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@DragonSong ]
[ Continued From (http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=27106.0) ]
The campfire danced in Grav's blue eyes as he watched the flames. He was busy trying to wrap his head around his near death and the fact that he was fresh out of excuses to not confront the issue of Kiara's feelings for him. And Kit was doubtlessly about to ask again about the former.
"I just..." Kit shook his head. He was curled around the two humans and their campfire, forming a barrier with the length of his body and tail in a semicircle around them. "I can't believe he shot you—no, I can believe that, I just...can't believe you're alive..."
Kiara nodded, leaning back against the dragon's flank. "It was terrifying," she said bluntly, staring at the fire and not Grav. "And then the Tear..." She shook her head. "It—they?—spoke to me. Like, we had something of a conversation."
The mention of speaking with the Tear tore him from his reverie. "Wait. It spoke to you? When did this happen?"
The swordsman ran his fingers through his hair with a rueful chuckle. "Gods. I must have been really out of it by that point. "
"Well, it..." She exhaled. "I think it might've...stopped time? Sort of? It was speaking directly into my mind, but we were in this place, like an endless night sky..."
She trailed off, remembering. Then Kit gave her a small nudge and a concerned rumble and she shook herself back into the presence.
"I—I just...asked it to save you," she said with a shrug. "It told me that I actually was asking for more."
"More than just to make me myself again?" he asked curiously. There was definitely something she wasn't saying. But then, there was a lot he wasn't saying either.
She shook her head. "I—I don't think I really knew what I was asking, but...I sorta started to wish that...you'd never met me," she admitted quietly.
Kit snorted and jerked his head up, eyes wide. She quickly raised her hands. "I didn't! Obviously! I—they told me they couldn't do that anyway, it would twist time up too much or...something. Anyway." She shrugged. "So I wished they would fix you. Make you yourself again."
She cocked her head, glancing at him sidelong, then offered a small smile. "Not sure why they decided to give you the fancy new shirt, though."
"You tried to un-know me?" Grav asked, hurt deeper than he would have thought by the idea. "You had to know I'd never want that."
"If it wasn't for you, I'd probably have gotten myself killed a long time ago. And I..." He drifted off, unsure how to finish that sentence.
"It's not like I wanted to!" Kiara said quickly. "I—I wasn't even sure what I was saying I just—I just started rambling, about how if you'd never met me you never would have even been there, you wouldn't have been fucking shot and—and..."
Her throat was weirdly tight. She stood abruptly. "I...I think I need to take a walk," she muttered, stepping quickly over Kit's tail. When the dragon growled in concern she said quickly, "I won't go far, I just...need a second."
Arms wrapped tight around her middle, she hurried away from the campfire.
Kit rumbled as he watched her go, the tip of his tail twitching anxiously. "I...she doesn't get like that often," he muttered, glancing sidelong at Grav.
Grav looked down, feeling even worse for setting her off. "Gods, I'm bad at this," he sighed. "I can't seem to take my own life seriously enough. And every time it's in danger, that hurts her."
"I don't want to hurt her anymore."
"So tell her that." Kit slowly lowered his head to rest on his paws. "And for the record—what just happened isn't your fault. I can't believe she might have half-accidentally wished away your whole friendship through some misguided attempt to save you."
He glanced in the direction Kiara had gone. "...Go talk to her. She thinks she needs to be alone, to force herself to be alone, but she doesn't. And...this seems like something between the two of you. Not sure how much good I would do just now."
Grav nodded slowly and stood. He shook himself. "Yeah... I--I'll do that."
He glanced back as he walked after Kiara. "Thanks, Kit."
The moon was full and bright, glittering off of the small stream that blocked her chosen path. She didn't get much time to enjoy the solitude before he jogged onto the path after her. His current attire made him look like a character from a cheesy romance story.
"Kiara, wait!" he called after her.
Kit snorted and gave him a slow, feline blink in return as he hurried off.
Kiara had settled herself on a fallen tree near the stream, one knee drawn up to her chest and her head tipped back to the moonlight as she tried to force herself to breathe, to not spiral down into the endless trail of thoughts tugging at her mind.
She started a bit when Grav called for her, twisting halfway around to blink at him as he approached. "You--what's wrong? Is everything okay?" She started to get to her feet, clearly assuming something had happened if he was coming to get her.
Grav shook his head. "No. Nothing like that." He smiled crookedly. "A certain someone told me you shouldn't be alone right now."
"And I..." The adventurer took a seat by her giving her a sidelong look, too nervous to look her directly in the eyes. "I need to tell you something. Of course, I'm sure he knew that too."
"Oh." She exhaled, relieved, and sank back down onto the log. She couldn't seem to look at him either, eyes fixed on her feet as she braced her palms to either side of her hips. "Well, Kit doesn't know everything," she muttered, a little petulant.
Then she sighed, and admitted, "But...yeah. He's probably right. I just..." She bit her lip. "The last few days have been...a lot." She was quiet a moment, then gave herse;f a little shake and risked a quick glance in his direction. "What, um, what do you need to tell me?"
"I... well, I..." Grav took a second to gather his thoughts. "It's not like I don't care about my own life. I just--I've always put everyone else first."
He sighed. "I never realized how much of a burden that puts on the people that care about me, and I'm sorry. I never wanted to make you worry. I... I love you too much for that."
Kiara was quiet for a few moments. Then, slowly, she slid her hand across the small space between them until her little finger bumped gently against his.
"I know," she murmured, still not quite looking at him. "You don't have to apologize for being selfless, Grav. I mean, yeah, I'd probably feel a bit better if you gave more of a shit about your own life, but..."
She risked a glance at him, smiling softly. "I...I love who you are. I'm not asking you to change."
Grav's eyes met hers at that exact moment, glimmering in the moonlight. He smiled tenderly. "I... hells, I'm out of reasons not to tell you how I feel about you."
He faced her fully, practically trembling with hesitation but pushing through nonetheless. "I... honestly, I'm just as afraid of risking what we already have for the possibility of something more as you are."
"But, sooner or later Kit's going to get tired of dancing around the subject anyway, sooo..." He smirked crookedly. "I'm game if you are."
Kiara laughed quietly, though the sound was a little shaky. "...Yeah."
She hesitated a moment longer, then moved to take his hand, twining their fingers together gently. "Yeah, I am."
Her stomach flipped giddily. She let out a low breath. "Wow. Okay. Why is that still so scary?"
"Because we're both terrible at being genuine?" Grav joked, his pulse racing with nervous energy.
He squeezed her hand a little. "Really. I'm scared too. But I was more scared of actually dying without telling you how I feel. I've hidden from it for long enough."
She chuckled again and nodded. "Yeah, we are." She glanced down at their linked hands when he squeezed hers.
She sighed, then cautiously pulled their hands up to pressed a quick kiss to the backs of his fingers. "For what it's worth...what you looked like never made a difference to me." She smiled a bit and added, "But I'm glad you seem to be feeling better."
"I know it didn't," he smiled softly. "But it's strange. I feel like myself in a way I never have; like I stepped right out of a life unlived, where everything was different but somehow I'm the same."
The swordsman motioned to his fancy clothes and equipment, all as fine as Brightedge. "Hells, maybe that's not far off. Maybe this is how I would've dressed if I was never orphaned."
"Maybe," Kiara chuckled. "It's...certainly a look."
She leaned back a bit to look him up and down. "You look...fancy. Like, I have money kind of fancy."
"I know, right?" Grav grinned. "I look like the prince in every story where a sleeping maiden is awoken by true love's kiss or something equally hokey."
"You know what this means, right?" He smirked.
"I'm not sure I do," Kiara replied with an arched brow, her own lips twitching at the corners. "But I have a feeling that smirks means that you're going to tell me."
She leaned back a bit further, bracing one hand on the log behind her and cocking her head at him, that one eyebrow still raised.
Grav turned fully towards her and leaned closer, smirking more flirtatiously. "I'm your Prince Charming," he said playfully.
Kiara groaned and rolled her eyes so far back it was a wonder they didn't get stuck. "You're an idiot," she laughed, reaching up to wrap her hand around the back of his neck and pulling him in until her brow pressed to his.
Then she hesitated again. Color rose in her cheeks and she bit her lip. "Can I...?"
Grav answered by kissing her, though more hesitantly than he ever had kissed someone. However, once the initial kiss was over, he pulled her even closer. His lips met hers again with all the pent-up passion he had been afraid to feel.
He pulled back, grinning like an idiot. "Wow... that was... uhh... what you meant... right?"
Kiara found she had to force herself not to grin into the kiss, feeling suddenly giddy. When he pulled her back in she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and tilted her head into the kiss, lips parting briefly before they broke apart.
Breathing a bit heavier than normal, she laughed and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, that was what I meant."
Leaning back a bit again, she tapped his breastplate with one finger and cocked her head. "Y'know, this doesn't have as many pokey bits as I thought it was going to."
"Pokey bits?" Grav snorted back a laugh before waggling an eyebrow.
"I didn't know we were to that point yet." He grinned, quite amused with himself.
"Oh dear gods," Kiara groaned again and shoved his shoulder lightly. "Down, Puppy," she joked with a little smirk of her own.
Suddenly snorting, she noted, "Gods, Kit is going to get so sick of us so fast."
"Yeah, well, he basically asked for it." Grav grinned.
He sighed, giving her a reluctant look. "Speaking of, we should probably get back before the separation anxiety sets in."
She nodded. "True enough. C'mon." She sighed, standing from their log bench and holding a hand out to pull him up. "And I dunno about you, but I am exhausted," she added with a quiet chuckle. "Some sleep before we figure out what's happening next would be fantastic."
Grav chuckled as he got to his feet. "Yeah. It's been way too long since we last slept." He laced his fingers back through hers as they headed back toward the camp.
They were still holding hands when they returned. The swordsman had issued a bet that the dragon would wait all of five seconds before looking smug. He always seemed to know how they felt before they did.
Five seconds? Grav was underestimating him.
Sure enough, Kit was sitting with his front paws crossed primly and his head turned in their direction before they'd even entered the small clearing around their campfire.
"Nice chat?" he asked innocently, twitching his tail like a smug cat.
Kiara sighed heavily. "Great. How long do we have to live with this?"
"Forever, Kia." The dragon lowered his head to nudge her cheek. "Forever." Grinning toothily, he flicked his tongue out to scrape across the top of Grav's head affectionately.
Grav laughed, fixing his hair where Kit had left a cow-lick. "Careful with the hair, big guy."
"How long were you waiting smugly anyway?" he teased. "The whole time? It was the whole time, wasn't it?"
"Dragon ears," Kit replied, laying his head down on his paws with a wink. "I could hear when you got close."
Kiara chuckled and finally pulled her hand from Grav's, though not without giving his fingers a squeeze first. "We all need rest," she murmured. "We can...talk about what happens next in the morning."
Kit snorted and nodded, nosing her into his flank as she settled in. He gave Grav a look and a little nod, indicating that he could move his bedroll in closer to the curve of the dragon's body if he wanted.
Grav did so, settling in next to Kiara. He had barely closed his eyes before drifting off.
He awoke curled up against her, content to stay there until she stirred. This was a change he liked.
Kiara had managed to snuggle herself quite comfortably between Kit and Grav, though in the course of the night she had curled herself a little closer to Grav's side while Kit's tail arced around the two of them so his body formed a protective circle.
Sunlight on the backs of her eyelids started to rouse her; she murmured sleepily and rolled onto her back, rubbing at her eyes. "Mmm...issit mornin'?"
"Yep." Grav smiled at her as he stroked her cheek, already alert like some kind of weirdo. "Good morning."
"Sleep okay?"
"Mmmmm." She nodded, yawned, and chose not to mention the edges of dreams that flickered with lightning and pain. She had a feeling those would be happening for a while. "You?" She tilted her head into his hand slightly, frowning. "Why are you up so early? We're not actually running for our lives at the moment--take advantage."
Grav chuckled, "Oh, no, I literally just woke up right before you. I just wake quickly. It's unfair, I know."
"Couldn't go back to sleep if I wanted to."
"Anxious?" Kiara asked with another yawn, sitting up slowly. Kit grumbled a bit, but didn't open his eyes. She reached over to pat his flank absently.
Looking around, she muttered, "We should probably break camp soon. Start heading for..."
She trailed off as it struck her that she didn't actually know what they were heading for. They'd had such clear goals for all the time they'd been traveling together, and now, suddenly...they didn't.
Grav sat up after her. After a shrug, he scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Well... I know it's more than a bit early for this, but..."
He felt incredibly awkward as he continued. "That last close call has me really wanting to see my family. With all this craziness, I haven't even had a chance to sit down and write to them. They're probably worried, but Kit can get us there faster than any letter can get there."
"Oh, Grav." She blinked, then smiled and reached over to grip his shoulder lightly. "Of course you should go see your family. I'm sorry, I didn't even think--"
She shook her head. Her own relationship to her blood family was so strained that it hadn't even occurred to her someone might actually want to see theirs. But of course he did.
"You're from the coast," she mused, dropping her hand again. "Yeah, Kit could probably have us there in a couple of days."
Grav smiled warmly. "If you're sure you're okay with it. I'd say we could tell them we're still just friends, but my mom is too much like Kit; she'll know," he chuckled.
"Once she gets over me riding in on a dragon, anyway." He grinned.
With a cackle, he climbed to his feet and reached down to pull her up. He was still quick, but no longer inhumanly fast or strong; he was just... a normal human. Though, he sort of missed the tail.
Kiara snorted and took his hand when he reached down to help her up. "Oh, trust me, after everything else we've dealt with, meeting the parents isn't high on my list of primal fears," she chuckled as he pulled her to her feet.
"Liar," Kit rumbled without lifting his head or opening his eyes.
Kiara shot him a dry look and huffed. "To be fair, my family is currently in the process of trying to blackmail me into joining and faerie court for the sole purpose of serving as a bargaining chip for the Autumn King. So." She looked back to Grav with a crooked smile. "As long as your mom isn't gonna try that, we should be alright, yeah?"
"Oh, no, nothing like that," he chuckled, a smirk crossing his lips. "She will, however, try to fill you up with so much food you can't move anymore. It's a sickness, but an enjoyable one."
"I hope dad's not out at sea. I think you'll like him." He smiled.
The smile fell. "And I need to ask him a few things about the day he found me."
Kiara's expression softened a bit and she reached up to cup his cheek gently for a moment. "We can always wait for him, if he's not there," she offered softly.
She had two months left until she needed to give her grandfather an answer. They had some time. Not much, but some.
Grav smiled sadly, as if reading her mind. "You don't have much time before your grandfather's ultimatum, are you sure? Dad is sometimes gone for weeks, and occasionally even months."
Kiara nodded. "It'll be fine—if I need to, I can use the amulet to get through and just tell the whole court to go fuck themselves," she said with a smirk and a shrug.
Kit snorted, finally lifting his head. "I thought we just got out of a fatal situation."
Grav gave her a look. "Yeah, let's... call that plan B."
He moved to get breakfast ready so they could get going. Gods, he couldn't wait for his mom's cooking; they hadn't had anything worth eating since they left Aria. Thinking about it made his mouth water.
The next few nights weren't as pleasant. Grav was plagued by dreams about the death he avoided and about suddenly mutating again. The former were especially frightening. But between were strange dreams of an unfamiliar estate full of strangers that somehow also weren't strangers at all, of fighting Kiara, and of running from someone or something. And there was another nightmare, of what he could not remember.
It seemed exhaustion had done its part that first night; the following few were mildly harrowing. Kiara woke in a cold sweat multiple times—once to a scream that it took her a few moments to realize came from her own throat.
That particular night, Kit found himself soothing both humans, nuzzling and curving tight around them as Kiara moved to tuck herself under Grav's arm and cried herself quietly back to sleep.
Not all her dreams were so traumatic though. There were some that were just...confusing. Flashes, brief images of a massive locked door, of Grav in half-plate with a sword that wasn't Brightedge, of faces she didn't know but of which she felt suddenly, fiercely protective.
It only took three days from them to approach the coast, and Grav's home—which served to be enough to put the odd dreams from Kiara's mind in favor of more practical anxieties.
[ Continued Here (http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=27123.0) ]