Riffoki/Sirek One-shots

Sick Days

I honestly did not expect to start with this, but will do.

Aoki only explained explicitly the destruction Voides will unleash on Gorm if given the full Elestar power once. That was completely understood by the new heralds. They had training sessions everyday, an inevitable competition every now and then. They might be a bunch of ridiculously goofy teens, but they could handle their training seriously for the most part.

Now, that was not what worried the Guardian- despite her previous impression on them when they first arrived. She worried some of them might be taking it a little too seriously.

Namely, the fire and ice heralds.

It was not uncommon that the two would stay an extra hour or so in the shooting arena or the training room, engulfed in whatever contest each held on the other's throat. But Ikor knew his limits better. He often would call out the training first, and Aoki could tell he was tired and not confident he could go another round, which is respectable. One should know when to retreat.

Riff on the other hand...

The newly-acquired herald was taking a little break at the moment, dragging out a training session as usual. He just sat cross-legged on the ground, having just splashed his face with water from the stream circling the tower. His breath was ragged and heavy, Aoki could hear it the moment she set foot out of the Tower's main door.

He was sort of sloppy today, as she could recall. The session ended with him even more ignited and frustrated. Aoki decided to find why. (She would not admit how much these 4 rubbed on her in the matter of a few weeks though).

'Hey Riff.'

The other turned his head in surprise, as if he did not hear her coming. His shoulders slackened as he realized who it was. 'Oh hey Aoki.' He replied, stretching his hands upwards. 'Don't worry, I'm almost done with this.'

Yeah, this became something daily.

She went to sit on the ground beside him. 'Why do you always stretch the sessions like this anyway?' She asked.

'To be ready for any attack, putting the Elestar shards together and saving Gorm?' he answered without hesitation.

Aoki can't say she did not expect that. 'And what was up with you earlier?'

The other stopped, seemingly with no clue what she meant.

'You were a bit sloppy during the training. Is something up?'

Riff immediately broke eye contact. 'Oh, that? Nothing.'

Aoki was amid contemplating his clear lie when the fiery leaned a bit, his shoulder slightly brushing against her arm. Aoki froze.

Riff pulled back in an instant, the tiny redness in his face ignored by the guardian who had something else in mind. He was cold.

Now, usually, different tribes had varying body temperatures, due to the climates they live in. Aoki could never fit her own temperature to be akin to any element- which sort of made sense- and would often compare her own to other elements as a scale. Icies had the lowest of all. Windies as well where a tad bit colder and Rockies a tad bit hotter. And fire people were the highest.

Riff's body wasn't nearly hot enough.

'You're cold.' she stated bluntly.

The fiery was taken aback. 'What?'

Aoki went to grab his arm again. 'You're colder than usual. Are you okay?'

She tried to hide the concern creeping up her throat. That did not stop her hand from traveling again to his arm, confirming her suspicion.

Riff new he was not getting out of this anyway, so he mumbled, 'Nah, that's just a little fever.'

'You need to rest.' she said, more like deciding it than giving advice.

'No, I'm not letting that stop me. I can-' He was interrupted by a really loud, massive sneeze of his own, which single-handedly left his throat itchy and scratched. Thank the lords it was not directed at Aoki.

Aoki slightly furrowed her eyebrows, and Riff could not look her straight in the eyes. Slowly, Aoki's expression softened as she sighed.

'Look, training is not something that should get in the way of your well-being.' she spoke. And to be honest, Riff was not expecting that. 'Just promise me you'll get some rest.'

Now, he dared to make eye contact, he knew that would be a promise he is now bound to. H would not admit though that yes, he was sour right now and yes the idea of laying in bed was sort of tempting.

Riff huffed, 'Alright.'

----------------------------------------------

'RIFF! Put me down!'

'And everyone says I am the stubborn one.'

Aoki could only imagine how flustered she looked right now as Riff carried her bridal style out of the Lunimus hall and into the main tower, the cold breeze from outside slowly disappearing- thank the lords.

'I'm fine.' She protested.

'You're feverish.' her boyfriend argued. 'We don't have a Voides to fight anymore, so I'm sure you can skip a few days of meditation.'

He... was right. Does not mean she liked it. Some paranoia was still lingering within her after their final battle against the Omega Darkens. She was tired right now but meditation and training were pretty good distractions from the events.

Riff could basically feel her frown even when she curled in his grip, head now buried by his neck. The fire herald sighed. 'I know you're mad, but training is not something that should get in the way of your well-being.'

Aoki perked. She remembered her words from all these months ago, on their earlier quest. And so did Riff.

'Just promise me you'll get some rest.'

She titled her head now looking right at his face. Riff was facing ahead, trying to make sure he doesn't get lost into one of the many rooms of the magical tower on his way. She let out a defeated sigh, her mouth tugging into a smile. 'Alright.'

This was even better than I expected.

So the first part was set somewhere after their return from the ice realm and the second after season 2. I like to think Riff fell first, mostly because Aoki lived alone for the majority of her life and needed some more time to develop a connection.

That is, my friends, the beginning of how a wheel is gonna (hopefully) break my writer's block for me.