Hot and Cold

Guin sits in her frosty caves, meditating. This is her solace, when she considers her eternity of afterlife. She gave her life for an honorable cause but sometimes that can be hard to remember when you literally spend forever just waiting around for nothing.

"Guin!"

There is one solace, though—a solace within her solace.

"Guin, come on, you promised me a sparring match!"

The brunette master opens her eyes and sighs a bit, but smiles. She enjoys existing in her more human form most often, because it feels things her penguin form simply can't, such as the refreshing bite of the caves' cold. A mild side effect of her humanoid form is the strange elevation of heart rate that comes with it when Lope comes looking for her. "I'm in here, Lope!"

They are masters, of esteem, of course. There are only so many things to do in the eternal plains of the afterlife, though, aside from get to know your fellow masters. This comradeship has come to her, Lope, and Rilla, with years. They might be able to keep up a detached front, but they're actually quite close. Well, they are essentially roommates for forever, in one vaguely ambivalent region of nowhere.

Guin's ears pick up a trotting sound and the odd spike in heartbeat thuds in her chest. Really, she has no idea why it happens; it never used to, those ten thousand plus years ago, she doesn't think (can't necessarily remember). Either way, she turns from facing the back of the caves. A tuft of greyish hair comes into view. Soon, Lope's smiling face reveals itself. She smiles in return against her will. Lope is just infectious like that, and the friendliest of any of them. Rilla likes to maintain a mystical kind of essence, and she herself is fittingly cold, most of the time. Lope, though, is energetic and enthusiastic. He sometimes comes close to being downright chipper. "All right, Lope, I'm here."

"Hey, Guinny," Lope smiles widely at his old friend, who scowls at his pet name. Her bottom lip juts out a bit in a cute pout and his grin widens even further. "Oh, lighten up, Guinny, you know you're happy to see me."

"Aren't I always?" she asks sarcastically, though she turns back to hide her equally wide smirk. He doesn't need to know that she really is always glad to see him—masters forbid, that would only encourage him. "I told you, don't call me Guinny."

"Can I call you sweetheart?" he asks, leaning close into her peachy face.

Guin leans back in reaction, not liking how her heart bursts and her cheeks become hot. Her throat contracts a bit as she tries not to stutter, but fails: "n–no!"

"Aw," Lope pouts at her now. He brings his nimble legs up together to match her meditating position. "Why do you always meditate here? It's so cold."

"I like the cold," Guin mutters to herself, still blushing pink at Lope's intrusion of her space. She places her fists together again and tries to steady her breathing. Unfortunately, she's all too aware of Lope sitting close enough to her that his heat throws off her cold. "Could you possibly sit any closer?"

"If I were sitting under you, yes," he nods. It's almost innocent, the way he says it, except that his eyebrows are raised suggestively. "Come on, Guin, relax a bit. The Dai Shi: defeated—we can rest in peace."

"I thought we were fairly at peace before," she murmurs ambivalently.

"Well, we can really kick back and relax, now," Lope jumps up on his best weapons and holds out a hand. "Come on, Guin, you're gonna visit my sunny part of our Spirit Realm."

"Oh, Lope," Guin comes humorously close to whining, "it's so hot there!"

"I am an antelope, Guin, I live on the Savannah, I like the hot." He just smiles cheerfully as always. When he feels her chilled hand slip into his warmer one he gives it a little squeeze. "It won't hurt to look on the bright side, m'lady."

Guin tries not to let his flirtatiousness affect her but she feels his calloused skin run over her smoother skin and shivers. "I am not your lady."

"Not yet," he corrects boldly. Quickly enough, he bounds out of the cave with Guin's hand still in his. He's quick on his feet but he knows Guin can keep pace with him, with her vague ability of flight, despite her spirit being a flightless bird. "Shouldn't you at least lose the fur if you're coning to the Savannah? I know we can't sweat but you might be more comfortable."

Guin rolls her eyes but the next time Lope looks back at her, her outfit is more dress than robe, sleeves and leggings gone, fur, dissipated (no idea how that would work, don't ask). "A simpler solution might be to leave me be in my caves."

"Guin, I don't care if you're frosty, I refuse to leave you sitting alone in your little freezer like this forever," Lope turns his tender eyes on her, suddenly serious as he was in training the rangers. "You can meditate all you want but I'm not going to let you be alone here. You gave your life same as Rilla and I, and that should never be a punishment."

Guin is moved by Lope's words, staring back at him. In this particular moment, she might be willing to let her heart go out to him. "Lope, that's amazing."

"Plus, I can't go a day without seeing your beautiful face," he winks and continues bounding around with her hand in his.

And the moment's gone, Guin thinks sardonically, though the tingling in her gut is not as resistant as she wishes to seem. The wink really isn't helping her frame of mind, or flushed cheeks. Soon, they're out of the wooded area deemed Rilla's territory. They come across reddish grassland, just as misty as Rilla's forests but with an actual light at least similar to the sun.

"Ah, feel that, Guinny?" Lope lets go of her hand (to her secret disappointment) and spins around with his hands out. "The heat of the...light... "

"You look ridiculous," she mutters to herself, because the word she first considered was cute, the second, sweet.

"Come here!" Lope grabs his friend by the waist and drags her into the pink hued grass with him. She yelps at the motion but doesn't fight him too much, for which he's grateful. Guin might be the only female master of them but he has never won against her in a fight. "Relax, Guin, just enjoy yourself!"

Guin wrestles herself on top of Lope and props herself up on his impressive pecs. Once her hair is out of her face she huffs at Lope, only slightly aware that his arms are still around her waist, holding her lithe frame to his. "Lope, what was that?"

"Feel the warmth, Guin. Enjoy the light breeze, listen to the grass rustling gently around you." Lope enjoys the environment as he describes it. He especially enjoys the feeling of Guin's frame against his. She's almost the exact same height as him but is thin as a rail. The afore mentioned breeze ruffles her hair and he reaches out to the yellow streaks. "These are nice, you know, they bring out your eyes."

Guin feels a hot blush rise from her collar to her cheeks and reach the tips of her humanoid ears. The intensity of his eyes boring into hers makes her heart race, and she's no less embarrassed to realize that he can probably feel it. She can't escape his attention, but simply shifts her eyes around nervously. "I–I...um... "

Lope takes advantage of Guin's stunned moment and kisses her lightly on the lips. This only flusters her more and he laughs a bit. "You know how long I've been waiting to do that? Well, I have no idea how time passes here, but I'd say a good thousand years or so."

Guin feels a residual tingling in her lips, as well as the rippling of his abs through his robes as he laughs. Both are equally unnerving. She scrambles up out of his grasp, playing with her hair nervously. She scolds herself, thinking that she is a Pai Zhuq master and grown woman. However, her painfully hot cheeks and racing heart deter her from speaking at all.

"Well, how about this," Lope gets up as well and brushes off his backside (which Guin does NOT stare at...intently). "You fight me, you'll win as always, and you get to beat the qi out of me. If I win, though, I get another kiss."

Guin doesn't hesitate in flying at him. Her fist hits his diaphragm hard and sends him flying back a good distance. When she hears him trotting back to her she avoids his multiple kicks easily before kicking him off his feet. As he's falling to the ground she kicks him again. His body presses down the grass and these two blows alone have taken a toll on him already. She flies at him again and swipes two strikes at him, making sparks fly against his robes.

"Ah, geez, Guin, you're as tough as ever," Lope coughs and rocks himself back into a sitting position. He stands and coughs a bit, rubbing his sore abs. "Well, fine, though I am disappointed I wont' get that second k—"

Guin wraps her arms around him and smashes her lips to his. One hand finds his thick, tuffed hair while the other grips the material over his chest. Her body arches into his as his hands find her back, rubbing over it rhythmically. His lips are blazing hot against hers, which now feel cold in contrast. Everything about her feels cold against his overwhelming warmth. It's amazing, and terrifying, and leaves her wanting – needing – more. His tongue brushes against hers and it's like the relief of open flame warming frostbite. When her humanoid lungs feel as if they're about to burst, she pulls back. They're both flushed and breathless. Lope holds her close to him firmly while she looks at his chest nervously, unconsciously rubbing tiny circles over his heart with her pointer finger. "So...yeah, I just...wanted to try hat."

"I am very glad that you did," Lope smiles into Guin's hair, laying a kiss to the dark, silky strands. "What made you change your mind?"

"Just the heat getting to me," she mutters, though they both know it to be her affectionate way of saying that she cares for him as much as he does for her.

"Well, maybe we should go back to your caves for some cool," he murmurs and takes her hand in his, lacing their fingers, "and privacy."

Guin finds an all new way to feel nervous around her comrade at the insinuation, a hurricane quickly brewing in her gullet. "I–I, uh...what?"

"Well, if we're going to be dabbling in this kind of affection I'd rather it be where Rilla can't see us," Lope chuckles.

Guin turns and sees her friend, whom she considers in a fatherly/grandfatherly sort of way, in the trees. He sits atop one particularly tall one, smirking down at them. She turns an undiscovered shade of red and buries her face Lope's chest before she can think about it: "great."

"Come on, now, he's been rooting for this! I'm sure he's gotten quite sick of me going to his woods and whining about how lovestruck I've been over you for the past centuries."

"Just...come on," Guin continues to duck her head but drags Lope by the hand. "We're going back to my caves, but you can't complain about the cold!"