Author: Shadowdawn199
Challenger: Um, I can't remember who it was.
Some Like It Hot
The sun was bleeding red across the sky and the pulsing tunes of 'Reservoir Dogs' had slipped into her headphones, and Shadow couldn't have been happier. It was just her, and the world, all alone. She was walking more or less the same route she'd walked every morning since first coming to Skylands, way back when. The Isles of Light were still as beautiful as ever, no matter the changes they went through.
And then, over the pumping words of the rap she heard a different kind of pounding. It was feet, jogging up behind her. Shadow scowled, blissful mood vanishing. She needed this time in the morning to think things over, before the social juggernaut of the Skylanders took over and she spent the rest of the day talking and interacting, never stopping because something was happening every second.
"Hello," the unknown person called, reaching her side. Shadow turned her head and studied them. It was Fryno, of all people. She'd have pegged the moody biker as one to sleep in late; she didn't seem like someone who would actually manage to drag themselves out of bed each morning.
Fryno was dressed, as always, in her sleeveless leather jacket and shiny black helmet, the brass shining in the dawn light. Her booted feet slowed to keep in time with Shadow's pace. Shadow sighed, and nodded a greeting. Fryno smiled back, and kept mercifully silent, with no attempts made at small talk. This was such an unexpected blessing but the Undead Portal Master just took it in her stride and thanked Fryno silently.
Eventually their footfalls carried them towards the beach, then past, mounting the hill where the mines were, the silence broken by animal calls, the lapping of water and the ringing sound of steady hammering of picks from the tunnels. They spilt up after that, Fryno to crackling heat of the Fire Commons and Shadow to the cacophony of the mess.
That was the start of something that neither of them could have ever seen coming.
The next day, when Fryno came jogging up behind her, Shadow smiled much more cordially, and they fell into a relaxed silence. Days became weeks, which in their turn became months, and the pair warmed to each other, eventually beginning to talk when their paths crossed and learning much about their partner on the walk, finding that the fronts they presented to the majority was not who they really were.
And eventually, as love will, it blossomed in secret, taking root in the hearts of the unwary pair.
Fryno felt its tangling roots first, and each morning as she joined Shadow she felt an unknown, but not entirely unpleasant warmth blossom in her stomach. Eventually, she figured it out.
Shadow smiled widely as Fryno walked up, and she winked at her morning companion. "Guess what? I finally managed to convince Tech that making you a CD player that you can take walking. I presented a compelling argument, which he rejected, but I got it right when I challenged him with its creation. He got all feverish then and jumped quick smart to make it. I think he forgot I'd even requested it, he seemed surprised when I came round to ask about it," Shadow told her tale with a wide smile, presenting the gleaming player. It even had a replica iPod Nano control system, the button that you could slide your finger around to change tracks and move up and down lists. Shadow had loved to play with a friend's Nano when she'd been younger for this very reason, and she'd planted a seed in the young techie's head to see if he could implement this. She hoped Fryno loved the gift.
Fryno gave her a surprised and grateful smile in return, reaching out and taking the player with soft thanks. Though for some reason Shadow's searching eyes found traces of nervousness, of all things, along with gratitude. That was odd, but Shadow chose not to dwell on it. Fryno would tell her soon enough, if she wished to.
They began their walk, as the sun stained the sky with peach and pink, and the airy puffs of cloud floated along with them, tracing patterns in the pastel blue. Shadow unplugged her headphones, and chose, instead of the blasting track of 'Reservoir Dogs' that they normally started off listening too, but a softer melody. Fryno stayed silent for a time, and Shadow didn't try to make any small talk.
Eventually, though, the silence killed Fryno. She turned to Shadow. "Would you like to come with me to a party tonight? There's one on at a local club to celebrate Roller Brawl's birthday, and since you've been legal age now for a couple of months, I thought maybe you'd like to come along…?" Fryno left the question dangling in the air, and Shadow considered it. She had turned eighteen a few months ago, and she'd always been curious to see what a club was actually like, even if it didn't seem much like her cup of tea.
"Maybe… look, I know Prowess will probably be coming, right?" Shadow looked to Fryno for confirmation, and she nodded back. Shadow continued, "and maybe because of that Seraph might let me come… yeah, I sound like a child saying that, but I don't want Seraph to worry," Shadow may as well have been talking to the air, because she got nothing out of the woman walking beside her. Shadow shrugged, and fell silent, thinking Fryno wanted some quiet today.
Fryno, however, would have loved to have words filling the air, because otherwise all she could think about was the nervous bubbling in her stomach.
The noise was driving nails into her head but she loved every second of this, every second of being part of this crazy… thing, grooving to the same song, screaming it out the chorus along with every other voice. Eventually, though, she reckoned she might need a drink, because her throat was killing.
Fryno pushed up against her, flushed with heat, and Shadow waved at her through the crush. Fryno nodded to the bar, and Shadow nodded back, and they wove their way out of the pack of bodies that had descended upon the dance floor. Shadow collapsed, exhausted upon her stool at the bar, and Fryno laughed, and yelled over the sound of the beats, "How do you like your first experience of a club? Loud, right?" Shadow giggled and nodded her head. Fryno beckoned the bar tender for drinks, and Shadow crossed her eyes trying to remember how many it was safe for her to drink before she drank too much. She decided one more couldn't hurt too much, and anyway, the energy seemed to be wearing thinner now. They'd go soon, right?
When their drinks arrived, Shadow gulped it down, too late remembering the warning she'd been given about drinking quickly. Likewise, Fryno gave her a guilty look when she slammed her own glass down.
Shadow mimed pulling on her collar, and Fryno understood, getting up and leading her outside. It was wonderfully cool, and the ache that had started in Shadow's head waned as she breathed down lungfuls of fresh air.
They both leaned up against the outer wall of the club, and took in the stars. Fryno shifted, accidentally brushed against Shadow. She turned to apologise, and froze. They gazed at each other, eyes making contact, and somehow, they ended up leaning forward.
And their lips met. What started as a chaste kiss disappeared as Fryno was pushed against the wall by Shadow fiercely, hands running into jackets and clothes. Heat burned her lips and hands but the Portal Master merely kept going.
Shadow woke with a start, and turned her head. Fryno lay next to her, tangled in sheets and breathing heavily. She grinned, and even though the hangover was beginning, she wickedly traced Fryno's jaw, waking the other. Another kiss and they replayed last night, just as hot and furious as before.