viva_la_materia | ℵ 30 ℵ

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.]

Okay.

[Truth to be told, Materia was already starting to wonder if telling Kagerou would count as telling somebody, since they were both good friends of hers and all, but...well, it wasn't like telling a few people would get out of hand, right?

Right?

Anyway, for now it was enough that she was still holding at least one of his hands. Materia grinned, feeling better now that she knew dating(?) her admittedly pretty awesome rival was gonna stay totally secret and safe and all that...although the thought of safety made her give wry eye to her chocobo. The female was still meticulously picking bits of clover out of the long grass, pretending very firmly that she had never done anything unnecessarily violent to her human's other green creature. Sneak.]

Soo-oo...should we get these guys home before it starts raining again?

[He would keep on pretending this green chocobo didn't scare the crap out of him, happy simply to hold her hand. Night nodded at the suggestion, and Feathers gave a curious 'kweh' as he rose to full height.]

Good idea! The boss'd get really mad if I brought home sick birds! Let's not be surprised and beat the rain this time!

[And... well... he had a lot of thinking to do. Planning.]

Too bad we can't race back... it's too muddy now.

[A little grin curled the corner of Materia's mouth, and she nudged him in the ribs with her shoulder.]

Well, I could always race you back to the Bazaar after we get 'em put away. Betcha ninja legs are faster than demon legs.

[And nobody said she had to warn him when exactly the race was starting, right? Quite pleased with herself and the day in general, Materia reluctantly let go of Night's hand and trotted over through the mud to her chocobo(!!), giving her a scratch on the head for behaving herself.]

See, that's more like it. You keep not being a bratface and I'll get you some extra greens, how's that? C'mon, leave off the clover, we've gotta take you home.

[As she swung into the saddle, laughing at the fragmented round leaves stuck to the bird's beak, an idea lit up in her brain, and she waved an arm at Night.]

Hey...what do you think of Clover for a name?

Uh-huh. We'll see about that! You're on!

[He chuckled, enjoying this twisty-turny feeling in his gut as he went to gather up Feathers' reins. The big black bird gave the demon a quick preen, and lowered his body. Night mounted smoothly, though his attention was caught as Materia waved. His fingers gave the back of Feathers' neck a little scratch. ...Clover, huh?]

Her color fits, and I think if she eats any more of that stuff she'll turn into one! I think you picked the very best name for her!

[Haha, better than Feathers anyway, but the bird seemed to like it a lot. Night smiled and took the reins, giving a firm nudge with a heel. The black bird turned his beak for home, gave a jubilant 'kweh' to Clover and her rider, and off they went.]

ℵ 30 ℵ

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