The sky was leaden grey, the rain steadily hissing through the trees. The leaves and flowers in the garden were bowed with the weight of the water drops, their vibrant colours muted by the continued spray. And at a window of a large red-brick house, a young woman stood watching the rain. Her face wore a look of barely-contained disappointment. She had taken a few days off work, hoping to spend some time in her garden, at the local beach, taking walks...all kinds of things. But the heavy rain made those activities impossible. The day was warm and humid, causing her thick dark hair to stick to the back of her neck, and giving her a slight headache. All of these things combined made her feel tired and miserable, and she sighed.
"What's wrong?" She suddenly felt her waist being encircled by a warm arm, another hand reaching up to brush the damp hair from her neck. A smiling face moved around into her field of vision, the smile softening when the person caught sight of her sad expression.
"Hey, hey, don't be like that.." he soothed. "I know you were looking forward to this. But you know, there are other things we can do, and the rain might stop later."
She sighed again, reaching her own arm behind her to wrap it around his neck. "What else can we do?" she asked. "It's too hot to do anything else, and we can't go outside..." He smiled again at that, kissing her on the cheek. "Here, c'mon." Letting go of her waist, he took her hand and led her over to the large blue sofa that stood in the centre of the room.
"What is it?" she asked faintly as the two of them settled on the sofa. "Is there a movie on?" Mwu chuckled, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. "There might be. But I was thinking that we could just sit here and listen to the rain." Murrue raised an eyebrow at his simple idea, but rested her head on his broad shoulder, smiling in spite of herself as his warmth and scent surrounded her. The gentle hiss of the rain made her drowsy after a while, and she fell asleep like that, cuddled up to him on the plush sofa.
Mwu smiled as his lover murmured something incoherent in her sleep, and he kissed her lightly, before inclining his head to rest on hers.
How long she slept, she didn't know. But her pleasant dreams were rudely interrupted by a loud noise, halfway between a crack and a rumble. Opening her eyes, she looked around. The room was dark as night, although the clock only read 5PM. Suddenly, the darkness was almost spilt in half by a brilliant white flash, followed by another loud rumble. Murrue squeezed her eyes shut again, snuggling up even closer to Mwu. Her heart was racing, and she couldn't stop herself shivering. Thunder. She hated thunder...
"Hmm?" He prised open sleepy eyes to be met by darkness. The rain still fell, seeming to have become heavier. But that wasn't what had woken him. As he looked towards the window, a large fork of lightning streaked across the sky, to be followed by a savage crack of thunder. A storm. Peering down, he tried to see if Murrue was still asleep. But she wasn't. Her amber eyes were wide and terrified, and she was shivering. "You cold?" he asked, and she shook her head, nuzzling closer. Thunder rumbled again, and she flinched.
"You're scared?" he asked, stroking her hair softly, and after a while, she nodded. "Since I was little. I know it's stupid, and that it won't hurt me. But I..."
"It's okay, sweetheart.." Mwu told her, hugging her tightly as the thunder rumbled again. "But you know, thunderstorms are really beautiful if you look at them properly." She nodded again. "People have told me that before, but I've never looked.."
"Well then, why don't we?" Getting up from the sofa, he held out a hand to her. Murrue stared up at him, dark eyes still wide. She clutched a throw pillow so fiercely that her knuckles were white. But after a few minutes, she reached out to take his hand. He smiled, and led her over to the french windows. She hung back a little, but followed him.
Mwu opened the windows, pulling the thin curtains back. The storm still raged outside, and the rain poured down in sheets. The auburn-haired woman beside him moved closer, peeking out at the sky from behind his back. The lightning forked again, lighting up the sky for miles, and she watched in awe, almost forgetting to be afraid. Then as the thunder hit again, she trembled, squeezing his hand. He chuckled a little, and pulled her close. "I thought you weren't scared of anything. You're always so composed.." Murrue laughed herself at that, thin fingers curling around his shoulders. "Everyone's afraid of something," she replied, her voice muffled by his shirt.
The two of them stayed like that for several minutes, then he let her go, moving to walk outside. She frowned. "Mwu, what are you doing? It's pouring down with rain!" He just shrugged. "Only water.." He walked out onto the balcony, turning scarred face upwards into the torrential downpour. He was soaked through in a matter of minutes, but he was laughing. He turned to her, blonde hair so plastered to his scalp that Murrue could only see one blue eye peering at her. The effect was so funny that she couldn't help laughing, her fear almost forgotten. He beamed at her, reaching out to take her hand. She walked out to join him on the balcony, and gasped. The rain fell so hard it almost took her breath away, but Mwu pulled her close to him, lifting her from the ground and spinning her around. She tipped her head back to look up at the sky, the rain streaming down her face and through her hair. The storm still rumbled...but she wasn't afraid anymore.
Later on that evening, the two of them sat on their bed, watching the storm through the now-closed windows. The lightning had knocked out the electricity, so the whole house was in darkness. But it didn't matter. Murrue smiled happily, stretching out on the fluffy comforter. "This isn't so bad.." she remarked, adjusting the robe she wore. Mwu grinned, ruffling her drying hair. "So you aren't scared anymore?"
"Well..." she hedged, looking up at the ceiling. "They're not my favourite thing in the world, but I'm not as scared as I was.." She peered up at him through the darkness. "Weren't you ever scared of storms?"
"Nah. But I used to be scared of you..." he replied, and she giggled. Turning to him, she poked him in the chest. "Oh?" Her lover grinned sheepishly. "You were scary when you got angry.." he protested. Murrue laughed, reaching out to tickle him. "And are you scared of me now?"
Mwu squirmed around to try and escape her attack, chuckling merrily. "No.." he replied, lunging suddenly to grab her by the waist. "Not anymore..."
His other hand tugged at the comforter, pulling it over the two of them. Murrue squeaked in surprise, but was soon muffled by a kiss. When the passionate exchange broke, she smiled up at him, brushing still-damp hair from his face. "Will this help me like storms?" she asked sceptically, and he just grinned. "I don't know. But it's worth a try, don't you think?"
She considered this for a moment, then nodded, reaching up to wind her arms around his neck.
Maybe storms weren't so bad after all...
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( Everyone's afraid of something, right? Heights, storms, creepy-crawlies, that kind of thing. I can't imagine Murrue-san being scared of heights, or spiders, or stuff like that. But lots of adults are scared of thunderstorms...
Please read and review! )