Wouldn't want it any other way, Mate.
Team Core Tech had wanted to find town as soon as possible to find shelter and purchase supplies in the form of food and medical equipment. They were exhausted due to the many fights they'd had and the many enemies they had encountered on their way, but in the end it was worth it. They found a nice little town where they could easily hide from Commander Charlemagne and Emmanuel Klipse, and wasted no time in renting a large room in a motel. Seems like Jinja's emergency credit card saved their asses once again.
"My parents are going to be so pissed at me," the brunette mumbled darkly under her breath. She put her hands on her hips when seeing Bren throw himself on one of the comfortable beds, burying his head in the soft pillows with a content sigh.
"This must be what heaven feels like…"
Chase began to bounce on top of his bed with a smile plastered on his face. "B, check it out! I think I can touch the ceiling!"
Cerulean blue orbs widened in terror at the mere sight. She grabbed a pillow and threw it at him, causing him to fall backward and land ungracefully on the floor. "Chase, stop ruining the beds! I paid for them!"
He came back into view from behind the bed, a couple of feathers stuck to his unruly black hair. Another playful smile bloomed on his lips.
"Good idea, Jin!"
The brunette took a step back in regret and paled in realization. "Oh no."
"Pillow fight!" both males exclaimed and ran away with a dozen of pillows in their possessions, laughing aloud in the hallway while doing so. Jinja had to stop herself from screaming in frustration. She stepped out of the rented room.
"Chase! Bren!" she yelled. "If I see as much as a wrinkle on those pillows when you get back, you're so gonna get it this time! And Beyal won't be able to hold me back either!"
"Will not hold you back from what?"
The girl yelped, turning around to see the Monk she was so fascinated about. He blinked at her in question with his gray eyes. She smiled weakly.
"Oh, nothing, Beyal! We're just getting comfy in here, that's all," she replied, then let her blue eyes scan the rest of the hallway. "Where's Dax?"
"I do not know," the Monk calmly said, yet the worry was clearly audible in his soft voice. "He has been very distant and very quiet the entire trip. I went to confront him earlier today so that we could talk about the reason for his sudden silence but he refused to do so. So he left the rest of us."
"Oh, Beyal, why didn't you tell me?" she asked quickly but then shook her head. "I mean us. Why didn't you tell us?"
"I believed that some space was merely what our fifth member needed to clear his mind and return to his usual self, but now I see that it was a futile effort," Beyal replied and took Jinja's hand much to her surprise.
"Jinja, I hope you will find him and reason with him. You must be the one whom he has the most need to see right now."
Jinja felt her cheeks heat up slightly. She hoped by all her heart that the Monk wasn't saying what she thought he was saying.
"Okay, I'll go look for him," she said with a determined glare. "Bren is definitely not gonna like it but I'll do it. Where'd you see him head to?"
"Last time I saw him, he was going in the directions leading to the deserts."
The confusion was clear on Jinja's face when a frown started to form on her forehead. Why would he go there?
"Don't worry, Beyal, I'll go knock some sense into him," Jinja said with a grin. She started to jog out towards the exit, not waiting for the Monk's reply. She picked up speed as she ran down the street, her mind trying desperately to figure out the sudden change in Dax' character as of late.
The sun was slowly starting to set, creating a beautiful combination of orange and red on the sky. The last remains of its warm glow made some of the sand gleam in its light, and a hand scooped up a handful of it, letting it slowly seep through his fingers. A sigh escaped the figure who stuffed his hands into his pockets and gazed thoughtfully at the horizon and the amazing display of the sight in front of him, a sad smile tucking at his lips.
"Dax!"
Said boy looked back in surprise at the source of the voice who had called out his name. A girl with waving brown hair and stunning cerulean blue eyes was running towards him. She finally slowed down to a jog and panted heavily, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder for support. He blinked in astonishment and then smirked.
"Princess? You're probably the last person I expected to see here."
"Looking…for…your sorry butt…all day…you…unpredictable jerk…"
Dax clicked his tongue. "That's a new one. If ya didn't wanna run this far, why didn't you launch out Charger? Or Whipper or-."
"Oh, please," Jinja said breathlessly and stood up tall, though still not as tall as Dax. "As if I'd exhaust Charger because you decided to pull off a disappearing act and leaving without telling any of us."
That shut up Dax quite effectively. He pulled his beanie a little down and turned around again, kicking away a stone.
"Yeah, about that…you probably should go back, Princess."
The brunette pushed him in a playful manner. "Right. I just crossed like, six miles to get you, Daxie. Why would I go back?"
"'Cause…" he said, and sighed deeply. "Because I don't think I wanna go back."
The silence that rose up between them was unbearably quiet. The evening wind blew gently before them, playing with the brunette's hair. She herself didn't move.
"What?" she almost whispered. When she didn't get an answer, she repeated a little louder than intended. "What?"
He still didn't speak, so she went to grab a handful of his coat and forced him to look at her.
"Did the desert sun fry your brain or what?"
"Look, Princess," he said and tried to pry her hands off his coat. It was his favorite after all. "I know I've been a jerk in the past to you and your friends-."
"Our friends," she corrected with her hands clenching his coat tighter. He was surprised for a moment but managed to snap out of it.
"Wha'ever. The thing is I've given you guys a hard time for way too long, and I…I'm sorry," he closed his eyes momentarily. "Especially you, Princess. I'm sorry."
"Is this what it's all about?" she raised a brow. "You don't need to apologize, Dax, because I don't care. Really, I don't. And I'm not letting you leave."
"You don't have a choice," Dax said and placed his hands on hers. "I don't wanna be a part of this anymore. Like Glasses said; Team CoreTech was fine with just the three of you best friends like from the beginning, as well as Monk fish with his Monsuno visions. I'm just crashing the party, so I'll just leave."
"No, you aren't," Jinja said through clenched teeth. "Since when have you ever cared about what Bren says about you? Dax, we need you."
Dax was silent again, just closing his eyes and enjoying the cool feeling of Jinja's hands. They were so close that if he would lean down, their foreheads would be pressed together. These moments had become so rare…
"…the world needs you. You're our fifth, remember?"
With a quick jab of his hands, he'd gotten hers off his coat and he took a big step back in a rush of anger.
"Oh, yeah, how could I've ever forgotten? That's why you guys need me, wasn't it? Because of Monk fish' stupid prophecy. That's the only reason why you guys wanted me on the team all along, or else you'd never be willing to have me around."
"What?" she said in surprise. She blinked a couple of times before anger took over her as well. "Now you're just being paranoid!"
"Can you blame me? I've had to take care of myself ever since I was five and in case you didn't notice, I've had the baboon to Klipse after me ever since! Not to mention that Lowlanders aren't usually known for being all friendly or gullible towards each other!" Dax yelled back. "Lil' Suno is one thing, but not me. I thought you would have learned by now, Jinja."
"Beyal says you're different from the others, Dax. He says-."
"Don't!" the Lowlander snapped and Jinja immediately closed her mouth. "I don't give a crag, okay? I'm…I'm sick and tired of you gushing over Monk fish with those big dreamy eyes of yours and…" his throat was getting thick with emotions and he forced himself to look away, afraid his facial expression would reveal too much. His hands were balled into fists. "Suno and Glasses obviously don't trust me, Monkfish is just being the neutral party in the group and you…"
Dax looked at Jinja and her breath hitched. There was a whirlwind worth of emotions swirling inside those black eyes of his.
"…you're a completely different story. You've never liked me, have ya? You don't want me to save you, don't want me to come near you, don't want me to help you…you…"
He remembered the words she had screamed at him after he'd finished his work with Charlemagne. Words that stung and hurt more than any punch would.
I hate you! I hate you, I hate you!
"You hate me."
Jinja was taken aback by all of this. She shook her head lightly, all traces of anger and rage gone from her body.
"No."
"Yeah. You hate me, don't you? Always have since the beginning, haven't you?"
"Dax, you're making things up!"
"Am I, Princess?" he asked and raised his arms in a mocking gesture. "Am I really?"
The brunette swallowed down a lump in her throat. Her hands were faintly shaking, and cold fear began to form in the pit of her stomach.
"Okay…maybe I wasn't so fond of you at the beginning. But you made it so hard for us to trust you, Dax!" she said. "You were so distant and you wouldn't let any of us in."
"And I still won't. Goodbye, Princess," he said and gave a two fingered salute. As he began to dig after the core for Airswitch in his pocket, he snorted. "Heh, and who knows? Maybe now that I'm finally gone, you can make your move on Monkfish. I'm sure the two of you will have a dandy time without-."
Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around him, a body collided into him from behind and that was all it took for the Lowlander to lose balance and fall into the sand. His beanie fell off on the way down and fluttered not so far away. Dax grunted and struggled to get the girl off him but her arms were locked around his waist rock-solidly. They tumbled around in the sand, both fighting for dominance. Dax groaned loudly in annoyance as Jinja sat atop of him on the sand, her arms still locked in place.
"Damn you and your man-muscles, woman!"
"If you leave, Dax, then I swear to God I will bury your head in the sand before you even get the chance to stand!"
"You psychotic sheila!"
"You insensitive jerk!"
"Tomboy!"
"Moron!"
"Get the crag offa me, Princess, or else!"
"Or else what!"
"Or else I can't help but kiss you senseless when you look like that!"
"Well, maybe I want you to!"
Dax managed to snake his arms out of Jinja's iron-grip to take a hold of her beautifully angered face and smash her lips down onto his own. She had finally decided to let go of her hold around his waist and instead began to glide her fingers through his brown dread-locks; tugging them playfully as the kiss turned more heated and more intimate. She settled in between his legs as he placed a hand on her back, and a hand on her face to gently caress. Their tongues came out to to play as well, tasting the caves of each other's mouths and the sweetness they found from within one another.
Afterwards they slowly withdrew from each other, settling for exchanging small, lazy pecks. The intimate kiss had left the Lowlander in quite the dreamy state. He stared back at the brunette, cerulean blue locked at onyx black.
"I never liked Beyal that way, Daxie," she said softly as she traced patterns against his red shirt. "Yes, I admit that it may have been cute once in a while when he would be confused about modern phrases or technology. He's always fascinated me with his knowledge about ancient stories and Monsuno. It was nice to finally meet someone who wasn't thinking with their stomachs."
"Oi, what's that supposed to mean?"
"Zip it, Lowlander, " she smirked playfully. "But to be honest, that was all it ever was. Fascination. Never a crush. But you? Yeah, you ticked me off a lot in the beginning – don't get me wrong; you still do – but…as I got to know you little by little, I knew there was more to you than just an arrogant guy who thinks way too highly of himself. I don't know…when you help out there in the battlefield, there are moments – no more than seconds – where I get to see the real you. Like the time when I fell in the woods and you offered me your hand. You didn't make tease, or comments or anything. Just helped me with that smile of yours. Yes, we still have a lot to learn about you, Dax, but you're not only our fifth member. You're Dax. We all need you, okay? I need you."
The Lowlanders cheeks began to darken and his eyes widened a little. "Wow, Princess. That's…wow."
"I know," she giggled and lowered her head to nuzzle the crook of his neck.
"I mean, how do you expect me to leave when you say something like that while lying on me like this-."
"I take it back, Dax," Jinja said and poked him with a finger. "You're just really, really, dirty minded."
The boy flashed a pearly-white smile that was a perfect contrast to his dark skin. "Nah, all Lowlanders are born that way."
"And here I thought it was just you," the brunette said, still playing with his hair. "You know, you look so much better without that stupid hat."
"The hat deserves some respect, Princess."
"I had a harder time respecting you, Daxie. A hat'll be a piece of cake."
"Especially when you just admitted how hot I look without it."
"Old Dax is back, I see."
And as she continued to nuzzle his neck affectionately, she thought with a mental happy sigh.
And I wouldn't want it any other way.