Disclaimer: Chrono Cross isn't mine, in case you hadn't guessed. If I'd created Chrono Cross, then Harle would be alive, Karsh would marry Riddel, Guile really would be Magus, all those Trigger characters wouldn't be killed off, and there would be a lengthy hot-tub scene involving Norris, sex toys, and a can of whipped cream (kidding!). Anyway, CC belongs to those all-powerful geniuses down at Square. Too bad.
Summary: Umm, well, Karsh/Riddel/Dario triangle, starting from before CC and hopping on a sporadic timeline through and after the game.
PG13 for language and… suggestive stuff.
And pardon my bad accents. The only one I can do decently is Harle's - and she's prolly not going to be in this fic, anyway. Also, I kinda switch between first and third person sometimes, so try not to be confused.
…On completely irrelevant note, does anyone else think that 'young Karsh's' portrait looks like Sephiroth?
Third Wheel
"Karsh, son, get yeself up!" Zappa pounded on his son's door. "Yer friends are here to see ye!" Karsh, still half-asleep, rolled out of bed and landed with a jarring thunk on the floor.
"Yah, yah, I'm gettin up." Somehow he managed to pull on his clothes and stumble blearily out the door, nearly crashing into Dario.
"Wake up, Karsh." Dario shook his shoulders. "A dragoon always gets up at dawn - at it's long past."
"I'm not a stupid dragoon and I can't even think at this time of day. Call me when the sane people in this city start to wake up."
"But you will be a dragoon, correct?" Glenn piped up from behind his brother. "So you might as well get used to it."
Dario grabbed Karsh's arm and began to half-drag him down the street. "You whine every morning, and yet you still do it. It's time to practice, iron-head!"
"Iron-head! Coming from you, you bolt-brain."
"Well, your father is as smith, so I suppose it is possible for you to have quite a lot of iron in your head…" Glenn mused.
"Oh, shut up, frogface!"
"The frog is a noble creature! The symbol of our family has been a frog for centuries! Why, one of my ancestors -"
"…was a frog." Karsh finished sarcastically.
Now how did Karsh know that? Dario wondered. (A/N: LOL. Bad joke)
They'd been down at the practice courts for a few hours when they decided to take a break. Dripping sweat, Karsh carefully put down his axe, (Weaponsmaster Shak was livid whenever a weapon was carelessly dropped on the ground) grabbed a towel off the fence and dried his face.
"You did pretty well that time." Dario commented. "Nearly beat me."
"You say that every time, Dar." Karsh leaned against the fence for a moment. "The day I beat you is the day rivers flow backwards, the sun rises in the west, fish fly, birds swim-"
"Ducks swim." Dario pointed out.
"Shut up." Karsh threw his towel at his friend good-naturedly.
Their banter was cut short by a melodic laugh from the other end of the court - Karsh recognized it immediately. "Riddel!" Karsh waved.
Riddel smiled at him as she approached. "Hello, Karsh, Dario, Glenn. Fun practice today?"
Karsh made a noise like a dying goose. "Oh, yes, Riddel, we had marvelous fun today. Hacking, and bashing, and sweating - maybe even a drop of good, old-fashioned manly blood! Would you like to join us for our next bout?"
Dario rolled his eyes. "You always say that, and I've yet to see you quit. Come on, you want to be a dragoon as much as I do."
In truth, Karsh did, but he wasn't about to admit that. "Alas, my dreams of becoming a musician were crushed when I was cursed by a gypsy woman to forever sound like a cat coughing up a furball. Dragoon was my second-place aspiration."
Riddel giggled. "You can't sound that awful. Let's hear you sing."
Karsh raised his eyebrows. "Somebody has a death wish." - but he obliged her anyway.
"Oh, my da-arling love
Every time I see your smile -
My heart leaps like a camel on aphrod -"
"Karsh!" Dario said, mock-stern. "Not in front of innocent ears!" He waved in Glenn's direction.
By that time, Riddel was laughing almost to tears. "I take it back! You do sound like a cat!" She turned suddenly serious. "But please promise me this. Will you promise?"
Karsh had no idea what it was, but promised anyway. "I promise."
"Never, ever sing again!" Riddel laughed again.
She meant it as a joke, but I kept that promise - I never did sing again (not that that was a loss to anyone).. When I sang that stupid song, making up the somewhat dirty lyrics on the spot, I wasn't sure if I was joking or serious. Probably both.
Something about Riddel…Made me want to make her laugh. She was always so serious… she worked so hard. After her mother died, she took her duty as Lady of Viper Manor so seriously, and left hardly any time for herself.
But just seeing her smile was enough, sometimes. Her face would suddenly glow - she looked so beautiful when she smiled. Sometimes I would do anything to make her smile, including making a total ass of myself.
Then she began to smile at Dario.
I don't really know when it started - we were all very good friends long before Riddel and Dario got serious. It was little things, I guess. Dario showing off when she was around, them kind of staring at each other every once and a while. Blushing at little things, whatever. Before I knew it, they were both madly in love. Madly fucking in lo-diddly-ove.
I fucking hate it. How could I have not noticed? The best friend I ever had is going bonkers over Riddel - Riddel - and I just didn't notice at all?
Looking back, I can't see how I could have missed it. Of course, I was kind of preoccupied at the time. I desperately wanted to become a dragoon - well, for three reasons: Duty to my country, blah, blah, blah, Because Dario was doing it and I had to be better than him (one of those adolescent things, I suppose), and, well… to be honest, to impress Riddel.
Dario was great at everything - and I mean everything. Back then, I never held it against him. Yeah, he had a bit of an ego - but we were friends, right? It was totally cool, just a friendly rivalry. But there came a point when there was more to it than that - I had to be better than Dario at something, anything. Dario was just so naturally talented at everything he tried - picks up a sword, and BOOM he's First Deva. So I practiced, and practiced, and drilled, and drilled… Still I never beat him.
I think now I know why I never beat him. When Dario fought, he put his heart into it. He fought like it was life or death on the battlefield. When I fought, I was just thinking STRIKE-parry-dodge-THRUST-block-ouchthatfuckinhurts-ARC-slam-twist-jump-shitilost.
Well, you get the point. I was always totally analytical, Dario was totally emotional.
Anyway, so I was kinda obsessed at that point. I still think I was an idiot. Maybe - MAYBE then I had a chance with her, if I'd only given some kind of sign.
Sign? What kind of sign? I don't know shit about flirting. I've always been awful with women - somehow, they all seem to think I'm a brash and egotistical asshole. Come to think of it, they're right. But hell, I like my personality, so they can just go fuck themselves!
…Sigh. Maybe that's why Riddel fell in love with Dario and not me.
