#speed writes

He’s over the moon to have this opportunity and even more overjoyed that it’s nearby his apartment.

Why is he filled with fear with each step towards the secretaries desk then? Well, he is going to be interviewed by one of the Senior Engineers. He knows one of the senior engineers from his hometown.

I strayed away from the prompt, but the idea is still there, I think. 😘

Shinichi finds himself pacing back and forth the lobby of their empty house. Earlier that morning, Ran said she’d leave office early and be home before supper. Yet he still arrived earlier than her, and it’s 7pm.

It’s easy for that cryptic one-word mail from his wife to leave everything to his imagination.

It shouldn’t be too grave, else she would’ve speed-dialed an S.O.S. as per their protocol, to alert him that she’s in serious trouble. Even so, worry gets the best of him, especially when he mailed eight replies and has so far received none back. Even calls cannot connect. Kidnapped? Vehicular accident? Tripped onto your nose and you blacked out after mailing me? Number two in a public toilet without reception and you have no supplies? What “Emergency” do you mean, Ran?!

“Damn...” He paces and paces, nails subject to his relentless chewing. While he trusts his wife so much to know that she can protect herself with her limbs, that doesn’t entirely make his anxiousness go away because truly, no response means many things. Anything can happen, for better or worse. He of all people should know.

Then, the door knob jiggles. From the other side, he hears faint sounds of voices and giggles.

-

“I know I can always count on ya, Ran-chan,” Kazuha chimes, sweet and a little apologetic as she walks alongside Ran to the Kudou residence. “It’s, err, all too sudden.”

“Mou, what did I tell you, Kazuha-chan? Your Maid of Honor will always be on call.” She flashes Kazuha a genuine beam, reassuring the woman that her presence is very much welcome in Tokyo, even if her arrival is unannounced. “I should be glad work is bringing you here sometimes.”

“Same, same!” They stop at the lighted front porch. “But are ya sure Kudou-kun won’t mind me dropping by?"

“Oh, pssh. He’s probably still at work. And I mailed him although I don’t know if everything had been sent before my phone died.” Internally, she prays that he’s home before her and has hidden the bespoke wedding crest in their living room up their room, in fear of spoiling their wedding gift to the Hattori couple early. If not, then she’ll just direct the bride-to-be to the kitchen and she’ll hide the crest away from her sight.

Finding the front door locked, Ran fiddles for her masterkeys. “Either way, I’m sure he’s easily deduced that my battery died and I did errands after work. You know how they are, Kazuha-chan,” she giggles while rolling her eyes, “detectives.”

"I feel ya there. Heiji likes to make all sorts of deductions about the most mundane things, like where and what I ate for dinner. Kudou-kun isn’t a different species, I guess.”

"Hah! I bet you he isn’t.” They giggle even more.

She is about to insert the key into the lock when the door violently swings open.

“Jesus Christ, Ran!”

“Oh, Shinichi! You’re hom—”

She cannot finish her sentence, not when her lungs are suddenly crushed by her husband’s - really, there’s no other way to call it - glomp.

“Shin...i...?!”

“Ran! Do you know how freaking worried I was? I— why weren’t you answering?! Jee-... Ran, oh god. I’m so...ggh,” he drowns her with frantic kisses over her hair and forehead, arms not letting her escape from his soul-crushing hug, “Goodness, god, thank god you’re okay... You’re not hurt. Shit—”

Discombobulated to her toes, Ran remains unmoving, as if she has any other choice. “...Shinichi,” she wheezes in his ear, the only thing she can do at the moment, “can I at least shut the d—”

“Noo. I’m not done with you.”

“Um...Shini- wait—”

The littered kisses are insistent, like a loyal puppy kissing his owner everywhere on the face after a long day away. Ran feels like she’s going to explode from the odd mix of love and shame, because hey, she’s thoroughly enjoying his warmth, but there's an extra pair of eyes here. An extra pair of eyes!

“Shinichi!”

Shinichi halts at that, finally meeting her red face and apprehensive eyes that seem to be pointing his attention vaguely to her right.

“What are you...” He’s not getting it, he’s an idiot for not getting it, and she has to mouth it for him to get it. And then, “Oh... H-Hi. Kazuha-san.”

He shoots Ran a questioning look after that, which she doesn’t get why because she’s the one supposed to be giving him that.

“...Kazuha-chan is joining us for dinner before she catches the shinkansen back to Osaka,” Ran explains, soft in the ear but the bite is there for Shinichi to hear. “Since she hasn’t been to our house, we decided to buy food for us three and eat here.”

“I’m sorry to startle ya, Kudou-kun!” the flustered Osakan bows apologetically, and Shinichi returns with an equally timid bow.

“N-No, I should be saying sorry for, uh...” he clears his throat, turns red on the neck, and that’s how Ran knows his rashness earlier is finally getting to him.

And her.

And Kazuha.

Oh god, this is embarrassing.

Not wanting the awkwardness to last even longer (it’s killing all three of them), Ran initiates the speak. “Let’s heat up the food first, Kazuha-chan!” She grabs the woman by the wrist and drags her inside the mansion. “And Shinichi,” she turns around, voice becoming lower, “Gift. Hide it,” and pecks him on the cheek.

Hal Jordan has seen a bunch of strange shit but he hasn't seen anything like this. On his way back to Oa a few sectors away in the middle of nowhere space, A huge portal of swirling greens tears open in front of him. That was strange all in of itself, but what made it stranger was the small baseball sized orb that was spat out before the portal closed itself again. Hal swiftly flies over towards the orb and gently grabs it. The material feels almost like glass. the structure inside looking like a beautifully intricate blown glass paperweight of greens and blues. "Ring. Scan the anomaly."

After a small lightshow from his ring, A small female voice says "Anomaly Unknown. Major source of energy detected. 85% chance of sentient life." What? The rings know what the Guardians know and the Guardians know everything. Is this thing truly something completely unknown to the guardians of the universe?

wow, thank you for this prompt. i did a 30-minute speed write:

“This is who he was,” the others say, passing over the information of his life in binders. “This was what he did. This was what he wore and what he liked to eat.” The file they pass over last, Grantaire’s, is thick. Someone calls it a phone-book, a word without any meaning. “This was who he loved.”