A/N: Back to regular updatess, y'all! See you tomorrow with chapter 21! (22 if you count the prologue, which I don't.)
And HOLY HEPHAESTUS I HAVE NEVER WRITTEN A STORY WITH MORE THAN 13 CHAPTERS! This is a gigantic landmark for me, seriously!
Also, I don't own Sly Cooper or the locations present in the story. I only own Rajan II, Rajan III, Sophie, Henry, Lindsey, Rudy, the mice in the orphanage, the total asshole who blew up said orphanage, Acanthus, Muggsy, and the plot of this story. Thank you.
Chapter 20: Into The Volcano
Morning came all to quickly, and not just for me. Lindsey was practically a pile of nerves, Rudy was obviously freaking out, and Rajan seemed highly tense. I could understand, but the past year or so had taught me to hold my emotions until afterwards so they wouldn't effect my performance.
But seriously, this was a very important hit. One that could either end in us reigning triumphant over this crazy son of a bitch, or Paris laying in ruins and our entire lives crumpled to little more than dust - or entirely nonexistent. I forced myself not to shiver at the implications and waited for Rudy or Lindsey to report in.
"How are you so calm?" Rajan asked, sounding disbelieving.
"I'm not. I'm scared half to death, but I'm trying to keep it at bay so I can do my job." I replied, tapping my fingers on the table.
It was only then that he seemed to notice my tell-tale body language. As a thief, I was hardly ever still without reason, but I was absolutely hyperactive. My fingers continually drummed on the table, my feet wouldn't stay in one place and my legs constantly adjusted to accommodate for the new position. And my tail! It was twitching away even more than was usual, refusing to still at all.
"Oh, I see now. My own nerves must've been getting in the way of seeing yours." He said.
I just continued to fidget and squirm nervously, waiting for a report of any kind from my two closest friends. After a few minutes, I finally got one.
"Sophie, we'll be coming back a little later than we thought. Found a really good vantage point to do some more recon from." Rudy said.
I sighed in relief, my fidgeting relaxing only slightly. "Alright. Come back safe."
My fidgeting continued for quite a few more minutes before Rajan carefully placed one hand over both of mine to still them. He gave a small smile and looked me in the eyes.
"Everything's gonna be alright." He said, looking quite a bit calmer than before the report.
I wasn't entirely convinced, and he knew it, so he brought up his other hand and brushed some of my hair out of my face, placing it gently on my cheek afterward.
"Soph... Don't worry. Even if Rudy, Lindsey, and I go down before you - if we go down at all -, I know you'll avenge us. You're a damn terrifying sight when you're angry, believe me." He said, bringing his other hand off my hands and placing it on my other cheek.
I relaxed a bit and had to laugh a little. "I'm sure you're just saying that..."
He shook his head, his eyes wide with honesty, "No, I'm serious! When Muggsy insulted Sly, you should've seen yourself! You immediately found a place on my list of people I don't want to piss off..."
I laughed a bit more. "Mind telling me who else is on that list and where I am on it?"
He smiled again, "Well, there's Henry on the very top of that list - I thought he was gonna murder me when he saw me the first time! Then you as the second one. After you is whoever's planning to blow up Paris... And my dad and grandpa on the very bottom of the list."
"Short list." I observed with some amusement.
He shrugged, "Well, you know me. I piss off almost everyone I meet and not very many of them can do anything too horrible to me for it except for the people on that list."
During the whole exchange, his hands remained on my face. It was driving me nuts, because his face was so close to mine and I could smell whatever shampoo he used and my self-control was hanging by a thread. I had still managed to keep my feelings from him, but he definitely wasn't making it easy for me today. I wondered idly if he was doing it on purpose.
Rajan didn't actually seem to notice my quickly dissolving self-control, though, and I was thankful for it. But his breath was hot on my face and I just couldn't stop thinking of how it might feel to kiss him. Strangely enough, his mind seemed to be mirroring mine, and he slowly moved just a littke closer before stopping himself.
"Soph... I..." He seemed stuck on whatever words he wanted to say, something that was very uncharacteristic for Rajan.
After a second he just sighed. I thought he might pull away when he closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and swallowing hard. He made eye contact with me but didn't move in the slightest. I swallowed as well, though much less noticeably.
"Reggie..." I said, breathing shallow, "What were you gonna say...?"
Something in him seemed to snap at my words, and he leaned forward quickly, pressing his lips against mine. Needless to say, my brain ceased to function. It sputtered a little as he pulled back, telling me the look on his face was unsure. I could only stare at him for the first few seconds as my brain rebooted.
"Um...wow." I eventually said.
Yeah, I know. I'm highly articulate. Laugh it up.
Rajan watched me warily for a second before something akin to hope flashed in his eyes. "You're... you're not angry?"
I smirked, "Hell no."
I pulled him back to me, glad that I hadn't had to make the first move. He smiled both at my words and actions, seemingly ecstatic that I was accepting him now that his feelings were out in the open. He understood me well enough to know what I wanted, and he pressed our lips together a second time.
My heart just about jumped out of my chest, I was so happy. And can you blame me? The guy I'd had a crush on since Cairo was kissing me, and almost obviously felt the same way!
Oh, and, his lips were even better than I'd imagined not even five minutes before. Just thought I'd say so, get it out in the open.
Anyway, my romance aside, it wasn't long before Rudy reported in again. "Sophie, we're on our way back. Should only be around 30 minutes."
"Alright. Be careful." I replied, albeit a little breathlessly.
Rudy didn't seem to notice, which didn't surprise me, "No problem."
Rajan smirked at me when I let go of the 'reply' button, continuing to do so after Rudy cut the transmission. I fidgeted just a little under his smug gaze.
"...the hell you staring a me for?" I finally asked.
"That's a lovely shade of red."
He brushed his hands across my cheeks again, and I leaned into the touch unlike earlier. "Shut up, you smug bastard."
He only smiled again, "So, are we official?"
I considered it for a moment. "Do you want us to be?" I asked, looking at my hands that were still holding the front of his shirt.
To be honest, I was slightly in denial that he returned my feelings. But he quickly remedied that by tugging my face up slightly and kissing me for the third time that day.
"Yes, I do want us to be. It all depends on you, Soph." He murmured against my lips.
I forced myself not to bite my lip, as it would've been kind of awkward. "Then yes...but let's keep it quiet for now, okay?" I murmured back.
He smiled slightly and moved his lips slowly against mine again. I melted at the care he moved with, moving back a little hesitantly. I felt more than heard him chuckle at my nervousness. After a moment, he pulled back and pulled his thumb along my face below my mask, smiling softly.
"Yeah. We can keep it quiet." He said, and kissed my forehead before pulling back and going to sit where he'd been before.
He was good! It didn't look like anything at all had happened if you just looked at him. I myself, I knew, was a pile of blissfully happy and kissed goo in my chair at the moment. After a moment, Sophie Cooper delivered the mental image of a swift kick in my shins to snao me out of it. I felt the kick physically, but managed to hold back my yelp well enough that Rajan, who was playing one of the games Rudy had bought for him, didn't hear it.
I sat up and shook myself, opening my new - and most likely stolen - laptop and opening a Word document to, well, document the events that had just occured. By the time Rudy and Lindsey walked through the door, I had finished writing it and was working on transcribing the Thievius Raccoonus - from memory.
The blush I knew had coated my face not moments before had faded just in time, too.
"Well," Lindsey began, "here are the photos." She tossed them to me and I examined them. "See anything you can work with, Ringtail?"
I looked closer at the careful pictures, examining each one until I had the layout of everything they'd photographed arranged into a mental map of the place. I nodded carefully. "Yeah." I drew out my map on a scrap piece of paper and traced my route in. "Assuming there're no alarms, I can get in through here, probably find my way to the main control room relatively quickly, turn off all the security systems, and let you guys in through here."
I tapped each place on the map as I mentioned it, and Lindsey nodded in approval.
"Closest thing to a plan we've got." She said.
And we set out for the Krack Karov Volcano.