Rating: K.
AN: I know that this one is really short, but I was trying to capture the mood and emotion rather than action this time. I've been trying to improve description of emotions rather than just appearance. Please let me know if you think I did alright this time! This prompt was requested by zelda3469! Thank you for requesting this, I had fun trying to challenge myself. Read, review, enjoy!
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Once, Bou-san asked Mai what her animal instincts felt like. Did she just seem to know, or was there a feeling that she associated with bad or good?
She struggled for a few moments to come up with a way to explain it. But as the monk was getting ice for a glass of water, she lit up with an idea. "It's like having somebody continually pouring ice down your clothes. It comes as a shock, and you can feel the cold spreading throughout your body. You get used to it, although it still feels uncomfortable. But then, they push you into the snow. You're freezing, and your mind is screaming get up, get up, get up, but you can barely move due to the cold. You feel like you're going to turn into a huge block of ice if you don't get over to a fire." The latent psychic looked up at the taller monk to see if he understood.
He looked pensive for a few moments, contemplating her answer. "I see. But what constitutes the fire?" Paying close attention to his jou-chan's expressions, he noticed a small flicker of warmth cross her face.
Mai smiled, knowing exactly what to say. "The fire can be many things. It might be physical contact, a hand pulling you up from the snow. Or sometimes it is sleeping, and curling up with a cup of tea and a blanket. But usually... usually, the fire is an emotion. Trust, happiness, or... love," she explained, eyes going distant as she finished her sentence. The truth is, the fire had always been love for her. Love for one specific person, to be exact. His cool demeanor and dark attire contrasted with her imagery of a burning fire, but he was just that, indeed. His mind was constantly in motion, the grinding gears of his overactive brain creating sparks that fly and sometimes even flares; his body, despite closing himself off, has hot tea running through his veins. And whenever Mai was frozen in the snow, he was always ready to throw her in the fire. And one would think that this would burn her, scar her figure and mind, but the fire was always filled with blue eyes and hidden smiles. It was just the right temperature to make her blush.
Mai was lost in her own world, forgetting her previous conversation with her father figure. Takigawa smiled knowingly at her, being all too aware of the subject of her daydreaming. And as the man in question demanded another dosage of Earl Grey, the monk nudged the young brunette into action. A few minutes later, when Mai grumbled her way out of his office, he laughed. Despite how much the cold man teased and mocked his adoptive daughter, Takigawa knew that the heat of her words and the lava running in her blood was slowly kindling a fire. He had no doubts that soon, the ice covering Naru's heart would thaw completely. And then there would be a flood.
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