What had started as a way on Mika's part to keep control of a tense situation had become something of a habit. Whenever she found herself stopping by Kain's house to say hello, she always ended up in his kitchen assembling a snack and shoving it at him. Whenever she caught him out and about in the village, she'd scold him for being insufficiently bundled up, and tighten up his scarf. Something about the dragoon made her want to pick and fuss, as though he were a wayward cub that would be utterly doomed without her intervention. And he might well be, for all she knew! She had watched a snapshot of his life in tiny 16-bit pixels, that started with a castle and ended angstily atop a mountain, and Alpha help her, if that man didn't need a good meal and someone watching out for him, she didn't know who would.
And it wasn't like he seemed to mind terribly much. He might frown a little, he might grumble, he might try to assert his lack of need for such fussing, but in the end he always relented. The sandwich was devoured. The scarf was left in place. Mika liked it, why wouldn't she like it, but there was always this little underlying thread of dark doubt. He must have only been tolerating it all, because that's who he was. Raised noble, raised right, raised to not raise his voice to a lady...? Even if she could hardly consider herself anything of the sort. Doubt was always there, ready to consume her, so she tamped it down with more bravado and bluster and fussing.
Kain finally made an attempt to call her on it one chilly evening, where she had come by to ask to borrow some leather-working tools and wound up staying to construct preposterously good sandwiches out of leftover roast elk and pickled gysahl greens. "Do you do this to everyone?"
"Whmmph?" It's a question asked through a mouthful of sandwich, incomplete but clear enough for Kain to interpret.
"This. Barge into their houses and start making things for them?" There's laughter in his tone, but with the way he immediately bows his head, she can't tell if it managed to make it to his blue eyes.
Mika's quick to swallow that mouthful, bristling and advancing upon him. "Hey, I didn't barge in. You invited me, Highwind. And since you keep seeming to forget to feed yourself...."
That provoked a further aversion of his gaze. "...I'd have gotten around to it sooner or later."
"Later rather than sooner, I'd bet. Honestly, if I left you alone, what kind of shape would you end up in?"
Kain spoke quietly, little emotion to the words. "I hesitate to guess."
"Really, you'd spend all day and all night pacing the Meadous back and forth, and not even eating right..." Not even pausing to register that he had spoken, she strode forward and reached teasingly for the ponytail at the back of his head. "And your hair... when's the last time you trimmed those scraggly ends?"
At the first indication of a tug, Kain's hand flew up to grip at Mika's. Not harshly, not with fear or anxiety. He merely wished to stop her. "...do you do this to everyone, Miss Whitepaws?" And with the question posed he shifted himself about in his seat, lifting his head in that purposeful way he had. The one that she was coming to recognize that he used when he was trying to be honest and open. "Or am I fortunate enough to have somehow earned your attentions?"
She could have died, right then and there. Mika could have crumpled into a heap, dissolved into ashes, and let the wind blow her away. This couldn't have possibly been real... but the grip of his hand and the clarity of his gaze kept her upright and anchored to the moment. "Well." She couldn't just back down now. She couldn't. A huff escaped her, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. "You're... you're the only one that seems to need it..." Oh no, oh no, what was she saying, what was going to happen now, what was...
He was reaching his other hand up towards her.
He was lifting just the slightest bit in his seat.
Like hell she was going to let him get the first move in! Too far in to turn back and too proud to ever stop herself, Mika dipped down and planted a fierce kiss upon Kain's lips. He made a surprised sound, and so did she in turn, but that hand of his made it to the side of her head just as he had planned, and he held her there, returned the kiss, prolonged the contact. After a long and shuddering moment they broke it off, both gasping faintly. "...fortunate. I'm fortunate."
The laugh in Mika's throat was nearly a growl, as she tilted her weight forward and rested her forehead against his. "You're fortunate that I don't just walk on out the door right now!"
"I am, aren't I?" And he moved forward for another kiss, which yet again the warou woman surged forward to meet.
no subject
And it wasn't like he seemed to mind terribly much. He might frown a little, he might grumble, he might try to assert his lack of need for such fussing, but in the end he always relented. The sandwich was devoured. The scarf was left in place. Mika liked it, why wouldn't she like it, but there was always this little underlying thread of dark doubt. He must have only been tolerating it all, because that's who he was. Raised noble, raised right, raised to not raise his voice to a lady...? Even if she could hardly consider herself anything of the sort. Doubt was always there, ready to consume her, so she tamped it down with more bravado and bluster and fussing.
Kain finally made an attempt to call her on it one chilly evening, where she had come by to ask to borrow some leather-working tools and wound up staying to construct preposterously good sandwiches out of leftover roast elk and pickled gysahl greens. "Do you do this to everyone?"
"Whmmph?" It's a question asked through a mouthful of sandwich, incomplete but clear enough for Kain to interpret.
"This. Barge into their houses and start making things for them?" There's laughter in his tone, but with the way he immediately bows his head, she can't tell if it managed to make it to his blue eyes.
Mika's quick to swallow that mouthful, bristling and advancing upon him. "Hey, I didn't barge in. You invited me, Highwind. And since you keep seeming to forget to feed yourself...."
That provoked a further aversion of his gaze. "...I'd have gotten around to it sooner or later."
"Later rather than sooner, I'd bet. Honestly, if I left you alone, what kind of shape would you end up in?"
Kain spoke quietly, little emotion to the words. "I hesitate to guess."
"Really, you'd spend all day and all night pacing the Meadous back and forth, and not even eating right..." Not even pausing to register that he had spoken, she strode forward and reached teasingly for the ponytail at the back of his head. "And your hair... when's the last time you trimmed those scraggly ends?"
At the first indication of a tug, Kain's hand flew up to grip at Mika's. Not harshly, not with fear or anxiety. He merely wished to stop her. "...do you do this to everyone, Miss Whitepaws?" And with the question posed he shifted himself about in his seat, lifting his head in that purposeful way he had. The one that she was coming to recognize that he used when he was trying to be honest and open. "Or am I fortunate enough to have somehow earned your attentions?"
She could have died, right then and there. Mika could have crumpled into a heap, dissolved into ashes, and let the wind blow her away. This couldn't have possibly been real... but the grip of his hand and the clarity of his gaze kept her upright and anchored to the moment. "Well." She couldn't just back down now. She couldn't. A huff escaped her, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. "You're... you're the only one that seems to need it..." Oh no, oh no, what was she saying, what was going to happen now, what was...
He was reaching his other hand up towards her.
He was lifting just the slightest bit in his seat.
Like hell she was going to let him get the first move in! Too far in to turn back and too proud to ever stop herself, Mika dipped down and planted a fierce kiss upon Kain's lips. He made a surprised sound, and so did she in turn, but that hand of his made it to the side of her head just as he had planned, and he held her there, returned the kiss, prolonged the contact. After a long and shuddering moment they broke it off, both gasping faintly. "...fortunate. I'm fortunate."
The laugh in Mika's throat was nearly a growl, as she tilted her weight forward and rested her forehead against his. "You're fortunate that I don't just walk on out the door right now!"
"I am, aren't I?" And he moved forward for another kiss, which yet again the warou woman surged forward to meet.