A Closer Look

Rita leaned against a strong gust of icy wind that threatened to push her off her feet. The wind seemed to cut right through the thick clothing she had on. She muttered a curse under her breath as her body shivered violently. The weather had been quite normal up until a short time ago. Now it had taken a drastic turn for the worse. The temperature had plummeted to freezing temperatures. The gray clouds in the even darker sky were heavy with precipitation. It was a clear warning that if shelter was not reached soon she would seriously regret it.

Her determination was renewed at the thought of being drenched in the freezing cold. She pushed forward up the hill faster heading toward a cave that they had taken shelter in before while traveling in the area. Behind her she could hear the labored breaths of her unwanted traveling companion.

"D-don't croak back t-there old man." She chattered as she looked behind her.

Raven was hunched over pulling his heavy coat close against the wind that fought to take it away. He followed her a few feet behind. "I'm n-not gonna die but man I'm freezing." He tried to duck further into the scarf around his neck.

"We're almost there. If you go down I'm leaving you where you fall." She said angrily. She turned back ahead and kept moving. While everyone else was busy with their own separate matters she had left the group to do some research. He had tagged along ignoring her complaints claiming he had nothing better to do.

They arrived at the entrance of the cave after some time. As she walked into the cave the wind immediately stopped buffeting her body. It was a great relief. Raven came in behind her a moment later looking equally glad to be inside the cave.

"Ohhhh…" he said melodramatically as he flopped back onto his butt. "I didn't think Old Raven would make it here."

"Good thing you did or I'd have to go back and tell them you didn't make it." She sat down a little ways away from him to catch her breath. Though they were out of the wind it was still just as cold inside the cave.

"Rita darling, you're so cruel." He said with a slight smile. "You wouldn't come to my rescue?" he said.

"What do you think?" She asked irritably. Being stuck in the cave with him of all people was the last thing she wanted.

"That's cold." His answer showed that he understood fully what she meant.

After a couple of minutes Raven rose and gathered the leftover wood from the corner of the cave. "Alright, it's just enough for tonight." He bought it over and placed some of it in a pile. "Will you do the honors?"

Rita rattled off a quick fireball spell and lit the wood on fire. When it was lit and burning steadily Raven sat back to take in some of the heat from the fire. Rita scooted closer to do the same and they sat in silence for a few moments. As the fire bought heat back to her face she massaged it to get rid of the stiff feeling left behind. When she turned her attention back to Raven he was going on about how his old body couldn't take extreme temperatures. She rolled her eyes at his musings.

Despite how much she called him old she honestly doubted he was that old. He did look a bit worn though. She pegged him to be in his late thirties or early forties. She pulled her thoughts back to their current situation. Just as she did so the sound of something a lot heavier than rain began outside the cave. She rose and walked to the exit of the cave to see small bits of hail falling and bouncing to just inside the threshold.

"I'm guessing we'd better unpack seeing how we'll be here all night." Raven said opening his bag to pull out his things. Rita begrudgingly did the same. They both unpacked their things they needed for the night and arranged it near the fire. Rita pulled out one of her books and opened it up to where she'd last left off. At least she would be able to catch up on her book while she had some downtime.

"What are ya readin?" he asked just as she settled into her pallet.

"Nothing you'd understand." she answered simply.

The cave fell into silence except the sound of the fire crackling and the hailstorm outside.

"Hope the rest don't worry 'bout us." he spoke again.

"They'll be fine until we get back." she answered again without taking her eyes off the page.

"I wonder if Karol will-"

"He will." she responded before he finished the question with her brow creased in annoyance. His continual interrupting her was getting on her nerves. A few more moments passed in silence before she relaxed again.

"Do you think-"

"Don't you see I'm trying to read!" she yelled looking up from her book.

Raven sat with a knowing smirk on his face. Her eyes widened in realization and then narrowed in anger. She slammed the thick book shut and hurled it at him just as he began laughing. He narrowly made it just in time to deflect the book with his arm so that it landed next to him harmlessly.

"I'm sorry," he laughed "I really am bored. This silence might drive this old man crazy. Can't we at least keep each other company?"

Rita huffed and then glared at him.

"Just for a little while then I'll go to sleep." He said holding his hands up.

"Fine." She conceded. He smiled happily as he handed her book back to her.

They conversed about many different things the majority of which wasn't important, just something to fill the silence. While they talked they cooperated to make a small dinner out of the food they had gathered before the weather had turned.

After dinner they both settled into their pallets and wrapped themselves tightly with their covers.

"G'night Rita." Raven said pulling the cover up to his ears. "I just hope I don't freeze before the morning."

"'Night."

Turning for what seemed like the millionth time, Rita pulled her knees up to her chest. The temperature had definitely dropped since they had fallen asleep. She turned her head to look behind her. The wind whipped violently outside.

"Man, it's cold." came Raven's voice.

She turned her attention forward to see him sitting up on the other side of the fire.

"How long have ya been woke?" he asked her as he moved to put more wood on the fire.

"A while." She frowned as she sat up and pulled the cover around her body.

After Raven replenished the wood he sat down and wrapped himself tightly in his own blanket. Although the fire had been restocked the bitter cold temperature cut the effect.

"This isn't working."

"What?" she asked. She rubbed her upper arms in an ineffective attempt to generate a little warmth.

"It's only getting colder in here. We'll both be icicles by the time morning comes if we don't do something." He stared at her from across the fire.

"What do you mean?" she asked "We already have blankets and a fire. There's nothing else we can do but tough it out until morning."

"Well there is something…" he trailed off.

She looked at him questioningly. "What?"

"We could share our body heat."

There was a long stretch of heavy silence.

"PERVERT!" she yelled and began summoning a fireball ready to burn him to a crisp.

"W-W-WAIT A SEC!" he stammered out in a hurry. "I don't mean anything indecent. I promise!" he looked posed to run if she wasn't convinced.

Rita stopped casting and stared at him with narrowed eyes.

"We really don't have any other choice if we want to keep warm enough to see the sun rise. I won't do anything. We're just going to sleep next to each other. Besides it's not like I have a death wish or somethin'."

She took a deep breath while she weighed their situation. She knew what he said was true but the last thing she wanted to do was share a bed with someone so suspicious. What if he did try something? No problem, she would just have to figure out a good cover story as to why he wasn't with her when she returned to her friends.

"Fine, but if you try anything, you're dead." she promised.

"I get it. Do I come over there or are you coming over?"

Rita moved over in her pallet as her answer. If it was a question of her going to his bed or this, she would rather it be this way. It would be to weird getting into his. When she looked up Raven had come over bringing his blanket and pillow with him. He spread his blanket over her blanket then kicked off his shoes and climbed in on her other side.

"What are you doing?" she asked as he pushed her to the side of the pallet that was closer to the fire.

"I want this side" he said as he laid back. He tucked his pillow under his head and pulled the cover up to his chin. Rita remained sitting up.

"Y'know it won't work if we have the covers up and a large gap between us."

"Shut up! I know that." she shot back. Giving in she laid back and pulled the covers up. The pallet they were in was small so she had no choice but to lay near him. She did so with her arms pinned to her side staring at the firelight on the ceiling.

"Are you really gonna sleep like that?" he asked watching her.

"So what if I am?"

"It's just that it looks kinda uncomfortable. Try to relax a bit."

Rita lay silently for a while trying to do just that but it just wasn't happening. It irked her that she couldn't just turn over and go to sleep. His presence in her personal space was unnerving.

"Why don't we try talking a bit to help you loosen up?" he spoke again.

"Talking about what?"

"Anything is fine."

Rita had no clue what to talk about. There wasn't much to talk about. She'd had a pretty boring life up until she met Yuri, Estelle, and Karol that day a while back. Now it seemed her life was full of excitement.

"Too broad? Let me try again. You always seem so annoyed at everything. What do you really think about everyone?"

"Bunch of idiots." she responded immediately. "But-…I'm glad I met them."

"Hn. I guess they do have that effect on people." he said thoughtfully. "I think the princess probably feels the same way about you. She seems really glad to be your friend."

Rita felt her cheeks heat up slightly. She still wasn't completely used to the whole girl's friendship thing or friendship in general for that matter.

"I really treated her bad before I got to know her. She's never said anything about it though. Now I kind of regret it. She's not anything like what I thought she was at first."

Rita knew for sure that she wasn't usually so forthcoming with her feelings but she chalked it up to being cold and sleepy. She couldn't think of any other reason why she was so forthcoming. Not wanting to talk about her thoughts and feelings anymore than this, she decided it was his turn to answer some questions.

"What about you?" she looked over at him.

"What about me?" he asked feigning ignorance.

"Don't play with me." she wasn't about to be the only one who shared.

He chuckled. "Alright. I'm glad to be travelin with you all. I guess Old Raven's not a lonely old man anymore."

"Any regrets?"

Instead of an immediate answer he seemed to think seriously for just a moment. When he answered he smiled a little too brightly to her. "Nope, none at all."

"If you say so." She looked at him suspiciously but figured everyone had some regrets. Maybe he just didn't want to talk about it.

"Why'd you follow me?" she changed the subject by voicing the question she'd been wondering since he'd invited himself to come with her.

"I figured it would be better if you had someone with you since you were planning on going so far out by yourself."

"I can take care of myself."

"I know. It was just in case. I guess I came in handy though. You might've been in trouble out here by yourself."

"Hmph, I guess." she said reluctantly. She knew very well she would have been in trouble but it just wasn't in her nature to admit it so easily.

"Hey, it looks like you finally relaxed."

When he said it she realized it was true. She wasn't so stiff anymore. The pallet had warmed up with both of them in it and her body was finally relaxed to the point where she felt she could finally sleep.

"Guess it's time we get some sleep." Raven snuggled further down under the cover.

Rita turned toward the fire and pulled the cover up. "Good night."

"Good night Rita." he responded.

Rita closed her eyes ready to fall asleep. As she did so she took comfort in the feel of heat at her back and the sound of a light snore beginning behind her. It was the oddest thing but before she could think about why she felt so comfortable she was overcome by sleep.

The next morning Rita opened her eyes to see the color purple. As she focused she realized that it was the hideous coat that Raven liked to wear. Leaning back some she looked up to see the underside of Raven's chin with its light dusting of stubble. He was still sound asleep with one arm under his head and the other resting on his side.

She had somehow ended up facing him during the night and ducking under the cover to keep her head warm. Her nose was inches away from the fabric of his coat. Leaning just a bit closer so her nose brushed his clothing she inhaled. He smelled slightly of the wood he had carried the night before mixed with a hint of something masculine. Realizing that she was displaying some seriously odd behavior she mentally reprimanded herself.

What the heck was she doing smelling Raven?

Of all the people she smelled Raven, the fishy old man. Carefully she moved away from him and moved up to poke her head out of the blanket. The cave was lit by the light coming from the cave opening. Next to her the fire was dying out leaving glowing embers.

Bracing herself for the colder temperature outside the blanket she lifted them and exited. She shivered at the difference in temperature. It really drove home the fact that she would have been freezing had Raven not joined her. She guessed she really should be thankful to him. His concern for her had been necessary, but she still wasn't going to thank him.

After putting on her shoes she packed away the supplies that they had bought with them. As she worked her mind returned again to Raven. She thought about the night before and she realized that he had been very considerate of her. He had placed her on the inside of the pallet closer to the fire, so she wouldn't feel the occasional draft of cold air from the cave entrance. He also had taken her mind off sharing her bed with him when she couldn't relax.

She turned to look at the subject of her thoughts. He lay huddled under the covers sleeping peacefully. Then again maybe she was just thinking too much. It was after all just Raven. She had no idea why she kept thinking about this. It was really annoying her.

Shaking her head she stood from her crouching position and walked back over to the pallet. In one smooth motion she yanked both blankets off the sleeping man.

"Come on get up. It's time to go." She said folding the cover over and taking it to the bag.

"Huh?" he said sleepily. "It's morning already?"

"Yeah." She began putting out the burning embers.

Raven sat up and pulled his overcoat closer to him. "How'd ya sleep?"

"Fine." She said packing away the rest of the sleeping equipment.

When Raven went to pack the rest of his things he stopped short. Rita pulled on her coat and pretended not to notice.

"You packed everything already?"

"Yeah."

He paused for moment. "Rita, you actually care for this old man?" he sounded moved by her actions.

"N-no. It's not like it was for you. I just want to hurry up and get out of here." without looking back she quickly picked up her bag and headed for the exit, ignoring the heat in her cheeks. "If you don't hurry up I'm gonna leave you!"

"Don't be ashamed." he teased behind her as she exited the cave.

Outside the cave the sun beamed bright in the clear blue sky. It held no traces of the ice storm from the night before making it seem as if it didn't happen in the first place. She shook her head at the strangeness of it and turned her attention to the hill in front of her. Everything she could see twinkled from the ice crystals that coated the surfaces. A treacherous trek loomed ahead of them full of slips and falls. Her only consolation was that she would have a nice hot bath when she returned. It would sooth away all the aches and pains she was bound to have after the trip.

Just as she began to move forward Raven's voice came from behind her.

"All right I'm ready. Let's get going." he said strolling around her and walking ahead of her. "It looks like it's goin ta be a rough time going back."

Rita resigned herself to the fact and followed closely behind him. As they proceeded, Rita was again and again met with Raven doing things that caught her attention. It seemed that he always made sure to stay ahead of her when they were going downhill and he would occasionally ask if she needed to stop for a break. She wasn't use to someone paying so much attention to her and she wasn't sure what to make of how she felt about it. She vaguely wondered if she would even notice if it were Yuri doing these things instead of Raven.

Not sure of the answer she refused to dwell on it. There was something that she was certain about. As much as it bothered her to admit it there seemed to be more to Raven than she initially thought. Maybe he wasn't just a fishy old man. Either way, she would never admit it to him that she was second guessing her judgment. That would just be something she would have to keep to herself.

A/N: This is my first try at one of my favorite pairings. Thanks go to Koware ta who provided me the plot for this. I tried my best to keep them in character but it's been a while since I last saw the game so let me know if I failed or succeeded. This takes place before the betrayal just in case anyone is wondering. Thanks for reading!

R & R please!
(^.^)