"Ah, that hurts!"
"Then hold still," I snapped. The silver-haired boy before me winced as I ran my fingers along his fresh wound. I sighed as I began to channel my healing magic. Luneth had recklessly thrown himself in front of me during our last battle and had gotten himself hurt as a result. He claimed it was chivalry, but I thought it was just pure stupidity.
"Sorry," he gritted out through his clenched teeth. I quickly looked away from his face. It was too hard to watch him writhe in pain. I finished patching up one gash and hurriedly moved on to the next.
"You didn't have to do that, you know," I whispered softly. I thought it went unheard until:
"I wanted to."
"But why? It's not the first time an enemy has tried to attack me."
"Refia," Luneth shifted to face me fully, "you're a devout now, not a red mage or warrior."
"So," I interjected, a little angry, "that doesn't mean that I'll go down in one hit. I don't need you to protect me all the time! It's smothering me!"
I pulled away from him to inspect for more damage to find that there was hurt in his expression. That was something I couldn't fix with my magic. I tried to focus my attention on anything – the surrounding trees, that red flower a few meters away, or even the damp grass we were sitting in – except for his upset face.
"Sorry for caring, then," Luneth muttered and stood abruptly. He turned to walk away only to fall back to one knee just as quickly. I gasped and hurried to check for the missed injury.
"You idiot!" I cried out. Luneth only gave me a weak smile in response.
"I guess I forgot about the one on my abdomen." He let out a little chuckle, but I didn't find this funny in the least. When I saw the blood spread through the fabric, I frantically gestured for him to lift his shirt to allow me access. He weakly complied. I gasped at the sight in front of me.
"How could you forget about something like this?" I was sure that if Arc or Ingus were here, they would've pulled the answer out of him right away with little trouble. Unfortunately, said party members were out collecting wood and scouting the area to set up camp.
"Um, actually," Luneth avoided my curious gaze and nervously scratched at a nonexistent itch on his neck, "I didn't forget. I kind of lied…"
I exploded at him, "Why would you do that?"
"You were getting mad, so I thought I'd give you some space…"
"And let yourself bleed to death while I cool down?" I finished in an indignant screech. Luneth winced at my choice of words.
"I could've used some potions…"
"Potions can fix this?" I asked and gestured to his already partially-healed wound. He didn't look so sure either. "I thought so."
"I'm a dark knight, so I would've been fine."
"Do I have to remind you how many times I've had to heal you after you used that souleater skill too much?" My eyes glazed over at the thought of Luneth's exhausted body struggling to even stay upright after just one use. I could feel my chest ache painfully in remembrance.
"Never mind then." Luneth shifted his position in front of me with a pout. I just smirked slightly and continued to mend the torn skin on his abdomen. After a moment of silence, I felt movement on my head and looked to see Luneth happily tugging on the ears of my devout robe.
"Hey Refia," he toyed with the fabric as he spoke, "did you know that you look cute in cat ears?"
I felt my face heat up profusely and silently cursed at his teasing. His wound just could not heal fast enough! I could practically feel the smile that he most likely directing at me. Another moment passed and the movement was not on my hood anymore but in my hair!
"What do you think you're doing?!" I squeaked. I tried to focus on threading the last spots of his skin back together. His fingers continued to weave through my hair until my hood was eventually pushed away from my head.
"I'm just busying myself," he casually replied. I grit my teeth as his nonchalance because I could feel my face growing hotter by the second. I practically jumped up to do a victory dance when I saw the last of Luneth's skin had successfully healed.
"A-all done!" I hopped up from my spot on the ground and tried to push Luneth's sudden intimacy from my mind. Ingus and Arc would be back soon, I assured myself. Luneth stretched to test my handiwork and suddenly smirked at me. "What? Is something on my face?"
"Nah, I was just admiring the color of your cheeks. I have to admit; red is a pretty good color for you."
I stared at him for a moment before his words finally sunk in. He was teasing me again! I huffed at his words, "How can I believe you really care if all you do is tease me, anger me, and… worry me?" I started to walk away, intent on finding either Arc or Ingus to actually cool down like Luneth had wanted, but sudden warmth and a set of arms stopped me in place.
"I do care," Luneth replied with conviction. His grip around my frozen body tightened, and the heat quickly returned to my face.
"Prove it." The words shot out of my mouth before I could stop myself. I could hear him grunt before he spun me around to face him. I gulped in anticipation. Was he really going to do what I thought? My first kiss…?
His face leaned in towards my own, and I could feel my eyes flutter shut in response. I could feel his warm breath fan my face. Just a couple more inches…
"Luneth! Refia! Um, I need some help." We swiftly broke apart and whirled around to see Arc shuffling towards us with more wood than he could carry. I audibly sighed, which didn't go unnoticed by my companion. Luneth briefly turned towards me with a mischievous grin.
"We can continue later, Reffie," he said happily before ruffling my hair and going to his friend's side. "Woah, Arc! No wonder you took so long! I would've helped you earlier if you had just called for me, ya know."
I smiled bashfully and lowered my head my feet. "That idiot. Who said I wanted to continue?" I muttered, but in the back of my mind, I knew I'd take him up on that offer. My fingers ghosted across my lips before I moved to help the two boys.
My first kiss… I couldn't wait.
A/N: C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER! I've finally submitted a story to a fandom that doesn't start with an "S." I'm so proud of myself.
Anyway, this is my first time writing in this perspective! Ah, I'm so nervous. It's also my first time writing these characters too, so I'm worried about how I did. Of course, there weren't a whole lot of scenes in the game that really showed each character's personalities a lot, so I might be fine in that respect…
Poor Ingus doesn't even get an actual appearance. I'm so sorry, Ingus! And poor Arc at least had one line, but still… I feel like such a bad author! (Sorry for the long A/N. It really shouldn't be this long.)