Title: These Quiet Afternoons
Pairing: Yuan/Raine
Fandom: Tales of Symphonia
Theme: #3 - jolt!
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Post-game.
Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia.

These Quiet Afternoons

Looking out over the sand dunes, Yuan refused to admit that he was looking for her.

For many weeks now Raine Sage had been coming to the near-empty Renegade Base to make use of its library, full of "bits and pieces of the Kharlan War". Yuan had been unwilling to let her near any of his treasure trove full of buried memories in the beginning, but she had worn him down in the end. He hadn't known a woman with this kind of relentlessness since Martel.

He was amazing at how genuinely interested in the war his fellow half-elf was. Yuan had noted how little humans cared for their own past - after all, it was four thousand years before one of them finally figured out the true nature of the worlds. Yet Raine attacked every manuscript with a passion, reading as if she did not have a good life span left to take her time with. Yuan sure as hell had more time than he could handle.

The faint sound of muffled footfalls finally reached Yuan's ears, even though he was not straining to hear them. Soon enough, a silver head appeared followed by the rest of Raine as she appeared at the top of one of the dunes, clutching her staff. She saw the seraphim waiting for her and gave him a half-smile, too tired to show any more emotion than that. Damn, she was drained. Yuan flew out to meet her, violet wings gusting as he landed on the sand.

"You could have taken a rheaird," he said, raising an eyebrow.

Raine rolled her eyes and walked on ahead. "It's good exercise."

"Good exercise is walking from your humble house in Iselia to the Irving boy's house. Insanity is walking from your house in Iselia to this base out in the middle of the desert," Yuan replied dryly.

The half-elf woman ahead of him shrugged. "It was worth it."

"How long did it take you, a week?" he continued. They were getting close to the entrance to the base now. Raine could walk fast through the shifting sands when she put her mind to it.

"Three days," she replied, turning back to him and giving him a pointed look that said he had better let it drop.

Yuan smirked at her and stopped to open the door. "Well, have fun with the books. I'll be in my study, not that I'm offering anything if you need it."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," Raine responded stiffly, walking into the base. A wave of cold air washed over her, a relief from the hot weather outside. Yuan closed the door behind him and both went in separate directions; Raine to the library, and Yuan to his study.

What Yuan didn't understand was why Raine would make the distance each time when she only ever stayed for a few hours. It was one thing if she used a rheaird every time she came, but the young woman would actually walk the distance on occasion, like today. Madness.

Still, he was beginning to enjoy her company - even if it was only the knowledge that there was another living, breathing person taking up space in the cursed building. But Raine was more than that, really. She didn't bother him with excessive chatter, not that she could when they were in separate rooms, but sometimes he could see the suppressed delight in her eyes as she anticipating the books she would be reading. And maybe it was nice to have someone else with intelligence to match his around. It was know wonder Sybak had wanted the woman. She had brains, if anything. Brains, and wit as well. But Yuan didn't want to think overmuch about that, to let Raine's face flash across his mind again, and all the thoughts that accompanied it. Like, that she was actually quite pretty, for one...

All this extra time was really starting to get to him.

As the sun sank lower in the sky and the shadows began to lengthen, Yuan heard movement once more as Raine walked down the hall; finished for the day. Though the seraphim was not quite sure what compelled him to do so, he moved to meet her.

"...Raine?" he called, through the doorway, looking down towards the end of the passage where she stood with her hand on the door. Raine turned towards him.

"Yes?" she asked, looking surprised. Normally the half-elven woman simply left, and the two did not exchange farewells.

Yuan paused. "It's such a long walk...and there's little light left. You'll kill your eyes and won't be able to read your precious books."

Raine looked amused. "I've managed before."

"You can stay here the night and fly home in a rheaird tomorrow. You're tired enough as is; you shouldn't kill yourself on my account," he said slowly. Raine looked doubtful.

"I can reach Triet in enough time and stay there the night before continuing on," she replied. Yuan let out a frustrated sigh. This woman was hard to work with.

"I'll give you a firsthand account of the war, if you stay. Not all in one night, but I'll tell you some this evening. And when you come next and so forth," he said grudgingly. "But only if you stay."

Raine froze. "Are you serious?"

Yuan looked nuetral. "Mostly."

Raine's eyes lit up and she began to smile. This was not like her tired half-smile from before. This was a huge, if not slightly intimidating, smile. Yuan swallowed.

Like a light beam Raine shot down the hallway and was at the seraphim's side in seconds. She looked about ready to throw her arms around him, but didn't, instead planting an ecstatic kiss on his cheek and beginning to ask about a thousand questions, talking a mile a minute. Yuan stared at her in silence, his cheek tingling from where she had thoughtlessly pressed her lips. Finally, he snapped.

Raine was caught in mid-sentence when Yuan bent down and kissed her on the lips, eyes narrowed challengingly as if daring her to laugh. Raine's eyes twinkled and she encircled her arms around his neck, kissing him back. When she pulled away, Yuan was shocked to see Raine smirking at him, and he couldn't help but wonder if she'd planned this from the start. But hell, it didn't matter who had started it. Yuan was quite satisfied.

And just because he felt like it, he kissed her again.

Fin.