Little Talks

Anna awoke upright to the warmth of a chest and the sound of a steady heartbeat against her ear. "Mmm," she murmured as she moved against the chest and the arms that hung loosely about her. Wait—arms? Heartbeat? Since when? Her eyes flew open only to see the darkness of deep purple cloth, with small details that she didn't care to notice. Just where was she? Was it Kratos? She jerked her head to the side to see—light blinded her. The sun. She shut her eyes and turned her head back to the chest but it was too late. Her eyes were already aching and were burning with afterimages. A deep chuckle tickled her ear.

"Hey, don't laugh," she mumbled as she readjusted herself and buried her head deeper into her chest to avoid the sun. "Not very nice."

"Your reaction was funny," he said and a hand came to her hair to stroke it. "I can't help it."

"Well you should. Hurts my feelings, you know."

"I never knew that you could be wounded so easily."

"Surprise, surprise," she said through a stifled yawn. "You learned something new today."

He laughed. "I suppose I have. It's not as though we've known each other for long enough to know everything about each other."

"What are you talking about? We've known each other forever it feels like."

His hand stilled on her head and he held an indrawn breath. His arms that once hung loosely about her now tightened and held her closer and she felt warm breath and a gentle kiss at the top of her head.

"Yes, it rather feels that way," he said softly with lips that brushed against her hair. What'd she say to make him act like this all of a sudden? It's too early for this. His cheek was against her head and she felt his hand continue to stroke her hair. "You should go back to sleep. It's only sunrise."

"Seriously? That late?" she said shocked. She had slept in and so had everyone else by the sounds of it. How did Kratos let this happen? They were late and they had a lot of ground to cover today. "Sunrise? Already? We should..." She moved to the side while ignoring Kratos' head above her. "Aah!" she opened her eyes only to be blinded by the light yet again. She quickly shut her eyes and moved her head back to his chest. Where it was dark. Safe.

He chuckled. Again. She frowned.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing," he said with a hint of smile. He was getting really annoying really fast. "There's no need to move so quickly. We've decided to sleep longer today so everyone regains their strength from the ranch. Have you forgotten?"

She hesitated. "No."

"Really?" he said and sounded as though he did not believe her. "Is that why you tried to get up?"

"You don't have to sound so smug about it," she said, clearly annoyed.

"Oh? Do I sound smug?"

"Yes you do! And now you sounded even smugger. Quit it."

"That's rather hard to do. You never seem to learn when to stop."

"Just what do you mean by that?"

"The sun is too bright for you but you still," he said but couldn't continue his sentence because of his uncontrollable laughter. Well that was unusual. She couldn't remember the last time Kratos laughed that much. A frown settled on her lips. He was laughing at her. "You still persist."

"Humph," she said as she unconsciously mimicked him and crossed her arms in front of her. He laughed. Again. Her frown deepened. "You don't have to make fun of me."

"I wasn't aware that I was."

"Yes you are! You're laughing at my eyes."

He let out a laugh, one of those new and incredibly annoying uncontrollable ones yet again. "Yes, I'm laughing at your eyes," could he just stop already? "However will they recover?"

"You don't have to sound like such a jerk."

"Why is it that you sound so angry?" he asked and completely ignored what she said.

"Oh, don't play dumb with me. You know exactly why."

"Do I?"

"Yes, you do," she said and took a deep breath in an attempt to keep her temper in check. "You know how easy it is to get me mad when I just wake up. Would you quit it, already?"

"Hmm," he brought a hand to her own in a playful way. She stiffened and batted it away, her anger was not getting any easier to keep in check. "Anna, don't be like that," he said and squeezed that same hand. She said nothing in response. He sighed. "You'll have to forgive me for riling you so early in the morning after all you've been through. I'll make it up to you," he said as he brought his lips to her forehead.

She didn't appreciate it.

His version of making it up to her was what he wanted. I wanna go back to sleep, she thought dismally as his lips pressed against her hair again and again. She needed revenge. Tickling. Yes, that's perfect! He hates being tickled, she thought as his fingers traced the outline of her jaw and drew her head upwards, with her eyes stubbornly shut so she wouldn't be blinded again. He laughed. That was the last straw. There's no way she'd let him kiss her now. His thumb stroked her lips. She'd tickle him, but it'd have to be when he least expected it. He was too on guard at the moment, her best bet was to change the topic. And quick. His lips brushed against her cheek-

"Why'd you let me sleep in your arms last night? You were never a fan of it."

He stiffened. "That's true. I wasn't," he said through a voice that was far different from the playful tone he held earlier. Silence greeted her and she sighed. So now I have to try to get him to tell me the truth. Great, just great.

"Did your arms fall asleep this time? "

He laughed lightly. "You still remember."

"Kind of hard to forget," she laughed and her anger was forgotten in the midst of the pleasant memory. "You were in such a panic, I thought something bad had happened, like your arm just fell off or something."

"I didn't know what was going on. It was one of the many things that I had forgotten about," he said softly, somewhat to himself.

"I bet you wished it stayed forgotten with the way you reacted," she said with a small smile. As annoying as he had been earlier his sombre tone didn't sit well in her stomach. He should laugh again. "It was so weird how you asked me to move away from you. Like it was something I did wrong and not your stupid arm so you were mad at me or something."

"But it was your fault, not it was not 'my stupid arm''s fault," he said with a playful tone which returned. "Perhaps if you were lighter-"

"Oooh, so now you're calling me fat?" she said with a flash of annoyance. Well the nice act didn't last very long. "How chivalrous of you."

"I know."

"Remind me why we're married again?"

"I thought it was because of my dashing good looks."

"Don't flatter yourself," she said through a short laugh. Damn. He wasn't supposed to make her laugh. "You're ugly."

He laughed again and this time she braved the sun and creaked her eyes open ever so slightly. His whole face glowed with joy in the sunlight that gleamed around his auburn hair which made him look somewhat ethereal. She was taken aback. She was not used to him acting so...happy. Looking so happy. Her anger quickly dissipated. It was then that she realized that he completely avoided her question and got her talking about something that he wanted, and not her. She'd never know how he could do that so easily.

"So, anyway, why did you want me sleeping here? It can't have been very comfortable."

"It was one of the more comfortable nights of my life," he admitted.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you're with me," he said with such delight that she was not used to his voice holding. "You want to stay with me. You actually want to stay," his voice held some kind of amazement at this fact. "I can have months more with you."

"I—is that really it?" she asked with uncertainty. She had no idea that was all it would take to make him seem so...happy. Happier then she'd seen him in, well, ever.

"Of course it is. Do you think that you are not enough to make me feel this way? Now you do not deny my affections. You don't pull away or flinch..." he said as he brought a hand to her cheek. "I missed this. You were never like this for all of those years that we were...fone," he said strategically as he avoided the name of the place that she so despised.

"You accept the true way of the world now, and are not fighting against something that cannot be stopped." she stiffened and her stomach dropped. Was what he said true? Had she really lost her fighting spirit...? She had thought that...that during the coming weeks, months...whatever she could change him. The spirit was there, he just couldn't see it. Yes, of course, that was it. "This journey has changed you. It feels so much like the way we once were before..." he trailed off, unable to complete the sentence but she knew exactly what he meant.

"How we once were," she repeated softly, almost to herself. What he said about forgetting about what was important wasn't true, was it? Whenever he would come back to her it felt like she was came to an old home again. Although the home was old and torn and falling apart, once it came back to her she just didn't care anymore. It all felt like such a rush of relief that she wanted to cling to for as long as possible. A part of her wanted to argue, to say that he was wrong and that she wanted things to be different but as she gazed into his hazy eyes she couldn't bring herself to. She felt like she was in that old home again after a time that she thought she would have to move. He made her feel so comfortable and warm and safe from the frightening unknown of the world without him in it.

But it wasn't all beautiful and blue.

The memories of his recent taunting flashed through her mind suddenly and without warning. She grinned. Now was the time. She moved her hands to hold both his shoulders and felt the rough cloth beneath her fingertips.

"Prepare yourself, Kratos Aurion," she said in a tone that mimicked his deep voice and that mocked the way that he would warn his enemies before a battle.

"For what?" he asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Revenge."

She moved her hands in quick movements to his neck and began the assault. She lightly ran her fingers against his warm skin lithely. He laughed uncontrollably and did not fight the surprise attack. She smirked in triumph of victory, but it was too soon and he fell backwards. "Aah," she yelled as she felt the buckles of his armour dig into her skin and her head that fell into the dirt, beside his own. He laughed even more but this time it was at her own expense. Again. Her eyes narrowed.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked as she lifted her head up slowly although her neck ached.

"I could ask the same question," he said and gave her a playful smirk.

She knew what he was thinking and she had to act before he had a chance to. She lifted herself up, with her knees on his belly and brought her hands to his neck. His uncontrollable laughter returned and she revelled in it.

"Wh-why?" was the only word he could manage to become audible amidst the laughter.

"You know why. Revenge," she said as she strategically brushed her fingers lightly against the skin of his neck. She brought one hand to his side but felt rough armour instead. Damn. She forgot that the armour was there. "You were laughing at me. It was-"

Hands grabbed her sides.

"Aah," she cried out as she laughed uncontrollably as he tickled her. She wriggled against his hands to get away but he held her fast. How annoying. She was the one that was supposed to do this to him, not the other way around. She reached her arms out as far as the could to get to his neck again but he lifted her further so they were just out of reach of his face. He grinned.

"Not fair," she said as she tried to loosen his grip. He lifted her above himself and to the ground and was above her and tickling her before she had a chance to register it happening.

"Q—quit it," she said between laughter that was uncontrollable.

"Why? You seemed all too content to see me at your mercy," he said through a jubilant voice. She brought her shakey hands to his neck in retaliation, but he moved out of her way. Again. "I would call this payback."

"St—stop, stop, stop," she said through laughter and writhed in his grasp. "Not fair."

He joined in with laughter of his own but it wasn't because she tickled him.

"You have to give up if you want that," he said and moved a hand from her side to her belly and began tickling it.

"Oh, no, not there!" she said and laughed even more uncontrollably then ever. He knew her weak spots well, and she had on no armour to protect her. Not fair.

"Do you give up?"

"No! I don't give up! I'll-I'll beat you."

He laughed and gave her an arrogant smirk. Ugh, how annoying.

"You think you can beat me?" he said and his eyes crinkled as he looked down at her. He began to tickle the parts of her belly that he knew were her weakest points. "Some things about you I will never understand."

"N—nothing to understand..." she said and moved her arms upwards again only to have him lower his body to pin them against his chest. No! Her last chance was gone. Or was it? "I...give up," she said as a fake truce. She would fool him into thinking that. She felt his hands slow slightly, as though he were preparing for her to give up. Yeah, that's what she'll make him think, that is. And when he least expects it...

"Do you?"

"Yeah, I do!"

He laughed. "How do I know that you're telling the truth?"

"I...uh...promise?"

"I believe you."

"How'd you know my plan," she said in shock.

He smiled. "Because I know you."

"Well that's just great," she muttered under her breath."First you laugh at me and then you win the war."

"For some reason I'm not sympathetic," he said and his voice was very dry.

"Why don't you get off me so I can move now?"

"After my reward."

"Reward?"

"For winning the war."

"I didn't know there was a war. Or terms. I demand a treaty!"

He laughed and looked the happiest that she could remember him look for a really long time. She stopped squirming when she realized how his face lit up and his eyes were crinkled together. His hands stilled against her belly and her sides and she just realized that his face was mere inches away from her own. He lifted himself up just enough that she could move her arms again, and she brought both hands to his cheeks.

"You're acting so...different. You never used to like tickle battles. I did it to annoy you, not for you to actually enjoy it," she said as she looked at his eyes that were bright and his smile was a grin that she so rarely saw. "What's gotten into you?"

"You're with me."

"I've been with you before and you never acted like this."

"This is different, I already told you. You're with me because you want to," he said that with such delight and moved his head so his lips could kiss the palm of her hand. "I get to have months of memories with you like this."

"That why you held me through the night too?"

His warm breath was against her face as he paused in contemplation before he answered. "No, not entirely. I was such a fool before, just because my arm fell asleep. I had the opportunity to have you so close to me but I denied it because I thought that you would forever desire my affections. I never knew a time would come when you would flinch at my touch."

"But I don't-."

"But you did. I've earned this back," he said and placed a short, chaste kiss on her lips. "And I will not waste any of our time together. I will not miss any chance I have to have you close to me," he said softly as he lowered his lips to hers, and were so close that they barely touched. All words escaped her, but she saw his eyes above her that were soft and hazy and warm and he was acting like he used to. She felt so safe and comfortable and when his lips came down to hers again her head was sent swimming. She so desperately wanted to escape to that old and torn house built on sand one last time.