfway around and tugged on her leash lightly.
"Not right now girl, sorry about that, she's very energetic around new people" you apologize to the two people behind you as your eyes landed on the alien guy.
"Hey, can I interview you?" You ask.
"Why of course you can! I have saved the universe billions of times!" The other guy boasts as you rolled your eyes.
"Not you, him" you point to the alien.
"Me? Why?"
"You see I think everyone's being stupid with thinking all aliens are bad and all that so I'm writing a book on all the different stories aliens here have to hopefully bring a little perspective into it. So if you'll let me, is it possible to interview you now?"
"Oh, uhm, there does not seem to be any need for us at the moment so I suppose you can" he answers, obviously not used to being asked these things. You smile.
"Cool, thanks"
"Uh it is no problem"
"Next!"
-Timeskip-
"There you go" you poured the blackberry smoothie in Riley's dish before putting it on the ground where Riley began to lap up the smoothie.
"Uh is that safe for your companion?" He asks nervously.
"Yeah it's fine, she used to have them all the time back home" you answer putting the recorder on the table.
"What is that?" Rook asks, you chuckled, every alien seemed to have better technology than Earth yet they still didn't know what a simple recorder is.
"It's a recorder, it helps me remember what you say word for word so I don't misquote or misinterpret anything you say right now. I'm (Y/N), (Y/N) (L/N) and you are?" You ask holding out your hand, he hesitantly shook it.
"Rook, Rook Blonko"
"It's nice to meet you Rook, now why don't you tell me your story?" You began to sketch him like you did with every alien as you prompted him with other questions about his people and culture. His friend, who you found out was Ben Tennyson, played with Riley for a bit as you talked. You both sipped your smoothies as Rook answered all your questions. He was really nice and respectful and seemed to appreciate being interviewed for the purpose you wanted your book to carry out. When it was done you thanked him for his time, shook hands again, and bid farewell. As you and Riley headed back to Undertown.
-Meanwhile-
"Sooo?"
"So what??" Rook asks, completely confused with Ben's smug look.
"You know exactly what"
"No I do not, I am very confused. What are you talking about?"
"You totally had a date with that hot girl" he grins.
"I do not know what you are talking about"
"Are you kidding? That was totally a date"
"No it was not, it was an interview"
"Then why were you giving her 'the eyes' and struggling to make jokes?" Ben asks.
"She asked for my time but I did not want to waste hers. I simply wanted to entertain her a little. But what are 'the eyes'?"
"You don't even know the eyes? That's like, the universal way you look at someone you have a crush on."
"I do not have a crush on anyone. I just simply admire her for her efforts to further integrate aliens into human society" Rook answers.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever..." Ben mutters. Slumping in his seat as he pouted, his brain working to try to figure out how he could get Rook to figure out he had a crush on you.
-Timeskip a few days-
Rook stopped the van at an old bookstore.
"Why are we at a bookstore?"
"Since I am going to be on Earth for quite some time, I figured I could educate myself with earthen literature." Rook answers.
"O....k, let's just get this over with" Ben sighs as they entered the bookstore.
"Hello! Welcome to our bookstore! Do you need help with finding something in particular?" You stood there in some slightly professional clothing as your name tag had your name neatly printed out.
"(Y/N)...it is uh, good to see you again..I didn't know you worked at this fine establishment. How is your novel coming?"
"It's going good, thanks again for letting me interview you. But if you don't mind me asking, what're you here for? Don't you have some super important Plumber business to take care of?" You ask.
"Actually, there is nothing going on right now, I thought perhaps I could educate myself on earthen literature. I heard it is very diverse and a good pastime to have."
"It is, what kind of stuff are you looking for? Non-fiction? Fiction? History? Historical fiction? Fantasy? Adventure?" You began listing off different genres that you thought Rook may like.
"Umm, do you have anything about the beginning of time?" Rook asks.
"We do have some books on dinosaurs and one of the few DvDs we have is The History of the World in Two Hours" you answer.
"That sounds like a good start, yes" Rook answers.
-Timeskip-
"Bye, see you soon!" You grin as Rook waved back with his small bag of books. You grinned before going back inside and making sure all of the books were in proper order and place for the millionth time that day.
-Timeskip-
"*Bark* *Bark*! *Bark* *Bark!" A golden retriever rushed at Ben and the sudden wait made him fall.
"Hey Riley, long time no see..." Ben groans as the dog got off him and began pacing in a half-circle excitedly before seeing Rook and bounding toward him, she sat in front of him thum
"And, uh, who's the mutt?" Kevin asks, still in his 'tank' as Ben was trying to hide him. Rook smiled and pet the golden retriever as delicately as possible.
"Hello there little one, you look well"
"Riley! You can't just run off like that girl-! Oh hey Rook, Ben. What brings you to Undertown?"
"Oh just some Plumber stuff (Y/N), how're your interviews going?"
"Really well! I'm getting a lot more progress done here than I did back home! Pretty soon I'll have all the interviews I need" you grin, your sketchpad under your arm.
"That's good"
"So...who is that and why is he in a boiler?"
"Oh, this is Kevin Levin and this is my cousin Gwen. Guys this is (Y/N), she works at a bookstore nearby and is writing a book full of different aliens' stories."
"To help change the public's opinion on them, I really hope my novel will make an impact though"
"I have a feeling it will, here is Riley, I think she ran off just to say hi to us"
"Yeah that's probably true, when she likes someone she'll usually run up to the door to greet them." You chuckle.
"And good luck with your novel (Y/N)" you nodded, shyly taking the leash from Rook's hand. Your fingers brushing ever so slightly and waving again before walking away. Rook couldn't help but smile before noticing Ben standing next to him with the biggest smirk ever.
"You only admire her for her efforts huh?"
"Yes"
"Then what was that all about?"
"I do not know what you are talking about"
"You guys saw it too right?!"
"Oh yep, I recognize that look anywhere, that's the look Ben gives Kai Green" Kevin teases.
"Shut up! At least I've confronted my feelings! It took you months to work up the courage to confess to Gwen!" Ben shouts, all flustered now.
"Despite the fact we encountered each other so few times...I may harbor some feelings for (Y/N)..." Rook mumbles rubbing the spots on his hand where your hands brushed, they still tingled with the memory of your warmth. Gwen gasped, starting to get excited.
"Was it one of those love at first sight things? Oh that's so sweet!" Gwen fangirls.
"You've got to tell her your feelings dude"
"I do not even know if my feelings are true. I must look deeper into these feelings before reaching a definite conclusion." Rook decides, "but let us get back at the task at hand."
-Timeskip a month-
Rook came to your bookstore daily and was essentially your most frequent customer. Another girl, a teenager looking for a part-time job, joined your small workforce and every time she saw Rook come into the shop she would elbow you and tell you that 'your' customer is here. Rook essentially memorized your work schedule and always made sure to come during your work hours. You seemed to have the same interests in book genres and while Rook did often lean more toward history he was more than willing to read any fantasy books that you recommend to him. You seemed to develop a relationship of sorts where he would tell you his latest Plumber adventure and he would always ask how your day was and you would usually give him stories about Riley, which he seemed to enjoy. You realized not too long ago that you had fallen for the young Revonnahgander, and you had fallen hard. But you were sure Rook had more important things to do and worry about and wouldn't need or even want a relationship, let alone one with a human. So like with everyone else you kept your feelings a secret from him. Though you often found yourself during the boring lulls of your shift you would daydream about him and you in a relationship. Like sitting by the window of your apartment together and reading your favorite books and being there for each other when your favorite characters were going through a rough patch together. That was the thing you daydreamed the most, cuddling with Rook, you dreamt that Rook's cuddles would be tender, warm and reassuring. Even if you've never experienced it before didn't mean you couldn't dream of them. You've fallen for him so hard however, that you didn't even hesitate to say yes when he asked you to join him and Ben on his trip to Revonnah for their Harvest. He even let you bring Riley so there was no way you could say no. And the girl who worked for you happily covered your shifts for you as long as you would, 'invite her to the wedding'.
-Timeskip-
"There it is, Revonnah" Rook grins.
"Whoa! That's so cool! But I'm nervous though, I've never been to another planet before."
"Do you remember all I have told you about Revonnah?"
"Yes"
"Then you will be fine, though you did not have to bring a gift" Rook says seeing the wrapped box by your feet as Riley stayed in you and Ben's laps.
"I wanted to, I have a feeling they will like it too" you answer. But Rook began staring off into space.
"Hey, is everything alright?" You ask him.
"Yes, I have a feeling you will really like it on Revonnah, we have majestic, rugged terrain and the people are gentle, peace-loving farmers. They will welcome you both with open arms." Then they fired projectiles at you.
"Umm, this doesn't exactly seem friendly!" You call out, grabbing your gift with your feet while holding onto Riley by her middle as Rook maneuvered away.
"Do not fear, this is merely tradition to scare away the muroids and to celebrate the opening of the Harvest" Rook tells you guys.
"Oh, blowing stuff up for celebration I can get behind"
"Yeah, me too, I'm just glad they aren't trying to attack us" you sigh in relief as Rook landed. You all got out and Riley followed close by you as you held your gift, glad it didn't get damaged. Rook went over to a group of similar tools and began to spin it around expertly before sheepishly smiling at you and Ben.
"Behold the fruit of Revonah, Amber Ogiya!" Rook grins, holding out an orange fruit, he smooshed it against his face. You and Ben both cringed as Riley began sniffing the Amber Ogiya before biting one as it burst, she licked at the Amber Ogiya at her chops before looking at you expectantly.
"Uh, is there anything else to eat besides those Amber Ogithingies?" Ben asks.
"There are many recipes for Amber Ogiya" Rook answers.
"Cool-!"
"Blonko!"
"Welcome!"
"Welcome home!"
"Our space traveling brother! All the neighbors saw you land!"
"Meet my sisters, Rook Shi, Rook Shim and the eldest Rook Shar" Riley hid behind you and gave you a 'what are these things and can I trust them?' look. She was used to aliens yes, but she must've known that you weren't on Earth anymore and this wasn't Undertown, besides you haven't done any greetings with them that usually reassured her that they were friendly. And she's learned to not approach strangers from all the 'bad dogs!' you've given her in the past.
"Oh it is nice to meet you"
"Yeah, nice to meet you" Ben adds. Then a kid came from out of nowhere and jumped up in order to tackle Rook.
"Young One! You have grown!" Rook grins before putting him down.
"Whoa you are Ben 10! I cannot believe Ben 10 is right here on Revonnah! The Out-world tesserbursts are full of your wonderous exploits!"
"Um, don't know what it is, but it sounds great!" Ben grins.
"It is basically like what radios are back on Earth, but on a larger scale for space" you fill him in, some aliens talked about how they discovered Earth through outworld tesserbursts and decided to come here for some new opportunity.
"Uh, who are you? And why do you have a pest with you?"
"This is a friend of mine from Earth, this is (Y/N) she is a novelist who is currently writing a book on the many different aliens that live on Earth as well as their cultures. I figured it would be a great learning experience for her and a good source of inspiration for her novel. And this is Riley, she is (Y/N)'s companion she is what you call a golden retriever." Rook explains.
"So she retrieves gold? How?"
"It is just the name of her specific species of dog, given to them for their golden pelt" you answer Rook Shi's question as she crouched in front of Riley.
"Is she going to bite me if I hold out my hand?"
"No, Riley has never bitten a single person, well except for me but that was when she was still a pup." You answer, she hesitantly held out her hand and Riley began to sniff it before beginning to fervently lick her hand as Rook Shi began to pet her, Young One hesitantly approached Riley and scratched her head. She seemed to enjoy all the sudden affection and kept turning her head to lick at the two siblings as much as possible. The door opened and you moved yourself to see who you assumed were Rook's parents.
"I see you've allowed yourself to come home for Harvest Rook Blonko" his Dad spoke.
"My parents, Rook Dah and Rook Bralla"
"Thank you for allowing me to stay with you" Ben bows which made everyone giggle as you just tried not to laugh.
"What is he doing?"
"I believe it is called a bow, an earth custom"
"Well actually humans do not bow as much as they used to. Back when monarchies still existed many people would bow to their Kings, Queens and Nobles. Though bowing is most associated with Japanese and Chinese culture as it can be used as either a thank you and gratitude, an apology or an act of deep respect." You spoke up, your ears turning red as everyone stared at you in disbelief, even Rook's parents looked kinda impressed. Your ears reddened with embarrassment.
"I uh...I have written a few history books here and there, I also took quite a few history courses in college as well..." you mumble, not liking being the center of attention with strangers. Rook Dah grunted.
"So I suppose humans developed the shaking of hands instead?" You kinda felt like he was testing you somehow.
"Actually shaking hands was developed by the Ancient Greeks as a custom for when you met someone to dislodge any weapons they may have hidden up their sleeves and it would reveal that they were planning to assassinate you. But it did evolve as a common earth custom when you greet someone by today's standards yes." You answer he grunted again.
"And what is that in your hands"
"Oh it is a gift, humans give gifts on special occasions and the Harvest seems like more than enough special occasion." You answer sheepishly before holding it out to him, he grunted again before ripping open the wrapping paper.
"What is this supposed to be?"
"It was one of the last paintings I made back home in New York before I moved to Bellwood. I thought you should have it, as a thanks for allowing us to come for this once in a lifetime opportunity" you answer. The painting was a monochromatic of the color (F/C) showing the daily view you saw of your beloved city every day before you moved.
"We have nothing to hang this with" Rook Dah comments.
"Maybe not, but I am sure I can figure out something for it, thank you for the gift. It is much appreciated." Rook Bralla says, taking the painting from Rook Dah's hands.
-Timeskip-
You ate quietly at the table, Riley had her own bowl with some of the Amber Ogiya foods in it and she ate like there was no tomorrow. It took you a few minutes to watch the different uses of the utensils and when you did you were really hungry from the space travel but made sure to keep your table manners as you ate. You kinda drifted off into your own world as you always did and Rook was the one to shake your shoulder slightly while snapping you out of your zone.
"Hmm?"
"Rook Shi asked you a question"
"Oh sorry, I zone out sometimes, what was the question?"
"Are there other dogs on Earth?"
"Yes, there are over 340 different breeds."
"340? That's a lot!"
"It is"
"Who did you interview on Earth? Were there any especially exciting stories."
"Well actually that was how I met Rook, in fact the whole reason I came to Bellwood was because I got a letter from a little Kineceleran girl by the name of ML-E. Interviewed many different aliens and all of them were pretty interesting. Though, personally, I kinda feel like every story is interesting and important, and every story deserves to be told." You answer, not noticing the way Rook was looking at you, and if you did you would probably blush really hard. Though this was the same look he gave you when he first met you. There was a knock at the window and there stood a Revonnahgander girl.
"Oh, forgive me Rook Bralla, but I saw Rook Blonko return and I wanted to be the first to- oh hello" Rook even got up from his seat.
"Rayona, you look well, might you accompany me to the Harvest festival?"
"I...do not know the plans of my house guests...but I will see you there" she waved before Ben stared at him with an open mouth as your expression dropped and you looked away.
"It looks to be a fair Harvest" Rook comments.
"The Harvest would be fairer if our eldest son were around more. The muroids have been unusually aggressive, taking more than we set aside for them by custom"
"Muroids?"
"The rodents, we use their droppings to fertilize the crop" Young One spoke.
"Father..."
"Rook Blonko! Remember me?! Would you go to the-"
"Pardon me, we are eating dinner" and he closed the window right in the girl's face.
"Not even possible..."
"Every girl in the region used to be after our brother, but he only had eyes for Rayona" you felt your stomach drop, you didn't have a chance, there was no way Rook liked you like that. You were just a friend, you went into your own little world again, but this time it was Rook denying your confession. Everything else was tuned out, until you heard Riley begin to bark and growl.
"Riley? What is wrong?"
"Can you please silence your mutt?" Rook Dah asks, kind of rudely.
"Apologies but she only acts like this when there is something wrong" you answer, going next to RIley and tugging on her collar lightly as she continued to bark and growl, acting unusually aggressive. The window was opened and what you assumed was a muroid popped out, you slackened your grip out of surprise and Riley darted forward like a bullet tackling the muroid out the window.
"Riley!" You ran outside to see her get into a scuffle with some muroids. She bit and gnashed at them, she barked at them and they ran off as she growled one last time before walking up to you with her tongue lolling out of her mouth as usual with that goofy look of hers. She had some small scratches but she would be fine. You still checked her for other injuries and she seemed to be walking alright.
"I'm going to take Riley to the van to treat her scratches" you tell them before heading over to the van-like spaceship. You took out your duffel bag and turned on the lights with a convenient switch as you sat down on the floor Riley went instinctively on your lap as she panted, staying still enough for you to properly bandage her.
"I'm such an idiot" you sigh, knowing Riley wouldn't understand you.
"Why do I always fall for the ones who are already in love with someone else? I thought I could tell the difference now. I thought I had a chance with him, but I guess I was wrong." You sniffled a little as you wiped your eyes. Riley began licking your hand as a way to try to calm you down. You just wiped your eyes before going back to bandaging Riley's wounds. When you thought they were enough you stopped and broke down again. You thought you learned your lesson, but it was apparent that wasn't the case. It wasn't Rook's fault you were feeling like this, it was yours. You were the one who stupidly fell in love with him, but who could blame you? He was no nice and polite all the time, and as always you mistook that for love instead of kindness. A mistake you often made. You signaled to Riley to get off your lap as you began walking back to the house, there was no way you were ready to go inside. You needed to do something, anything to distract yourself, you looked over at the pile of tools. Your feet moved before you could think and you carefully grabbed one making your way over to a rock close to a container where you supposed the Amber Ogiya was supposed to go and began working. You were careful not to pop any and attract those muroids again, but it took you a few tries to do it right. You were starting to get tired so you leaned against the container as Riley curled in your lap.
"I'm just gonna rest my eyes, for a little while..." you mumble before actually falling asleep.
-Timeskip-
"The Amber Ogiya, it is gone!"
"Only on a few crops though"
"Do you guys think those muroid things stole them?" Ben asks.
"No, muroids only eat Amber Ogiya where it lies, these cuts are too clean."
"Uh brother, I think I know what or who, did this" Rook Shim spoke quietly, Rook walked over and saw you curled up on the grass near a container as you slept soundly while cuddling Riley, who only lifted her head a little bit to see the Rook family.
"She must have stayed up all night, no wonder she is asleep"
"Should we bring her inside? She would be more comfortable there"
"I'm surprised the muroids didn't try to steal this"
"Well they must have seen Riley and gotten scared of attack" you began to stir and slowly open your eyes.
"(Y/N), were you out here all night?" Rook asks, remembering last night you buried your feelings inside you.
"Yeah, I was feeling restless because it was too quiet, figured I would get some work done. I swear I did not mean to fall asleep though..." you trail off nervously, rubbing the back of your neck as you stood up.
"Well are you ready for another day of work?" Rook asks.
"Uh-huh, I think I got the technique down" you grabbed your tool off the ground.
"That is good, but if you need any help do not hesitate to let me know" Rook offers, you smiled.
"I will"
-Timeskip-
You kinda felt out of place after Rook Dah yelled at Rook, so you kinda kept quiet and so did Riley. That night you actually slept in Rook's sisters' room but you kept looking out the window every time you heard a noise, hoping it could be Ben and Rook coming back.
"(Y/N)? Is everything alright?" Rook Shim asks after seeing you look at the window for the 100th time in two hours.
"Yeah...just worried is all..." you mutter.
"You like him don't you?"
"Wha?! No I do not!? It is so obvious he likes Rayona!" They began giggling.
"What? What's wrong? Did Rook or Ben say something to you guys?" You ask.
"In all of his transmissions as of late, at least to his siblings. All Rook Blonko would ever talk about is you." Rook Shar giggles.
"Yes, he would talk all about your book and your job at the bookstore"
"As well as the books you would recommend him"
"S...so?! That does not mean he likes me or anything!" You defend yourself as you kept looking out the window.
"Then why did he invite you here?"
"For experience?? Why else?" They began giggling again.
"Come on, now you have gotta tell me!"
"Maybe you should talk to Rook Blonko about that" Rook Shim giggled again, you groaned and continued to look out the window not noticing the giggles dying down as well as Rook Shim and Rook Shi falling asleep. You began dozing off yourself but Rook Shar called your name quietly.
"(Y/N)?"
"Hmm- what? Yeah?" You snapped up and looked to Rook Shar.
"You should see the way Rook Blonko looks at you sometimes, he really does care about you"
"Does he like me or not though?"
"That, you'll have to figure out yourself, but if you've known our brother as long as we have, the answer is as clear as day." She giggles quietly before turning over in her bed to fall asleep, you continued to stare at the sky now, but instead of scanning the area you were thinking. The night sky on Revonnah was beautiful and you've already taken many pictures of it. You began to doze off and like last night you fell asleep after promising yourself it would only be five minutes.
-Timeskip-
"Father! Mother! Muroids! Muroids!" You heard Rook's voice shout as he banged the tools together. You looked up, wondering why he was so alarmed. Riley began to growl.
"Rook Blonko you were out all night!"
"Rook? What's going on?"
"No matter! The muroids are coming in force!" Giant mechs began scaling terrain and taking Amber Ogiya straight from the rocks.
"This is the end of the Revonnahgander way! What have you done?"
"Ben and I did not bring this threat to Revonnah!" Rook then proceeded to take down a mech.
"Everyone! Use your launchers! Use your scythes! Use your fists if you know how! Aim for the muroid! Not the machine!" Rook then proceeded to do a battle cry before launching himself into battle, you couldn't jump nor did you have the strength to. You saw some rope and grinned to yourself.
"Hey Young One! Rook Shi! I need your help!" You call, they scrambled over as you told them the plan. The grinned at you in agreement as they grabbed the work, you and Rook Shi grabbing the rope as Young One put some Amber Ogiya in a pack and put them on as he began to taunt the Harvesters.
"Hey Muroids! Look what I got!" He grins, making some stop. You and Rook Shi toppled several before other Revonnahganders caught on. It was going pretty well, until one began to swing it's fist to Young One who was too busy celebrating to notice.
"Young One!" And in your panic you kinda sorta yeeted him out of the way. Before he could respond the metal fist swung at you as you went in an arc before hitting a rock wall and landing right on your non-dominant wrist and you faintly heard a sickening crunch but didn't associate that with your being, the ringing in your ears was painful and clamping your hand over your ear only made it worse for you. You tried to open your eyes but the light you once found peaceful and light turned to ravaging and blinding. Your head was hurting, your wrist was throbbing immensely, the grass and dirt didn't smell like grass and dirt. You couldn't see without being blinded and you could barely hear anything. You curled up in a ball, trying to make yourself small so no mechs tried to take advantage of you in such a state. Feeling Riley's You tried to look again but you only saw the brightness of a golden pelt before it became too much and you had to shut your eyes again. You wanted to vomit, feeling the knot in your stomach, but you didn't.
Rook saw your injury and shouted your name before running over to you. Riley was sniffing around you and licking your exposed skin. Mainly in the face and arms. Young One and Rook Shi began calling your name as you whimpered and tried to shut your eyes tighter.
"What happened here?" Rook asks, wondering what was wrong with you. It was obvious you hurt your wrist but couldn't tell what the rest was from. It could be a concussion but with humans it was hard to tell.
"She threw me away from the Harvesters, then she got thrown into the wall and she's been like this ever since" Young One whimpers.
"Let me see her, (Y/N), can you hear me? (Y/N)?" You slowly opened your eyes, one pupil was smaller than the other.
"R...Rook?" You mumble with a slight slur, tears welling up in your eyes.
"It is ok (Y/N), I am here, what is wrong?" Rook asks.
"It...it hurts...m..my ears...t...they ring...l..light...is...b..blinding..." you slur as well as stuttering from the pain. Rook picked you up gently.
"It is ok (Y/N), I got you. Do whatever you must to alleviate your pain" Rook tells you, you only whimpered in response as you leaned into him, trying to banish the white spots that showed themselves under your closed eyelids. Rook ran you all the way to the van and closed the door so not only were you protected but there was less light to affect you. He pressed a button on the floor with his foot and a metal table appeared as he gently lied you on it. Making sure you were resting your head on your uninjured arm. He whispered for you to stay like that before shakily reaching for the materials he needed while a scanner scanned you with an orange light. Making you shut your eyes and whimper again. The machine began whispering the results of the scan. Not only did you have a concussion but a sprained wrist as well. He first treated your wrist, making a sling as gently as he could without hurting before resting it back where it was, making sure to put a cooling device on it to stop the swelling and make it go down. He also put a cooling device on your head before crouching down so you can be eye to eye as you rested on the metal table.
"(Y/N)...can you hear me?" You whimpered in response as some tears streaked down your cheeks.
"I have treated your wounds, you just need to rest now"
"P...please...don't leave...Rook...it...it hurts..." you opened your eyes, even a little bit just to see Rook's face. You tried to just focus on him, but god it hurt you. You did your best to focus on only his face and not the blinding light, or how the table smelled like copper.
"I would never, rest, for I will never leave your side" Rook smiled brushing some hair out of your face, his hand trailing down to your jaw and lingering there for a moment too long. You smiled and closed your eyes, Rook checked outside to see that the fighting's stopped and his siblings were waiting around the spaceship anxiously. He decided to open the door, Riley darted in and jumped onto the metal table and rested her head on your side.
"How is she? Is she going to be ok?"
"Yes, she will be fine, she just needs rest"
"How'd (Y/N) get so injured in the first place?"
"She came up with a strategy when we were fighting the Harvesters, while using this strategy I failed to see another Harvester coming towards me and she pushed me out of the way in time." Young One spoke.
"That sounds like (Y/N)" Rook nods.
-Timeskip-
There were only two days of the Harvest left and Rook refused to have you work and always made sure someone was with you. He put some bandages around your head just in case and always reminded you when you were sitting in the grass to take your pain medication or get some rest. Especially since you often sat in the grass and wrote notes about the specifics of your trip before you forgot anything, or you would throw Riley a stick or frisbee. Rook wouldn't allow you to do both at a time. His sisters helped you get into the Harvest Queen outfit, as was a common tradition of the Harvest. They helped get your wrist through the sleeve and back into the sling. You walked out with his sisters, Riley walking next to you.
"Thanks again for helping me out"
"It was no problem (Y/N), it was the least we could do to repay you for saving Young One"
"It is not that big of a deal"
"It is to us"
"Well I am always happy to help- BWAAHAHAHAHAHAA I'm so glad I have a pocket!" You grin, immediately taking out your phone with your dominant hand as you snapped pictures of Ben.
"You better not send those to anyone!"
"Nah, I will just use them for blackmail" you shrug, putting your phone back in your pocket.
"Rook? Is everything alright?" You ask, seeing as how he zoned out.
"I apologize, I was zoning out, you look very beautiful (Y/N)" he compliments you.
"Oh...um thanks..." Rook Dah looked between you awkward children before taking a step towards you.
"(Y/N)...I would like to personally thank you for saving my son, perhaps...I misjudged you and Ben"
"It was no problem Rook Dah, even if I knew the extent of my injuries I would have done it again"
"And I thank you for that"
-Timeskip-
"P...Please...don't leave...Rook...it...it hurts..."
"I would never, rest, for I will never leave your side"
You've been having that dream ever since you got back from Revonnah. You couldn't tell if it was real or fake. You hoped it was a real memory, but it seemed too much of a fairy tale trope to be real.
"Hello (Y/N)? I have brought lunch" you hear Rook call as the door to your apartment opened. Every hour on the hour (usually), Rook would either visit you or check in with a quick phone call. You had to take off more time from work due to your injuries, but you were happy Rook at least let you walk Riley. And while the daily check-ins were annoying, you did find yourself worrying about him before your trip to Revonnah. So the check-ins at least helped reassure you that he was alright too. Tho if he called it meant he was busy with Plumber work and couldn't visit you. It touched your heart to know that Rook was so concerned for you. Though it got kind of annoying because Rook told you that you had to wear sunglasses and put your computer screen to low brightness, then you could only work on your computer for barely thirty minutes before you had to rest again. You easily get bored quick and there wasn't much you could do about it, but you perked up at the prospect of food.
"Food? What kind of food?" You ask.
"Ben and I passed by a Chick-fil-a on the way to see you so I picked some up for lunch today. Do not worry, we also stopped at the Groovy Smoothie as well."
"Dude I'm so hungry! I will literally eat anything!" You ran over to the table as Riley barked in agreement. Rook began unpacking the lunch and got two plates and two glasses for you and him. You began piling food into your plate as Rook took out Riley's dog food and poured it into her dish before taking her smoothie dish and pouring Riley's favorite smoothie.
"It is good you are building up an appetite, it means your body is using the energy for the healing process." Rook smiles.
"So did you just drop off Ben at the Groovy Smoothie or is he waiting in the van again?"
"Ben is actually on a date at the moment"
"A date? With who?"
"Ester"
"Oh yeah, I interviewed her, she's pretty cool. They're a good match."
"They are" Rook agrees. You ate in what you felt was an awkward silence.
"Hey Rook?"
"Hmm?"
"Thanks for taking care of me. Even if I've been a bit of a pain with all the rules you've given me and stuff. I just...I really appreciate it. Not a lot of people are willing to put so much time into taking care of someone like that." You admit, shyly looking playing with your food.
"It is alright, I know you like to keep yourself busy at times but your brain does need to heal, you cannot push yourself to recovery too fast. It needs rest."
"Yeah, I know, thanks for making sure I stayed on track like that, I would probably be working at the bookstore" Rook chuckles.
"You probably would be" you began to eat your food again
"I would never, rest, for I will never leave your side"
"Hey Rook?/ Hey (Y/N)?" You spoke at the same time before turning red.
"You go first, no you go first" you laughed a little.
"You can go first (Y/N)" Rook coughed with a slight warmth to his cheeks.
"Ok...well I've been having this dream and I can't tell if it's just a dream or memory, I was hoping you would help."
"Of course, what is this dream?"
"Well it was when I was still in pain from the concussion...and I asked you not to leave because it hurt so much....then you essentially said you wouldn't leave my side..."
"T...that did happen, yes" Rook admits obviously acting shy and flustered.
"O...oh..so...what did you have to ask me?"
"O..oh um...it's nothing...really..." Rook dismisses.
"Come on, it must be important if you're so nervous! What is it?" You ask.
"Well...you see...(Y/N)...I um...I may..." Rook couldn't find the words to tell you how he felt.
"It's ok Rook, sometimes I can't find the words either" you smile, he smiled back before getting an idea from a mix of Ben's advice and some rom com movies he's seen from your unintentional recommendations. Rook walked next to you and crouched down so you were face to face.
"Umm... how about I just show you...?" Rook asks, making you turn red.
"U...uhh sure..." you stutter, having a feeling were this was going, but you didn't want to stop it. Rook hesitantly and gently placed his hands on your cheeks. They were warm, not that you minded. Your face turned a darker shade of red as Rook leaned up towards your forehead, giving it a gentle kiss. You were both very red and avoided each other's gazes.
"I did not cross any metaphorical lines did I? I did not mean to be rude in any way" Rook asks/ apologizes, you shook your head.
"N...no...I just...I've had a um...a crush on you for awhile now and um..." you couldn't help but let a smile creep onto your face.
"I still can't believe that you actually like me back"
"Nobody has?"
"No, they think I'm too weird or they liked someone else"
"Well they missed out on the most beautiful girl in the whole universe" Rook smiles, making you smile back before going to hug him. Not only were you red in the face but that was also the nicest thing anyone ever said to you.
"...thank you Rook!"
-Timeskip-
"I should probably get going..." Rook spoke awkwardly as he opened the door. Riley pouted before running past the two of you stealthily as you were too caught up being surrounded by awkwardness to notice. She nudged Rook forward by the back of his legs, causing him to place his hands on your shoulders to keep him from falling.
"Do you have to go so soon? Perhaps you could stay here and we could watch a movie while Ben and Ester are on their date, it could keep you from being a third wheel" you suggest, Rook nodded meekly.
"I...I suppose that would be alright, though if your head is hurting you need to let me know."
"Deal" you grin, which made him smile. Looks like you and Rook did get together after all.
For the rest of the week I have off because of Thanksgiving so hopefully I'll be able to work on oneshots and headcanons more. I'm also finishing up the last preference for Thanksgiving and then I'm tallying up and comparing the votes for the Halloween and Thanksgiving Preferences to decide the ones for the Christmas Preferences. And hopefully moving all of them to my Holiday Preference book (which is still in development). But until next time my dudes! This is Ftfanx777 over and out (^-^)/