Racing Home
"Are you sure you won't stay the night, 'Niichan? That storm's getting awfully fierce. You really shouldn't
drive in these conditions."
Sage looked down at his younger sister, smiling at the worry in her eyes and pleased by the fact that she cared
for him as few others did.
"I know. I want to be home before it gets any worse."
"You just want to get home to Robyn."
Sage glared at his now former best friend, "I just don't want to spend the night on your nasty old couch, Rowen!"
Satsuki slipped between the two to give her brother a hug, "Drive safe, Sage."
"I always do."
Rowen, still chuckling, also gave him a brotherly hug.
"Don't kill yourself on your way home to Robyn."
This time Sage ignored Rowen's idiocy. He wished his younger sister and her new husband a goodnight and headed
for his car. It was true that Robyn was staying at his house. She had recently graduated from college, a year later than
the rest of them because of a credit transfer problem, and was having trouble finding a place of her own. Cye's job kept
him on the move constantly, or Robyn surely would have stayed with him. For some reason the others had decided that his
place was the perfect second choice.
It was also true that the storm was already raging and promised to get much worse before the night was out. Climbing into his Solara, Sage pushed sopping blond locks out of his eyes.
For some reason Rowen's words were weighing heavily on his mind. Not because they had any truth to them... did they? How dare his friends make assumptions about a situation they themselves created and then stuck him in. For a moment Sage tried to hang on to the anger at being stuck. But he knew he wasn't really. Robyn's presence at home was often a relief. They'd had a few problems of course, settling in and dividing chores, but... Sage cursed his friends again.
Despite his internal aggravation a glance in his visor mirror showed his face to be as expressionless as ever. Sage shook his bangs out of his eyes again and started the car. He set the wipers on high before he dared to move, and had his brights on long before he reached the main road. He down-shifted as he turned onto the highway and squinted carefully at the pavement.
Buckets upon buckets of rain water splashed down on his windshield, giving him only sporadic views of the road. Lightning flickered across the sky, jagged fingers reaching, grasping for an earthly target. Sage shuddered mentally at the malevolence he attached to the lightning. Storms and water were Rowen and Cye's things. He was out of element and, even more so, sunset had been hours previous.
Sage turned up his radio in an effort to take his mind off the storm but not the road. It warred fitfully with the heavy pounding of the rain and for the first time Sage wished that he had let Kento install the extra speakers. A thin smile crossed his face at that. For a long time Sage was the only one of the five with a set of wheels that was worth anything. With that special right Kento said came a special responsibility: to make the car as "tricked out" as possible. All of which Sage adamantly refused.
A turnoff slipped by him in the dark and Sage sighed mentally. He was only halfway home. He wanted to be there as soon as possible, getting ready for his own bed after a warm shower and maybe a cup of tea. He wondered briefly if Robyn would still be up, then quickly steered himself away from that line of thought.
Instead of thinking about her, or even about his own home he let himself think of Rowen and Satsuki's. They had a nice home, he thought. Small, but there was only the two of them and they weren't expecting any time soon. That was also a rather disturbing thought and Sage skipped over it. He had never thought that Rowen was serious when he talked about dating Satsuki in high school, but when Satsuki had turned sixteen the blue-haired Ronin had gone and carefully asked their father's permission. Sage was still surprised that the two worked out so well together.
Suddenly Sage swerved across the road, narrowly dodging a large tree limb that had been strewn across the highway. He cursed himself for getting lax and focused even more carefully on the road ahead of him. To get this close to home and still have the storm get the better of him was more than he could bare to think about.
Almost sighing with relief he turned onto his own tree lined road. Lightning ripped across the sky, showing the heavy storm clouds stacked one on top of the other. A sharp crack rent the air, and fierce, jagged light struck to his left, too close for comfort. Before he could really grasp the idea the branches of a falling tree filled his vision. His foot slammed the brake, completely out of reflex. Faint under the sounds of the storm he heard both his brakes and tires squeal with the abuse.
As everything settled to a halt Sage let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Taking several deep, calming breaths he tried to assess the situation. The first thing he noticed, inanely, was that his radio was still playing faintly. The front half of the hood was crushed under the tree. Branches engulfed the car to either side and most of the way up the roof. The rain sounded a bit fainter, but was still going strong. On the plus side, if it could be considered that, he was within a 100 yards of his house and he could be home in a minute. Soaking naturally, with the run it would take, but home.
After a moment he decided to go for it. His only other option really was sitting in his car with his faint radio for company waiting for hours on end for the rain to stop. Which, with his house partially in view between tree limbs would be absolute torture.
The door resisted as he pushed it open and Sage winced at the sound of wood on metal. The scratches on his car door would be a pain, but the thought was quickly thrust from his mind as sharper pain lanced through his face, arms, and chest. The stubborn tree branch had snapped back into place when he closed the door again, scoring him with tiny cuts. He gained still more as he fought his way free of the branches surrounding his car.
Rainwater and blood marked his usually immaculate shirt. The rain washed his cuts but also stung like crazy. Mud sloshed on his shoes and pants as he struggled up to the house. He was a thorough mess by the time he burst into the front hall.
"Sage?" So Robyn was still up. And she sounded alarmed by his abnormally loud entrance.
Sage didn't try to answer immediately. Instead, he leaned against the wall and tried to catch his breath. He had to stifle a moan as he felt blood rise to his cuts again.
"Sage!" Robyn stood in the doorway, shocked, "Sage, what happened to you?"
This time Sage found it impossible to reply. Robyn was already dressed for bed, but apparently she'd been in a hurry because the top two buttons of her pajama shirt were still undone. He couldn't see anything, of course, but it was more than Robyn usually showed. She'd pulled her hair back into a quick bun, a few thin red hairs falling around her face. It was her eyes, though, that really silenced him. They were wide with worry as both concern and shock fought to be the dominant expression.
When he didn't reply Robyn tugged him inside, ignoring his half articulated protest against mud on his pale carpet.
"Get over it."
Robyn's reply was firm, but her smile was teasing as she opened his bedroom door and urged him inside. "Pass me out your dirty clothes and meet me in the kitchen when you're ready."
As Robyn carried his muddy clothes to the laundry she shook her head in wonder. Of all the Ronins, Sage was the one she least expected to have to take care of. But that was boys, all boys, for you. On automatic she tossed his clothes in the washer, prepping it to run when Sage finished his inevitable shower. She moved back out to the front hall to take care of the mud on the carpet before it set. She did it all without even considering it, her mind on more important things. What had possessed Sage to leave his sister's house in this storm? And what had happened to him to cause all those tiny scratches? And, most perturbing, what had had the blond Ronin so distracted that he, king of words, had been speechless just now?
Robyn heard the shower running as she headed back to the kitchen, and she let her thoughts fade into more mundane tasks. She got down the first aid kit and set a pot of water on the stove to heat. Since coming to live with Sage she'd done this countless times. That boy would drink tea at any time of day, sometimes made himself, sometimes she had it ready before he even thought of it. Robyn was just pouring the hot water into two mugs when she heard the shower kick off again.
Tea went into Sage's mug, of course, hot chocolate went into her own. Robyn turned to go back to the laundry room and stopped short. Sage was leaning against the doorframe, wearing only his silky black pajama pants. His damp blond hair hung on either side of his face and both his grey eyes were visible, watching her with a look she couldn't quite decipher.
Robyn frowned at that. "Well, have a seat and let me have a look at you."
He gave her one of his rare, small smiles and complied. He'd already taken care of his cuts, tapping Halo to turn the scratches into thin white scars. But then, he saw no reason to tell Robyn that just yet.
She looked him over intently, checking for injuries beyond his cuts. She had forgotten about Halo, the armors had been unused for so long. Robyn lightly ran her fingers over the tiny scars, even paler than his normal skin. Sage shivered at the touch, momentarily horrified at what it stirred within him.
Robyn caught her breath in shock as a strong arm encircled her waist and tugged her close. She stared at Sage, wide-eyed, for a long moment. That strange look was still there, confusing her behind those grey eyes. But Robyn found herself smiling rather than frowning at him, and she returned the embrace.
Sage wasn't quite sure what made him do it. He could still feel the tiny, electric like sensation of Robyn running her fingers over his bare shoulder. Mentally, he scolded himself. He had always thought himself above this, but... he couldn't deny the need he felt to hold and be held in that moment. The crazy, demanding desire to pull her close and smell the scent that was so distinctly Robyn.
The moment Robyn returned his embrace was one of sudden crystal clarity. Since he'd walked in the door he'd been trying to figure out the real reason he'd been in such a hurry to be home. He had come up with a group of fake ones, of course, while avoiding the actual one. This was why. She was why. Rowen, damn him, and his insinuation, damn that too, were so right. This was where he wanted to be; safe at home with Robyn in his arms. He'd race home from anywhere, and through anything, just for this.
-fin-