Just two months ago, the beginning of her second year at Duel Academy, the bluenette with confidence issues swore that she and the Freshman with a love for the mighty dinosaurs would never get along. With the way they argued over every little thing, their childish rivalry had enough fire fueling it to last a lifetime.
At the time that he dueled Atticus Rhodes one day, and they made it interesting with a wager, it didn't seem like such a big deal to Hassleberry.
That was all until he'd lost, and before he knew it was being lectured by the self-appointed "Magician of Love" on the hidden passion that Atticus claimed to sense between Hassleberry and Syrus.
"It's plain as day," Atticus commented at one point, "when you two look at each other, it's hard to miss how your eyes brighten up, and don't tell me you've never noticed how much she blushes around you, or the way she giggles when she gets you frustrated."
"If I wanted romance advice, I'd have asked for it. What do you want me to do?" Hassleberry still hadn't heard what task Atticus would have him complete for losing their duel, and frankly he was just about ready to forget about it and leave. Patience hadn't always been a strong suit of his, but it didn't help that he was being practically interrogated by the other brunet on his supposed feelings for Syrus. What did he know, anyway?
"I'm not hearing a "no"; you do like her." Atticus confirmed, and next came his decision; he told Hassleberry just what he had to do.
Asking Syrus out had a much different result than Hassleberry would've ever expected.
Showing up unannounced at the bluenette's Obelisk Blue dorm room in the middle of the night in a clean suit and tie- it was completely the opposite of his usual attire apart from the bandana still wrapped around his head, and he felt a little strange in it- gave Syrus quite a surprise. She was convinced it was some sort of prank, for who in the right mind would want to go on a private outing this late after curfew?
Then again, she had to remember that Hassleberry wasn't exactly in the right mind.
"Can't this wait until tomorrow? I just got ready to go to bed." She shot an apologetic expression at Hassleberry, but tried to sound irritated anyway, and used her hands to gesture to the thin nightgown that adorned her small body. Suddenly feeling a little self-conscious, she tugged at the bottom in the hopes that it would cover a little more of her thighs.
Hassleberry shook his head, looking away from Syrus quickly when he caught himself staring. "Jaden'll be with us in the morning," he reasoned, meeting her eyes again, "come on, we'll have fun, Cadet." He offered a hand to the little lady, before he could stop himself, but kept it outstretched between him and Syrus until the upperclassman finally gave up and smiled,
"I don't know what you're up to, but it's not like I need this sleep to deal with you every day... I'll come on this... "date", with you," a small part of her wanted to believe that the brunet had no ulterior motives, and it turned out to be just enough, "just a second, though." And with that, she'd disappeared back into her dorm room, shutting the door behind her. Hassleberry waited quietly for a few minutes; making any more noise than was neccessary would alert others in the Obelisk Blue female dormitory, and with all the trouble he'd already gotten into simply by being associated with Jaden and Syrus, he really didn't need this on his permanent record.
"Thought ya said you were comin' with me." He said under his breath, snickering at the amount of time it was taking Syrus to return. Finally, Syrus emerged from the room again. She had changed out of the nightgown, and while the pleated dress that she wore now was not much longer, it sure looked more comfortable to be in. The white suited Syrus' pudgy but tiny figure well. On her once bare feet were silver flats, just when did she get this outfit? He'd been in her dorm room quite a few times, and the mess of clothing always strewn about in there never consisted of this.
She'd even fixed up her hair; before it'd been a poofy mess, but with a brush and the pink bow she was accustomed to wearing it'd been easy to fix that.
"Sorry." Slightly embarrassed for making Hassleberry wait, Syrus looked down at the floor, twiddling her thumbs.
"You didn't have to go and dress up. Yer uniform would've done just fine." Evident by the dejected sigh given in response to Hassleberry's statement, that was the wrong thing to say.
Syrus hated that he'd gone to such trouble just for this; if she'd known he was planning a midnight visit, she wouldn't have come to the door barely dressed and ready to pass out any second. "Well, you already went to all this trouble to look nice, and... I can go change-"
"Don't worry, you look great, Sy." Hassleberry stopped the bluenette from once again going into her dorm, and Syrus seemed to settle greatly with his approval, through her dark blush she managed a shy smile. "We'd best get outta here." The Freshman remembered that to him, this was still forbidden territory, and getting caught could mean expulsion. "How about we take a walk down to the lake?"
"Are you kidding? Do you know how cold it is this time of year?" She wasn't even talking about the water; in mid November the air always got much colder, and usually didn't let up until early January.
"Coming from the gal who keeps the window open every night and hardly wears more than her unders to bed..." Hassleberry began snickering again, earning a flushed glare from Syrus. "We aren't goin' for a swim anyway, we'll be fine." He said, trying to reassure her.
They left the dorm together without another word, but once outside their usual chit chat and petty arguments over silly things started up. A few times Syrus broke out in a fit of giggles, and she had to remind herself and Hassleberry to be quieter. While Hassleberry personally loved the laughter erupting from the girl, he agreed to keep it down until they'd gotten farther away from the Obelisk Blue dorm.
Left to their own and without anyone to disrupt them at this hour, the pair found their way to the island's lake. Hassleberry insisted that he wouldn't allow Syrus to sit on the ground by the shore, and he soon found a tree he was sure they could get up into with ease. The bluenette was reluctant, however. Perhaps it was her fear of heights kicking in that almost had her stay on the ground.
She at last climbed up- with assistance from Hassleberry- and found a seat beside him on the branch that was lower to the ground than the others that the Ra had first pointed out.
Even though she was more comfortable now, Syrus refused to let go of the arm that had been given in order to get her in the tree. She held on to Hassleberry's large hand with both of her own, one interlocking their fingers and the other keeping a grasp on his thumb.
"See? That wasn't so bad," Hassleberry made no move to pull his arm away from Syrus, "was it?"
Syrus shook her head, pretending to adjust her glasses with the hand that'd been squeezing the other's thumb to hide the pink taking over her face alongside a rush of heat. "Are you sure I'm not going to fall?" She asked, her hold on the brunet suddenly tightening.
"Don't you worry your pretty lil' head about a thing, Cadet." Hassleberry replied. "I've got ya." It was more the other way around with the way Syrus had him, but either way, he could guarantee her safety.
They got to talking about a multitude of things; from troubles to goings on- though the latter had little differences between the two of them due to all the time they spent together- and from Duel Monsters to Syrus' love for Vehicroids and Hassleberry's for dinosaurs, it wasn't hard for them to find a new topic if one got boring.
As the night wore on, it got progressively colder. Gradually, without even realizing, Syrus began to seek out the warmth given off by Hassleberry's body. At first the Ra didn't pay it any mind, but by the time Syrus' arms were wrapped around him and his own had moved to drape over her shoulder, he spoke up about it,
"Fer all the stuff you have to say about my stench, yer gettin' awful close."
At the comment, Syrus gasped and removed her arms from Hassleberry's waist, letting them instead rest in her lap. "I guess I'm just cold..." She said defensively. The entire reason she'd opted not to wear anything more than her current attire was so she would have an excuse to get close to the muscular teen and take in his body heat. Not to mention, his scent had rather grown on her; certainly no one else she knew carried such an odor. It was just one of the many things that drew her to him; right after his ability to get her flustered over absolutely nothing half the time, it was her favorite thing about Hassleberry. Of course, his physique and the heavy accent on his already deep voice were just an added bonus.
"Do you want to head in now?" Hassleberry offered, keeping his arm on Syrus and bringing the bluenette closer when she shivered. "Ain't like I was complainin', anyway." He said a little more quietly; having Syrus clinging to him like she'd been was nice, especially since at half his size she fit right into his embrace rather comfortably.
"Not yet, but could we get out of this tree?" Syrus asked. Though she was a bit tired now, she wanted to spend quite a bit more time with Hassleberry before they parted for the night.
"Anywhere you want to go now?" Hassleberry jumped down from the branch, landing on his feet and taking a moment to catch his breath before turning around to face Syrus again. "Just jump down like I did, I'll catch ya." He said, and from the look that entered Syrus' eyes, she was a little less than willing to believe him. Her words only made it clearer,
"Are you sure? If you drop me, I'll never forgive you."
"Don't you trust me?" Hassleberry's arms were now reaching out for the Obelisk to land in, and seeing as how the only other way down was climbing and risking getting caught on another branch, Syrus decided it'd just be better to get this over with quickly. "Well, Cadet?"
"All right." Nodding, Syrus brought herself forward, pushed off of the branch with her hands, and slid right off with her eyes closed and body bracing itself for impact with the ground.
Instead of the cold, hard dirt, breaking her fall went to the strong, warm arms of the brunet, who kept his promise after all.
"You can open yer eyes now."
She obeyed Hassleberry, who had his left hand at her back and the other- the one supporting most of her weight- dangerously close to her rump. When Syrus' eyes finally fluttered open, they met the hazel ones of the Ra, and she couldn't help but give a shy smile. Hassleberry returned it with his own grin. "See, was that really so bad?"
"What's bad is that breath of yours..." Syrus muttered, her nose wrinkling as she giggled, "but, thank you." Acting on a sudden impulse, she leaned forward and kissed his cheek, instantly pulling back when she realized it and looking down at the ground as her own face turned pink. "C-Can you put me down now?"
Hassleberry set Syrus on her feet, his grin melting into a tender smile as he gently ruffled her hair- to the irritation of the bluenet, who gave a half-hearted glare as she smoothed it back down. "Where to now, Cadet?" He asked. When he received a soft yawn from Syrus soon after, the younger duelist began snickering. "You gettin' tired? Come on, let's get ya home." Of course, the home he was referring to was only Syrus' dorm room, but nonetheless he would see to it that the little lady got back safely. Yawning again, Syrus smiled and shook her head,
"I'm exhausted from dealing with you all day, I'll be fine."
"Hey now, at ease, Soldier... Let's get a move on, I'll walk you back."
"Can we take the long way?" Syrus asked.
"All right, fine."
Hassleberry took the lead at first, and Syrus made haste to keep up with his strides, which the brunet slowed when Syrus suddenly snatched his hand with her own. Even she was surprised by her actions, but Hassleberry made no effort to pull his hand away, and so neither did she, and a warm blush spread over her cheeks.
"Let's play a game. It'll pass the time, you know?" Syrus grinned, "we'll play truth or dare."
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but you sure know how to show a girl a good time," Syrus looked up at Hassleberry, pretending to adjust the spectacles on her face in order to hide a light blush, "you didn't have to walk me back here."
"Nonsense, Cadet," Hassleberry shook his head, "I'm not the type to let a lil' thing like you wander out here alone, especially knowin' the kinda trouble ya get yourself into."
"Most of the time you're the one getting me into it." The bluenette shot back, unable to hold back a wide grin as they approached the gates of the Obelisk female dorms. "Let's do one more," she brought their subject back to their game, and it was Hassleberry's turn now.
Hassleberry nodded. "Fair enough." He agreed full well that wherever they went, mischief wasn't far behind them, but the matter of who's fault it was would always be in dispute between them. "One more, then off to bed with you, all right?" He asked, and Syrus nodded eagerly. "Truth."
Syrus let some time pass before replying, asking the question that Hassleberry had been dreading,
"Why did you ask me to come out here with you? And, why now?"
They came to a stop, the brunet a little before Syrus, and Hassleberry looked down at the girl as he contemplated the answer he'd give. Lying was an option, but out of the question- though knowing Syrus the truth would serve to only upset her, lying was something Hassleberry hated to do to anybody, especially someone so close to him.
Besides, there was no guarantee that Syrus wouldn't see right through it anyway.
"Truth is, this wasn't my idea." He admitted, smiling a little sheepishly.
"Come again?" Syrus really was confused now, had she heard him correctly?
"That Atticus fellow... I kinda lost a duel against him, we had a bet of sorts-"
The bluenette's confusion quickly became sudden anger, clear hurt flashing through her eyes. "Let me guess," she began, the glare she shot Hassleberry sharp and- unlike before- very real, "the loser had to ask me out? Is that what it was?" She demanded. She couldn't believe what she was hearing- and here she was, the whole night having believed that Hassleberry had truly wanted to spend this time with her. "I know we don't always get along- scratch that, we rarely do- but honestly, I thought you were better than this." Taking in a deep breath after her outburst forced Syrus to pause, and it took a good deal of effort to keep her voice from getting too shaky, to keep from shedding any tears. "After all, you were the one who helped me get this far," at first she had hated to admit it, but she had the other to thank for the current state of her self-confidence- which was still pretty low, but at a much greater amount than last year.
For instance, without the stern encouragement of the other when she'd been made to duel Missy, all in order to decide whether the girl with the insect deck would go on to the Pro Leagues or Syrus would continue on at Duel Academy known as more than just Zane Truesdale's kid sister who'd always be in her brother's shadow, the latter duelist surely would've faced defeat. If she hadn't faced her fears, hadn't fought them like Hassleberry taught her, there was no doubt in Syrus' mind that her own self-doubt would have been her downfall.
"I guess I should've seen this coming, though," Syrus went on bitterly, "that's what I get for thinking someone like you actually believed in me, that you saw more in me than just Zane Truesdale's little sister... that it would work between us."
Hassleberry had let her finish, not because Syrus was right, but because blowing off steam was something he'd learn not to stop Syrus from doing. It'd only make her angrier, more stubborn. When she fell silent, she stared at Hassleberry, waiting for an explanation. He was a little shocked at her last remark, but in all honesty the Obelisk's reaction as a whole caught him off his guard.
"Sam hill, will you at least hear me out, Cadet?" He asked, shooting his own glare right back at Syrus. "I mean, give me some credit, will ya?" Though he tried not to make too big a deal of it, Syrus' doubt really stung; did she really think so much of him?
Of course, that'd been before now.
"I like spendin' time with you. Sure, yer' a real pain in my rear end and have been since I got here, and I've never met anyone so small with so much fight in 'em, or anyone so hard to get my head around," he became flushed, but kept his eyes locked on Syrus, "you drive me plumb crazy, ya know that?" For just a second, he couldn't help but crack a grin, which faded as quickly as it had appeared. "Now, what's all this about someone like me, huh? I believe in you plenty."
"Will you just stop it? I'm not going to fall for it a second time- you're gonna build me up with all of your dumb flattery and getting under my skin, and you're gonna do it all over again!" Syrus couldn't believe she was losing her cool like this; tears threatened to spill out any second, and Hassleberry was the last person she wanted to cry in front of, not that her pride could be any more damaged that it'd matter, anyway. "When I first met you, I thought you were just someone else who'd try and get between me and Jay, but then you helped me get over my fear and face Missy, and we started hanging out a lot... I got to really know you. You're brave, confident, strong... You're everything I could only hope to be, and yet, I was stupid enough to believe that you actually wanted to help me all this time."
At the silence she received from Hassleberry in response, Syrus assumed they were done here, and turned to head in without another word to the Ra. When she finally let a sniffle escape, the sound was as quiet as she could make it, but the gasp that next came out was loud and sharp when a hand reached out and snatched her wrist. Now even more angered and ready to just about snap, Syrus whirled around to face Hassleberry again, meeting his eyes with even more malice than before.
She didn't say it, but the expression demanded from the brunet just what he could possibly want from her now, what else he'd come up with to humiliate her further.
"If you say one more thing- I don't care if it's an excuse or whatever you have up your sleeve now- you'll regret it." She said, her voice half as harsh as her glare.
Hassleberry didn't let Syrus' threat deter him; at less than half of his size, what was the worst she could do? Then again, there was a major possibility that he'd end up with a crying female on his hands, but this was Syrus he was dealing with.
She was much more unpredictable than that.
"Why are you bein' so darn difficult? Will you just listen to me for-"
"If you're not going to be quiet, I'll shut you up myself!" Syrus interrupted, and at her challenge Hassleberry didn't become any more worried, but rather curious.
"Jus' what are you going to do, Cadet?"
Syrus grabbed hold of the male's tie, pulling Hassleberry in hard enough so that their lips crashed together and locked with the intense passion that'd been building and finally unleashed. When she broke for air after just a second of the contact, Syrus was dazed, but she managed to get out an answer,
"I'll do that again." She stated.
This time, Hassleberry didn't wait for the bluenette to come to him. He leaned in, and the space between their mouths closed for a second time, with a much softer impact than before. His arm gave a gentle tug at Syrus' wrist, bringing the smaller body closer to his own as one of Syrus' hands released his tie to move to the back of the brunet's neck, little fingers tangling in the roots of his dark hair. She stood up on her toes to press into the warmth coming off of the body of the taller duelist, only just getting into the closeness when suddenly Hassleberry delivered a light nibble to her bottom lip. At first, she returned the action, nipping gently a few times before pulling away to once again catch her breath.
"That d-doesn't count..." Syrus' cheeks were burning red, and she looked up into Hassleberry's eyes only for a moment before her own focused on the ground below, "you kissed me that time." Then, she brought the subject back to their game,
"It's my turn, you know."
"You don't have the guts ta' do that again." Hassleberry challenged, getting a little flushed himself but his breaths far lighter than the female's.
"Try me." Syrus fired back.
Hassleberry snickered for a moment, flashing yet another toothy grin at Syrus. "I will; I dare you to kiss me again."
Syrus had to stand on her toes, but she softly captured the lips of the male with her own petite ones, her tongue setting to work with quick instinct this time and poking at the corners of Hassleberry's mouth. She received a rush of excitement that sent shivers down to her very core when the larger, equally warm tongue of the other teen met and tangled with hers. Easily Hassleberry took control of the kiss, but then again, there wasn't too much effort on Syrus' part; she'd finally found something she was more than happy to let him win at.
It all went smoothly until he took it a step further, slowly and deliberately running the tip of his tongue against the roof of Syrus' mouth. Syrus shuddered, her hold on Hassleberry becoming tight as her knees became weak and a soft moan left her throat. Her moment of weakness passed quickly, and Syrus returned the action by closing her mouth around the intruder, sucking gently at first and adding a little force to it soon after. She was rewarded with a low growl from Hassleberry, and when she finally let him go- she'd have loved to continue, but being human, she did have to breathe- both of the young duelists were almost panting. Their faces were both flushed. While Hassleberry had a smirk of complete satisfaction at having coaxed such responses from Syrus, the bluenette seemed pretty embarrassed for having let him take control so quickly. She hadn't planned on it, but she loved the way her head spun with having for once been dominated by the Southerner, even if the kiss was just a simple little show of such dominance and her need for it. She just hoped she didn't appear so eager as she felt; after all, they were still rivals, this was still Hassleberry.
Of all people, she'd have never thought he'd be the one seeing her like this; so weak in the knees, so unable to get any words out, for once so stunned and wonderstruck that putting up the good old Syrus Truesdale fight wasn't an option anymore.
"You know, Cadet," it didn't take too much a push to get Syrus up against the metal fence, as she was still under Hassleberry's spell while he whispered between snickers, "I'm still waitin' for the part where I regret this."