Bell swiftly ducked and weeved between Ais' attacks with only the occasional kick to the forehead or scarab to the gut, the Loki familia member noticed the improvement and smiled ever so slightly.. Bell noticed a gap in her movement and tried to take advantage of it.. Tried being the keyword here.
"Got you no-!"
Bonk
Aaaannd~ Bell was on the floor blacked out. Hah, classic.
"Awhhh!" yelled the Sword Princess, somewhat panicking after realising she might've broken something or worse with her level 6 strength.
Rushing over to him, she checked whether she damaged her precious student, loosening the leather straps for his armor was a little more difficult than she would like to admit. Aren't these things supposed to be easy for even children? Dismissing that thought, she paused for a moment before removing his shirt, Bell's dignity coming to mind, however deciding that his wellbeing was more important than something so trivial.
She pulled the black fabric over his head gently and placed it beside her, turning back around, her eyes were immediately drawn to his rather chiseled chest, she felt her face heat up as she ran her eyes over him. But why? She pondered but chose to think about that later when she was less distracted.
With two fingers, Ais pressed down lightly around the area where she struck him, trying to figure out if she broke any part of his skeletal frame. Touching his collar bone, Bell let out a groan, taking this as a sort of confirmation that she broke this part of his body. Guilt flooded her heart. Deciding to wait until he woke up before forcing a potion down his throat, she moved his head into her lap and started hastily thinking about a way to apologize to him.
"Ughhhh" Bell strained out whilst lifting a single blurry eye open.
"Are you okay?" Ais asked softly when she noticed him awaken, concern and guilt in her eyes.
Shifting his vision up to her face, his eyes widened, surprised at the concerned look on his beloved's face, the mighty Sword Princess was never known to show a great deal of emotion after-all. It's not like she was crying, but it still brought Bell an ocean of joy to know she cared for him. It filled him with hope. Hope that one day she might look at him with love instead of concern.
"I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to hit you so hard, its my fault, I'll make sure to-" Ais tried to apologise like how Riveria taught her but was cut off.
"Ais, it's fine, I'm not even hurt" Bell replied before trying to sit up, getting half way before flopping rather ungracefully back into Ais' lap with a painful grunt. "Actually, I take it back" Bell added a second later with a pain-filled chuckle and a light smile.
"Ouch, that hurt… but.." Bell thought as he watched the woman he loved search her satchel for a potion for him to drink whilst talking about how Riveria could cast a healing spell "...if it means spending time with her like this.. I'll take any amount of pain."
A smile appeared on his face and a love fueled fire filled his soul like nothing he had ever experienced before. The Liaris Freese skill on his back glowing dimly in response.
The sun hung low in the sky, the stars dimly making an appearance as time slowly drifted past, the moon would soon arise and the noise of the city would lessen and fade away into nothing, each person walking and chatting away… Bell loved watching people. Watching them smile, laugh, and cry. Each person living out their own adventure in this grand city of Orario.
He turned his eyes from the city towards the skies, watching the clouds go by until a gale of wind blew past, glittering gold sparkled in his vision. Aiz. She was sitting on the battlement of the wall behind him. After finishing Bell's training, they had decided to take a break and rest for a while before they went home.
"Bell.." Ais began, still looking off into the sunset behind him.
"Mmm?" Bell hummed in reply as he focused on the sky above.
"Why did you become an adventurer?" It was an odd question to ask, it confused Bell for a moment as he didn't expect such a personal question to come from the girl.
After pondering for a while he replied "I guess it's because of my Grandpa." Bell said with a smile "He always used to tell me stories about heroes and adventurers as a kid, I... I wanted to make him proud by doing what he always said I could be.. I suppose." He finished, somewhat embarrassed with his reasonings.
"I see.." Ais replied, her tone solemn if not slightly envious. His reasons, just like his actions, were pure. She couldn't help but feel concerned for the boy, he wasn't fit for this harsh life, which was full of danger and loss. "But.. I think I was just lost, a stupid kid with nobody to follow around, so I just went with the one thing that I knew best.." He stated with a small but sad smile on his face.
Oh.
She knew how that felt. Being lost in a world where you barely knew anything, a kid with nothing left. One sole purpose and a desire so strong it could destroy mountains. Whilst his was pure and innocent, a desire to become what his Grandfather believed he could be. Her's was not pure or innocent, she was fueled by hate and only desired the death of that thing.
She felt like crying, it hurt deeply, like a knife being stabbed in her heart.
The voice of her Mother echoing in her mind, she turned her face away from Bell more, hoping to hide whatever expression she had. She knew it wasn't a good one.
Bell, sensing something was wrong, stood up and threw his legs over the battlement to sit beside her "Is something-" seeing a glimpse of her face for half a second he froze.
No, something was wrong, there was no need to ask
"Ais, what's wrong? If you wanna talk about it, I'm right here" he softly prodded, giving her a smile that some people would pay a million vallis to see as she turned to look at him.
Feeling her heart stop for a moment and then start thumping in her chest, she was confused about what was happening, but she couldn't stop staring at his smile.
It was as if the searing pain in her heart was swept away as long as she could see that smile.
"N-No, I'm fine." Her face with a light blush and her hair glittering in the dying sunlight, a shy smile appearing on her face. She was a sight to behold, or at least, Bell thought so.
Barely resisting the temptation to kiss her on the spot, he pulled her into a tight hug, managing to stop himself from crossing the line whilst also pulling off a friendly gesture! Nice save.
Ais didn't know what mental and emotional conflict Bell was going through, but she certainly couldn't say that she disapproved of his actions.
Her smile grew as she relaxed into his touch, her heartbeat returning to normal as she closed her eyes.
"Why do I only feel like this around Bell?" Ais pondered, genuinely wondering why she was feeling this way.
Bell on the other hand, wasn't quite as relaxed yet he held her firmly. He didn't know what was bothering her, but if she wasn't willing to tell him, he could wait until she was. It didn't matter how long it took.
He loved her more than anything in the world, he could wait for an eternity and still be willing to wait just a little longer if it meant her happiness.
Hearing her breathe out a rather cute snore pulled him from within his mind, how long had they been sitting here? He noted that the sun was barely peeking over the horizon now, so it must've been about 15 minutes.
"Ais?" He gently chided.
Quickly realising she was passed out, he smiled down at her. Was he really that good of a hugger? He certainly hoped so. "Should I wake her? It's been a long day.. maybe I should let her sleep?" As the Hestia Captain mentally debated what actions he should take, the young woman in his arms tried to turn about as if she were in a bed.
Faster than light, he strengthened his hold on her.
He couldn't let her fall.
They were on the edge of a wall! Some 114 feet drop straight down one side, and a hard cold floor on the other side.
Taking the safer action, he slowly and carefully moved her sideways and then lifted her up into a princess hold. Fairly ironic considering she was the Sword Princess, with a shake of his head he brushed off that thought and smiled as he carried her off the battlements and into the small building that held the stairs they took to reach this little place he treasured. Go get 'em champ.
-
Author's Note:
How'd y'all like that? I don't think it was too bad, I certainly enjoyed writing it. This will indeed be more than a one-shot, I can't really promise you an exact time when the next chapter will come out but hopefully it'll be soon. If you want, please leave a review, it's always helpful to get some feedback. If you have any suggestions then lay 'em out as well, appreciate it. Adios.