Two Worlds
Opposites attract. The phrase is commonly used when it comes to romance but the only situation in which that phrase is truly universal is when you're talking about magnets. Knuckles sighed and lightly giggled to himself as he pulled the rim of his hat down over his eyes and sprawled out on the park bench.
"Opposites attract….Yeah right." He thought. "If one person is the opposite of the other, then they would have completely different opinions about the same situation. Sounds to me like they'd always be butting heads." But then again if that was the case, why was he so attracted to her? There are exceptions to the situation. Magnets only have two forces, a north and a south and each side only attracts to the opposite pull. When you try to put two of the same force together, they just push away. When you're talking about a person however, there aren't just two sides. There are many other aspects to look at. In some cases the two may just be too different to get along, but you also have the situations where the two are so different, they set each other off perfectly or so similar that they understand every emotion and sensation the other experiences. He couldn't get her off of his mind for some reason or another. Her slim yet robust figure, her long hair and bright eyes seemed to have been captured in his mind like a portrait. "Stop it!..." He commanded himself. There was a very fine line between love and hate and he wanted to hold firm to his side. Besides, she was an ex-legionnaire and he was a guardian. They were complete opposites…in a bad way. "Opposites attract….I hope not." He thought.
"She did kiss you though…didn't she?" A little voice seemed to nag in his ear like a mosquito. Whether it was a "token of her gratitude" for saving her or something more was unknown to him, but he was curious nonetheless. His thoughts were suddenly disrupted by a familiar figure jogging into view.
"Speak of the devil herself…" he thought. "Out for her morning exercise." Julie-Su stopped running for a moment and began to stretch before she noticed Knuckles sitting on the bench merely feet away.
"What do we have here? Working hard, are we?" she chimed. "It's kind of hard to spot and defend the island from danger with your tail-end glued to a bench…don't you think?" Knuckles smiled as he pushed the rim of his hat out of his line of view and laughed softly.
"It's called relaxing, you should try it sometime. At any rate, Sweetheart I don't think there's much in the way of danger lurking about at the moment and if there was, I'd know about it by now." He could tell by the look on her face that his sarcastic tone was getting on her nerves, but then again it didn't take much to irritate her. "You're cranky today, what got up your ass?" That telltale little wrinkle over her nose was a dead giveaway that he was getting to her.
"But she's even cuter when she's angry…." There it was again…that voice in his head.
"Where do you get off, you smartass?" She growled. "Don't you have an oversized, green rock to stare at?" She smirked at him as she crossed her arms and shot him a pert gaze.
"Not at the moment." He mused, still smiling. "Why do you have plans?" He smiled as he waited for a response. "That didn't come out right…." He thought. It almost sounded like an invitation.
"You're attracted to her! Admit it!" the little voice in his mind buzzed.
"Making some use of myself besides being a benchwarmer, does that count? Just because there aren't any dire problems at the moment, doesn't mean we should let our guards down. I like to keep myself prepared." She said as she delicately pushed her hair out of her face. Knuckles sighed as he rolled his eyes.
"Is that so? Those Legion Grandmasters taught you how to use firearms, but what happens if you drop your gun? Are you still prepared then?" he asked.
"Of course I am! What kind of question is that to ask me?" she growled.
"And not just your gun…that other little gizmo of yours too." He added. Julie gave him one of her smug looks.
"It's called a Taser." She snapped. "I'm just as strong as you are and you know it!" she said as she stepped closer to him and balled up her fists. Knuckles smiled, rose to his feet and crossed his arms. That look on her face was adorable and he was distracted by her lilac eyes for a moment.
"Really? May I remind you who came out on top in our first encounter?" He had a prideful expression on his face. "And don't forget, I have the master emerald."
"Yeah, drop the hubris. If that bug of yours hadn't come along and saved you, you'd be six feet under the ground with a skull full of lead by now." Archy had come along and given her a nasty burn on the hand, just in time to save him from being electrocuted.
"You and that gun of yours…." He smirked. Julie smiled back as she realized what he was implying.
"You think shooting a gun is easy?" she asked. "You may have the ability to summon the energy of the Master Emerald, but when you get down to the base of it, it's still just a rock and you have to be one of the few people able to use it in the first place. Almost anyone can be taught to shoot a gun." Knuckles nodded as he glanced at the holster on her belt.
"What's so hard about it? All you do is point it at whatever you want to hit and pull the trigger. Sounds simple enough to me."
"Alright..." Julie cooed. "Prove it." She pulled the gun out of her belt and held it out to him. She glanced over at a nearby tree where the name "Orian" was carved into the bark. "You see that carving in the tree over there? I want you to hit the "o" dead center…if you can." He aimed the gun at the tree and poised himself to fire. His stature looked completely wrong to Julie and she couldn't help but laugh at him. "First of all, keep your arms up and keep both eyes opened. Your eyes work together when they send images to the brain, so if you shoot with one eye closed, it'll pull too far to one side or the other. And keep both feet firmly planted into the ground." Knuckles had a perplexed look on his face.
"What the hell do my feet have to do with anything?" he asked as he focused on the gun.
"Oh, you'll find out when you pull the trigger…" she mused. "Whenever you're ready, go ahead and give it a try." Knuckles pointed the gun at what he thought was the center of the circle and spent a good minute or so trying to steady his aim. When he finally pulled the trigger, he missed the target entirely and was blown back by the force of the shot. After staggering backward he fell into the grass and groaned in pain as he tried to pick himself up. He paused when he managed to get to his hands and knees and scowled. Julie was laughing hysterically. "That one little shot knocked you right on your ass!" She giggled. "What did I tell you about keeping your feet planted FIRMLY into the ground?" He gave her a disgusted look.
"How the hell am I attracted to her!" He thought as he looked at the ground.
"Because she's a strong person…like you." He still didn't know where that little voice in his head was coming from. He glanced back at her and was a little surprised to find her holding out her hand, offering to help him up off the ground. "…and that smile on her face when she laughs…." He grabbed her hand and rolled his eyes as she pulled him up. She really looked amused over his little blunder and it was the first time he'd seen her smile like that. It was contagious. He couldn't help smiling himself.
"Alright, I admit it…it's a lot harder than it looks." He sighed. She had a familiar look in her eyes.
"Those eyes….those are the eyes of a warrior, just like yours….and such a lovely color." Where in hell was that voice coming from? Julie slipped the gun back into her belt.
"I should probably get going…" she laughed. "I'll see you later."
"Yeah…sure…" he stuttered as he sat back down on the park bench. Why did his face feel so hot? He glanced back at Julie as she started to walk away and found himself unable to take his eyes off of her as she left. Julie looked back over her shoulder at him. She shot him a questionable gaze as if she'd just caught him red handed.
"What are you staring at?"
"Nothing." He sighed.
"Why don't you look at it somewhere else?" She said as she smiled back at him.
"I kind of like the way "nothing" looks from right here." He mused. Julie shook her head and chuckled as she continued on her way. "We come from two different worlds, you and I…." he mumbled to himself. "…but then again…so did Romeo and Juliet." He couldn't tell if the thought was his own or if it belonged to the little voice that was constantly whispering in his ears, but did it make any difference? It was the truth.
