Closed [Mt. Skyinarta] One With Nature (Niro)

[Mia Zaro]

As water droplets gather on their skin, dripping down backs, chests and stomachs and chilling both teens down to the bone, Mia was smiling at her best friend as if they were sharing a brilliant Summer day, rather than this dreary Fall one. “You’re too much, all right,” she teased, completely oblivious to any other meaning Niro’s words could have carried. Her fingers ran over the boy’s skin, tracing the outlines of his tattoo before drawing patterns over the inked image. “This didn’t dissolve.” There was an almost honest surprise to her voice. “It’s real after all.”

The truth was that no matter how much Mia teased the young Avora or how often she shouted at him, slapped him or attempted to throw something heavy at him she cared for him deeply. He was annoying, loud (very loud), cocky and a pain more often than he wasn’t, but he was also brave, strong-willed, honest, and incredibly fun to be around. The girl would never ask for another partner, even if she made a point of complaining about being stuck with him again every once in a while. She thought she understood Niro better than most and while he clearly thought she was crazy more than half of the time he had stuck by her regardless.

Spinning as they were now - clumsily, awkwardly and most certainly a sight - Mia was reminded exactly why she thought of him as her best friend. He was never referred to as such, carrying the fondy-given title of “That Idiot” instead, but there were certain occasions when even the stubborn young girl would admit to his importance to her in the privacy of her own mind.

She would tug at Niro’s hands, dragging him in a certain direction for a while before pausing to spin in a circle, their weights carried by their linked hands and balanced by the other. It was more of an artful stumbling than dancing, what they were doing, particularly because both were trying to lead at the same time, but at some point Mia had had started laughing and hadn’t stopped yet, only getting louder by the chime. They were both thoroughly soaked and frozen, their brydas tangling and making it harder to move. The girl’s hair was sticking to her heck and shoulders, sending cascades of water down her back. She could feel her fingers getting numb from the cold and knew it was only a matter of time before she lost her hold on Niro’s hands. With her luck it would end up being mid-spin and she would be sent tumbling to the ground yet again. And Mia had had enough of falling for one day.

The most logical thing to do to avoid such development was obviously to try and send Niro falling first. Her laughter quieted down slowly as she waited for an opportune moment, eyes meeting the boy’s and a mischievous smirk brightening up her face. Her time came after a stumbling semi-pirouette and before another one of their spins. With a triumphant “Aha!” which was probably delivered a little bit too early Mia stuck out her foot, positioning it behind her friend just before he made to step backwards. Then she pulled.

[Niro]

Niro nodded as his friend traced her fingers along his tattoo, briefly wiping away the cold rain before new droplets replaced the old ones moments later. It was an impulsive decision to get it, and he had a little 'recreational' help to get through the pain, though he left that part out of the stories. A pure black eagle across the entire left side of his chest. He wore it proudly, as a symbol of what he was supposed to be, what he would be. "What did you think, it wasn't real?" He brushed her matted hair from her face, shaking his head. "You're so dumb." He grinned. "It's forever, Mia." He had long since joined the Endal in her laughter. Soaked with cold to the core, it was easy enough to forget with all the spinning. "Let me lead you idiot! You can't hold a rhythm to save your life!" Not that Niro was much better, but at least he spent a fair amount of time at the Inclement Weather dancing the night away. The only reason she was ever there seemed to be to ruin his fun. At least in Niro's opinion. This is how most things went with the pair. Niro thought he should be in charge, Mia thought the same of herself. But of course, I'm right. He was able to let their little competition go for the time being. While a happy Mia didn't always mean a happy Niro, this was a case it held true. Her stupid humor and childish antics could crawl right under Niro's skin and set him off but more often than not she'd turn around and make it better with the same actions. They were inexplicable duo, difficult to understand, but they had some way of making it happen. Or at least jury-rigging it and hanging on by a thread. A cold gust of wind sent a shiver to the bone rushing through Niro, bringing him back to the reality of what was happening, but just a moment too late. If there was one thing they'd learned about one another, quiet was never good. Arguably two of the loudest Inarta in Wind Reach, silent was a sign that something was a foot, and right on cue, there was her foot. "M-Mia!" he yelled, her shove/trip combo leaving him with out either foot on the ground. He held onto her hand tightly, trying to take her down with him. Only standing an inch taller than his ridiculous friend, he didn't exactly have much leverage to pull it off as his back landed flush with the ground, knocking his breath away. The cold ground sucked whatever warmth he had left as he whispered through a cough. "You..petching..idiot." His face was that all familiar shade. He'd have been yelling if he could.

[Mia Zaro]

"Of course I thought it was fake. It being you, you would have either talked the tattooist’s ear off and he would have chased you out before even getting started, or you would have ran on your own the moment the needle touched your skin. You're such a crybaby."

What had started out as a few heavy droplets had by now turned into a thick curtain of rain. If you squinted and timed it just right with a gust of wind, you'd probably be able to see the trees edging their clearing. Otherwise,  the only things left in the world for the two teenagers were the ceaseless water, the wet leaves under their feet, and the other. Mia didn't really mind.

As the boy demanded she let him take the lead she conceded gracefully - a breath of fresh air to her usual stubborn refusal. She didn't follow any less awkwardly than she lead the dance, but every once in a while - not too often, of course - it was ok to give in to her partner's wishes. Niro was laughing and Mia couldn't help, but think that this kind of wild mirth looked better on him than the usual cocky smirk. If he were to show that version of 'Niro' to the too many women he tried bedding,, she was certain he would have more success than he did now. He didn't seem to have figured it out thus far and his friend certainly wasn't about to enlighten him. This kind of smile belonged in this moment and others like it and deserved to be left untamed. It was also hers alone.

But as much as Mia enjoyed seeing the young Avora as he was now the restless demon in her was unable to stay idle for too long. Plan formed in her head, she proceeded to an execution closer to perfect than she could have hoped for. Taken by surprise, Niro was relatively easy to unbalance and, despite no lack of effort on his part, the girl managed to miraculously stay on her feet. She grinned down triumphantly at her fallen friend, not feeling the tiniest bit of remorse as he hit the ground with considerable force. 

"Pick up your feet, Niro!" It was an almost perfect imitation of the hunter's voice, delivered by a rather smug-looking Mia. Everything would have been great and this little 'prank' could have easily been added to the unfairly short list of the girl's complete successes, if she hadn't gotten greedy and tried making it even better. With the fallen leaves slick with water and Niro bare-chested and wet as he was Mia had the brilliant idea of 'decorating' the latter with the former. She kicked at the foliage close to the boy sprawled on the ground, not making the connection between 'wet' and 'slippery'. While a few soggy clumps of brown and red did make it into the air so did Mia's feet. 

Having not expected such a development at all, the girl fell with a loud 'oomph' right next to her friend, if slightly turned to the side. Her brows furrowed as she rubbed at her elbow which had taken most of the impact. "It hurts," she complained petulantly, as if she hadn't brought it upon herself and hadn't had it coming. Mia really wouldn't mind terribly if at least some of her plans could go without a hitch. 

[Niro]

His tattoo was far from fake. He still remembered every single bit of pain as the ink tipped needle had pierced his skin over and over and over again. A sizable tattoo like that took plenty of time, therefore it offered plenty of pain. He was exhausted by the time the tattoo artist was done, not to mention hurting plenty, but it wasn't anything he would take back. "Crybaby? I don't even want to know what that makes you," he retorted. While Niro was one to complain about things, he didn't consider himself a crybaby by any means. He only complained about things that needed it, after all. A mocking remark and a failed kick later, Mia had joined him on the floor of the forest. If he'd had his breath back, Niro woauld have burst out laughing. A gasp of air was all he could manage as he rolled over on his side to look at hsi red haired companion. She just couldn't surprise the young hunter at this point. Her clumsiness was to be expected, and her whining because of her own actions even more so. Niro turned on his side to look at Mia, a grin returning to his face. "Ahaha...Mia, you've got the strangest way of apologizing for upsetting me," he said before reaching over and giving her a gentle shove. The rain continued to pour down on the two fools, a violent shiver rushing through Niro. It was getting ridiculously cold at this point, and Niro could swear his hair was freezing. "M-Mia...how much longer at you going to keep us out in this petching clearing?" He rolled over beside her, a cheeky grin on his face. His voice taking on a saucy tone, he asked an unsurprising question. "Are you gonna warm me up?"

[Mia Zaro]

Numb fingers rubbed tentatively at a rather sore elbow as Mia kept her gaze on her friend. Niro seemed to have gone back to being amused, if the laughter-reminiscent heaves were anything to go by, but by now she knew better than to let her guard down after having caused the young man this or that 'misfortune'. Suspicious eyes were trained on his smiling face, but quickly lit up as the blood and the red colour of his anger started fading away from his cheeks.

Niro was laying on his side now and from her position on her back Mia could look up at him without much effort. This particular angle was flattering to his jawline and the girl squinted up at him, trying to decide how terrible it would be to consider him handsome right now. Her arm had relaxed to her side and her fingers were buried in the wet leaves, the slick feeling reminding her a little bit of that of soaked feathers. Her eyes followed the water's path from the dip between Niro's shoulder and his neck to the side of his chest. It was only when she noticed the goosebumps on the hunter's arm and heard the slight tremor in his voice that the girl realised how cold she was exactly. Promptly, a shiver ran over her frame - one that the purposeful tensing of her muscles managed to make more prominent instead of cover up.

"M-Mia... How much longer are you going to keep us out in this petching clearing?" He was asking, as if he thought she was following an actual plan. Mia and plans usually went only one way and that was opposite. At least the enquiry showed Niro realised, for what was probably the first time in his life, that it was her who was in control of the situation. "Why? Do you have somewhere else to be?" The girl teased, but now that they had stopped moving her own voice was affected by the cold.

Perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea for them to get dressed again and try to find some sort of shelter in the hopes of getting a little bit drier and warmed than they were right now. But the part of Mia that surely turned her into a stubborn inconvenience in the eyes of her partner more often than not, refused to abide by logic that had come from Niro (even if in this particular case it miraculously matched common sense).

"Are you gonna warm me up?" Niro had somehow managed to inch closer to the girl and was currently looking at her in a way that somehow managed to combine the usual lighthearted teasing of his voice with a particular glint in his eyes that Mia was used to associating with the presence of at least one other female. She was generally clueless when it came to flirting or charged remarks of any kind, but having been around the Avora for quite some time now, every so often she managed to pick up on what certain words could be implying. Still, it never ceased to amaze her that Niro would even consider including anything of the sort in a conversation with her. And that part of her who knew what those words meant was rather certain that years of friendship be damned, if she gave an indication of possibly being inclined to experiment with that the boy wouldn't hesitate for too long, if at all.

"Not happening." The girl’s fingers closed around a handful of leaves and unceremoniously shoved them in her companion's face, secretly hoping that a few made it into his mouth. She would have probably delivered another comment - something witty that could potentially bring back that lovely red colour to Niro's face - but a sudden succession of sneezes came over her out of nowhere, raking her body and initiating a shiver that refused to subside.

Mia sat up, hoping that a little movement might get her muscles to relax and, crossing her legs, directed her gaze upwards. The rain had assumed a steady, but quite heavy fall, and, if the overcast sky was any indication, it probably wouldn't be stopping before nightfall. The girl tugged at her hair, trying and failing to free some of the stray leaves that had tangled in it. "It's rather cold." While stating the obvious was never really productive Mia had the ability to do it with a particular nonchalance that made it that little bit more annoying. "Are you cold?" Maybe dancing in the rain without the protection of their katinus wasn't as great of an idea as it had seemed to be less than a bell ago.

[Whimsy]

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Experience Award

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Mia Zaro

Exp
+2 Dancing

Lores
Niro: Best Friend
Predicting the Weather

Niro

Exp
+2 Trapping
+2 Dancing

Lores
Mia: Best Friend
Tying Knots for Traps

Comments
A really sweet, lighthearted thread. It was lovely seeing such a friendship between the two. Nice, too, that Mia didn't give into Niro's suave attempts. PM me if you have questions or concerns!