Blazing Orange

[Emily]

A side thing from a novel I'm writing. Unfortunately I can't really see them doing anything sexy with each other so I can only write innocent love stories. This will definitely have multiple parts to it, so yeah. Here goes! :3

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“Could you be any more gracious to the guy who popped out from a lamp to save your butt?” Lexas shivered miserably as he grumbled his retort.

“Well, you could have told me that you were some freaky hybrid of a genie and a human. Am I supposed to know that you’ll come shooting out of a lamp to my rescue?”

“Really, Sinclaira, would you have believed me if I told you?”

The girl captain snorted most ungracefully. “My sister’s a mage, and my parents raise magical livestock for a living. What’s not to believe?”

“I fell into the ocean in the dead of winter to get that hairy bastard off of you.” Lexas sighed tiredly and pushed his sodden hair out of his face. “You could be more hospitable, at least.”

“Just shut up already. It’s not like I asked you to help me. You could tell me how to send you back, and I’ll do it gladly, all right?” Sinclaira shoved her sword back into her waist band and marched out the cabin. Then she spun around and came back in. “Sis, I’m patrolling the deck!” Her footsteps then disappeared after her fiery orange curls swished out of view from the window.

Lexas promptly slid back into the wooden chair he was forced into earlier and dropped his head into his hands. Well, of course, it wasn’t her fault. How could she have known that he was a descendant of the Djinn? But she didn’t have to get so steamed up over his showing up. Hell, he’d thought that she would have been glad to see her best friend. He’d given himself too much credit. Or she was just being sore because she would have lost that fight he hadn’t shown up. That was probably it; she always hated losing. It wasn’t his fault at all.

“What could you have done to anger my dear little sister this time?”

“Really, I wonder.”

He turned to look at the practically-dressed opposite of Sinclaira and groaned knowingly. The sisters were alike in appearance only.

“You seem to be perfectly fine after jumping into the sea to save the love of your life.” Lexas sniffed subtly and gave an involuntary shiver as if to revoke her words. She rolled her stern green eyes, then proceeded to waggle her fingers and mutter some strange series of words; in a matter of moments, a hot bowl of something brown and murky appeared into her waiting fingertips. “Here, drink this. You’ll need it.” He glanced at the bubbling concoction, clearly uncertain of whether it was fit for half-human consumption. “It’s not poison, Lexas, so hurry up and drink it.” She grabbed his hands and heaved an exasperated sigh. “Take it,” she said irritably, “and DRINK it.” She clasped his hands firmly on the bowl. “It WILL make you feel better, I promise.” In a motion identical to her sister’s she vanished behind the walls of the tiny kitchen.

“Thanks, Tristine,” Lexas called behind her.

“Just drink the damn thing before it goes cold,” came the muffled reply.

He pushed his black hair out of his face again, noting that it was starting to form salty icicles. Shifting his position on the hard wooden chair, he let the hot steam warm his chilled cheeks. The bubbly brown goop actually smelled pretty good and he was just about to take a deep, hearty drink from the bowl until his breathing went up a notch and short “hihh” emerged from his open mouth. That would have been all right, except he was holding a hot bowl of something, but even if he wasn’t it still wouldn’t have been all right because it would mean—

“Huh’ESSHshu!” His bowl immediately went flying out of his hands. Lexas winced in preparation for the scolding he was about to get for hurling his hot steaming brown goop across the room, except he didn’t hear the clattering and splattering he had expected. Instead, he saw that the upset bowl was frozen three inches from the ground, followed by a voice even more agitated than it was a minute ago cutting through the winter air.

“I told you to drink that up, didn’t I?” An annoyed head of tied-back orange curls reappeared in the doorway. “Now you’re just going to have man through your cold like everyone else because I’m not going to make that again for a numbskull that can’t follow as simple an instruction as that.”

Wonderful, he’d pissed off the only two people who could send him back home right now. He supposed he could swim back, but unlike Sinclaira, he couldn’t navigate all too well. What was it that his grandfather told him about traveling with the lamp? If there was a way to get back using the lamp, then this would have made a lot more sense. Maybe that was the way to get back? In any case, Lexas really regretted dropping the burbling brown liquid. It was nice and warm, and he was positively freezing. He sniffed in surprise as the blue bowl hovered in front of his face.

“As if I wouldn’t have thought of this already. How long do you think I’ve known you for, Lexas?” Tristine threw a stern glance his way. “I don’t have any left, so you better drink it this time.”

“Ishh! Huh’essh!”

“Before you send another bowl flying with one of those.”

“I got it, thanks.” Friends in diaperhood really couldn’t be replaced, Lexas thought with a grin as he downed the bowl in a series of large gulps.

“Judging from how Sinclaira can still talk to you normally, I believe you didn’t say anything to her yet about being head over heels for her.” The last mouthful of soup got caught on the way down Lexas’s throat and wracked deep throaty coughs; they sounded quite far from healthy and caused an eyebrow raise from Tristine. Neither of which Lexas noticed, being far too shocked by the possibility that Sinclaira was still lingering outside the door instead of being on the deck patrolling like she’d said she’d be.

“Tris!”

“Don’t worry, I know she’s out on the deck. She doesn’t know a thing.”

“But what if she heard? Her ears pick up the strangest things!”

“Whatever her ears pick up, mine can too, and I assure you that she can’t hear things I’m saying from twenty feet away, unless I scream it.”

“How can you be so sure of that?” Lexas spluttered in nervousness, his face sporting a deep red blush.

“I’m quite certain that she heard nothing. I’m also quite certain that if you don’t get any rest now, your illness will rapidly progress—“

“Hii-HUH’chssh!”

“—in which case, the potion you just drank will be rendered useless.”

“Oh, shuddub. If dose bastards haddedt sedt be iddo the wader, I’d be perfectly fide.”

“Lexas, you sound absolutely ridiculous. If Sinclaira came barreling back in and heard you talking like that, she’d hurdle you across the room on the bed.”

“Diddet you say she was od the deck—“

A frazzled mess of blazing orange hair appeared on cue at the doorway. The green eyes beneath it were frantic and excited.

“Sis, Lex, those stupid thugs are coming back! Their ship will probably reach ours in about half an hour, so we’ve got to get ready!” She whipped her head over to a crimson-faced Lexas. “Are you alright? You sure don’t look in any condition to fight them off.”

Swallowing his coughs, he managed a convincing “I’m fine” as he stood and planted his hand firmly on his blade. He earned a sigh of disapproval from Tristine, and a trademark grin from Sinclaira.

“All right. Let’s go.”

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Btw, LexasXSinclaira or LexasXTristine? I didn't really include Sin much in this cause she decided to storm off but I haven't decided who Lex is going to end up with in my novel. So anyone who replies, please let me know which pairing is better!

[VividBubbles!]

Oh My God! This is so good! I can NOT wait for another update! I swear to god that if you don't continue this I'll just die! Die I tell you! DIE! This is magnificent, wonderful, extrodinary! Get me a dictionary and I could carry on forever. I think that Lexas and Sinclaira would make a great couple! Especially because Lexas is obviously hiding his sickness from Sinclaira and what dumb, but caring boyfriend/lover/whatever he is doesn't do that? Well, in sneeze fics anyway. All the guys I know convince themselves their sick when their temperatures are at like 99. This is AWESOME! UPDATE SOON!

BYE!

[Akahana]

I like it!!

[Scion]

Cuuuuuuuuuuuuuute. Lexas is adorably adorable. And this line: "fit for half-human consumption." Bahahaha. Love it. Um, um, um, so yeah. I really enjoyed this. I was so excited when I saw you had written this. Okay, so from what I've read so far it seems Sinclaira is preferable to the insufferably rude and mean Tristine LOL. I'm sure she has more to her and all, but it seems the snappy snarky girls always get the boy, and it would be cool if that changed - not that I really know for sure what Sin's personality is.

[Emily]

@Bubbles: THANK YOOOU! DON'T DIE D: otherwise nobody else will read my crappy stories. and here's an update, juuust for you. ;D haha, I hope you like it!

@Akahana: THANK YOOU!!! I'm glad you do, and I hope you like hte next update too!

@Scion: OH WHY HELLO THERE! I'll be thanking ye kindly for yer visit. ;D Yeah, I'm leaning more toward Sinclaira too, as this update obviously implies. Haha, I was actually thinking Tristine would be more of a booksmart, quiet, barely-there type of girl, but that kind of girl is too boring to write. And I like snappy comments like hers. Thanks for your comment!

BLAZING ORANGE, Part 2

“Lex, sorry about before. I was just being sore because you won my fight.” Sinclaira grinned sheepishly at Lexas, who shook his head of shaggy wet hair and smiled back at her knowingly.

“How long do you think I’ve known you? You used to always get mad when you lost to me in a duel.”

“What—” she huffed loudly. “I never lost a fight with you!” Her green eyes glinted. “Let’s settle it with a competition then.”

“Got it. Whoever knocks the most hairy pirates off the ship wins.”

“Heh, great minds think alike.” They both turned to see the approaching ship’s over-sized brutes unloading themselves over a long plank. “That’s an incredibly old-fashioned entrance. Bet they fight the same way.”

“Less manly declarations of strength, and more action, Sinclaira,” Tristine called, already muttering a string of long incantations and gathering an orb of light at her fingertips.

“Relax sis. Lex and I have this under control.” She met his fiery violet eyes and smirked. “I’ll be taking the win for this one. Payback for taking my fight.”

Lexas grinned. “I accept your challenge.” With that they both drew their swords, Sinclaira, her emerald-embellished twin swords, and Lexas, his simple blade of razor sharp steel, and faced the onslaught of shouting deckswabbers and unsuccessfully seafarers.

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Why is it so hard to breathe? I can’t possibly be out of shape. Lexas coughed openly, unable to cover any of it in his current situation. Exchanging blows with on hand and unbuttoning his sweat-soaked shirt with the other, he panted in exhaustion. He’d been positively freezing when he stepped out on the deck, but after about twenty minutes of clashing swords with the fat, brutish pigs who claimed to be pirates, he was hot all over. And he couldn’t breathe. He felt like he’d snorted up a fly in each of his nostrils. His wrist suddenly lost its flexibility and his opponent’s sword came crashing down in front of him. He was so sure his nose would be sliced off that he didn’t even move his hand to block it. Maybe he would be able to breathe at least—

“What the hell are you doing! Don’t doze off in the middle of our contest!” Sinclaira stabbed her blades expertly into the vitals of the boar’s stomach and shoved him over with the hilt of her swords. “I’ll cover for you. Hurry up and get back on your feet now!”

“Huhwhatsincewhen—“ Lexas found that he was indeed kneeling on the floor, shirtless, in fact. He didn’t remember actually taking off his shirt, only unbuttoning it because he was sweltering. Except now he was freezing again, and he wanted nothing more than to return to the cabin, shielded from the wind, and being fussed over by Sinclaira—

“What, no way!” he scrambled back to his feet, face reddening spectacularly. He held his sword in a defensive position and shook his fuzzy head to rid himself of the thought.

“I thought you were giving up for a moment there,” Sinclaira called from behind him. “But thanks to that, our score is settled. Now let’s go all out on these amateurs!”

Lexas’s blush deepened to a red that rivaled that of a ripe tomato’s. “I’d never surrender if it’s against you!” He clanged swords with a charging gorilla-like man and groaned when he heaved him overboard as two more lunged forward, daggers flailing uselessly in the air. A ball of green energy from above sent those two tumbling into the bottomless waters below.

“Of course you’ll never surrender against Sinclaira!” Tristine yelled, laughing. She tossed another handful of magic power behind her, which threw the last of the overgrown brutes off their ship. For good measure, she fired a large green blast at the wooden plank connecting the two ships, and another at the walls of the invading ship. “I think we’ve gotten rid of all of those sea rats.” She jumped from her perch and landed neatly on her feet. Sinclaira stuffed her sword back in its rightful place on her belt and made her way around unconscious bodies that were being levitated and thrown overboard.

Lexas began to follow in suit, but immediately pitched forward. He avoided falling haphazardly on his face by sticking the tip of his sword into the floor, leaning deeply on the hilt. Breathing heavily, he exerted an unusual amount of strength in order to get himself back upright, only to plummet back to the floor with a weak “Hih’Tschuh”. He was saved from a pair of bruised knees by a strong hand grabbing his free arm. Lexas looked up into the face of his savior with iced-over eyes.

“Lex, are you all right? You’re not hurt or anything, are you?” Sinclaira frowned and an uncharacteristic worried expression etched itself into her usually carefree face. She hoisted him back up to a standing position and threw his arm over her shoulders. “I’m telling you now, I can’t carry you if you don’t at least try to walk with your own two feet. I’ll drag you if I have to.”

Tristine appeared on his other side, placing a steadying hand on his sword arm to keep both him and her sister from tumbling on the floor together. “Oh, this is much worse than I had anticipated,” she muttered under her breath.

“What did you say, sis?”

“I—“ She caught Lexas’s eyes and his purposeful gaze. “I was calculating the expenses for this month if we have to add Lexas to the bill. Utility bills even out here in the middle of nowhere, it’s unbelievable. How those mail service chickens find us, I can’t even say.”

“We’re not in the middle of nowhere,” Sinclaira corrected. “We’re approximately thirty-four degrees south and sixty-two degrees east of the Northern Border. And we’re sailing in the Sea of Nine Lives Wasted.” Tristine grimaced; this was the only time her sister actually sounded intelligent, and she was pretty darn snappy about bringing her non-idiocy to light.

“I prefer ‘the middle of nowhere’ to ‘Nine Lives Wasted.’”

“Suit yourself.” Sinclaira grunted under Lexas’s gradually increasing weight. “Come on Lex, we’re almost there, okay? Pick up your feet juuust a little bit more.” She felt Lexas’s body shift a bit in response, although it really didn’t do much, other than allowing her to feel the heat radiating from his body. “Just a few more steps, Lex,” she coaxed gently. “And then you can sleep until the next invasion.”

“That’s,” Lexas huffed breathily, “not very encouraging.” But a grin spread across his tired face anyway.

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Tap. Tap. Tap. Did I forget to shut the water tap? Lexas didn’t even feel like opening his eyelids, much less getting up to check. He wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d found a ton of bricks heaped on his eyes. No wonder he couldn’t open them. More tapping. Then he heard a quiet humming, which he recognized vaguely as a song he’d heard when he was very young. The tapping was starting to annoy him, and he couldn’t seem to get his buzzing mind to shut back down.

“Hnn…” A wet towel slid to the floor, and the tapping and humming immediately stopped.

“Lex?”

“Di’ I f’get to tur’ o’ tap…?”

“What are you trying to say? Talk to me when you wake up.” Sinclaira pushed him back to a lying-down position lightly. Suddenly, Lexas felt a cool, calloused hand touch his forehead. It was a large enough shock to force his eyelids open. His face was dangerously close to Sinclaira’s, so close he could feel her warm breath on his ear. He was certain that she could hear his heart thrashing crazily in his chest. Her bright orange curls were, as usual, falling carelessly about both her shoulders and as a result, the looser strands found their way to Lex’s pinkened nostrils. The wisps of hair twisted inwards, poking and prodding at his nose and building up a horrible irritation. To top it all off, it seemed as though this was happening in slow motion, torturing the bed-ridden boy to tears as his breath hitched unevenly.

“Sin, I-I hiihh…s-sneeZNKKgx-chh…HIIHH HAH-EHH’NNchyahh!” He weakly shoved her away from himself, a useless action which satisfied neither his heart nor his nose. “S-sor-sorry—hiih HEHH’GYEHKkssh! Ouch...” He felt like someone shoved a jagged rock down his throat and then slowly dragged it back out. His voice sounded like it had been mown over by a steel cargo ship.

“You look horrible, Lex,” Sinclaira marveled out loud. “It’s like you were run over by my parents’ trained chargers.”

“Dagks.” He could only manage that one word before erupting in a fit of coughing and choked sneezing. Punctuating his unspoken speech with a pathetic sniffle, he leaned back against the pillow, defeated.

“Well, look on the bright side. We’re almost at the next port town!”

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After reading this over again after like the fifth time, I noticed my own characters are OOC. OTL I don't even know how I manage to accomplish that. I should get an award for this, seriously.

[VividBubbles!]

Yay, yay, yay! This. Was. AWESOME! PERFECT! MAGNIFECENT! God, where's my dictonary? I could have sworn I bought one after last time! I love Lexas and Sinclaira! They're adorable together! And Tristine... well, Tristine's just plain awesome. I can not wait untill the next update! So, make it snappy!

BYE!

[Scion]

EEEEEEEEEEEEE why are these girls so mean LMAO!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?! You are trying to torture me on purpose, aren't you? Haha, jk. If they were OOC, it's impossible for US to tell, so I wouldn't worry about it. POOR BABY. He needs a hug, not these meanie-weenies.