raspberryturk | The Woods, Saturday Evening

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The Woods, Saturday Evening

"Rude's a prick," Reno complained.

It was official. Parking the chopper in the forest was a brilliant tactical move for anyone who wanted to be cruel and annoying and... cruel. Therefore, Rude was a brilliant tactician. And a prick.

"We'll find the chopper," he vowed, "and we'll fly the chopper," he vowed, "and then we can find Rude and kick his ass after we land, yo," he vowed some more.

"And it'll be totally worth it."

[For Rikku, please! Them's some big woods. :D]

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The treetops were disappearing and she couldn't stop watching his hands. She wondered how many times you had to fly before you were so much a part of the copter that you knew where all the switches were, knew what the dials would say without even looking. She had a feeling he could fly this chopper blindfolded.

"You bet I did," she grinned. "Took it swooping across the ceiling, loops around and back. Then I just kinda pestered Petey with it, playing keep-away. Keeps you on your toes, 'cause if you're not careful, you'll end up with a chewed-up copter and a smug kitty."

She was rambling, wasn't she?

"You got a crapload of practice then, yo?"

Reno was grinning at her now.

"I dunno," she laughed, blushing. "But I got better. That's good, right? Getting the hang of it, zoto."

Getting the hang of that, too.

Heh. She should leave the 'zoto' to him. She sounded more natural with 'yoto' instead.

"Good," he said, so very smoothly.

He then took his hands from the controls and stood up.

"You're gonna steer, yo."

Rikku blinked. And then gasped. And then flailed. She was an expert at flailing.

"You can't do that!" She jumped up and gestured, wildly. "You ... we're gonna ... Reno! Dammit!"

Reno was nowhere near worried, here.

Actually, he was laughing.

"You gonna take the joystick there, or are we gonna end up spittin' out leaves from the canopy of the woods?"

"But I can't ... I've never ... you can't just ..." Panic-flailing. Followed by Rikku processing exactly what would happen if she did stand here arguing with him long enough that they started smacking into the trees and --

She dove into the seat he'd vacated, grabbing at the joystick thing and yanking it. "Help?" she said, waving madly with her other hand. "Do I just move this? Do I need those switches? What do I do?"

"First," Reno said, grabbing the back of the seat to keep from barreling sideways as she yanked and sent them at a solid turn. He shook it off quickly enough, leaning forward a little to get a good look at where her hands were going. "First, you gotta breathe. Don't wail on it. Just hold it steady. Nudge it. Get a feel for it. Then figure out where you want to go and take it from there, zoto."

"Okay," she said quickly. "Okay." Breathing. She could breathe. She was good at that.

She held the joystick steady and tried to get her bearings. Switches. And dials. And ... she'd flown Pops' airship that didn't have dials marked half so neatly, so she should breathe and take a good look at them. Air pressure. Wind. Speed. Altimeter. And she didn't know what some of the words meant, but the dials were familiar anyway. This one should stay right in that range, and that one was okay so long as it wasn't really high.

They were still hovering. She curled her other hand around the joystick and took a deep breath, then tried moving it gently, a little bit over that way ... and the chopper dipped to the left. Back, and then it angled to the right.

"The handling on this ..." she murmured. Well. Pops' airship needed a full two-minute warning just to veer out of the way of obstacles.

"There you go, nice and smooth." Reno leaned forward a little more, checking some of the dials. "Seems like you already got a decent idea what you're doing, yo. Not bad."

He turned his face to look at her, that smug smile of his taking over.

"Better take her for a spin before I kick you outta the pilot's seat, hm?"

"You'd have to fight me for it," she laughed, shivering again with nervous energy. She darted a glance at him and grinned. "See, letting me fly was your first mistake."

She looked back at the console, flushing a little. "I had no idea it'd be so ... responsive. It makes you never want to land."

"Gotta land eventually," Reno chuckled. "Or we'll be goin' down the less pleasant way. And if we survive that, Rude'll kill us."

"I think we could take him," she grinned, sneaking a look back at him again. "You hold his arms, I'll punch?"

Reno laughed some more.

"Damn, Rikku. Askin' me to hold Rude's arms is like askin' Rude to beat me in a foot race." Which... was a really damn funny thought, to Reno.

"So, you're admitting he's more badass than you?" she asked lightly, nudging the joystick this way and that. Wow, flying. "I'll have to tell him you said so, yoto."

Edited 2008-02-03 05:42 (UTC)

"You kiddin'? Just because he can kick my ass in an arm wrestle doesn't mean I can't kick his in a fight." Reno leaned forward again, checking the controls. "You enjoyin' this?"

It kind of went without saying, didn't it?

"You kidding?" Rikku asked, more laughter bubbling out of her. "This is amazing. This ..."

She eased the joystick back, then pressed it forward again, still marveling at how the chopper bent to her lightest whim. She rolled it lightly in her hand and shook her head, at a loss for words.

"Thank you," she said, glancing over at him again and swallowing hard. "For ... I mean ..."

He was closer than she remembered him being.

Reno turned his head to face her, and kind of hesitated there for a moment.

Huh. He could feel her breath on his face from here. That was...

"Don't mention it," he stated. Totally stated it. It wasn't really like kind-of whispering it was any different from stating it. At all. Much.

"O-okay," she said, nodding quickly. She should be watching the dials. The console. The buttons and switches and ... other things she couldn't remember. Over that way. She'd look in a second. She would.

His eyes were right there and she couldn't place the look on his face and she was closer, now, close enough to tell there wasn't any writing on those tattoos curving around his eyes. She would have to tell him that. In a few moments.

Huh. The little swirls in her eyes kind of started from the outside, all dark and intriguing and. He kind of had to get a better look. Because.

It was all about her eyes, wasn't it?

No?

Her breath was so warm.

Were they flying?

Huh.

She didn't notice her hands, loosening their hold on the joystick, or the subtle shift in altitude accompanying it. Or realize that she was leaning, even closer, how strange, she already knew what his tattoos said. Didn't say. There wasn't text there. Right? She ...

She couldn't tell who leaned in the last inch. Maybe they both did.

His lips were soft, and her heart was pounding louder than the blades overhead.

Reno's hands knew every last inch of the chopper. His hands reached out and took control and leveled off the flight while the rest of him was somewhere entirely different.

Her breath was warm.

They were flying, right?

Of course they were.

His hand brushed hers, when he - oh, good, he had the joystick, they weren't going to crash into the forest. (Were they?) Her fingers lingered, curling against his for a moment, before sliding up and around his neck. She was dizzy and exhilarated and she might never catch her breath again.

He had control of the situation entirely.

Except for how he didn't.

And they weren't going to die in a spiral of flame.

Except how they totally might.

And he didn't have to breathe.

Except how he had somehow made the decision that he'd smother to death if he had to.

This was insane.

Completely insane. There was a voice in the back of her head that wanted to point that out, but she was trying her hardest not to listen. Her other hand was brushing against his jaw and she was easing further into the kiss and trying not to think about a lot of things. Like the chopper. And that voice in the back of her head. And how much she wanted to ignore all of that and drown.

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