Archive of Our Own

“Mavuika! More papers!”

“What are they about this time?” Mavuika sighed

“One complaint from the Children of Echoes, one complaint from the Collective of Plenty, and the last one is from the Flower Feather Clan.”

Mavuika lowered her head against the desk. “Place them over there with the other papers, please.” 

The worker placed the papers down as she walked towards the office door, before stopping.

The worker turned around. “You also have two meetings today.” 

Mavuika let out a particularly long sigh after looking at the endless pile of papers and now needing to prepare for two meetings.

“Cancel them.”

“E-Excuse me?”

“Cancel both of the meetings. I’m not going.”

“But ma’am, both of the meetings are in an hour!? If we cancel now, imagine how mad they’ll be!”

“I know these meetings are important, but I just can’t go to them right now. I have enough on my plate right now.” Mavuika pointed to the clearly ever-growing stack of papers to her left.

“Okay, I’ll um.. Take my leave now. Call me if you need me.” The worker hurried out of the room, gently closing the office doors behind her.

“Stupid meetings..” Mavuika muttered under her breath as she resumed her work. She grabbed the papers from the pile that her assistant just gave her and held them in her hand while strongly resisting the urge to turn the papers into flames.

Leaning back in her chair, Mavuika took a deep breath before reading what the complaints were about.

Complaint from Flower Feather Clan: Baby Telepitsaurs have been invading our tribe. Must set up a defense mechanism to deter them from entering. -Chasca 

Complaint from the Children of Echoes: Our Telipitsaurs have been adventuring off to the Flower Feather Clan. I can’t keep running back and forth to bring them back! Some assistance, please? - Xilonen

Mavuika chuckled at the coincidence of both complaints before continuing to her last one to read.

Complaint from the Collecting of Plenty: Varesa’s been eating nonstop! I can’t stop it! Perhaps you could give her a stern talking-to. Oh! Or you could have an eating contest with her. Hopefully she’ll feel so full that she doesn’t wanna eat for days! - Iansan

Mavuika gave a breathless laugh. “Yeah.. An eating contest sounds great right now. I’ll take her up on that offer.” She thought. 

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The hours passed by as the sky, once bright blue, settled into a palette of pinks, oranges, and yellows. Papers were signed, replied to, and trashed, and in the end, Mavuika was utterly spent.

“Who knew constantly reading and writing could be as strenuous as a workout?” Mavuika quietly muttered to herself as she lifted her head off the table. 

Standing up from her chair and stretching, the feeling of her bones cracking as she stretched after sitting for hours straight felt relaxing, to say the least. But while stretching, she got a thought. She’s tired; there are only a few people who truly know how to relax her. One of them is Kinich. Why not go talk to him? After grabbing her personal items and cleaning up the office for a bit, she headed outside the stadium, with a goal in mind, summoned her flamestrider, and rode to his house. 

When she got closer to her tribe, the music from the area brought joy to her ears and filled her heart with happiness. Mavuika got off her flamestrider as she walked through the Scions of the Canopy. Hearing her people laugh and be full of joy was the highlight of her day. As she walked through her tribe, Yumkasaurs scurried past her while playing a game of tag with some of the tribes people.

That’s when a thought popped into her mind. Now that she’s thinking about him, Where is he?  She hadn’t heard from him in a few days. Now that she’s thinking about it, that’s quite dangerous, isn’t it? With Kinich fresh in her mind, she picked up her pace as she ran through the Scions of the Canopy and into the wild, a place he calls home.

Making it to the forest filled with trees, bushes, and plants alike, she ran in without a second thought. She wants to make sure he’s safe. No- She needs him to tell her he’s safe. 

Running through the forest, she picked a few quenepa berries for them to share and some other berries in case he’s bored with the usual. After searching for about twenty minutes, though, there was no sight of him. That’s when she rerouted to his actual home, the most unlikely place that he’d be.

Arriving at his white home in the middle of the jungle, a humble yet lively abode, with green curtains, healthy fruits and vegetables growing on the ground, and random workout equipment scattered about, it was a beautiful sight to behold. Walking up the mini-steps and knocking on the door, there were a few moments of silence before the sound of the door unlocking let her know he was here.

Mavuika didn’t even let him fully open the door before bursting into the house and giving him a tight hug.

“Well, there you are! Everything alright? What’d you do today?” She bombarded him with questions.

Kinich gave a slight nod. “I just got finished with my work and came home an hour ago. Recently, work has been draining me too much to write letters to you.”

“Remember to take breaks if you need it. Working hard is always a good thing. But pushing it too far is a bad thing.” Mavuika laughed. “I should be taking my own advice. “So much work today, and I barely got to take a break.” She started to walk towards the couch.

“Would you like to talk about it?” Kinich asked while walking beside her

“Just a lot of paperwork, reading complaints, and having so much work I could barely stand up to take a break without an assistant coming to drop more papers on my desk. It’s exhausting, honestly.” Mavuika sat down. “And I know you have work as well, but I always feel more relaxed around you. So I came here in hopes that you’d know what to do.”

Kinich sat down beside her with his hands folded. “How about the hot springs?”
“Huh?” Now that’s a question unlike him 

Kinich spoke immediately after her, as if he knew his suggestion would warrant her clueless response. “When I was stressed from work, I went to Mualani’s tribe to get some quenepa berry juice. Before I even got to shop, though, Mualani called me over to where she was and asked what I was doing there.” 

Kinich went silent for a few seconds, probably trying to recount all that had happened. “I told her about how work had been draining and stressing me out. And she offered for us to bathe in the hot springs. It didn’t make sense at first, but after we got in, I left relaxed and had an excellent nap. So I’m suggesting the same to you. How about a dip in the hot springs?”

Mavuika thought about his offer. There’s no loss to relaxing, but there is a bonus: Bathing with Kinich. 

“I’ll take you up on that offer. I’ll head over to my home and grab my swimwear, and meet you at the People of the Spings. Sound good?” 

“Sounds good. I’ll see you in a bit, Mavuika.” Kinich stood up and left for his bedroom, waving goodbye as he did so. Mavuika took that as her cue to leave and go to her own home to grab her bathing suit and any other necessities she may need. 

While standing up, she took that moment to look around his home. She studied how books were placed on the floor messily yet organized, how he placed the pillows on the couch a certain way, the way he places his boots near the bedroom door instead of the front door, all small, minuscule things nobody would notice or care about. But to her, it meant everything.

Closing the door behind her, with a smile on her face and a hot spring to get to, she summoned her flamestrider once again and rode to her own home.

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Making it to her own house, Mavuika ran inside towards her bedroom, not wasting any time. The lights flickered slightly as she flipped the switch to her room as quickly as possible, then sped to her closet, her heart racing with anticipation, her hair about to burst into flames with unspoken excitement.

She searched through her closet endlessly trying to find the right bathing suit to wear. That’s when she saw it – a beautiful red bikini with patterned lacing on the sides, absolutely stunning and perfect for the special occasion. 

As Mavuika took off the clothes she was wearing, she paused just as she took her last piece of clothing off and stared at the mirror, staring at her body, tracing every curve of it, every faded scar. Her fingers traced her body until she stopped at her hips. 

Could someone like him love her? Does he even know what it is to love?

No.. That doesn’t matter. I will make him love me no matter what.

She slowly grabbed for her bikini, staring at it, making sure this was the one that was going to wow him, before putting on the outfit. The bikini fitted her shape perfectly, enhancing the curves in her hips and her chest. 

The Archon stared in the mirror once again, but this time, she was certain that this was the one. After checking that she was good to go, she slipped on her platform sandals and walked out the door, anticipating his reaction, excited for the love that she was going to make happen.

Making it outside, the sunset colors of the sky turned into a dark blue, night slowly creeping in as the moon was now in sight. The wind was blowing against her body and hair as she walked towards the People of the Springs.

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Making it to the tribe, the lights and music of the tribe were the first noticeable things as the tribespeople were dancing, relaxing, singing, and living their life to the fullest. Trying to keep discreet and most certainly not wanting people to see her in a bikini, Mavuika took a secret path she had found years ago to a private hot spring. A path that no one knows to take except for her and him

Walking through the path, Mavuika kept thinking to herself about everything, about how everything led her to this moment, and how she absolutely cannot mess this up. 

While in her thoughts, she reached the end of the path, and the steam from the hot spring could be felt even feet away. Walking a bit closer, she saw Him . In navy blue swim shorts, hair tied into a mini-bun, and relaxing, sitting in absolute silence, waiting for Her 

Her heart fluttered at seeing him. Confidence crept in as doubts got shut out as she walked toward him, walking with as much elegance as she could.

“Hey Kinich~” Mavuika swayed her hair.

Healing the Archon call his name, he turned around staring at her before his eyes went wide. Staring at her from the bottom up, he was in absolute awe. Kinich stared at her for a solid 15 seconds, staring at every part of her before switching back to normal. His stoic face covering up his previous reaction.

“Mavuika. Nice to see you arrive ten minutes late.” Kinich let out a small laugh. “Come in. I already warmed the pool for us.”

Hearing his words, she stepped into the hot spring, the hot water relaxing her muscles as she sat beside him. Too close 

The silence lingered for a long while as the two of them stayed quiet, staring at the moon that shone on the water, making a beautiful shine. Relishing in the water that soothed the tenseness in their body and washed the stress away. 

That’s when Mavuika made her move her hand, searching in the water to find his hand, and when she did, she grabbed his hand gently and calmly. He didn’t make a sound, not even a whisper of a noise, but instead stared at her with those beautiful, empty, dead eyes of his. 

“Is everything okay, Mavuika?” Kinich asked, the moon's light shining on his now-wet skin.

“Everything’s completely fine, dear.” Mavuika placed her hand on his cheek, bringing him closer to her.

Kinich looked like he was about to resist, maybe even pull back, but he didn’t. Instead, he helped her move him slightly closer. “What’s.. Going on?”

“You don’t understand how long I’ve been waiting for this moment. How long I’ve been watching your eating behaviours, your habits, sleep schedule, how you behave, learning everything about you so that I can give you absolutely everything you want.” 

Kinich’s eyes softened. Learning that she was stalking him certainly brought his trust in her down. But the way it was for his own good. So that she could always make him happy, made it feel fine, as if the stalking never happened in the first place. He never knew how desperate he was for someone to care about him as much as she did until now 

“Is this.. Your way of saying you love me?”

Mavuika rubbed circles in his cheek. “Of course it is. I love you so much. I’ve been waiting for this moment for months.”

Kinich stared at her blankly and empty yet feeling the exact opposite.“Why choose me? I don’t even know what I need to do to make you happy or feel loved.”

“You have all you need in here.” Mavuika pointed at his head.

“I thought you were going to say my heart.”

“I would have, but it seems that your brain is bigger.”

“So, in other words, you think I’m cold-hearted.”

“No, I just think you don’t know how to love. Leave it to me to show you how.” Mavuika pulled him closer, one hand on his waist and the other on his face as she kissed him, pressing their bodies and lips together in their joined love.

Feeling his slim, small but toned body against hers was something she’d yearned for since the day she met him. What a unique child he was. Fresh out of winning the pilgrimage, raring with energy to go to the night warden wars. Utterly spent and tired, yet he fought to the death, and yet that spark of life and energy never left his eyes. And now she gets to share that with him, forever.

Pulling away and seeing his beautiful eyes staring back at hers, knowing he was hers, knowing he was nothing but hers, made her mind think only one thing. 

She will love him unconditionally. No matter what.