Hey everyone!
This...is...something(?). Honestly, I've been in a weird mood lately, in terms of my writing. I've only been inspired to write depressing scenes for somereason (Not depressed in real life...) so this was my attempt to get back into some fluffiness.
That, and Mythweaver and I were discussing how everyone in this fandom has died, and the lack of reviews and stories and such. Then she mentioned on her profile 'dancing in the rain'. And it clicked. Because Cuore does like to dance in the rain!
Follows Lost and Found 'verse (Obviously). Tried to keep it spoiler free...might be a couple vague things mentioned, though...
Enjoy!
"You cannot be serious," Kieran remarked, staring at Cuore as though she'd lost her mind.
She frowned at him, "Come on!"
"No." he replied decisively, twisting his arm out of her hands.
Cuore had surprised him with a random and unexpected visit to Baron, but since her arrival the summer weather had turned decidedly stormy. Rain was currently pattering against the window panes and darker clouds were on the horizon, threatened even more storms throughout the day.
Despite the dreary weather, Cuore still insisted they go for a walk.
Kieran was less than enthused about that plan.
"It's just water," she insisted, smiling.
He frowned, "Exactly, it's water. Why would you want to go out in it?"
"Because I want to go for a walk!" Cuore explained, as if it were obvious. "Please, Kieran?"
He hesitated, annoyed at himself that he couldn't just say no instantly. Not when she asked him so nicely. Or made time to come visit him. Or looked so enchantingly beautiful.
"Damn."
"Fine." he said, sighing.
His reward was a smile as Cuore wove her arm through his and tugged him towards the nearest exit. They received a few odd looks as they passed by everyone else hiding from the rain, but Kieran couldn't figure out if that was because of who they were, or where they were headed.
He protectively pulled Cuore closer when one onlooker sent her a rather offending look. He glared at the person, thankful that Cuore seemed oblivious to the current rumors floating around about her. He was trying to keep it that way, but it wasn't easy.
They were bonded, he and her, and she would notice if he seemed unnerved by something, or if he tried to keep a secret.
Not to mention she wasn't stupid. Dense, sometimes, but never stupid. Curious to a fault and highly sensitive to everything around her. The more often she came to Baron, the bigger the chance she'd hear one of these horrible lies.
It was why he hated it when she visited.
The last thing he wanted was for Cuore to get hurt. Not again, never again.
The exit to one of the side gardens was visible, and Kieran was glad she'd chosen that route and not the main gates. He'd hate to wander the streets of the city on a rainy day.
At least the gardens looked pretty instead of lackluster and the taller plants would provide some measure of cover.
Kieran braced himself for the rain before they stepped outside, but even being prepared he flinched when the first few droplets hit him.
It wasn't cold, considering it was the dead of summer, but as the pounding droplets soaked him more thoroughly, he still shivered.
Almost instantly Cuore ducked out of his grasp and pranced forward a few steps, well away from the doorway back inside; a door she had left open.
Kieran didn't bother closing it and followed her at a more sedate pace, marveling at the fact she seemed joyful.
In fact, she spun in a circle with her face tilted upwards as if enjoying it.
"Are you…dancing?" Kieran called over the din, disbelieving.
It was a rather illogical and childish action; not something he would expect from the practical, mature young woman.
Cuore spun back around to look at him, grinning playfully, "You can't dance by yourself, you know."
"No thanks." he countered, holding up his hands.
She shrugged and returned to her own dance, despite what she'd just said. Her hair was being fickle as it both twirled with her movements and stuck to her skin in matted clumps.
"I remember," Cuore said, bouncing back over to him and clasping his arm, "My first rainstorm in Mist. I was so scared! I understood the concept of rain, of course. But…to see it. To…hear the sounds it made, to feel it touch my skin…"
She smiled at the memory, closing her eyes, "The sensations and the sounds were too much, at the time. But then, the next time it rained, I had to go outside. I had to experience it for myself. Knowledge wasn't enough. I needed the familiarity."
Kieran blinked, feeling like she had paused unnecessarily in her story. "And?" he prompted.
"And, I danced." Cuore finished.
He stared at her, wondering what the point of her words were. Not that he was annoyed. He found that, the more he was around her, the less irritating she seemed.
It had to be true love, then.
Cuore was giving him a funny look and she finally chuckled with a shake of her head. Droplets splattered every which way from the movement.
"What's so funny?" he asked, puzzled.
"I was attempting to…" Cuore paused, looking like she was searching for the right word. "I was trying to be romantic."
Kieran just continued to stare at her, trying to figure out what had been romantic in her last few sentences.
Cuore just shrugged it off and pulled him further into the gardens, past a trellis of vining flowers that looked droopy in the storm.
As they entered a wider, open space between flower beds she flashed him another one of her carefree smiles, "Could you relax? You're so distracted."
Kieran winced and took a moment before answering to blink water out of his eyes, "I'm sorry, I…am preoccupied."
"People say lots of things. It doesn't always make them true," she commented, inspecting one of the flowers on the vines near her arm.
He froze.
At his lack of a response, she glanced at him, blue eyes clear and bright.
"You heard," he commented, sighing afterwards and averting his gaze.
Cuore smiled at him, looking like she was trying not to, and replied, "You've blocked off the majority of our link. I can't…tell what you're feeling. And yes, I heard. It's hard not to."
Kieran felt guilty.
Why, he wasn't sure, but it was there.
Cuore's mental touch was practically tapping on his mind and he sighed, letting the barricade slip. Her reaction was another smile, but all it did was make him feel like he had to say something to defend her against the ugly rumors.
But she had already hopped back over and stopped distractingly close to him, peering up at him through errant strands of teal hair spilling across her face.
She must have sensed he was about to say something because she put her finger to his lips, "Say nothing."
Kieran paused, diverted by her wild, though somehow flawless appearance. Her dress had been completely soaked by the rain and was plastered to her like a second skin. One of the thin straps had slipped off her shoulder and he was trying very hard not to reach out and fix it. Or maybe move the other one to match.
"They mean nothing." she continued softly, voice almost lost against the backdrop of the rain. "Just, stay with me here, in this moment, alright?"
Her lips twitched to another smile, "That means getting your head back to what I'm saying, Kieran."
He winced, "Sorry."
She giggled, shaking her head, and let her hand fall from his face, "I don't care about what they think…"
He heard the unspoken end of that thought and kissed her, unconsciously strengthening the bond between them.
"You know what I think about you," he whispered, brushing strands of hair off her face.
Cuore was the one distracted now, and she hummed something under her breath he didn't catch, one hand pressed against his chest and the other fiddling with one of the flower stems to her left.
Kieran wasn't quite sure where to go from here, and so hesitated.
She made the choice for him and kissed him this time.
"You're stressed,"
"Am I?"
She pulled back and nodded, glancing up at him again, "Yes, which is why I made you come out here."
"So I'd catch a cold and have to take a day off?" Kieran asked, only half joking.
She smacked his arm, frowning, "No,"
Cuore gestured to the watery scene around them, speaking as she did so, "So you could…lose yourself for a moment. That's what I meant earlier."
Kieran was still lost, but he felt badly saying that out loud.
She stared at him, obviously understanding she wasn't making much sense.
"It's easier to show you." Cuore complained, taking both his hands in hers and closing her eyes, whispering under her breath, "May I?"
He nodded, surprised she bothered asking.
They were connected by invisible threads of thoughts and feelings, and it had been such a light, trusted bond that Kieran had grown used to it by now. Cuore was always careful not to over tax the link, and mostly it was just a hum in the back of his mind that reassured him she was safe.
"Look, listen, breathe, Kieran."
He blinked, feeling a surge of magic crackling along the link, though it never reached him.
He heeded her instructions and took a moment to look around at the courtyard.
The flowers and leaves were weighed down by the rain, bowing down to the ground and bobbing from the impact of droplets.
The chime of the rain on the soil, the leaves, the castle wall and roof; it was a choppy, disorderly song, but music all the same.
The smell of the wet nature around them, the way the rain melted away everything, like erasing the past and washing everything clean to a new start.
It was a rather amazing sight, now that he was looking at it. Looking at it as Cuore saw the world.
"Rain is fascinating…" Cuore whispered aloud.
Kieran's gaze shifted back to her. "Rain?" he repeated quietly, worried about upsetting the moment.
She nodded, eyes still closed, "Yes, rain. Its liquid water held in a suspended state of droplets, contained within clouds until they become heavy enough that gravity pulls them free. They fall to the earth, shedding mass as they go, until they crash down with a final burst of glory. And then, then they evaporate once more, to start the whole cycle over again…"
He just stared at her, amazed that she could take something so simple and mostly boring and make it sound so mesmerizing.
She smiled at him, and he smiled slowly in return, realizing she was right when she claimed he was stressed out.
What about, even he wasn't sure. Maybe a little of everything. Life, perhaps, was weighing him down.
"Just breathe, Kieran," Cuore whispered, "I hate seeing you like this."
But he wasn't really listening, he was lost in her emotions at the moment, lost in the subtly of the words she was speaking, lost in the downpour of the rain.
Because, in this moment, everything was perfect.
The way it felt to hold Cuore in his arms, her lips against his, the magical aspect of their link, the rain drops pattering against them.
All of it was perfect.
Other people's opinions and thoughts meant nothing, the world's troubles meant nothing, the darkness all around them meant nothing. Even tomorrow meant nothing to him, because this moment, the here and now, was perfect.
"Sometimes I forget," he whispered, catching his breath, "How flawless you are,"
Cuore tipped her head to one side, regarding him in a confused fashion, "Flawless?"
"Flawless," he agreed, nodding, "Your more human than people give you credit for. You feel more deeply than anyone I've ever known, you understand things no one else does, you live, Cuore."
He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers, "Flawless, because you are imperfect-human. Because you are alive."
"And sometimes I forget how noble you are,"
Kieran made a face, "Noble? Me?"
"In terms of science. Being chemically inert and non-reaction." Cuore deadpanned.
He was ready to shoot back, "Well now I know you're making this up. Non-reactive? Have we just met?"
Cuore giggled, and despite that the moment was broken, being back to their normal banter felt nice. It was just as flawless as the last few minutes.
Kieran shivered, "I wasn't kidding when I mentioned catching a cold. We should go back inside."
Cuore dragged him into a twirl, "Nope. You owe me a dance, Kieran Astor."
"You cannot be serious."
Author's Note: I dunno. It's a story! About...stuff...and...things...
It's a little fluffy...I wanted to write these two, but it's tricky to not include spoilers, considering.
ALSO, *shameless plugging* please everyone! Read and review stuff that's posted! You might like it! And if you do like it, then review it! We writers like hearing for people. And we also like having things to read ourselves.
(I happen to know Mythweaver has posted quite a few stories recently...hint...hint...)
*end of shameless plug*
In other news; I have plans to post the start of my next chaptered fic in June! We'll see how that goes, so stay tuned.
Thanks for reading everyone!