The Color of Rain
Ryou sat quietly, looking over at Tian while she read news stories on her phone.
“I know it’s only been a day or two,” Tian said, scrolling through the text, “so nothing special seems to have happened in the Real World in that amount of time. But since I’ve been in the Digital World, it feels like I’ve been gone for months.”
“It must feel strange,” Ryou replied, “The time difference, I mean. Almost like a really extended kind of jet lag.”
“Mhmm…” Tian murmured, continuing to focus on the screen.
Ryou, however, was fixated on her eyes as they scanned the screen. Specifically, the color of her eyes. A deep Atlantic blue that matched the color of her hair. The color of rain on a warm summer night…
Tian suddenly looked his way, making his breath catch and his heart jump into his throat.
“Is there something on my face?” Tian asked.
“Uh… no! No!” Ryou stammered, “Everything’s fine!” He plastered a smile on his face.
“Okay…” Tian gave him a funny look, then looked down at her phone again.
Ryou leaned back and sighed. He really ought to watch where he was looking. He knew he was smitten with Tian, but he didn’t realize until then just how bad it was. They had only just met, for crying out loud! Rion would have a field day if he ever admitted it – his numerous suggestive comments about Ryou and Tian together were already annoying enough. Not to mention, Ryou had no idea if Tian felt the same way…
“Ryou?”
“Hmm?”
“You’re doing it again,” Tian pointed out, “Staring. Specifically, at me.”
“Oh.” Ryou looked away in embarrassment.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Tian asked.
“Yes! Yes, I am.” Ryou quickly replied.
“I’m not… distracting you, am I?”
Yes, you are, with your beautiful face, your beautiful eyes, your beautiful Atlantic blue hair…
“Uh… no!” Ryou said injecting a hint of cheerfulness into his voice. “Not at all!”
Tian didn’t say anything for a moment, staring back at him with an unreadable expression. Then she gave him a slight smile. “Okay.”
She turned her attention back to her phone, and Ryou closed his eyes. He really needed to watch where he was looking.
Then, unable to help himself, he opened his eyes and glanced over at her again.
Tian looked over at him, and their eyes met. Ryou answered her unspoken question with a smile. Then, after a moment, Tian replied with a smile of her own.
Notes:
Ahahaha! Poor Ryou. I had this scene planned years ago, and it feels like it would fit seamlessly into Chapter 50 of the story. So, why didn’t I put it in? Simply put: I completely forgot about it. As in, it completely slipped my mind to write the scene down and put it in the story because that particular tidbit somehow didn’t make it into my story notes. Oops. I was finally reminded of it months after I finished the story on AO3, when I looked through old chat logs between me and a friend who was following the original story on FanFiction.net (around 2007 or so). Since the scene was so cute, I went ahead and wrote it anyway!