Flo ascended the flight of steps that would take her to the rooftop. As she neared the exit, she could sense something in the air- as if it felt charged, somehow.
Right beside the door was a duffel bag. She set her backpack down next to it, and turned towards the sound of music playing.
An Orochi drone hovered nearby- Hachi, she recalled- and was the source of the music. She recognized it as a currently-popular song, from a movie soundtrack. Hachi beeped three times in greeting, and she gave it a small wave in reply.
Makidai was dancing, facing the sunrise. He was wearing a plain white sleeveless tee, gray sweatpants and rubber shoes. A white bandanna covered his hair, but she noticed that he wasn’t wearing anything over his eyes. For once.
As she watched, she felt something shift in the air. He was now dancing facing her, and was quite obviously trying to impress her. She started to giggle as he performed several pop and lock moves, grinning the entire time.
The music softened as the bridge began, and his mannerism changed as well. He moved towards her, slowly- a predator stalking his prey. Flo could see his naked eyes blaze with quiet intensity.
She raised her chin and held his stare, wondering what he would do. He reached for her hand and began to pull her towards him. She let out a squeak as she realized he meant for her to join him, and she pulled her hand away, laughing and shaking her head.
He pouted for a second before winking and spinning away just as the bridge finished and the song launched into its final refrain. When he reached his final pose, she clapped, and he bowed with a flourish.
Flo was still smiling as Makidai slowly walked towards her, one hand in his pocket, the other scratching his neck as he looked uncertainly at her. “You no want dance with me?” he asked, nervous all of a sudden.
She sniffed. “I can’t dance- not like you do, anyway.”
He considered that. He began to move closer, invading her personal space- but slowly, giving her any opportunity to stop him. When she didn’t, he took his hand and ran it up her arm.
With her other arm, Flo put her hand on his hip. His shirt had ridden up, exposing a sliver of skin, and she felt him tense at the contact and let out a shaky breath. His eyes closed, and she felt a thrill at being able to affect him this way.
When his eyes opened again, they glowed brighter. The hand that played with her arm moved higher, and he traced her cheekbone with the back of his finger.
“Kirei,” he breathed.
Heat rushed to her cheeks, and she lowered her gaze. It wasn’t the first time he’d called her “beautiful.”
A spark of electricity on his bicep caught her eye. She watched as it played over his skin, danced its way up his forearm, to his hand, and to the skin on her face. She jumped a little as the static shock registered.
This seemed to bring him back to the present. “Ah- gomen, gomen,” he said. “You O-K?”
Flo put a hand over the spot on her cheek. “Yeah, just surprised.”
He made a face.
“Seriously, I’m fine. It’s just a little shock,” she smiled.
“Gomen nasai,” he repeated. “Not concentrate enough. Wait.” He closed his eyes again, his brow furrowing.
She chose that moment to run her finger along the exposed skin of his stomach.
He let out a harsh breath. “Riu-san, you kill me.” When he opened his eyes, their light was much more subdued, and Flo knew the moment had passed.
She grinned. “Something tells me you’d like that, anyway.”
He hung his head, sighing in exasperation before moving away. He unzipped the duffel bag and pulled out a white t-shirt. “Put on,” he said, waving it in her direction.
“What? Why?” she asked. “What’s wrong with what I have on?” she continued, looking down at her vest, jogging pants and rubber shoes. He did tell her to dress comfortably…
“Everything,” he blurted out. “Nothing!” he quickly added, waving his free hand up and down in her direction. He huffed, and she noticed how his eyes raked over her body before he closed them tightly. “Very… sexy.”
She giggled upon hearing him say that- his ears had turned pink with the admission. She took the shirt and began to pull it over her head. When she was finished, she saw that he had turned his back to her and was shaking his arms and legs, as if to loosen up. “There. Is this less… distracting, for you?”
He turned back around, and his mouth worked for several moments with no sound coming out. Finally he sighed.
“What?” she grinned.
He frowned. “You, in my shirt.”
“Still distracting?”
He nodded vigorously.
“Well too bad, it’s not coming off. Now are you going to teach me or what?” she said, folding her arms across her chest.
Predictably, he watched said chest and stared at it for a beat too long before muttering something too low for her to hear. “I’m sorry- what was that?”
He didn’t answer, instead pulling out a rolled-up mat and two bottles of water from the duffel bag.
“Maki…”
He silently unrolled the mat and set the bottles nearby.
She tried a different tactic. “Hachi?”
The drone was only too happy to oblige. “Master said ‘She is going to kill me,’ ma’am.”
“Hachi!” he scolded. The drone made a distressed noise and tried to hide behind her.
Flo was laughing as she approached him and placed a hand on his arm. “Don’t be mad at Hachi,” she smiled. “So… I’m killing you, hmm?”
He scratched the back of his neck nervously.
She squeezed his bicep. “You’re cute. Is this for me?” she said, nodding towards the mat.
“Hai,” he replied, thankful for the change in topic. “Sit.”
She did, and frowned slightly when he sat in front of her on the bare ground. “You didn’t bring a second mat?”
“No need.” He pursed his lips, trying to figure out how to begin. “Ano… You can see anima?”
“Well, sure,” she replied. “Like when I produced flame that time on the ship.”
He shook his head. “That was end result. Can you see… before?”
Flo frowned. “I’m not sure I know what you’re getting at.”
He stared at her for a long time. Flo could almost imagine the gears grinding in his head. Then, without preamble, he grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head, tossing the garment towards his bag. Flo was just contemplating how smooth his skin was save for the one strip of hair heading south from his navel. He cleared his throat, and his eyes were bright with amusement when she realized she’d been caught. “See anything?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes. “It’s not like I haven’t seen you without a shirt on, you know.”
He smirked. “Not my body, Furo-san. Do you see?” When she still looked confused, he held his hands palms-up towards her. “How about now?”
This time, she saw little electrical sparks dancing over his hands. “I see the sparks.”
“End result,” he repeated. “See where start?”
She traced the sparks up his arms and over his chest, where they appeared to originate. “Your chest?”
He laughed lightly. “Furo-san,” he chided. “You just want to look…”
She gasped and reached out to smack his shoulder. “You told me to look!”
Laughing openly now, he grabbed her hand and kissed her palm. “Gomen, gomen. Try other way.” He moved her hand so it was parallel to the ground, her palm facing down. Then he placed his hand beneath hers, not touching, palm facing up. He was silent for several moments, then whispered a question, asking if she felt anything.
Flo was about to say that this felt strange, but then she did feel something- a warmth that felt like it was right under her hand. It also felt tingly, and she said as much to him.
“And now?”
The warmth disappeared. “It’s gone.”
He shook his head. “Try again.”
She felt the warmth again. And it faded. Returned. After a couple more repeats, Flo acted on instinct and chased the warmth with her hand. He smiled as her hand hovered over his arm, then his bicep, across his collarbone and finally coming to rest over his chest, over his heart. “It’s so warm,” she observed.
He took her hand and placed it against his skin. “Yours,” he whispered.
Her eyes flew up to meet his bright ones. He smiled, placed another kiss on her palm, keeping her hand in his. “Ah… So, you no see, but maybe in time. But you feel.” He took one of the water bottles, uncapped it, and set it between them. “Now, try putting your anima into water.”
“Um…”
He put her hand over his heart again. Then he put both hands in front of him, palms facing each other but not touching. “Follow.”
She felt the warmth billow forth from his body, and used her hand to follow it down his arm and through his hands. She reached out to the empty space between his hands and found that it was quite warm there. “So… I have to move my anima from here,” she pointed to her own chest, “to my hands?”
He didn’t respond. When she looked, she caught him staring at her chest again. She snapped her fingers before her, then pointed upward. “My eyes are up here, mister.”
The tips of his ears pinked up at being caught ogling her, but he shrugged unapologetically. “Furo-san so sexy, can no help looking.”
She rolled her eyes. “You are hopeless.” She placed her hands so that the bottle was between them, and concentrated. She wasn’t sure what to do exactly, but she must have done something right- she heard him mumble something. “What?” she said, opening her eyes. “What happened?”
He was looking down at the bottle. She looked as well, and noticed that a thin layer of ice had formed on its surface.
“Did… Did I do that?” He nodded. “Wow. Um, what does this mean?”
“You know how I build electricity? This mean you have natural skill with ice.”
“Ice?” She looked at the bottle again. “How does this help us?”
“Now Hachi can look up if Group has research data and we can use it to help you train.”
She let that register for a moment. “And what about you? What happens when you put your anima over a bottle of water?”
He smirked, and after a moment a loud pop filled the space between them. Flo gasped in surprise, noticing a puff of steam rising from the bottle and the odor of ozone. “But you didn’t even put your hands around it!”
“When you practice, you can move anima where you want,” he shrugged.
“Is this how you learned you have a natural skill with electricity?”
His eyes narrowed, and his features hardened. “Iie.”
His change in demeanor concerned Flo. “Maki?”
He looked away, leaning back while propping himself up on his hands. “Group have… other way… find out.”
Flo took him in, seeing a different man before her. He was always happy and somewhat carefree when she was with him- and she had to admit, a bit uncertain and a lot reckless- but this was new to her. He seemed older, haunted by something.
Then the rain fell.
Flo squealed and ran towards their bags, putting her back towards the wall. Maki laughed, picking up the mat before moving to stand in front of her. The roof didn’t extend beyond the door, so he formed a makeshift one by resting the mat over his arms as he placed his hands on the wall, above her head. It was just enough to keep her dry, but he was still getting drenched. She was about to say something when she saw how intensely he was staring at her. Trying to distract him, she asked “What happened back there?”
It worked. He blinked, and when his eyes returned to hers the glow was muted. “Nani?”
She jerked her head towards where they had been sitting. “You went someplace else when I asked you how you found out about your electricity. What happened?”
His brows knit together.
Flo placed her hands on his hips, moving them up towards his shoulders, and back down again. He shivered, let a long breath out. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “You can tell me.”
He searched her eyes for a long minute. “Group shock me.”
“What do you mean?”
He averted his gaze. “Group put me in lab. Put… wires. Shock me.”
Her eyes widened as she realized what he was saying. “You mean- like shock therapy?”
He chuckled darkly. “Think ‘therapy’ wrong word.”
She cupped his face. “How long?” When he didn’t answer, she placed a kiss on his chest, which made him take a shaky breath.
“How long?” she repeated.
He rested his chin on her shoulder so he wouldn’t have to see her reaction. “Still happen.”
“Makidai.” She slowly ran her hands over his back. “Did… Does it… hurt? Are they hurting you?”
He shrugged. “Now, not bad. Know how to take flow. Before… First time, very bad.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Hmm.”
Her touches were meant to comfort him, but as she moved her hands over his skin, she began to explore instead- from his shoulders, down his back, over his ribs and to his chest.
“Furo-san?”
“Shh.” Her fingers danced inside the dimples of his collarbones, then over his biceps, giving them a squeeze.
His lips were now attached to her neck, where he alternated light kisses and gentle nips, here and there sucking on her skin.
She bit back a moan. “If you give me a hickey, so help me, I will kick your ass.” She punctuated her threat by squeezing said ass.
He jumped, taken aback by her boldness. But it only took him a second to recover, and his lips met hers and she felt his tongue lick between hers, seeking permission.
She raised one hand to grab his bandanna, pulling his head sideways so they could deepen the kiss. Her other hand snaked to his stomach, where she toyed with the hairs there.
He moaned into her mouth, and suddenly he wasn’t kissing her anymore. She opened her eyes, confused, noting that they were both catching their breath. “What happened? Did I do something wrong?”
He shook his head vehemently, but she could feel his body practically vibrating with need.
“Then what is it?”
Flo couldn’t decide if he looked ashamed or embarrassed- maybe a combination of both. “I… I want you… So much. Hard to… go slow.”
Raising herself on her toes, Flo placed an open-mouthed kiss on his neck, just under his ear. And she sucked, hard.
When she pulled back, she was pleased to see the mark she left there, as well as the dazed look on his face. Sliding her hand over his neck, she traced the mark with a finger, looked him in his glowing eyes and whispered “Mine.” She said no more, but her expression taunted him, as if daring him to do something.
His lips pulled into a smirk, and he let the mat fall to the ground. She squealed at suddenly being exposed to the rain, but her laughter quickly died as his mouth met hers, and his arms pulled her to him. And he showed her, as much as he could, just how much she did own him.
