#this is from like chapter 102 of my fic and I've currently published... chapter 30?

[sasslett]

A lil WIP

I was editing and completely forgotten I had written this... I love it. --

"I must say," Hien began, turning to eye the Elezen curiously, "I can't help but notice the two of you fight in a style I haven't seen employed here in the Far East."

Varrus hadn't considered that before - he supposed, without the threat of dragons, a dragoon would be something of a rare sight in the region. 

"It's a method from Ishgard, created specifically to combat dragonkind," the Elezen explained. 

Hien smiled. "While I saw you in action from a distance, I should very much like to see an up close demonstration of your skills, if the two of you would be so kind."

"Two on one doesn't seem very fair," Jess pointed out - not that that had stopped them before.

"Oh, not against me," the samurai laughed. "Against each other, if you would. Nothing serious, of course, but I do believe we have some time before the feast."

"Nothing serious, he says," Jess grinned, shooting Varrus a smirk that he knew only meant trouble… yet he was extremely happy to oblige. There was something so… exhilarating, fighting the one person on the entire star who could truly match his skill. And, judging by her eager expression, she agreed. 

"Did I hear that correctly?" Lyse asked, hurrying over to the group - and bringing with her a very unpleasant scent. "Are Varrus and Jess sparring?" She plopped herself down onto the grass, looking up at the two with an expectant grin. "Oh, I love seeing them go at it - on the battlefield, I mean. Um..."

Varrus snorted - oh, if she only knew… Yet all the same, he turned to his lover beside him, unsheathing his weapon. 

"Are you ready?"

"Always."

The two moved to an open area just outside the camp, squaring each other off. It seemed Lyse wasn't their only new spectator, as several others from the camp curiously made their way over, the setting sun casting the perfect fiery glow over the two combatants. 

They'd done this countless times, this delicate dance, slowly circling each other, each looking for an opening they knew they wouldn't find. Jess took the opportunity to summon her draconic aura and the power of the Eye - she was serious - though he couldn't help but notice she channeled the eye to him, too.

"You know, you'd be stronger if you didn't share that," the Elezen chuckled, firing up his own blue aura. 

"But where's the fun in that?" came the woman's reply, as she flashed him a mischievous smile. "Besides… I don't think I could even if I tried. It just kind of… does that."

One of them would have to do something at some point, lest they disappoint their audience… It being a simple sparring match with nothing on the line, Varrus chose to make the first move, lunging at the woman with his lance. 

He was predictable, of course, as the woman neatly backflipped away - but so was she, as he followed suit, vaulting before her with ease and swinging his lance in a wide arc towards her. She ducked, countering with her own swing, one he easily parried. 

And so the two continued their adrenaline-fueled match, leaping and clashing and firing their aether at each other in a familiar song and dance, and Varrus enjoyed every enthralling minute of it. There was something oddly comforting about sparring with her, the person he knew better than anyone else, inside and out. It was as though he could read her thoughts, predict her every move, as the two effortlessly parried each other's blows and leapt to and fro, giving their audience quite the show. 

Not only that, but Varrus had to admit, there was also something… well, sexy about watching his lover in battle - the way her eyes lit up like the stars, the fire in her gaze and the excitement in her grin, the way her armor tightly hugged her gorgeous body, her muscles rippling with every acrobatic move… Perhaps there was something wrong with him, but it was a sight he simply couldn't ever get enough of. 

Eventually, the two found themselves where they always ended up - lances locked, panting, standing face to face, mere ilms apart. 

"What now?" the man whispered, neither giving an ilm nor pressing his attack. 

He watched as the woman's eyes flickered down to his lips, then lower, then to the audience watching them… before she, quite suddenly and unexpectedly, leaned in and placed a hand behind his head, pulling his lips down to hers. And he, being the hot-blooded, incredibly aroused man that he was, couldn't help but follow through, every thought fleeing his small brain as he felt her tongue run along his lips. Perhaps some small part of him wondered if now was really the time or place… 

Only to feel the hard thwack of her lance swinging down across his shins, sweeping his feet out from under him and sending him crashing to the ground. 

Yet as the man laid there on the windswept grass, he couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation, as Jess raised her lance triumphantly, the crowd hooting and hollering in the background. She was, truly, the most amazing person he'd ever met. 

And she was his.

With a twinkle in her eye, the Highlander reached down and offered a hand, pulling him back to his feet and giving him a quick peck on the lips as soon as he was up. 

"Nice one," Varrus couldn't help but compliment, beaming down at his lover. Gods… he was the luckiest person on the star, to be able to call a woman as amazing as her his partner, in every sense of the word. "Though, somehow, I don't think that one will work for the Naadam."

"Of course not," she shot him a sultry smile, running a finger along his chest. "I kept that one for you and you alone." And with that, she turned and waltzed back to the camp, as he couldn't help but admire her as she left. Would that they could have any amount of privacy… But no, they were stuck in a tiny camp, with nothing but small tents and strangers all around, not a lick of privacy whatsoever. So he'd just have to bring himself to behave.