Bulletproof girl scouts

Aesop's gone cuckoo

RM's POV

I tried not to laugh. I really tried, I swear.

It was my first time seeing Nara in actual color. Even if it was just one garment, I can't deny that I liked what I saw. The same deep red of her jacket was present in the sleek braids that styled her otherwise dark hair. She looked so beautiful, so damn perfect though I found no visible traces of makeup. She smelled of roses, a faint flowery scent that indulged my senses. It was barely present and I wouldn't have known if I hadn't pulled her to me from running into a pole. A white beanie in contrast with the raven strands framing her pale face, cheeks flushed red from the cold. Her nose glowed alike Rudolph's and when she tilted her head to the side (something I noticed she does while thinking), brows furrowed as she regarded me with confusion, it was too much for my heart. I laughed lightly,
"Well...?"

Her frown deepened, "how do you do that?"

She sounded so adorably lost, I had to hold a fist against my lips to keep the laughter in.
"Do what?"

She tilted her head to the other side. "Be so smart"

I shrugged, "isn't that why you chose me?"

For three long seconds she stared, then she blinked. She whirled around on one foot, stomping it, then marched past me to ascend the stairs with the air of an angry auntie. To me, she looked more like an angry marshmallow and I chuckled as I straightened up, starting after her. I walked at a leisurely pace and she paused at a fork in the path.
"This way", I lightly brushed her arm to guide her. She froze a little at the contact, eyes going wide and blush deepening before she regained her composure. She blinked more than normal and glued her eyes to the concrete under our feet as we took another set of stairs to climb higher. I decided in that moment that I very much liked making her flustered.
"What's that?", she asked when we passed by a rope bridge.

"Just a route to another viewpoint", I explained. "Do you wa-"

"No", she shook her head, glancing at the trench underneath, its depth unfathomable in the dark.

"Okay", I smiled. Scared of the dark, scared of heights and scared of all things indefinite. Now I feel like an ass for bringing her here of all places and past midnight of all times. But in a way, isn't it good that I did? Not that I had another choice - the both of us were famous enough to not be able to walk around in the day. I surely wouldn't have brought her to a viewpoint if I had known, but my cluelessness is making her face her fears. I glanced at her sideways. As long as those cheeks don't lose their color, up until then I'll keep this up.

"We're here", I said as we finally reached the last flight. She looked up, then glanced back the way we had come. Her expression remained placid as she turned around to take the last few steps. I figured she would be uncertain or hesitant to reach this height. Scared, even. But all of those feelings, why mask them so?

"This is it?", her tone was flat and without emotion.

"Yes", I stepped forward. Where we were standing, only the purple glow of the horizon could be seen. To take in the presence of the twinkling gems in the night sky, watching over the beauty of the city, bare in the dead of the night and sprawled out naked under our feet one had to stand on the very edge. Let it all go and breathe as you looked into the very soul of man's creation - what it looked like without its architect. I turned around after taking five steps. I had known she wouldn't follow. She was staring straight ahead in the pitch black, the wind playing with her hair as it danced in the direction of its flow, bending to its will.
"Nara...", I softly breathed and her eyes snapped to mine like registering a threat - alert and watching. I slowly raised my hand from my side and her eyes followed the motion. Her face was set in a mask of stone, but eyes don't lie, my dear....
"Nara, look at me", let's take care of problem number one. She obeyed, looking at my face but I didn't like it. I didn't like the look in her eyes. It was the similar to the time she woke up screaming and thrashing after collapsing in my studio. A lot composed, but similar.
"Who am I?"

She took awhile to answer, "RM". The warning in her eyes vanished and I relaxed. "Look at me", I repeated. "Don't look anywhere else, okay?"

She frowned slightly but nodded nonetheless. I smiled and raised my hand further, palm outstretched to call her out. "Now follow me", I took a step backwards, "come on". Her eyes widened upon realising what I meant. I took another step back, "come on", I repeated encouragingly. She gulped visibly, before taking a hesitant step forward. I mentally congratulated myself as she followed my every word, every step without taking her eyes off me. People tend to flee or wet themselves when told to face their worst fears. Who raised this obedient child?
The process was slow, but I was smiling wildly when my back hit the metal railing. She stopped too, eyes threatening to look elsewhere, probably at the fall behind me.
"More", I said, making sure her attention didn't focus on other factors, "come closer"
She took daring steps, a grit I hadn't known existed till she stepped as close to me as physically possible. Our shoes touching, she looked up at me from under her lashes as if waiting for something. My next words, to be exact.
"Now close your eyes", I all but whispered. She obeyed yet again, lids framed with thick lashes that fluttered slowly like the wings of a butterfly before she closed them. She took a deep breath and exhaled, the warm air hitting my chest from our proximity. I was once again allured by the distant smell of roses and it took all of my willpower to slide away from the railing. I stood behind her and glanced at the view once. It was my first time here and the first time seeing the cityscape from this part of town, yet the view had nothing on the beauty I admired a hundred times greater. I lifted my hands to place them on her shoulders but stopped, dropping them back at my sides. Nara has been brave enough without me trying to make moves on her. I put my hands on the railing instead, ignoring the bite of cold metal as I caged her between my arms.
"Open them", I breathed close to her ear and she opened her eyes. She gasped loudly, hands shooting out to grab the nearest object, my wrists, as her eyes widened in horror at the sharp drop of the hill. She attempted to step back and tightened her hold when her back met my torso.

"Look up, Nara", I commanded with the fear that she would not. Relief flooded my system when slowly but surely, her lids lifted and she gasped again, this time for a different reason. A twin trail of yellow streetlights followed the bridge on the highway that looped like a crossed ribbon. The lights of the city were on yet unblinking, ceased of human activity except for a number of cargo trucks that dotted the highway. The sky was a shade lighter than earlier, the glow of the horizon extending its colours to mix with the black of the sky. All that but still not enough to tear my eyes away from the light in her eyes, those full lips parted in awe. The prick of her fingernails breaking the surface of my skin would only register later, when I wasn't distracted by her eyes turning glassy.

"What do you think?"

She didn't answer me verbally but loosened the vice like grip on my wrists. Then she closed her mouth, a grin of pure delight forming on her face as her eyes danced freely, taking in every little detail from the vastness of the skyline to the twinkling of the stars. She risked a peek at the height once but instantly returned her gaze to the horizon where a vivid magenta had begun to bleed across the canvas of the sky. It was half an hour till sunrise; time ages faster at night and I want to make it stop. Like this. With her in my arms.....happy and content and afraid of nothing. This moment, I want it to last forever. This moment.....

If I can have it everyday, If I can wake up to see her smiling like this I-

She giggled

And along with the loss of feeling that stemmed from my curled hand and extending to my wrists, I was half certain that I died.