Log: Complete

[bound-by-time.livejournal.com]

When; Friday, July 4th
Rating; PG-13 {for kisses!}
Characters; Rosette Christopher || bound_by_time    || Chrono || tenmorehours
Summary; Fouth of july celebrations and a swiped bottle of Rum turns the holiday into a little more.
Log;

Rosette: The sun was setting softly against the horizon, colored clouds floating across the sky as the cool breeze played across the beach. Rosette lead her assistant, sparklers in one hand, his in the other, away from the rest of the people on the beach, her steps a bit wobbly, but she continued on as if unstoppable, as always. She just wanted to be away from all that noise... It had been a while since She and Chrno had just hung out together... instead of meeting incognito. She felt a little sad no, really sad, not having Joshua here as well. She could remember playing with sparklers with him back in the orphanage, this had been one of their favorite holidays, but that wasn't possible anymore. Because she had failed. "Here." She sighed, releasing Chrno's hand to flop down on a log, tucking her sun dress between her knees as the wind whipped her hair round softly. "This is perfect."

Chrono: Chrono stumbled along behind her, studying her as she took him away from the crowd. To say she'd been acting "oddly" all day would be a bit of an understatement. Something was up, but he wasn't absolutely sure what it was. Was it because of what happened with Joshua? Was she still upset? No, of course she'd still be upset. He frowned, inwardly berating himself. He'd been avoiding the subject since he brought her back to he Opera Abandoned, worried that bringing it up would cause her to be upset, but looking at her now...it seemed like maybe he should have checked to make sure she'd been doing okay.

That's settled then, he decided as she sat down on a log. Next chance I get, I'll check to make sure she's doing okay. But gently.

He made an effort to smile at Rosette and settled down next to her, looking out at the ocean. "Yeah. We've had great weather today."

Rosette: She rested her elbows on her knees, playing with the sparklers and separating them, offering one to Chrno. "We really have. Its perfect, just like the forth of July is supposed to be." She tilted her head to the side, smiling over at him. "here, let me light that for you." She was glad Chrno had left out that bottle of rum in the kitchen, a glass and a half of that had chased away her worries about her brother. At least most of them. She lit a match, and placed it under her sparkler, waiting for it to spark before offering it out to him to light his. "Its nice to be out of the City-City."

Chrono: "Thanks." He held out his sparkler against hers and lit it, then held it a little away and watched the sparks dance and fizzle out in the air. "Yeah...the City's nice, but it's good to have a chance to get away from all the hustle and bustle." He swirled the sparkler in the air, sighing a little as he dug his bare feet into the sand. "...And I'm glad I got to spend today with you, too. It wouldn't have felt he same otherwise."

Rosette: "yeah." She replied, holding the sparkler and gazing off into the distance for a bit, a sad smile on her face before she got up suddenly, humming Israfel as she swirled the sparkler around herself, watching the light trail about. "Remember when Elder tried to make his own fireworks and it set his workshop on fire because it landed in his stash of bloomers?"

Chrono: Chrono couldn't help but burst out into laughter at the memory. He bent over a little and struggled to keep a good grip on his sparkler "Do I! My clothes smelled like smoke for a week! I really got in a lather about that when it happened..." He shook his head, still chuckling. "It's funny when I think about it now, though."

Rosette: She smiled over at him, laughing softly as she spelled her name with the sparkler, "I was TERRIFIED when I saw it was on fire. I was afraid all your hair would be burned off. You'd look so funny without your braid." She teased.

Chrono: "My hair?!" He laughed even louder at that, as loud as he had since Mary had left. "I was in a BURNING BUILDING and you were worried about my hair?!"

Rosette: "I knew you'd be fine. You're invincible" She sighed, "But your hair...I'd miss braiding it so much." She swirled the sparkler in a slow circle, "I missed it, you know. Doing that." She laughed, the sparkler burning out. The sun was setting beautifully behind her, sending warm golden light across them.

Chrono: He took a deep breath, his laughter slowly fading away. "I'm not invincible, Rosette. But I'm glad you were at least somewhat worried about me." He watched as the last of his sparkler burnt out, then looked up at Rosette with a smile, brushing his bangs away from his forehead. "I missed it, too...particularly when I tried to do it myself," he said with a snort. "It looked like a mess."

Rosette: "I wont deny that." She snorted, twirling around and sitting down heavily on the log, jerking it up under him from the sudden weight. she glanced over at him and lightly snagged his braid, playing with it gently. "I always wanted hair as long and pretty as yours." She hummed, eyes half way closed as she ran her fingers down the braid, trying to follow one of the chunks of hair.

Chrono: He jumped in surprise when the angle of the log suddenly, sliding him a little towards the blond. "Whoa, careful, Rosette!" he said, quickly putting out a hand to balance himself on he log. He couldn't help but stare at her when she took his hair in her hand, although it didn't really bother him. He was used to her touching his hair. "...Oh, so that's what it is. You're living vicariously through me. ...Or, well, my hair."

Rosette: "Completely!" She laughed, almost giggled, smacking him in the face with the end of his braid, "You know, braiding it, brushing it, I'm so horrible I know. But Its and addiction. "

Chrono: "I guess there's worse things you could be addicted to..." He blinked his eyes to keep his hair out of them, and pushed her hand slightly away to look at her face. "...You're very silly today," he said as casually as he could.

Rosette: "Hmn? Oh yeah. I found that bottle of rum you were using for those cheesecakey things." She replied easily, going back to playing with his hair, "Its actually really good." She offered him a grin, and giving his braid a little tug. "You should have tried it."

Chrono: He stared at her for a moment, his mouth dropping open. So this wasn't because she was upset about Joshua? She'd just gotten herself drunk on rum?? "Rosette, that wasn't for drinking, I was using that for baking!" he said in exasperation, reaching over to tug his braid out of her hands. "Why in the world would you do something like that? And how much did you have, anyway?"

Rosette: "Just a glass and a half." She sighed, tilting her head to the side to watch him, letting him take the braid back, laughing slightly. "I wanted to stop thinking about Joshua, buuut." She flicked his nose lightly, sighing, "It didn't work. Did it?"

Chrono: Oh...so this <i>was</i> tied to Joshua. "...Rosette..." he began, pausing for a second to try to figure out the best way to say what he had to. "I can understand why you'd be upset about Joshua, but...you could've talked to me about it instead of drinking."

She laughed, pulling another sparkler out of the box, and let her breath out in a little 'wooooo'. "I can talk to you about a lot of things Chrno, but some of it would reaaaaaaaaly gross you out. It actually grosses me out. A lot "

Chrono: Chrono winced, turning away from Rosette to look out over the water. "...Those horns really make him screwy, don't they?"

Rosette: "Reaaaally Really screwy." She mumbled, watching the sun set as well for a long moment, before turning to him suddenly, her eyebrows pushed together. "Chrno. Can I kiss you?"

Chrono: Chrono's mind was so full of a random, confused train of thought that it took a few seconds for what she said to sink in. When it did, he turned and stared at her as if she'd just told him she had come from the planet Venus to take his hair for wigs for her people. "...Sorry, I think I'm hearing things. Can you say that again?"

Rosette: She frowned slightly, as if second guessing herself, before leaning forward, her eyebrows pushed together and eyes lowered. "The last person I kissed...really really kissed, was my brother. I really hate it." She lifted her blue eyes to his, her eyes a little unfocused. "Can I kiss you Chrno? I can trust you."

Chrono: The request immediately brought a blush to his face, and if his mind had been cluttered with thoughts before, now the noise in his head was so loud he could barely sort out anything coherent KISS him? Really? But they weren't anything like that! He was her assistant, there wasn't any reason that he'd kiss her (no matter what anyone else said about the two of them)!

...But she wasn't asking because there was something between them. It was because there was something she needed to forget. ...Something for which he was, in a way, responsible.

But, of course, she'd had some rum, who knew how much that was really affecting her? And...

He swallowed and tried to speak, his voice coming out almost as a nervous squeak. "R-Rosette, are...are you sure that won't just make things worse?"

Rosette: She rolled her eyes, sighing a bit. What had Shiki said about her outdated slang? Chrno had made it worse, she had almost gotten used to being ahead of her time before he arrived. But she couldn't help but let it spill out. "Cash or check Chrno?" She insisted, her lids lowering and lips parting slightly.

Chrono: He was going to regret this later. He knew he would. He'd get home later tonight and beat himself up about how badly he handled this. He was supposed to be the mature one, in control of the situation. He <i>wasn't</i> supposed to go along with the ideas of a young girl who was making a decision while buzzed on alcohol and in emotional turmoil.

But something drove him to do it anyway. Whether it was guilt over his part in the whole mess, or his normal tendency to let her take the lead (or maybe, even--as much as he wished to deny and hide it--an actual attraction to, affection for the girl), when he saw her lean forward he felt himself respond in kind. <i>Just a small one,</i> he told himself. Next thing he knew, his head was tilting slightly at an angle and his lips were pressing against hers.

And it felt like someone had lit a sparkler and shoved it through his ears. Kissing Rosette wasn't supposed to feel <i>this</i> way, was it?!

Rosette: Her eyes widened as he leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers before she had even realized it. Her stomach jumped in a strange way, her heart fluttering as she closed her eyes, placing a and against his cheek carefully. It was funny how different kissing Chrno felt from kissing her brother. It felt nice, like someone had filled the air around them with laughing gas, leaving her light headed and giddy, heart fluttering. She pushed a little closer, taking in a breath through her nose as she parted her lips and tried to get him to do the same, in no way as skilled as Joshua or Doumeki.

Chrono: His face felt like it was burning, and he was sure he must look beet red now. Was she doing what he thought she was trying to do? No, no, no, this was way too fast, they can't go from having nothing to...to...this! He hesitated, putting a hand on her shoulder as if trying to reassure her that he didn't have a problem with her, he just....he wasn't sure. He'd gotten so used to automatically rejecting the idea of him and Rosette as a couple that to actually kiss her was odd and strange and somehow <i>wrong</i>...

But he really wanted to. He leaned a little into her kiss, parting his lips just slightly even though it was going against his better judgment

Rosette: She was glad that the alcohol had restricted her ability to think too much, because if she had there would have been absolutely no way in hell she would have allowed herself to continue with this. As it was, all that was going through her mind was how <i>nice</i> this felt. She deepened the kiss slowly, eyes closed and cheeks flushed, her hand slipping from his cheek to move into his hair.

The sun set gently on the horizon behind them, the skies turning purple and dark blue by time the blond pulled away slowly, her breath short and cheeks pink.

Chrono: Chrono stared breathlessly at the girl in front of him, his mind blank for a moment as if it shut down. He felt lightheaded and mixed-up and...confused. He'd gone to such great lengths to have this <i>not</i> happen...was he wrong? Or was he right? He wasn't sure. But even though he couldn't say he minded the kiss, he felt an odd sense of dread boiling up in his stomach.

He hesitated before speaking, softly and slowly. "Rosette..."

Rosette: The girl opened her eyes at the sound of her name, watching him with that same, almost dazed expression that had been on his face before she gave him a little smile and dropped her eyes in embarrassment "Uh, thanks...." She mumbled, suddenly unable to meet his eyes anymore. Her heart was still pounding in her ears, and she didn't know what to say past that.

Chrono: "I...." He cleared his throat. Why did it feel so dry? "Rosette, um, I...I mean...." Agh, the last thing he wanted to do was make her upset...not after she was seeming so upset about everything. He didn't even know what he could do to help otherwise...he sighed softly. "You're welcome."

Rosette: She nodded a little, turning to face the darkening horizon again, and fingered the remaining sparklers in her hands. "Here." She shoved one out in his direction.

Chrono: "Um...thanks." He took one of the sparklers in his hands, twirling it around. "Do you want me to light yours for you?"

Rosette: "Sure." She glanced over at him, still blushing as she offered the tip of hers to him, nibbling on her bottom lip. "I wonder what Joshua's doing right now." She sighed before really thinking about it. "I hope he's at least eating something good for the holiday..."

Chrono: Chrono frowned, lighting his sparkler and pressing it against hers to light it too. "Was he not eating enough while you were there?"

Rosette: She held hers still until it sparked, and then pulled it away, holding it up in front of her. "He would eat fine. Just, i mean eating more for the holiday. I haven't heard anything of him on the network..." She frowned a little, eyes distant. "I hope he's ok."

Chrono: "They say that no news is good news." He twirled his sparkler lazily in the air, choosing his words carefully. "If something bad had happened, we would have heard about it I think. It's frustrating not having any information about him, but it's probably just a sign that he's staying out of trouble....which can only be good."

Rosette: "Yeah." She looked up at her sparkler, and then trailed it into a heart shape slowly, glancing over at him. "I guess." And since he was dead, it wasn't like he'd starve to death... Her lips twitched down a little, before sighing and running her fingers through her hair. "Thanks. I should stop worrying so much huh."

Chrono: "It's understandable...you're his sister, and you two were always close."

Rosette: She nodded, spelling her last name with the sparkler. "Its weird, when I was in the cathedral with him, I would look for ways to just get a little time to myself. Now." She sighed, "I just want him back so bad." She shook her head, "Sorry. Todays supposed to be happy, I shouldn't be depressing."

Chrono: "It's okay," he said softly, doodling random symbols in the air. "I'm actually sort of glad you're talking to me...I wanted to ask you how you were doing, but I didn't want to bring up something that would make you upset."

Rosette: "I'm not upset." She mumbled, swirling hers around as it burned down. "Not because you bring that stuff up." She sighed, sliding off the log and leaning back against it, kicking her feet out in front of her. "Whooo. I miss the big fireworks."

Chrono: "I was able to find some decent fireworks in the City," he responded, glancing down at the girl. "In fact...I should probably head back soon so that I can help set them off."

Rosette: "Oh yeah." She mumbled, "You probably should." She glanced over at him, offering a smile. "Unless you want Shiki to burn himself."

Chrono: He chuckled softly. "That's tempting, actually. ...And you'd at least be happy about it, wouldn't you?"

Rosette: "HAH, yeah." She snickered, sighing. "Shiki running across the beach on fire....that'd be so fun."

Chrono: "Poor Shiki!" He shook his head, but he still couldn't help but laugh. "He's really a nice guy, you know."

Rosette: "Mnnn Maybe." She snickered, "Maybe maybe."

Chrono: "Maybe nothing. He is. I know he is."

Rosette: "IF you say so Chrno." She reached out and shoved his leg a little, laughing. "I trust you."

Chrono: He smiled softly, although one of his hands was fiddling nervously with the end of his braid. "...I'm glad you do."

He stood up, stretching his arms a little bit and scuffing his feet in the sand. "...I should probably get back."

Rosette: "....Alright." She sighed, drawing her knees up to her chest as the sparkler burned out. "I'll catch up later."

Chrono: "...You sure?" He questioned, his tone light but a frown on his face. "You might miss Shiki catching on fire."

Rosette: "Yeah." She looked up at him and offered him a warm smile. "I'm sure he wont catch on fire. Don't worry." She waved her hand at him. "Get going, before I kick you in that direction."

Chrono: "Rosette..." He sighed, hesitating for a moment before nodding and walking backwards back towards the rest of the party. "Alright. But get back before it gets too dark?"

Rosette: "I'll be there!" She waved after him, wrinkling her nose lightly at him. "Don't worry so much."

Chrono: "Fine, fine, I won't!" He waved back, then turned and started to jog back to the party.

...He'd ask Rosette about it later. That's what he'd do. Best to not ignore it, right? ...Right?

Rosette: Rosette sighed, watching him leave before resting her chin on her knees, lighting the last sparkler and holding it up. "Happy fourth of July Joshua." Happy fourth of July.