003. Ends - Kaddar//Keladryie - 100_original
It ended with a clash, and then even the senior looked annoyed as she ran off, leaving her weapons behind, something she had probably one done once or twice before in her life. Kaddar followed slowly, exchanging a look with senior as he picked up her weapons and shrugged.
"Kel!" he called, expecting right that she wasn't going to wait for him to catch up anytime soon. He eventually caught up though, clipping her Sais to her belt even though she sighed in annoyance at him.
"Would you quit following me?" she grumbled under her breath, making Kaddar grin cheekily at her.
"I would follow you to the ends of this Earth and back again." he announced melodramatically, only to have her stop finally and sweep her leg at his and succeed in knocking him clean off his feet.
"Don't say shit like that!" she demanded, stalking off once more without even waiting or helping him get back up.
"She's in a mood, is she?" Rei asked knowingly, her hand held out to her brother to help him back up to his feet as Willard looked on, knowing better these days not to call anything out at Keladryie's back.
"Yeah," Kaddar grinned anyway. "Guess I'll let her simmer for a while, she lost a training match to her father and he spent a bit too long rubbing it in...so she'll be pretty fired up for the rest of the day probably..."
"Want to come with us then? We're heading into town to do some shopping. It'll give you a break from her? She's already said she's not coming." his sister offered.
"I never said I wanted a break from her." Kaddar replied, making Willard roll his eyes at how whipped he was and what a death wish it was in the same beat. "She's just embarrassed and fired up...she hasn't lost to him in years, and she'll go on about how I'm distracting her from her training and how she's getting weaker and blah blah blah." Kaddar watched his girlfriend disappear off into the distance, rubbing the back of his neck where he'd hit it on a rock on the way down to the ground. "She'll be okay again in a few hours..."
"You can't let her treat you like that." Fureya frowned. "She's just-"
"She's just upset." Kaddar shrugged. "She doesn't mean it and she'll apologise later. You two go on your day out, I'll be fine here. Most of the computers in the lab need an upgrade anyway and the software came in more than a week ago now. I'll have that to 'escape to'."
"Well...only if you're sure..." Fureya cast her brother a long look before she took Willard's hand in her own and headed off towards the garages to see which car they'd be able to borrow for the day. Kaddar watched them go, knowing he was doing the right thing. If he wasn't around when Keladryie felt like finding him there would be hell to pay, and she would probably avoid him for days...
She walked down the beaten track for over an hour, still fuming. Her mind wasn't really clear as to what she should be doing, but she did know she needed a break for a while. A break from Kaddar though? Probably not. But she couldn’t retreat back to him now after what she had done to him…
Her father had been such a twat about it. She beat people in nearly every challenge she got, and she didn't gloat about it and rub it in their faces...Well, she had in the beginning, but these days she did no such thing!
It was part anger at being defeated for the first time in over a year, she knew. She had been a sore loser when she was younger, and that was peaking again a little from now having to suffer a loss for months on end, she hadn't remembered how to deal with it...
And Kaddar had been an idiot about it, trying to 'make her feel better' as if she had something to be made happy from again! It hadn't been that much of a deal, until he had escalated it into one! She sighed and dropped to the ground, hurting a knee slightly as she landed on a sharp rock. She really shouldn't have knocked him to the ground like that though...
Sometimes she feared she'd step too far when losing her temper and lash out at him fatally when her mind wasn't clear. Or that he'd just finally get sick of her temper and...leave her...
Keladryie sighed and rose to her feet, taking a Sai up in her hand and taking careful aim before she let it fly, hitting a fleck of darker bark on a tree almost 20 meters away. She wouldn't rest through until she could hit things further way, every single time. She threw her other Sai further but missed the mark by five centimeters or more, and set off in a huff to reclaim them both. She'd practise for hours to come yet, and then there was the hour and a half walk back. It was going to be a long afternoon.
She didn't appear by his side until after dark. He didn't hear the door open nor close as she entered the computer lab, but he heard her boots approaching him and noted to himself how it was strange that he could recognise the sound of her walk already.
"Hey," he greeted first, not turning away from the computer as he reached out a hand behind him, knowing he had to make the first move - to show he wasn't annoyed in any way - before she'd act like herself again. She wrapped her hand around his and squeezed gently, taking a seat beside him in silence as he continued through the prompts, in the final stages of upgrading the computer he was working on.
He didn't say anything else, happy to sit in the quiet with her now that she was about to apologise in her own way. They had both missed dinner now though, and Kaddar knew that after this computer they'd probably move on and he'd do the rest tomorrow. He'd managed to do eight of them, which wasn't that bad, considering how distracted he'd been with his thoughts on his irate and upset girlfriend.
"Did you mean that?" she asked quietly, finally breaking the silence as he exited the computer setup. "...From before?"
"Which 'that'?" Kaddar replied, his voice just as quiet as he nuzzled her cheek softly with his lips, making her blush, happy and over-affectionate they were acting normal again.
"About...following me...and stuff..." she delicately touched the grazes on the underside of his arms, knowing it was her fault from when she'd knocked him into the ground.
"Following you to the ends of this Earth and back again?" he smiled and touched her hair softly as she nodded. "Of course I did Kelly...I meant every word of it. ...I didn't think you liked the sound of it though..." he teased, making her blush harder. He tightened his arms around her waist and kissed the nape of her neck softly.
"I...I find it hard...to answer those kind of things..." she admitted, even though he already knew that very well. "I just...my first reaction is to...like...defend myself...you know? ...I didn't mean what I said..."
"I know you didn't." Kaddar weaved her fingers with his own. "I didn't know whether you liked me saying things like that out aloud though or not..."
She took a while to respond to this one. "...I do...just...sometimes...not around other people...and the like..." she sighed. "I was in a terrible mood Kad...I know you were just trying to make me smile, but you've got to realise that it's almost impossible when I'm in a mood like that..."
"I don't know how to react when you're in a mood like that either though." Kaddar admitted. "...I say stupid things, you know that."
"Wasn't a stupid thing." she smiled up at him. "...Maybe just not the best time to say it though?"
"When would be a good time to say it?" Kaddar asked knowingly, kissing her cheeks and nose and making her actually make a 'girly noise' by giggling.
"Now?" she suggested innocently. "Or, you know, whenever?" she giggled more as he pinned her to the floor and dusted her throat with light kisses.
"I'd follow you to the ends of this Earth." he murmured softly, lips near her ear as he kissed the tender skin on the side of her cheek. "...And back again...time after time, as long as it took. Just as long as I could stay by your side..."
She was silent and she was blushing, and by the way she wound her hands with his and pulled him closer he knew she was 100% smittened and happy.
"To the ends of the Earth?" she checked quietly, blushing as she looked up at him weaving her fingers through his hair.
"To the very ends of the Earth." he repeated, and kissed her lovingly.
<--- 002. Middles || 004. Insides --->
"Kel!" he called, expecting right that she wasn't going to wait for him to catch up anytime soon. He eventually caught up though, clipping her Sais to her belt even though she sighed in annoyance at him.
"Would you quit following me?" she grumbled under her breath, making Kaddar grin cheekily at her.
"I would follow you to the ends of this Earth and back again." he announced melodramatically, only to have her stop finally and sweep her leg at his and succeed in knocking him clean off his feet.
"Don't say shit like that!" she demanded, stalking off once more without even waiting or helping him get back up.
"She's in a mood, is she?" Rei asked knowingly, her hand held out to her brother to help him back up to his feet as Willard looked on, knowing better these days not to call anything out at Keladryie's back.
"Yeah," Kaddar grinned anyway. "Guess I'll let her simmer for a while, she lost a training match to her father and he spent a bit too long rubbing it in...so she'll be pretty fired up for the rest of the day probably..."
"Want to come with us then? We're heading into town to do some shopping. It'll give you a break from her? She's already said she's not coming." his sister offered.
"I never said I wanted a break from her." Kaddar replied, making Willard roll his eyes at how whipped he was and what a death wish it was in the same beat. "She's just embarrassed and fired up...she hasn't lost to him in years, and she'll go on about how I'm distracting her from her training and how she's getting weaker and blah blah blah." Kaddar watched his girlfriend disappear off into the distance, rubbing the back of his neck where he'd hit it on a rock on the way down to the ground. "She'll be okay again in a few hours..."
"You can't let her treat you like that." Fureya frowned. "She's just-"
"She's just upset." Kaddar shrugged. "She doesn't mean it and she'll apologise later. You two go on your day out, I'll be fine here. Most of the computers in the lab need an upgrade anyway and the software came in more than a week ago now. I'll have that to 'escape to'."
"Well...only if you're sure..." Fureya cast her brother a long look before she took Willard's hand in her own and headed off towards the garages to see which car they'd be able to borrow for the day. Kaddar watched them go, knowing he was doing the right thing. If he wasn't around when Keladryie felt like finding him there would be hell to pay, and she would probably avoid him for days...
She walked down the beaten track for over an hour, still fuming. Her mind wasn't really clear as to what she should be doing, but she did know she needed a break for a while. A break from Kaddar though? Probably not. But she couldn’t retreat back to him now after what she had done to him…
Her father had been such a twat about it. She beat people in nearly every challenge she got, and she didn't gloat about it and rub it in their faces...Well, she had in the beginning, but these days she did no such thing!
It was part anger at being defeated for the first time in over a year, she knew. She had been a sore loser when she was younger, and that was peaking again a little from now having to suffer a loss for months on end, she hadn't remembered how to deal with it...
And Kaddar had been an idiot about it, trying to 'make her feel better' as if she had something to be made happy from again! It hadn't been that much of a deal, until he had escalated it into one! She sighed and dropped to the ground, hurting a knee slightly as she landed on a sharp rock. She really shouldn't have knocked him to the ground like that though...
Sometimes she feared she'd step too far when losing her temper and lash out at him fatally when her mind wasn't clear. Or that he'd just finally get sick of her temper and...leave her...
Keladryie sighed and rose to her feet, taking a Sai up in her hand and taking careful aim before she let it fly, hitting a fleck of darker bark on a tree almost 20 meters away. She wouldn't rest through until she could hit things further way, every single time. She threw her other Sai further but missed the mark by five centimeters or more, and set off in a huff to reclaim them both. She'd practise for hours to come yet, and then there was the hour and a half walk back. It was going to be a long afternoon.
She didn't appear by his side until after dark. He didn't hear the door open nor close as she entered the computer lab, but he heard her boots approaching him and noted to himself how it was strange that he could recognise the sound of her walk already.
"Hey," he greeted first, not turning away from the computer as he reached out a hand behind him, knowing he had to make the first move - to show he wasn't annoyed in any way - before she'd act like herself again. She wrapped her hand around his and squeezed gently, taking a seat beside him in silence as he continued through the prompts, in the final stages of upgrading the computer he was working on.
He didn't say anything else, happy to sit in the quiet with her now that she was about to apologise in her own way. They had both missed dinner now though, and Kaddar knew that after this computer they'd probably move on and he'd do the rest tomorrow. He'd managed to do eight of them, which wasn't that bad, considering how distracted he'd been with his thoughts on his irate and upset girlfriend.
"Did you mean that?" she asked quietly, finally breaking the silence as he exited the computer setup. "...From before?"
"Which 'that'?" Kaddar replied, his voice just as quiet as he nuzzled her cheek softly with his lips, making her blush, happy and over-affectionate they were acting normal again.
"About...following me...and stuff..." she delicately touched the grazes on the underside of his arms, knowing it was her fault from when she'd knocked him into the ground.
"Following you to the ends of this Earth and back again?" he smiled and touched her hair softly as she nodded. "Of course I did Kelly...I meant every word of it. ...I didn't think you liked the sound of it though..." he teased, making her blush harder. He tightened his arms around her waist and kissed the nape of her neck softly.
"I...I find it hard...to answer those kind of things..." she admitted, even though he already knew that very well. "I just...my first reaction is to...like...defend myself...you know? ...I didn't mean what I said..."
"I know you didn't." Kaddar weaved her fingers with his own. "I didn't know whether you liked me saying things like that out aloud though or not..."
She took a while to respond to this one. "...I do...just...sometimes...not around other people...and the like..." she sighed. "I was in a terrible mood Kad...I know you were just trying to make me smile, but you've got to realise that it's almost impossible when I'm in a mood like that..."
"I don't know how to react when you're in a mood like that either though." Kaddar admitted. "...I say stupid things, you know that."
"Wasn't a stupid thing." she smiled up at him. "...Maybe just not the best time to say it though?"
"When would be a good time to say it?" Kaddar asked knowingly, kissing her cheeks and nose and making her actually make a 'girly noise' by giggling.
"Now?" she suggested innocently. "Or, you know, whenever?" she giggled more as he pinned her to the floor and dusted her throat with light kisses.
"I'd follow you to the ends of this Earth." he murmured softly, lips near her ear as he kissed the tender skin on the side of her cheek. "...And back again...time after time, as long as it took. Just as long as I could stay by your side..."
She was silent and she was blushing, and by the way she wound her hands with his and pulled him closer he knew she was 100% smittened and happy.
"To the ends of the Earth?" she checked quietly, blushing as she looked up at him weaving her fingers through his hair.
"To the very ends of the Earth." he repeated, and kissed her lovingly.
<--- 002. Middles || 004. Insides --->