My Name is Marcus: Sweet Scent

VIII. Sky

"I told ya before, I ain't cold", Marnie whined.

"And I told you before that I wasn't taking ''no'' as an answer", Marcus insisted, his arms surrounding her as he gripped Corviknight's saddle as he sat behind her. "It's past midnight, we're a thousand feet in the air, and your dress doesn't have sleeves, so just keep that jacket on until we get there and let me get away with this one act of chivalry tonight."

Marnie folded her arms in protest. The sleeves of Marcus's jacket were a little long on her, long enough to cover her arms all the way to the tips of her fingers. "You sound like my big bro", she pouted - it wasn't that she didn't want to wear his jacket, but rather that she simply never wanted to admit defeat under any circumstance, even one as lighthearted and silly as this one. In hindsight, however, she should've recognized that Marcus was going to be just as stubborn about it as she was; it was one of the things that drew her to him, after all.

It wasn't all bad, though. His jacket was comfortable; it was made from a fine silk, it kept her nice and warm in the admittedly cool and crisp evening air...

...it smelled like him...

"Fine, you win", Marnie conceded with a smirk. "But only 'cause I figure it as payback for all the times I get on you for not wearin' a coat in the rain."

He smiled back. "Honestly, I'm a little surprised you came without yours in the first place. What happened? Did you get so excited about tonight that you forgot it?", he teased.

"I wasn't thinkin' I was gonna be needin' it, alright?", she fired back with a grin. "In case ya forgot, I was plannin' on goin' home on the train..."

"Yeah", Marcus chuckled, "tonight's just been full of surprises."

Marnie smiled with closed eyes, her sarcastic banter derailed by her own affection as she recaptured the happy memories the night had yielded for her. She leaned gently backwards in her seat and snuggled into Marcus's shoulder. "It really has..."

The couple rode upon Corviknight, who flew high and fast through the air, leaving the evening chaos of the sleepless metropolises of northern Galar behind them. Wyndon and Hammerlocke now seemed like distant memories, and Motostoke was beginning to disappear behind them within the cloak of the night as the humble street lights of Wedgehurst were slowly coming into view from among the vast distance before them. Stars began gradually dotting the night canvas as they rode further and further south.

"Alright, I'm curious", Marcus started, "why did you want to do this again?"

"What?", Marnie queried. "I mean, duh; to see the stars, 'member?"

"No, no, I get that", Marcus responded. "I mean why did you want to see the stars?"

"What? I ain't allowed to wanna do little romantic stuff like this?", Marnie asked jokingly.

"I never said that", Marcus tittered. "We can do all the romantic stuff you want whenever you want..." He blushed. "...Honestly, even just being able to finally say stuff like that out loud is a dream come true in itself."

Marnie felt her own cheeks grow warm as she smiled, letting herself wiggle gently and subtly in between his arms - the feeling was mutual.

"All I'm trying to say", Marcus continued, "is that when said romantic thing requires a late-evening flight all the way to the other end of the region, I feel like that warrants a little more of a reason than "just 'cuz", right?"

Marnie sat in silence for a moment as she pondered a way to best explain herself. "Y'know, the first time I ever visited Postwick... the last time we rode like this on Corviknight together...", she began. "... I remember seein' the stars in the sky that night, and just bein' overwhelmed at how pretty it all was."