- Joined
- Oct 18, 2014
- Messages
- 1,973
- Reaction score
- 6,169
- Age
- 34
- Gender
- Male
- Country
-
Laxia deep sigh hovered through the empty cave. It wasn't easy being a Noble, less so deep into the wilderness which usually fascinated her just like it did to her father. But being in the wild is different than imaging how it could be. From day 1, which was only yesterday, Laxia had tried to keep her image as a Noble intact; her orange hair was tied in a Chic Topknot with encircled braids and a blue ribbon holding the complicated hairdo together, which was a pain in the butt to craft each morning. Her clothes ripped from the savage tides and rough coastline had been put together into a dashing outfit, stlyish yet easy to move in to fight against the danger this world bore for her and her group of survivors. But despite her „ready to take on the world“-look, Laxia's imaginations had already been crushed by the reality of last night.
In her childhood she had read many books about adventures and being stranded on an island like Bobinson Krusoe, but in none she could remember how important a soft, warm bed had been. Her first night on the ground on this Seiren Island, a disturbing legend of a watery grave for many ships, was nothing to write home about. It was hard, cold and the noise from the nearby river kept her awake most of the night. Apparently the others had been huddled together to kept warm but the mere thought to cuddle with four strangers, men she didn't knew much about, send shivers down Laxia's spine. Thus she had kindly but definitely declined the offer to join the others and slept on her own in this cave next to the other. Even with the galant offer to get most of the pelts and some leaves on the ground, remembering last night was still a horror. Clearly this was no option for future nights, but so was sleeping on the ground with a bunch of men.
Luckily Captain Barbosa had crafted some fine beds with the lumber collected by her, Mr. Christin and Sahad during the second day. Sure it was no King Size bed and it had no silk sheets and puffy cotton pillow, but it was a bed so it should be better than the ground, right? But now the noble Lady sat on the bed, her ocean blue eyes glancing over the bed and she sighed yet again. The adventure for today had been over and it was quite successful with finding all the materials Dogi needed for his Collection Post and providing the Captain with the ressource he required. And most importantly they had found Alison, another woman to share the same cave room as Laxia, which soothed her soul more than she had expected. It was just different to talk with a woman than with a man. Alison immediately pointed out that they might need a way to block the entrance to their room if they wanted some privacy and Laxia full-throatedly affmired her suggestion. Maybe tomorrow she could ask Mr. Christin for his help, this so-called "adventurer" was quite useful in that regard. But all that didn't helped her with the current predicament.
"My word. Wooden beds are quite hard, aren't they?" Laxia knew she sounded spoiled so she was glad she was alone at the moment, but the statement still hold true to her feelings. As nice as this bed looked, it was just a bit better than the ground even with the leaves, sheets and pelts of the critters they had hunted today. Before preparing dinner with Alison she wanted to lay down a bit to relax from all the running and fighting today. Thus she had thrown herself onto the bed like a little kid and immediately regretted her childish behaviour when her backside made contact with the bed. The throbbing in her head and butt added to her dislike of the bed she had been, oh, so glad of receiving before. A nostalgic memory of the soft bed at home or the one in the first class suit on the Lombardia emerged as Laxia felt sorry for herself.
"Ugh, stop it, Laxia von Roswell!" She gave both her cheeks a light clap to shoo the pleasant but unsettling thoughts away. "You got a bed, it's an upgrade from sleeping on the ground, be positive." With that said, she laid carefully back into the bed, trying to make herself comfortable. Yeah, maybe it wouldn't be so bad and she would get used to it in the following nights... then something scuttled over her inner thigh. With lighting speed Laxia jumped up and away from the bed, franctically moving her hands over her legs. No no no, that did it! There had to be some other solution to sleep on. But what?
*Hammocks are the best!*
Mr. Christin's statement entered Laxia's mind as she wrecked her brain how to sleep soundly tonight. "Right, a hammock. There should be no critters on a net like in those leaves. I could sleep there tonight." Though she had never slept in a hammock before, it couldn't be that hard of a thing to do. With a light spring in her feet the orange haired Lady rushed to the other cave room aside to get into the hammock for some well-deserved shut-eye before handling those awfully slippery fishes and their slimey guts.
But standing before the Hammock itself Laxia was at a loss. How was she supposed to get into a net bound between two trees? Getting into a bed is easy but her trust in this swinging tool was lacking at best. She didn't understood how anyone could trust such a construction hanging between two trunks who had grown in the large cave-window facing the river running by, one heavy and thick and one young slender birch tree. She huffed at her own hesitation. As if a woman of von Roswell wouldn't be able to conquer this primitive bed. With new won confidence she leaps into the hammock and got tossed to the other side into the dirt.
Laxia couldn't believe it! The audacity! Quickly she got up, looking around if anyone had seen her humilating fall while her hands whisked away the dirt on her clothes as good as possible. She just had to try again. This time more careful and slowly to not get surprised by the fast swing movement of the hammock. She raises one of her legs, put it on the net and noticed it started to sway onto its weight. Quickly she grabbed with her hands at the opposite rope holding the net together and threw her other leg up as if she was mounting one of her family's horses. Just that none of the animals she has ever rode would have bucked the way this hammock did. After a 180° turn Laxia found herself at the underside of the net looking like a clingy monkey baby she had seen in her father's book about exotic animals. So embarassing! Defeated she let go of the hammock and crawled forth under it. No longer minding the dirty spots on her expensive clothes she turns the hammock into the correct position to try yet again. No way she would admit defeat to a mere net mocking her! Slowly and carefully this time Laxia put her upper body into the hammock first holding each side of it with one of her hands. She could feel the rough linien strings press into her cleavage while she bit her lower lip in deep concentration. With a small wiggle in her raised butt she got ready to jump at once with her knees first into the lower part of the hammock. Let's see how it will throw her off now...
"You know, you're going to fall off again if you do that, right?"
That amused sentence broke her concentration like riffs ripping apart a ship. Her movement stopped in a flinch in an half-jump movement and with her weight being on one side of the hammock all alone, it yielded to her body's gravity and turned towards her. With an indignified "EEP!" Laxia landed on her buttcheeks, turning around quickly, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks as her widen eyes spotted the owner of those half-serious half-mocking words. Fire-red hair adored a handsome young man who's lean body but muscular arms spoke of a life lived by the sword and many adversities he had endured. Adol wore the adventurer's attire she had chosen for him this morning just to be teased about it in front of Dogi and Sahad about having feelings for him. Laxia felt a fire start rising in her, hotter than the color of Adol's hair. The man in question fought the desire to grin at the young girl glaring at him in shock and growing fury. He knew it would only fuel the latter if shown and he was in no rush to have a meeting with her swift palm again after the incident that had been their first meeting on this island. But the smirk must have glint in his expression as Laxia jumped right up and got right into his face with flushed cheeks and a dangerous storm dancing in her eyes.
"How long were you standing there, Mr.Christin?! Do you not have a modicum of manners to announce your entrance into a room when you enter it or do you enjoy creeping up behind unaware women that much?"
"M-my aplogies, I just came in for a quick nap and saw you in my hammock so I was just too surprised to call you out. Didn't you said earlier today that beds are by far superior?"
In truth Adol had seen her enter the men's room when he just came in from the cave entrance bringing some fiber for Alison's new Tailor shop. He got curious what she was up to and watched all her attempts to enter the hammock with growing delight and hid every time she looked around for witnesses. But there was no way he could tell her that, same with that he had enjoyed the view of her latest attempt a lot. Who wouldn't like to look at a cute butt of a young beauty in tight purple hotpants, pushed up and wiggling back and forth? But a slap to his face would be the least of his worries if he spilled the beans thus the attempt to divert her attention to her own statement when admiring the Captain's work.
"W-what of it? Can I not try to sleep in an hammock if I feel like it? Do I need to be an "adventurer" to use one as my bedding?" Flustered Laxia tried to turn the tables on Adol with her unreasonable argument. She knew she was at a loss here, becoming aware of the state she was in. Her clothes dirtied, the bun in her hair disheevelled and her blue hair ribbon getting undone as well the red net lines on her bosom, all signs of lost battles made her felt inadequate. Meanwhile Adol stood in front of her, confident like the sun itself and holding back his laughter at Laxia's delicate side shining through. Adol's badly hidden mirth stoke up the flares in Laxia's chest and stomach. He had seen her naked on the first day on this island when she had washed away the salt from the sea in the stream and he still wasn't sorry about it nor did he show any delicacy dealing with her, even when she went out of her way to give him a proper set of clothes, he used it to poke fun at her for having feelings for him. He was the worst!
Adol sensed that Laxia's frustration and anger was building itself up into an unhealthy territory for his own well-being so he did the only thing he could think of to defuse the situation:
"No, of course not! But the use of an hammock isn't just anything an amateur can get right on the first time so how about I teach you how to sleep in an hammock?"
His quick offer blew the wind out of Laxia's sails. She looked at him and his nervous expression for a mere second, before ordering her slightly ruffled hairdo and clearing her throat in a svelte way imbedded into her behaviour through years of teaching and being around noblefolk. Not that a rough outdoorman like Mr. Christin would appreciate her gesture but she needed it to gather her composure before accepting his offer. Adol found it pretty adorable though how Laxia tried to regain her noble Lady image while her cheeks were still rosy and her usually flawless clothes being smidge of dirt and earth. It was a cute kind of innocence Adol found very endearing. Again, no way he would mention that to her face.
"Ähem. W-well, I would certainly appreciate the lessons of someone who has a lot of experience sleeping in those crude constructions. As long as you promise me to not tell a soul of my... previous blunders I will allow you to teach me, Mr. Christin.", glared Laxia demandingly.
"Sure thing.", smiled Aldo brightly back at her. His easy-going behaviour was both a source of bewilderment and envy for Laxia. She had taken notice that Alison's smile was more polite in her presence than when she was with Adol, that the Captain treated her more like a lady than a trusted companion like he did with his former temporary sailor and that Dogi was way more careful around her than the open way he behaved with his old friend. The only one who treated her just like anyone else was Sahad but then again listening to all the possible ways to describe using the toilet like "pinching one", "doing a squat", "letting one rip" was more revelation than she ever wanted to hear.
Laxia took a deep breath and crossed her arms before her chest.
"Go ahead, I'm listening, Mr. Christin."
"Instead of explaining I show you how to do it." Those words had barely left Adol's lips and he was already in the hammock, faster than Laxia could comprehend.
"Got it?", came the cheeky question from the Hammock-veteran.
"Not quite. Would you mind showing me again? This time a bit slower please?" Laxia felt annoyed that she had to ask for another demonstration, but she felt like Adol was leading her on to fail if she tried to mimic what she hasn't fully grasped yet. Adol nodded and with a swing stood straight before the hammock once again. Slowly he turned his back to it then put his hands on the hammock-side facing his body and pushed it down causing the other side to go up. His butt sat down on the lower side as if it was a chair, with a turn of his back and release of his left hand moving to hold leverage on both sides. In one smooth movement he swing both legs into the net while putting his head and back into the hammock as well, gently rocking the simple bed back and forth under his weight.
"As you see, not very complicated."
"Agreed, now if you'd be so kind to move out of the way so I could try it, Mr Christin..." Just this very moment Adol had a great idea how to tease the adorable noble Lady once more.
"No."
"Eh?"
"You are a bloody beginner and I don't want to see you get hurt or your clothes get any dirtier than they already are. If I stay in the hammock I can help you get in easier, balance out your weight when you try to get in. See it as an apology for surprising you earlier."
Laxia felt her nasal wings flare up unladylike as she took in a sharp breath but she couldn't care less. That playful look on the young man's smile, his mischievous sparkle in his sky-blue eyes and the tapping of his hand to the free side next to him - all of that was a challenge to her, a game for him! She knew he wanted her to get upset at him and demand to leave once more and if she did fail he would have that disgustingly confident grin on his face that tickled her heart anytime she saw it. There was no way she would give him the satisfaction of riling her up while disguising it as an offer of friendly help, thus Laxia decided to rise up on that challenge and show this insolent adventurer the resoluteness of a woman of the house von Roswell.
"Hmpf! Very well then. I'll take you up on your offer, Mr. Christin. Do not let me fall, you hear me?"
Before Aldo could reply, Laxia turned around ready to do the "get-into-the-hammok-routine" step by step as she had just been demonstrated. Aldo knew he was in huge trouble. His plan to get her embarassed and enjoy her fidgeting around a situation she wasn't used to backfired big time. Her butt sank down to the hammock, Adol shifted to make as much space as possible and to prevent the hammock from turning over as Laxia put her full weight on the net. Breathing out she swung her legs up while turning her back trying to reach the other side of the hammock with her right hand. The hammock started to swing violently and with a grunt so not befitting a noble lady, Laxia was pressed onto Adol's body, holding onto his left shoulder for dear life.
There they were, Adol having part of his body swing net-free, Laxia on her side, her face pressed into his left shoulder, her legs across his and her hand clinging to his clothes like it was a lifeline. Slowly the hammock swung out and came to a still-stand. Laxia had her eyes shut during the big swings, but when she opened them and saw how close she was to Mr. Christin's neck, she tried to pull away automatically. Aldo quickly prevented the hammock from turning over by using his right arm to push her back closer to his body. Laxia's chest pressed into his side and Aldo could hear how loud her heart was beating and she could feel his heartbeat growing faster as well. Anywhere their bodies touched, at the chest, the shoulder, the legs and the neck the young adults felt waves of heat rushing through their entire bodies. A curious smell of earth and salt reached Laxia's nose, she didn't hated it, it smelled of adventure and the width of the world. She slid a tiny bit closer and Adol took the full fragrance of her hair, he had no idea how this girl could still smell like oranges and flowers after running and fighting for a whole day, but it was a scent so pleasant he wouldn't mind waking up to it each morning. No way he could ever tell her that. A side glance to her face confirmed his fears. Laxia tried to bury her burning face into his chest but that just added to her rising embarassment. The young Lady had slowly realized in what scandalous situaton she was in. Sharing a bed, a hammock, with a man, no leaf fitting between their bodies, their hearts drumming so loudly they even drowned the noises from the river running by. All Laxia could feel was her chest nearly bursting and the strong hearthrobs of the man next to her vibrating through her skin, the heat in her body silenced the fumbling thoughts in her panicked brain and a strange sort of excitment formed in her stomach when she looked up carefully and saw the usually so collected and cool expression of Mr. Christin being a mess of bubbling emotions. Laxia pinkish lips parted as if they had a life on their own, she didn't knew what words would come over her foreign feeling tongue out of her constrained throat, but she knew she could never take them back once spoken...
"Ups?"
Dogi stood in the cave entrance, looking in shock at his best friend lying in hammock with the noble Lady. He had no idea how this came to be but the blue-haired ex-robber knew he was at the wrong place and the wrong time and he just blew any chance of leaving without the two of them noticing him. And notice they had taken. Eyes wide open stared at him, changing from confusion to panic. Clearly they didn't wanted to be seen and Dogi totally got it but he really had just an innocent reason of stepping into the men's cave-room just now.
"I-I am just here... to get the cooking utensils from the chest for making dinner. Uh, I can go get it back later?"
"HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII~"
Laxia's pitch-high sound was abruptly disrupted as she jumped up to get away from this compromising position with Mr. Christin as soon as possible which finally caused the hammock to flip to one side, throwing both users out of it. Reflexively Adol grabbed onto Laxia and rolled his body under hers midair before they crashed onto the floor with a loud bump.
"Gods! Are you guys alright?", questioned Dogi as he rushed over to help them up. As he got closer his steps slowed down and finally stopped. Adol's face was between a hard floor and a soft valley, his nose drowned in the sweet orange and flower smell while a growing bump on his head told him he failed to land softly. But he managed to prevent Laxia from falling and he got a nice touch experience with his face. He was a man, ready to take on any punishment he would receive for such a reward. Unaware to the paralyzed Noble Adol gave his perplexed friend a thumbs up with his left thumb. Then the Petrification Spell broke and Adol saw the hand of divine justice rise high into the damp cave air.
SLAP
Half an hour later, Dogi and Adol sat on a big stone at the beach, watching the waves purl an ageless melody onto the sand and stones beneath their feet. They haven't exchanged a word since Laxia screamed at them to not say a word to anyone before she rushed out of the cave. Adol's left cheek still bear the red mark of a slender hand and he asked himself how such a soft hand could carry so much weight and force. He had been in more than just one bar fight and taken his fair share of hits to the face but this slap was one he doesn't want to take a second time. Like why does Laxia need her rapier when she could just use her fists to finish any monster they come across? He chuckled at the thought of Laxia bitch-slapping the huge red Lizard monster they had fought off and winced at the pang of pain in his cheek.
"Soooooo~ Think you can still work tomorrow with her when you have to leave camp? You know, to look for other castaways and ressources and such." Dogi's innocent question was underlined with real worry. He wanted to help his best friend with the task of charting this unknown island, fighting all those strange monsters and rescue every soul they come across, but he was needed at the camp to build it up and keep it safe, he couldn't leave that task to Captain Barbosa alone. So when Adol had the help of Laxia and Sahad he could put most of his worries away and concentrate on his work at the Castaway Village. If this incident destroyed that team, his worries would be back in full strength.
"You worry too much, Dogi.", answered Adol seeing through his strong friend's facade of trying to sound unconcerned. "Laxia will not put the lives of the other passengers in danger because of what happened. I already had a familar accident with her and she still came with me anyway to save Sahad and Alison. She will be pissed at me and rightly so, I went a bit too far with my teasing there, but she will nonetheless do her absolute best to rescue anyone who needs our help."
"A bit?"
"This is what you hang up on?"
"She is a Noble, Adol! You know from our past experiences what Standards the Nobles have and have not. Lying in bed with a common adventurer-"
"Hey!"
"-a hero..."
"Thank you."
"... who most of the world has not heard of despite saving it, does not belong to the usual situations a noble Lady wants to find herself in. Especially not with her chest right up into the face of said adventurer."
Adol scratched his red hair at the compelling argument Dogi had made. If Adol had done this little stunt on the mainland not even his reputation could save him from the penalization of embarassing a Noble.
"But you know... this isn't a usual situation anyway, right, Dogi? Us being stranded on a legendary Island nobody has left to live a tale of." Dogi snorted at that retort.
"Let's hope Laxia sees it the same way."
"She will, I have no doubt about that."
"You only know her for two days, what makes you so sure of it, Adol?" Adol shrugged his shoulders in response, then caressed his cheek carefully as it acted up again due this simple gesture. Dogi shook his head but he smiled reassured scratching bis blue goatee. Looking up to the creeping black blanket of night with twinkling stars adorned on it, he asked his friend another question that was festering on his mind.
"Adol, do you really believe we will get off this cursed Island alive to tell our tales? To continue our journey?"
Looking up to the same nightsky Adol said only one word with absolute confidence.
"Obviously."
Dogi chuckled at the matter-of-fact answer so typical self-confident of the Red-Haired Swordsman, but before he could quiz Adol how he knew this outcome of their future already, some hesitating steps on scrunchy sand got their attention. Turning their heads around they saw Laxia standing behind them, holding a bowl of steaming fish soup in her hands and clearly at a lose of words. On one hand she was still angry at Adol, and a bit at her own fooly, for what had happened in the cave and that this time someone else stood witness of her awkward experience. On the other hand she knew it had been partly her fault for taking up his challenge instead of ignoring it and she knew it was only an accident when she had fallen on him and that he had actually tried to keep her from harm. Not wanting to forgive him but also to show him that he could still count on her in tomorrow's search, she had opted for this option: Cooking.
"Ähem! I-I asked Alison if I could handle dinner tonight on my own. It probably is not as good as Dogi's dish, but it should still be edible." Laxia hated how her cheeks turned reddish and that she couldn't look Adol into the eyes while holding the peace offering in form of a fish soup. With a graceful smile Adol stood up and took the bowl of her hands. When their hands touched he could feel her flinch a bit but she didn't pull away nor let the bowl fall before it was safely in his possession. Adol knew no matter how embarrassed or awkward Laxia would feel she would pull her weight tomorrow, he knew he could trust her and that kind of trust was the most important thing on a dangerous adventure.
"Thank you, Laxia. And I am so sorry for what happened earlier." Adol's heartfelt apology made it easier for Laxia to look the adventurer into the eyes once again and this time she felt in control of her own feelings which calmed her down tremendously.
"Hmpf! Don't think I have forgiven you for this! I just know we need you to find everyone else as quickly as possible, so I figured we'd need to leave this.... incident behind us. Which means nobody else hears about this, did I make myself clear, Gentlemen?"
"YES, MAAM!", shouted Dogi and Adol unisono at which Laxia rolled her eyes before she adressed the former bandit.
"I'm sorry, Dogi, I didn't knew you were with Adol. I will bring you your portion right away."
"No need, Adol and I will come to the fireplace soon enough. Get the others to come join us so that we all can enjoy your very first cooking on your own." Dogi's beamful smile as thanks for eating her food made Laxia grin proudly before she nodded good-bye to rush off to bring the rest of the small village to the table.
"Man, I'd never thought that a young noble Lady like her would be fishing or cooking. Or help us move a large tree outta the way. Or risk her life fighting monsters to save commoners. Shame not all Nobles are like her, right, Adol?"
"Hmhm.", agreed his friend while he was blowing on his spoonful of piping hot fish soup before putting it in his mouth.
"And? How is the young Miss first cooking result?", asked an amused Dogi watching his friend's grimace changing from delighted joy to mournful sorrow. With a crooked smile on his sour face Adol gave his strangely happy verdict about Laxia's cooking skills.
"She forgot the salt."
He had just found another lesson in which he could teach her.
Word of author:
I couldn't find anyone willing to proofread my fanfic and had to do so myself and while I found some mistakes I undoubtedly made new ones or overlooked old ones (worst one was that Adol was written as Aldo in some parts xD). So if besides regular praise (hopefully if any) and critic (hopefully not too harsh) you could point out my numerous mistakes so that I may correct them, I would really appreciate it.
As for the pictures in the spoiler, I wanted it to have Adol and Laxia side by side rushing forward, but I was unable to put the pics at the same size next to each other, so it it what it is.^^
