Mulan has a warrior's spirit (the_warrior) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-12-17 19:19:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, aurora [ouat], hua mulan |
Who: Mulan and Aurora
What: An encounter in the park and walking home
When: Recently
Where: Near Aurora's apartments
Status: complete
Rating: PG
When Mulan wanted to get some peace and quiet she sometimes came out to this park. It wasn’t that desperately craved it, but she didn’t like being around too many people at once. Today she wanted to reflect a little. She wanted to make more friends, but had a hard enough time doing that, though talking with that older woman had been pleasant. Her dreams, however, had proven...troublesome.
Aurora had worked the morning shift at Granny’s and was now on her way home. Her apartment wasn’t very far from the diner, but there was a park in between, which she decided to cut through on her way home. She only did it during the day; at night she’d walk around the outside of the park where the lighting was better, but during the day there was little chance of anything happening to her. Not to mention, she had a thing of pepper spray on her keyring.
Mulan would scold Aurora for even taking that much of a risk, except she didn’t really know. She hadn’t expected to see the woman today, and when she lifted her eyes from her book, she nearly dropped it. The last time she’d seen Aurora had been dreaming of Philip kissing her. Part of her wondered if true love’s kiss could work one way (could true love be unrequited?) But most of her just figured true love was a bitch. Before she could stop herself, she said, “Hey!”
Aurora hadn’t been expecting anyone to talk to her, so when she heard the voice her hand automatically went towards her purse until she realized that she recognized the person who had spoken. It was one of the regulars at Grannys. She recalled when the woman had first come in and that ever since she came in regularly, which must have meant that she’d enjoyed the food. And that was a good thing, because she was always happy to see Granny and Ruby succeeding. “Oh hey.” Her hand relaxed and went back to her side, “Sorry you just startled me a little bit.”
"I wasn't expecting to see anyone today," Mulan said quietly. Especially not her. She got to her feet, marking her place with a bookmark. "I was just reading. I'm sorry if I startled you." Princess. It took a lot of effort to not call her that. She’d probably think she was crazy. Her smile became just a little nervous
If Mulan was nervous Aurora didn't notice, "It's okay. I was just preoccupied. Always got too much on my mind and when I walk home is when I go over it all." She tucked a strand of hair behind her hair, "Like jobs and if I need to restock. That kind of thing. And other things." And now she was rambling, but that was something Aurora did often anyway.
Mulan had to fight the urge to tuck that strand of hair for her. Why did she feel so squirmy around inside her stomach? The rambling was adorable and she tried to keep the smile away but it came to her face anyway. "Would you like an escort home? It's probably safer."
It was the right thing to do. That's all.
Aurora hadn’t been expecting Mulan to offer to walk her home, especially since she was fairly close, but she didn’t want to be rude and decline so she nodded, “Yeah, okay. It’s not too far actually, but the company would be nice.” She smiled at the other woman and gestured in the direction of her apartment building. “It’s just on the other end of the park.”
Sticking her book under her arm, Mulan followed Aurora's gesture and blushed a little at her eartips. "Oh. I was trying to be... helpful. You never know what could happen even a few hundred yards away." That sounded a little lame, so she rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "...we should start walking."
Aurora smiled at Mulan, “Yeah, I guess you’re right. That’s why I have this.” She reached into her purse as they started walking and pulled out her keyring with the pepper spray attached. “I walk home alone at night sometimes, so I got this. A lot of the time I go home with Ruby when I work at the diner till close.” Get Aurora talking and she didn’t stop.
“Smart.” Mulan planned on getting a gun, but she kept a switch blade in her coat-pocket for the time being. She’d always won all the hand to hand contests in her unit, thanks in large part to her agility and tactical thinking. She stepped a little closer to Aurora as they walked. “How was your shift?”
"It helps to give my mother piece of mind." Aurora dropped her key ring back into her purse and shoved her hands into the pockets of her coat. It wasn't exactly cold, but it was cooler than in the summer. "Oh, it was fine. Nothing crazy happened, so it was pretty much a successful shift." She was a little surprised that the other woman cared enough to ask how her shift had gone, but at the same time it was possible she was simply trying to make small talk. "What do you do, if you don't mind me asking."
“Mothers are pretty protective. I was in the army and mine still tried to give me tips. She was afraid of what being around so many men would mean for me.” Mulan paused, and then rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I suddenly realize what she meant when she said… uh. Nevermind. I teach football to kids. What the yanks call Soccer. Real football.”
Aurora’s brows rose slightly as Mulan mentioned the army. Of course she knew that women joined the Army and Navy and all of those, but Mulan didn’t exactly look like someone who had been to war, “Wow. That’s pretty incredible.” When Mulan left her sentence unfinished, Aurora frowned slightly, “When she said what?” Yes, she could be a little nosey at times; especially when she was curious about something. “Do you teach at a school or a league or something?” Aurora had never really been much into sports and had always dreaded gym class.
One of Mulan’s eyes crinkled up, and she sighed. “When she said it was no wonder I was gay, surrounded by all that testosterone.” She moved on to the next subject in another breath. “It’s more of a private practice, mostly with middle-schoolers. When I was in the Middle-east with the Royal Army we had matches with each other. I took them very seriously.”
Suddenly Aurora felt like a jerk for having pushed Mulan, because it was obvious that she hadn’t wanted to talk about her sexuality and now Aurora had pushed her to do it and now she didn’t know whether or not she should acknowledge it or let it be. She bit her bottom lip as they walked and she listened to Mulan explain about her job, “That’s pretty cool. Do you still play? When you’re not coaching.”
“Only for fun. Injuries.” Her smile was a little tight, and she didn’t fully understand why she let herself talk even this much. Aurora was so….kind. “I was on the official team for the army before that.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Aurora ran a hand through her hair as they walked, pulling it over one shoulder, “I don’t have anything like that, that I enjoyed doing that I can’t anymore, but it’s got to suck. At least you still get to do it in some capacity.”
Mulan found herself absently memorizing that motion. “Yeah. It’s fullfilling, which is more than a lot of people can get. What about you? What do you do when you’re not at Granny’s?” A little forward but it was only fair.
“I’m a stylist. I do hair and makeup on photo shoots, tv shows and a few movies.” Aurora said as they continued walking along the path, the end of the park was now in view, but there was still a good amount of the path left.
“Two jobs?” Did stylists not get paid that well, or was Aurora just the kind of person who wants to help out. Mulan’s opinion went up even higher. She saw the end of the past and slowed her pace just a little bit.
"Well, I've known Ruby and her grandmother for years. Ruby is my best friend, so when I don't have any jobs lined up, I help out at the diner." She never minded waitressing at Granny's, because she knew it helped take a little stress off Ruby and she got to see her best friend more; not that they didn't see a lot of each other regardless since they lived on the same floor of the same apartment building.
Well that explained why Aurora wasn’t there as often as Mulan would have liked. Not that she spent a lot of time at the diner. Or anything. Really! She smiled at Aurora. “You’re very lucky. It sounds like a beautiful friendship.”
Aurora smiled and nodded, “Yeah. It’s pretty great.” She had no idea that Mulan came into the diner to see her and if she had then she probably would have blushed and found it only slightly creepy.
Mulan felt bad enough as it was. She decided to spend less time there - if the dreams were any indication than Aurora was meant for someone else anyway, and it would hurt less in the long run if she just got over her attraction. “I’m still too new here to find anything like that, but I don’t have any intention on moving for awhile.”
“Well I hope you don’t move for awhile. I mean, we only just met.” Aurora smiled as they reached the exit of the park and she began leading the way towards the apartment building, “And I’m sure you’ll find a best friend like that. I mean everyone needs a best friend.”
She wasn’t so sure about that. She was generally a loner. Only in the army had she ever been one of the guys, and that was over now. “I suppose we’ll see, then.”
“I’m sure you’ll find one,” Aurora smiled as they approached her building, “This is me.” She said, gesturing towards the door, “Thanks for walking with me through the park.” She really had appreciated the company and it had been nice getting to know Mulan a little better.
“You’re welcome. Anything for you,” Princess. Mulan gave her a playful bow, then turned and walked away.