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Watching the rain fall, Eyra pressed her hands against the patio doors and leaned forward. Lightning was arching across the sky, followed shortly by booms of thunder. The rain was falling hard enough to bounce off the ground. They’d been calling for the storm for days and it had finally arrived with a vengeance. Which delighted her to no end.
Her eyes lit up as thunder rumbled through the house. The storm was wild around them, taking all the hot summer days they’d been having and turning into this fury. It reminded her of the summer storms they’d get in Galahd and she loved every second of it.
“Babe?”
Screaming at the voice, she smacked her head into the glass as she jumped before whipping around. “Holy shit, Gladio!” she cried. “What the fuck?”
He was staring at her but even with the low light in the room she could see him struggling not to laugh at her. “You’re ridiculous,” he told her.
Rubbing her forehead, she scowled at him as he came over to her. “What are you doing scaring the shit out of me?”
“It’s not my fault you didn’t hear me,” Gladio threw back. “I made noise.”
Well shit. Her nose wrinkled as he pulled her hand away from her before blinking quickly as he kissed her forehead.
“Better?” he teased.
“Shut up,” she muttered, tugging her wrist out of his grip and turning back to the storm.
He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of her head. “It’s getting bad,” he said quietly.
Eyra snorted. “This isn’t that bad. The storms in Galahd were worse.”
“I didn’t realise we were competing.”
She sighed, leaning back into him. “We aren’t,” she murmured. “Because this is a bad storm for Insomnia.”
Gladio hummed quietly. “You’re not very good at that.”
Rolling her eyes, she gently jabbed him with her elbow.
He chuckled again and cuddled into her more. “It’s cold over here,” he coaxed. “Don’t you want to curl up on the couch instead? Watch a movie? Have some hot chocolate?”
All of that sounded very tempting but…. “I gotta do something first.”
He tensed a little behind her, surprised she wasn’t immediately agreeing. “What?”
Reaching out, she unlatched the door and slid it open. But he didn’t let her go when she went to step outside. “C’mon, big guy,” she said, twisting to look at him. “Gonna need you to let me go.”
Gladio was frowning at her. “You want to go out there? In that?” he demanded.
She shrugged. “It’s just water and yeah.”
He was still giving her an odd look. “Is this some weird Galahd thing?” he asked slowly. “Some fascination with storms and-ow!”
“That didn’t hurt,” she growled, her elbow throbbing a little from hitting him. Maybe that had been a little harder than it needed to….
His arms slowly fell from her when she kept looking at him and he stepped back. “I’m not going out there, crazy.”
She shrugged. “Your loss.”
The air was chilly as she went outside, the stone patio cold under her feet. It was hard to believe it had been a hot summer day only yesterday as shivers immediately crawled across her skin. She didn’t stop though, moving out from under the awning. A small shriek left her as she immediately got drenched, the rain pouring over her.
“Serves you right,” Gladio called, laughing.
She pushed her hair out of her face to glare at him but she forgot about him as thunder rumbled across the sky. Biting her lip, she hurried further out onto the lawn, spreading her arms and spinning in a circle. The grass was slick under her feet, making her slip a little but she didn’t care. The storm felt amazing around her.
Laughing as more lightning danced over the city, she danced through the rain. Her clothes were already sticking to her, the baggy shirt sliding nearly to her elbow from the weight of the water. She didn’t bother pulling it up and let the rain hit bare skin. It had been too long since they’d had a good storm and she wasn’t going to miss any of it.
Eerie glanced at the house, noticing that Gladio had stepped onto the patio and was leaning against one of the supports. She crooked a finger at him and laughed again when his expression twisted. “Baby!” she called over the rain.
She danced further away from the house, holding her hands up again as she spun. How many times had they done this as children in Galahd? Every chance they could when a storm had rumbled over their small town, all three of the Ulrics rushing outside to play in the rain while Vex had stood on the back step. She’d join them eventually before hustling them all inside to be bundled in towels and warm clothes and set before the fire. Playing in the storms was as much about being in the storm as it was the family time they had together inside the house after.
Gasping as she felt a hand slide across her back, she spun on the ball of her foot to face Gladio. She grinned as she watched him shove his hair back from his face, already soaked. “Dance with me,” she said, grabbing and tugging on him.
“You’re fucking crazy,” he shot back at her, tightening his hold on her waist but spinning them both around in a circle.
Eerie laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck. “You love me!”
Lightning cracked overhead, drowning out his snort, but he didn’t put her down and didn’t stop.
Grinning at him, she felt her feet lift further off the ground as he spun them around. She giggled when he slipped a little, jostling them before he caught himself.
“You had your fill?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes and kissed him. “It’s fun!”
“I’m never going to understand you,” Gladio sighed.
Softening against him, she ran her fingers through his wet hair and murmured, “Alright. We can go inside.”
“You sure?” he asked in surprise.
Eyra nodded. “You said cuddles and hot chocolate and movies, yeah?”
He shifted on his feet, watching her. “You sure?” he asked again.
“It’s tradition,” she said softly.
His brows lifted, asking, “With your family?”
“Yeah,” she agreed, smiling. “Dancing in the rain and then cuddles in front of a fire.”
“Well, we do have a fireplace if you’d rather do that than watch a movie.”
Eerie shook her head and kissed him slowly as thunder rumbled again. “The movie sounds better right now. I’ll even let you pick one since you came out with me.”
Gladio laughed shortly. “Lucky me. Get to pick the movie and probably catch a cold.”
“That’s what the cuddling’s for,” she corrected. “To prevent colds.”
He kept laughing and turned them toward the house. “Medic’s orders?”
She grinned at him. “Medic’s orders,” she agreed.