Stepping Stone (Chapter III)
Series: Tales of Symphonia: Knight of Ratatosk
Characters: Alice, Decus, liger
Disclaimer: Namco owns Tales of Symphonia.
Title: Stepping Stone (Chapter III: Summer)
Rating: PG
Genre: General, romance
Summary: When Decus and Alice are sent out on a long-term mission together, their rocky relationship takes a turn for something smoother and, quite possibly, closer. If only one wasn't as hopelessly obsessed and the other was not in denial.
Once they reached the Palmacosta human ranch, Alice immediately set Decus to work. She climbed off the liger, allowing the beast only a brief moment of relaxation as she ordered it to keep alert. Monsters were lurking around the perimeters of the ranch, no doubt, and she refused to risk a ride. On the other hand, Decus was freely trudging around the area in an effort to find an entrance of sorts. It didn't take long before he found a spot where two pillars were rested against each other, which would have allowed enough opening for all three of them to fit through had the huge pieces of rubble not been there.
"Alice-chan," he called, grabbing the girl's attention, "we can force an opening here."
Approaching the pillars she responded blandly, "then why don't you do it?"
With a nod he turned his gaze back onto the giant stones, kneeling to get a firm grip on one as he worked on pushing it back and forth then left and right, until the stone gave way and fell out of place. Setting aside the rock, he beamed proudly at Alice, who merely looked away with a bored look. He wordlessly returned to his task of removing the obstacles, which wouldn't be a problem taking into account the strength his exsphere granted him. Decus would never admit it, especially not to Alice, but the booster considerably enhanced his strength, more so than he probably could have ever reached through normal means.
The sight of Decus removing rocks soon lost its interest and Alice turned back to where the liger had ventured off. She chose to look in the shady areas, the kind of place beasts would seek out when exposed to unbearable heat. On the way to the ranch she'd realized that the temperature had taken an exponential rise from warm to searing hot. An affect of Ratatosk's slumber, she presumed. Palmacosta's regions were seldom as heated as this, and Alice was sure of her theory.
True to her prediction, she discovered the liger under the shade formed by a wilting tree, its hind legs tucked beneath its sides with both fore legs extended to cool its chest. For a split second she made an ugly frown, but the look of displeasure was gone as soon as it had come; rather, there was now a forced smile on her face.
"You don't seem very alert to me," Alice began, slowly approaching the liger as it quickly rose to its legs. "I thought I told you to be wary of monsters, not to find a comfortable place where you can rest."
She took a step closer, and on cue the monster leaped from its resting spot as if in apology. Its head was lowered and silently begged for forgiveness. But Alice was strict on her orders being followed, and the beasts in her command were not an exception to her merciless whipping. On the contrary: she beat them harder.
- - - - - - - - - -
Decus studied his handiwork, nodding contently to himself before flamboyantly whipping around to declare his accomplishment. "Alice-chan~ It's done!"
Much to his chagrin, Alice was not there.
Rather than feeling embarrassed for his awkward outburst, Decus was ultimately confused by her absence. He hadn't heard or seen her leaving - well, perhaps his humming had obscured his hearing to the point he hadn't picked up on her footsteps. Or maybe something had happened in his moment of ignorance.
« Chapter II x Chapter IV »
Characters: Alice, Decus, liger
Disclaimer: Namco owns Tales of Symphonia.
Title: Stepping Stone (Chapter III: Summer)
Rating: PG
Genre: General, romance
Summary: When Decus and Alice are sent out on a long-term mission together, their rocky relationship takes a turn for something smoother and, quite possibly, closer. If only one wasn't as hopelessly obsessed and the other was not in denial.
Once they reached the Palmacosta human ranch, Alice immediately set Decus to work. She climbed off the liger, allowing the beast only a brief moment of relaxation as she ordered it to keep alert. Monsters were lurking around the perimeters of the ranch, no doubt, and she refused to risk a ride. On the other hand, Decus was freely trudging around the area in an effort to find an entrance of sorts. It didn't take long before he found a spot where two pillars were rested against each other, which would have allowed enough opening for all three of them to fit through had the huge pieces of rubble not been there.
"Alice-chan," he called, grabbing the girl's attention, "we can force an opening here."
Approaching the pillars she responded blandly, "then why don't you do it?"
With a nod he turned his gaze back onto the giant stones, kneeling to get a firm grip on one as he worked on pushing it back and forth then left and right, until the stone gave way and fell out of place. Setting aside the rock, he beamed proudly at Alice, who merely looked away with a bored look. He wordlessly returned to his task of removing the obstacles, which wouldn't be a problem taking into account the strength his exsphere granted him. Decus would never admit it, especially not to Alice, but the booster considerably enhanced his strength, more so than he probably could have ever reached through normal means.
The sight of Decus removing rocks soon lost its interest and Alice turned back to where the liger had ventured off. She chose to look in the shady areas, the kind of place beasts would seek out when exposed to unbearable heat. On the way to the ranch she'd realized that the temperature had taken an exponential rise from warm to searing hot. An affect of Ratatosk's slumber, she presumed. Palmacosta's regions were seldom as heated as this, and Alice was sure of her theory.
True to her prediction, she discovered the liger under the shade formed by a wilting tree, its hind legs tucked beneath its sides with both fore legs extended to cool its chest. For a split second she made an ugly frown, but the look of displeasure was gone as soon as it had come; rather, there was now a forced smile on her face.
"You don't seem very alert to me," Alice began, slowly approaching the liger as it quickly rose to its legs. "I thought I told you to be wary of monsters, not to find a comfortable place where you can rest."
She took a step closer, and on cue the monster leaped from its resting spot as if in apology. Its head was lowered and silently begged for forgiveness. But Alice was strict on her orders being followed, and the beasts in her command were not an exception to her merciless whipping. On the contrary: she beat them harder.
- - - - - - - - - -
Decus studied his handiwork, nodding contently to himself before flamboyantly whipping around to declare his accomplishment. "Alice-chan~ It's done!"
Much to his chagrin, Alice was not there.
Rather than feeling embarrassed for his awkward outburst, Decus was ultimately confused by her absence. He hadn't heard or seen her leaving - well, perhaps his humming had obscured his hearing to the point he hadn't picked up on her footsteps. Or maybe something had happened in his moment of ignorance.
« Chapter II x Chapter IV »