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Adela was pretty good at taking care of people, if she ever told herself.
She's used to it– She was but a child when she had to start taking care of her mother in a drunken stupor, and when she had disappeared from her mother's clutches did she truly learn how to take care of other people.
So it wasn't anything different for her to start taking care of people in the MBCC.
Chief had snickered when she saw Adela giving another sinner—a shorter girl, with a cute little hat and a mean smirk—a piece of chocolate she bought just outside.
“I'm just not used to seeing a sinner take care of another sinner inside the MBCC before,” is what Chief responded with when Adela shot her a questioning look.
It made Adela feel weird. Was it unusual for other sinners to take care of each other? She looks around and sees the other sinners fighting. A friendly one of course, but still a brawl.
Adela blinked when she realized she was the odd one out.
But of course, she insisted on taking care of the other sinners. Whenever a girl—same height as the previous, one with long blue hair with bandages wrapped around her arms—would show her art to Adela, Adela would hold it like a happy mother.
It felt nice taking care of other people.
So of course Adela had noticed when one particular sinner wasn't taking care of herself a whole lot.
She was the new one, Adela remembers, looking through file after file and noticing her name was the most recent one. Shawn, her name was. And down her files had classified her as an A Rank.
This didn't intrigue Adela as much. She had her own life to take care of, so of course she didn't pay it much mind, but then.
Adela saw that Shawn was on her phone, texting on countless other phones in hand. Curious, she sits down next to her.
“What are you doing?” She asks, merely curious, nothing else to it other than that. But Shawn seemed to jump at her words, covering her phone.
“Oh shi– Sorry, I didn't notice you there, uhm…” Shawn seems to take one quick look at her before grinning. “Say, pretty lady, what got you here?”
Adela blinks. A sudden switch-up in personality from Shawn wasn't what Adela expected, and her question had some certain undertone to it that Adela didn't quite get. It's like she wanted to know why, but also didn't.
She tilts her head. “I don't think I want to say.” It was classified information. One that Adela wanted to put behind her. Past is past, as usual.
Shawn seems surprised at her answer before she chuckles. “Secretive, I see.” It had a certain flirtatious tone to it. One that Adela hears from certain male customers in her shop before she closed it down. “It's fine. I understand. I'm-”
“Miss Shawn. Nice to meet you. I'm Adela.” She takes the womans outstretched hand on a short handshake, but she saw that Shawn's expression held a fair amount of surprise before she grins.
“I see you've dug through my information. Kind of romantic, if I do say so myself.”
Like somebody pressed auto on Adela, she grins and chuckles. The same response she uses whenever men would flirt with her. “You don't say? I didn't expect you to be someone who'd think stalking was romantic.”
Shawn tsks. “Why, it's the highest form of romance one can hold!”
Adela laughs then, caught off guard by the seemingly honest response. “I see.”
That's when the intrigue starts.
–
Shawn was…an odd one, that's for certain.
She would often sport a flirtatious look when even one simply looked or even glanced at her, and it made Adela chuckle a little bit whenever people would just put her off.
But the thing that was truly odd was the Shawn outside of flirtatious remarks and a ‘sexy’—one sinner had named it as such, one with loud blonde hair and even louder mouth—smirk.
Shawn was…a hopeless romantic, as one would call it. Adela thinks it's funny– she's never even held such thoughts about romance before, and yet here was another woman, holding the exact opposite, quite desperate views on romance.
It made Adela more intrigued than ever.
When Adela mentioned it to Shawn one time, the woman had merely chuckled. “I can't believe you'd call my tactics a desperation. ”
Adela smiled, tilting her head slightly. “But isn't it exactly that , Miss Shawn? Aren't you quite desperate for romance?” She asked, her voice a teasing touch.
Shawn had pursed her lips, a small blush on her cheeks. She looked away. “M-maybe.”
Adela never knew what spurred on such a reaction.
–
She starts noticing Shawn isn't taking care of herself when Shawn got sent back on an investigation with bruises on her arm and a gaping wound in her leg.
Chief had been the first to know, of course, but Adela knew immediately. As soon as Shawn got back and got taken care of by the MBCC Nurses, Adela had ran to the place where Shawn was sleeping at.
She was panting for air when she was in front of the door, seeing Chief standing just outside.
“Miss Inspector,” Adela said, surprise not hidden from her face as she stared.
Chief had looked at her back then with a weird expression. “Since when did you guys get so close?” A smirk on her usually apathetic face made Adela feel more confused.
“What do you mean by that, Miss Inspector?” She asked as she held the doorknob, waiting for her to respond. She needed to visit Shawn as soon as possible– Adela wanted to see what happened to her.
Chief shook her head. “Nothing, nothing, don't mind me. Go on and see her. She was waiting for you.”
Something akin to warmth spreads on Adelas body when she hears that Shawn was waiting for her, and she enters the room with a soft smile.
That soft smile doesn't dissipate any lesser when she sees Shawn on the bed, body covered in bandages. She sat in the chair next to the bed, looking at the injuries.
“Adela?” Shawn asked when she felt a gloved hand tenderly touch her shoulder. Adela smiled even wider.
“Yes, Miss Shawn. It's me. How are you feeling?”
Shawn seemed to chuckle. “Better, now that you're here.”
Adela sighed, holding the outstretched hand. “Still a flirt even when in danger, I see.”
Shawn nodded, although the action is kind of unseen because she's buried in so much pillows, but Adela can see the obvious shift in the pillows and concludes such. “I tend to see romance in everything.”
Adela had ignored her response, asking what happened. Shawn's story seemed almost like it came from a movie the MBCC shows atleast once a month.
She was walking in an alleyway when a crazed fan had discovered her. She wasn't aware that people knew her in that side of town so she didn't disguise herself, but she was still found out, and before Shawn knew it she was being tackled to the ground.
Good thing a person came to save her in the midst of that.
Adela had been frowning so hard she was sure countless hairs had been growing as soon as she heard the story being told. Worry, worry, it was hard to stop herself from holding Shawn's hand tighter.
“Maybe I don't think a stalker isn't as romantic anymore,” Shawn says as a way of soothing Adelas worries, and it- It works. Adela laughs, worries forgotten.
“You need to start taking better care of yourself, Miss Shawn.” She said sternly, making the woman snicker.
“You sound just like a doting girlfriend, Adela.”
Adela didn't quite know the implications that Shawn was sending then, only that Shawn wasn't listening to her properly. “If that's what'll make you listen to me, then so be it.”
Shawn had sputtered out a response, something akin to “Oh my god!” and a squeal of Adelas name. It made her quite entertained.
Sitting there, seeing Shawn's injuries made Adela think.
If Shawn wasn't taking care of herself, Adela will.
–
Adela didn't quite know when they started developing such a deep bond. She just enjoyed talking to Shawn so much that it became a daily occurence– something that felt normal.
And the things Adela notices about the woman was quite… worrying.
She was often glued to the screen, on her cellphone any time of the day when she wasn't busy with either therapy or training, and it made Adela worry for her eyesight.
She had told her as such, and Shawn merely shrugged. “I need to tell my beauties to wait for me.”
It has made Adela filled with an emotion she couldn't describe, and she had been left shattering each and every piece of metal thrown at her during training with her scissors, Mad Shears glowing in her hold as she unleashed her fury.
Adela speculates that she's just worried for Shawn's eyesight.
Another was that Shawn quite literally was as forgetful as someone who Adela had used her sinner power on.
She often forget about eating, about drinking water, about taking a shower– all in which has Adela furrowing her eyebrows.
When Shawn had responded to her after a few minutes of staring at the computer screen, Adela had been even more worried. “I wish I didn't need to eat or drink, if you get what I mean.”
She didn't. Who in their right mind would wish for something as diabolical as that ?
Shawn was a confusing… mess, were the only words Adela could find. And it had made her want to take care of the woman more and more.
–
“You're quite harsh when it comes to dealing with yourself, aren't you?” Adela had brought up everything she noticed about Shawn after their training sessions. Adela didn't feel sweaty, but she still took the time to fix her hair, combing it in the bathroom.
Shawn had been staring at her when she coughed before answering. “What makes you say that?”
Adela sighs. “You don't drink often, you don't sleep often, and you don't eat often. You almost passed out one time during the heat wave when you had been too busy reminding your beauties that they should drink water that you, yourself forgot to drink one.”
Shawn blinks. “Really?”
“I read the transcripts. Miss Inspector tells me.” She shot Shawn a deadpan look. Once finished with her hair, she starts taking off her clothing, an action that had Shawn nearly shouting her ears off.
“Woah, woah, wait!! Hold it!! Don't take another pull of that zipper!” She waved her hands haphazardly, making Adela chuckle.
“Don't be silly, Miss Shawn. We're sharing a bathroom. I think stripping is alright.” She was about to pull out her zipper once more before Shawn starts screaming again.
“Don't! Don't! Oh my god, Adela you're- you're-” A blush was one Adela liked seeing on Shawn. It made her pale face flushed with color, and it made her seem more beautiful than usual.
But she ignored that in order to help the poor woman currently having what seemed to be a breakdown. “Fine. You go first, Miss Shawn. I'll stand outside the bathroom and you can knock inside the door once you're done changing.”
Shawn smiled then, thanking Adela as she walked outside of the bathroom.
It made her wonder why Shawn was so shy all of a sudden.
–
Adela gives Shawn a cheekful of cold water, making the woman hiss before glaring at a smiling, snickering Adela.
“I see you've gotten quite cheeky, huh?” She said as she took the water from Adelas hands. Adela only smiled more, seeing the way Shawn relished in drinking the water.
Their arrangement is going smoothly. The “arrangement” in question being that Adela gives Shawn food and water and Shawn will oblige in order to live. Simple as that.
But Shawn still wasn't sleeping well, and that wasn't a simple matter to tackle.
Today too, it seems that Shawn hadn't slept well. Her eyebags are getting tougher and tougher for Adela to stomach, and she'd been yawning up a storm in the lounge for a while now.
Adela touched Shawn's underye, making the woman flinch. “What do you think you're doing?” She asked, holding Adelas hand.
“You haven't been sleeping well,” Adela says with worry obvious in her voice. Shawn merely chuckles.
“It's fine. I'm used to it.”
And that was that.
But Adela didn't want it to be. She wanted to find out why Shawn wasn't sleeping properly. Was she uncomfortable in her bed? Was she not used to having a room all by herself? Did she not like the feeling of the cold?
Finding all of those questions to be hard to answer, Adela hummed, and, finally, she got an idea.
“Do you want to sleep with me tonight?”
Shawn blinked at her question, a high blush already making it's way on her face, coloring her pale cheeks red. “What?”
Adela nodded. “Yes. Do you want to go to my room tonight and sleep there? I'm pretty sure you'll be able to sleep properly.”
Shawn didn't know what to answer, her face starting to become as red as a tomato, but she couldn't say no– not when Adela was showing such a lovely pout on her dark lips that it made Shawn afraid of saying no.
“F-fine…” She grumbles, making Adela hold a nice smile as she claps her hands quietly.
“That's that, then!” She stands up, holding the empty water bottle Shawn had just finished and moving towards the bin. “I'll go get you some food!”
Shawn looked at her, confusion on her face. “That's that…” she whispered to herself, and she held her undereye, feeling that same lingering touch Adela had given her.
With a shy blush high on her cheeks, Shawn had returned to flirting back with people on the internet.
But she couldn't take her mind off of what was to come.
–
Adela lead Shawn to her room. It was nicely furnished, eminating that same vibe she liked having in her salon, with gold lights and small lamps all around the room.
Adela quite liked the way she styled the place.
“I didn't even know you could make your rooms look like this,” Shawn says in awe as she looks around the whole room. Adela felt prideful when the woman had stepped in with bright eyes.
“I did try to make it as comfortable as possible. Please, feel at home.”
Shawn stood near the bed, looking at it with a blush. “Are you sure about this, Adela…?” She heard no response, making her look at the room to see that she's the only one inside.
“Adela?” She tried again. Still no response.
Sighing, she sits at the bed and feels the comfortable matress. Way different from her brick-like bed, and starts to get more comfortable as she lays down on it.
She opens her eyes to see Adela looking at her, making Shawn sit up.
“Sorry, Miss Shawn. I had to change.” At the mention of her changing, Shawn looked at Adelas attire and feels herself get tongue-tied at how her top drapes on her body, showing off a little bit of cleavage, and bell shaped sleeves that billow whenever Adela moves.
Shawn is, easy to say, quite enamoured.
“...awn..? Miss Shawn?” Shawn steps out of her daze and looks at Adela with a hum. “You seemed quite distracted, I got worried.”
The sound of what seems to be an alarm clock makes Adela turn, walking towards the bedside table and turning it off.
“It's time to rest.” She looks at Shawn with a warm smile, making the woman's heart patter against her ribcage.
Adela turns off the light, making Shawn hyper aware of everything around her. She hears the way Adela’s shoes sound against the floor, and it makes her feel breathless.
She feels the bed dip next to her, and she feels warm breath near her neck.
“Goodnight, Miss Shawn.” Were the words Adela had told her before finally closing her eyes, and when she hears a cough, and a more quiet “Goodnight, Adela,” she smiles against the pillow.
Shawn sleeps when she feels Adelas slow breathing next to her, with Adelas scent. Her mind is filled with nothing but a cocophony of Adela, Adela, Adela —
Shawn closes her eyes, and hears her heart beat against her chest as a support for the sound of Adelas breathing next to her.
–
Adela looked at Shawn's complexion and found that she's looking better. Ever since that day of Shawn sleeping in her bed, Adela had insisted on letting her sleep there nearly every night.
Of course, the insisting wasn't against a very red-faced Shawn, but Adela has always been known for her patience, so she insisted, and insisted , until Shawn had no way of saying no.
Smiling, she looks at the woman's complexion and finds the bags under her eyes growing smaller and smaller.
“Quit staring. You'll fall in love with me,” Shawn says as she bites down on the food Adela had given her just a few minutes ago, followed by sipping the water Adela gave her just now.
She chuckles. “I'm pretty sure that that's unlikely, Miss Shawn.”
Shawn raises her eyebrow at that. “And what do you mean by that, Miss Adela?”
“Well, I haven't really felt anything for…well, anyone for a few years now. So I don't think merely staring at you will make me feel something.”
Shawn's expression seems to dim, and she pokes at her food with the fork, frowning. “Hm, maybe so.” She looks at Adela, eyes glaring at her. “But won't you even consider it? Who knows,” she shrugs, “maybe you'll find someone here.”
Adela chuckles as she waves her hand. “That's highly unlikely, Miss Shawn. I'm too busy in making sure you don't faint for me to mind about anyone else.”
And at the mention of that, Shawn blinks before looking away, still chewing her food, and looking at her more clearly does Adela see that same flush on her ears.
“Fine then. Keep being busy with me,” she whispers, and Adela chuckles.
“Will do, Miss Shawn.”
–
It's been a few weeks of them hanging out, the arrangement going as smooth as the sound of scissors snipping, but recently, Shawn's acting a bid weird.
It isn't like Shawn doesn't act weird, Adela knows how most people wouldn't act the way Shawn would do, but of course she just thought those features that make Shawn odd were what made her her.
But recently, it's gotten worrying.
Shawn hasn't been listening, and whenever Adela would invite her to her bedroom at night, Shawn would fully deny her. One night Adela had been trying to get her to come to her room and it ended up in Shawn saying she felt a little uncomfortable with Adela at the moment.
It stung, but Adela told herself to avoid Shawn for now. If it makes her uncomfortable, then so be it.
Until Chief approached her one morning, panting, looking like she ran miles. “We need your help!” She said, groaning afterwards.
“Miss Inspector?” Adela had been cleaning her shears the moment Chief came bursting in her room.
“Shawn, she's- She's in danger!”
That was all Adela needed to hear before she's standing up, shears gleaming amidst the candle-like light of her room. “Where is she?”
–
Shawn fainted in the middle of battle, Chief explained as they walked after fighting a particularly strong beast. Adela’s shears are still covered in countless splats of whatever liquid mania monsters conjure, and she frowns when she looks at it.
“Where is she right now?” Adela asked, worried. It's probably because she isn't getting any sleep. Or eating properly. Or even drinking.
Chief had told her she was in her room, probably still recuperating, and that Adela should visit her as soon as possible.
But before Chief could finish her words, Adela was already walking towards Shawn's room, leaving an open mouthed and quite knowing Chief, shaking her head as she mouthed a few words.
Adela opens the door to Shawn's quarters and sees her laying there– a repeat of that moment that made Adela realized she needed to take care of Shawn.
“Look at you,” she coos as she walks towards Shawn, dropping her shears and sitting down. “You look worse than last time.”
She hears Shawn chuckle, but it's weak and feels more like a forced punched out breath. It makes Adela hurt just hearing it.
“Miss Shawn…” Adela held her hand tighter, feeling it hold hers back. “Please explain to me why you ignored our arrangement a few days ago.” She begged her, biting her lower lip.
She hears Shawn sigh.
“I realized I had some- Well, that I- I liked you. And that made me think that I'll hurt myself if I talk to you more.”
Adela's eyebrows were furrowed with worry. “Hurt? Why?”
“Because you told me you didn't like anyone. I was afraid I'd go through another rejection, and I- I wouldn't be able to take it. Not with you.”
“Why not?”
“Because you're different, Adela. The way you treat me like I'm- I'm something important, it's- Not like what I thought.”
She understood now exactly what it meant when Shawn had a blush high on her cheeks. She liked Adela.
Adela likes the thought way more than she should, really, and she looks at Shawn once more.
“Why didn't you tell me all about this, Miss Shawn?”
“Because I was scared you wouldn't reciprocate.”
Adela fiddled with her gloves. It was true, she would definitely reject Shawn the moment she had told her that she held romantic feelings, but the thought of rejecting Shawn almost feels…terrible?
Adela isn't really sure of what she's feeling right now, and it makes her feel more confused than usual. She wasn't worried—no hair seemed to be growing out—only that she was- She was sad.
Why?
“Miss Shawn, if you would please listen to me, I have…a proposition.” The words were coming out of her mouth by the time she fully realized what she was saying. Shawn looked at her, and did Adela realize how beautiful Shawn's eyes look.
“You will continue to let me take care of you, and in return I…” she thinks before breathing deep, “I get to receive your courting.”
Shawn seems to blink at her. “Courting? Like- Giving you gifts, and all of that? That courting?”
Adela nods. “Quite. Yes. And, as for the outcome–”
Shawn freezes, scared and worried.
Adela smiles. “We'll let the future answer it.”
And Shawn softens before finally laughing. “It's so funny that you call it courting. We call it hitting on, for your information.”
Adela scoffs. “That sounds too violent for me. So, courting it is.”
Adela holds her hand tighter, and Shawn bites her lower lip. “Fine. Courting. You'll be the doting girlfriend, won't you?”
It is then that Adela feels the things she's merely seen in other people, specifically Shawn. Her cheeks are flushed, and her heart is beating incredibly fast.
She smiles sweetly and squeezes Shawn's hand. “Yes. I will.”
–
Adela was pretty good at taking care of people, if she ever told herself.
But what Adela wasn't pretty good at, she came to realize, was accepting gifts from other people.
Shawn had started gifting her small things, ones that Adela wouldn't even find appealing if not for the way Shawn presents them, and she finds herself unable to comment on it whenever she'd receive a gift after Shawn had came back from investigation.
“Maybe you're just not used to it,” Chief had told her when she was telling her about it, and Adela had pouted.
“Perhaps.”
But of course, like everything else, Adela slowly finds herself getting used to this arrangement.
Shawn would give her a gift, Adela would give her food and water in turn, and that was that.
Adela took care of Shawn's physical health, and Shawn showed Adela something she wasn't quite used to.
She showed her romance, of flushed cheeks and erratic heartbeats, and, soon, Shawn would show her soft lips, and warm, tender kisses.