Miraculous One-shots

Whole (Penny x Jagged Stone)

Enough.

A word Penny Rolling had not heard in a long time. In her field of work, "enough" was rarely said. Everyone always wanted more. More this, more that. Nothing sufficed.

The music industry is hard. Her boss, Bob, warned her of that when she was being interviewed for a job as a manager of a music artist. At the time, she merely waved the warning aside, assuming it was just another rumor about the industry. How difficult could the work be?

Oh, how she wished she had not been so naive. Penny did not regret becoming Jagged Stone's manager, but at the same time she wished she could have been mentally prepared for how taxing the job would be.

Free time.

An uncommon commodity for her. Penny was always rushing to schedule something, attain something.

She had not taken a vacation in... who knew how long. Penny had stopped counting after a year. Who cared anyway?

Jagged Stone was not any better, though, and that is how Penny calmed herself sometimes. Jagged did not get breaks, so why should she? She was no more deserving than he, right?

Stress.

A feeling she felt too often. One would think that such a long exposure to all the pressure would alleviate stress eventually, no? How incorrect that is. No amount of exposure is the same as the next. Just as you think you will catch a break, the next thing hits you in the face, whether you are prepared or not. It may be harsh, but it is Penny's reality.

So... why does Penny find herself crying? She is used to all the crud she has to deal with. Nothing new has faced her in a while. Why do tears keep coming?

Pathetic.

A description that is too accurate. Why is she not strong enough? Penny worked hard every day. She dedicated ninety-nine percent of her time to her job. Was that not plenty? No deadline had ever been missed for her. Was that too little?

And yet more tears continued to stain her flushed cheeks. She pulled her baseball cap lower, hiding her face with shadow as much as possible. Penny inhaled deeply and blew out a long breath. Her breath hitched. She pulled her trusted clipboard to her chest and hugged it tight.

"Penny?" A familiar voice.

"Y-Yes?" Penny's voice wavered, but she did her best to hide her quivering.

Penny's downcast eyes saw Jagged Stone's black leather boots step in front of her. "You okay?"

What could she say? Yes, she was fine. Miserable but coping. Well, trying to cope. She would be lying though. But no? Honesty hurt, and she was not sure she was so ready to confess her anxious feelings.

"Penny?" Jagged reminded her he was waiting on an answer.

"No."

"No? What's wrong? I'm here for you, Penny."

"Everything. Everything is wrong, Jagged! I feel like everything I do somehow goes wrong. I feel like... I don't know- I just feel like I'm not enough! Like I'm not everything I could be..." More tears welled in her eyes, but she tried with all her might to not let them spill.

Without a word, Jagged Stone pulled Penny into a gentle hug. "Don't say that about yourself," Jagged murmured into her ear. "You are enough. You're basically my everything. You schedule my shows, my meetings, my interviews. You take care of Fang, my beloved gator, for me. None of what I do would be possible without you."

Penny said nothing and just let his words sink in.

"You complete this team."

"...Thank you, Jagged. I needed that," the two ended their hug. "I-I'll try to remind myself that you care about me." She wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'll be all right now... Thanks again."

Jagged patted Penny's shoulder then walked off towards his dressing room.

If she was honest with herself, "all right" was not quite the word she would use to describe how she felt right now- there were still things to schedule, items to get- but truly Jagged's words had helped her feel a little less helpless and overwhelmed.

A little more whole.