Chapter Eight: The First Moment


They arrived back at the house, having taken a longer route to try to lose any would-be pursuers. They carried the supplies they had bought into the house, and both set off to do the work on the house that needed to be done. They tasked Specula and Shadow to keep watch and monitor the area as they worked, always erring on the side of caution.

Raven worked to fix and refuel the generator, while Reese did some general cleaning in the house, wiping down and scouring windows and counters and sweeping out years of accumulated dust and debris. She smiled as the lights came to life within the house, signaling that Raven had successfully repaired the generator. She was very glad for it indeed, as electricity could also mean running water. She can't even remember the last time she had a good shower, as they've only been using minimal water with washcloths to keep themselves clean these past couple of weeks. With that in mind, she decided to also clean and prepare the bathrooms for just that.

When the generator was up and running, Raven went to small basement area in the house where the main water pump was located. The house was connected to the well water underground, so if he can successfully get the water running, they wouldn't have to take trips to get water. He turned on the water pump and watched the pressure start to build up. He frowned upon seeing the state of the water filter, which was essentially clogged with grime, dirt, rust and limescale. Thankfully, upon searching the storage closets in the vicinity, he found some spare parts, including two unopened water filters. He cleaned the tank and replaced the water filter with a new one, then went upstairs to test the faucet in the kitchen. The faucet sputtered out brown rusty water, until it finally cleared as the plumbing was purged of rust and stagnant water.

Reese came up to the wide kitchen entryway, having just finished cleaning the first floor bathroom. Upon seeing the running faucet, she couldn't help but smile.

"Who knew the Raven would have such a penchant for house repairs?" she said mirthfully, leaning against the entryway, smile still in place as he looked back at her.

Seeing her there casually leaning on the entryway smiling at him, her soft green eyes dancing with mirth, the late afternoon sun shining behind her through the newly cleaned windows of the atrium, gave him such a strange warm feeling in his chest that he couldn't help but smile back.

"Compared to repairing and modifying zoids, this is hardly complicated." He said with a shrug, walking towards the entryway.

"Besides," he continued as he leaned on the opposite side of the entryway. "Who knew the Blue Devil was such a clean freak?" He said with a smirk, gesturing to the clean atrium with spotless windows.

"I mean…how did you even reach that high up there?" He asked, now truly curious. Reese gave a soft chuckle as she also turned to face the atrium.

"I may have pulled Specula from guard duty for a bit just to fly me up there." She said as she looked up and admired the clean windows and the wonderful view outside.

Raven glanced at her, the sunlight now fully lighting her smiling face, and the warm feeling in his chest only grew. Her hair had grown quite a bit, with the sides reaching past her ears, and the ends curling to frame the sides of her face. It won't be long until her striking blue hair will reach her chin, and he wondered how it would look on her then…probably even more stunning.

Sensing his gaze on her, she looked back at him, and was immediately captivated by the intense look he was giving her. The moment lengthened and his gaze intensified, leaving Reese unnerved in a way that was entirely unrelated to fear. Hesitantly, Raven reached out and brushed a stray strand of hair across her temple. His knuckles softly grazed her skin, and the slow, almost awkward action sent a fluttery jolt through her, familiar, but different somehow from what she knew of that feeling. He then softly brushed the pad of his thumb across her chin. Reese stood frozen on the spot, her heart beating faster at his touch. Her eyes searched his face, but she did not recognize the expression in his eyes, having never seen it before.

Raven lowered his hand to his side again, just as slowly as he had raised it earlier. He saw the confusion in her eyes, which somewhat snapped him back and he hurriedly searched his mind for an explanation.

"There was…a smudge of dirt on your chin…" It was a lame excuse and he knew it, and based on the even more confused look on her face, she knew it, too. However, she accepted it, not wanting to delve deeper into what his action meant, and certainly not ready for it.

"Thanks…" She mumbled, absently wiping her chin with the back of her hand, the action providing her a moment to break the eye contact as she glanced at her hand. There was nothing there.

The moment passed and he quickly made his escape, moving back to the kitchen faucet to turn it off.

"Would you mind turning on the faucets upstairs? Just let it run for a bit to clear the pipes." He instructed her as normal, as if nothing out of the ordinary happened a moment ago. It seemed to snap her out of it as well, giving him a quick nod before moving upstairs.

For a long minute after she'd gone, Raven remained motionless, though his mind was far from still. He leaned both his hands on the kitchen counter and hung his head, shaking it lightly. "What the hell is happening to me?" He vehemently thought to himself. Never had he felt the urge to touch anyone like that before, and in such a way that he didn't even realize he was doing it until after the fact. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm his heart and clear his mind, and for once, allowed himself to dwell on the matter.

Why had he touched her? It was unexpected, to say the least. He'd been thinking about how amusing she was for going to the length of riding her organoid just to clean the windows, and somehow in the next moment his thoughts had shifted to how vibrantly colored she was; from her gentle, almost unnaturally green eyes, to her ridiculous but fascinating blue hair…and then he'd reached out to touch it. It was soft between his fingers, richly silken, and he traced it along her face as he imagined how it would look like when it reached her chin.

His attraction to her was…evolving, he realized with a detached sort of wonder. He had never been physically drawn to anyone before. Such things were useless and distracting in the life he had to live. Even having these thoughts now was a little disturbing, enough to experience an almost reflexive urge to wipe them from his mind.

Reese was, as he had previously realized and can no longer deny, strikingly beautiful. Raven was never interested in anything typical or standardized. Reese's exotic features, her coloring and slender, elegant form were far more alluring than the typical, doll-like faces and voluptuous figures desired by so many men. Though he had learned to repress it over the years, Raven was only human, just a man, and increasingly wondered about the possibility of acting on these newly rediscovered impulses. A part of him was beginning to find her quite irresistible. It was as if something inside of him had been inflamed by her.

Perhaps it was this newfound freedom that allowed his baser instincts to surface. The cloud of desperation, anger, and violence that had enveloped him as he struggled in military servitude, all his hopes futile…had evaporated as though a fresh wind had blown through his life. With each new day, this new freedom has given room for other desires to finally surface.

He smiled to himself as he straightened up, letting go of the counter. Strangely enough, he felt...excited, and he only hopes that he hadn't scared her off. They were both confused at the time, but from now on, he will try to be more honest with her.


Unbeknownst to him, Reese was stopped midway on the stairwell, also struggling to comprehend what had happened. The memory of their moment together kept surfacing in her mind—the feel of his fingertips softly moving through her hair, his knuckles ghosting over her skin, the intensity of the unrecognizable but strangely familiar look in his dark eyes, caused her insides to tighten in the most strangely pleasant way…

She closed her eyes tightly, willing the thoughts away and tried to calm her breathing. They had just started this new life of freedom, and were just beginning to get used to one another. She did not want to jeopardize what they had just started building.

With that thought in mind, she released the stairway railing she had used to brace herself, and took a deep breath before continuing up the stairs. She would be there for him as best as she could, but it was no use getting her hopes up.


A/N: Updates are going to be a bit sporadic as life has suddenly gotten busier, so to anyone still reading, I will finish this story! I've already written ideas and scenes...it's just a matter of putting them together. Again this is my first fanfic so I'm still getting used to piecing together the story. There are certain scenarios that I don't quite know how to incorporate, so for now they're "scrapped", but maybe later, once they're fleshed out some more, I will post them as one-shots? We'll see. Any ideas or advice or feedback into what I am doing right or wrong or could be doing better, all are welcome! I am quite enjoying writing :)