#zora fluff

Your shoulders instantly relaxed, Camp Director Yami was finally here.

“Hello, campers!” His voice boomed over the speakers, “Welcome to Camp Black Bull. Who’s ready for a good time?” The counselors and children whooped and hollered but it seemed not enough for Yami, who cupped a hand behind his ear.

“I said, who’s ready to have a good time?”

You cupped your hands around your mouth to yell louder, the sounds around you reverberated through you, and you felt excitement rush through you, this was going to be a good week. Yami laid out all of the ground rules, the campers should listen to their counselors, and if they had a problem, find the nearest counselor to sort it out. After a few more camp songs, Yami made the announcement that you all were due back here after lunch for more group activities.

Yami left and you glanced at your clipboard to get the day’s agenda, you wouldn’t be going to archery until 10:30 and it was only 10 now, which left you 30 minutes to fill with camp songs and games. You left the tent with your kids in tow to find the perfect spot to sit and go over the agenda for the day until it was time for archery. You spotted an area through the trees, it would be perfect for what you had planned, but you had no sooner stepped into the clearing when at the same time a group led by the boy with red hair you’d seen earlier also stepped in from the opposite side.

You frowned, “I’m sorry but I think we were here first.” The boy raised an eyebrow, “No I don’t think so, I’m pretty sure we ended up here at the same time. But there’s not enough space for both groups here.” You ran your tongue over your teeth, feeling your annoyance grow already just from the cocky look on his face, his nametag read ‘Zora.’. “Fine, we’ll settle this with a game of rock paper scissors.” You said, tucking your clipboard between your knees.

“Best of 3?” He asked. You nodded and he dropped his clipboard on the ground near his feet. You faced each other, tension palpable in the air.

“Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!” You had rock and he had scissors, but you grew too cocky from your early win. It ended in a defeat, he beat you with rock and paper. You begrudgingly shook his hand to show good sportsmanship and he smiled, showing a mouth full of sharp teeth. “Good game, see you around Y/N.”

You led your campers to a nearby picnic table and you sat, going over the agenda of the day. “Alright, we have Archery in about 10 minutes, and then we’ll go to lunch, then it’s back to the assembly tent for some games, and then we have canoeing this afternoon.”

10 minutes passed quickly and you made your way to the archery field, brightening when you saw that your friend Vanessa’s group had archery the same time yours did. “Hey you!” You waved. She perked up when she saw you, a smile lighting up her face. “Hey friends, this is my friend Miss Vanessa!”

“Hi Vanessa!” Your kids said, waving to her. The archery instructor, a man named Klaus, soon captured the group’s attention and took over. As he explained what the kids would be doing, you realized how thirsty you were. Sadly your water bottle was empty so you tapped Vanessa, asking her to keep an eye on your campers while you went to the water station.

You started filling up your bottle, not wanting to leave Vanessa with 20 campers for too long, and you heard the crunching of leaves. You rose and saw Zora standing there, water bottle in hand. “Hello again.” He said, fingers raising in a quick wave. “Hello to you too.”

Archery passed relatively uneventfully, except for some of the kids deciding that finding bugs and giving them to you was infinitely more interesting than watching their friends shoot arrows. Vanessa and yourself led the kids to lunch after you both explained that bugs were not presents.

You made sure your kids were settled in line before you grabbed a tray. The way the lunchroom was set up, you would need two counselors per table, but Vanessa had already been commandeered by Grey tugging on her arm. She flashed you an apologetic look but you waved her off, heading for a table near the back of the room. You set your tray down at the same time as Zora, who sat on the opposite end of the table. It was hard not to feel like he was following you, you knew he wasn’t, and that it was just a coincidence, but it was maddening the way you kept running into each other.

Your groups seemingly didn’t have the same schedule, but you still saw him everywhere. Why do we keep running into each other? During the after-lunch assembly, you took a moment to pull Vanessa off to the side. “What do you know about Zora?” You asked, eyes flicking over him from across the room. Vanessa shrugged, “Not a lot, he’s kind of cagey and keeps to himself. Why?” You frowned, watching as he led his kids through a group activity. “No reason.” Vanessa got a thoughtful look on her face and then started to giggle.

“Oh I see, you think he’s cute don’t you?”

“What?” You protested, face suddenly very hot, “I do not!”

Vanessa’s smile grew wider as she watched you panic, “Okay, whatever you say.”

The lake lapped at your feet as you helped your campers into their life jackets. Noelle, the instructor in charge of canoeing cleared her throat, “Now, it’s important that you keep these on, the lake isn’t very deep but drowning is still a dangerous possibility and we need to be safe so we can have fun okay? Now get into pairs since there will need to be 2 campers per canoe.” A familiar head of red hair jogged up, campers in tow.

“Sorry I’m late Noelle, several of my kids took a while to change.”

Noelle waved him off, “Whatever Zora, just get them ready, Y/N’s group is already about to head out on the water.”

After you loaded your kids into their respective canoes and helped them push off, you paced on the dock, unsure of what to do except for supervising. Zora cleared his throat, holding up two life jackets. “Want to share a canoe?” You bit your lip, considering his request, your eyes flicked to Noelle and she nodded, stating that she could handle any water emergencies. “Sure.” You took the life jacket from him gingerly. You set your backpack by the lifeguard stand and put the lifejacket on so it sat snug around you. Zora was taller than you, so you’d need to be in the front.

You sat in the canoe and Zora pushed off, rocking the boat as he jumped into it. You paddled along quietly, save for saying hello to a few of your campers. A few of the girls giggled and began singing, “Y/N and Zora sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g.” You yelled out a protest, cheeks warming at the thought; you’d known this man for exactly a day and your campers were already trying to get you together. You tried to push the thoughts out of your mind, there was no way you liked him, no matter what Vanessa said.

Suddenly a giant piece of what looked like driftwood smashed into the boat, sending you rocking. “Where did that come from?” You asked, turning over your shoulder to look at Zora.

“No idea,” He shrugged, “This is a lake so there shouldn’t be a current here.”

The boat was bumped a second time, this time from underneath and you were sent into the air. You yelled in surprise as you saw what had capsized your boat, it was a giant dolphin! You landed in the water with a splash, the cold water making you gasp. You swam to the dock and were pulled out by a pair of strong arms. Zora ran to a nearby supply shed and emerged with two fluffy towels; as you sat shivering on the dock he gently wrapped one of them around your shoulders.

“Th-thank you.” You stuttered through your chattering teeth. As you glanced at him you noticed his shirt was off, for such a slender guy he was muscular and you couldn’t help but stare. He noticed you staring and chuckled, “Wanna take a photo? It’ll last longer.”

You sputtered at his words, cheeks heating up enough to make you forget how cold you were. At your panicked expression, he chuckled once more, wrapping his towel around his shoulders, “I’m just joking.”

You didn’t have time to respond because Noelle jogged up with a concerned look on her face, “Hey you two, are you alright?” You both nodded, “What about the children?”

Noelle nodded, “All present and accounted for. I’ll take care of them, why don’t you change? You might catch cold if you’re not careful.”

You and Zora headed for the staff cabin, shoes squeaking uncomfortably on the dirt. After taking a quick but blessedly warm shower, you emerged out of one of the bathrooms with fresh clothes on. Zora emerged from the other bathroom a few moments later.

“Who knew there was a dolphin in there?” He said with a laugh, toweling off his hair. You smiled, “I know right? Maybe we should go talk to Yami about it.”

His mouth twitched, “Something tells me he already knows.” You made the short trek back to the lake and found Yami being chewed out by Noelle.

“Someone could have gotten hurt, Yami! What were you thinking, putting a freshwater dolphin in here?”

Yami rubbed the back of his head, “It’s my pet! I needed a place to put it.”

You escorted your kids back to the assembly tent and took a quick breather outside. Zora joined you with a quick wave, “Crazy day huh?”

You nodded with a slight chuckle, “I can see it now, headlines in the newspaper, ‘2 camp counselors launched into air by pet dolphin.’

You both laughed before settling back into comfortable silence once more.

Zora cleared his throat, “Say, Y/N?”

“Hmm?”

“Would you want to… Maybe grab a bite this weekend, my treat?”

You blinked at his words, but decided that it couldn’t hurt, after all, maybe having a near-death experience together had brought you closer.

“Sure, why not?”

When you joined the squad, he couldn't believe it; the person he had seen by chance was now a comrade. He kept it to himself though, the way his heart skipped a beat when he was near you, the way your laugh made him want to laugh with you; oh how he wanted to hold your hand, to have it cup his cheek. 

He walked into the hideout once more, cursing to himself as he saw Asta on the couch with you, chattering away and laughing to yourselves. He knew he shouldn't be bothered; you were only friends and due to various circumstances there was no chance of a relationship between you and him, but he was annoyed nonetheless. Zora felt like there was no space for him when you were with Asta, you were always so attentive to his words, and didn't pay attention to much else. "Oh hey Zora! Where have you been?" Asta piped up. 

Zora sighed, but there was no trace of annoyance in it, "Out." You chuckled at his snarky reply and decided to tease him a bit. "Ooh, off to see your secret lover again?" He snorted, "Wouldn't you like to know?" Your smile faltered for a moment, Is he serious, or joking? You sincerely hoped not, because all the while he had been pining for you, your own feelings had begun to grow. He left the common room with a wave, but grimaced when he was in the privacy of his own room, That was so not the correct response. 

After your conversation with Asta came to an end, you decided to go up to your room for a while. Though you did enjoy your time spent with the boy, his bright personality could be draining after a while. You opened the door and were about to get in bed when something caught your eye, an envelope attached to your window. That's strange… 

You opened the window carefully, so as not to make the paper fall and retrieved it. You turned it over in your hands, there was no sender written and the handwriting looked unfamiliar. There appeared to be a letter inside, so you carefully broke the seal and pulled the papers out.  Dear Y/N. Your eyes widened as you read and it became clear, this was a love letter. A love letter? But, who could have sent it? You wracked your brain, but you just couldn’t envision anyone you knew as the author. Gingerly, you opened your desk drawer and placed the letter inside. I wonder who this person is. 

Your first instinct was to believe the first letter was a joke, a one time thing, but more and more letters were placed on your window. Who could be doing this? You wondered. Your desk drawer was nearly filled with letters by this point. You pored over the letters, willing them to reveal who wrote them, but it was no use; whoever had written these had made sure no traces of them were revealed in their writing. You chewed your lip thoughtfully, deciding that some fresh air would do you some good. 

Your bewilderment must have been obvious because Asta gave you a concerned look as you appeared in the common room. “Something wrong Y/N?” He asked, tipping his head to the side. You smiled, he looks just like a puppy. “Not sure yet.” You replied, unwilling to let any of your squadmates, even Asta, know about your secret admirer just yet. You decided to walk around the hideout to clear your head. You stretched and smiled as you went outside, even though the leaves had all fallen from the trees, the forest was still beautiful this time of year. 

You set off, wandering aimlessly on your chosen path. Your eyes were drawn to your window as you passed it and you caught a flash of red in the tree. You stopped short, there shouldn’t be any red, all the leaves are gone. You looked up at the tree and once your eyes adjusted you saw Zora, up in the tree and leaning to place something on your window. You gasped, causing your squadmate to stiffen and nearly fall out of the tree. 

In that moment, Zora was sure his face was as red as his hair. Uh oh, I’ve been caught. No words left your throat, it would seem that you were dumbfounded by this situation. Zora nimbly descended from the tree, and stood awkwardly in front of you. “I-I really don’t have anything to say for myself. Maybe I’ll just let this speak for me?” He said, holding the letter out to you. You took the letter from him and placed it in your pocket to read later. “Why don’t you… meet me upstairs in about 10 minutes?” You asked slowly. Zora nodded, swallowing nervously. 

You sped into the hideout, ignoring Asta and the others’ cries of confusion, and headed for the kitchen; you prepared two mugs, one with your hot drink of choice, and one with mint tea for Zora, then headed upstairs to your room. You honestly didn’t know what to think. It seemed as if Zora had been the one leaving the love letters but why? Did he actually like you? Was this another one of his pranks? Your mind raced with a million questions, but you could only hope that he would indeed come to see you so you could ask him yourself. 

You surveyed the space, setting the mugs down on your desk and quickly cleaning up the clutter so you had room for company. There was a light knock on your door and you tensed, shaking your head in an attempt to shake the doubt from your mind. It’s fine! This will just be a civil conversation between two adults, nothing to worry about at all! You opened your door and ushered an equally nervous-looking Zora into your room. You gestured for him to take the desk chair as you sat on the bed. 

“So…” “So…” You both said awkwardly. You took a sip of your drink, willing your mind to form cohesive thoughts. “The letters, did you mean what you wrote in them?” Zora nodded, cheeks dusted pink as he looked down into his mug. “Every word.” You sat in silence for a while, the quiet only broken by the sounds of you sipping your drinks and the ticking of the clock on the wall.