Thiyo - 3. A kiss on the forehead
Here are the babys!
Being a rebel was dangerous.
Riyo had accepted that a long time ago. She had accepted it all the way back, at the moment she had stepped on Orto Plutonia and reached out her hand to do what was right. In that moment, she had realised that there was no way back for her, no way to ever just watch as things were happening around her, and hope for the best.
No, she had accepted that the only way it was going to work for her, was for her to be there.
Still, sometimes things were…a bit much.
Like right now, with her hands grasping onto a cold and sharp metal railing, which was the last thing keeping her upright on the shaking platform.
Her ears were ringing with a high-pitched, white wailing, and her eyes were stinging from the smoke that was rising to the air all around her.
Through all of that, she could still see Thire, as he ran to the foot of the platform, and hear him, as he looked up at her.
“Jump!” He shouted, extending his arms towards her. He was in his armor, now stripped from any identifying colors. Sometimes Riyo missed it, the bright and bold red.
Riyo looked at him. He was very far down. It wouldn’t be an easy catch, or even a harmless one, even if he did manage to catch her. Her stomach definitely lurched a bit from just looking.
The platform shook more, almost making her knees buckle. Riyo grasped the railing harder and pulled herself straight. She would have to let go of the railing in order to jump. She would have to let go, put her legs over it, and then-
There was another explosion somewhere behind her. She felt it before she heard it, as it made the platform tremble, and now the railing was no good in keeping her upright. She barely avoided hitting her chin on it as she went down, her knees painfully hitting the hard metal surface. She should really invest in some protective gear.
A gust of air from the explosion hit her back, and brought more smoke with it.
“Riyo!” Thire’s voice sounded muffled. Riyo peered back down through the smoke. It was making her eyes really water, so seeing was even more difficult.
She could still make Thire out, though. His arms were still extended, waiting for her.
It was still so, so far down.
The platform shook again, and tilted forwards. Riyo quickly grabbed ahold of the railing again, to prevent herself from sliding off the edge. The whole thing made a very concerning sound, the metal wailing and groaning.
She looked down. The platform groaned and tilted some more.
It was to either jump or fall off.
Riyo chose to jump.
She braced herself against the edge, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes.
The platform groaned and tilted. She pushed herself off.
If she screamed, it was covered up by the ringing in her ears and the loud groans and bangs the platform was making as she fell. Her insides were simultaneously plummeting down with her, but also trying their hardest to escape through her mouth, and for a split second, she was more worried about throwing up while falling than about falling down.
Then she collided with something, and her eyes shot open just in time to see Thire’s helmet coming towards her face with very high speed. She pressed her eyes back shut a split second before her forehead collided with Thire’s.
There was a bang of pain, making her whole head tremble and her eyes ring and her eyes sting even more. Then they were stumbling more down, and her back and legs definitely hit more of Thire’s armor.
Then there was a couple of seconds of stillness, before she could hear a crack even through all the other noises, and then Thire was wrapping his arm around her and pushing himself up, and the next thing Riyo knew, she was being thrown over his shoulder as he ran.
She took a little peek. The platform was falling down and towards them very fast.
She closed her eyes again.
There was another lurch when Thire jumped, and then she was being tucked against him as the world became a cacophony of horrible screeches and cracks and bangs. It sounded awfully like the world was falling on top of them.
Then it all stopped. The ringing in her ears gradually softened.
Riyo opened her eyes.
She didn’t see much at first, only some more metal and Thire’s shoulder. Then Thire pulled her gently off of him.
“Are you okay?” He asked. His voice was steady, but Riyo could feel the slight tremble of his hands that were holding onto her.
She nodded. Thire let out a shaking breath, letting his head drop for a moment as he calmed down.
“Thank the Manda”, he murmured, and then looked back up. “Oh, that doesn’t look good.”
Riyo blinked at him, and was just about to ask what didn’t, when her head decided to remind her of the splitting pain she had felt just moments before.
“Ow”, she grimaced. Thire let go of her in order to pull his helmet off.
“Did you hit your head?” He asked, now reaching for her face. His other hand cradled her jaw gently, while the other reached to brush her hair away from her forehead.
“I hit it on you”, Riyo answered. “When you caught me.”
Now Thire grimaced.
“I’m sorry”, he said. “I should’ve been more careful.”
“Don’t be.” Riyo held back another grimace of her own as his fingers brushed her skin. “You were being as careful as you could, while catching me jumping off of a falling platform. While there were explosions.”
Thire let out another shaking breath.
“Yeah”, he said. “That happened.”
Riyo reached up and pressed her hand on top of his, where he was still gently holding her face.
“That happened”, she repeated after him. “We’re okay.”
Thire nodded.
“We’re okay”, he echoed, and then leaned forward. His lips brushed against the bruising on her forehead, light as air. “There. To make it better.”
All the tension was definitely coming off of her, because Riyo could do nothing else than to burst into a fit of giggles. Thire followed suit only a second later.
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"The worst part about people learning that you're French, though, is that suddenly it's all 'oh, hon hon baguette,' or 'est-ce que je peux aller aux toilettes,' you know? Like, congrats on being on the internet or learning French in school, you know?” He lifts his drink, as if toasting all the people, past and future, who have flexed their minimal French knowledge in front of him. “And I still can’t cook. Like, shouldn’t that be in my blood or something?”
— @essence-flux-primed
Katarina groans in agreement before taking a sip from her glass, the experience all too relatable. "It's always oh là là, omelette du fromage, voulez-vous coucher avec moi, I think I'm hilarious faking a French accent," The mockery is followed by an eye roll, even the thought of the tired joke mildly annoying. She shakes her head lightly, throwing him an understanding glance. "Which is really just the other side of the equally annoying say something in French for me when they definitely are not close enough to be asking for anything."
It is the next part, however, that elicits her laughter. "If it's any consolation I can barely do the basics," There was never any need to learn, nor any particular interest in the activity to make it a hobby — nor did her routine left time to indulge in those, for a long time. "Didn't get the fantastique chef French genes either. But enjoying the food is always better than preparing it, anyway, and if we're talking stereotypes, it could be a bigger loss — you could lack the fashion sense instead."
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