Fan Fiction ❯ Never Ever in a Million Years ❯ Arrogant Wizards and the People who Love Them ( Chapter 11 )

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own Chrono Trigger. Gee, I'm sorry if you were mistaken. That's for the happy people at Square.

"Would you give it up already, four-eyes?!" Magus snarled, stomping his foot on the ground. "We're stuck here whether you like it or not!"

"Oh, shut up! You don't actually want to STAY here, do you?!" Lucca was playing around with the Gate Key, trying to get the Gate that had deposited them there to re-open. No such luck, though... Magus was standing nearby, arms crossed over his chest, looking extremely irritated.

"No, I most certainly do NOT want to stay here. It's dark, it's cold, and there's YOU, no less. But you prancing around like an idiot with that key is getting annoying. It didn't work, it's not working, and it will not work...so stop showing off your I.Q. and put it away!"

Lucca turned towards him, feeling vexed beyond her wits. "Oh, and what does Princey here suggest?!" she growled at him in a loud voice. "We just sit here, hold hands, and wait to die?! Yeah, that sounds like a comment from a person with a three digit I.Q number!"

"I don't know if YOU noticed, four-eyes, but we're still quite far from dying. We're in a cave, protected from the elements, not to mention I was holding my pack when the Gate opened. That means we've got both food AND items to last out the blizzard. Once it ends, we'll leave and try to find a Gate. But then again," he added sarcastically, tossing his head, "maybe your precious Crono will come to the rescue and save us the trouble."

"You've taken quite an unusual interest in my love life," Lucca said quite coldly. "My question is: why? Now if you'll excuse me," she said, turning and brushing past him, "I've got more important things to do. Like count the snowflakes." Heading for the entrance of the cave, she started a decently-sized fire and, sitting near it, proceeded to view the raging blizzard outside. It was better than just standing there and arguing with Magus, anyway...

Lucca hadn't seen too many blizzards nastier than this one. Beyond about two inches from the entrance of the cave, she couldn't see a thing. Just swirling whiteness. The cold air bit at her skin like sharp fangs, and had it not been for the fire, she would have had quite a time staying warm indeed. She removed her helmet and chucked it to the ground; its cold metal did not exactly make it seem inviting to her head. Yeah, it protected her from the freezing drops of water that constantly fell from the roof of the cave, but having a permanent ice cream headache wasn't exactly one of her life's goals. No, her life's goal was to get out of this predicament alive and sane.

Geez...what a way to spend the next three or more days. And with Magus, no less. Lucca wanted to hurl just thinking about it.

Nothing had changed too drastically between the two of them. Yeah, he had stuck his tongue in her mouth and she had slapped him (he still had the mark on his face to prove it!), but his behavior hadn't exactly changed since. He was still his normal pain-in-the-ass self, thankfully. She'd probably be more frightened if he acted otherwise, at any rate.

But that WAS the problem. He still WAS a pain in the ass. That meant some miserable days coming up. She would see him. All the time. Magus in the morning. Magus in the afternoon. Magus in the evening. Hell, she'd probably even dream about him. Well, she supposed dreaming about him wouldn't be too bad, maybe she'd get another kiss---ugh, she had to stop thinking about him in such a way! He'd been a jerk. He WAS a jerk. A complete ass. Nobody could BE much more of an asshole that Magus already was; it was physically impossible!

But she still couldn't figure out why he had kissed her. Even more so, she couldn't figure out why she had enjoyed it. His motive probably had been to play with her head, for crying out loud. His pretending-nothing-had-happened facade told her as much, anyway.

Ah, well. She was sick of thinking about him. She had been thinking of him constantly for the past three plus days. She'd definitely have to think about him in the future, if the blizzard kept gaining momentum. She was just sick of thinking.

Flowers. Crono. Dalton's hairdo. Chicken strips. The Millennial Fair. The hallucinations one had when drunk on poi. Magus's lovely rear end-oops! Ozzie's chin rolls. Pink chimpanzees.

Eventually her thoughts again strayed to the current situation. How that Gate had suddenly appeared and disappeared like that was beyond her. The Gate Key COULD trigger the opening of previously undetected Gates, but usually they stuck around a little longer than just to drop everyone off. And that spelled trouble. What if the blizzard took a long time to end? What if Crono and the others couldn't find them? For once in her short life she prayed that Magus was actually right about not being in a dire situation.

"Just where exactly AM I?" she said to herself.

"Tut-tut, four-eyes! And you're always crowing about how incredibly intelligent you are! What a shame you can't live up to your words!"

Lucca whirled around only to see that Magus had crept up behind her at some point. How long he had been there, she had no idea. Smirking, he went on, "We're obviously somewhere around the Ice Age, if this blizzard is any indication. How close we actually are to 12,000 B.C., I have no idea. For all I know Zeal might not even be up in the air yet."

"What gibberish are you spewing now, you ass?! Didn't I tell you to STAY AWAY?! And if I didn't, I'm telling you now! So...stay away!"

"Angry because I'm smarter than you, geek? Hmfph! There ARE people out there a lot more intelligent than you, including me, if you didn't notice before."

Lucca rolled her eyes. "Oh, can it! And what are you here for, anyway?! The only time you ever approach me is when you want something! So what is it?! Does His Majesty want his feet oiled and rubbed? His nosehairs plucked, maybe? Obviously you're not here for my company, so out with it!"

"I DO NOT HAVE NOSEHAIRS, FOUR-EYES!"

Lucca wiped the spit from her cheek. "Geez, I said out with it, you idiot, but not that way! And I'm still waiting! As much as I'd like to talk about you and your nosehairs right now, I'd like to save the everlasting joy for another fun time. Now WHAT IS IT YOU WANT?!"

"I need assistance in setting up a tent. Obviously the only other person in the area is YOU. So get over there and help me! NOW!"

Lucca smiled at him sweetly. "Oh, does Princey need help?! From little ol' me? Why golly gee, I'm so flattered. And here I thought he was perfect."

"I'm not perfect, but I'm a lot better than YOU, geek," he snorted. "Now get the hell up and do as I asked! I will not ask you again!" He stomped his foot.

Lucca stomped hers back. "What if I don't want to?!"

"Then I will have no choice but to-"

"Bomb me?! You've never done it yet, you pansy!"

"Don't be so sure that I never will, you little ingrate!"

Lucca stood up. "Oh, all right! ALL RIGHT! I'll help you set up your damn tent! But then PLEASE stay away! I've had more than enough of you already!" In all honesty, she had intended to help him with the damn thing all along, but getting him riled up was a lot of fun. Even after a day she had missed his annoying barbs...

***

"Will you go a little faster already, four-eyes?!"

"Oh, shut up already! Be glad that I'm doing THIS for you! Aren't you ever satisfied?!"

"Your, uh, technique leaves much to be desired."

"Oh, NOTHING'S good enough for you, is it? If I do it quickly, you raise holy hell. If I go slower, you raise holy hell. If you're so smart, then why don't you show me how it's done instead of giving me a tongue lashing every two seconds?!"

No, this was not a snippet from a badly-written romance novel. In all reality, Lucca and Magus were attempting to pitch a Shelter inside the cave, and failing miserably. They had to pound in the first two stakes at the exact same time and with the right amount of force, or otherwise the stupid thing would collapse on them as it had ten times before. And it didn't help that teamwork wasn't exactly Magus's forte...

"WHY do we need this up again?!" Lucca threw up her hands, exasperated. "I really don't see the point of putting up a tent IN THE MIDDLE OF A CAVE! This is the stupidest thing I've ever done!"

"Do YOU want your hair to have an extra wash while you're sleeping, four-eyes? Not that it doesn't need it, but-"

PINNNGGG!!! Both stakes finally made it all the way into the cold, frosted ground. Lucca let out a sigh and ran her hands through her messy purple hair. "Whew! Those things should be more user-friendly!"

"Well, it all depends on the user," Magus sneered.

"I got that, you moron!"

"I'm very much amazed that you did!"

"Oh, shut up! And let's finish this, shall we?! I recall saying that I didn't want to be around you any longer than I had to, and the feeling hasn't changed!"

"Hmpfh!"

***

The darkness fell early that night in this unknown age, and six o'clock (more or less, neither knew for sure) found Lucca and Magus sitting at opposite ends of a bonfire in which they had joined forces to create. The red-orange flames created dancing patterns on the rough cave walls as they flickered merrily; wood and brush were not needed for the upkeep of magically-induced fires. The blizzard still continued to roar on undisturbed outside, and there seemed to be no break in sight. Yes, it looked as if they would be here for awhile. That is, if they weren't dead or clinically insane before this was over.

After having a most sparse meal of Jerky and dried fruit, Lucca and Magus had since proceeded to sit around the bonfire and officially do nothing except to throw the occasional angry glance in the other's direction. And that was it. How incredibly exciting.

But that wasn't all. There was another thing, too, a feeling that hung heavily in the still air like a lead weight. It was a feeling of...tension. Yes, as weird as it sounded, the feeling was tension. And it was coming from the other side of the bonfire. "I've got a bad feeling about this," Lucca thought, her arms wrapped around her knees tightly. "I'll be wishing I was drunk before this is over..."

***

"Will you quit staring at me, geek?!" Magus's harsh comment rang out from across the fire, startling Lucca slightly. He just wasn't going to quit, was he?

She raised her eyebrows and replied scathingly, "Don't flatter yourself, fairy boy! You really have nothing to stare at!"

"Dirty little mind, huh, four-eyes? Who would have thought it from you? Hmpfh!"

"Oh, hmpfh yourself! Is that all you can say?!"

"Don't provoke me, four-eyes! If I become angry, someone's leaving, and it's not me!"

"Oooooooooooo, I'm so scared! I'm shaking in my shoes over here! ...You know, Maggy, you should quit it with all the threats and everything. They really don't work at all. They just make me laugh."

"Oh, really?! And what makes you think I won't suck you into a Black Hole right now?!"

"Because nobody that sucks people into Black Holes cries about their big sister after they think everyone's asleep, like you do!"

Instantly, Lucca realized that she had gone a little too far. Schala had always been a sensitive subject on Magus's part, and insulting him using HER, well, it just wasn't right. Her hunch was correct, because before the next second had passed she found herself (where else?) pinned against the cave wall by Yours Truly.

She had thought he had been furious during the episode with the throne. No, that had just been a warm-up, a mere GLIMMER of how mad Magus could possibly get. No, THIS was Magus at his angriest.

His face was the palest, most deadly shade of white Lucca had ever seen. And as for the expression on it, well, it went without saying that it was one of absolute rage. His gloved hands, digging tightly into her shoulders, shook uncontrollably, as did his knees, which effectively pinned her thighs to the rough cave wall. Things were not looking too good at the moment...

His face just inches from hers, he intoned in that soft, deadly voice, "You've really gone too far this time, four-eyes. No one, and I mean NO ONE, has the right to speak to me in such a manner. No one, least of all you, has any idea what I've been through. Do you realize that?!"

Lucca's pounding heart threatened to pop right out her chest as his grip continued to tighten. This looked like it was it... WHY did her mouth have to run off like that at most inopportune moments? Especially when she never usually meant it when she said such things...

Magus, after his brief pause, leaned in yet further. "Are you afraid of me?" he breathed on in a half-whisper, his warm breath slightly tickling her chin and causing her to inhale sharply...

At that moment Lucca quickly came to a decision that forever would change her life. She was sick of trying to figure things out; and she wanted to know...for sure. "No," she replied flatly, and without a moment's hesitation she went on tiptoe and kissed him fully on the lips, making sure to wrap her arms tightly around him in the process.

Magus's eyes widened in shock, but he didn't pull away. In fact, as soon as he had sufficiently recovered from his surprise, he drew closer, slowly forcing open her mouth and allowing his tongue to meander inside it, eliciting a gasp. His hands, which seconds ago had so tightly gripped her shoulders, now gently massaged them...

Lucca was in heaven. So he really DID care to some degree. Otherwise he would have pulled away, or blown her up, or something... She closed her eyes, enjoying the moment, as his hands gently wandered up to rest in her tangled hair, giving it feather-light strokes and making her shudder with delight in response. The first two kisses had definitely been good, but they were nothing compared to this one.

They slowly broke away from each other about ten seconds later, their hearts pounding, both desperately gasping for air. Lucca noticed as she regained her breath that Magus was gazing at her warily, as if she was going to sprout wings and fly any second now. His intentions, however, were cleared up as he dove for her again, wrapping his arms around her slim waist and indulging her in what was this time a harder, more bruising kiss. Lucca responded to it happily, pressing herself closer against him and reaching up to run her hands through his silky blue hair. "He's great at this," she thought, smirking inwardly. "If only I had known just HOW great before..."

They broke away again, panting slightly, but this time there was no hesitation. Their lips met again, and again, and yet again, each kiss more hungry than the last. They stopped in between times only to breathe and to exchange little quips whose only purpose seemed to be to accelerate the situation.

"Geek."

"Bastard."

"Four-eyes."

"Ass."

"Poindexter."

"Idiot."

"Smartass."

"Snob."

After the last kiss, Magus slowly withdrew from her, a pained expression on his face. "I-I can't do this, four-eyes..." He removed his hands from around her waist and slowly backed off, looking confused.

Lucca felt every bit as bewildered as he looked. "W-why not?" What was going on? Had that previous exchange actually been for nothing?!

Magus suddenly looked sure of himself. "I know what you're up to, four-eyes!" he spat, raising his voice. "I will NOT just be a pawn for you to manipulate! I am not that spiky-headed fool Crono nor will I replace him!"

This time it was Lucca's turn to raise her voice. "Did I ever say that, you idiot?!" she exclaimed, stamping her foot. "Did I ever say that?! I can tell you this right now, you AREN'T Crono. You're nothing like him, and in my mind you'll never be like him! Crono---he was my childhood crush; it was just puppy love, but I was too stupid to realize it... You-you're different."

Magus's eyebrows raised slightly at her statement, but still she continued on with her explanation. "I've spent a lot of time with you in the last few days, whether I wanted to or not, and for awhile I spent a lot of that time moping about Crono and Marle. I didn't realize it, but slowly as the days passed I thought less and less about them and more about, more about-well-YOU. You know, about what an ass you were and that I just wanted you to go away and leave me in peace, but -well- underneath it all I thought differently. I actually enjoyed your company instead of loathing it. I-I never said anything, I still clung on desperately to the fact that I thought Crono was the one for me and you were out of the question, but-but-"

For the second time that night, shock had registered upon Magus's face. This was the last thing he had expected to hear. EVER. "W-what did you just say?!"

Lucca threw up her hands in frustration. "You HEARD what I just said, fanghead, and I'm not repeating it! I want you, and not Crono, and I don't want you because of Crono! Is that hard enough to comprehend?!"

"I-I-" He stood there, stunned, words being unable to express just exactly how he felt inside. There was one action that did, however. In one swift movement Magus suddenly went up to Lucca and swept her into a huge embrace.

"I apologize..."

"Why? For what?..."

"For staying silent, for hiding it..."

"Why? Why did you? Surely you noticed-"

"I never noticed anything! The only thing I saw was you fawning over that spike-headed simpleton. I knew it wouldn't be right-"

"What's so wrong about it? I want you and apparently you want me, so what's stopping us?"

"Nothing, I suppose... After all," he muttered, kissing the base of her neck and making shivers run down her spine, "it would be a waste not to, considering what we've both had to go through to get this far. Tell me, when did you -er- realize?"

"Oh, I don't know... I didn't even realize what was going on for awhile. It kind of hit me in the face after that night at my house, and that's when I knew... What about you?"

"Tyrano Lair, although I denied it to myself," he replied with a wry smile. "I couldn't fathom why I acted the way I did. Well, underneath I suppose I DID know, but I wasn't going to act on it. Why would I act on it if I knew your eye wasn't turned towards me in the first place?!"

"Oh, but it was," said Lucca, grinning and massaging his chest with her hand. "Really, fanghead, for such a big powerful wizard you sure don't pay attention sometimes."

"Oh, don't get me started, four-eyes," he shot back, grinning also. "But in all honesty, I'm tired of straightening this all out. Let's do--let's do something...else."

"Gladly," Lucca replied, pulling him closer and allowing him to kiss her neck repeatedly. This time he used his fangs, nipping her tender skin gently, forcing her to groan delightedly. She responded by caressing his face, giving special attention to the red, blotchy mark she had caused on his cheek two nights previous.

They stayed like this for a long, long time, enjoying each other's company, not caring what had happened in the past or what would happen in the future, but finally, Magus pulled away for the last time, commenting, "Come on, we'd better get back to the fire. You'll catch cold if we stay here. And I'm willing to bet you're sick of that bumpy cave wall..."

Making sure the fire was well-tended, they both went into the tent afterwards; it was quite late, and as they had lost track of time being "preoccupied"...

They both crammed into Magus's sleeping bag (yeah, that brought them into close quarters, but that was all right) and prepared to drift off, feeling comfortable and satisfied for once.

Lucca muttered sleepily, her head buried in Magus's chest, "I hope they find us tomorrow, or the blizzard ends, or something..."

He absentmindedly ran his hands through her hair, replying, "It's all right. It will be all right. Just remember, four-eyes, you've got a wizard with you; one that almost toppled the kingdom of Guardia single-handedly. If I can't get us out of this, well, then no one can."

"Oh, good night, you arrogant bastard," Lucca muttered into his chest, yawning and closing her eyes.

A/N: Yeesh! I think it was a tad on the mushy side, don't you? Ah well, at least I'm not having them call each other sweetums or, worse yet, muffin-butt. I would even have to flame MYSELF if I did that. And is this the end, you ask? No, it ain't! There's more trouble for these two to come!