Still sitting upon the ground was the Blademaster they saw before, though this time it looked like he had gotten the strength to get up and retrieve its sword, which stuck out from the grass beside him. He was nodding along looking very intrigued at the wild tale Mimiru was spouting at him... No doubt a slightly abridged recollection of their little run in down below. "Wow, are you serious? You guys must have given it a good beating!"
"Oh, yeaaaaaah, nothin' to it. Ne, Sora?" She had her arms crossed but she decided to give him a good slap on the back, as well as a devious wink: play along!
"I'm thinking my definition of 'it' might differ from hers," he said cooly as he walked out towards the open grounds a little ways away from the entrance. He could only take so much of being in such cramped spaces, after all. Hard to jump around when there's a ceiling waiting to be smashed into.
Mimiru scoffed in response. "Well, whatever. Just try and avoid this dungeon, ok? There might be other monsters that got messed up."
"All-right, thanks for the advice." A sly look creeped across the Blademaster's face as he regarded Sora. He cupped a hand against the side of his face, as to keep Sora from reading his lips, and whispered something to Mimiru. Sora didn't have to ask what was spoken, nor did he care: the reaction that burst out of Mimiru was satisfying enough.
"WHAT? Where'd you get that idea? Gross, gross, gross! Get out of here before I do to you what I did to that stupid monster of yours!"
The Blademaster laughed a little too hard to be worried about Mimiru's threat. Clumsily he stood up, gathering his sword, and winked at Mimiru before gating back to Dun Loireag.
Sora had a vague idea of what the offending comment might have been: any number of things, all of which probably involved some suggested 'relationship' between himself and the Heavy Blade. Girls got weird about those sorts of things, especially when someone mindlessly sticks their nose into such matters... but he asked anyway. "What idea?"
Her face scrunched up as if she had eaten something that had immediately decided to declare battle upon her stomach lining. "Nothing! I don't want to put weird things into your head."
The field possessed the typical characteristics of grasslands: hills rolled gently into one another, topped off by shimmering waves of perfect emerald grass. It was just like Dun Loireag itself, except with the obvious lack of the crowds that often found themselves in the root town. The dungeon's entryway opened out onto a gently sloping hill, which Sora had wandered a short ways down and sat down upon. He turned a little to wave Mimiru over, and much to his surprise she came. However when she sat down, she did so at a distance. "Too late for that," he said teasingly. "But really, what did he say?"
"Nothing!" she repeated, trying to sound annoyed but failing alltogether; the smile she had pushed away the anger that would normally come from being pestered by him.
"Liar. You wouldn't throw a fit over just nothing, would you?"
She sighed, supressing a shiver at what the Blademaster had asked. "It's really gross."
"So I gathered." For whatever reason, perhaps to try and urge her on, he scooted just a little closer. "But what exactly was really gross?"
Mimiru giggled at the grass, shaking her head slowly. "You're not gonna believe it."
"Depends on what it is," Sora countered.
"Well... He asked if we were... You know..." She idly pulled up a blade of grass and fidgeted with it, folding it into neat little halves. Discomfort, along with a sort of thoughtfullness, veiled her face.
"Hmmm?" As obvious as it was, and as completely foolish as it was, he still wanted to hear it spoken. Silly idea. Simply silly.
"... together," she said simply. It took a lot of effort for Sora to keep from laughing, as well as to look even minutely confused about just what she might be implying. Eventually she got the hint, and she continued on unsteadily. "That is to say... Erm... Like boyfriend and girlfriend."
"Ah... And you think that's... gross." A flatly pronounced statement, accompanied by the crossing of arms and the hardening of his expression. Toying with her might have been a little too easy for she was most definetly a little too kind of heart, and kind of nature... All of a sudden she looked very embarrassed and apologetic, but before she could even utter a word to her own defense, Sora had his eyes fixed a spot very far away from Mimiru's face. "I see how it is."
"Er, um, I don't mean 'gross' in a bad way. I mean it's not like I don't like you or anything like that."
Deeper and deeper she would dig herself, unaware and delightfully innocent. Too easy indeed. The slightest touch of a smile wretched control of the very corners of his lips. "Mmhmm. You've disliked me since the first day we met. I remember that look you gave me."
"Oh, please!" she growled. Fists planted themselves against her hips as she quickly took up a stand against Sora's words. "Back then you were just some creepy weirdo I didn't know anything about, and you were trying to get my member address! How else was I supposed to react?"
Immediately Mimiru regretted asking. A bright smile popped up on Sora's face as he mimed handing something over by holding his hands out towards her, and his voice took a slight falsetto tone. "My member address? Of course you can have it, Sora-sama!" Reverting to his normal voice, he added, "See? Easy. Nothing to get bent out of shape over, ne?"
"You're really weird, you know that?" Mimiru asked. It was strange really; most of the people she had come across went out of their way to look real cool and serious. Silver Knight was a perfect example, and Bear himself wasn't much of a goof-off when it came down to it. Sora on the other hand... Wearily she grinned, arching a brow at him. Sora was different.
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
A girl laughed and rubbed at her temples. On a clock sitting on a shelf not too far away, a relatively small number glowed in its harsh neon hues. "Oh geeze, it's really late!" she blurted suddenly. "Mom's gonna kill me if she finds me on the computer!"
It seemed like Sora had lost track of the time as well, for a mildly surprised look took hold of his features. "Oh, so it is. Guess I should get going before I get caught myself." He began to stand up when a hand on his shoulder - Mimiru's, as a quick glance would show - stopped him.
"Hey, umm, I... had a fun time tonight," she said, words tumbling clumsily one after the other. "First time I've fought a killer goblin. First time I've had my sword torn up, too. Maybe we could, um... go to another dungeon again sometime?"
Sora regarded her for a moment. Sleepiness was showing itself through her eyes, as did a sort of shyness. He didn't blame her... If he was conscious of anything at all right then in that moment, it was her hand resting so casually upon his shoulder. In that moment, the fear and agitation she would have harbored for him had dissapeared. In its place stood the warmth and friendliness she extended with everyone else... As subdued as it was, given that it was Sora she was talking to in such an awkward sort of way, it still made Sora smile.
"Any time. Sleep well." He winked and touched her hand as he stood up, running his fingers beneath hers before letting it fall away from him.
Upon tanned cheeks, a touch of pink blossomed. Hastily the Heavyblade stood, turning away from him as she nodded. "You too, Sora." And in an instant she was gone.
Immediately Sora felt as if he could have just passed out right there at his computer. A tremendous sense of weariness took hold of his eyelids, forcing them down as he fought to keep them at least a little bit open. Cautiously, as if poking at a gaping wound, he touched the spot on his shoulder where Mimiru's hand had been with his brow furrowed. Then, as if coming to some unspoken conclusion, he nodded and logged himself out of The World.
Quietly a headset was returned to its place upon a tidy desk top. Streams of silvery light washed in through the open curtains, pouring squares neatly divided by the shadows in the window panes upon the floor. There was no one to smile to save the bright moon high above the city, no one to speak to save the deaf objects that resided in his room. That had never stopped him before.
"Sweet dreams, Mimiru-chan," he whispered as squeaky curtains were drawn shut. Little by little the light shrank away to mere slivers peeking in from the edges of the window, and in the peaceful darkness someone who called himself Sora let himself drift into the arms of sleep. Tomorrow there would be more dungeons to be conquered, more rumors to seek out, but for now he would dream dreams of crystal eyes and warm smiles.
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[[ *shrug* :) ]]