Archive of Our Own

“Doctor.” Doctor looked up to see Naomi sitting on the edge of his desk. He was used to her coming in early in the morning to talk to him and Elly. He didn’t know why she always came to him so often- was she so curious about medicine? “Ah yes Sakamato-san. What do you need?”  Not a moment later, his eyes trailed back down to his work and another moment after that - thud! What laid on the table in between Naomi and Doctor’s work, was a sunsweet flower encased in a glass case.

 “Do you know what this is? “She asked, Doctor unable to read anything from her expression [though he couldn’t understand expressions in general] . Doctor looked to the flower, and back to her. Of course he knew what it was. It was a flower, a symbol of romantic interest, along with all the scientific data that came with it. Doctor reached out to the case only to quickly redraw his hand. No. There was no reason someone like her would have interest in him. Naomi also hung out a lot with Rick- maybe this was for him. 

“Don’t mess around with me. If you’re going to give that to Rick- don’t parade it around where it could get messed up. Now can you leave? I have work to be getting to.” 

Doctor lied awake for hours that night beating himself up over how ... mean he’d been. Even if she was just coming to show the flower to him, there was no reason for him to have been so mean to her. He thought that it’d been the nail in the coffin for him - that Naomi would’ve given up, and would stop coming to the clinic to chat. 

That wasn’t the case though. Naomi was , in a word, stubborn. Each day she showed up to eat lunch with Elly and Doctor, and each day she’d presented him with the flower. He’d gotten over the anger, and had moved onto confusion. Why was she showing him this? Wasn’t it supposed to be Rick’s? It took Elly and her infinite patience to finally crack the case. 

“Doctor.” Elly spoke, slamming her hand on the hard wood of his office desk. Doctor jumped slightly, looking to where his nurse - slash - receptionist - slash - best friend - slash - roommate was. “Yes?” He managed to stammer out, looking the tiny but fiery woman up and down. “This has gone on for long enough.” Her voice was firm, and she maintained a piercing glare at him that reminded Doctor of Elly’s grandmother back when he’d first moved to Mineral Town. “Wh-what has?” Again, Doctor wasn’t the best at reading the room, and maintained his fear of what Elly intended to do to him. 

“Naomi. She’s been coming in here every day for the past week trying to get you to realize something.” Doctor instantly lost his fear at those words. “That she likes Rick- yes Elly I know.” Doctor rubbed the bridge of his nose and returned to his papers, though not before Elly grabbed both sides of his head. “NO! Because she likes YOU!”  The way Doctor’s eyes widened, you’d’ve thought that he’d finally realized but - “ Stop messing with me. Naomi comes here for you.” Elly looked her idiotic best friend up and down. “I wish she was here for me. That way I’d be the one getting gifts every week.” She scoffed slightly and that made Doctor pause, the pieces beginning to fall together. 

“She gives things to rick though. I-I don’t see why that means I’m special.” This was the first time he’d slip up like that, let his words turn to mush in his mouth. He coughed, and readjusted his necktie - trying to distract himself with work and hope that Elly would move on. “Do you like her?” She asked, moving the chair out from in front of his desk to sit on. It was clear he wasn’t getting any work done, so Doctor set his files aside. “I don’t know really. I like being around her, and I find myself thinking about her when I buy produce from the store - I can tell she grew it, and it makes my meals better. It frustrates me to think she likes Rick, and I want to see her more.” Elly smiled and leaned on her elbows on the desk. “So .. you do like her.” Doctor froze, stunned. Bingo. 

Another sleepless night, Doctor had been mulling over what Elly made him realize. He liked Naomi. She always came by to eat lunch with them, and brought him gifts of little things he’d been craving or needed. He’d be spending a weekend at a conference in the city, and would be wondering what she was doing - and seeing things he’d know she’d like. Why was he so dense? The clock read 6am. Doctor couldn’t believe he’d not gone to sleep yet - but he couldn’t sleep. He needed to - 

If anyone else in Mineral Town was a awake at 6am, they’d see Doctor running in his pajamas. It was an odd sight to say the least as he made his way over to Raven Farm. At 6am, Naomi was just beginning her day. Starting by taking care of her animals, and then checking up on her plants. She’d stepped out right as it began to rain, but wasn’t too bothered by it as she continued on with her duties. 

That is until an unusual noise caught her ear. The rain was a comforting noise as long as it wasn’t storming, so it often cancelled out for her. What didn’t cancel out though was the sound of ... flip flops? Naomi stepped out of the stable with the brush still in her hand only to be rushed by what seemed to be Doctor in his pajamas. It couldn’t be though.. could it? As soon as the figure got closer though, Naomi could clearly see that it was Doctor. The physician came running up to her, quite a hilarious sight, looking like he had something to tell her. Naomi’s eyes shot open wider. 

“NO! Doctor !! The mu-” Naomi couldn’t finish her sentence as Doctor soon slipped in the mud of Naomi’s farm plot. She’d been meaning to set up some kind of paths, but had no real reason to - here was her reason. Tossing the brush to the side, Naomi ran over to where doctor was ass-first stuck in a mud puddle. “Are you okay?” Naomi spoke in a worried tone, as she looked him all over. Doctor nodded, and attempted to get himself out of the puddle - only to fall in again from slipping. 

“Let me help you out.” Naomi sighed and helped him out of the puddle, pulling him out as he gripped onto her arms. Muscular.. Doctor never really noticed that before. He looked her in the eyes, and tried to take a step back to distance himself - only to almost slip again. Naomi caught him this time though, and her lips curled into a slight smile and light chuckle as she stepped away from the mud. 

“Let's get you inside.” She spoke, and Doctor felt like her words were honey. “What about your chores?” He asked, having spotted the discarded brush in a patch of aubergines. Naomi looked over her shoulder at him, her smile from earlier a lot wider, but just as pleasant. “They can wait. Come on.” Doctor managed to no slip on the way to Naomi’s house. 

He’d never seen the inside of her house before, and was pleasantly surprised at what he saw on the inside. It was a normal house, sure, but it was filled with things that were hers. A plush and over-stufffed quilt blanket, a pressed flower artwork, some wine bottles turned into vases, and a plush chicken . There were many other little things that Doctor noticed before Naomi stopped him in his tracks. 

“Next to the kitchen is my bathroom.” She spoke, pointing to the only walled-off room in her small house.  “You can take a shower in there. I think I’ve got something you can wear. As long as you don’t mind hoodies and lounge pants.” She smiled at him, though it was more like she was just smiling in his direction. Doctor nodded and mumbled a thank you as he went to take his shower. Something caught his eye on the way into the bathroom. On the kitchen counter laid the preserved flower, in its glass case. Right, Doctor thought to himself, that’s what I came here to do. 

Naomi had come by mid-shower to give him the clothes. She’d only stuck her hands through the door gap, obviously allowing Doctor some modesty. He’d only just now awoken to his feelings for her - it was faar too early for anything hot and heavy. The shower went well, Doctor noticed that her shower products were all unscented and for sensitive skin... odd. He’d never noticed that before, but then again, she’d never been in for a checkup yet. Doctor changed into the clothes, which happened to fit perfectly for him. 

As he left the bathroom, Doctor had an idea - and grabbed for the preserved flower. Naomi was busy flipping through a dvd case, trying to find a good movie to watch for the day. It was too rainy to safely go to the mines, and her chores could wait for later. Besides, Doctor seemed like he had something to tell her before he fell in the puddle. She was flipping through movie after movie when Doctor cleared his throat. 

“Naomi.” Doctor spoke, to which the farmer turned to look at him. He had set her preserved flower down on the coffee table, and was pointing to it now. “Do you know what this is?” He asked, obviously trying to mimic their earlier conversation. He thought it was endearing, she thought he was messing with her. Naomi sighed and turned back to her movies. “You don’t need to humor me, Doctor. It’s okay if you can’t reciprocate my feelings.” Doctor stopped short there, noticing how Naomi’s face fell when she spoke those words.  

“No I-” Doctor sighed as well and took a seat next to Naomi on the couch. He leaned back , looking up at the ceiling before he spoke again. “I’m not good with people.” Naomi looked over at him, closing the DVD case as Doctor turned his head to face her. “Funny, I know- considering I’m a doctor. I have a hard time expressing my emotions, and understanding the emotions of others. I’ve never been in a relationship before because I couldn’t identify the feelings. That is... until I met you. “ Doctor let out a half-hearted laugh as he sat forward, with his elbows on his knees. “I can’t stop thinking about you, and how you’re doing, and even when I’m not in town - my mind sees you everywhere. I miss you when you’re gone, and I feel happier when you’re around. Call me dense, but I only recently realized that ... I like you, Sakamoto Naomi. I’m sorry I made you think otherwise.” He poured his heart out to her, all the time Naomi’s eyes remained transfixed on him, enchanted. Doctor wasn’t one to ramble, so the speech ended there, but it was still long for him. His head was turned away from her, a square hand carding its fingers through his hair. 

“Doctor.” Naomi spoke, her voice low, when he didn’t turn his head to look at her- Naomi grabbed the sides of the hoodie she’d let him borrow, and rather roughly pulled him towards her. Their lips crashed together as intended, Doctor’s eyes widening in surprise as Naomi’s remained closed. When Naomi realized what she’d done - she let him go and scrambled to the further end of the couch, creating distance from him. Her face turned a bright red, and she stuttered out, “I’m not - I- I’m sorry I kissed you like that. It was an impulse.” Doctor’s eyes remained wide, but a smile graced his lips, ghosting his fingers over where she’d kissed. 

“Naomi. It’s okay. I liked it.” He spoke plainly, to which Naomi stopped her anxious rambling. She looked at him, face still bright red from blushing. “ Can I kiss you?” He asked, and now it was his turn for his face to be red, Naomi nodding silently in response. Their eyes remained open as Doctor moved in to kiss her, one of his hands gently pulling her chin in closer as they connected lips. One never could have guessed he’d never been in a relationship before by his kisses, as they were perfect. The two of them wanted the kiss to go on forever , but they seperated a few moments later - breathing heavily as they looked each other in the eyes .

“What are we?” Doctor asked, not breaking eye contact with Naomi. “What do you want to be?” She responded, not missing a beat. Doctor turned inward for a moment to think, but it wasn’t for a very long time. He let his hand wander, coming to rest on her’s, which laid on the couch between them. Naomi spared a momentary glance down to her hand, to hold his hand in return. 

“I want to be with you.” He said, 

“We can do that.” Naomi responded. 

Their gazes lingered on each other for quite some time before Naomi grinned and broke the spell. She rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand, and Doctor made a note to remember how she looked in that moment - messy hair and sloppy grin - utterly beautiful. She turned around to look out of the window, only to be met with pure torrential rain ... a lot worse than the earlier shower. “Since we’re rained in it looks like...”Naomi turned slowly back to look at him, “What movie do you want to watch?” Honestly? He’d watch anything as long as he got to watch it with her.