paradisalost | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who: Kallen (

emit) and Rookie (

helljumped)
What: Fricking fairies
When: December 5th, evening time
Where: Hallway, then room 707
Rating: ... idk

It was December in Paradisa, the fifth to be exact. Snow had appeared the night before, big fluffy white flakes looking as perfect as only the magical world could make them. They adorned the ground outside in an unending blanket, sprawled out as far as the eye could see. The castle itself was festive already, too. The large crystalline tree in the lobby was awe inspiring as could be, and that even before the subject or ornaments. Wreathes and garlands added festivity elsewhere, upper floors, stairwells and hallways to name a few places.

Kallen couldn't help but be a little awed as she walked down the hall, occasionally eying the decor above doors and on the walls between rooms. No matter what happened due to the castle, sometimes it was the simpler things that made it a little better place to be. She liked this time of year. The mood and the well wishes and the warm feelings gave things a good atmosphere.

That was at least true in part because the yearly tradition of warped mistletoe had completely slipped her mind thus far.

The redhead blinked suddenly as if woken from a dream and turned to her friend walking beside her, removing her eyes from a garland woven with silver tinsel. She had a slightly embarrassed look on her face as she spoke, trying not to sound too sheepish.

"Sorry, you'll have to repeat what you just said. I wasn't really paying attention."

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That was one thing Kallen disliked about Paradisa in general. When something... 'nice' came along during an episode of castle induced motivation, it was really hard to tell what was real and what wasn't, especially in December. But it wasn't like Kallen was thinking about that at all, not when she felt the low growl Rookie gave off as she tugged him towards her. Her response was an almost inaudible contented noise, which grew slightly louder as his hands slid down her back. The feeling was nice and welcome, and she gave off a slight, involuntary shiver as they got lower.

However, the noise turned into one of surprise when he gripped her thighs and lifted her up so she was just about level with him. Normally, her first instinct would have been to struggle, but since the magic was still in effect, she instead found herself tightening her thighs around his waist, keeping her legs bent at the knee so she could land easily if she needed to. Not that she thought she'd have to.

At the same time, both hands quickly retreated back to his shoulders so she could hold herself upright against him without the risk of falling backwards. Her grip was was strong, but not so much that it would be painful. The last thing she wanted right now was to make him flinch again, since that indirectly affected her, too. It was an offshoot of not wanting to hurt those close to her. Most people knew how that want.

And while all this was happening, the kiss stayed unbroken. Somehow.

It was a shame that Rookie didn't really know anything about this whole December thing until now, even if he had heard the rumors about there being something special about this month. Both through off-hand comments from friends and conversations that he just so happened to pick up over the journals whenever he was sitting in his room and listening to the castle's general chatter. And had he known that one day he would find himself in this kind of situation, he might have been able to better prepare himself for it.

... Which would have been his thought process, if he wasn't currently savoring that surprised sound she made with a delighted, under-his-breath chuckle and adjusting the way he was holding her. Simply because he wanted to make sure that the both of them were comfortable as he finally came to a stop in front of his door, before he ran into a slight problem. Seeing as he couldn't... really reach the handle when his hands were currently preoccupied.

One good thing about ODSTs, though? Their knack for improvising.

So thanks to a brief second to think things through, Rook was soon making a move to prop Kallen against the door. Just enough to allow his hand freedom to clumsily grab the handle and turn it, before quickly going back to supporting her weight as he nudged it open the rest of the way. Throughout all this doing his best not to break the kiss between them - partially thanks to the magic, he's sure - but also because it was not something he honestly wanted to stop.

The problem with that though, is one way or another, these things always did.

As he started making his way down the room's hall and towards the living room, making sure he was closing that door behind him with his shoe in order to stop any unwanted visitors - fawk you, Glitter and Sparkles - something in his mind seemed to focus. Gradually, at first, until it was strong enough for Rookie to take hold of and actually... comprehend what it was that he had been doing for the past couple of minutes. Which only caused the soldier to come to a complete halt in the middle of the room when he realized that the magic had worn off, before he was quickly pulling himself away from her.

... An action that was, in retrospect, something he may have done a bit too quickly, as her weight caused whatever balance he may have had prior to pretty much vanish, before he was toppling backwards with a loud, distinct swear. One that would likely be Kallen's only clue that they were falling, besides the fact that the floor seemed to be getting a whole lot closer all of a sudden.

The chuckle was met by a throaty grumble from Kallen, but only a half hearted one. She knew well that pretending to be annoyed right now was pointless, especially considering the fact that she found the noise involuntarily turning into one of honest appreciation for what was going down. If her head had been totally clear right then, she would have known that she couldn't attribute all the nice feelings to magic. That would have been too much. It would have been, and probably would be later, obvious that there was some part of her-- larger than she'd like to admit-- that was genuinely enjoying this, and blaming it all on the magic seemed wrong.

Though, being pushed against a door like that was a new one for the redhead, but she wasn't going to complain, certainly not while all... this was still happening. Braced by the door, she found herself adjusting her hold on him, too. Her hands moved from his shoulders as her arms went around his neck in a combination of a hug and a, well, a cling. Legs mimicked that in a way, making their way completely around his waist with her ankles locking behind him just above his rear.

They were in his place now, Kallen knew from the slam of the door as they kept moving. Just like him, she was slowly regaining her senses now that the fairies and their glitter were out of the picture, but honestly, she wasn't as quick to pull away as he was, though she was thankful he did. Things would have been extra awkward otherwise, and that was the absolute last thing they'd need.

She heard the sharp swear and felt the shift of balance right away. It was enough to know what was going to happen. As he want backwards, she quickly moved her arms so they were behind his head. She felt bad already, but she'd feel even worse if he ended up with a concussion or a cracked skull. However, this didn't leave much room at all between them, and when Rookie hit the floor, he was going to receive the brunt of Kallen's weight on top of him. Probably a tangle of legs, too, seeing as she had attempted to let him go right before the fall.

Things were going to be interesting to say the least.

Edited 2011-12-10 16:13 (UTC)

It'd take a lot more than bumping his head on the carpet to do that kind of damage, or so he would have said had he known, but the gesture was still appreciated all the same. That is, of course, if Rookie wasn't more interested in Kallen's own safety, which is why he'll make a last-ditch effort to wrap both his arms around her to hopefully minimize any of her injuries. Since, well, this was kind of his fault in one way or another.

There was an 'oof' as he landed, and then another grunt when the one he'd previously been carrying proved to follow along, which was just enough to temporarily knock the wind out of him. A sensation that wasn't all that foreign, truth be told, but it was still never a pleasant experience whenever it did happen. So it takes him quite a bit to say anything that wasn't the sound of him gasping for air, before he'll eventually just let his arms drop down to his sides and close his eyes for a moment. Mainly to try and calm down so he could actually breath, but also so he could get the chance to regroup his thoughts in order to form coherent words.

"Kallen, look, I'm -" He paused when realizing his voice was still a bit hoarse, causing him to give a short cough before he made the attempt to speak again. "I'm sorry. I tried to stop but..."

Then he'll fall quiet, because at that point he had reopened his eyes and noticed that she was still... sort of on top of him. Making the slight hint of red in his face to become a lot more apparent as he moved to sit up, and that tone of his softer as he uttered the next couple of words.

"I don't know what happened."

Kallen landed on top of him with a grunt of her own, mainly due to the back of his head hitting her arms a little harder than she thought. Thanks to his arms around her, she didn't roll off of him to land at an awkward angle or anything too bad, though she was pressed rather closely to him, and it was different now than it had been mere moments ago. She was a lot more conscious of their proximity this time, and while she didn't find it uncomfortable per say, she knew full well now was not a time to dwell on something like that. Instead, she somehow managed to shift her weight so he could breathe more easily. Her arms stayed where they were under his head, and she sort of had a feeling they would until he moved. Until then, she sort of lingered there, hanging over him.

Words failed her right then, so she was there, waiting for him to recover enough to speak. The majority of her refused to allow herself to think about what his reaction might be. Some of the possibilities were very unlikely, while others were all too real, and she didn't exactly want to focus on that when things were going to be awkward enough between them.

Exhaling softly and a little shakily, she started a bit when she heard her name spoken. A concerned look briefly crosses her features when he coughed, but it was sort of replaced by her own reddening expression when hel feel silent. She realized she was still on top of him, so when he moved a little to sit up, she scrambled off of him, removing her arms from their spot under his head. Soon she was sitting back, legs folded under her as she absently rubbed one of her arms, more out of distraction than pain. Her response didn't come right away, but when it did, she wasn't able to make eye contact with him.

"Not your fault. It was the castle. Every December, shit like this happens. I guess mistletoe got boring early on," she grumbled, an annoyed expression evident now. "I was stupid and forgot about it, so..."

Trailing off wasn't intentional, but could she really say? If there was anything, it wasn't going to come to mind anytime soon.

This was one of those moments where Rookie desperately wished he hadn't take off his armor, because at least then he might have been able to hide his embarrassment a little easier. With his brain still trying to catch up on everything that had happen, and the fact that he hadn't been able to control himself - magic or no magic - only caused that silence he'd fallen into to linger just a moment longer, before he finally shook his head with a sigh.

"Don't make it out to be your fault, either." He paused there, frowning when he caught sight of her rubbing that arm, before he turned away and sent a glance towards the door. Mainly to double check that it was closed, considering he didn't want a repeat of earlier to make things even more awkward, before he was making the attempt to stand up and put some space between them. "Just means we have to be more careful around glowing balls of light till whatever those things are disappear."

If they disappeared, and a good portion of him wanted to see them gone. Reasons being that he knew there were some parts that hadn't been all magic. That it had been him, and that it could have just been a simple kiss if not for whatever that was. Which is why it bothered him, and made Rookie want to very quickly bury that feeling so he could try and figure it out later.

So he buckled that thought down, gave her a smile and then leaned forwards to offer her a hand up. "Still doesn't feel like I should be any less sorry, though. You okay?"

"I wasn't going to," was all she said in response to his first statement. It was the truth, too. She was vividly remembering some of the... events of last season, and her sense of responsibility for those now seemed dumb compared to how she had felt then. It would have made her laugh if she had been with almost anyone else at this point. However, she was still here with Rookie, and laughing would have probably made things even more awkward.

When she saw him stand and turn away, she couldn't help but feel a little bit disappointed, which wasn't something she was expecting. Feelings like uncertainty and confusion, definitely, but not the sense of an unknown expectation falling through. In retrospect, she'd probably end up kicking herself for it later, but no one is fully in control of their emotions when the situation calls for it, especially not a young woman who had just been kissed the way she had.

The hand in front of her caught her off guard, as did the smile. She clearly looked taken aback when he spoke. It was one of those smiles, Kallen was almost positive. One of the ones he used to cover up what he was really thinking and feeling. Those were still being figured out on her end, since he was so damned thorough at concealing what he felt. It reminded her of a certain someone she had previously fallen for, and as much as she tried to deny it, these two had more similarities than she had initially thought, which was occasionally annoying to say the least.

However, it was the apology that stung most. Her logical side was screaming at her that he was simply being polite, careful even, since he probably wasn't sure how she was going to react. Despite knowing this, the pilot had always been, first and foremost, an emotional person, so it was inevitably that side that won out, basically by beating her logic into submission. Definitely not the smartest move, but seeing as logic was dead at moment, that didn't matter.

Emotional and open with those emotions was a good way to summarize her at times. She could hide things when she worked on it, but now... that wasn't going to work well. That didn't mean she wasn't going to try, though. Kallen attempted her own smile before shaking her head and standing on her own.

"I'm fine," she replied, attempting to keep the lie from being too obvious. The offered hand was disregarded as she stood up by herself, brushing herself off to keep her gaze away from his. "No need to be sorry, either. It wasn't something either of us would have done of our own free will, so we can forget about it."

She shook her head a bit and turned towards the door.

"I should go now, though. No idea if those things can break in or not."

That smiled faltered just a little when seeing her expression, sensing something was off, but not quite able to figure out what it was exactly. He'd likely put two and two together later, when his mind wasn't trying to block everything out so he could try and act like nothing's changed. That things between the two of them were still the same just to make this whole thing a lot more easier, but he had a very vague feeling that it wasn't going to work.

So when he noticed she didn't want his help, he slowly dropped his hand and backed off. Keeping silent and listening to her with a slight raise of an eyebrow, until there was something she said that caused him to involuntarily flinch and glance away. One that he did his best to hide, but it took Rookie far longer to revert his expression into something more neutral as his mind tossed and turned over what it was that she had meant by that, and why it had bothered him so much.

No, on second thought, he knew why it had bothered him so much. He just wasn't sure if he wanted to admit it to himself just yet.

Only when he realized that she was trying to leave, however, was he finally able snap out of his thoughts and stretch a hand out towards her. Whether it was for reasons of wanting to stop her, or just because he wanted to say something, he wasn't sure, but he didn't like the way this situation felt. Didn't like leaving things the way they were, and he desperately wanted to say something to fix it... but there was something in him that made him hesitate at the last second, causing that hand to reluctantly fall back down at his side before he just gave a small nod and glanced down at the floor.

"... All right." It was quiet, barely above a whisper, but it was because in some ways, he knew he was going to regret having said it later.

Very vague feelings like that should never really be ignored, and this case was no exception. It was that very mentality, acting like it changed nothing or he hadn't been affected, that felt to Kallen like she had been slapped without even being able to defend herself. It stung a lot, and it felt unwarranted. She didn't expect him to stand there like he had no idea what to do, but regaining himself so quickly and seemingly brushing it aside... that hurt, too, more than she'd expected. She wasn't dismissing his usual habits or forgetting how he worked, as she knew he was the type who let his actions speak louder than his words. In actuality, that's what was going on at the moment. His actions were (supposedly) communicating very clearly that nothing had changed, and he wanted to move past what happened, let things go back to the way they had been. And normally, she'd have been all over that idea.

But this wasn't normally. That much had been apparent when the magic started to wear off, and she'd been painfully aware how much of the enjoyment ended up not being the castle's responsibility. That piece of information coupled with the new set of thoughts and emotions it brought caused her to internally panic. Time to sort things out would be very nice. Very needed, too. Kallen would have been willing to tell him as much if it hadn't been for his insistency that things seem some degree of normal for the two of them. It was hardly normal for her right now, and if he wasn't going to share some of his reactions with her, she wasn't going to burden him with hers.

Unfortunately, due to Kallen avoiding his gaze, she missed the entirety of his reaction to her statement. Had she seen it, she might have said something, but seeing as that wasn't the case, there was obviously nothing for her to say or act upon. By that point, she had turned to face the door and stated her intention to go, and once again, she missed his reaction. Reaching for her... she certainly would have stayed if she had seen or if he had simply said something. One or two words expressing his discomfort with the situation or his desire to not leave things hanging would have had her rooted in place.

Albeit under different, and more dramatic, circumstances, the current situation was eerily close to one had experienced back home with the person she had possessed similar feelings for. And, like last time, the other person was saying nothing to stop her. Hell, this time he was even agreeing with her, and she refused to face him now, not even sure she could if she wanted to.

So, all she did was nod without looking back before she opened the door, stepped through, and closed it behind her.

Edited 2011-12-11 22:46 (UTC)

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