K'luha Haaz: The trip to Gridania was not an easy one. Well, it was easy in the sense that they were riding on a floating carriage but for a floating carriage it was rather uncomfortable and bumpy at times. Not to mention her injuries had been aching her and from seemingly no where, her hip was in excuriating pain. So much so that she did her best not to move it as much as possible and quietly promised herself to find some sort of potion to get rid of pain when she was in Gridania.Â
K'ile and herself had yet to exchange too many words as usually she or he were sleeping out of boredom. That and he had insisted she rest because of her injuries on the way there. It was as good a time as any to rest.Â
Finally this afternoon they had entered the Black Shroud and were beneath the cool canopy of the forest. It was a welcome break from the heat and severe weather of Drybone. K'luha eye's tensed in pain, the cooler weather making her hip act up. Her joints usually ached a bit with severe changes in weather but with the injury to her hip now thanks to K'ailia's stone, it was terribly painful.Â
K'luha took a deep breath and looked up at the carriage's overhang, wondering if K'ile was awake now or not. She glanced over to where she thought he might be to check.
*
Twinflame: K'ile Tia was leaning over the side of the carriage, staring out at the woods. What he was really doing was smelling them. There were a thousand kinds of plant and animal out there that he'd never encountered before, and it was overwhelming to be able to sense them all at once. He could catch hints of their movement in the woods, of things that had passed along this road minutes or hours or an entire day before the carriage came along. But before he could sense enough of that passage to understant it, a new and vivid scent would find him and tear at his attention.
He caught a thousand tiny glimpses of everything that lived in the forest. And a whole lot of those damned, smelly chocobos getting in the way. Disgusting birds. Foul and diseased no matter how well cared-for they were, as far as he was concerned. He'd heard there were breeders near Gridania. The tribe would be wise to contact them and see if their mutual pursuits could lead to business.
His tail flicking around behind him, K'ile Tia was all smile and wide eyes, ears perked up and swiveling everywhere.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha watched K'ile's back for a few minutes. He was... well perkier than usual. Excited? He did seem to like to travel. She would have invited him to come to Ul'dah with her more if he really enjoyed the travel.Â
Perhaps for the holiday season, albeit it was more of an outsider's tradition but she enjoyed it anyway, she would ask him if he wanted to go to Limsa. He had said something about it being somewhere he'd like to go. To see the ocean, if she remembered properly.
K'luha had meant to speak up and actually talk to him, but she simply ended up staring at his back for a prolonged period of time. She watched his muscles twitch everytime he seemed to swap his attention to something new. The way his tail flicked about behind him with so much energy. Even his ears were swiveling around his head like mad.Â
So much energy. It was really like he was still a kid. He was older than she, and yet K'luha was starting to already feel like an old cat.
*
Twinflame: After a time, K'ile relaxed, easing back into the carriage rather suddenly. He was on the seat on his knees, with his back facing K'luha. The Tia flicked his tail near the woman's face, looking over his shoulder to smile at her. "Hey Luha, what're you looking at?"
*
K'luha Haaz: Ah. So he knew. K'luha smirked faintly, her ears shifting on her head to get comfortably.Â
"Obviously your ass." she replied cheekily, glancing back up to the ceiling. "Get back up so I can stare some more."
*
Twinflame: His ears dipped in discomfort. "Uhm." He tried to decide if that was a demand K'luha would back with a threat. It took effort to disguise his uncertainty, and he wasn't sure if he succeeded. After a few moments he flicked his tail at her again and said, "No freebies."
He thought it was an excellent response and was very proud of himself.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha snorted loudly before breaking into a laugh that turned into a coughing fit and eventually settled into silence. She sighed after a moment of peace and rubbed at her hip uncomfortably.
"Come on. You won't even give a dying old woman a freebie?" Luha teased again, her eyes still glancing up towards the overhang and not at K'ile. Despite not looking at him she could picture him perfectly in her mind's eyes.
*
Twinflame: Dammit. She got him back with that one. She was injured so of course she deserved freebies. And that put him in a terribly awkward position of either giving her one or being seen as someone without any sense of generosity.
K'ile stretched his arms high above his head and lifted his haunched just enough to touch the ceiling. "I'm not sure," he said. The movement looked like he was jsut easing cramps, so he didn't feel embarassed by it. "You might still be indebt over the whole bath-tub thing."
*
K'luha Haaz: "Yes, right. Because Mr. Fairy Princess couldn't just do as planned and land in the tub next to me, he had to flail about and almost die first." She scoffed and peered sideways over to K'ile as he stretched. He was really bad at knowing when she was teasing, and that amused her terribly. A wicked smile slipped on her face as she reached over to pinch the base of his tail.Â
"By the way I'm joking K'ile. I don't need you to show me your ass. I can just stalk you while you're cleaning, I mean, what?" she chuckled again more softly and shook her head. "I'm teasing again, in case you didn't figure it out that time."
*
Twinflame: "Gah!" He flinched at the pinch on his tail, but not overly much. He recovered quickly and swung his tail around to ward her off, "I know you're teasing! I'm not five. I know what teasing sounds like! I even know what it smells like!" It didn't smell like anything.
He spun around and dropped into his seat, arms crossed. "And that's why I don't like rock-and-metal buildings. They're deathtraps! No give. One fall and you're done."
*
K'luha Haaz: "Oooh, please. Enlighten me. What does teasing smell like? I would very much like to know." K'luha cackled at K'ile again. For all of his red hair, it couldn't portray his hot-headedness enough. Maybe not hot-headedness... but his passion. Yes, passion was a better word for it. K'ile was certainly passionate, and that was something K'luha found she enjoyed about him a lot.Â
Reguardless, she watched him spin around and sit, whining about metal-death-traps or buildings. She pinched the bridge of her nose and huffed at the comment.Â
"They're not." She assured him, gazing over lazily at him again. "They really aren't. They can be very comfortable. Good shelter from the weather, really. Good places to store food where pests can't get to it easily. They have use if you're not nomadic. You're just a Fairy Princess who can't deal with them."
*
Twinflame: Skewing his features, he mutted, "I am not. Maybe you're a... strange person who finds rocks comfortable. I don't know," he pointed and said, "You got punched through a tree!" as if it completely invalidated any criticism she might have.
His attention turned back to the forest around them, gaze pointing out the back of the carriage.
*
K'luha Haaz: "Mmm..." she agreed with a quiet hum, letting K'ile get frustrated and turn away for the time being. They would be there soon. How she was going to walk was beyond her at the moment, but she assumed she would just have to power through it. Like usual really. Despite K'ailia's departure... everything seemed like it was going back to normal. Really, she knew when she would feel it the most was when she slept in her tent along after she gave K'ailia her things. It would be... empty.Â
For awhile longer she laid still in silence, looking only at K'ile's firey hair absent-mindedly.
*
Twinflame: Staring off into space for a long time, K'ile would eventually mutter, "...It feels stange to be getting someone..."
*
K'luha Haaz: "Eh?" K'luha blinked having spaced out for awhile there. Her hand reached forward lightly to touch K'ile's head but it was too far away to reach it. A bit dissappointed, she dropped her hand down to her side again and cleared her throat. "You mean getting Maka's daughter?"
*
Twinflame: He flicked his eyes over to K'luha, blinked, and then turned to look at her. "Yeah. To be gaining a person for a change."
*
K'luha Haaz: "Loose one, gain one I suppose..." A heavy sigh and silence followed as K'luha's thoughts turned towards K'ailia.
*
Twinflame: With a sigh, he said, "I was trying not to mention the flipside. You're not losing K'ailia." He hovered a moment in stillness in quiet, though it felt a great deal longer than the half-second's pause it really was. Then he leaned forward and put his fingertips on K'luha's knee, "It's not something to wonder or worry or talk about. You'll see."
*
K'luha Haaz: Right... she wasn't loosing K'ailia. She had already lost K'ailia. And her son. Of course. Where was the one who would make up for her lost son? With both of them having left her... the thought was more agonizing than the pain in her hip or torso combined.Â
Thankfully she didn't get much time to brood on it as K'ile spoke up again and touched her knee. She glanced over to him, her eyes full of mixed motions that swirled about in gold and green.Â
"No... it's not. It's just something I don't know how to deal with..." Was K'luha's vague answer before looking away again.
*
Twinflame: "Just wait," he said, and thought that sounded a little stupid. Patting her knee dumbly, he overclocked his brain long enough to say, "Just be here in the woods with me and look forward to meeting this kid. Brooding's no fun."
*
K'luha Haaz: "I am having trouble not brooding when I think that both my son and daughter are gone and the reason we have to come out here in the first place is because my sister made some comment about K'ailia being a wayward daughter that was obviously going to leave the tribe someday and I punched her in the face." K'luha answered back in a completely deadpan.
*
Twinflame: Frowning, more in frustration than anything, K'ile said, "Well. Try. You've got every right to be sad but if you're not going to let anyone cheer you up, then that's all you're going to be. Do you want me to show you my ass again? Or I can let you beat me up! You haven't done that in awhile."
*
K'luha Haaz: "You brought it up first." she mumbled more to herself than to him before looking back over at him. K'luha moved to sit up but the pain quickly made her lie back down and she grumbled. "I can't even sit up. How am I supposed to beat your ass?"
*
Twinflame: Smiling, he said, "I can make it easy! I'll just pput my ass in easy reach." Though, his smile faded after a moment. "Why are you hurting so much all of a sudden? K'ailia and K'haz said they'd healed you. If K'haz missed something I'm gonna stomp on his neck!"
*
K'luha Haaz: "Bah. No one healed me after I took that stupid rock K'ailia casted at you. I think it reopened things. That and I've been laying down for too long. Everything's stiff." K'luha sighed heavily before forcing herself to sit up with a great whine. "Ugh. Not fun."
*
Twinflame: K'ile managed to chuckle at that, easing back into a relaxed posture. "See. You can sit up, so you can totally kick my ass if you want. I'm just a 'fairy princess' or something, right?"
*
K'luha Haaz: "Yes. You are." K'luha grunted and forced herself unsteadily to her feet. "Stupid fucking princess..." she grumbled angirly to herself.
*
Twinflame: Canting his head to one side, K'ile's expression fell into one of concerned bemusement. "Uhm... Luha? Are you...?"
*
K'luha Haaz: "Am I?" She mirrored back at him, glancing over to K'ile irritably.
*
Twinflame: Pulling his chin in and frowning, he said, "Give me a good kick if it helps. I'm within swinging distance."
*
K'luha Haaz: "I would give you a..." The rest of the sentence trailed off into unintelligable grumbles before K'luha clusmily sat back down and sighed.
*
Twinflame: Absolutely failing to understand K'luha's before while she stood and sat -- okay, she was probably just in pain, but she was mad at him for someting probably also -- K'ile was giving K'luha a dubious sideways look. He didn't bother crossing his arms to close off his body language. He could never dream of staving off the woman. "... Feeling better?"
*
K'luha Haaz: "No." came the once again deadpan response before once again she grumbled beneath her breath so K'ile couldn't hear.
*
Twinflame: Leaning forward again, he said, "Okay, keeping in mind I can't help you with the pain, what can I do to make you feel better?"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha raised a brow at K'ile before laying back down on the bend to get comfortable. "What do you think you could do?"
*
Twinflame: Holy shit women. Seriously. K'ile rolled his eyes and his ears and his tail and swayed on the bench and eventually brought his attention back to K'luha, "I don't know. Well I do know. Maybe. No, you know what? You want such crazy things at such crazy times, let's just go with 'I don't know' on this one. So you've got to tell me."
*
K'luha Haaz: "Keep your tail on. I was just curious as to your thoughts for once." A frown crossed her features before it relaxed away. Her mind wandered for a bit and she chuckled to herself, having thought of something amusing.
*
Twinflame: "My thoughts are that your thoughts would be more useful than my thoughts," K'ile said dryly, staring down into K'luha's face with an only vaguely impatient expression.
*
K'luha Haaz: "You wanna kiss it and make it better?" K'luha could barely finish the setence before laughing again.
*
Twinflame: His ears went flat against his head and his tail shivered. "Kiss what? Your... hip?"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha waggled her ears at K'ile and smirked some more. "Was that a yes then?"
*
Twinflame: "Uhm." K'ile blinked, and his ears shifted on his head, and his tail shivered. "Wait." He fell back into sitting on his bench, leaning against the side of the carriage. He put a hand to his ear and pulled on it, his eyes pointing at K'luha but his gaze a thousand malms away as he pondered.
He wasn't even sure what exactly he was pondering. The significance of the invitiation, or the implications of acceptance, or perhaps the best method in which to reject? What would K'thalen do in this siituaition? K'thalen would probably just like her all over and then carry off to his tent for a few hours. but K'thalen was a Nunh, so that wasn't useful at all.
He shrugged. "Okay." It was just a hip. It's not like she'd asked him for a kiss on the lips or anything. And besides, he was betting that she was convinced he would say 'no'.
*
K'luha Haaz: What? He was seriously thinking about it? Seriously? K'luha gaped at K'ile as he sat down and actually seriously thought about doing it. No way. No way in hell. She was obviously already dead if he was really going to do that. K'ailia must have killed her with that rock or Ventus killed her when he punched her through a tree and she was just dreaming that kind of nonsense. K'ile doing something remotely sexual? No way. He might have had a dick, she was pretty sure he did at least, but she was also pretty sure it was there for decoration and he'd never touched the thing.Â
Besides to clean it or something.Â
K'luha's jaw dropped when he shrugged and agreed. No way in hell.Â
"Holy shit, am I dead? Pinch me I think I'm dead."
*
Twinflame: He laughed at her. He knew when he did it that it'd prolly piss her off, but he couldn't help it. His back bowed forward and his hair shook while he laughed loudly and suddenly enough that one of the Chocobo at the front of the carriage squawked in surprise. K'ile clapped his hands, and continued to laugh far longer than was probably wise. For almost half a minute.
"I have never," he cughed through the laughter, "I've never seen you look like that! You really thought you had one on me!"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha blushed fervently when he started laugh. It wasn't THAT funny. No seriously. It wasn't. The more he laughed the more she blushed until her ears were down on her head and she pulled her hair in front of her face to hid her embarrasset ment.Â
"Y-yeah well! I never thought y-youd agree!' she shot back, stammering from her own embassment. God she had never been so embarassed before.
*
Twinflame: "Well, I agreed." He crossed his arms, smiling broadly. He was smug. The laughter subsiding, he leaned over and loomed over K'luha, forcing her to bask in his victory and surveying her defeat as if it were a thing he possessed and prized greatly. "So what are you going to do now? Care to change your request? I just might let you."
*
K'luha Haaz: "Oh! But it's not over yet!" K'luha retorted, puffing her chest out a little bit to ward him off. "You're smug, but can you really go through with it? It's one thing to say yes, another to do it! I won't rescind my request." she smirked back as if she had one the fight.
*
Twinflame: Still looming, K'ile said, "Of course you won't. You can't. You've trapped yourself, Luha." He stood and bent over her, extending his hands to lean against the opposite wall of the carriage. His body was arched over her. "So, let's see that hip."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha's ears dropped again and she slinked backwards to the edge of the carriage. "Yes, well. I haven't!" she shot back before blushing again. "And where do you think hips are moron?"
*
((K'luha, by the way, is wearing pants with a skirt over them.))
*
Twinflame: Leaning back a bit, K'ile frowned for a moment. Then, he smirked again, "I know where your hips are. They're under your pants. Are you trying to suggest you want me to just take off your pants too?"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha scoffed again and waved a hand dismissively at him. "Like you could ever have the balls to do it. You can just kiss it with my skirt on since you're too much of a pussy otherwise."
*
Twinflame: K'ile maintained his smile for a few seconds, and then it slowly lost its curve. His ears, so perky before, tiled to the sides. His lips moved to chew on his thoughts, and after a time, his whole body deflated. "Yeah, alright," he confessed, "You got me figured out. Just hold still, okay? Wouldn't want to hurt your hips at all."
He leaned back and dropped to his knees beside her, crossing his arms and leaning his elbows on her bench.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha smiled widely, finally having defeated K'ile. Indeed he was too much of a wuss, but that was too bad. She might have let him. Maybe. Perhaps. Still, she chuckled softly and waggled her ears in triumph.
*
Twinflame: Giving K'luha a look of defiance, he said, "Hey, what'd you think I was going to do? Just reach up into your skirt and pull your pants down?" As he did this, he reached up into her skirt and pulled her pants down.
*
K'luha Haaz: "Well I-" K'luha was about to reply before she realized that he had actually gone ahead and done it. And it was very cold without her pants. She squeeked loudly and her face turned about the shade of K'ile's haircolor. Her eyes promplty closed tightly and she hid her face with her hands. "I really did must have die..." she muttered to herself, completely mortified.
*
Twinflame: K'ile declared, "I'm kind of tired of people underestimating me all the time. You think I'm afraid of a little hip?" He pulled up her skirt and leaned down to kiss her bare hip, absolutely not flinching at all.
*
K'luha Haaz: "To be completely honest... I thought you were terrified of it..." K'luha mumbly mostly to herself, her face still completley red. Well this was really awkward now. She really had thought he was afraid of such a thing. Guess not. If his brother had been even half as attractive as K'ile was, it was a good thing she hadn't mated with him. Else she would have a lot more kids. And not because she wanted the kids.
*
Twinflame: Well, that was done. He'd kissed her hip so lightly out of concern for hurting it that he'd barely felt more than a brush between the lips and the skin, his sparse facial hair brushing her leg, before pulling away. He found himself staring down at her naked hip which, after all, wasn't a thing he hadn't seen and touched before. Now, however, it was dark purple with a bruise that had grown only after the injury had settled, as bruises often do. It hadn't been so bad on the night they'd spent in Drybone. No wonder she couldn't walk.
K'ailia had done this to her, when she'd tried to hurt him. K'ile choked on a sudden rush of anger, but a quick breath and the emotion was gone. he was angry at K'luha for thinking she needed to defend him, but that was the kind of person she was. She couldn't have acted differently. He should've made it more obvious that he wasn't going to let himself get hurt.
Thinking this over for several seconds in silence, K'ile at length leaned down and kissed K'luha's bare hip again. This kiss was just as soft, but it lingered. He honestly wouldn't have done this if not for the injury. But he was worried. And he felt a bit guilty. There was nothing he could say about it, though, that meant nearly as much as that kiss.
*
K'luha Haaz: There was this really awkward long span of time where K'luha could feel K'ile staring at her nude hip. But she couldn't precisely do anything about it. And she couldn't really tell him no. And she didn't really want to either but she simply was at a loss for what to do. Even K'yohko didn't stare at her that long.Â
The more K'ile stared the more K'luha's face went red and her stomach turned in knots. What precisely was he staring at? Was there something wrong with her hip? Did it look so terrible he had to stare at it in disgust? No really, why the hell was he staring so long? Was it that amazing then?Â
Never in a thousand years had she expected the first kiss, and the second kiss was really only an assurance to her that she was dead and imagining this from limbo or something. Although, there was something very distinct about that second kiss that made shivers run up her spine and her tail flick up, hair standing on ends. In a good way, of course.
*
Twinflame: A second after the second kiss, K'ile said, "It's up to you if you want to be sad. Finding something to smile about isn't hard," and then, so quick he didn't even look at K'luha at all, he was off the carriage. The sudden shift of weight made the Chocobos lurch and the carriage bounce in mid-air where it floated, as he landed on the ground behind it.
Keeping up with it was easy. He didn't even have to jog; a quick walk was enough. He felt the beginnings of cramps in his legs and back beginning to work themselves out. More importantly, he felt burning heat in his cheeks and ears, a certain breathlessness in his chest, and as he stretched and moved on the open road, the forest cooled it.
Catching up with the carriage, he moved to walk beside it, on the side opposite K'luha.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha was so taken aback by the second kiss itself she almost missed his words. Finding something to smile about? She was about to asked him what he meant when the whole carriage lurched and he was gone. It left K'luah alone on the bench feeling somehow.... strange. Too many fixed feelings to pick out any particular one. Besides freezing.Â
She managed to pull herself back together enough to get her clothing on properly before scooting herself onto the carriage floor and curling up. K'luha was thinking... probably overthinking. She didn't see K'ile because she was too busy staring at the floor and thinking. Something to smile about? What could it be...?
K'ile and herself had yet to exchange too many words as usually she or he were sleeping out of boredom. That and he had insisted she rest because of her injuries on the way there. It was as good a time as any to rest.Â
Finally this afternoon they had entered the Black Shroud and were beneath the cool canopy of the forest. It was a welcome break from the heat and severe weather of Drybone. K'luha eye's tensed in pain, the cooler weather making her hip act up. Her joints usually ached a bit with severe changes in weather but with the injury to her hip now thanks to K'ailia's stone, it was terribly painful.Â
K'luha took a deep breath and looked up at the carriage's overhang, wondering if K'ile was awake now or not. She glanced over to where she thought he might be to check.
*
Twinflame: K'ile Tia was leaning over the side of the carriage, staring out at the woods. What he was really doing was smelling them. There were a thousand kinds of plant and animal out there that he'd never encountered before, and it was overwhelming to be able to sense them all at once. He could catch hints of their movement in the woods, of things that had passed along this road minutes or hours or an entire day before the carriage came along. But before he could sense enough of that passage to understant it, a new and vivid scent would find him and tear at his attention.
He caught a thousand tiny glimpses of everything that lived in the forest. And a whole lot of those damned, smelly chocobos getting in the way. Disgusting birds. Foul and diseased no matter how well cared-for they were, as far as he was concerned. He'd heard there were breeders near Gridania. The tribe would be wise to contact them and see if their mutual pursuits could lead to business.
His tail flicking around behind him, K'ile Tia was all smile and wide eyes, ears perked up and swiveling everywhere.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha watched K'ile's back for a few minutes. He was... well perkier than usual. Excited? He did seem to like to travel. She would have invited him to come to Ul'dah with her more if he really enjoyed the travel.Â
Perhaps for the holiday season, albeit it was more of an outsider's tradition but she enjoyed it anyway, she would ask him if he wanted to go to Limsa. He had said something about it being somewhere he'd like to go. To see the ocean, if she remembered properly.
K'luha had meant to speak up and actually talk to him, but she simply ended up staring at his back for a prolonged period of time. She watched his muscles twitch everytime he seemed to swap his attention to something new. The way his tail flicked about behind him with so much energy. Even his ears were swiveling around his head like mad.Â
So much energy. It was really like he was still a kid. He was older than she, and yet K'luha was starting to already feel like an old cat.
*
Twinflame: After a time, K'ile relaxed, easing back into the carriage rather suddenly. He was on the seat on his knees, with his back facing K'luha. The Tia flicked his tail near the woman's face, looking over his shoulder to smile at her. "Hey Luha, what're you looking at?"
*
K'luha Haaz: Ah. So he knew. K'luha smirked faintly, her ears shifting on her head to get comfortably.Â
"Obviously your ass." she replied cheekily, glancing back up to the ceiling. "Get back up so I can stare some more."
*
Twinflame: His ears dipped in discomfort. "Uhm." He tried to decide if that was a demand K'luha would back with a threat. It took effort to disguise his uncertainty, and he wasn't sure if he succeeded. After a few moments he flicked his tail at her again and said, "No freebies."
He thought it was an excellent response and was very proud of himself.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha snorted loudly before breaking into a laugh that turned into a coughing fit and eventually settled into silence. She sighed after a moment of peace and rubbed at her hip uncomfortably.
"Come on. You won't even give a dying old woman a freebie?" Luha teased again, her eyes still glancing up towards the overhang and not at K'ile. Despite not looking at him she could picture him perfectly in her mind's eyes.
*
Twinflame: Dammit. She got him back with that one. She was injured so of course she deserved freebies. And that put him in a terribly awkward position of either giving her one or being seen as someone without any sense of generosity.
K'ile stretched his arms high above his head and lifted his haunched just enough to touch the ceiling. "I'm not sure," he said. The movement looked like he was jsut easing cramps, so he didn't feel embarassed by it. "You might still be indebt over the whole bath-tub thing."
*
K'luha Haaz: "Yes, right. Because Mr. Fairy Princess couldn't just do as planned and land in the tub next to me, he had to flail about and almost die first." She scoffed and peered sideways over to K'ile as he stretched. He was really bad at knowing when she was teasing, and that amused her terribly. A wicked smile slipped on her face as she reached over to pinch the base of his tail.Â
"By the way I'm joking K'ile. I don't need you to show me your ass. I can just stalk you while you're cleaning, I mean, what?" she chuckled again more softly and shook her head. "I'm teasing again, in case you didn't figure it out that time."
*
Twinflame: "Gah!" He flinched at the pinch on his tail, but not overly much. He recovered quickly and swung his tail around to ward her off, "I know you're teasing! I'm not five. I know what teasing sounds like! I even know what it smells like!" It didn't smell like anything.
He spun around and dropped into his seat, arms crossed. "And that's why I don't like rock-and-metal buildings. They're deathtraps! No give. One fall and you're done."
*
K'luha Haaz: "Oooh, please. Enlighten me. What does teasing smell like? I would very much like to know." K'luha cackled at K'ile again. For all of his red hair, it couldn't portray his hot-headedness enough. Maybe not hot-headedness... but his passion. Yes, passion was a better word for it. K'ile was certainly passionate, and that was something K'luha found she enjoyed about him a lot.Â
Reguardless, she watched him spin around and sit, whining about metal-death-traps or buildings. She pinched the bridge of her nose and huffed at the comment.Â
"They're not." She assured him, gazing over lazily at him again. "They really aren't. They can be very comfortable. Good shelter from the weather, really. Good places to store food where pests can't get to it easily. They have use if you're not nomadic. You're just a Fairy Princess who can't deal with them."
*
Twinflame: Skewing his features, he mutted, "I am not. Maybe you're a... strange person who finds rocks comfortable. I don't know," he pointed and said, "You got punched through a tree!" as if it completely invalidated any criticism she might have.
His attention turned back to the forest around them, gaze pointing out the back of the carriage.
*
K'luha Haaz: "Mmm..." she agreed with a quiet hum, letting K'ile get frustrated and turn away for the time being. They would be there soon. How she was going to walk was beyond her at the moment, but she assumed she would just have to power through it. Like usual really. Despite K'ailia's departure... everything seemed like it was going back to normal. Really, she knew when she would feel it the most was when she slept in her tent along after she gave K'ailia her things. It would be... empty.Â
For awhile longer she laid still in silence, looking only at K'ile's firey hair absent-mindedly.
*
Twinflame: Staring off into space for a long time, K'ile would eventually mutter, "...It feels stange to be getting someone..."
*
K'luha Haaz: "Eh?" K'luha blinked having spaced out for awhile there. Her hand reached forward lightly to touch K'ile's head but it was too far away to reach it. A bit dissappointed, she dropped her hand down to her side again and cleared her throat. "You mean getting Maka's daughter?"
*
Twinflame: He flicked his eyes over to K'luha, blinked, and then turned to look at her. "Yeah. To be gaining a person for a change."
*
K'luha Haaz: "Loose one, gain one I suppose..." A heavy sigh and silence followed as K'luha's thoughts turned towards K'ailia.
*
Twinflame: With a sigh, he said, "I was trying not to mention the flipside. You're not losing K'ailia." He hovered a moment in stillness in quiet, though it felt a great deal longer than the half-second's pause it really was. Then he leaned forward and put his fingertips on K'luha's knee, "It's not something to wonder or worry or talk about. You'll see."
*
K'luha Haaz: Right... she wasn't loosing K'ailia. She had already lost K'ailia. And her son. Of course. Where was the one who would make up for her lost son? With both of them having left her... the thought was more agonizing than the pain in her hip or torso combined.Â
Thankfully she didn't get much time to brood on it as K'ile spoke up again and touched her knee. She glanced over to him, her eyes full of mixed motions that swirled about in gold and green.Â
"No... it's not. It's just something I don't know how to deal with..." Was K'luha's vague answer before looking away again.
*
Twinflame: "Just wait," he said, and thought that sounded a little stupid. Patting her knee dumbly, he overclocked his brain long enough to say, "Just be here in the woods with me and look forward to meeting this kid. Brooding's no fun."
*
K'luha Haaz: "I am having trouble not brooding when I think that both my son and daughter are gone and the reason we have to come out here in the first place is because my sister made some comment about K'ailia being a wayward daughter that was obviously going to leave the tribe someday and I punched her in the face." K'luha answered back in a completely deadpan.
*
Twinflame: Frowning, more in frustration than anything, K'ile said, "Well. Try. You've got every right to be sad but if you're not going to let anyone cheer you up, then that's all you're going to be. Do you want me to show you my ass again? Or I can let you beat me up! You haven't done that in awhile."
*
K'luha Haaz: "You brought it up first." she mumbled more to herself than to him before looking back over at him. K'luha moved to sit up but the pain quickly made her lie back down and she grumbled. "I can't even sit up. How am I supposed to beat your ass?"
*
Twinflame: Smiling, he said, "I can make it easy! I'll just pput my ass in easy reach." Though, his smile faded after a moment. "Why are you hurting so much all of a sudden? K'ailia and K'haz said they'd healed you. If K'haz missed something I'm gonna stomp on his neck!"
*
K'luha Haaz: "Bah. No one healed me after I took that stupid rock K'ailia casted at you. I think it reopened things. That and I've been laying down for too long. Everything's stiff." K'luha sighed heavily before forcing herself to sit up with a great whine. "Ugh. Not fun."
*
Twinflame: K'ile managed to chuckle at that, easing back into a relaxed posture. "See. You can sit up, so you can totally kick my ass if you want. I'm just a 'fairy princess' or something, right?"
*
K'luha Haaz: "Yes. You are." K'luha grunted and forced herself unsteadily to her feet. "Stupid fucking princess..." she grumbled angirly to herself.
*
Twinflame: Canting his head to one side, K'ile's expression fell into one of concerned bemusement. "Uhm... Luha? Are you...?"
*
K'luha Haaz: "Am I?" She mirrored back at him, glancing over to K'ile irritably.
*
Twinflame: Pulling his chin in and frowning, he said, "Give me a good kick if it helps. I'm within swinging distance."
*
K'luha Haaz: "I would give you a..." The rest of the sentence trailed off into unintelligable grumbles before K'luha clusmily sat back down and sighed.
*
Twinflame: Absolutely failing to understand K'luha's before while she stood and sat -- okay, she was probably just in pain, but she was mad at him for someting probably also -- K'ile was giving K'luha a dubious sideways look. He didn't bother crossing his arms to close off his body language. He could never dream of staving off the woman. "... Feeling better?"
*
K'luha Haaz: "No." came the once again deadpan response before once again she grumbled beneath her breath so K'ile couldn't hear.
*
Twinflame: Leaning forward again, he said, "Okay, keeping in mind I can't help you with the pain, what can I do to make you feel better?"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha raised a brow at K'ile before laying back down on the bend to get comfortable. "What do you think you could do?"
*
Twinflame: Holy shit women. Seriously. K'ile rolled his eyes and his ears and his tail and swayed on the bench and eventually brought his attention back to K'luha, "I don't know. Well I do know. Maybe. No, you know what? You want such crazy things at such crazy times, let's just go with 'I don't know' on this one. So you've got to tell me."
*
K'luha Haaz: "Keep your tail on. I was just curious as to your thoughts for once." A frown crossed her features before it relaxed away. Her mind wandered for a bit and she chuckled to herself, having thought of something amusing.
*
Twinflame: "My thoughts are that your thoughts would be more useful than my thoughts," K'ile said dryly, staring down into K'luha's face with an only vaguely impatient expression.
*
K'luha Haaz: "You wanna kiss it and make it better?" K'luha could barely finish the setence before laughing again.
*
Twinflame: His ears went flat against his head and his tail shivered. "Kiss what? Your... hip?"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha waggled her ears at K'ile and smirked some more. "Was that a yes then?"
*
Twinflame: "Uhm." K'ile blinked, and his ears shifted on his head, and his tail shivered. "Wait." He fell back into sitting on his bench, leaning against the side of the carriage. He put a hand to his ear and pulled on it, his eyes pointing at K'luha but his gaze a thousand malms away as he pondered.
He wasn't even sure what exactly he was pondering. The significance of the invitiation, or the implications of acceptance, or perhaps the best method in which to reject? What would K'thalen do in this siituaition? K'thalen would probably just like her all over and then carry off to his tent for a few hours. but K'thalen was a Nunh, so that wasn't useful at all.
He shrugged. "Okay." It was just a hip. It's not like she'd asked him for a kiss on the lips or anything. And besides, he was betting that she was convinced he would say 'no'.
*
K'luha Haaz: What? He was seriously thinking about it? Seriously? K'luha gaped at K'ile as he sat down and actually seriously thought about doing it. No way. No way in hell. She was obviously already dead if he was really going to do that. K'ailia must have killed her with that rock or Ventus killed her when he punched her through a tree and she was just dreaming that kind of nonsense. K'ile doing something remotely sexual? No way. He might have had a dick, she was pretty sure he did at least, but she was also pretty sure it was there for decoration and he'd never touched the thing.Â
Besides to clean it or something.Â
K'luha's jaw dropped when he shrugged and agreed. No way in hell.Â
"Holy shit, am I dead? Pinch me I think I'm dead."
*
Twinflame: He laughed at her. He knew when he did it that it'd prolly piss her off, but he couldn't help it. His back bowed forward and his hair shook while he laughed loudly and suddenly enough that one of the Chocobo at the front of the carriage squawked in surprise. K'ile clapped his hands, and continued to laugh far longer than was probably wise. For almost half a minute.
"I have never," he cughed through the laughter, "I've never seen you look like that! You really thought you had one on me!"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha blushed fervently when he started laugh. It wasn't THAT funny. No seriously. It wasn't. The more he laughed the more she blushed until her ears were down on her head and she pulled her hair in front of her face to hid her embarrasset ment.Â
"Y-yeah well! I never thought y-youd agree!' she shot back, stammering from her own embassment. God she had never been so embarassed before.
*
Twinflame: "Well, I agreed." He crossed his arms, smiling broadly. He was smug. The laughter subsiding, he leaned over and loomed over K'luha, forcing her to bask in his victory and surveying her defeat as if it were a thing he possessed and prized greatly. "So what are you going to do now? Care to change your request? I just might let you."
*
K'luha Haaz: "Oh! But it's not over yet!" K'luha retorted, puffing her chest out a little bit to ward him off. "You're smug, but can you really go through with it? It's one thing to say yes, another to do it! I won't rescind my request." she smirked back as if she had one the fight.
*
Twinflame: Still looming, K'ile said, "Of course you won't. You can't. You've trapped yourself, Luha." He stood and bent over her, extending his hands to lean against the opposite wall of the carriage. His body was arched over her. "So, let's see that hip."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha's ears dropped again and she slinked backwards to the edge of the carriage. "Yes, well. I haven't!" she shot back before blushing again. "And where do you think hips are moron?"
*
((K'luha, by the way, is wearing pants with a skirt over them.))
*
Twinflame: Leaning back a bit, K'ile frowned for a moment. Then, he smirked again, "I know where your hips are. They're under your pants. Are you trying to suggest you want me to just take off your pants too?"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha scoffed again and waved a hand dismissively at him. "Like you could ever have the balls to do it. You can just kiss it with my skirt on since you're too much of a pussy otherwise."
*
Twinflame: K'ile maintained his smile for a few seconds, and then it slowly lost its curve. His ears, so perky before, tiled to the sides. His lips moved to chew on his thoughts, and after a time, his whole body deflated. "Yeah, alright," he confessed, "You got me figured out. Just hold still, okay? Wouldn't want to hurt your hips at all."
He leaned back and dropped to his knees beside her, crossing his arms and leaning his elbows on her bench.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha smiled widely, finally having defeated K'ile. Indeed he was too much of a wuss, but that was too bad. She might have let him. Maybe. Perhaps. Still, she chuckled softly and waggled her ears in triumph.
*
Twinflame: Giving K'luha a look of defiance, he said, "Hey, what'd you think I was going to do? Just reach up into your skirt and pull your pants down?" As he did this, he reached up into her skirt and pulled her pants down.
*
K'luha Haaz: "Well I-" K'luha was about to reply before she realized that he had actually gone ahead and done it. And it was very cold without her pants. She squeeked loudly and her face turned about the shade of K'ile's haircolor. Her eyes promplty closed tightly and she hid her face with her hands. "I really did must have die..." she muttered to herself, completely mortified.
*
Twinflame: K'ile declared, "I'm kind of tired of people underestimating me all the time. You think I'm afraid of a little hip?" He pulled up her skirt and leaned down to kiss her bare hip, absolutely not flinching at all.
*
K'luha Haaz: "To be completely honest... I thought you were terrified of it..." K'luha mumbly mostly to herself, her face still completley red. Well this was really awkward now. She really had thought he was afraid of such a thing. Guess not. If his brother had been even half as attractive as K'ile was, it was a good thing she hadn't mated with him. Else she would have a lot more kids. And not because she wanted the kids.
*
Twinflame: Well, that was done. He'd kissed her hip so lightly out of concern for hurting it that he'd barely felt more than a brush between the lips and the skin, his sparse facial hair brushing her leg, before pulling away. He found himself staring down at her naked hip which, after all, wasn't a thing he hadn't seen and touched before. Now, however, it was dark purple with a bruise that had grown only after the injury had settled, as bruises often do. It hadn't been so bad on the night they'd spent in Drybone. No wonder she couldn't walk.
K'ailia had done this to her, when she'd tried to hurt him. K'ile choked on a sudden rush of anger, but a quick breath and the emotion was gone. he was angry at K'luha for thinking she needed to defend him, but that was the kind of person she was. She couldn't have acted differently. He should've made it more obvious that he wasn't going to let himself get hurt.
Thinking this over for several seconds in silence, K'ile at length leaned down and kissed K'luha's bare hip again. This kiss was just as soft, but it lingered. He honestly wouldn't have done this if not for the injury. But he was worried. And he felt a bit guilty. There was nothing he could say about it, though, that meant nearly as much as that kiss.
*
K'luha Haaz: There was this really awkward long span of time where K'luha could feel K'ile staring at her nude hip. But she couldn't precisely do anything about it. And she couldn't really tell him no. And she didn't really want to either but she simply was at a loss for what to do. Even K'yohko didn't stare at her that long.Â
The more K'ile stared the more K'luha's face went red and her stomach turned in knots. What precisely was he staring at? Was there something wrong with her hip? Did it look so terrible he had to stare at it in disgust? No really, why the hell was he staring so long? Was it that amazing then?Â
Never in a thousand years had she expected the first kiss, and the second kiss was really only an assurance to her that she was dead and imagining this from limbo or something. Although, there was something very distinct about that second kiss that made shivers run up her spine and her tail flick up, hair standing on ends. In a good way, of course.
*
Twinflame: A second after the second kiss, K'ile said, "It's up to you if you want to be sad. Finding something to smile about isn't hard," and then, so quick he didn't even look at K'luha at all, he was off the carriage. The sudden shift of weight made the Chocobos lurch and the carriage bounce in mid-air where it floated, as he landed on the ground behind it.
Keeping up with it was easy. He didn't even have to jog; a quick walk was enough. He felt the beginnings of cramps in his legs and back beginning to work themselves out. More importantly, he felt burning heat in his cheeks and ears, a certain breathlessness in his chest, and as he stretched and moved on the open road, the forest cooled it.
Catching up with the carriage, he moved to walk beside it, on the side opposite K'luha.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha was so taken aback by the second kiss itself she almost missed his words. Finding something to smile about? She was about to asked him what he meant when the whole carriage lurched and he was gone. It left K'luah alone on the bench feeling somehow.... strange. Too many fixed feelings to pick out any particular one. Besides freezing.Â
She managed to pull herself back together enough to get her clothing on properly before scooting herself onto the carriage floor and curling up. K'luha was thinking... probably overthinking. She didn't see K'ile because she was too busy staring at the floor and thinking. Something to smile about? What could it be...?
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