(Kit Thespian is sitting at a desk, reading reviews)
Kit Thespian (maniacally): HAHAHAHA!!! I HAVE REVIEWS! REVIEWS!
(Enter Crono)
Crono: …Uh, are you okay?
(Kit Thespian throws her letters in the air in surprise)
Kit Thespian: Whaddaya want!? (regains composure) Oh, Crono, it's you… Hey! What are you doing here?! You're supposed to be onstage giving the Disclaimer!
Crono: Well, they want you to give a response to your reviews.
Kit Thespian: …A response?
Crono: Yes.
Kit Thespian: Oh…okay. But this doesn't get you out of giving the Disclaimer, understood?
Crono (groans): Drat…
(Kit Thespian goes out to the stage and gives her responses…)
zipis1: The kitty cat incident in Ozzie's Fort was just too deliciously anti-climatic to resist. Slash is really something I would never write, unless in a parody context, and Magus is the worst one (in all of his machoism) to inflict it upon. I had hoped that the whole Magus' real father thing was original. At least one thing in this fic is! Thank you so much for reviewing! And by the way, when are you going to update "It takes two to tango"?
Imania: Heeheehee… Psycho Magus is always fun to write. Go, Magus, go!
cs: I'm glad I brightened your finals week. Thanks!
Yuffie-Girl: The whole using "I" and "you" in the narration was actually intentionally eccentric. It probably comes from reading a lot of C.S. Lewis. He used that sort of phrasing frequently, especially in The Chronicles of Narnia. I'm glad that you felt compelled to read the story in "one fell swoop." Thank you very much.
Kit Thespian: Well, now that's over and done with, you may come out now, Crono!
(Crono sheepishly enters the stage and speaks)
Crono (monotone): Kit Thespian does not own the video game Chrono Trigger (aside) Thank heavens… (out loud) and she is not making any money off of this fic.
(He exits quickly before Kit Thespian can make any slash or angst threats to his person.)
Back to the story:
Chapter Five- Slightly Awkward
"You cannot be serious..." Magus asked with his usual stone-faced expression on his face but plenty of horror in his voice, "Such a thing is disgraceful!"
"Oh, come on," Crono rolled his eyes, "What are you afraid of?"
Not willing to answer that question (Magus because of his "dignity" and Lucca out of fear of Crono's possible reaction), the wizard and the inventor said nothing in response to Crono's question. Robo was at the End of Time. Ayla was not paying attention but watching a butterfly on the grass nearby, and wondering if it were tasty. Marle was too naive to think anything about Crono's suggestion and so she backed it up full force simply because it was his suggestion.
They were in the middle ages for the time being, because Glenn was to go up to the ruins where Cyrus was buried and set his spirit at rest. Crono was going to go with Glenn, and the rest of them were to stay in the inn in the village nearby. They had all wanted to go (except Robo, who did not care either way). The quest would take overnight, but the inn was full except for two rooms, with two beds each, so they were having a time trying to decided how to divide the rooms and who should stay with whom.
Magus had suggested that he perhaps go with Crono and Glenn to the ruins, but Glenn spoke that this was quite unacceptable. What if the spirit of Cyrus looked upon him, no matter how much Magus' appearance had changed? So Magus had to stay in the inn, with one of the girls.
It couldn't be Marle or Ayla. Both of these women nearly drove Magus insane with all of their crazy antics. So that left Lucca to stay with Magus, and Crono had thought that the idea of Marle and Ayla in one room and Magus and Lucca in the other room to be quite sensible.
Fortunately, Glenn had enough sense to speak up, and he took Crono aside and spoke so only Crono could hear,
"I really do not think that placing Magus and Miss Lucca in the same room overnight is a wise decision," he said, "Though I do not think that either one of them is naturally inclined towards illicit actions, placing a man and a woman who art not married to one another in the same room for a night alone is folly. And not only folly, but scandalous. I do not know what sort of society thou hast grown up in, Crono, but in mine culture, this is highly inappropriate."
"Glenn, think about it. Lucca has never had a boyfriend or any sort of love interests in her life. And have you noticed how Magus behaves around girls? He's a monk! There's no way that he would try anything. You stick a monk and a nun in the same room, and nothing happens. Trust me."
"How dost thou knowest this? Hast thou ever been a monk?"
"Well, no, but...It's the only thing we can do."
Glenn groaned, resigned, and went to Magus, took him aside, and whispered,
"It seemeth that there be no alternative to this situation, Magus, so I will maketh myself plain... If I find that thou hast in any way harmed the lady, I will forget our truce."
"You can be sure, Glenn," Magus said, sneering, "I will do nothing against the lady's will."
"Good." Glenn did not take the time to think about that statement, nor did he question Lucca.
The night started well. Magus, Lucca, Ayla, and Marle had dinner in the tavern attached to the inn. Magus hoped sincerely that no one would recognize him, though there was really no way for anyone to know what he looked like. Ayla (whom they had dressed up in suitable clothes since it was late autumn outside) managed to behave well, only having to be reprimanded for playing with Magus' hair once. Lucca said that it was all right for Ayla to play with her hair.
Marle said, after swallowing a bite a chicken, and trying to get above the noise of the tavern,
"I hope Crono and Glenn are okay..."
"Ayla too," Ayla said, putting Lucca's hair into different twists and knots, "Crono strong. Glenn strong. Be okay."
Magus was watching Ayla's fingers as they manuvered Lucca's hair into one more knot. He wondered how she would get it untangled later on, and he also wondered how Lucca could possibly tolerate such annoyance. He and Lucca said hardly anything during supper, but they exchanged more than one glance, all of which Marle and Ayla were oblivious to.
But when they all retreated to their rooms, Magus and Lucca were beginning to feel the full weight of the awkwardness of the situation. Once the door was shut behind them, Lucca spoke,
"Which bed is yours?"
Magus looked at the twin beds (which were placed rather close together), trying to hide his apprehension. He pointed at the right one, the one closer to the window. If an intruder came in, Magus would be the first one to face him. It was at this moment that Magus was beginning to realize that he was starting to think of Lucca more than himself. He walked to the right bed, took off his gloves, and began to undo his cloak. Then he noticed that Lucca had not moved.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing!" she laughed, albeit uneasily, "It's just...I don't know. Just being silly is all."
She went to the left bed and settled onto it, taking off her shoes. Then she felt her hair.
"Oh, no..." She tried to undo the knots but without success, "How am I ever...?"
"I thought it looked rather funny," Magus said, "You shouldn't have let her play with your hair."
"There's no harm done, Janus. It's a pain, though..." She couldn't get all the knots, but a smirk curled lips, "You look like you know something about hair maintenance. Could you give me a hand here?"
Magus hesitated a moment before going to Lucca's bed and sitting beside her. He swallowed a nervous lump in his throat. He had never touched a woman like this before or ever been this close. Schala would hug him when he was little, but a touch from a sister was different then this.
He put his hand to one of the knots in Lucca's hair and gently loosed it, brushing the tangles out with his fingers. He did the same with another lock, while Lucca worked on places that were easier for her to reach. After about ten minutes of silence, Magus and Lucca managed to worked out all of the tangles. Their fingers had touched several times, and Lucca had trembled more than once at Magus' touch.
Of course, Magus misinterpreted this and said,
"You don't need to be afraid of me."
"I'm not afraid, it's only..."
"...Only what?"
"I'm not used to this..."
"...I understand. I'm not used to it either."
Magus (very wisely) got up from the bed and went to his own bed and settled down into it after removing his shoes and blowing out the candles that stood on the table between the two beds. The room didn't have much lighting then. There was only a fire in the fireplace. Lucca curled up in her sheets, but after a few minutes, she started to shiver. It had begun to snow outside, and there was only a thin blanket and sheet to protect her from the cold. There were so many guests in the inn that night that the innkeeper couldn't give a good deal of fuel to each room, so the wood in the fireplace was turning to dying embers.
Magus' ears were very acute, and he could hear Lucca's shuddering breaths and teeth clattering. He was used to the cold, since Ozzie would never let him have a fire in his room growing up. He looked at her in the dim light, and thought that she would surely catch a cold if she went on like this. He had caught a cold from a freezing room once, and it was one of the most miserable things he had ever experienced.
His red cloak was hanging on his bedpost, and Magus got an idea. Without a word, he rose from his bed, took the cloak, and spread it over Lucca's bed. The thick cloak would give her a little more comfort. Her eyes popped open and she looked up at him with surprise. She smiled,
"Why, thank you."
He didn't reply, but simply looked at her. He got down on his knees and continued to tuck the cloak around her shoulders. Now, one may have gathered that Magus was not the sort of personto do something on impulse, and neither was Lucca. And really they weren't. But in matters such as these, thinking seems to be put on hold. Magus leaned over her and kissed her on the lips. It was very softly done, but a kiss all the same.
A knock came to the door. Magus jerked away from his kiss and jumped into his bed, so hastily, in fact, that one of the bed railings broke and Magus went crashing to the ground. Lucca gasped and sat up. The door opened and Ayla and Marle popped their heads in.
"Are you two all right...?" Marle asked. Then she saw Magus' legs flailing in the air from his peculiar position, upside down on the broken bed.
"Magus okay?" Ayla spoke, her eyes like saucers. Lucca's eyes were no better, considering the position that Marle and Ayla had almost caught them in. But this small calamity actually served to benefit them, for Lucca and Magus now had another excuse to act flustered. Magus finally managed to sit up, and he said flatly,
"My bed broke."
"Well, that's obvious!" Marle exclaimed, with her hands on her hips, "What are you going to do?"
Magus finally managed to get up on his feet and he said,
"I'll take the mattress off and sleep on the floor. What are you doing here?"
"We wanted to see if you were all right," Marle answered, "It was awfully quiet in here."
"It would still be quiet if you weren't here," Magus hissed.
"Janus!" Lucca scolded, "Be nice. Marle, Ayla, we'll be all right. Thank you for checking on us."
Marle was still a little put off by Magus' rude comment, but she took Lucca's thanks kindly and she and Ayla retreated back to their rooms. Amazingly, out of the two, Ayla was the first one to think that Lucca's behavior towards Magus was a little odd, and the way he treated her was different than the way he did the others, because he didn't snap at her like he did at Marle when Lucca had reprimanded him. But she had enough brains to not say anything about it to Marle.
Magus moved his mattress to the floor and once again tried to settle down. Lucca was biting her lips, trying not to laugh. The interruption and the bed breaking had put Magus in an irritated mood. But a chuckle escaped.
"Har, har, har," Magus sarcastically grumbled, "Oh, it is to laugh."
But Magus' statement only caused Lucca to burst out laughing. She tried to speak through her laughter,
"I'm sorry...It's so funny! I mean...I'm not laughing at you. Everything's so funny..." And she burst into another paroxysm of snickers. Magus threw off his covers and walked over to her bed and glowered down at her. Lucca's chuckling faded and she stared up at the tall wizard. She spoke, a little feebly, "I wasn't laughing at you. You have to admit that it's very amusing."
"I did not say it wasn't amusing," Magus spoke, "I was trying to recall where we were when we were so rudely interrupted."
Lucca blushed, "Janus, I don't think we should...I don't want to...Why did you kiss me?"
"Because I wanted to," he answered.
"...Janus, I think we should go to sleep now."
"...All right."
Magus went without any hesitation back to his mattress and got in. Lucca sighed with relief and finally went to sleep.
Meanwhile...
"Oh, isn't that romantic?" Gaspar smiled as he and Spekkio were observing the above-mentioned events from the End of Time. Robo was in sleep mode, so he didn't hear anything.
"Why are you paying attention to those two?" Spekkio asked, "Crono and Glenn's battle in the ruins with all the ghost monsters is far more interesting."
"That's only because you're the master of war. I'm telling you, Spekkio. Those two are destined to be together. It's only a little while longer."
"I hope you're not suggesting that they lay with one another unmarried," Spekkio said.
"Oh, no, even Janus knows the wrong in that. He didn't really wish to make love to Lucca in the inn. He just wanted to kiss her. That was his first kiss, and quite a nice experience for him."
"Neither Janus nor Lucca strike me as the type to go through a big marriage ceremony."
"There's more than one way to skin a cat. Marriage is the joining of two people in a lifetime committment. Marriage contract is as a wise philosopher once put it, 'Securing the treasures before you take the pleasures.'"
"...And what is that supposed to mean?" Spekkio scratched his head.
"It means you make your committment binding so that the treasures of the marriage will be secure when they come."
"When...'they'...? You mean children?"
"Why, of course."
"Children?! Them with children?"
"And of course, taking the pleasures means...you know. And children would inevitably result."
"How do you know that they will have children?"
"I just do. That's why I'm the guru of time and you're the master of war."
"But how will they be married?"
Gaspar grinned, "You'll see."