"Kid?" you tried to get his attention, hoping he didn't hate you now.
He jumped a little at the sound of his name, and he turned his head to look at you. He caught your gaze and blushed, then quickly forced his focus back on his feet.
"Uh-huh?" He glanced at you uneasily from the corner of his eye.
"Wh-why did you offer to help me in the snowstorm?" It seemed like a reasonable question.
His expression softened and a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "I sensed your soul, and- well I don't know, really. I never really thought much of it. Why do you ask?"
You sighed, knowing you weren't going to get a direct answer from him. "Just wondering, I guess." You glanced around, avoiding eye contact.
"There you two are!" you heard Liz call from up ahead.
Patty ran up to you. "Are you guys ready?" she asked excitedly.
"We sure are!" you answered for both of you.
Patty smiled and took yours and Kid's hands and dragged you onto the field. Some targets were already set up in a line.
"Ladies first," Kid said grinning, gesturing to the targets.
You squinted your eyes at him. He knew you didn't like to use your magic, but you didn't complain. 'No one judges you here,' you reminded yourself. 'Just be yourself.'
You sighed and faced one of the targets. Kid chuckled expectantly.
"Let's see..." you whispered to yourself in thought. You closed your eyes in concentration, sensing and acknowledging the magic blood that coursed through your body. You took a deep breath, and, holding your hand out towards the red and white bullseyes, you set every taget ablaze simultaneously. The ember glow of the flames reflected on your faces, the steady crackle of the wooden targets making the situation seem more creepliy deadly. You could easily take a whole army of enemies out with just that one move.
Your eyes widened, startled at what you just did. It'd been months since you'd done anything like that. You looked over at Kid and the girls, Patty- as usual- interested and amazed, Liz as indifferent as ever, and Kid only half-interested.
Your eyebrows pulled together in frustration. 'I guess it's gonna take more than that to impress the son of the Grim Reaper...'
"I'm no good..." you admitted. "I've had no practice." You lowered your head in defeat. "Although... there is something i can show you... something I'm a lot better at..."
The trio was intrigued; they watched you in anticipation with eager expressions.
You waved your hand around in a few motions, and Patty was suddenly dressed in a beautiful diamond-embroidered, bright pink dress, showing off your creative side. She looked down in shock, then squealed in exitement, giggling.
"I spent half of my childhood designing clothes for Blair and my youngest sister Caitlyn and I," you proudly stated, beaming.
"Ohh-ohh give me one!" Liz begged.
You nodded and flicked your wrist around a couple of times; now they were both dressed in matching outfits. They smiled, exstatic.
Kid gaped at your creation. "What... glorious... symmetry!" he exclaimed.
You looked at him with questioning eyes. "Huh?"
"Symmetry," he repeated.
Liz knew this conversation wasn't going anywhere unless she contributed her two cents. "He has an obsession with symmetry... I mean, TOTAL OCD."
"IT'S NOT OCD!" he denied. "Symmetry is key; everything must be aesthetically pleasing."
Liz looked at you and whispered, "It's OCD."
"I don't think it's a bad thing," you commented. "I didn't even notice..."
She gaped at you. "Surely Kid has had at least ONE freak-out about perfection since you met him."
"Well, yeah," you admitted, remembering how he freaked out about being one minute late, although he was perfectly on time. "But-"
"See?" Liz inturrupted. "OCD."
Kid turned and stormed off, embarrassed.
"Kid, wait!" you called to him, following him.
He ignored you and kept running towards the wooded area that surrounded the west side of the field. He stopped at the edge of the forest for a split second, then he disappeared through the underbrush.
You sprinted after him calling his name. "Kid!"
No answer.
You sighed and followed him through the thick foliage. Thorns and dead twigs scraped against your body, cutting your skin, but you ignored the pain as you searched for Kid. You stopped for a second listening out for any movement or looking for signs that he was nearby. "Kid!!" you called his name once more. There was still no reply.
At this moment, and you didn't know why, you felt like crying. You ran deeper into the forest, maybe running in circles; you weren't paying attention to that. You came across a small stream, its crystal clear water creating a soft bubbling noise against the smooth river-stones, although the sound wasn't as soothing as it would be on any other occasion. That was all you could hear though. Then you heard a rustling in the leaves of the tree above you, then a loud snap and someone cursing.
You felt something heavy fall on top of you, knocking you on your back.. "Ow!" you yelped, taken by surprise. You looked up at what- no... who was lying on top of you.
"Kid?"
He blushed a deep red when he realized what just happened. "O-oh... I... I-I'm s-sorry!" he sputtered, embarrased, as he struggled to get up quickly. "I'm sorry," he apologized again, helping you off the ground.
"Kid, why'd you run away like that?" you asked him, a pained expression coming over your face.
"Liz is right... I'm just an OCD freak..." he covered his face with his hands in shame.
"Kiddo-kun... it's who you are. There's nothing wrong with being OCD," you soothed him, rubbing his shoulder.
He peered out at you through his fingers with his yellow eyes. "Yes there is... everyone's annoyed by it," he grumbled.
"I'm not..."
"Because I don't want to annoy you..." he thought for a second. "No, it's because I don't want to lose you...."
You looked at him in shock, speechless.
"What I sensed in your soul the day we met... it was... perfection. You're perfect." A silent tear streaked down his face. "And I'm not."
You shook your head. "No... you're not perfect..." you allowed.
"I kn-"
"...you're more than perfect," you inturrupted him, finishing your sentence.
He slowly lowered his hands from his face and stared at you with an unreadable face.
You blushed and looked away.
"Kid! Alexus!" you heard two familiar voices calling your names in the distance. It was almost sunset, and the sky was tinted orange, casting shadows to the East. You sighed and began walking back towards the field, you heard Kid's footsteps following behind you.
The two of you emerged out onto the field to find Liz and Patty standing at the edge of the forest, waiting.
"Sorry, Kid," Liz apologized.
"'s okay," he muttered. He was obviously thinking about what you had said in the forest.
"Uh, I guess I'll see you around, Kid..." you said, then you turned to go home.
