Viper or Mammon? Chapter three
I just finished chapter two and I'm writing three.
While listening to Vampire Knight's 'Still Doll'
... Why...?
Anyway, that doesn't matter.
COMMENCE WRITING! (it's a catchphrase, learn to live with it.)
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Chrome saw him leaning against a tree and walked up to him. "I'm ready," she said.
"Did you bring any food?" he asked.
She shrugged. "Did you?"
"Okay, it's not a picnic," he sighed. "I didn't know what to bring."
"My brother would've thought I was dating you," she agreed. Viper raised a brow, but she wouldn't have known because of his hood.
"Brother?"
"Yeah, here, let's walk, I'll tell you about him," she suggested. Viper nodded and the two began to walk down the path they'd run down just yesterday. "His name is Mukuro. Don't ask me why, but we were given different last names. Mine is Dokuro, and his is Rokudo."
"Sounds like an anagram to me," Viper said.
"Huh?"
Viper smiled and snapped his fingers. "Here, look." He painted the word 'Rokudo' in the air with his fingers. She was amazed by the trick, though she knew it was most likely an illusion. "Now see here, the 'Ro' is moved here." With that, the 'ro' in her brother's last name was moved to the back, so that it now spelled 'Kudoro'. "Then the 'do' is moved to the front." He did so with the illusionary word, and it spelled out 'Dokuro'.
Chrome applauded. "I never noticed that!" she exclaimed. "How did you know?"
"Ah, it's an illusionist thing," he said with a smile.
"Is that so?" the younger girl mused. "Well, why don't you teach me a couple tricks sometime?"
"If you pay me, I'd be fine with that," Viper agreed. "It's earlier in the day, why don't we go down to that same spot as yesterday and I could start to mentor you about it." Chrome nodded.
"That would be nice. Let's go."
The two traveled down the same path they had yesterday, holding hands without noticing. Chrome strayed rather close to Viper, and whether she was aware of the fact or not, she rather liked to be there. On the other hand, Viper was also rather comfortable being so close to his new friend.
They reached the rocks, and Viper suddenly picked Chrome up in his arms. "It would be troublesome if we wasted time," he told her. Chrome managed a small nod, blushing deeply. The illusionist leapt gracefully down the rocks, being very careful in cradling the girl in his arms. He soon reached the same rock they'd reached yesterday, but as he started to lower Chrome back onto the rugged stone, he slipped. The two yelped with suprise as they stumbled down the stones, landing roughly at the edge of the stone. They slid down a bit further, Chrome barely managing to stay in Viper's lap. Viper had somehow caught a hold on the rocks, but they were on the verge of going over the edge.
"V-viper!" Chrome pleaded, holding onto the illusionist's cloak. She knew she was weighing him down, and that thought made her fear the possibility of him deciding to ditch her and save himself. She clung to him in anxiety, looking straight into those hooded eyes.
"It's okay," the illusionist managed, "Just stay calm." That said, he slowly tried to ease himself up further, grunting in frustration when he barely covered any distance. "Chrome, do you have a good foothold?" he asked.
"N-no," she answered, worry clearly expressed in her voice.
"Alright... hmm... Well try to fold your knees up so I can help you," he suggested. Chrome nervously attempted that move, and when she had her legs partly up, he abandoned a hold on a rock with one hand to move it beneath her knees and pull her up. She blushed at the action, but knew it was neccessary. The illusionist used his one free hand to help maneauver the younger girl up onto the rocks. He slid a bit further down during these actions, and seeing as he only had one hand gripping the rock, he was doing fairly well. "Chrome... help me up," he ordered, turning his head to look at her. She complied, trying to find rougher parts of the rock in order to keep a more secure balance as she crawled down a bit to help her friend.
"Here, take my hand," she told him. He rolled over to take her hand with the one he'd freed, and pushed himself into finding a sort of stable foothold. She pulled him up a bit, and he worked to get back up on even stone once more. They both sighed with relief when Viper was pulled back onto safe ground.
"That was a bit more than stressful," he breathed, "Let's just use our own legs from now on, sorry about that."
"It's alright," Chrome insisted, "after all, you helped me get back up. I was scared you might have abandoned me."
The illusionist looked at her instantly, shock in his hooded gaze. "I wouldn't do that!" he told her, "You're my friend."
Chrome blushed once more, but nodded in agreement. "Thank you," she whispered, before leaning in close to him and kissing him softly on the cheek. Viper blushed more than she'd ever seen him blush before, before smiling a faint smile.
"Your welcome," he returned in a voice even more gentle than usual.
She mirrored his smile, and the two sat in a very comfortable silence for a couple minutes, simply looking into each other's eyes. After that pause, Chrome sat back and looked out into the ocean. "Pretty peaceful for where we almost died just now," she commented. Viper followed her violet gaze.
"Yeah...," he murmured, "those waves look relatively harmless and calm."
"... Hey," she started once more, scooting a bit closer to him. "We should go out like this more often. But we really need to stop getting into these life or death situations, I feel like a black cat."
"Huh. You would make a beautiful black cat, Chrome," the illusionist told her, almost smirking at this point.
"Would I really?" she said quietly after a short, stunned pause. "Do you like cats, Viper?"
"They're neat and usually quiet. Those qualities make for good pets," he explained, before suddenly wrapping an arm around Chrome's shoulders and moving her close. "You're neat and quiet too, but I don't exactly plan to keep you as a pet," he chuckled.
She hit him on the shoulder as a response, in a playful manner that didn't hurt him in the slightest. "Quite the charmer, aren't you?" she laughed.
"Hey, wait 'til you see some more serious illusions, then you'll fall for me like a fly in insect killer," he promised.
"Nice," she giggled at his odd comparison. She leaned into him and watched the ocean for a bit longer. "It just get's nicer at every glance."
"Every time you look, the mood has become more romantic," Viper stated in a quiet voice. "So every time, you feel even more relaxed. The nicer appearance is an illusion in itself."
Chrome rolled her eyes at his serious attitude, but understood what the older man was saying. They were growing closer every second, and that influenced the look in the ocean. Illusions appeared everywhere, but they weren't always acknowledged.
"Which reminds me," the Viper once more, "I was going to teach you some 'tricks'."
Chrome sat up again, but didn't stand when the illusionist did. She watched as he reached into his cloak and took out a lotus blossom, which he handed to her. "Forgot I had that with me," he said with a grin.
"It's beautiful~!" she exclaimed, before calming slightly, "My brother and I both love lotus flowers like this."
"It will live in a pocket, trust me on that," Viper told her, "Since it's been covered with an illusion."
"Really?" she asked, "It looks totally normal."
"It's a normal flower with an illusion to protect it," he told her. "There's a pocket in your shirt, right? I'd like to get started." She carefully placed the lotus in her breast pocket, before looking at the older man expectantly. He helped her stand up, and walked behind her, before covering her eyes. "It's easier if you can't see," he told her. She felt a surge of anxiety at being unable to see, and, for that matter, having Viper cover her eyes for her. She closed her eyes, shivering when she felt her eyelashes barely brush across Viper's warm hands.
"Imagine a... hmm... let's start simple. A rose." Chrome pictured a normal rose in her mind. "Now, this is all about mental concentration. You may choose the color, but make your thoughts vivid. Imagine the texture of the petals, does it have thorns, imagine the swirl of the petals, the shape of the leaves, the stem length, even the smell. Every though about the rose builds the reality and strengthens the illusion." Chrome felt him lift up her hand with one of his and hold it in front of her, before leaving it there to cover her eyes again. "Focus on every detail you can."
Chrome thought about as much as she could, though her concentration was partially directed on Viper, who's hips just slightly brushed against hers. 'I need to focus,' she told herself, 'on the rose.' After a few minutes of determining every detail she could, Viper told her to imagine the rose in her hand. She tried to picture it, but the image seemed blurry since she hadn't really seen it before.
"Once you think you've got it, let me know and I'll tell you if you're ready," he whispered just against her ear. She gave a slight nod, and tried her best to focus. After a while longer in silence, Chrome murmured to her current mentor,
"I think I'm ready."
"Open your eyes, then."
She looked into her hand and saw a roze that seemed to be a drawing come to life. Its color flickered a bit, as though it wasn't positive if it was allowed to be such an odd shade. It was indigo.
Viper was highly impressed, because even though the rose wasn't solid yet, it was very good for a first illusion. It's leaves were a bit blurry, but distinctively jagged. The stem seemed to be as long as it could be while supporting the large, oddly colored rose. The flower itself wasn't open very far, as though it was picked a day or two early. "Are you impressed with this result?" Viper asked Chrome.
The girl seemed stunned beyond belief that she had actually done something. However, as soon as her concentration wavered, the rose faded. "That was... cool...," she managed, eyes wide. Viper walked back in front of her again and took her hand in his.
"Chrome, you have a lot of room to grow into a powerful illusionist. Would you like me to teach you?" he asked.
"Yes," she replied after giving the matter very little thought. Viper smiled, and leaned in, before pressing his lips to hers. She may not have expected it, but it wasn't so much as a shock that she pulled back. No, she kissed him back as soon as she herself was kissed.
It didn't last long enough to grow passionate and heated, but it was enough to confirm that they really liked each other at this point. It showed that they were bound to become lovers soon. Boy, did Chrome have a lot to tell Mukuro when she got home.
-End Chapter
Ah, I'm so impatient. The third chapter, and I make them kiss. I have a problem. When I wrote 'A Royal Meeting,' I went really slow and didn't even bring in a forced kiss until chapter five.
My patience seems to have worn thin.
Anyway, I'm working on a sequel to 'A Royal Meeting' while I'm working on this, and I actually have a developed plot for said sequel, so that one may progress faster.
I apologize.
Please review, they really do make me work faster~!
