Author's Note: I played Tales of the Abyss and had all sorts of feeeelings. Somehow, this popped out. Very fluffy. If you want to avoid spoilers, don't read past the line break at the bottom. Enjoy!
Tear looked up at the drizzling sky and sighed. She supposed there had been warning signs that it was going to rain, but she just wasn't quite used to all the weather that happened in the outer lands. She would try to be more prepared the next time. Currently, though, she looked at the package in her arms. It looked water proof, she thought, eyeing it dubiously.
"Let's get these back quickly," she said to Luke, who had more packages in hand. "I guess I picked the wrong time to purchase supplies. I'm sorry."
He hefted the boxes higher, exposing that ridiculous ab window in his outfit, which Tear definitely found neither attractive or distracting. She glanced away quickly, practiced in ignoring the feelings it gave her at this point. "It's okay, Tear," Luke said amiably. "I don't mind the rain. And it's not raining much."
"Mieuu..." a voice said from the ground. "It's all muddy!"
"Then fly, Mieu!" Luke said impatiently to the blue creature. "You do it all the time anyway!"
Tear picked her way back through the streets, trying to avoid the worst of it. Unfortunately, the weather did not oblige and the sky increasingly poured, flooding the streets.
"Mieuuu..." the creature whined, now from a perch atop Luke's shoulder.
"Look, if you stay with me, you'll only get wetter," Luke told him. "Go fly ahead and find Guy or Natalia, they'll dry you off."
"But I don't want to leave Master!"
"It's not like I'm going anywhere," Luke retorted. "Just go on ahead, we're almost there. You're annoying!"
Mieu squeaked and flew off ahead, darting into the dark shadow of the Inn that they could just see through the rain.
"You're always so mean to him," Tear sighed. "He's so cute!" She paused, then went on more seriously. "He doesn't mean any harm."
"He's annoying!" Luke grumbled, but then he looked away. "He'd probably get into less trouble if he spent his time with someone else," he said quietly. He pushed ahead of Tear and made it first into the Inn.
Tear stepped into the cheery warmth of the Inn's common room with a sigh of relief. She blinked her eyes to clear them of the rain and was greeted by the sight of the rest of the party playing cards in comfortable armchairs in front of the fire. Jade looked up with a faint smile, saying dryly "Aren't you three just the most adorable drowned rats?"
Guy waved at them cheerily. "There's fire in all our rooms, so you two should make sure you warm up."
Natalia was wrestling with Mieu, trying to dry him off while keeping him from getting water all over the cards and herself. Mieu escaped, throwing water on Anise, causing loud shrieks and havoc. Tear took that as a good time to escape to the quiet of their rooms. Luke followed her.
"Me and Guy have the packs in our room," he said. Tear led the way, opening the door into a warm, empty, comfortable room. She moved immediately to the fire, enjoying the warmth and quiet. She looked up to meet Luke's eyes as he walked in and smiled ruefully. He did look quite a bit like a drowned rat, and she was sure she didn't look much better. His hair, normally flying in all directions, was hanging limply across his face and his coat tails drooped sadly. The water made a tiny stream across his face like he had been crying.
"Let's get these packs figured out," she said, turning to the corner where they lay. "Then we can get rid of our wet things."
She and Luke unloaded the parcels, removing the soaked outer packaging. Tear was relieved to see that most of the contents were fine, though some of the cooking supplies had been soaked beyond use. She sighed. "I guess Anise will have to wait a while to try her cake recipe. We'll have to take the wet things out to the trash heap. Don't forget to add them to the next shopping list, since we didn't actually get them this time." Luke moved away, most likely to do that, while she repacked the pouches. "Also, don't forget to take off your coat and dry it properly, Luke. We don't want you catching a cold. Natalia would have to heal you." She tied up another bag. "I think that's everything."
"You missed one. Here," Luke said.
Tear blinked as a bare, very muscular shoulder reached past her vision to shove something in the bag. Confused, she looked back, then quickly looked away from a topless Luke who appeared to be using his shirt as a towel for his face, his hair standing up wildly and adorably. "Luke!" she said louder than she meant to, turning away and feeling the blood rush to her face, "I didn't mean right now!"
Luke crossed his arms. "You don't want me to catch a cold, do you?"
Tear's mind was erratically trying to focus on anything but the toned skin next to her. It was a simple question, and she could figure out the answer. "No..." she responded slowly.
Luke huffed. "You never take me seriously, Tear. I know you didn't mean right now. I meant right now." He turned away, and Tear heard a number of rustling noises. "But I don't want to make you uncomfortable, either. Is this better?"
She turned from where she knelt on the ground, collapsing into a sprawl on the floor, leaning back on her hands. Had he just said...? He was wearing a dry shirt now, one of the dark cropped ones that he wore under his coat. It really wasn't much better, but it was something. "What...?"
Luke returned to crouch next to her. He reached out to touch her shoulder. "You're wet and cold, too, you know. You could get sick, too. I want to warm you up." His face was nearly as red as his hair at this point, so Tear knew he wasn't just speaking about her health. He bit his lip and turned away. "But, you probably don't want that... I'm sorry..."
Tear caught his hand as it trailed away from her skin. When she sat up, it put her face actually conveniently close to his. He looked back, startled. She took that moment to catch his mouth with hers.
It was... lovely. Soft, and warm and she pulled him back for another after her breath ran out. She seemed to have forgotten that she could breath out of her nose.
"Tear," he breathed, pushing the wet hair out of her face, which for once stayed put. He gave her the most adorable smile and she was glad she was already on the ground because she just about melted. She couldn't help but return with a grin of her own.
He pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her, nestling his head against hers. She buried her head against his neck, just breathing, and feeling and trying not to pass out or cry or anything embarrassing. "I-I'm so glad. I thought I was going to ruin everything." He chuckled a little, then pulled back. "But, you know... you're getting my dry shirt all wet. So either I take it off," he blushed again, running a finger down her side, "or you take off your wet clothes. Or both."
Tear giggled breathlessly, running her hands up the skin of his back, lifting his shirt when she got to it. "This first" she murmured. Luke obliged, his skin feeling warmer to the touch as she went, tugging it off of his arms. With that out of the way she couldn't help but run her fingers along Luke's tantalizing, endlessly exposed abs, at least until he raised her chin so he could kiss her again.
They broke away from each other panting. Tear made her decision. She got up and headed for the door. She opened it and peeked out. No one was there, and importantly, no Mieu was there. She smiled at Luke, who was still on the ground, half naked, looking puzzled and vaguely concerned.
"I'll be right back," she promised him, and darted into her room to grab some dry clothing. She only took a moment, fortunately not running into anyone, not Jade or Anise who would tease her endlessly, or anyone who would tell Jade and Anise.
She slipped back into Luke's room and smiled to see him hanging his coat and two shirts up neatly by the fire. She carefully locked the door, then grinned impishly. "Mine next?"
Luke seemed a bit at loss for words, but nodded vigorously. She handed him her gloves, first, then slid the gauntlets off her arms. Luke hung them dutifully. She turned her back to him, indicating the fastener on the back of her uniform.
Gentle hands moved her wet hair out of the way. Luke's hands slid along her sides and started to undo the clasps. There were many of them, and she was feeling kind of impatient, so she may have fidgeted just a little too much. Luke silenced her by pressing kisses along her exposed shoulder until her breath grew ragged. He finished undoing the clasps and she was free. Free to turn around and grasp the back of his head firmly, driving her tongue into his mouth to kiss him as deeply as she could. As she pressed herself against him she could feel that he was excited too, from the way he trembled and from the tightness of his pants.
She stepped back, finally able to take off her uniform, stepping out of it and handing it to Luke. He fumbled with it, almost dropping it, so she helped him, taking it back to hang it herself. Luke, seemingly reluctant to let her get too far away, trailed behind her keeping his hand at her waist. When she reached the rack, he wrapped his arms around her from behind and rested his head on her shoulder.
"You know," he murmured, his voice resonating through her shoulder from the contact, "this really isn't much better than the uniform." He nuzzled her neck to show what he meant, which she couldn't much feel through the high turtle-neck of her leotard.
"Mmm," she responded, enjoying the closeness and warmth. "It was made for combat, not this sort of thing, you know." She wrapped her arms over his and rested her head against his, closing her eyes. He held her close.
After a moment, he stepped back, letting her go. She turned to see him removing his sword belt. "Weapons of combat have no place here," he said earnestly, meeting her eyes through the wet hair falling over his face. She reached out and brushed his hair back from his face, kissing him gently.
"Okay," she said softly, and started divesting herself of weapons. First, she removed her boots with their boot knives, then removed the garter belt which held her main throwing knives. Her gauntlets were already off, which meant that she didn't have to worry about those knives, but... was that all? Oh, right, she removed the small knife from it's hiding place at the back of her neck. That should be everything.
She looked up to find Luke regarding her with wide eyes. "Is that all of them?" he whispered, having already left his sword by the fire and returned to her. She chuckled and reached out to him. "I think so."
He caught one hand and wove his fingers between hers. The other he grasped at the wrist, and pressed his lips to her palm. Goosebumps raised on her arm at the tickling contact of his mouth and breath. "Do you need help with the rest?" He asked against her skin.
"I'll need my hands back," she answered him just as softly.
He let go of her hands instantly. They felt - empty without his warmth. She quickly removed the last of her garments, which took some effort, and dropped them hastily to the ground. Beside her, Luke was doing something similar with the last of his clothes. She finished to find him watching her intently, his cheeks still a bit red.
"Tear, you're..." he trailed off hoarsely.
"I know, I'm cold," Tear said, pressing a hand to his cheek.
He looked aghast. "No! That's no where near what I was going to say..."
Tear stopped him with a finger to his lips. "Nevertheless, it's true." She let her finger drop, down his face, down his chest. "Will you warm me up?"
"Yes," he said and led her to the nearest bed.
Tear woke some time later to find herself still wrapped in Luke's arms, her head against his chest. She was warm, and practically dry. In fact, she was a bit too warm and she rolled sideways to reduce her contact with Luke's heater-like qualities. Luke mumbled something in his sleep, so she stroked her hand against his side in the hopes that he would quiet. She wondered idly where Guy had ended up sleeping, then decided he was a sensible sort and probably figured something out.
She watched Luke draw in one sleeping breath after another. She remembered the conversation she had overheard between him and Jade. She knew his fonons were separating. She had been communicating with the Belkend researchers on the side, encouraging them to look for a cure, but there was nothing promising from them yet. She wasn't giving up, but... at least she - they - had this, this one night. She cuddled closer to his warmth.