melodiesoflife | [backdated] Touch What?

Who: Reno, Yuffie, and Johnny
What: Pursuing a hamster of the friendly variety
Where: Aqures Tosf
When: October 9 - 11

Reno had heard rumors about a monster so awful, so terrifying, it might have been the most feared creature on Crystallis. Another rumor said that there were friendly ones, or at least one, somewhere on the island of Aqures Tosf.

And the creature that inspired such awed whispers... was a hamster.

Reno couldn't believe it. It sounded absolutely ridiculous. All he had to do was touch a hamster, and he could receive a blessing? It probably wasn't even true. But what the hell -- he could do with a short vacation after that time looping bullshit. If he fought a few monsters in an old ruin, it wasn't the worst way to spend the time. It wasn't drinking, but considering the last few times he got shitfaced he ended up sleeping with strangers and falling into bad habits again, it would have to do.

He sent out a few recruitment messages via Mognet and the Quest Board, but it was understated. He wanted something small. After all, they were looking for a hamster -- they didn't want to scare it away. He needed just enough eyes to find it. And since people were so scared of them, Reno didn't really expect much of a response anyway.

So he was more than a little surprised to see who did show up to the meeting point. Maybe he should have signed his name. Because they seemed pretty surprised to see him, too.

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Reno shot Yuffie a look. She seemed off still. Was she feeling sick again? He supposed he couldn't really blame her, since he'd been super uncomfortable starting off today too. But he still couldn't help but wonder what was bothering her so much.

"Marshmallows." He nodded wistfully in agreement with Johnny. "Shoulda' thought of that."

Either way, it looked like he'd have to think of a scary story.

The thought of Marshmallows made Yuffie’s stomach grumble and she hoped the other two didn’t notice. She looked between Reno and Johnny with a slight pout. She didn’t have very many scary stories that might knock their socks off, and the ones she didn’t know Reno probably knew too. That or they were just horrible stories about ShinRa she used to share.

Her dark eyes flicked between Reno and Johnny curiously.

“I’m not getting any younger. Someone start.” She was impatient for something to do, she didn’t want them to fall asleep and leave her awake. That would be awful.

"I dunno. I don't know a ton. Probably all I'd do is rip off some movie plot without realizin' it."

Johnny thinks that over for a moment before looking between the two.

"Though I guess you guys wouldn't know either way, huh. Okay then. Let me tell ya a little story 'bout..." Johnny tried to recall a movie he could recall well enough to turn into a story. "...A guy called Michael Myers."

Hopefully Reno and Yuffie would like the story of Halloween retold in all its gory detail.

After a story like that, sleeping was a little harder -- for some more than others. Eventually they all settled down. They had to have; Reno didn't remember all the details exactly, but they were all together when he woke up. The fact that they'd only had one tent kind of contributed.

Reno blinked his eyes open, trying to remember exactly where he was as sunlight streamed through the tent, the beams stained the color of the fabric. He was tangled in blankets and limbs, and was otherwise... uncomfortable.

That was Johnny's hand in his... and looked like a Johnny leg down there... And Yuffie was somehow nestled in between them, her own limbs sprawled over the two men. Reno coughed. "Uh... Hey."

It was warm and honestly Yuffie didn't want to wake up. Her hair is tousled all over the place as her dark brown eyes open and then turn towards Reno. She yawned feeling the tired grip of sleep melt away in the presence of the sun.

"Just a little longer."

She sighed softly and then nuzzled against Reno's chest, her arm curling around him while her leg curled around Johnny's.

Warmth means not moving.

As soon as the other two started to speak, Johnny's eyes popped open, and he sat up. Or he tried to, but found himself entangled in his cohorts. Johnny wasn't a very deep sleeper, and often woke up ready to fight if he was disturbed. It takes him a few moments to realize where he was and who was in the tent.

"Hnng. What? 'S it really time to get up already?"

Reno lost the small grip he had on his horned bedmate. His fingers were disappointed.

"I dunno, this li'l lady is making a convincing argument not to," Reno quipped, tucking his chin to look down at her as best he could from his prone position. After a moment he let his head fall back again, the strain on his neck not really worth confirming the obvious.

"I take it by us bein' all cozy means the traps were sufficient, and we're not dead."

"Not being dead is nice."

Yuffie wasn't ready to move yet. She curled tighter around the pair not wanting to let her warmth go. She usually liked getting up early but it wasn't as if she slept snuggled up to people often.

"It's still warmer here... we have some time... like 5 minutes at least."

It didn't seem like he was going to be able to get up without a lot of griping from the other two. Besides, they weren't in too much of a rush. After a moment, Johnny flops back down, fidgeting a bit until he got comfortable, and just maybe got him closer to Reno in the process.

"Yeah, yeah. Five more minutes, sure. Not that I'm one for gettin' up early anyway."

"Yeah. Five minutes." Not like Reno could move much anyway, without shoving Yuffie. And monsters would still be around in five minutes, or whenever he opened his eyes again. The cuddlefest was a little weird, but strangely enough? It was kind of nice. Reno's arm stretched out again and his hand curled around some part of Johnny. The sunlight was warm and he could certainly do worse for bedmates.

When they did rise, breakfast would be more of the same: pooling their rations for things they all liked, scrounging or "hunting" for anything else. The coffee wasn't great, but it was coffee, and that was something. Then they'd pack up camp, divide it among people to carry -- likely Johnny and Reno -- and search for this "scary" hamster while they had daylight to see. A whole day filled with hiking, sweat, and adventure. But for now, sleeping like this was nice.

Yuffie wasn’t moving, in fact the more Johnny and Reno cuddled together the warmer she felt because she was squished between them. It was weird but she honestly didn’t care. It was one of the few times she had slept without nightmares of horrible torture and she was going to enjoy every last minute of it. She began to mumble, not because she was asleep but just saying things as they came to mind. Her words didn’t make any sense but that wasn’t really the point.

After a few more minutes the sun peeked into their tent, streaming through the small opening at its front. It felt like the light was directed perfectly into Yuffie’s eyes making her grumble; this time sounding annoyed. She pushed her head into Reno’s chest trying to hide from the sunlight.

“Stupid sun… stupid cold…” She wasn’t talking to anyone in particular.

This was enough to finally rouse Johnny without jarring him. He looked at Yuffie entangled in between them, and at Reno's arm entangled with his own, and really didn't feel like moving much himself either. But they couldn't just lie here all morning. There was a long day ahead of them.

"Alright, guys. I hate to be the buzzkill, but we gotta get hamster hunting. Up and at 'em. You first."

That last sentence is punctuated by a gentle poke to Yuffie's shoulder with his free hand.

On the other side of Limb Mountain, Reno's arm raised a thumbs-up. "Thank you." For such a petite girl, Yuffie seemed to have a gift for being immovable. It was like her stubbornness alone magically transformed into extra weight.

He tucked his chin and kissed the top of the princess' head. "C'mon. Chances are, we'll just do this again later." Weird, but not uncomfortable, he supposed. "But for right now, I gotta take a piss, so..."

Yuffie groaned at Johnny before glaring up at Reno. "That's gross." She began to dislodge herself careful not to elbow either of them. As small as she was, she had very pointing elbows. Eventually she sits up, her heel pushing Reno away as if the fact that he has to use the bathroom is enough to eject him from the tent.

"Go already."

Her fingers quickly begin to run through her hair and then tie it back. Having long hair was to much trouble.

[backdated] Touch What?

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