Tank Top Bus Stop

"Why did I think this was a good idea," Present Mic groaned as he, Midnight and Cheshire walked down a path in the hills.

"Because I told you. I don't know, you're the dumbass." Midnight sniffed and turned around a bend. "Wait ... uh oh."

There had been a small landslide and on the path and it wasn't navigable anymore. There was one fairly large rock that had probably fallen off the hill to the side of the road, and many small ones. They could have gone around, but the real problem were the thick, thorny bushes lining the path on this stretch.

"Oh, just move them out of the way already."

He shrugged and removed his neck gear and leather jacket, flexing his arms before picking up a small boulder. Then he groaned and glared at the 18+ Only hero.

"<i>What?</i> What're you laughing at?"

Midnight was chuckling evilly, one neatly-manicured hand held over her mouth. With the other she pointed behind him. Hizashi looked back over his shoulder to find the school counselor stiffly standing there, her eyes wide and her tail fuzzier than usual. He heaved the rock away from the path and stood up.

"You okay, Ches?" He frowned, slapping at the ticklish trickles of sweat dripping down his face and neck.

"Here," Midnight could barely speak as she held out a towel from the supply bag she was carrying.

"Thanks," he said, suspiciously eyeing her as he took the offering. He thought for a moment and then stripped his white tank off to wipe himself down. "Too bad there isn't a stream n - what th' hell, Ches!"

She had collapsed on her knees on the dusty trail, her head hanging down.

"She's fine, Yamada."

"No way, yo! Get the water out. She needs a drink or somethin'. It's way too hot for her." He scrambled up the slope with the canteen and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he wet a spot on the towel.

Elly came to slowly. The first thing she noticed was an effortless sensation, as if she were floating on her back in water. There was warmth where the coolness of the water should have been, however, and she smelled a familiar scent. Upon opening her eyes she gasped to see she was laying in Mic's arms. His tank top had been transformed into a wet rag that he was currently pooling water onto from a bucket beside him.

"Just gotta keep you hydrated, baby," he was fretting nervously. "I knew we shoulda said no to this stupid hike! I <i>hate</i> nature!" When he returned to lay the rag on her forehead he saw her eyes were open.

"Mic..? What happened?"

"Oh, hell," he gasped. "I'm so glad yer back, Ches! You passed out when I was movin' those rocks, an' I carried you here. Midnight went on, but we're  - uh -- well, we're waitin' for the bus."

The rocks.

She remembered Mic stripping his leather jacket off, his upper body rippling with tastefully understated muscle as he gripped the little boulder in his gloved hands. Then, when he grew too warm afterward, removing the tank top as well! Her tired mind must have responded by overloading and had she had simply passed out.

Elly looked around more intently at their surroundings. They were sitting on a wooden bench beside the trail with their neck gear piled beside them. There was an old well some ways away which she surmised he'd gotten the bucket from and a dented old bus sign.

"This guy we met on the way said the bus still runs," he said helpfully. He laid the rag on her forehead and then reached behind him for his jacket, holding it up to shade them from the sun's rays.

She blushed when she saw his arm hair for some strange reason she didn't know, and closed her eyes again. "Why did you come, Mic? I thought you hated the outdoors."

"I do," he insisted, cringing as a bee flew past. "But - but, well... Midnight said it was just gonna be you two."

"She told me it was you and her," Elly said with a low hiss. "Sonofa -"

"Uh. Uh oh. We got played, didn't we."

"Only if you assume we both wanted to be with each other."

He stared down at her, slowly lowering the jacket. "Did you..?"

"Did you?"

He blinked at her several times, his prescription sunglasses sliding down on his nose. "Okay, yanno what? Yeah. I like you. Why the hell not just blurt it out in the middle of this godforsaken, buggy hell."

"That makes it less than hell," she sighed happily. "I like you too."

"Wait, then when you passed out, was it because I took my tank top off?!"

She made a face, her nose wrinkling as her ears laid back. "Don't say it..."

"So you <i>literally</i> got the hots for me." He grinned hugely, catching her up to his bare chest in a sweaty hug.