This was the first night either of them had gotten any sleep. Maka was utterly shocked when she woke up to see the sun starting to peak over the treetops. She tried to sit up from where she laid on the ground, but felt a restraint tightening around her waist. She lifted up the sleeping bag that covered her, hissing slightly at the sudden burst of cold air began reaching the lower half of her body, to find Kid's arm resting in the small dip on her side between her hip and the bottom of her rib cage. As the chill hit Robin, whose body had been completely submerged by the blanket and laid just in front of the blonde, he mumbled defiantly and tightened the ball he had been curled into. Maka rolled her eyes and plucked Kids arm off from around her, causing him to stir. She couldn't tell if he was in that position because it was most convenient for warmth or simply for the fact that he was a teenage boy. She decided to go with the former just because it seemed more reasonable; and she didn't really want all the awkwardness that could follow the latter.
"Kid, wake up." She muttered sleepily, rolling over and nudging him gently in the chest with her elbow.
His golden eyes shot open, dilating from the sudden light exposure then returning to normal. "Mmm? What happened?" He slurred heavily, his eyes going half lidded when he realized Maka wasn't in a panic.
"'s morning." Maka whispered, beginning to sit up and stretch her stiff muscles. Sleeping on the ground was far from comfortable, but Maka would defiantly take it over the alternative of another sleepless night.
"Oh." Kid replied, "Well g'morning then." He continued, his voice still heavy with sleep. Letting out a yawn, Kid propped himself up on his elbows and looked around in a daze. "Well, I guess that solves the sleep depravity problem…" He sucked in a deep breath and let his limbs stretch out.
Maka stood up, looking around just as the young reaper had done. "I guess we're lucky it was a quiet night, huh?"
Kid felt guilt grow in the pit of his stomach. He was supposed to be the one to watch over them. "Yeah, I suppose so…" He sighed avoiding Maka's gaze, bringing himself to his feet and taking the blanket partially with him.
"Stop it…" Robin hissed between clenched teeth from the ground. Kid threw the sleeping bag over the complaining child.
"We were all tired." Maka started, taking in Kid's guilt filled expression. "You needed that." Kid shrugged. "Anyways, we need to find something to eat. I think I remember seeing some fishing stuff in one of Robin's bags." She attempted trying to ease the young death god's guilt. She walked over to the pile of dirt covered bags but stopped and looked over at the heap of blankets. "Robin. We're going to borrow some of your stuff." She called in respect for his belongings but receiving a disturbed grunt as he turned facing away from them under the covers. She shrugged and proceeded to the zipper of one of the packs. Sure enough, she pulled out a fishing line and a small box of hooks. She looked back at the shinigami and smiled, only to obtain a confused yellow gaze in return.
"I don't know how to fish… Besides what about a pole? And bait?"
Maka rolled her eyes. The reaper really was hopeless when it came to rough living. Luckily he had her. "I can teach you; and you don't need a pole; you can just throw the line and reel it in manually. As for bait, you find your own."
"Oh… ok…" Kid muttered, still uncertain.
The three of them made their way to the side of the stream, Robin grumbling words a five year old shouldn't under his breath. The wind had died down considerably and the temperature had risen a bit, but it was still too cool to be considered warm.
"So… How do you find bait?" Kid asked, shifting his weight from foot to foot like an antsy child.
Robin gawked at Kid with a gaze that wavered between astonishment and utter shame then looked back at Maka. "Is this guy serious?"
"He's never fished before," She said in an amused tone. "You two start looking for grasshoppers, I'll dig for worms." Robin gave a salute then ran towards some bushes, but not too far out of sight; Kid hesitated. Maka looked back at the reaper. "Well?"
"M-Me too?" Kid asked, eyes widening slightly, his expression reading as the sole definition of helpless.
"Yeeees…" Maka extended, raising an eyebrow.
"B-but I don't know how to catch them- or what to do with them- and surely I'll stain my pants in the grass! What if it's asymmetrical?! I don't think I've ever come across a symmetrical stain before-" Kid paused as he felt Maka's eyes boring into him.
"Ask Robin for help," Maka said, trying to hold her temper. "You're a boy! Didn't you even catch bugs when you were little?" Kid shook his head. "Wow, I'm a girl and even I used to chase after bugs… But as for you're asymmetry crisis… Try not to think about it."
"Try not to think about it?! How can you-" He stopped again as Maka's gaze began to turn into a glare. Defeated Kid walked over to Robin, hardly unable to think past all the asymmetrical thoughts yelling for attention in his brain.
"Are you gonna help me?" Robin called from the ground, though he sounded more playful than upset for the lack of help. "See, look!" He displayed two pitiful looking bright green and brown insects between two dirty fingers to which Kid made a revolted face. "You just gotta step in the tall grass and they go everywhere!" He grinned, then ran over to Maka to hand her his catch. The small boy whispered something to Maka and they both looked over at the reaper and giggled. Kid pouted slightly and began prodding into the tall grasses, pulling back his hand quickly every time a bug would leap from within. "You gotta be quicker than that!" Robin called, walking back towards Kid, who was now kneeling just outside the patch of tall grasses. "And don't be such a scaredy cat!" He scoffed in amusement.
"I beg your pardon? I am anything but a scaredy cat!" Kid retorted, appalled.
"Then catch one." The boy smirked.
Kid looked back to the grass skeptically, flicking a few blades. Finally after a few seconds of attempting to disturb a grasshopper, a large, rather slow, beetle ran in front of Kid's finger tips. Smirking at his luck, the reaper snatched up the beetle and gave the child behind him a victorious grin, only to have a pair of blue eyes roll at him. "That's cheating. He was basically asking for you to catch him. Besides, Maka said grasshoppers."
Hesitantly, Kid called over to Maka. "Hey! Would beetles count?"
"I guess if it will fit on the hook it should." Maka said, hooking the two bugs Robin had given her before.
Kid grinned at the small boy triumphantly. "It still counts. And see? I even did it keeping perfect symmetry." He stuck his tongue childishly then examined his still clean hands.
Kid sighed as he sat next to Maka, watching the stream go past them with a vacant look in his eyes. They had been out there for a few hours now and had only caught a small fish, Kid thought he could remember Maka calling it a Crappie. It looked like it might be big enough for maybe one of them to eat, if at all. At least Robin had found ways to entertain himself that didn't involve whining or getting into any potential danger; he had settled for skipping rocks and trying to get them to the other side. He was a ways down stream of course so he didn't scare the fish, but the reaper could just make out the top of his black hair.
Maka sighed next to him as she pulled in yet another empty, yet still baited, hook. She tossed it back out, though a little upstream considering it would only make it's way down, and tied the other end to a nearby branch. "I'll leave it there for a bit. Maybe we'll have some luck if I just leave it alone for a minute." Kid nodded in acknowledgement. Looking around for entertainment, the scythe meister began collecting round, flattened rocks. Noticing the odd looks she was getting from the shinigami she paused. "Don't tell me you've never skipped rocks…" Kid shook his head. "Well you can't say that anymore." She smiled, gathering a few more rocks in her hand, beginning upstream passed where the line had been cast.
"What about Robin?" Kid said, hoisting himself up on his feet.
"He'll be fine. Besides, it won't be for very long." Maka shrugged. Kid nodded in agreement and followed the pigtailed girl a ways up stream. Once satisfied with the location, Maka stopped and looked at the boy trailing behind her. "Watch, like this." She showed him the rock in her hand before flinging it at the water where it skipped once, twice and then a third and final time, causing small ripples with every touch.
"Is that all?" Kid questioned, an eyebrow raised. Maka nodded, handing him a rock.
"Now let's see you do it." She grinned. He rolled his eyes and tossed the rock just as she had done, causing it to land with a very unimpressive flop.
"Not so cocky now, huh?" Maka smirked, handing him another rock as he looked away, slightly embarrassed. "I see. You're holding it all wrong. You've just got to…" Getting flustered with a verbal explanation, she took his hand in hers and positioned his fingers around the rock properly. "Now just put all the power into flicking your wrist." He tossed it causing it to hit once and attempted a second skip but ultimately sank somewhere in the process.
"Damn… This is childish." Kid deemed, obviously frustrated.
"Is not." Maka said, shoving him playfully with a smile, but he lost his balance and steadied himself finally with a single foot in the water. He paused, allowing a dumbfounded look creep into his features as he realized what exactly had just happened before he placed his other foot in the water as well to balance it out. Maka tried to hold in a giggle, but was interrupted by a yelling voice.
"Maka! Death The Kid!" It was Robin, and he sounded like he was running. "People!" He screamed.
"Kid?! Maka!" Two other, different voices called. The two teens looked at each other, eyes wide as they recognized exactly who it was.
Dun. Dun. Duuuuuuuu.
Just...
Wow.
Anyways. Moving on.
This is kind of an on-going joke between me and my cousin because we have this huge conservation type forest place thingy by our house and it has a 20 minute trail that you can walk and you come to a lake. We go out there almost daily and when you're out there, you feel completely secluded from any type of society and it really feels like someone could get lost out there and would have to live off the land. We like to boast about how well we would do if we ever got stuck out there somehow even though there's an obvious, straight forward trail. Our trips out there is really what inspires these chapters XD We went today, actually. I would've had the chapter out earlier, but we were out there for awhile…
Replies~!
Jeager's Paradise- Well, Maka is kinda being maternal if you squint XD and as for the rest of the cast… Well… yeah, it's in this chapter, same with a little bit of romance, again, if you squint (Though I hardly think you'd have to squint to see Kid holding Maka in their sleep XD )
Checkered Brooke- This is very much a bonding chapter XD just a lot of light hearted shiz. And as for that calm before the storm, (I think you were the one who mentioned it awhile back…) I say the longer and calmer the calm is, the worse the storm will be :)
DeathTheKidsDionsaurRawr- That's ok, my cat hates everything; except me. Like, she literally goes Kamikaze on someone and then comes to me and purrs her head off. But I don't think she'd save me… My dog probably would though :3 She's a Rhodesian Ridgeback so she's pretty big XD
Carifoo2001- I'd hardly say the best, but thank you! I really appreciate it! And I hope you will be happy to know I have no intentions to quit writing, so yep :) glad you're enjoying reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.
Evilkatnyah- If you call that strange than I suppose I'm right there with you. And actually, that is the exact scene I had in mind when writing it, so just imagine Kid giving Thief that same adorable face and you basically have that scene in your head right there. As for the rest of your comment…. Uhmm…. Can't say! Sorry!