Disclaimer: Don't own Huntik: Secrets & Seekers, it's characters or anything else related to it.
Rating: T
Takes place after both A Moment Alone and Stuck in the Window (rated T and M, respectively, but the M one isn't required to understand this) :) Loosely takes place during Season 2, directly after the episode were Sabriel reappears to Sophie. Enjoy!
"Raypulse!"
"Touchram!" Lok responded, blasting away her spell with his own before aiming his hand at Sophie. "Boltflare!"
It reflected off her Honorguard, but he took his chance and charged right at her, which she saw coming instantly: "Doublespell!"
"Crud" he thought, then instantly changed direction at the wall, shouting "Hyperstride!".
He dodged the first spell with his speed, running up and across the wall, but the second one missed him by a literal hair. He merely grunted, stopping at a right-angle to Sophie, then charging right at her again. Much to his surprise, she also responded with Hyperstride, so he resolved to outspeed her, best he could.
But the spell's duration ran out before he even got close... so he ended up on his back, Sophie standing above him, hand aimed directly at his chest. He merely slumped, knowing the energy crackling on her palm was merely for show. "Okay, okay, you got me" he sighed, holding his hands up. "You win this round, Sophie"
And on a side-note, despite the fact that she was standing almost directly over him, he still couldn't see anything. That Casterwill magic was REALLY thorough.
The energy disappeared from her palm, and she placed one hand on her hip, smirking slightly. "And the two before that" she added, before her expression softened. Then she giggled and offered him her hand, which he took. "But you did well, Lok; it's essentially a draw"
"How is you winning three out of five times a draw?" he asked mildly, standing up. "Isn't a draw supposed to be equal?"
The smirk came back, but he wasn't offended; it was a standard quirk of hers during banter. "Well, at least you know your basic math" she said, stepping around him. "Though it's a wonder you know this at all, considering how often you sleep in school"
Without truly looking, he reached forward to grip her arm. Sophie did stop, with a sort of jolt, but he didn't notice: "Oh come on, Sophie" he said lightly. "You know me better that that"
When she was silent, he furrowed his eyebrows. "Sophie?"
Sophie slowly dipped her head. "I hope for your sake Lok, that this was an accident" she said finally, in a strange tone of voice.
He blinked, wondering what the heck she was talking about... wait, something about his grip felt kinda off. He slowly looked down at his hand, and gasped slightly: while he was on her arm technically, his fingers had extended sideways quite a bit, lightly touching part of her left breast. He quickly pulled his hand away, partly turning away. "Well, it was an accident, Sophie" he said reflexively. "And besides, now wouldn't have been the best time anyway"
Sophie turned back to him, arms crossed but cheeks slightly pink. "Yeah, if Dante or Zhalia had walked in on us, and you'd been serious, I would have never forgiven you" she said in a hard tone.
He raised an eyebrow. "Never?" he asked.
He kept up the staredown, and after a few seconds, she relented with a smile. "Well, maybe not 'never', but I'd still have been annoyed at you" she said, walking up close to him. "Kissing is one thing, but that would have been something else entirely"
He chuckled, putting one hand on her shoulder, which further softened Sophie's expression. "I'll say" he breathed; he might have died if that happened... well, not literally, but you knew what he meant.
When their conversation became silent for about five seconds, Sophie merely giggled. "Anything else you wanted to say?" she prodded.
"Ah, yes actually" he admitted. "One, if I had been serious back there, I still probably couldn't do anything. It's always your mood that prevails"
Sophie gave him a look, but it was a playful one, letting him continue.
Which he did, remembering back to their recent encounter in the cave, fighting back hard against Casterwill protectors. "And second" he said. "The Casterwill suits we fought against? They used a new spell I'd never seen before, and I thought that you Sophie, as a descendant, might wanna try it out"
"Really?" she asked, interested. "What was it's name?"
"I think it was 'Kindlestrike', but I didn't hear them call it out very often" he mused, then glanced outside. "It was blue, and very powerful-"
"Okay, Sophie" Lok said, done setting up a number of practice targets, quickly backing away to stand behind her. "Ready when you are"
She lifted her hands up, expression fierce. "Kindlestrike!"
The blue energy swirled around her hands, but nothing else happened (still, they were both surprised; first tries weren't usually that easy). The second and third times were brighter, but the results were the exact same. Despite the lack of progress, Lok had himself ready to bolt in case of misfire.
His caution was warranted: somewhere around her tenth try, a small blue beam did shoot out of her palms, but at a right angle of her intended target (he felt really bad about the window). Still, Sophie didn't give up, and continued to try blasting their target dummies with Kindlestrike. Many of them continued to strike at angles other than her intended one, including one that went almost directly behind (and missed his cheek by a hair). "Wow, that spell is literally hard to aim!"
Sophie grunted, staring at her open palms in slight frustration. "I knew it'd be tough, but this is a little ridiculous"
"It's only been ten minutes, Sophie" he said, stepping closer. "You'll get it. You're one of the most talented Seekers I know"
She looked at him, and on the inside, he sweated slightly: he couldn't tell if the complement had helped at all.
"Only one of the most talented?" she asked in a hard tone.
He struggled not to gulp. "Uh, what I meant to say was-" he said quickly, right until he saw the raised eyebrow she was giving him. It took him a full two seconds, but he got it. "Oh" he breathed, then chuckled. "Actually yes, only one of the best"
"Oh really?" she asked, giving him a shove on the arm.
He shrugged it off, then pulled Sophie really close by the shoulders, surprising her. "Really" he answered easily.
"Well let me tell you something, Lok" she began heatedly, only for him to move in closer. "You've got another thing com-mmh!"
He had just now kissed her.
She didn't do anything for a second in surprise, then she gave off a muffled giggle, and returned his affection. And he was enjoying it, especially when her hands went up his back.
As it turns out, Sophie wasn't always into the soft kind of love (kind words, soft touches, always nice to the other, etc); sometimes she liked to play, or make him work for the right to kiss her... or sometimes even just make him realize he should shut up and kiss her. It was very interesting when she did this, as she wasn't the type to give him clues or outright tell him what he should be doing, so he had to puzzle out what she really wanted.
It suited him perfectly, and was quite smart on her part.
"You've got another thing com-mmh!"
While Dante merely raised an eyebrow at this muffled exchange, there was an amused chuckle from beside him. "By the sound of it, Lok made the first move" Zhalia said, looking right at him. "Guess I lose that side-bet"
"You did" he admitted. "But I lost my bet about exactly how it would happen. And since both bets had the same amount, neither of us really lost anything" he added with a chuckle.
"True" Zhalia said, glancing out the window again at the training field, which happened to be just outside the room... and where Lok and Sophie were currently so entangled. "Does this count as spying?"
"It'd be spying if it was deliberate, Zhalia" Dante said. "We were merely in here when they wandered outside to test that Kindlestrike spell. And she did quite well for a first try"
Zhalia gave him a smile and a raised eyebrow. "But we still stayed when they decided to get romantic"
He merely ate another piece of popcorn, unconcerned as he smiled. "Side-bets are simply business, Zhalia" he said. "Nothing nefarious"
She chuckled again. "Clever"
Not much, but hey, it's fluff :P Simple, but enjoyable I think