Onyx and Skybound

Introduction: Interview with a Ninja

(=^･ｪ･^=)(=^･ｪ･^=)(=^･ｪ･^=)(=^･ｪ･^=)

That evening, Lloyd brought Onyx to a small cat cafe. Her eyes lit up when she saw the cats walking about. She spun to him, eyes bright. "I've always wanted to go to one of these!" She exclaimed, hugging him. Lloyd's cheeks pinked, and he smiled, both proud of himself and happy to see her so excited.

It was a struggle to pay more attention to Lloyd than the cats, but Onyx managed, sipping her coffee and scratching behind a calico cat's ear. "How'd you find this place?" Onyx asked, looking around. Lloyd laughed nervously. "Ah... well, I may have asked Nya for advice," he admitted. She grinned. "Well I'll have to thank her later, because this is perfect," she said. Lloyd smiled. "I knew you liked cats, so I figured that this was a good option," he said. Onyx reached over and nervously took Lloyd's hand with a tiny smile. Lloyd's cheeks pinked again as he smiled widely.

"I like your smile. It's cute," Onyx said, her eyes flicking nervously to the side. Gah, why did she suddenly feel so awkward? She was so happy to finally be here. It had taken ages for them to all recover from what Morro had done, so why did social anxiety have to come and visit now!? Lloyd smiled nervously. "I-I like your smile too. I mean, I like all of you, but your smile is... you know... pretty," he stammered, flustered. Onyx laughed softly at his pink face and decided to play with this a little further.

She reached up and poked his nose. "H-hey, what are you doing!?" Lloyd cried, even the tips of his ears flushing this time. Onyx shrugged, leaning back. "I wanted to see what would happen," she said playfully. Lloyd's eyes narrowed good-naturedly at that, and he smirked. "Oh, I can play that game." He gently grabbed her wrist and kissed the back of her hand. Onyx felt a blush creep onto her own face, and a very-unlike-her giggle left her mouth.

Lloyd seemed satisfied with her reaction, judging by his amused expression. A mischievous expression crept on his face, and Onyx knew full-well he was getting ideas. She raised her eyebrow invitingly, curious to see where this was going. But before Lloyd could do anything else, there was a familiar silver flash, followed by a shuttering click. Onyx's head jerked up to see a camera. Several cameras, actually. She and Lloyd reacted instinctively, leaping to their feet.

"Code Paparazzi!" Onyx shouted. Lloyd grabbed her hand and took off, leaping over the table and dodging the cats, pulling her along with him. Onyx slid between one of the photographer's legs and threw a cat at him. "Sorry!" Lloyd shouted to the owner, throwing a few daiyen on the counter before the two ducked out of the cafe and kept running, the paparazzi in hot pursuit. Onyx leaned close to him as they ran. "Rooftop?" Lloyd nodded. "Rooftop," he agreed.

The two ducked into an alleyway and quickly began to vault up the clotheslines there, managing to leap onto a rooftop before the photographers could see where they'd gone.

Once she was sure they were safe, Onyx flopped down on her back with an exhale. Lloyd followed suit a moment later. "These paparazzi guys are getting really out of hand," she said. Lloyd sighed. "I'm sorry. I really didn't think they'd find us," he apologized. Onyx laughed and propped herself up on an elbow. "It's fine! Honestly, I had fun running away with you," she said. Lloyd blinked, a hopeful smile creeping across his face. "Really?" He asked. Onyx nodded. "Yeah, really. Come on; We're ninja. Running around is what we do best," she said jokingly. Lloyd grinned. "Well if you're happy, I'm happy," he said.

Onyx sat up and scooted over so that they were sitting next to each other, looking up at the stars. "You know, the stars were really pretty back in... Stiix." She spoke slightly hesitantly, not wanting to dredge up any bad memories. Lloyd was silent for a moment before shaking his head. "You don't have to be careful what you say. I'm okay, Onyx," he murmured. Onyx smiled lightly. "Good. I just... really care about you, Lloyd," she said. Lloyd blinked before exhaling warmly. "I care about you too," he said softly. Then his eyes widened a bit.

"Ah! That reminds me; I had something I wanted to give you," Lloyd said, reaching into his hoodie jacket and pulling out something small and egg-shaped. "Hold out your hand and close your eyes," he said. Onyx obliged. She had no idea what to expect. She hadn't thought Lloyd would get her anything. Lloyd placed the thing in her hand. She felt plastic and a tiny metal chain.

"Okay, open," he said. Onyx opened her eyes, and immediately gasped in surprise. She recognized a tamagotchi, and she stared down at it. The shell was patterned with rhombuses in different shades of pink and black. "If you don't like it, I can bring it back and find something else. I just thought that since Wu won't let us have pets, and you didn't have many toys growing up-" Onyx cut off Lloyd's rambling by nearly tackling him in a hug. "I love it! Thank you!" She exclaimed, squeezing him.

Lloyd was frozen in surprise for a moment before bringing his arms up and hugging her back. Onyx smiled widely. As far as a first date went... she didn't think this one could have gone any better.

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I've never written a scene that focused solely on fluffy romance before. Did I do this right?

And what do you mean, I'm projecting my love of tamagotchis onto Onyx? I'm totally not doing that. Definitely not.