Chapter Text
Moonhaven was beautiful in the sunlight but it was glorious in the moonlight. M.K. supposed that was how the sanctuary got its name and that it really had nothing to do with the Pod. She saw Moonhaven's true beauty. Normally she would spend quiet moments like this one leaning out her window, gazing over the small city.
As the leader of the Leafmen and former 'companion' of the late Queen, Ronin had the privilege of his house being close to the Queen's own home. And that meant it sat higher than the other homes, offering a beautiful view of Moonhaven.
M.K. liked to stare out her window and drink it all in.
"M.K!" Nod's whisper was slightly too loud as he poked his head into her room, a smile already fixed on his face. M.K. had just finished pulling on her boots when he did so, and she shushed him.
"You're supposed to be quiet," she scolded him, her voice no more than a whisper in the dark. By the moonlight, she could see the flash of Nod's teeth as his smile widened.
"Well, you're taking forever," he whispered back. He waltzed past the threshold of her room, his feet baking absolutely no sound as he made his way over to her. M.K. was never as quiet; it must be a Jinn thing or something. Ronin insisted it was the Leafmen training, but she knew better.
"You sure he's asleep?" she instead asked, deciding not to retort to his earlier comment.
Nod just shrugged and his smile became a roguish smirk. "If he was, Ronin would already have my hide tanned for being in your room at night," M.K. giggled because she knew it was true.
She watched as Nod suddenly scowled and deepened his voice to imitate his foster father's," As long as you two are living under my roof, you'll follow my rules. By that, I mean YOU'LL be following my rules, Nod." Because of course, all troublemaking came from Nod. If only Ronin realized that more often than not, M.K. was all too willing to go along with Nod's ideas.
It was a terrible impersonation and Nod came out sounding like he was an old man with chest congestion. And he was not used to using such a deep voice, so in the end he was coughing and clearing his throat.
As M.K. laughed, he watched her with bright eyes; her laughter never failed to make his heart flutter and his lips curl up into a smile. Sometimes, he was just so thankful that she chose to stay. He'd do anything to prove to her that she made the right choice, that it was worth it. He'd start by making her smile and laugh every chance he got.
M.K. stopped giggling and watched with a smile as he headed for the window. "But you have to admit, sneaking out of half the fun," he told her. Suddenly, he swung his leg over the edge of the open window, stopping halfway to grin back at her.
"There's a perfectly useable door right there."
In response, he held a hand out to her," Half the fun, right?" He waited patiently for her, a smile on his face and wide hopeful eyes, and it reminded M.K. so much of their first day. It was not that long ago, but still it felt like a lifetime.
A day where three times he said," Put your arms around me," and three times she answered," I barely know you." Each time, she'd say no but she'd always listen and put her arms around him, hanging on to him.
He still said," Put your arms around me," every time they went flying. But now she never teased. She never hesitated before taking his open hand and going with him. This time was no different.
'But I barely know you,' had never been a very good excuse anyways.
So that was how she came to be clambering out her window at who knows how late of an hour. Late enough for the moon to be high in the sky; late enough for them to work extra hard to be extra quiet; late enough to know that if Ronin woke to find them gone there'd be hell to pay. But they did it anyways, stealing into the night like thieves.
They saddled only M.K's hummingbird; the hummingbird Nod used for Leafmen business was kept at the palace with the rest of the Leafmen's birds. His sparrow that he rode everywhere else slept peacefully nearby M.K's, its head tucked under a wing. M.K. didn't have the heart to wake it up, and Nod admitted that it wasn't the quietest of birds. Tonight was all about stealth and silence.
Nod steered this time, though it was always fun to let M.K. steer, and M.K. sat behind him and put her arms around his middle. She'd always warn him not to try any fancy moves while she was on, but 90% of the time he'd ignore it and do so anyways. At this moment, he urged the small bird into flight, both of them soaring up into the sky.
M.K. loved the bird's-eye view of Moonhaven at night, so Nod learned to circle above it a few times. If he were to glance back at her, he'd see the look of amazement on her face as she looked far below them. Her eyes would shine and sometimes she'd let her jaw drop the tiniest bit, her lips parting slightly in wonder. He'd feel the pull on one side of his waist as she'd lean over to get a better view and she'd hold onto him for an anchor.
He hoped she never stopped reacting this way, for honestly it was the highlight of his day "Where do you want to go?" he asked her.
Her answer was immediate. "Surprise me!"
He knew just the place. "Put your arms around me," he said before adjusting his grip on the reins. As soon as he felt her gasp tighten, the hummingbird rolled into a steep nosedive, much like the one he did the first time she flew with him. Laughter escaped him when she clutched at him, practically clawing through his shirt, but he couldn't help it. He pulled up on the reins before they hit the water and then they were off, flying just above the river.
M.K. had to threaten to push Nod off once -maybe twice- after he did a few more barrel rolls and nosedives. She should've known he wouldn't listen, but that's Nod for you.
But when they finally reached their destination, it was all worth it. Nod always knew the best spots and this time, he still didn't fail to deliver. Even before they landed on a wide expanse of rock, M.K. was blown away by the sight. She didn't know this place existed.
There was a place where the river merged with another, larger one and when combined, the two created a lake. In reality, it was just a small pond but that was only if one used Stomper standards. But this pond, lake, whatever was infinitely more beautiful than any man sized lakes.
Lily pads littered the surface. Lily pads of all sizes: some were small -no wider than she could stretch her arms- and some were huge. These ones seemed to dwarf her and she imagined that she could do cartwheels on them.
And outlining all of this were giant spanses of green ferns, and beyond that the massive oak trees. The rock she and Nod stood upon were encased in these same ferns; a room made out of rock and fern and the sweet smell of water lilies.
'So, so beautiful,' Nod decided as he watched M.K. stare in awe at the lily pad pond. She stood on the edge of the rock, just a step away from a lily pad. The ferns that leaned over their rock made an archway, creating the perfect frame for the girl standing there.
He couldn't stop the smile on his face even if he wanted to. Which he didn't, not by far. Nod noticed he smiled around M.K. nearly constantly, whether he was laughing, grinning, or just smiling slightly like he was now...and he was well aware that he looked like a love struck fool right now.
But just look at her!
Nod remembered thinking M.K. was pretty the first time he saw her, but a couple weeks in Moonhaven had really changed her. She had traded her Stomper sweatshirt in for a velvet rose petal blouse that looked as soft as the flower felt. Maybe it was a man thing or something, but just seeing M.K. wear Jinn clothing set Nod alight. He liked seeing her wear clothing that made her part of Moonhaven, rather than a Stomper shrunk down.
And seeing her framed by ferns, overlooking a lily pad pond with a giddy smile on her face...he wished he could forever keep the image.
"So what do you think?" he asked her, stepping forward to wrap an arm around her waist," Do you like it?"
This past couple weeks had given Nod the confidence to do that: to take her to special places, to casually hold her as if she was 'his', and to sometimes steal kisses. Everytime, like now, M.K. never pushed him away or gave any indication that she didn't like his advances. More often than not, she was the one who had no qualms about tugging his hair to pull him down into a kiss.
"It's beautiful," she sighed dreamily, never taking her eyes off the lake while she reached for his other arm. Nod gave no resistance as his arm was pulled around her and his hand grasped tightly in both hers. He loved it; hand resting on her waist, the other arm pressing her arm between their bodies but his fingers held captive by here. M.K's side pressed into him and he could smell the soap she used.
After taking a deep breath, he let it escape him coupled with a goofy little smile. "You should see it during the full moon," he told her," I was going to show you then, but I couldn't wait another two weeks."
M.K. made a humming noise and leaned further into him. "I still love it," she reassured him," I never thought a place like this existed. It's amazing."
"Well, to be fair, you also didn't think we existed," he couldn't help but remind her, chuckling lightly at the memory.
'True,' M.K. thought, and now look where she was. Now she was one of the very same beings she thought impossible, and even dating one of them. Was she crazy for giving up everything, to give up her actual world, for this? She had the chance to go home, to reunite with her dad and finally haw a chance to be a family again, to live her life.
And yet, she said no. Did that make her crazy?
Just then, Nod retracted his arms from her, but held her hand in his. Pulling on her arm to turn her around, a smile played on his lips, further amused by the look of surprise on hers. Her lips formed into a soft 'O' and her breath left her in a huff as he tugged her to his chest.
"Dance with me." He sounded so sure of himself, not even forming it into a question and he just went right ahead and settled their bodies into a slow dancing pose.
"But," she could only gape at him," There isn't any music." To which Nod simply began humming a tune she was unfamiliar with, and then he whisked her away into dancing with him.
To be honest, M.K. was having the time of her life. Who knew Nod even knew how to dance? Not that they were doing anything too difficult, just swaying their hips in time to the song he was humming.
Once or twice, he spun her away, holding gently into her hand before pulling her back into the circle of his arms. The first time he did so, she giggled; she had never been spun like that. When she said as much, he just smiled and spun her again, this time keeping her hand above her head and spinning her like a ballerina.
Gradually, so slowly that she barely noticed, their bodies move closer and closer together until M.K. was pressed against his chest. Her right hand and his left still held tight, just barely nudging her shoulder. Her other hand was thrown over his shoulder, her hand brushing the back of his neck.
She was dimly aware of her fingers playing with his hair that hung there, but she was more aware of his hand resting low on her waist, his arm quite literally wrapped around her lower back. It was this arm that kept her pressed to him, but it was gentle enough that she could pull away if she wanted to.
She didn't.
She liked that she could smell the woodsy-smell that was only him. She liked the way she could feel every moment he made reverberate in the muscles in his torso, moving softly against her own. She liked how every breath he took brought him closer to her. She liked how sometimes their thighs would brush against each other, made a bit clumsy by the combined dancing and proximity. She liked that when she tilted her head back to look at his face, he could see every speck of color that made up his hazel eyes. They matched perfectly with his straight nose, with his high cheeks, and most importantly with his smile.
She liked how it made her want to kiss him.
But for the first time, Nod beat her to the punch. M.K's eyes closed as his lips descended over hers, at first no more than a gentle kiss. But then he pressed just a little harder and one of them -she didn't know which- hummed softly in content.
As she kissed him back, her hands moved themselves to bury into his thick hair and pull him closer. The heels of her palm was settled firmly right behind his ear and the other's fingers tugged at his hair. She could feel his hand on the base of her skull, his pinky against her neck while the majority of his hand cradled her head.
If she was crazy, it was only because he made her that way.
Then he deepened the kiss and she thought of nothing more.