whenyouneedme | INBOX

Kyoko hrrmmd in a way that suggested she wasn't totally satisfied, but she did see his point. It wasn't like anyone here was worried about keeping a roof over their heads or where their next meal would come from, after all. But still!

"What did you say this runs on?" Gingerly, she climbed up behind Kaito, but her hands hesitated to find purchase on him. "You should get fair compensation for that, at least." Here, would it be enough if she just sorta held onto his shirt?

He sat nice and still as she got settled in. How she decided she wanted to hold on was going to determine what kind of ride they took. This was becoming a guaranteed ticket for a leisurely trip.

"Mm, electricity. I just gotta plug it in between trips." Kai tilt his head a little. "You good like that?"

... Was she good like this? Kyoko looked at her hands, and sighed inwardly over her own silliness. In the end, she was still touching him! Even if she could somehow manage to keep the part of his shirt she was holding completely slack from his body throughout the whole ride, there was no way to keep their legs from touching--there was only so much space. There was no point in acting like this! When she had signed up for it herself!

So she went ahead and scooted in closer, avoiding Kaito's eyes as she looped her arms carefully around his waist. "... I'll do it correctly."

That was better. He wasn't gonna harp on it unless it had become a problem, since he wasn't sure where they stood with the whole... everything? There had been moments, but Kai felt like it was still better to err on the side of No Touchy. He might have given her arms a pat otherwise.

"S'all good."

Once he was sure she was good, Kai eased back out into the street to begin their aimless journey to anywhere. The relative quiet of the bike meant it was fairly easy to still talk back to her at this leisurely pace. "You wanna do a few loops around town and see if anything strikes your fancy?"

Perhaps Kaito could guess this, but Kyoko wasn't sure where they stood with the whole everything, either. Or rather, she wasn't sure where she stood, only where she wanted to stand. She would have liked a better way to deal with it than quietly slipping people money, but it was still the best she could think of.

But it was nice to see Kaito, even if this was kind of an awkward way to do it. So she settled in, and tried not to fuss. "Mm. Whatever route you like is fine! Maybe we can stop at a park, or something like that?"

That was perhaps a guess he had had. Touching aside, he was at least confident in the Friendship. That was the important part anyway! He was still fine with as little or as much of everything else that Kyoko wanted, so he was going to just (mostly) keep following her lead. A touch of Necessity was Different.

It still felt pretty nice though.

"Hmm..." Kai thought about it as he led them down the road. A park or something. Hm.

"..Ah. I've got an idea. We'll drive around a bit first, so just enjoy the ride."

An idea. How mysterious. That was fine, though--Kaito got to pick the destination, which made her feel that much better about the whole aimless situation she'd landed them in. And given how mobile he was, he probably knew Havenwell way better than she did, right? Kyoko was ready to believe there were still plenty of corners of it she hadn't seen yet.

So she shot back an easy "ah, okay!" and let her hold on him get just a little more snug. That was fine. This was fine.

It was definitely fine.

Kai smiled a bit to himself as they went on their way. The trip started with more familiar paths, following the ones they may have taken to get to the temple. Something tried and true in a new way. A nice control to get her comfortable. Then he was changing course a bit, taking her down less traveled side roads. There was the occasional sleepy little shop tucked away back there with their fashionable scarves and bits and bobs peaking out the windows. Rogue flowers that had been left to grow out of their odd placements waved them by.

And then they were out, trailing by where the city limits used to be. This was definitely taking the long way around to where Kai had in mind, but there were reasons.

"Kyoko," he called back to her, "y'wanna go fast at all?"

Even with that quiet electric motor, bike rides still weren't the best for conversations, and it was easy enough to fall into a silence that just got more comfortable as it went on. Her grip on him didn't really slacken or get stronger, but after a while it sort of... settled in more. Kyoko might have expected herself to get antsy about all this prolonged close contact, but with the sunlight on her back and the city scenery lazily slipping by, the thought of it just fell out of focus.

It had been a few weeks since she ventured out quite this far, and Kyoko was wondering about Kaito's intentions even before he spoke up. Was there something new out here, or--?

"Huh?" Her eyes widened, and now she did tighten her grip a little, instinctively. "Um! How fast is fast?" It wasn't that she didn't trust him to be a good driver, but--she just legitimately didn't know, okay! "Can we start with medium-fast?"

There was nothing wrong with not knowing yet. Figuring that out was the whole point of asking first. "'Course! We're goin' kinda... on the slow side right now, I'd say." A very nice cruise of a speed. Very safe and good.

"We'll ease into it, alright? Gimme a shout if it's too much!"

Off they went down the empty road. She'd already had a good grip, so Kai hadn't felt the need to remind her as he pushed the throttle bit by bit. Faster... a bit faster... a little more...!

Zooooooom.

They'd been going slow? Kyoko hadn't thought they were going fast, exactly, but it had felt like a pretty normal pace to be traveling, right? And she didn't think she was a speed wimp; she'd fearlessly competed with cars on her bicycle before.

But they were quickly ramping up to a new level, now. Not even noticing how tight her arms had constricted around him, Kyoko pressed in close against Kaito's back, stunned by the strength of the wind whipping around them as they cut right through it.

"Ah--! "She gasped at some point, but didn't say a word in protest. This wild, giddy thudding in her chest wasn't the bad kind at all.

The closer she got, the more at peace he seemed to feel. That dragon inside of him had been more restless than he realized, the anxiousness that he had been feeling only apparent after it had ebbed away. It hadn't gripped him quite as strongly as it had with Shinji, because there hadn't been those soft-spoken hopes and dreams.

Right from the start, Kyoko had been much like Reyson. This wasn't a place she wanted to be. This wasn't a place for her to stay. Even Rawna's influence seemed to know that.

He still wanted to fly with her though. Maybe he couldn't take her higher, but they could still soar. He could still spirit her away for a selfish period of time. He couldn't even really explain why, but he wanted to. That was enough.

They'd been going at a comfortable speed for a highway. They could go a little faster though. Just a for a little bit. Just enough to really kick that adrenaline heart into gear.

It was too bad Kyoko didn't know anything about the troubles in Kaito's heart--at least, not the new ones weighing him down today. Knowing might have wiped away the last traces of hesitation about holding him so close; it might have made her a little gentler, more tender with him, since it was just the two of them out here in this vast new landscape anyway.

But she didn't know, so there was nothing to dampen the rush as he took her flying, nothing to restrain her from letting out a wild, joyous laugh into the wind. The squeeze she gave him was probably a little too tight, but she didn't even remember to worry about being considerate--not yet, not in this moment. Just for now, everything was untethered and pure.

No, he wouldn't have had it any other way. This was perfect just as it was. Tenderness could be nice, but this unhindered joy was such a scarce commodity on its own! There was her warmth against his back, the feeling of her holding on so tight and the way that laughter sounded as it danced away in the wind-- all of these things were perfect additions to his own little hoard, and he laughed right along with her.

Getting to share that experience was more than enough for him.

They zipped along at that speed for a while longer, whipping past all these new sights. Those were all their own adventures for another day. They were already pretty booked up right now. Eventually they started getting closer to more familiar parts of town, and Kai gradually eased them back to the casual riding experience they'd had before. Kai glanced over his shoulder briefly, a twinkle in his eye.

"Y'good?"

Kyoko let all that scenery wash over her, just like the sound of Kaito's laughter, everything blending together in a sunny blur. Maybe this was why she had asked him for a ride; maybe some part of her had known it would be this way, had craved all this closeness mixed up with the taste of freedom.

She was still giddy as he eased them down from those heights, that wild heartbeat only slowing gradually, lingering even as they got closer to civilization. His question was met with a giggle. "Where are we really going?" Now that the thrill portion of the journey was apparently over.

It was extremely satisfying to hear all that joy linger even as they switched gears. Getting her all loosened up and comfy was a very good side effect. Kai chuckled.

"Well, pretty sure I've got another promise to keep," he explained as the slipped back into the commuter pace. They'd definitely taken the scenic tour to get there, but they weren't too far off. Here came the botanical garden... there went the botanical garden!

It was true, this was probably the most relaxed she'd been in a good while. And after such a heart-pounding experience! Even as her pulse finally calmed, she didn't think to slacken her arms around Kaito--there was only the gentle easing of her arms as the tension from all that adrenaline left them. She was still pressed pretty snug against him as she peered over his shoulder to see the road ahead.

"A promise?" How many promises had they made? Was he taking her somewhere with a bunch of oranges to peel? (So like, his house?) Was today the chosen day of the orange peeling race? No! She wasn't ready!

Oh hi botanical garden, bye botanical garden. That put them close to....

"--Kaito!!" If not for the whole bike ride situation, she'd be bouncing a little. "Are we--are we gonna look for bugs?"

Edited 2020-06-30 04:14 (UTC)

That energy was pretty infectious enough even without the bouncing. He wasn't really the bouncy-sort himself, but, hey. This might have gotten him going.

"Bin~go~"

He'd been there to help with the exhibits, but technically Kai still hadn't been to the zoo as a visitor. It seemed like a pretty good day for it? "If you're interested in that destination."

"I'm interested!!" Maybe she wasn't actually so gung-ho about seeing bugs, herself, but they'd made a pinky promise! This was something tied up in Kaito's precious memories, and he was actually willing to share it with her! There was no way that wouldn't feel special, right?

"Let's go there! Where the bugs are!" She was gonna try real hard for him on this!

It was a little bit surprising that she was this enthusiastic about it, but Kai appreciated it. "We'll see if they got 'em!" He actually still wasn't 100% sure on that point. "It'll be nice to check up on the other critters either way."

They'd find out soon enough! It didn't take long to park at their destination. Kai leaned back a bit, taking his helmet off so he could give her a proper flash of a grin.

"Here we are."

There they were, and there he was. Kyoko couldn't say why exactly, but something about that grin hit her like another quick burst of the fresh air they'd raced through out on the open road. It woke her right up to the fact that she still had her arms around him, if more loosely, even though'd already stopped! How unnecessary! Jeez!

"You really took the long way around, huh?" she chattered, with a quick grin of her own. Get moving, Kyoko! Time to hop off the bike and pop that helmet off her head, revealing a poof of mussed hair.

"Mhmm," Kai hummed as he slid off the bike. Oh no. Look at that poof. His was probably just as much of a nest, but it didn't have the advantage of being cute. Fueled by this, that grin of his took on a more dangerous playful edge. "Good thing you're not paying by the mile, huh?"

His hand was already halfway through a tidying ruffle of her hair before Kai realized once again what he was doing. He'd gotten so used to it with Shinji! "Ah-- sorry, sorry," he apologized as he moved instead to pop his helmet into the storage. "It's a habit."

Kyoko had only gently swerved away from his hand, and she answered his apology with a shake of her head. Carrying people, ruffling hair--for someone who had told her he didn't actually do a lot of touching, back when they first met, Kaito sure did have a few funny habits.

Handing over her helmet, she combed her fingers through her hair herself. "I'll have to remember to tip for all that extra," she threatened mildly, ignoring the subject of headpats altogether.

These were admittedly somewhat new habits. He'd been very earnest back then! Things just... changed, sometimes.

He just shook his head in turn. He really didn't want to actually take her money for just doing whatever the hell he wanted to do. That seemed weird, but that was an argument for later. Kai was more than content to keep up this light going for now. "How sneaky of you," Kai chuckled, putting the helmets away.

All ready to go, Kai beckoned towards her to follow him to the entrance with some pep in his step. "Let's see what we can find."

Don't worry, there would be no arguing when she simply shoved the money into his account. He'd advertised this as a service and she'd wanted to support him! Just deal with it!!

But now it was time to simply bounce along beside him. "So you think they'll have beetles after all? I helped out a little bit with the renovations, but I didn't get to look around at all."

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