One Flirtatious Knight

Chapter 5: Night at the Beach

Later that evening, Kitsune sat down at the beach. She sighed contently, taking in the fresh, ocean air. She could definitely stand to live in a place like this. She was considering that, even when the job at hand was over, she could move her permanently. It'd take a while to get everything in order -not to mention any possible damage control she'd need to do after the duel- but she was sure she could figure out something!

"You're out quite late."

A familiar deep, accented voice made her jump. She whipped around, yelping as she saw two bright, golden eyes staring at her from the dark. With a slight "hmph!" noise, the figure jumped down. Kitsune sighed, soon realizing it was just the knight she happened to be thinking about.

"And you're quite scary! Do you sneak up on everyone like that?" Kitsune responded, a hand on her heart. 

It was faint, but Kitsune could swear she heard the knight chuckle. His eyes glowed pink for a moment- yet another trick of his she wasn't aware of. She could faintly see his small smirk, as his mask didn't cover his entire face. "Sometimes. It's mostly accidental, but I find it rather entertaining." He responded. Kitsune could just hear the amusement in his voice.

"Well played- you startled me." Kitsune glanced down, muttering under her breath. "Nearly gave me a heart attack... Thought I'd have to defend myself..." 

"I apologize." The dark haired knight responded, walking over and standing next to the rock she was sitting on. "I wasn't expecting to see you out here." He remarked.

The dame shrugged. "I wanted to check out the beach. They don't have one in my kingdom, and I've always wanted to go to one." She explained, reaching behind her head. Before Meta could ask what she was doing, she untied the ribbon that kept her mask in place.

"You... look so normal..." He blurted out by accident, somewhat taken aback. Perhaps it was because he always wore his own mask, but he wasn't expecting her to so casually take her mask off. The best word he could think to use to describe her appearance was... fair.

"Hah- why thank you." Kitsune responded, a slight hint of sarcasm in her voice. "But yeah- I get that quite a bit. It always surprises people when my face isn't covered in scars. Aside from this one." She remarked, pointing to a faint scar on the bridge of her nose. "Training accident."

"I can see that. With all due respect, if not for the outfit, you don't really look like the knight type." Meta responded. 'She doesn't really act like one, either. Though it's a bit too early to really judge that. Still... She really has an air of casualness about her.' He thought.

Now that he thought more about it, why was she a knight? She did mention the knight training coming in handy for an attack, but was it really that black and white? It couldn't have been. She only mentioned it was one incident. Paranoia? Anxiety? Some form of trauma? It could be a number of things.

"How are you doing that?"

Kitsune's voice suddenly brought him out of his thoughts, prompting him to look over at her. "Do what?" He asked.

Kitsune pointed at her eyes. "Your eyes. They were bright green just now." She reiterated. "How'd you do that?" She asked again.

"Oh, er.." Meta paused, thinking about how to explain. He had completely forgotten- his eyes changed color sometimes. One issue with this mask- regardless of how much he concealed his emotions, his eyes always gave him away. A slight crack in his otherwise stoic exterior. Thankfully, no one really understood all the colors.

Two of which, white and purple, he hoped no one would see.

"My eyes change color based on emotions. They only do that with the mask on- for one reason or the other. Green is thinking, blue is proud, orange is irritated, pink is amusement... Red is rage." He explained. 

"Ohh, I see!" Kitsune smiled. "I think it's neat. I can't say I've seen anything like it." She rested her head on her knees, giggling softly. "It's kinda cute, honestly!"

"Cute-?!" Meta glanced away, his eyes pink again- though this time, it was softer. Slightly more pale, more blush-colored. Which was befitting. He was thankful for the darkness of the night, shielding any blush present on his cheeks- which his mask did not cover. "That-That's nonsense. I'm not 'cute'." He huffed.

"Highly debatable, sweets, highly debatable." 

"Again with that nickname?"

"Yes. It's cute. Like you~."

Meta scoffed, trying to fight back a smile. "You're ridiculous."

Kitsune grinned. "And yet you came right to me. Admit it- I'm growing on ya~." She teased.

Well, she certainly had him there.

"If I do, you're not allowed to tell anyone." He stated.

"Ya got yourself a deal, love." Kitsune responded, getting up with a yawn. As her mouth was open, Meta could swear he saw... fangs in the dame's mouth, much like his own. There's no way she was what he was, was there? 

"Man, I'm getting tired... I think I'm gonna head back to the castle." She put her mask back on. "You gonna head back with me, Meta?" She asked.

"Oh, uh. Yes." Meta responded, nodding and following after her. "Right behind you." 

The walk back to the castle was silent. Neither of them really knew what to talk about- not to mention they didn't want to risk waking up any of the townspeople. As they walked, Meta was left alone with his thoughts- the only sound he could hear was his own and Kitsune's footsteps. After a moment there, Kitsune could also be heard humming under her breath- though it wasn't a tune he recognized.

He was thinking about his and his sister's conversation. He had originally only said he'd get closer to Kitsune to put her mind at ease. He thought he'd be able to keep himself from getting attached that quickly- especially since it's only been a few days. Yet, here he was, getting attached to the other knight- the one that was literally hired to duel him. The one that was more or less intended to be a "rival" of sorts- even though he knew neither of them were taking that name seriously. 

Sigh.

Emotions were a pesky thing sometimes...