Scene 10 - Relaxation: Part IV
Brianna slipped on her fingerless gloves and grabbed her helmet from her bed before heading out to the kitchen. "Hey M'gann, I'm going out to cycle for a bit. Don't worry, I'll be back to help you for dinner." She said as she wore her helmet, snapping the belts into place.
"Alright, why don't you ask Kaldur to come along with you?" The Martian girl replied and the Atlantean appeared behind Brianna, giving her a little surprise. It was quite painfully obvious that the team was trying to get the couple together since they were always mentioning his name whenever she wanted to go out of the cave. However, she did enjoy his company and extended the invitation to the blonde guy. "Oh hey, Kaldur. I'm going to cycle up the wooded trail through Happy Harbour Park. I heard the scenery at the end of the path is quite stunning, do you want to want come along?"
Aqualad nodded with a smile, "It will be my pleasure." They walked over to the garage where the bicycles were stored and Kaldur'ahm equipped himself with the appropriate gear. The pair pushed their bikes to the cave's exit as the security system began to speak to signal their departure. Once the door opened, Brianna jumped onto her seat and peddled away with Kaldur following suit.
Despite her head start, he managed to catch up to the brunette who was cruising along with the wind blowing in her face. "Ah, nothing like a bout of fresh air," she murmured happily, closing her eyes briefly to soak in the moment.
"Brianna, you ought to keep your eyes open." Kaldur said worriedly and immediately, the pyro's eyes fluttered open and glared at him in a chiding manner.
"Don't worry, Kaldur. This is a straight path and the turn is quite far away," Brianna replied as she pressed a button on her bike and a holographic map appeared between the handles. There were currently two red blinking dots on the map and a big yellow square at the corner marking their destination.
"You have not been on this track before?" The Atlantean asked and Brianna shook her head.
"Don't worry, there's no harm in exploring. We'll be turning left ahead." Both of them followed the direction given on the map and Kaldur could see the park entrance not too far away. It did not take them a long time to enter the park and the pair was greeted by the sounds of laughter from little children playing nearby. They rode past the happy families, enjoying nature's beauty as the leaves gently fell around them.
Soon, Brianna was cycling down what appeared to be an abandoned path and the trees by the sides of the path were growing much closer to each other. "Is there another route we can take, Brianna?" Kaldur asked wearily as he slowed his bike down and Brianna braked, looking back at him curiously.
"This is the shortest path. A detour would take at least another fifteen minutes." The Atlantean looked at her hesitantly and the girl asked, "Is there something wrong, Kaldur?"
There was a brief moment of silence before he whispered, "I have a small fear of cycling between trees." He lowered his head down in embarrassment.
Ember peddled back to him and laid a hand above his. "You have claustrophobia?" She said softly and Aqualad shook his head. "No, it's not that…" Again, there was silence before he blurted, "I crashed my bicycle into a tree when I was learning how to cycle."
Brianna squeezed his hand gently and replied, "It's alright, Kaldur. We can cycle slowly. I won't let anything happen to you." She gave him a small smile and the Atlantean returned it with a tiny grin. Slowly but surely, the couple rode side by side as Brianna continued to give words of encouragement, "That's it, just a little further. Ooo, can you see the sky up ahead?" Kaldur looked up and true to her word, he saw clouds at the end of the clearing. How was he not aware of this spot near Mount Justice?
The bicycles broke through the trees and the blonde Atlantean was rewarded by a gorgeous view of Happy Harbour. The park was below them and he could see the beach to his left. In the background was the mountain where the team was secretly operating. To the right was the high school and in the middle was the small town centre. "Wow. This is breath-taking," he said in awe. Living in the ocean his whole life, he was never used to views high above the ground.
"If Wally and Robin took me up here the first time I went cycling, I wouldn't have minded the little accident." Kaldur added on as he continued to be mesmerized by the scenery.
"Those mischievous guys took you cycling?!" Brianna exclaimed as her eyebrows rose up with disbelief.
Aqualad nodded, "We were practicing in a park similar to this. They just taught me how to balance and peddle but they didn't teach me how to brake."
Ember shook her head with disappointment. "I hope you weren't hurt." Her brown eyes gazed worriedly into his green ones and he blushed slightly, "No, I jumped away in time." That response elicited a giggle from her.
"I suppose we should come up here more often to help you get rid of your fear." Brianna gave him another smile again as a gentle breeze blew her hair to the side, making her look really adorable. Suddenly, she turned her bike back down the path. "Race you back to the cave!"
"W… wait!" Kaldur'ahm said desperately as he struggled through the trees. Miraculously, he didn't crash into any of the trunks and he chased after her down the path, much to the amusement of the families who were still spending their day in the park. Once they were in the safe confines of the garage, Kaldur panted hard as he struggled to catch his breath.
"That was really unexpected of you to do that, Brianna."
The girl extended a hand to help him up and gave him another warm smile. "I did it so you would get used to cycling through tight spaces. I'm sorry if I freaked you out though." Her words touched him and the Atlantean boy was feeling all warm and happy inside. He knew then that this was the right girl to support him through his struggles.
Author's Note: Okay, I realized that I mentioned in Chapter 5 that my "Relaxation" series came to an end. I suppose I lied about that as I couldn't think of a proper name for the chapter other than "Biking" which wasn't that interesting to me. So yeah, I may continue some chapter 'series' every now and then if it's appropriate.
To Anime1hime: I'm glad you found it cute. Thank you for the compliment!
To lipshitz98: I am honored. ^_^
To XxBrownEyedGrlxX: I already PMed you to clarify some of your questions but I would like to thank you again for the constructive criticism. =D