Title: Discoveries
Author/Artist: sailorraspberry
Medium: Fanfic
Theme: Tent
Genre: General
Version: Manga
Rating: PG
The sun cast dancing sparkles across the lake's surface, and as she tread across the slippery, muddy bank, she stretched out her arms and twirled.
"Hey!"
Venus stumbled, grabbing at an overhanging tree limb. Her toes dug just a little bit deeper into the mud.
"What do you think you're doing?" From between the trees, a man pressed through the shadows, face creased with annoyance.
She righted herself, flicking a piece of sun-kissed hair over her shoulder. "I'm walking."
He motioned at the area around him. "This is private property."
"Oh yeah?" He was probably right, but she wasn't the type of girl to give up without a fight. "Whose 'property' is this?"
His eyebrow rose with sardonic humor. Tan, roped arms rippled as they shifted over his chest. "Mine."
Her stomach twisted with the irking realization of defeat, but her lips still slipped into a smirk. She smudged a clump of dirt off her forearm and strolled along. "You don't mind if I just stay awhile longer, do you?"
She reached him in seven swinging strides, and when she brushed past him, she caught the whiff of pure, natural, unadulterated male.
He caught her elbow. "Where are you from?" His eyes were hard, narrowed, unrelenting to her pretty face.
"It depends..." Venus silently admired how gruff and dark his hands looked against her skin. Above, the trees canopy provided a cool, shaded tent from the heat. "...Who you are."
His jaw clenched. "I am Kunzite, head guard to the liege of Endymion, heir to the throne of Earth."
She cocked one slender eyebrow. "That's quite the title you've got there." With a single step backwards, their connection broke. "I'm known as Venus. Nothing more, nothing less."
His face softened as his mind whorled. "Venus... Are you Lunarian, then? Protector of Lady Princess Serenity?"
Venus crossed her arms. "Yes. How do you know of Serenity?"
For the first time, he smiled. "Endymion fancies her, actually. They meet once a week. He believes I am unaware of such details."
She tipped her head. "What other things do you know?"
Kunzite held out his arm, and after a beat of hesitation, she twined her arm through his. "Many things. This planet holds many mysteries. Would you care to discover them?"
Venus fell into step with his long strides. She peered up at him. "I suppose so. Though, it depends." She removed her gaze to stare up at the canopy. The air cooled as they traveled deeper into the forest's tent.
"On what?"
She plucked a flower off a bush and tucked it behind her ear. "Will you be taking me there?"