This is dedicated to my friend Darkened-Harmony. She is a wonderful author and she never fails to make me smile when she reviews! I wanted to write her something, so I picked the couple that both of us adore; LartenxArra.
Oh goodness. Can you believe it's another fluffy CrepsSails fanfiction? Meh...I should be working on my DP fanfic but I'm too busy dreaming of romantic encounters for Larten and Arra (as well as Li and Sakura, much to my dismay T.T).
Okay...well...this is just your adverage fluffy-goodness story on this rather awkward couple. As my friend says, it's rather hard to write on these guys so forgive me for any out-of-characterness!!! Especially because this is so fluffy. -.-' Anyways, I got the idea while walking up the steps (ironic), and squealed and rushed to write it. I just thought it was a cute idea. D
Anyway, that's really it.
Disclaimer: Darren Shan lives in Ireland. I live in America. Darren Shan is a boy. I am a girl. Darren Shan is a God. I am a peasant that writes for fun. Darren Shan is the ruler of all of you peeps. I bow down to his awesomeness. -nods-
Okay...enjoy "It's a Date"!
It was as if they were in there own little world.
So, maybe that was being a bit dramatic. But as Larten Crepsley and Arra Sails stood across from each other, long and slender staffs held tightly in each calloused hand, the noises of the wild vampires seemed distant. Could it really be possible that there was a whole world going on outside their bubble? That not even feet away, vampires stood, jumping up and down and jeering Larten?
Maybe it was, and maybe it wasn't. But, as Arra stared Larten down, a mischievous grin pulling at her lips, Larten found it hard to believe that life was going on around him and her.
"Ready to lose?" Arra whispered, raising her pole above her head and twirling it madly. Larten gulped, but not just from nerves. He nodded and bowed slightly. Out of the top of his eye he saw Arra copy the simple move of respect, and then as he pulled up he had just enough time to block the swift attack she had began.
Jumping backward, Larten dodged the pole blindly, unsure of where to move. He raised his pole above his head and brought it down in a swishing motion, aiming for Arra's head. But quickly he feinted and swerved towards her exposed knees. She jumped upwards, just in time, and landed with a soft thud against the bar.
"That was impressive," she noted dryly. "But you will have to be swifter and more cunning than that to beat me."
"I have no intentions of beating you." Larten's face twisted slightly as he lightly tapped his side with the pole. "I just want to make it out of this brawl alive."
Arra smiled, but it was more of a smirk. She lifted her staff quickly—almost too quickly for Larten to see—and swung it around to strike Larten's neck. Larten ducked, groaning slightly, and rolled out of the way from Arra. Arra followed, her smirk widening, humming tunelessly.
"Alive, maybe," she mused. "Unwounded? Never."
Larten's heart sped up as he heard her mutter those words emotionlessly, almost as if she had said it more times than she had breathed. She made to bring her hand down upon Larten's back, her pole held tightly within it, but Larten knew she was only toying with him. Quickly he scrambled upwards, wincing, and jumped to the end of the long bar that he was currently standing on. He raised his pole in front of him as a shield.
"How many times have you said that before?" Larten asked, his throat dry and his words coming out as if through sandpaper. He moved across the bar towards the corner, Arra following in front of him, her smirk never leaving. She looked upon Larten as if he were a fly and she were the frog, about ready to feast on her unwilling prey.
She tried to whack Larten around the ankles, but when he dodged them as if he were walking on hot coals she wasted no time and cracked her staff against his head. Black swam in front of his eyes, but he refused to give up. He heard, distantly, her response; "more times than the number of times you have fed."
"You are tough," she muttered, looking at him sternly. He fought to keep his expression neutral. She was too busy talking to him to notice that he was stealthily raising his pole, quietly, slowly, towards the back of her knees. "But you will fall hard the next time I strike—"
She was never able to finish her cry, for Larten took the attack and brought his staff back towards him. She fell to the bars, a shocked scream escaping her lips as she fell onto the hard surface. She gripped the bars, her fingers white, and stared up at Larten with surprised and almost fearful eyes. It was Larten's time to smirk, and he did; he tapped his nose with his free hand. "What's the score?"
Arra scowled and hopped up, flipping backwards wildly and landing firmly on her feet as if she were a cat. "I am still in the lead."
"Ah, okay." Larten smiled and tried to hit her neck, but Arra blocked it almost effortlessly with a rigid hand.
"You will not beat me, Larten Crepsley."
"I know I will not. But I intend on lowering your pride, even if it is only by little."
Enraged, Arra snarled and attempted to stab Larten's stomach. But it was a move made in anger, and it was not agile or powerful. Larten sidestepped it with ease and smiled at Arra with a conceited twinkle in his eyes.
The fight continued, Larten blocking the angered swipes effortlessly, while Arra blocked Larten's conceited jabs just as easily. The vampires standing watch stared in awe; no one had lasted this long on the bars with Arra Sails. It was obvious they were playing with each other as they twirled around in circles, Larten grinning with a smile in his eyes and Arra scowling with a strange twinkle residing in her eyes.
"I think the vampires are enjoying our little dance," Larten noted, trying to smack her rib cage. She blocked it with her staff and made to do the same for Larten, but he swirled around her and was suddenly behind her.
"Is that what you think this is? A little dance?" Her voice was incredulous, as if she couldn't believe Larten would ever think that. She turned around, almost slowly, to look at Larten. He nodded, his orange hair vivid against the pale outlines of rock. "I must salute you. You have succeeded in bringing down my guard tremendously, as well as infuriating me and making me work weaker."
Larten smiled cunningly. "It is what I do best. Annoy the shit out of fellow vampires."
Surprisingly, Arra smiled, and the strange twinkle that Larten had noticed in her eyes revealed itself as a small hint of mirth. "Yes, you are very good at your job."
Larten laughed and poked Arra in the knee. She didn't flinch, nor did she take her eyes away from Larten. Larten was relaxed, something she wasn't expecting; he had seemed so uptight before the fight. Now he seemed more comfortable than she was as the two stared each other down.
Arra raised her staff and poked Larten in the arm. The two smiled at each other. "Who shall win this fight?" Arra mused. "I could beat you quickly right now; you would barely notice it if I were to simply knock your feet from under you…" As she spoke, she slowly lowered her staff and tapped his knees. "Or I could continue this little dance, just to amuse the vampires."
"Why would you give up such a delicious opportunity?" Larten asked skeptically. "You are the champion at the bars. Half-vampires cower in fear of your name when they come to Vampire Mountain for the first time."
"You exaggerate."
"No, I do not. But why would you give up such a magnificent opportunity to prove a Vampire General weaker than you? The more time we waste speaking and dillydallying, the more I look stronger and the more you look weaker. Why give up such an opportunity?"
Arra tapped Larten's knees again. "What makes you think I am not going to just lightly pull my staff towards me at this very moment?" Her smile was gone, her face hard with question. "What makes you so sure I will not do that?"
"You are answering my questions with questions—one." Larten took his pole and slowly pushed her pole away. "Two; you would have done so by now. So, tell me, Arra Sails, what is stopping you from this luscious opportunity?"
She looked away from his face for the first time in quite a while and stared down at her staff. "I have no reason. Except…"
"Except?"
"Except that I like you, Larten. I like you a lot. I knew from the moment you walked in these halls that you were not a normal vampire. I do not wish to put you through the agony of being ridiculed by your fellow Generals."
Larten was speechless. It seemed impossible that the ever-strong Arra Sails had uttered those words to anyone, and especially to him. It was true that he had liked her—a bit more than he should have. In a way that teenagers know like the back of their hands. In a way that made him feel embarrassed and almost fearful. But he never thought his feelings would amount to anything other than a silly and childish pining.
But, yet, here he stood, Arra hinting towards the impossible reality that she might, in fact, like him almost as much as he liked her.
"So what are you saying?" He cocked his head slightly.
She sighed and nearly glowered at Larten. "It means that I like you, Larten Crepsley. A bit more than I should, or so I believe." She frowned at him. "Does this surprise you?"
Larten nodded. "Yes, it surprises me greatly." She smiled, and so did Larten. "But do not worry; it is not for the reason that I do not feel the same way as you do."
Arra blinked, looking shocked. "What?"
"I am saying that I feel the same way about you."
Suddenly her smile broadened as the two stared at each other. "Are you telling the truth, Larten? You wouldn't lie, or so I would hope…," she asked, twirling her staff idly. Larten shook his head.
"I am not lying. You have my word."
Then, unexpectedly, Arra swiftly brought her pole towards the back of Larten's knees and pulled, sending Larten straight through the gap in the bars and down to the ground where he landed with an angry "umph!"
The vampires cheered, their voices flooding back for both Larten and Arra. But, in a voice so low that only Larten could hear, she knelt down and whispered something to him as he lay in the undignified manner.
"It's a date."