Yet more practice. Feedback is appreciated, since I'm entirely unsure on the quality of this work.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

A huff and a sigh. "Nothing, nothing's wrong." I'm lonely, he said to himself in the back of his head.

"Then why do you have that weird look on your face? Why does your tail droop?"

"Because it does?" A belligerent snort. "I told you, nothing's wrong!"

The red-hued dragon snuck under Kyurem's chin, lifting his rather large head up a little with her meager claws – well, meager in comparison to the dragon more than twice her height. "Well, you're frowning a lot for someone I thought was pretty stoic. You know, when you're not around anybody you sure show a lot more of what nobody ever sees."

He shook his head and looked down at those hazel eyes, seeing her shiver a little in response to the cold. "And your point being?" he asked brusquely.

"There's something wrong."

Yeah, there is. I'm lonely.

"No, there isn't."

Now it was Latias' turn to huff. "Come on, Kyurem. Either you tell me what's bothering you or I'll sit here asking you until Dialga stops time. Do you really want to play that game?"

He would have responded with a yes, had that dragon not included the word "game" in the sentence. Instead, he simply regarded her with a grunt and an incredibly exaggerated roll of the eyes. It's not like you'll get it out of me in a million years. Even if that time has passed, it'll still be a miracle if you did afterwards.

"So, Kyurem, what's wrong?"

I'm lonely.

"Nothing's wrong."

"So, Kyurem, what's wrong?"

I want to be with you, Latias; I'm so lonely it hurts…

"Nothing's wrong."

"So, Kyurem…." The Latias coughed a little, her breath materializing in the air. "W-What's wrong?"

Seeing her in such a manner made the ice dragon straighten up a little, releasing a little frost from his body. "So you're going to ask me these questions until Dialga stops time, or until you drop dead from the ice? Latias, I'm fine. It's you who will have some problems if you keep staying here."

"Is that so?" she asked, acceptance of a challenge crystal clear in her voice. "Well, Kyurem, I hate to inform you of this, but I will not drop dead before you tell me what's wrong with you. Now, give it up – what's wrong? Or are you going to make me suffer here in the cold while you don't tell me anything?" Her voice simpered slightly at the end of the sentence, causing a small pang of guilt to course through Kyurem. Dammit, Latias, it's bad enough that you've asked me this stupid question a hundred and one times, but do you also have to me feel awful, too?

"Fine, fine," he said, seeing her face instantly light up in delight. He couldn't help but feel a little cheered up at how she beamed at him, and feel a lot more humored at how he was going to turn her statement against her. "My problem is…."

"Your problem is…?" she mimicked back, leaning in closer to hear him. He always thought it how eerily similar he found her to be like a psychiatrist, always hanging on the edge of his words. It wasn't as if this was the first time she had questioned him about this or that, and he predicted it certainly would not be the last for as long as either of them lived. She just cared too much… not that it was a bad thing.

He looked her straight in her golden eyes, attempting to make one of his oft-delivered jokes actually sound humorous. "My problem is that a little red dragon who's going to freeze her wings off in this cold won't leave me alone even though I've told her nothing's wrong."

She put on a face of mock injury. "And I thought that you had invited me that first time for some reason! Who would have predicted that a poor lonesome dragon in this world would have come and simply be rejected so flatly, so quickly, and so cruelly! Only you, Kyurem, could be so damning, so unkind."

Despite her heavy satire, something ridiculously odd in that statement struck Kyurem. "Lonesome?" he asked in curiosity at first. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that he felt slightly irked at her concept of 'lonesome,' joke or not. Someone who was 'lonesome' for their entire millennia of life sat right before her, who possessed a whole slew of friends and a brother who she wouldn't exchange for anything – or anyone – in the world. "Who would be lonesome with your brother at their side nearly every single waking moment and night?"

Latias looked at him in surprise at first before snickering a bit. "Fine, fine, you got me there. But I am lonesome now…." She sank a bit, joking expression turning contemplative. "If Latios knew I was here, I think he would kill you, then me." She bit her claw a little as she looked Kyurem with what may or may not have been genuine fright – it was hard for him to discern.

"Wait, what?" he asked, almost as frightened as her for a moment before he reevaluated her statement. He was twice the size of him and was an ice-type; there was no real reason for concern. What probably shook him, though, after further thought, was the motive for Latios attempting to bereave him of a wing or two. He was so dedicated, so loyal to his sister that Kyurem didn't doubt for a moment that any form of advance would incredibly anger him. Despite all of their time he and Latias spent together in this cave, this was the first time he had ever caught wind of the jeopardy that she was putting him in….

Forget you! The danger that she was putting herself in, by making such a protective host so overly angered and hostile, was inordinate compared to his own!

"Why haven't you told me this before, Latias?" he said, steel mingled with curiosity in his voice.

"Oh, you didn't know?" she asked, evidently surprised. She rubbed one of her wings (guiltiy? he thought) as she said, "I thought any guy would have thought that my brother would have slaughtered him if he saw him and me together… oops." Latias looked at Kyurem innocently, which drew a sigh out of the frosty dragon.

Now his frown burrowed even deeper into his face than before, his earlier issues swept away for something much more important. "I think you should go, Latias."

"And why would that be, Kyurem? Do you think I'm scared of my brother?" she asked, cheer and liveliness all but erased from her façade. "Or are you just trying to save your own hide?"

That question ticked Kyurem off more than any other. Challenge to his honor or not, it was quite rude, especially from someone he thought of as soft and welcoming. He rose until he towered over her, bringing his head down to barely a foot between them. "Listen, Latias," he said with a voice of steel, "If you think I'm caring about my own well-being, you couldn't be any more wrong. Look at this – you're cold, you're shivering, and you will get into severe trouble if your brother finds out that you've been visiting me for so long."

"But I'm with you."

Mouth open to project a further response, Kyurem's jaw remained hanging for a different reason altogether. "I'm sorry?" he asked surprisingly as he attempted to assemble his scrambled vocabulary. Did she really just say that, or…?

"Oh! Erm…." She looked at him awkwardly for a moment before almost twisting her face into a half-happy start. "I meant to say, it doesn't really matter! Just that, it's like the cold doesn't bother me that much, and I can deal with Latios since he's my brother and all, and, well, yeah! So it's fine for me to be here, and you don't have to worry about anything!" she exclaimed, ending with a cough. Her pitch bobbed as she stared at Kyurem the entire time, no small amount of concern plastered on her face.

"Nevertheless," he said sternly, trying to stem his thoughts on what other strange thing she had just said, "it's quite cold here, and it serves you no purpose to simply sit here and ask me about my nonexistent problems if you'll suffer for it. Look, you're coughing now!" Besides, my problems aren't that important, compared to yours.

An awkward silence settled between the two of them, their warm, condensed breaths forming between them. Kyurem made it a point to watch the small creature before him carefully, while Latias chose to do anything but look directly into the eyes of the blue-grayish dragon staring right at her. Both of them were nervous but for the same reason, however, as devastating slips of the tongue tend to do. Kyurem was entirely unable to make anything out what she had accidentally said; did it mean that she liked him, or that she just wanted to be friends with him, or that she enjoyed his company, or…?

"S-So," Latias said, finally making some semblance of eye contact with him, albeit as fast as a glacier. "Kyurem… what troubles you? You never quite answered that question."

Again with that blustering! "Nothing, Latias," he returned smartly with the flap of one of his wings. "Hardly as much as those that plague you." But at least you don't have to worry about being lonely….

She looked at him with some no small measure of curiosity. "That plague me?" she asked, eyes wide and claw stroking her chin.

"Yes." Kyurem nodded emphatically. "You take the time to drink in others' emotions, yet leave no room in your heart for your own. Don't you find that a bit odd, Latias? I'm more than certain that you are host to no small amount of problems."

"What?"

"Yes. Actually, now," he said, feeling some sort of eagerness compounded with an impending sense of danger, "why don't we reverse the roles?"

She looked at him with nothing but clear confusion.

"Latias, you cannot keep that happy face up as much as one would think." Kyurem gestured to her as she eyed him suspiciously, internally hoping this ploy would work. "At the end of the day, when you are alone, that smile slides clear off your face, only to be replaced with some sort of defeat or sadness. You have Latios to talk to, yes, but sometimes, there are things that cannot be said between siblings. So, Latias… what troubles you?"

"What troubles me…?" She floated for a moment, silenced by curious thought and introspection. "You know, Kyurem, no one has ever asked me that question before," she said in a hushed, almost stunned voice.

"But why should I reveal what troubles me to you?" she asked, suspicious tone suddenly in force. "Why should I tell you my most intimate, my deepest problems I cannot express to even my brother? You are no doubt unaware of what bonds we share, what little there may be left unspoken between us."

Kyurem was tempted to roll his eyes and say Yes, Latias, I know how deep you are together, and how you basically share everything from time you got hurt to whenever you shed a tear. It annoyed him slightly that she refused to pick, or just was plain unaware of, one of those few things that she couldn't talk about with a mightily overprotective blue dragon.

I think, Latias… I may be falling for you.

"Because," he started, completely contrasting his thoughts, "Sometimes it's better to give yourself a break. I'm certain there's at least one thing you want to get off your chest that you can't really talk about with your brother, right?"

She looked reluctant as she let out a little, "Well…."

"There is one, isn't there? If you don't wish to tell me, that's fine, but just know that I'm here to listen to you." No matter if you realize it or not went completely unspoken.

"Well…." Repeating what she had said earlier, Latias looked split. The eyes uncertainly tracked down, then around the cave, then eventually settled on Kyurem himself. "I have one problem." She looked up into his yellowish eyes for some kind of purchase, some modicum of sympathy.

"See, Kyurem, there's someone I admire a bit, and obviously, I can't talk to my brother because he'll probably go and intimidate the object of my… admiration. Yes, admiration," she said to steady herself, covering her mouth with a claw as she coughed yet again.

Someone of admiration?

"It's as if, well, it's hard to approach him sometimes. He's so frosty sometimes, like at the council meetings. He puts up such a neutral, hard expression that it's really difficult to see what's underneath."

That's Rayquaza for you, he joked mentally. Getting more than five sentences out of him in an hour interval was a challenge that he nor any other legendaries had the pride of saying they've accomplished. Maybe, maybe Latias, but that was for incredibly obvious reasons.

The next thing she said didn't quite make sense, though.

"But, the mask's actually quite thin, you know… after only ten minutes' discussion with him revealed his personality to be nothing what I had previously anticipated. He can be cold, insensitive even, sometimes, but as clichéd as this sounds…." She sighed, finally coming into contact with the ground, face slightly placed in her claws.

Kyurem sat here, unknowingly being the first who had ever drank in Latias' problems, her thoughts, her struggles. It felt good, but also posed itself as incredibly deep, scarily deep for something which he had suggested lightly. Out of all the things possible, he didn't expect a confession to be the first thing out of her mouth!

"He's got a heart of gold, you know?" she continued, voice gradually growing sadder but… richer, in a sense. "He always tries to act all tough and like he doesn't have a problem in the world, but deep down under, you can see it in his eyes. He doesn't have anyone around him at all, and nobody likes him anyways." The emotion coming from Latias' speech became almost palatable to Kyurem as he struggled against his desire to ask a question, or to say something.

Because no matter what he tried to think, or how he tried to rationalized, the individual this quite obviously lovelorn dragon was describing was unmistakably him.

"But what he fails to account for is that there is someone – one legendary who he had reached out for reasons I really don't understand – either because she seemed so bubbly or happy, or so inviting and friendly, or something else, really. And she had tried to, since that day, get past that uninviting scowl always plastered on his face, even going as far as to go places where she's obviously uncomfortable as long as it meant she could be with him."

Latias put her small claws tenderly to her chest, looking up pleadingly at Kyurem with sparkling amber eyes as she continued. "She wouldn't do this for anyone, you know. She has plenty of friends who are of the same kind, but she wouldn't dive into an icy pit or brave a blizzard for them." Her voice grew softer and softer, so much that the other dragon craned his head in to hear her better. What she whispered last, though, froze him there and rendered him immovable.

"But she did for him."

She finally floated back, seeming… lighter, as if she had several tons of weights simply lifted off of her. It wasn't until she saw Kyurem's shocked expression that Latias recoiled slightly, covering her mouth with a claw. How much had she actually said? How much damage had been done?

Kyurem remained frozen in place, thoughts racing as he attempted to even comprehend the waterfall of information she had dumped on him. He was doubtless that she was talking about him. What did that imply, though? Did she just consider him a really really good friend, something worthy of a relationship, or what? All this time, his eyes were wide in shock, mouth partially open as he unabashedly tried to navigate this labyrinth of "Does she like me, or does she not?"

As he looked back into her eyes, she flinched a bit. His expression must have been a lot harder than he had thought. "I-I'm sorry you had to listen to all of that," she said out of reaction, not meeting his eyes at all. He saw they were sparkling, not quite filled with tears but making their way there. "I must have been just rambling a lot, like usual; I honestly didn't mean to speak that much, and-"

Kyurem's claws were unusually small for a legendary of his size. However much of a curse it was before, though, he was eternally grateful that they were the same size as Latias'. He edged slightly towards her, the small dragon's body still floating there in half-shock, half-panic, and reached out for something lying almost limply at her side.

The reaction was instant as she poked the pad of her claw with his own. Her rhythmatic bobbing ceased as every muscle in Latias' body locked up from that singular point of contact. He could see her eyes go wide, and saw something click in those aurulent pupils. Was it surprise, acceptance, happiness, disgust…?

He suddenly grew fearful, scared that she might altogether reject his advance, however slight it may have been. What if he had been mistaken, or stupid to have even thought something like her actually liking him in the first place, or-

All of the answers he could ever need came in the softer, gentler claw slowly wrapping around his own. He almost stammered, face utterly flushed, as she floated in closer and leaned her head against his own. It felt passionate and accepting, like he had imagined in all those dreams. He didn't imagine that they would ever, in a million years, come true, but apparently….

He said her name out loud in surprise and wonderment, still hardly believing that this was happening to him.

"Kyurem," she returned softly, voice muffled, breath slightly washing over him. "I didn't know that you could be, actually warm…. It feels nice, you know. This warmness." He noticed that she had actually stopped shivering, for once.

"Y-Yeah." He looked down a bit to see her remove her claw from his hand and fully embrace his body. "That's a small rumor that everybody thinks to be true. For obvious reasons, I mean, of course." His slightly broken responses were more than likely due to the fact that he had taken such a huge risk – a risk that could have resulted in his absolute alienation, with no one else coming to visit him at all. He already felt privileged that Latias spent so much time with him already….

And because he had taken a leap of faith, had acted on his intuition, that time was going to be far, far extended. He smiled and leaned forward, using his stubby little claws to bring her closer into his body.

"But I know it's not true," she said in almost a singsong voice. "And I'm the only one who knows that, aren't I, Kyurem?"

"Yeah, feel proud about that, why don't you." His trademark gruffness finally somewhat materialized, but it didn't quite come back in the full, blunt, 'don't talk to me' manner that Kyurem was normally used to. After all, he had every right to feel and act differently, given the euphoria simply coursing through his body. She had actually liked him! It was such a surprise that a natural, genuine smile actually appeared on his face for a moment… before he realized he was smiling, and then which he masked it with a scowl.

"Hey – nope! You smiled!" she said, causing another grin to try to fight its way out of him. He shook his head strongly as she tried to tackle him, instead only causing him to step back and laugh – not laugh at her antics, but at something else as her body rubbed up under one of his arms. He twitched a little at first, and then she rubbed again on accident. The giggle that emerged unbidden from his body wasn't one, however.

Latias quickly retreated and gasped, claw covering what was obviously a very happy face. "Wait, Kyurem, no… don't tell me…." She let out a giggle on her own, causing Kyurem to flush deeply. Could I get any more red than this?

"Tell you what?" he asked defensively (he had every right to!) as he pulled his arms closer into his body.

"You are…." She let out a yelp and dove straight for the ice dragon's blackish body, making her way past his feebly positioned claws and drawing a hearty laugh from him. "Ticklish!" the red dragon exclaimed in the most juvenile voice he had ever heard from her. "You're ticklish! Tickliiiiiiish!"

Kyurem let out a snort as he tried to fight the overly energized Latias off. "H-hey, Latias, haha… get off!" He struggled to get a breath of air between his spurts of laughter. "Ahaha, get off of me! Latias! I need to breathe!"

At that remark, she finally relented, obviously satisfied with the results of her assault. "Whoops," Latias said carelessly, traitorously smug expression on her face. "How was I supposed to know that the tough and gruff Kyurem actually had something related to a weak spot? Looks like only those who're really close to him know about it, hmm? Really close." She planted a quick peck on his cheek and giggled, watching him shake his head and sigh.

At that moment, though, he felt himself drained – emotionally from that rollercoaster he rode a few moments ago, and physically from being tickled to hard, forced into submission by her so ridiculously easily. So, thus, he curled up like he normally did, body pulled tight into his head as possible. Unfortunately, his neck was long enough so that was a hole formed between his neck and body whenever he tucked his head in.

Incidentally, it was a Latias-sized hole, something she took full advantage of. She leaped into the spot, where she made herself comfortable against his neck. It was surprisingly warm for a being whose internals were sub-zero, but then again, what did anyone know about this reclusive dragon?

After a few minutes of light breathing, Kyurem raised his head a little and looked at the dragon snugly tucked into his body. "Latias," he said softly, prodding her with his head. That movement caused her to snore loudly for a moment before mumbling something to the effect of 'Lemme sleep.'

Chuckling, Kyurem laid down back to rest and closed his eyes, squeezing Latias closer into his body. In the end, he didn't want her to get cold, right?

Hours passed since they had both remained in that same position. Kyurem shook the sleep out of his eyes, looking down to see a very familiar red dragon breathing softly under him. He slid a claw out and stroked her face, smiling contently at her. She was so small, yet so strong; so endearing, yet so complex….

Latias arose with a yawn, stressing her arms out as she looked up at dragon looming above her. Sunny smile emerging almost instantly, she jumped up and climbed onto his head. His head dipped a little from the weight, but he didn't mind a bit.

"Hey, Kyurem, what time is it?"

Now he minded.

Looking out of the cave, he saw that the sky was completely black, save for a full moon and a few sparking stars. "It's… dark o'clock. Latias, shouldn't you get going? Your brother will question why you've been out for so long. What are you going to say, Latias?" he asked, panic beginning to dominate his mind. If she didn't get back in time, and if Latios needled her with questions, and then found out, Arceus forbid, that she had cuddled with a male… at the very least, the outcome would not be pretty. Add in the word sleep, and a few nasty misunderstandings could land him begging the god qilin for some new limbs.

"I'm going to say…." She giggled a little as she slid off his head onto the floor, staring so she looked directly into his eyes. "Nothing, because he won't be at the garden tonight!"

"Won't be at the garden…?"

"Yep! I'm not the only one who has romantic quandaries, you know," she said with a healthy wink. "Tonight my brother is attending to some lucky grass-type, and he won't be back for a long, long time. Oh-" She snickered as she saw his mouth open in a query. "Not a councilmember! Scandalous, huh?"

"Who is it?" the ice-type asked, surprised. Now this was something he hadn't ever heard before….

She shook her head and grinned. "As if I'm telling you! That's one secret I'm never letting go of. And, oh, Kyurem, when did you become so gossipy?"

He choked on air as he grunted a small, "What-"

"So when did Kyurem suddenly become so girly on the inside?"

"I am not girly!" he protested, throwing his small arms up in the air and shaking his head furiously.

She laughed as she hugged him again. "Oh, wait until the council gets an earful of this! Oh, he's just very ticklish in certain spots, enjoys gossiping a lot…!"

And so the night progressed onwards, with Latias finding more and more chinks in the normally reticent Kyurem's armor and him weakly protesting back but knowing all of what she said to be true. The residents of the nearby Lacunosa Town had interesting things to discuss the next morning – why, for example, the normally threatening roaring from the Giant Chasm suddenly quelled to a sound almost quite mirthful in nature, laughter of the monster sounding almost pleasant.