Splash! [Black Heart - Cody and Mazie]

Nothing felt as good as a run. When Cody had nothing better to do he simply ran--even though right now his main concern should be unpacking. Spending time in his stuffy small room wasn't fun though, and it bored him to no end. Running on the otherhand kept him fit and allowed him to get used to the town which he now lived in. There wasn't much for him to remember. His old town was giantic compared to this place and it was considered relativly small.

He must have ran for a good hour or two. His heart was beating at an accelrated rate and he could feel the sweat on his brow and back. The spring air was cool and crisp; each breath was refreashing as he inhaled. He came to a stop though to check his heart rate. It wasn't too bad, nothing near it's peak in military school. The run certainly was nice though and brought him to the perfect place: a river. Moving gentle the clear water looked inviting, so he walked to it and splashed his face in it.

"Ahh..." he said feeling refreashed. If only he could have done this during his runs in military school.

A large yawn, a powerful stretch, and an insanely arched back - oh, there was nothing nicer than a fine spring day. Clear blue skies, not a cloud in sight, and only a gentle breeze to keep temperatures livable. It was on days such as this that Mazie couldn't keep that big grin right from her seemingly pale face. The air smelled of newly blooming flowers, the grass was just becoming a brilliant shade of green and the sun's rays weren't too hot to bare just yet. How she simply loved to be alive ~

Pushing a strand of purple-ish hair back behind her ear casually, she started off back on her way. When she had stopped to take a short nap by the Spring, she hadn't intended to spend the entire morning and into the afternoon doing so! However, it wasn't that she had much of a life to get back to afterward- her days were always spent the same, anyway. In between sleeping and eating, she spent her time tormenting people, but even that... with the village being so small, she'd already tormented everyone to the point where they could no longer stand her.

Her steps were lazy and she was hunched forwards slightly with her arms folded back behind her head - what a professional appearance! Classy and elegant... for a street person. "Hm...?" she was startled to a stop when she spotted a brunette man a little ways down the trail ahead of her. She'd never seen him before - a visitor to town, maybe? Well, every visitor needed a taste of Mazie, or their trip just wouldn't be complete! Without further hesitation, she hurried towards the man without so much as calling out to him.

When she came up closer behind him, she decided to make her presence known, watching for a moment as he splashed his face with water. "Hello, random stranger," she greeted cheerfully, a kind smile on her untrustworthy face. Her arms were still folded lazily behind her head and she leaned back with terrible posture, not that she was concerned about such things herself. "I don't recognize you - are you new here, perhaps?"

Water dripped from his face as he looked up to see a girl smiling friendly at him. It was a rather unusal situation for him, seldomly people would greet him when he was all sweaty. Neitherless, there stood the girl with her unusal purple hair. Her posture was horrible for one thing, but she seemed nice. It wasn't untill he stood up that he realized that he towered over her. She seemed young and short--really short compared to him. He probably was a giant in her eyes being six foot two. Hopefully, she wouldn't be intimidated by his height. Last time she met someone short they ran away scared of him for no good reason. All he happened to say was 'hi,' that was no exuse to run away.

"Hey," he said using his hands to wipe away the water from his face. Her clothes suggested that she hastily got dressed or she didn't really care how she looked. Or perhaps she was messy like himself. "Yeah, I just moved here not too long ago--the name is Cody. Cody Hanes. I don't think I've met you yet."

"Nope, we've not met yet! Surely I wouldn't forget a giant like you ~" she teased kindly, meaning not to offend. However, she couldn't help but notice the extreme difference in their height-- she was quite short for her own age, but this man was insanely tall! Like, she couldn't think that she'd a man so big in her lifetime. Well... maybe that was an overstatement. After a long hesitation, staring up the size of the man before her, she stammered, "Please, don't take offense to that! I'm only teasing - honest!"

Quickly gathering her composure, she bowed her head and smiled awkwardly, "I'm called Mazie Addison, but most people just call me Maze." After studying the man's profile for a few more moments, she noted that he was sweaty and out of breath. Had he been working out, perhaps? He did seem the type - he was built, though not huge, but he certainly had enough muscle to be deemed intimidating. Getting on his bad side scared her, but she didn't show any fear. "Have you been working out, maybe? You seem to be all sweaty."

She felt a little bit bad about being so extremely up front, but it wasn't in her character to be very sensitive to the feelings of others. Instead, she just laughed at her own statement, meaning no harm in it. She just had a very strange sense of humor.

The girl certainly was upbeat. Playfully she teased him causing him to smile slightly at her remarks, especially the one where she said no offense to his height. Being gawked at for being tall was normal to him, so her comment didn't bother him too much. "It's okay," he chuckled at her weird behavior. He knew one thing about this girl, or so he thought. It was probably hard to be bored at all around her.

"Maze? Isn't that what some corn is called sometimes?" he asked. Her nickname seemed to fit her. A bit unusual, but pretty to be honest. If she spent a bit more time in the morning with her appearance she probably would have a whole line of guys ready to date her.

"I just went out for a run," he commented. "I don't think it's really that much of a workout. Just an exuse to get out lets say. Compared to my old routine this is nothing."

"Ooh?" she was interested in his explination for being so sweaty. There was no doubt about it, he certainly enjoyed keeping himself physically fit. She wasn't much like that, herself, and in fact, she doubted that she could even run half a mile. However, that was another story for another time. "So, you're into that kind of thing, eh? Well, there's plenty of space around Forget-Me-Not Valley for running ~"

The comment about her nickname lingered in the back of her mind - it was indeed that a maze was a confusing and mind stumping trail through a corn field, but that wasn't the origin of her name. In fact, it was something that her father always called her, just a shorter form of Mazie, and she'd always just gotten used to it. However, his observation had indeed been correct. "I guess some might associate the nickname Maze with my puzzling ways. A lot of people in town know me for being a little bit out of the ordinary... please don't let that scare you until you experience it first hand, okay?~"

Her grin became wide as she said this, very cheerful and playful. She enjoyed learning about new people - almost as much as she liked teasing them. "You mentioned something about an old routine? Did you run a lot before coming here? I don't understand why people work themselves so hard, personally I'd rather live a laid back and lazy life. Living at your own pace is the way to do it, I can't imagine life any other way ~"

Maze seemed so childish as she appeared amazed that he'd run for the fun of it. He couldn't be the only one here that did that sort of thing, right? Then again it was a pretty small population wise here. At least there were more people than he could count with his fingers. Otherwise it'd be really awkward living here.

"I didn't think of it as a maze," he noted amused at the cleverness of her nickname. Her parents really named her well. Give a normal day this girl could probably flumux him, no problem. Laughter escaped from him when she told him not to be afraid of her until he got to experience one of her unusual actions. "I look forward to it," he said honestly. Cody was one for surprizes afterall.

"Well, you can say I did a bit of running," Cody said. "It'd be hard to explain exactly all what I did, saying that I went to military school probably would better sum it up for you. For me now, running like this is sort of lazy. My drill sargent would practically kill me if I took a talking break like this."

"Oh," she stated with some surprise. "But, he's not here right now, so... you won't be killed if I hold you up a bit longer, will you?" Of course, she knew the answer to this. Her grin never faltered as she spoke to the large man, having to crane her neck back to look up at his face. However, she didn't mind it - he was very impressive. And to have attended military school, what a noble thing to have on his record. "I take it you were serious about fighting for your people?"

He indeed did seem the sort. He found her sense of humor funny, which she appreciated, but he was kind, and for his size, surprisingly gentle. He quite easily fit the idea of a stereotypical every day hero in life, one who would do good just for the sake of helping people. How admirable ~

A little bit awkwardly, she ground the toe of her boot against the ground as she, once again, took in the reality of his true size. "You know, people usually tease me about my height, but those people are usually only a little bit taller than myself," she stated, looking back up towards his face. "In this case, you literally could punt me like a football. I guess I better watch myself, huh?"

She laughed at her own joke.

True. She certainly was right. It was hard for his sargent to yell at him if he wasn't here. Cody probably would be scared out of his mind if he was to suddenly show up. Clearly his sargent knew how to strike fear into anyone of his men--some people said he had a nice side but unfortunatly, Cody never saw a glimpse of it.

"Yeah, I suppose so," Cody said. He hadn't thought about it that much, but all he knew is that he wanted to protect people. Particulary the ones he held close. Most people could say that about themselves though. Everyone had atleast one person that they wanted to protect. Cody just wanted to help everyone. It was something engrained in him at a young age, that's all he really wanted to do.

"Perhaps," he laughed. "I could probably punt you if I was your height anyways though, being in the army has made me tough." In a swift motion he laughed while flexing his arm muscles.

"Scary, scary!" she teased as he flexed his muscles while boasting about his strength. He certainly was a scary man, if you were to get onto the wrong side of him, Mazie figured. But, she had no intentions of being punted, even if he had been her own height! "But, you're probably- no, I'm going to guess that you are right about your strength. You certainly look tough, but by the way you act, you almost seem too kind to really hurt anyone."

Or maybe not. He was, after all, in the army. Part of being a good soldier was being able to kill the enemy - if necessary - and she knew that Cody could probably do so with little to no hesitation. But, in Forget-Me-Not Valley, there wasn't really such a thing as enemies, so she felt she was pretty safe. "I've been meaning to ask - are you living here permanently or are you just a visitor staying at the Inn?"

She felt that she could make a new friend out of this guy, even if he was a strong army guy. She wasn't particularly scared of him, and despite his height, he wasn't intimidating at all. In fact, he was quite friendly and kind - she would make him her new victim friend ~ "You're kind enough, "she said pleasantly, her large grin returning in a flash. "I'd like to be your friend if you're planning on sticking around ~"

Mazie was entertaining, alright. Her childish behavior was fun, but it was yet naive. If he knew her better he wouldn't have a problem with using his height to torrment her. He could practically imagine taking something from the girl and holding it high above his head out of reach. Never would he actually hurt her--unless they were against eacthother on a battle field that is. Most of the time women didn't serve in the combat zone though. Mazie probably would be an exception to that though. Was it the way she acted or looked that made Cody think that?

Cody bit his tounge over the dreaded question. It was the first time anyone had asked it to him and he didn't have a real awnser just yet. "Right now it's a temporary stay," he explained looking into the girl's brown eyes. "But there's a possibility that it might be permenant--I don't know yet."

"Kind enough for what?" he questioned at the unusal comment. Random, certainly it was random. It could mean anything to this girl from what he understood about her so far.

She tried to hide the disappointment she felt at his brutal honesty. What she needed more than anything in a place as small as Forget-Me-Not Valley was someone who shared her sense of humor. Someone who was friendly and funny, but on top of that, someone who could put up with her. And something about Cody made her believe that he might be that kind of a person. However, she'd learned that there was no point in getting attached to false hopes. But, with her best smile, she continued along, "Well, I hope you decide to stay ~ A peaceful valley we have hear, and the people are very kind. You seem like the kind that would fit right in ~"

Her bubbly joy vanished slightly for a moment, though. Oh, had she not been very clear? "My bad, my bad ~ I meant that just as a general statement," she said kindly. "You seem like a good guy, at least from what I've seen of you. You haven't been on me about my height, even though you're so much bigger than myself, and you're very modest about your life as a soldier. I admire that ~"

The sudden sound of a fish jumping in the gently rushing river caught her attention though, and being so easily distracted, she looked in the direction of the sound. "Ah, a fish ~" she stated rather obviously. But, such a statement wasn't above her own characteristics and she shuffled a bit towards the river to peer into the water. Swimming about was a small school of silver colored fish, all swimming against the current of the river and wiggling a little here and there. "Hey, do you like fishing?"

Sooner or later, spring would fade into summer and it would be perfect for fishing once more. Mazie herself had only ever been fishing a few times as a kid, but it wasn't something she had a problem with. And, from what she could remember, it made for a good, lazy hobby that required little work and, possibly, a little bit of napping ~ That was, of course, her style in a nutshell.

The idea of staying was a bit too soon for Cody to decide. Originally he planned to travel a bit to think, but he wanted to stay put for a bit. Maybe staying was a good idea, but he wouldn't know until he could decide on his future. For all he knew that could happen anytime.

"Well, I get teased about my height and so do you right?" he asked her rhetorically. Honestly to him height was a stupid thing to tease about. Being a soilder he was taught stature had nothing to do with anything about a person. Only their personality did. "Wouldn't it make sense that we don't pick on eachother about that since there are other things?"

The sudden splashing of a fish caught the girl's attention and she looked intently into the water. Her purple hair hung down as she looked asking him if he liked to fish. Obviously he imagined that she did without a doubt. The way she stared into the water was a big hint. When she asked the question it only affirmed his suspision. "It's pretty relaxing," he commented thinking it over. "I've done it a couple of times, but not too often. So yeah--I find it pretty enjoyable."

"Haha, you're almost hinting that we should pick on each other for other flaws because we both have height issues and it wouldn't be as fun," she teased cheerfully, but even her eyes seemed to smile with delight. She didn't particularly mind being teased about her height, but perhaps he didn't like it so much. For once, she would make an exception and ignore it instead of attacking any weakness she could find. Who knew? Cody had the potential to become dangerous, she didn't want to be on that side of him. "But, I agree, we'll drop it for now ~"

"Then we're the same," she said thoughtfully as she continued to watch the fish swimming against the water. "I haven't gone fishing since I was a little kid, but I don't hate it or anything. When summer comes around, we should go fishing sometimes - if you're still here, that is." It was just the thought of someone she'd spoken to so casually vanishing... she really wasn't very good with parting ways with people, she realized this suddenly.

It was true that a lot of people found her annoying, perhaps, but even if they didn't overly enjoy her company, they weren't leaving her forever. Any of them, she could easily locate them throughout the village. Her parents, as well - she had moved away from home, but she still kept in touch with them regularly. It wasn't so different from living at home. But she'd never really met anyone who'd moved away completely before. She decided that it wouldn't bring a very happy feeling. "I mean, please feel free to make your own choices," she said quickly, not wanting to be one to force him into anything by seeming upset about it. "If leaving is in your best interest, by all means, decline my fishing offer ~ I understand completely, promise!"

"You're smarter than I took you for," he chuckled. Cody could practically swear he'd discover the girl to be as cunning as a fox. Whenever he would hang around her, he better keep on his toes. Maze seemed mishevious and probably would prank him when she had the chance. Things would get interesting without a doubt if he stayed and hung out with her often. She'd probably hep keep his ability to not be so surprized when things would suddenly happen.

"That'd be nice," he smiled. He figured he could stay atleast that long without a problem. Maybe get some weird job and save up some cash. His bank was already starting to run pretty low, so it would be a good idea for him to save up. Plus the rent for his room wasn't too bad also. "I promise to go fishing with you sometime," he said. Yes, he had been wrong about her--for he intentionally thought she was a big fisher. It was the least he could do for her while he was here. Besides the town seemed pretty nice, he could stay longer than he intended without a problem. Like there was anywhere he actually needed to go. She seemed too nice to let down anyways.

"I'll take that as a compliment," she giggled, slyly watching him from the corner of her gaze. He was sweaty and filthy from his run, she vaguely wondered if he would be angry if she decided to splash him with water from the river. What she wondered about more than that, though, was whether she should give him any warning in advance.

"Thank you for accepting," she said as she flashed a kind smile. She really was glad he had accepted, at least he'd stay around that long ~ Now, at least she had something to look forward to in the near future. And, if that was in summer, that meant she had the rest of the spring to torment Cody. "But, I'm expecting you to keep to it - don't go and leave town on me before then, alright?"

Without any warning she knelt down towards the water, gently cupping her hands and scooping up a handful. "Hey, you won't be mad if I-" but before she could finish asking permission, she splashed up a large amount of water onto the sweaty soldier. As she stood up quickly, she brushed her hands off on her pants as she took a couple of steps back, as if anticipating to be swatted at or attacked for her actions. Her smile was very innocent, however, and she meant no harm by the playful gesture.

Maze was happy that he accepted the offer, why wouldn't she be though if that was her intention? Now he had an exuse for staying till summer at the very least, so when he wrote to his family he could say that he made promises and wanted to keep them. Well, a promise. By the time he'd get a letter back from them there would be a good chance he made more. That was the kind of person he was afterall.

"It's no problem," Cody said smiling. "I give you my word." Part of something was suspicious of Mazie's smile. It was the look that seemed to scream that she was up to something then and there. He decided to let it slide for the moment. Then came the words, "Hey, you won't be mad if I-"

To his surprize the girl was clearly up to something and sent a splash of water toward him. His white running-shirt now was wet in some areas and so was his face that finally dried off when he was cooling himself down earlier. "Hey," he said rubbing away some of the water on his face. There was no way he'd let her get by with this. She looked innocent enough, but Cody was never to judge a book by its cover. So he proceeded to dip is hair into the water and take a step near her. Shaking his head like a dog, Cody sent a spray of water everywhere around him.

"Aw, hey!" she yelped as she tried to shield herself from his attack with her hands. However, she still found herself incredibly soaked after his rain of droplets had ended. She couldn't deny that it was, indeed, a smart move - she never would have thought that one up. But, all the same, she laughed out loud. "That was smooth, but you know that this means war!"

As she dried off her arms and hands a little bit, she hurried back towards the edge of the river. However, instead of gathering up any more water, she kicked off her work boots and socks, quickly rolling her pants up to her knees and scurrying into the river a little ways. However, there was one thing she hadn't thought of upon such a move.

It was cold! Ice had nearly just come off the water as spring had arrived, the water was by no means a decent temperature for water play. But, she refused to let that ruin her fun. "Haha, I get better aim this way," she explained as she reached into the water and was able to fling much more water at the man on shore with much less effort. "Plus, you should come in ~" Quickly, she placed on her sweetest smile. "The water's absolutely wonderful!"

"I'm a soilder," Cody boasted with a sly grin on his face. This was probably the only time when he'd pretend to say that proudly, normally it wasn't that big of a deal to him. The world was filled with all kinds of soilders afterall. "I was trained for war."

The girl jumped into the cool water. He perked up an eyebrow over the situation--surely she realized the water was cold from when she splashed him and when he splashed her. Perhaps she got caught up in the moment and didn't think her plan over too well. Maze tried to act calm about it, but he could tell that it was a tad chilly there.

Despite the fact that the water was cold, Maze did her best to coax Cody into the water. Sweetly she smiled at him after a dose of splashing. Cody was not going to fall for this though--instead he took a couple step backwards to be out of reach. "You forgot I felt the water earlier--didn't you?" he asked. He ran his finger through his wet brown hair. Yep, it was still cold water.

Shucks, he was too smart! With a laugh, she splashed around a little bit, trying to accustom herself to the water's brutal temperatures. Not that it seemed to be working overly well, but she refused to give up so easily. "Well, maybe I did," she said with a smile, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she was the only one dumb enough to get into water at that temperature. "But, I'm only in up to my knees - I didn't drench my head like you did. I won't be the one to get sick ~"

Though such a thing was only a rumor, she assumed, it was better safe than sorry. So, she continued to splash around in the unbelievably cold waters, backing out into the water as it rose higher and higher, brushing and soaking the hems of her pants. "Besides, now you're running away... don't you want to beat me?" But, as she got caught up in her tormenting of Cody, she failed to notice that there was a slight dip in the sand - a small drop off where the river got suddenly deeper.

Stepping back to such a spot, she lost her balance completely. With a shrill yelp in a mess of flailing arms, she fell backwards into the river. Luckily, it wasn't too deep - her head got drenched from the splash itself, but the water was only really just below her shoulders in her current almost-crab walk position. "Aw! That's not fair!" she complained loudly, quite childishly. Somehow, the thoughts of cold temperatures vanished from her mind as she was only upset over the fact that she pretty much lost their water war, now completely drenched. "That really isn't fair! I can't believe this!"

So much for not being the one to get sick! She hated her lack of attention and grace sometimes. But, among her mocked pouting and complaints, she grinned. "Well, are you going to help me or not?"

"My hair is short," he commented. It'd dry quick enough for him. Luckily, his hair wasn't nearly as long as Mazie's--which would clearly suck more if it got wet. The weather wasn't too cold aswell, so he didn't have to worry about that as much. "I doubt I'd really get sick, now if it was winter then I'd be fretting over it," he chuckled.

Cody couldn't help but feel like he jinxed Maze when she fell backwards into the cool water. He was just thinking how it would suck for her hair to get wet since it was relativly long afterall. Atleast drowning was out of the picture. Her arms and legs wer enough to hold her head above the water. "Retreating isn't running away," he stated smiling at the mess Maze got herself in. "It's a tactic that works wonderfully when used correnctly, like now for example."

She complained like his younger brother used to when he'd prove him wrong. It was nolstagic and somewhat cute at the same time. Ah, memories. Nothing like this ever happened between him and his brother though. "You're lucky you aren't my brother," he stated walking into the crisp water. It was colder than he thought it was. He held out his hand for Maze to grap. "Otherwise, I'd tell you to get out of it yourself."

"Haha, you're unlucky that I'm not your brother," she said with a sweet smile before splashing as much water as she could at the man who had come to rescue her - he'd fallen for it. She almost ended up falling backwards completely with the support of her arms gone, but she managed to splash enough water - by her means, anyway - at Cody before finally catching herself again. "I bet your brother wouldn't have tricked you ~"

But, she laughed as she splashed Cody the best she could. Of course, being in such an awkward and unstable position, it wasn't much, but it was better than having him not get wet at all. That wouldn't be any fun! "Haha, I'm sorry, I'm sorry ~ I took advantage of your good nature there, didn't I?" With her bright grin still in place, she reached out again for his hand, despite having probably chased him away with her water attack. "Alright, I really am sorry, that was a mean trick ~"

Of course, by this point she didn't even care if she got sick afterward. That would be a small price to pay for the fun she was having with the new guy in town, Cody. She couldn't remember the last time someone had been willing to play with her so long without getting annoyed and fleeing. "Truce?"

"Actually, he would have," he laughed. Certainly he was duped by Maze, just because she was in an awkward situation didn't mean she wasn't defenseless. So he splashed back at her, hoping to throw her off balance and send her tumbling into the water. It was his way of revenge. "That's why I didn't help him in the first place," he explained looking down at the wet girl.

"All is fair in war, isn't it?" he asked. Ofcourse it was true, by any means nessicary one wanted to bring down their enemy. Taking advantage of people's behavior has been done before, so by no means Cody was surprized by it. He was however, a tad displeased that he was more wet than before though. By no means did he intend to get soaked on his so called 'run' today. Life was sure full of weird surprizes.

"For now," he playfully teased the girl, offering her a hand up from her awkward possition. By now surely she must have be uncomfortable balancing herself like that.

Of course, this worked quite well. Instead of thinking clearly, she brought both hands up to defend herself from his splashing only to find she was no longer supporting herself. She gave a shrill cry before falling backwards, landing in the water and soaking herself completely. Surfacing rather fast, she took a deep breath - she hadn't been expecting to go under like that. "Well, that was refreshing!"

But, she was a little surprised that he actually accepted her truce. She intended to keep it for the day, but she couldn't promise for any future meetings. He had been a lot of fun, she was sure that it wasn't just a stroke of luck or a good day - he was the kind of person who got her kind of humor.

Though, what surprised her even more was he offered his hand once again. Surely something like what just happened, despite her being a complete stranger, would have scared anyone else away. "Thank you, kind sir ~" she said sweetly, grasping his hand firmly.

"You're welcome my lady," he winked talking all knightly. It may have been weird since this wasn't the sort of moment a person wouldn't act poliet like that. He pulled her up out of the water gently, so she wouldn't feel like he was trying to rip out her arm. As soon as she was up he used it as an exuse to get out of the water. Yes--he had been in colder water before. That didn't mean he was fond of it and intened to stay in it for more that a moment.

For all he knew Maze might call him a chicken or something, it did seem like something she would do from what he understood about her so far. Maybe she'd just follow him out without bugging him about it. Afterall, the water was cool and her small stature ment that she'd get colder faster than him.

"Well, now we both are soaked," he stated feeling the urge to go home and change. He looked at the wet girl and smiled, "It was nice meeting you Maze, but I want to go home and get cleaned up and blah. I'm guessing you wouldn't mind getting some dry clothes on too."