@sheabutter
I hope you enjoy! This was fun :) !!!
I pair Aryn with Akecheta!
Akecheta is a well over six foot male with long, straight, black hair, and tree bark brown eyes. His skin is a light honey with black moles sprinkled here and there. He has a slight burn mark on the left bottom side of his chin and scratches across the insides of both his arms. He's gotten very muscular over the years by using his built up anger to workout but still manages to have a slightly chubby face. Akecheta's clothing mostly consists of dark colors, to blend in with the night, but every once in a while he likes to throw in a bit of green or blue. You can usually find him wearing a long sleeved, black thermal with black, baggy, combat pants and black tie up boots. Akecheta has PTSD from a fire that had burned down his childhood home, with the rest of the family in it, so he's rather seclusive about his past and chooses to bottle up those feelings alot.
Akecheta enjoys sitting in an open, sunny, field to watch the rabbits and deer play. Baby animals are his only true weakness and, if you ever give him a puppy, his stone cold demeanor will melt instantly.On days when he is sad, Akecheta enjoys carving animals out of wood to pass the time. He is protective- maybe a bit too much- over the people he finds worth his time and will stop at nothing to keep them safe. Akecheta is a real family person but, even though its one of his wishes to settle down, he will never tell you that. Akecheta is scared of being intimidated/tied down and is always on high alert when being sent out on one of his missions.
I imagine that their paths cross on one cold, winter morning in a library.
Aryn is scanning through one, of multiple, books that they have gathered throughout the nonfiction section. Most of the covers portray mythical beings and legends, but one or two are mysteriously bare covered and ragged at the sides.
Either a sign of old age…or poor handling.
A black notebook rests under their wrist. It’s pages are filled with detailed information and doodles of strange creatures.
Aryn stops their reading to scribble down something on the pages. Their finger underlines the words as they read.
The door to the library opens, but Aryn doesn’t pay it much mind, and then closes gently.
Footsteps thump through the aisles of books. Stopping every so often to surly scan the books before thumping away again. The echo back and forth from the table Aryn is sitting at for many minutes.
It makes Aryn grow weary, but they continue their reading and begin to sketch another creature.
A loud, annoyed sign can be heard to the right of Aryn. They cease their writing to side glance the person beside them.
“ Oh boy…”
The man is tall, really tall, and his skin is the color of warm honey…but his aura is cold and dark.
He wears all black clothing, baggy and heavy, that covers every inch of his body up to the sliver of skin below his sharp jawline.
He brushes a hand through black, soft looking hair with a disgruntled look on his face.
Aryn leans back a bit, not enough to draw the man’s attention to them but enough to see what the man is looking at.
The nonfiction section…of course. And what seems to be bringing him dissatisfaction is the missing book of ancient myths…the one Aryn is currently reading.
The man steps back from the book shelf, Aryn quickly looks back to their book, and looks around the empty library.
‘ We are the only ones here.’ Aryn thinks, and they don’t know whether that’s a good or bad thing…
He scans the horizon of books. Aryn shuffles in their chair.
Brown eyes soon lock onto the cover of Aryn’s book, and the thumping footsteps soon come striding their way.
Aryn keeps their attention on the book. Nervousness shakes their spine.
The man stops at the chair beside Aryn’s, leaning on it with one hand, and his big shadow envelops them.
Small sweat droplets form on Aryn’s forehead.
‘God, he’s huge.’
The man clears his throat, and it makes Aryn flinch.
“Mind if I join you?” His voice is deep, but calming and it makes Aryn relaxe their shoulders a bit.
Shakily, they look up at the stranger, hoping against hope that their eyes don’t show any fear.” Depends…what do you want?” Aryn asks, with the most courageous voice they could muster, and the man gives a friendly smile.
“ What makes you think I want anything more than to talk?” He says it casually, but the obvious way his eyes flicker back and forth from Aryn’s book tells them something else
‘ He’s afraid…but of what?’
Aryn shakes their head.“ Most people want more, it’s a common judgment of mine, so don’t take it too personally.” They have to hide a prideful smile at the way their voice stayed leveled.
The man purses his lips.“ Mm, my skins pretty thick, I think I can live with it.” He pulls out the chair beside Aryn, without being invited to, and turns it around to sit with the back of the chair pressing against his chest.
An awkward silence hangs in the air.
“ Whatcha reading there?”
Aryn frowns, annoyed, and closes the book with their pencil inside of it.“ If you don’t want anything, what is it you want to talk about?” They huff, beginning to neatly stack to books up into a pile.¨ I´m kinda busy…¨
¨ Oh, I´m sorry for my intrusion, but it won't take long.¨ He says with a smile.¨ I just have a few questions…¨ The man trails off as his face turns serious. Eyes staring intensely at the closed book.
Aryn swallows and sifts to face him.¨ Wh…what is it?¨ Their voice waivers a bit, frightened by the look on the strangers face.
The man shakes his head, the stern look of his face growing deeper, and points to the cover of their book with a growl.” That.¨ He says the one word harshly.¨ What do you think of it?¨
¨ What?¨ Aryn blurts hesitantly. They look at the book cover, ´Ancient Myths and Legends of many Years´, with its wordy title and ripped edges. What's so special about it? The myths? Fabricated. And legends? Just over exaggerated wives tales.
The book is just pulsing with creativity and lies. None of it is true.
´ But what if it is?´ That question always lingers at the back of Aryn´s mind, ´what if they were all right? And the book is true?´, and they can never seem to come to an agreement.
Aryn is smart enough to know that the stories that go on in the back are fake, yes, but they do know that they had to come from real events….right?
No one just one day thinks ´What if gods existed? And they were the cause of all of our misfortune? What if we named one Thor! He can be the god of war! And, oh! How about we give him an uncle! We´ll name him Loki! God of mischief!´ It's just too complicated and obscure…no one could have pulled that from nothing.
A strong clearing of the throat brings Aryn out of their day dreaming. They look up and-..oh yeah, the guy is still here.
Aryn sighs tiredly and shakes their head.” I don’t…I don’t know.” They rest their head on the palm of their hand.” It’s just a fun read, there's really nothing else to say, right?” Aryn straightens up and turns the book towards the stranger.
“ Just weird fantasies.”
The more Aryn talks, the angier the stranger seems to get. He looks down at the book with such hate and malice that Aryn begins to think it might just burst into a pile of ashes.
Aryn hesitantly reaches back for the book, but immediately flinches back as the man slams his closed fist on the table.
“ Thats what everyone fucking says!” He gets up from the chair, almost knocking it over, to pace back and forth. His anger rising.” Everyone fucking thinks its all fake!…but its not!” He kicks the leg of the table, hard, for emphasis then twists his chair around and sits back down. His brown eyes filled with…fear?
Aryn notices themselves shaking, and quells it by curling a fist.
The man huffs through his nose and leans forward with his elbows on his knees.” They’re all stupid! You know…its stupid, the myths are real! They aren’t myths, I know that they aren’t…but no one-” he pauses to, again, slam his fist on the table.” believes me!”
Aryn leans further back in their chair…but a pit of anger bubbles in their stomach as the man ruffles his hair, agitated.
“ And I don’t know what to do…and now, I’m sitting in a library talking to…” the man stops, his anger drops a bit, to look at Aryn with squinted eyes. It makes them want to sweat.
The man leans forward, looking Aryn up and down.
“ You.” he says, simply, flopping back into the chair.” Another idiot that doesn’t believe what's right in front of them…” the man pinches the bridge of his nose, eyes closed.” How sad…”
Aryn feels their eye twitch, and their stomach bubbles like hot pasta sauce.
“ Has anyone ever told you how much of an asshole you are?” Aryn says it so quickly, that they barely comprehend the words before it's too late. They gasp softly, eyes wide, and bring their hands to their mouth.
The stranger turns their head, eyes watching them curiously, as a smile curves his lips.” yes, actually, it seems I have the same effect on everyone.” He rests his hands on his knees, interest filling his brown eyes.” No one can really stand talking after thirty minutes.” His smile turns to a smirk.
Aryn narrows their brows. A deep frown forms on their face.” Then why do you keep talking? Isn’t no one listening.”
The man's smirk grows.” Usually not…but, every so often, I meet someone else.” he blinks slowly.” Someone cool and mysterious…like you.”
Aryn waits for him to laugh, for it to be a joke, but nothing comes. The man just keeps smiling…and nothing more.
It makes Aryn want to smile back.
They can, slightly, admit that the man is handsome. Nice build, jawline, and beautiful eyes…but, personality wise, maybe not too flattering. He holds himself with such false confidence that it makes Aryn want to physically cringe.
He’s a guy who doesn’t read the room around him, it too obviously caught up in his own imagination to understand…and that's what makes him interesting.
Aryn lets themselves give the man a bug, genuine smile, and outstends their hand.” I’m afraid I haven’t properly introduced myself. Hi, my name is Arynnalli Anuusi, but you can call me Aryn…It’s nice to meet you.”
The man hesitates a bit, his smile doesn’t waiver, but ultimately he grips Aryn’s hand tightly.
“ Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Aryn.” He bows his head, respectively, and it makes Aryn giggle.
“ My name's Akecheta….but, you can call me all yours…” Akecheta lifts an eyebrow, slyly, winking.
Aryn flicks him on the nose.” Not before you buy me dinner.”
Akecheta rubs the spot on his nose where Aryn flicked him.” Is that a promise?”
“ No.” Aryn gathers their stuff and stands up, looking down at Akecheta expectantly.
“ It’s a request.” Aryn turns to face the exit, Akecheta stares at their back in disbelief, and smiles widely.
They look back at Akecheta after the man has not yet gotten up to follow them, and nods their head to the door.
“ Come on, lets get outta here. I know a good Thai place we can eat at.” they turn back around. Akecheta waits a moment more and then gets up quickly to stride to Aryn’s side.
Aryn smiles at the big shadow that looms by their side and looks up at Akecheta with a smirk.” You’re paying.”
They receive a similar smirk in return.” Wouldn’t expect nothing less.” he opens the library door for Aryn, gives the weird books on the table one last look, and then encloses the building into a deafening silence once more.