Author's Note: Sorry, this took a while to get out, didn't it ^^;; I had a
lot of stuff for school that I had to make sure I finished. I'm sure you
wouldn't want to read a story written by a girl who was failing English,
now would you? But now that I'm done with all that junk and I'm on winter
break, I can finally write a little more. Anyway, the Ferris wheel scene
was actually the first part of this story that I wrote. Then I wrote a few
other random scenes from throughout it, and now I just have to tie a couple
of them together and write an ending. The first two parts of this chapter
is the little 'in between' stuff. I don't like it, but don't listen to me.
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
Gyoro mumbled unhappily as Ashton walked through the carnival the next day. Though Ururun seemed to be enjoying himself as much as Ashton, it was far too cold for Gyoro to be able to get much pleasure from the sights and smells of the carnival.
"Lucky you like the cold." the red dragon growled in his own draconic language to his companion.
"Don't complain," Ururun replied. "This man seems to tend towards warmer climates, so this is the first time in a while I've been happy."
Gyoro shivered and snuggled against Ashton's neck. The swordsman reached up and stroked his nose, but he was too busy talking to the Precis girl to listen to the red dragon's complaints.
"It's too cold. I hate this. I want a raisin." Gyoro grumbled.
"You're such a whiner. Just shut up and take the cold." Ururun stretched up as far as he could, basking in an icy breeze. "Aah, that feels good. you really are a wuss if you can't stand a little chill like this."
"I am not!" Gyoro growled ominously. Ururun blew a small cloud of frost at his counterpart. Gyoro responded by biting him. Within seconds, a full-fledged fight had broken out.
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
"Gyaa!" Ashton yelped as the dragons fought over his head.
Precis stepped away from Ashton as he tried to get the creatures under control. She greatly disliked the stares from all the people around them. That was something that always bothered her about Ashton. He always attracted so much attention with those dragons on his back. And when they fought..
After a few minutes, however, Gyoro and Ururun had given up on their battle, and just rested their heads on Ashton's shoulders.
"Sorry about them." Ashton muttered, sweatdropping.
Precis continued walking in the direction they'd been heading before the distraction, not bothering to see if Ashton was following her. "It's. okay." she replied over her shoulder. She figured that he must be used to such problems, but it still bothered her to be with someone who had so many people gawking at him.
"Precis-chan, where are we going?" the swordsman asked as he ran to catch up with her.
She paused briefly until he was beside her, then started walking again, keeping her head down. "I don't know. I wanted to look around a little to see what was here."
"There's a Ferris wheel," Ashton suggested.
Precis became even more intent on studying the ground as she walked so Ashton wouldn't see her blush.
". and lots of games, and a tent with music, and I hear there's going to be a big antiques raffle today too," he continued.
Precis looked up at him. She wanted to go on the Ferris wheel with /someone/, but if she went with Ashton, he might get the wrong idea. He'd always seemed like a trustworthy person, but who knows what he might try if he was alone with her in a Ferris wheel car fifty feet off the ground.
"Ne, Precis-chan?" Ashton waved a hand in front of her face, snapping her out of her worries. "What do you want to do?"
"Um." Still, some part of her wanted her to be alone with Ashton. She felt kind of sorry for the unlucky Crest swordsman, and felt somewhat obligated to get to know him better, since he seemed to like her so much. "Will you go on the Ferris wheel with me?" The words tumbled suddenly out of her mouth. Unable to recover them, she smiled weakly and blushed.
Ashton blushed ever so slightly himself as he grinned back at her. "Sure, I'd love to."
Ururun muttered something to Gyoro that made the other dragon laugh. Ashton blushed furiously and told them both to be quiet. Precis sweatdropped.
"At least in the Ferris wheel, we'll be alone," she said to herself. "No one to stare at weird old Ashton and his dragons."
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
Ashton nervously clutched at the railing of the car as the Ferris wheel began to move. Precis moved slightly so she was sitting across from him in the round car. Though this spot was the farthest she could get from Ashton, her knees were still pressed up against his. She shifted again, trying to suppress the vague apprehensive feeling that was welling up inside her. This movement caught Ashton's attention.
"Have you ever been on one of these before?" he asked, smiling slightly. The Ferris wheel stopped to load more passengers, leaving Precis and Ashton about twenty feet off the ground. Precis was silent for a moment, and the only sound was the quiet roar of the rest of the carnival.
"Once," she said finally. "But I was really little."
He grabbed the railing as the wheel lurched into motion again, causing the car to sway. "This is my first time," he told her once the swaying had slowed. Gyoro and Ururun ventured to peek over the edge of the railing at the ground.
The Ferris wheel stopped again, with Precis and Ashton nearly at the top. Precis twisted around and looked out across the carnival spread out across the field below them.
Ashton scooted closer to Precis, causing the car to tilt. "I wonder if we could see Celine and Leon from here..." he said quietly, not noticing that, by moving, he'd unbalanced the car, causing Precis to slide slowly towards him.
Precis found herself leaning up against Ashton when the Ferris wheel began to turn again, bringing them towards the ground. Gyoro rested his chin on her shoulder, inviting her to scratch his nose. She did so as she sat stiff as a board, shoulder to shoulder with Ashton. She was thankful that he was too busy looking around to notice that she was blushing.
As their car reached the bottom of the wheel and began to ascend again, Ururun, jealous of the attention his counterpart was receiving, nibbled gently at Ashton's hair. He glanced at the blue dragon, then at Precis, and began to scratch Ururun under the chin. Precis could see that he was blushing slightly too. The gentle rock of their car seemed to no longer be bothering him.
"You're all tense, Precis-chan," Ashton observed. "Is Gyoro bothering you?"
"No, it's not Gyoro...." The dragon grumbled and nuzzled her hand.
"Are you cold?"
"Not really..."
"What's wrong then? Are you worried about Rena?"
"Yeah, I guess that's it," she lied, stroking the red dragon's nose and trying to ignore how close Ashton was.
"I'm sure she'll be okay by tomorrow. Claude said her fever was going down this morning, remember?"
Precis squirmed. "Maybe... after this we could buy her something."
"That seems like a good idea." Ashton smiled and put his arm around her. The dragons sensed that Ashton wanted some privacy, and began to quarrel with each other to keep themselves occupied.
"Ashton...?" Precis said quietly. "Could you... not touch me, please?"
He moved his arm, looking slightly hurt. "Sorry..." he muttered. Slowly, he moved back to his original seat, balancing the Ferris wheel car again. Precis relaxed a little, though she could not exactly say that she was happy that he had moved.
Ashton turned around so he could look out the other side of the car, the side facing away from the carnival and towards the town. He didn't seem to notice that Ururun and Gyoro were still fighting behind his back.
As Precis watched him, turned halfway around and gazing at the town, she realized how lonely he looked. She wondered if he had any other friends besides those dragons and Claude-tachi. Though he said he'd been traveling alone before the dragons joined him, he didn't seem like the sort of person who liked being alone. No matter how many times she or one of the others had teased him, he was always quick to forgive them. It was like he needed to be around people. She began to feel a little guilty for having ignored him almost totally since she'd met him.
"Perhaps if I'd gotten to know him," she thought, "I wouldn't feel so nervous about him looking at me all the time... I'm sure Celine is right, that he's a very nice person..." Still slightly nervous, she gently rested her hand on his knee.
"I'm sorry, Ashton..." she said quietly.
He turned to face her, and smiled. She could see the honesty of his feelings for her in his green eyes, and Precis wondered why she hadn't noticed it before. Feeling safer, she relaxed and moved a little closer to Ashton.
"I'm sorry for all those times I ignored you and flirted with Claude. I'm just not sure what it feels like to be in love..."
"I'm sorry if I ever made you worry, Precis-chan," Ashton replied, placing his hand on hers. "It's just that...." He blushed. "I- I've never met a girl as pretty or as spirited as you..."
Precis beamed at him, her face reddening a little. "Thank you. No one's ever told me that I'm pretty before."
Ashton stroked her cheek gently with one finger. "You are. You're very cute. And I've been so lonely... and unlucky too, especially with girls..."
Precis blushed even more. "I- I've... never had a boyfriend before," she stammered. "And... I know you're at least as good a fighter as Claude- san is..." Ashton put his finger under her chin and gently tilted her head up so she was peering into his eyes. "And... I've never b- been kissed before..." she finished as he leaned towards her.
"Neither have I..." he whispered, "But I've always wondered what it would be like..."
Just as he was about to kiss her, the Ferris wheel stopped with a slight lurch, causing Ashton to fall off his seat and onto Precis. Upon raising his head, he realized that they were at the bottom, and that the ride was over. He got up off of Precis and helped her to her feet, smiling weakly as the dragons laughed at him.
"Yeah, go Ashton!" he heard Celine call as he and Precis got off the Ferris wheel. Precis, who was holding his hand, blushed deep red and moved closer to Ashton, staring at the toes of her shoes. Celine, with Leon at her side, came to meet them. Leon laughed.
"Did you and Ashton-'niichan have fun?" the kitty-boy teased.
"Yes, we did." Precis replied matter-of-factly. "And did you and Celine have fun too? Did she have fun listening to you talk about how smart you are?"
Leon flushed an angry red. "I didn't do that!" he yelled. He and Precis proceeded to argue. Celine walked over to Ashton and patted his shoulder.
"Poor Ashton-kun." She hugged him tightly. "You can always go out with me if Precis is too busy fighting with Leon!"
Ashton squirmed, trying to detach Celine from his arm. "Stop it!" he whimpered. Celine continued to snuggle up against him. The Crest sorceress was wearing her usual revealing clothing, though a luxuriously soft white fur mantle had replaced her transparent cape. Ashton couldn't help but stare at her. "Can't you go... hug Leon or something and leave me and Precis-chan alone?" Ashton offered.
"Hug Leon?"
"What about me?" Leon asked, turning to peer at Celine. Precis immediately went back over to Ashton.
"Oh, but he's too young," Celine said, pressing herself up against Ashton, causing him to blush and Precis to get angry. "I need a /real/ man"
"Celine! Cut it out!" Ashton whined.
"Celine-san, stop kidding around and leave him alone!" Precis tried to pry her off the poor Crest swordsman.
Leon pouted. "I can be a real man..." he said, then set about to prove it. Ears turning red under their velvety brown fur, the boy genius stepped up to Celine and put his arms around her waist. She let go of Ashton, who fell over backwards, landing on his butt on the ground.
"Celine, I want you to go on the Ferris wheel with me," Leon said, sounding frightened. After a moment, he added "please" as an afterthought. Celine, clearly shocked, said nothing. Precis attempted to conceal a giggle behind her hand, as Ashton stood up, rubbing his bottom.
"L-Leon-chan?" The Crest mage said after a few moments. The kitty-boy let go of her, and she turned around to face him, bending over. Leon's eyes went wide as he stared at her breasts. Celine stood up straight, and smiled down at Leon. "Sure, we can go on a little date if you want," she told him, though she was thinking "Oh, great, he's starting to grow up..."
Precis, unable to keep it down, burst out laughing. "Shut up, Precis!" Leon snapped at her, blushing.
"Ne, Precis-chan, let's go look for something to buy Rena," Ashton suggested, trying to keep her and Leon from starting another fight.
"Yeah, it'd probably be best if we left Celine-san and Leon alone for a while," Precis replied, sticking her tongue out at Leon.
"There's a tent over there full of antiques being raffled off," Ashton said, pointing, as he and Precis walked away from Leon and Celine. "I'm sure we could find something there."
Precis nodded, cautiously taking Ashton's hand as they headed towards the tent full of antiques.
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
More Author Ranting: There's a little more. I have the next chapter mostly written. I hope to get it up before I have to go back to school, but please don't hate me if I can't ^^;;. Hope you liked this chapter. In the next chapter: my theories about Ashton's past.
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
Gyoro mumbled unhappily as Ashton walked through the carnival the next day. Though Ururun seemed to be enjoying himself as much as Ashton, it was far too cold for Gyoro to be able to get much pleasure from the sights and smells of the carnival.
"Lucky you like the cold." the red dragon growled in his own draconic language to his companion.
"Don't complain," Ururun replied. "This man seems to tend towards warmer climates, so this is the first time in a while I've been happy."
Gyoro shivered and snuggled against Ashton's neck. The swordsman reached up and stroked his nose, but he was too busy talking to the Precis girl to listen to the red dragon's complaints.
"It's too cold. I hate this. I want a raisin." Gyoro grumbled.
"You're such a whiner. Just shut up and take the cold." Ururun stretched up as far as he could, basking in an icy breeze. "Aah, that feels good. you really are a wuss if you can't stand a little chill like this."
"I am not!" Gyoro growled ominously. Ururun blew a small cloud of frost at his counterpart. Gyoro responded by biting him. Within seconds, a full-fledged fight had broken out.
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
"Gyaa!" Ashton yelped as the dragons fought over his head.
Precis stepped away from Ashton as he tried to get the creatures under control. She greatly disliked the stares from all the people around them. That was something that always bothered her about Ashton. He always attracted so much attention with those dragons on his back. And when they fought..
After a few minutes, however, Gyoro and Ururun had given up on their battle, and just rested their heads on Ashton's shoulders.
"Sorry about them." Ashton muttered, sweatdropping.
Precis continued walking in the direction they'd been heading before the distraction, not bothering to see if Ashton was following her. "It's. okay." she replied over her shoulder. She figured that he must be used to such problems, but it still bothered her to be with someone who had so many people gawking at him.
"Precis-chan, where are we going?" the swordsman asked as he ran to catch up with her.
She paused briefly until he was beside her, then started walking again, keeping her head down. "I don't know. I wanted to look around a little to see what was here."
"There's a Ferris wheel," Ashton suggested.
Precis became even more intent on studying the ground as she walked so Ashton wouldn't see her blush.
". and lots of games, and a tent with music, and I hear there's going to be a big antiques raffle today too," he continued.
Precis looked up at him. She wanted to go on the Ferris wheel with /someone/, but if she went with Ashton, he might get the wrong idea. He'd always seemed like a trustworthy person, but who knows what he might try if he was alone with her in a Ferris wheel car fifty feet off the ground.
"Ne, Precis-chan?" Ashton waved a hand in front of her face, snapping her out of her worries. "What do you want to do?"
"Um." Still, some part of her wanted her to be alone with Ashton. She felt kind of sorry for the unlucky Crest swordsman, and felt somewhat obligated to get to know him better, since he seemed to like her so much. "Will you go on the Ferris wheel with me?" The words tumbled suddenly out of her mouth. Unable to recover them, she smiled weakly and blushed.
Ashton blushed ever so slightly himself as he grinned back at her. "Sure, I'd love to."
Ururun muttered something to Gyoro that made the other dragon laugh. Ashton blushed furiously and told them both to be quiet. Precis sweatdropped.
"At least in the Ferris wheel, we'll be alone," she said to herself. "No one to stare at weird old Ashton and his dragons."
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
Ashton nervously clutched at the railing of the car as the Ferris wheel began to move. Precis moved slightly so she was sitting across from him in the round car. Though this spot was the farthest she could get from Ashton, her knees were still pressed up against his. She shifted again, trying to suppress the vague apprehensive feeling that was welling up inside her. This movement caught Ashton's attention.
"Have you ever been on one of these before?" he asked, smiling slightly. The Ferris wheel stopped to load more passengers, leaving Precis and Ashton about twenty feet off the ground. Precis was silent for a moment, and the only sound was the quiet roar of the rest of the carnival.
"Once," she said finally. "But I was really little."
He grabbed the railing as the wheel lurched into motion again, causing the car to sway. "This is my first time," he told her once the swaying had slowed. Gyoro and Ururun ventured to peek over the edge of the railing at the ground.
The Ferris wheel stopped again, with Precis and Ashton nearly at the top. Precis twisted around and looked out across the carnival spread out across the field below them.
Ashton scooted closer to Precis, causing the car to tilt. "I wonder if we could see Celine and Leon from here..." he said quietly, not noticing that, by moving, he'd unbalanced the car, causing Precis to slide slowly towards him.
Precis found herself leaning up against Ashton when the Ferris wheel began to turn again, bringing them towards the ground. Gyoro rested his chin on her shoulder, inviting her to scratch his nose. She did so as she sat stiff as a board, shoulder to shoulder with Ashton. She was thankful that he was too busy looking around to notice that she was blushing.
As their car reached the bottom of the wheel and began to ascend again, Ururun, jealous of the attention his counterpart was receiving, nibbled gently at Ashton's hair. He glanced at the blue dragon, then at Precis, and began to scratch Ururun under the chin. Precis could see that he was blushing slightly too. The gentle rock of their car seemed to no longer be bothering him.
"You're all tense, Precis-chan," Ashton observed. "Is Gyoro bothering you?"
"No, it's not Gyoro...." The dragon grumbled and nuzzled her hand.
"Are you cold?"
"Not really..."
"What's wrong then? Are you worried about Rena?"
"Yeah, I guess that's it," she lied, stroking the red dragon's nose and trying to ignore how close Ashton was.
"I'm sure she'll be okay by tomorrow. Claude said her fever was going down this morning, remember?"
Precis squirmed. "Maybe... after this we could buy her something."
"That seems like a good idea." Ashton smiled and put his arm around her. The dragons sensed that Ashton wanted some privacy, and began to quarrel with each other to keep themselves occupied.
"Ashton...?" Precis said quietly. "Could you... not touch me, please?"
He moved his arm, looking slightly hurt. "Sorry..." he muttered. Slowly, he moved back to his original seat, balancing the Ferris wheel car again. Precis relaxed a little, though she could not exactly say that she was happy that he had moved.
Ashton turned around so he could look out the other side of the car, the side facing away from the carnival and towards the town. He didn't seem to notice that Ururun and Gyoro were still fighting behind his back.
As Precis watched him, turned halfway around and gazing at the town, she realized how lonely he looked. She wondered if he had any other friends besides those dragons and Claude-tachi. Though he said he'd been traveling alone before the dragons joined him, he didn't seem like the sort of person who liked being alone. No matter how many times she or one of the others had teased him, he was always quick to forgive them. It was like he needed to be around people. She began to feel a little guilty for having ignored him almost totally since she'd met him.
"Perhaps if I'd gotten to know him," she thought, "I wouldn't feel so nervous about him looking at me all the time... I'm sure Celine is right, that he's a very nice person..." Still slightly nervous, she gently rested her hand on his knee.
"I'm sorry, Ashton..." she said quietly.
He turned to face her, and smiled. She could see the honesty of his feelings for her in his green eyes, and Precis wondered why she hadn't noticed it before. Feeling safer, she relaxed and moved a little closer to Ashton.
"I'm sorry for all those times I ignored you and flirted with Claude. I'm just not sure what it feels like to be in love..."
"I'm sorry if I ever made you worry, Precis-chan," Ashton replied, placing his hand on hers. "It's just that...." He blushed. "I- I've never met a girl as pretty or as spirited as you..."
Precis beamed at him, her face reddening a little. "Thank you. No one's ever told me that I'm pretty before."
Ashton stroked her cheek gently with one finger. "You are. You're very cute. And I've been so lonely... and unlucky too, especially with girls..."
Precis blushed even more. "I- I've... never had a boyfriend before," she stammered. "And... I know you're at least as good a fighter as Claude- san is..." Ashton put his finger under her chin and gently tilted her head up so she was peering into his eyes. "And... I've never b- been kissed before..." she finished as he leaned towards her.
"Neither have I..." he whispered, "But I've always wondered what it would be like..."
Just as he was about to kiss her, the Ferris wheel stopped with a slight lurch, causing Ashton to fall off his seat and onto Precis. Upon raising his head, he realized that they were at the bottom, and that the ride was over. He got up off of Precis and helped her to her feet, smiling weakly as the dragons laughed at him.
"Yeah, go Ashton!" he heard Celine call as he and Precis got off the Ferris wheel. Precis, who was holding his hand, blushed deep red and moved closer to Ashton, staring at the toes of her shoes. Celine, with Leon at her side, came to meet them. Leon laughed.
"Did you and Ashton-'niichan have fun?" the kitty-boy teased.
"Yes, we did." Precis replied matter-of-factly. "And did you and Celine have fun too? Did she have fun listening to you talk about how smart you are?"
Leon flushed an angry red. "I didn't do that!" he yelled. He and Precis proceeded to argue. Celine walked over to Ashton and patted his shoulder.
"Poor Ashton-kun." She hugged him tightly. "You can always go out with me if Precis is too busy fighting with Leon!"
Ashton squirmed, trying to detach Celine from his arm. "Stop it!" he whimpered. Celine continued to snuggle up against him. The Crest sorceress was wearing her usual revealing clothing, though a luxuriously soft white fur mantle had replaced her transparent cape. Ashton couldn't help but stare at her. "Can't you go... hug Leon or something and leave me and Precis-chan alone?" Ashton offered.
"Hug Leon?"
"What about me?" Leon asked, turning to peer at Celine. Precis immediately went back over to Ashton.
"Oh, but he's too young," Celine said, pressing herself up against Ashton, causing him to blush and Precis to get angry. "I need a /real/ man"
"Celine! Cut it out!" Ashton whined.
"Celine-san, stop kidding around and leave him alone!" Precis tried to pry her off the poor Crest swordsman.
Leon pouted. "I can be a real man..." he said, then set about to prove it. Ears turning red under their velvety brown fur, the boy genius stepped up to Celine and put his arms around her waist. She let go of Ashton, who fell over backwards, landing on his butt on the ground.
"Celine, I want you to go on the Ferris wheel with me," Leon said, sounding frightened. After a moment, he added "please" as an afterthought. Celine, clearly shocked, said nothing. Precis attempted to conceal a giggle behind her hand, as Ashton stood up, rubbing his bottom.
"L-Leon-chan?" The Crest mage said after a few moments. The kitty-boy let go of her, and she turned around to face him, bending over. Leon's eyes went wide as he stared at her breasts. Celine stood up straight, and smiled down at Leon. "Sure, we can go on a little date if you want," she told him, though she was thinking "Oh, great, he's starting to grow up..."
Precis, unable to keep it down, burst out laughing. "Shut up, Precis!" Leon snapped at her, blushing.
"Ne, Precis-chan, let's go look for something to buy Rena," Ashton suggested, trying to keep her and Leon from starting another fight.
"Yeah, it'd probably be best if we left Celine-san and Leon alone for a while," Precis replied, sticking her tongue out at Leon.
"There's a tent over there full of antiques being raffled off," Ashton said, pointing, as he and Precis walked away from Leon and Celine. "I'm sure we could find something there."
Precis nodded, cautiously taking Ashton's hand as they headed towards the tent full of antiques.
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
More Author Ranting: There's a little more. I have the next chapter mostly written. I hope to get it up before I have to go back to school, but please don't hate me if I can't ^^;;. Hope you liked this chapter. In the next chapter: my theories about Ashton's past.