03-26-2018, 07:05 PM
Quote:Last post ending would have been perfect, but we still gotta wait for more DD so...
"Miss Morene, Miss Morene, Miss Morene!"
Hopping, skipping, and fumbling, a short Koopa holding an oversized scroll sprinted through the archway just as Morene revved the oversized motorbike. Over the roaring engine, and the loud music, she barely heard the voice calling her, but did skid to a halt after travelling a few metres, looking over her shoulder and waiting for the Koopa to catch up. The soundtrack steadily decreased in volume, becoming light background noise.
Having squeezed Summer tightly the moment Morene had hit the throttle, Ebony raised her head, a little confused by the sudden stop. After a short pause, her arms rapidly relaxed off and she shuffled back. Summer glanced over his shoulder, bemused, and swivelled one leg over the bike to sit side on and face Ebony better. Blushing, as usual, she avoided his eyes for a moment, reached her hands up, patted her cheeks, pulled up her hood, then awkwardly twiddled with the rim of her cloak. The bike shook a little as Morene hopped off it, causing Ebony to instinctively latch onto Summer's arm for a moment - almost dragging them both off the ride - before once again letting go once she steadied.
"S-so..." She trailed off, crossing her arms and twisting to sit side by side with him, looking off into the distance. Her eyes settled on a large cloud of ash drifting over the horizon. "Nice weather we're having."
"Thanks." Summer smiled, responding immediately without any thought.
Apparently, as Morene informed the rest of the party, Bowser had - in fact - found work for all three of them. While the source of the darkling threat was banished from the Steppes, some of the monsters still remained. With no master commanding them, many had congregated together in a small abandoned fortress, an outpost. Thus came their mission. It was self-explanatory. They had to kill things. Fight more darklings. Although obvious, no one explicitly brought that up, with Ebony dreading yet another battle, and Summer and Morene likely tentative to spell it out in front of her - especially since they knew that she knew.
It was meant to be open, damaged, and while almost as large as the castle they'd just been living in, its fortifications were primarily destroyed. Morene was even given a rough map of the area, with some red squiggles added by the Koopa 'tactics expert' denoting key features.
And thus, after Morene explained all of this, with the initial messenger nodding enthusiastically and adding in little details, the trio was off once again, taking a detour on their way to the Nexus gate, music booming in the background. Ebony snuggled into Summer's back as they rode, noting that his natural cold would make adequate protection from the warmth if her body wasn't naturally used to it. He was also significantly more squishy than Morene's armour, that she'd previously held on to on the bike, so it was much easier for all the little bumps on the makeshift road to go unnoticed by her.
Her heart raced.
It was just so fast. Faster than a horse. Faster than a boat. Faster than many winds she'd encountered back home, outside of storms...
She swallowed, then pressed her ear against his back, shifting even closer. Ashen air, the roaring engine, and the rough ride, it felt oddly nice. The apparent curse, the book, the skeletons, it was as if it had all been left behind. Sonny said he'd been trying to figure out what it was, and a way to dispell it, but Ebony hadn't heard back from him about it yet.
Even at such a high speed, travel took a while. It was hours at least, but Ebony wasn't keeping track. If not for that fact she felt she'd fall off if she let go, she'd have fallen asleep long ago regardless of the noise. Eight hours sleep or not, she'd never been a morning person. Sighing faintly, she shuffled, rubbing against Summer and slouching, using him to both stay on the bike and to support her own weight.
A moment later, the motorbike bounced over a larger than usual dip in the path, eliciting a small yelp. She shivered, feeling cool fingers tap over her forearms before a similar palm clasped over them. Loosely pinning her arms, Summer had moved one hand back from its prior hold. Her own palms opened and clenched, squeezing his sides and ruffling his shirt, pawing like a cat on a fluffy blanket. Magic flickering, she straightened her hood and pulled her billowing cloak in, faint hums unheard over the music.
With a sharp screech, the bike skidded to a halt atop a small hill, flanked by a stream of lava bubbling over the hot rock. There was a larger hill ahead, and Morene calmly informed everyone that their objective was on top of it. Naturally, she had no intention of charging in without knowing more about what they were up against. Ebony was thankful for it - but more for the delay rather than the tactics.
So, a few seconds later, Ebony and Summer were once again left alone together while Morene opted to scout ahead. Her armour hissed faintly, with thrusters pushing the woman off her feet and sending her into a silent glide up the steeper incline.
Ebony, not listening at first and barely realising the bike had stopped, opted to continue hugging Summer until she felt him shift in his grip. Immediately, she tried to let go and shuffle back, only for his arm to loosely trap one of hers, only partially letting her unravel. Her eyes widened in shock as he twisted in his seat, using his hold to keep her close enough to ruffle her hair under the hood. "Gotcha," he grinned.
Initially, she tried to use her hair to hide her peachy skin but that was swiftly brushed away. So, inevitably, she settled on pouting, puffing out her cheeks and holding her breath for the few seconds it lasted, and absolutely not enjoying it.
The moment he let go, she hopped off the bike, stumbling a little. "I'm... I'm not c-cute!" Her voice cracked halfway through as she blurted out the words, using her hood and cloak as a shield a split second after. Morene was sure to have heard a faint echo of the words from her distant perch.
"I..." Summer paused. "I didn't say anything." Although she couldn't see it, his poker face was near-flawless.
"Y-y-you were th-thinking it," Ebony stuttered, rapidly spinning around and trying to look as assertive as she could. Her eyebrows furrows and giggles were buried just beneath the tip of her tongue at the silliness of the conversation.
"You can't prove that~" Summer sang.
Ebony bit her lip, shuffling from foot to foot. "I'm cool."
"Sure, sure." Calmly, Summer reached out again, making the presence of his hand know, obvious, and easy to dodge.
It met the top of Ebony's hood, and Summer nonchalantly hopped off the bike, landing in front of her with a crunch while still toying with her head, fiddling with the fake floppy ears. Somewhat awkwardly, Ebony leant into it, but shook her head at the same time, simultaneously using the motion to rub against his hand more while also pretending it was a sign of refusal. "Am not."
A longer pause followed, just enough to break up the short talk. It was interrupted by Summer - well, his mouth. Sonny's voice was the true speaker. "He was thinking it," the spirit commented, lying - thoughts weren't shared with his other half.