viva_la_materia | ℵ 30 ℵ

[Feathers skidded to a stop, stepping around trying to blink the water out of his eyes. Night quickly hopped off and took Feathers' reins as he saw the green chocobo make a beeline for the tree. Smart girl.]

Easy, easy... come on, it's okay, just a little water...!

[He led the black bird in the same direction, moving at a brisk pace. The branches of this tree were thick, staving off much of the rain. A split near the base of the trunk would give them a bit of shelter for the time being. Once somewhere dry, Feathers quickly shook off, fluffing his feathers to stay warm. Night shook his head a bit to get the rain out of his hair, though it still clung to the sides of his face.]

...Sheesh, I should have known this was going to hit, Edensphere was due for a rainstorm! It'll pass, though.

[He looked out... it was almost like someone held a giant watering can - those silly green ones with the holes at the end - and felt like completely soaking the island as quickly as possible.]

Man, I was winning, too!

[Sliding off her chocobo's back, Materia ran both hands through her wet hair, which got it out of her face but also made it stick up like Feather's tail, and leaned against the tree trunk with a sigh.]

Yeah, for about another ten seconds. We were so gonna catch you guys.

[She gave their birds an uneasy look.]

Are they gonna be okay? They - ack! Hey!

[Any worries about how dry her chocobo was capable of staying were cut off when the green bird shook herself in turn, spraying her temporary rider with water.]

[From the looks of it, yeah, they were pretty close to getting neck-in-neck, but he wasn't going to admit that.]

Keep dreaming!

[He looked back at the birds, shielding his face with an arm as the green shook off.]

Hahaha! Oh, if we keep out of the rain they should be okay, but they'll need some place warm and dry when this is over so we don't have two sick birds on our hands!

[And he joined her at the tree, leaning and rubbing his upper arms.]

Same goes for you! You're soaked.

[Materia rolled her eyes, then slid down the trunk to sit on the relatively dry ground, wrapping her arms around her knees.]

I'm fine. It's just a little rain.

[As if the clouds were listening, the rain started to come down even harder, making a wild ruckus as it hammered the leaves overhead. The chocobos roused their feathers and huddled closer to the trunk, and Materia sighed and rested her chin on her knees.]

Okay, a lot of rain. Still. You're soaked, too.

Stop it, before we get a monsoon or something!

[He laughed a little, but he found the sound of rain relaxing. Night was a little cold, and hailing from a desert planet didn't help, but he thought of things other than how chilly he was. He glanced over to Feathers, who was carefully sidling up to the green female and bobbing his head in greeting before offering a bit of a preen by clicking his beak quietly a few feet from one side of her head. Night folded his arms tighter.

Bird was a flirt. He remained a little quiet, just watching the rain...]

[Materia wrinkled her nose at him.]

Not my fault. I do lightning, not rain, remember?

[Resting her chin back on her arms, she stared out at the meadow. The rain was falling so hard that she couldn't see very far before it all dissolved into mist, but she could see the grass bending and swaying in patterns as the rain swept across it, which was cool.

She covered a smile as her chocobo coolly turned her head away from Feathers' overture, nibbling at some clover in the long, wet grass and ignoring him. Cold...

A shiver rippled down her back, and she frowned and hugged her knees tighter. She was fine, really. If she'd worn more clothes, they'd just be wet anyway, right?]

Hmm.

[Feathers only canted his head and decided instead to settle in the grass, tucking his feet under him. He began to preen his chest feathers to feel better. Night, however, shook his head a bit.

What Materia wore was practical for combat and movement, yeah, but what about weather like this? Sheesh. He unwound his scarf then - its wooly material managed to bead off the rain so the outside of it was only a bit damp - and he sunk into a seat next to her. Without a word he draped the thing at the back of her neck and loosely wound it twice before outright pulling her closer to him.

...Y'know, because the least he could do was keep her warm until this whole thing passed.]

Hey!

[Materia let out a yelp as Night started stubbornly draping his scarf around her, her metaphorical hackles rising. She wasn't a baby, she didn't need to be babysat, and he...he...

His arm went around her, and Materia started to grab his wrist to push him away, then hesitated. His fingers were cold. Maybe...maybe she wasn't the only one who could use a little warmth. Just for now.]

You can't give me the whole scarf, you dummy. You'll freeze.

[Unlooping one loop, she sat up a little in the circle of his arm to carefully drape the extra length back around his neck, then - reluctantly - settled back down. After a moment of feeling very grumpy about how much warmer she was wherever they were touching, she rested her cheek on his shoulder and went back to watching the rain, ignoring the little tingles under her skin.]

[She moved before he could protest otherwise, and he was back in the relative comfort of his big, stupid orange scarf. While she settled down and was content to watch the rain for any sign of stopping, he held tight and felt his own shivers begin to subside, eyes turned nowhere in particular, rather unfocused. The nagging thoughts, usually blocked by stubbornness and his work, had no choice but to bubble up, and he furrowed an eyebrow as he found himself resting a cheek atop her damp hair.

He liked this. He really liked this, and lately, he'd found himself thinking a little more about it than he should.

But should he tell her? Something told him that was a terrible idea, she'd laugh, or she'd brush it off and walk away. He couldn't tell which reaction would be worse... but...]

[Listening to the steady shushing of the rain and the sound of her chocobo - well, sort of hers - munching something crisp nearby, Materia felt his cheek settle on her hair, and bit her lip.

Why did he have to be so warm, and smell so good, and be so nice to her? How was she supposed to keep calling him names and sparring with him in the Bazaar if he insisted on doing stuff like making her sandwiches and giving her hugs and lending her clothes and pulling strings - she knew he must have pulled at least one - to get her a chocobo at last?

Worst rival ever. Materia shut her eyes, trying to think past the butterflies in her stomach and work this out...]

Night?

[Her voice was tentative, and unusually small for her.]

[His name brought him out of his reverie, something he would never get used to. Comfortably warm and no part of him wanting to move just yet, he settled for lifting his head a little and canting it a bit to look at her.]

...What's wrong, Materia?

[He could hear, smell, or see nothing wrong... what could...?]

[She lifted her head when he did, even though the scarf thing meant she couldn't lean very far away. There were worse places to be than nose-to-nose with Night, as it turned out, even if it was giving her deja vu.]

Nothing's wrong, I just...

[The smile that spread across her face surprised even her a little.]

I'm really glad you're still here.

[He, too, felt deja vu... and as he closed his eyes, he touched his forehead to hers and smiled that same old fangy smile. He wouldn't mind if the rain kept on just a little while longer.]

Kept my promise so far.

[Her face fell a tiny bit at that. Promises were great and all, but Materia knew her brother would never have left her if he'd had the choice. Which meant nothing was for sure, here...

Which meant that maybe...maybe this wasn't the place for dithering. Here, under the falling rain, with the scent of wet earth and clipped grass making everything green and vivid, with goosebumps rising on her arms and Night's hair tickling her cheek.]

I know. I...

[His mouth was so close. All she'd have to do was tilt her head a little, lift her chin just a fraction...

And before she knew it, she had.]

[She was okay with his being a demon. Materia was cute, quirky, really cool and just plain fun. She had a reply to his calls, his taunts, and was always ready to poke fun at him a little. Or a lot. And he never really seemed to mind it after a while. In fact, he looked forward to the ribbing and the trouble she caused, and...

...and she was good at th-this. His heart stopped and dropped into his stomach, and it was when their lips broke away that he realized it wasn't an accident. His free hand lifted to cup her cheek and he moved in for another... just one more...]

[Oh, geez, breathing. Breathing was important, and she needed to remember to do it - and after a second, she did, breaking the kiss long enough to -

Whoa. Now Night was kissing her, and Materia made a small, muffled, happy noise and wound her arms around his neck to make sure he wouldn't stop anytime soon. (One more? Ha.) Sooner or later, her brain was gonna catch up to the rest of her, but right now she was sailing on a happy, dizzy wave of warm arms and teenage hormones and generally all things Kissing.

Her toes were curling happily inside her boots, and she was finally warming up.]

Mmm...

[His mind spun as her arms wound about his neck, and he was happy to hang on tight and not let go. Just one, though? Nah. That was silly. Night let sense go for a while longer as he broke away for a moment to breathe...]

--sorry, air--

[...and went right back in for more with a contented hum deep in his throat. Night, despite being a little soggy from the rain, felt warm and dry for all he cared, riding those twisting, fluttery feelings in his gut as he dared the tiniest nibble of her bottom lip...

"...kweeeeh."

Feathers was up and canting his head left and right at them. Weren't they supposed to be racing? For all this giant bird knew, their riders were quite happily exchanging food.]

Air's g - mmph.

[Alright, Materia was definitely a fan of fangs. Just, yeah. Even chocobo noises were sliding right past her radar as she took the invitation to nibble back...

Aaand then something tugged at her hair, hard.]

Ow! Gyahh~!

[Disentangling one arm from Night, she pushed futilely at her chocobo's beak. The downsides of having a mount that didn't like Night were getting suddenly obvious.

The green chocobo wasn't sure what their riders were doing, either, but it was clearly some kind of social grooming and she didn't approve of it one bit. Having gotten her human safely away from that one, she made a quick dart at him with her beak.]

[Night felt that gentle graze of teeth against a lip and his face felt a little hot. Ooh-- ...And he was rather rudely snapped back into focus at the sudden movement, some green, and she pulled away with a cry of pain. Night shot a glare at the green chocobo and looked back to Materia.]

Jeez, she pulled REALLY hard! Are you oka--

[And the chocobo was quick, and her beak slammed into his head, causing stars to pop into his vision. The scarf fell away as he hurriedly scooted back on his hands and feet, trying to put as much distance between himself and the angry bird as possible. Another attempted peck was stopped when his hands clapped over the massive beak and held it still. His arms and upper body tensed... he was actually working some strength into keeping the bird at bay until she was calm so she wouldn't break his freaking skull. Feathers shrieked and dashed in to use his own body weight to nudge and shove the female away.]

No, no, no, no, NO!

[Pushing between the demon and the chocobo, Materia grabbed her mount around the neck and deliberately picked both feet off the ground, hanging her full weight from the female's neck. The chocobo stumbled, squawked, and left off tormenting the boy for the time being, staggering back a step and craning her neck around to give Materia an I was just taking out the trash! look.]

Bad bird! Bad!

[It was hard to tell if the way the green chocobo's crest went flat was a sign of shame, or a simple you have got to be kidding me, but go flat it did. Materia let go of her neck and planted her feet again, one hand on her hip and the other pointing back at Night, making her small body as big as she could and scowling at her mount.]

No biting him! No pecking, no nothing, okay? That is my rival and I'm the only one who's allowed to go after him, and if you peck him or any of my friends again I'm gonna tell 'em they can keep you and pick that blue ditz instead!

[The green chocobo tilted her head. You wouldn't. Materia pursed her lips. I so totally would. Was it possible for a chocobo to roll its eyes? Materia didn't think so, but she could swear...well, anyway, whatever she'd done, the big bird followed it up by dropping her head to go back to grazing choice greens, as if nothing had happened.

Materia took that moment to plunge onto her knees by Night, fretting.]

Oh, gawd, are you okay?

[Well, that was a lovely bit of adrenaline. Not sure if he needed it, but any fatigue he may have felt was now gone thanks to this bird-brain! Feathers backed off and stood behind Night as he patted his hands to his aching head and checked his fingers for any sign of blood. When he found none, the ball of nerves that he was at this point unbunched and he just took the time to settle down and breathe.

But still, he was incredulous. How was such a pain in the ass bird little more than a breeze to Materia? If HE'D done that, she'd have been happy to bust his skull and move on to brighter prospects. He leaned back against the black bird's legs as he chirped and cooed, and once the green one was quelled, Materia sunk down beside him.]

Nothing some ice and aspirin won't fix! I'm just glad she went easy on me!

[Such as it was. Using Feathers for support, he got to his feet and offered a hand up for Materia as well before - with a glance left and right - he realized the storm had subsided. The world was soggy, but not rainy anymore. With a nice little fluttery feeling in his stomach, he silently wondered how long they were... um...]

[Distressed, Materia was still trying to check and see if Night was bleeding when he got up. He was too tall for her to keep examining his scalp when he was standing, so she reluctantly left off the attempt and accepted the boost back to her feet.]

I'm really sorry, I can't believe she...

[Her voice trailed off, and Materia found herself suddenly unable to look up from her grass-stained boots. I can't believe she attacked you for nothing. Except he wasn't doing nothing, it was definitely something, but not a bad something, not even remotely bad, except...

Except where did that leave them, now? Were rivals allowed to be friends? Or more? And would they ever hear the end of it? Materia gulped, feeling suddenly shy all over again without the boost of impulsiveness behind her.]

I...

[He, too, wondered. Half of him was perfectly content to keep chasing her, continue teasing her and coming up with super awesome one-liners. The other half realized... he could still do most of the same even after k-kissing her. At least, they could do that in public, fool the whole damn tree if they had to!]

Everything's okay, Materia!

[He didn't let her go. In fact, his other hand reached out the took her other.]

I really like you. Because of that, I leave everything in your hands! You know, if... if you don't want to do things like that anymore!

[If she wanted to stop, that was okay. He never really asked how she felt about the whole thing...]

[Oh, geez, with the hands and the confession and the...oh, geez. Materia, staring up at him, bit her lip and hesitated for just a second, then shook her head.]

No, I...um. I think, maybe, it's okay for us to be...rivals a-and...and this? I mean, I don't want to not do things like... Uhm.

[What was with this stupid pile of stupid coming out of her piehole? With her face flaming all over again, Materia gulped, then stood on tiptoe - tugging down on Night's hands to pull his darn too-high face closer - and planted one more quick, suddenly-shy kiss on his mouth.]

Like...that.

[She thumped back down onto her heels again, satisfied that at least that probably got the point across? Remembering the main thing she was freaking out about, though, she winced and added hastily,]

But don't tell anybody yet, okay?

[...But despite thinking it was okay, part of him didn't want her to say no, to stop all of this. He heard the word, and felt his stomach clench, a word of acceptance at his lips, but... she went on. It was okay. Night appeared relieved, but that lasted maybe a second before he was pulled down and kissed. It was quick and rather chaste, but it still made his head spin, his face warm. The demon was in another place.

He was snapped back suddenly with her warning, and Night immediately assumed a quick salute.]

Okay! I promise!

[Haha, well, so much for running through the streets and shouting it at the top of his lungs. No, he'd keep quiet for as long as he could. Since this was Night, um, that might not be as long as one would hope.]

ℵ 30 ℵ

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog

Quicklog