Calm before the Storm Lord (Chyril 25th very early ET)

[Gavin Tylvan]

It was funny how people kept on getting wrapped in their nice and comfy little cocoons of safety, while the world around them collapsed, the very islands dying and suffering throughout the process. How easy it was to become so self-absorbed in your own greatness, refusing to shift their perception, to accept that what they knew was right did not necessarily meant it was right. World changed and people needed to adapt, or they would get trampled over. And frankly, he was sick and tired of pushing and pulling and keeping people on the track of change. Why bother? They'll simply stop moving once I stop pulling and get trampled over anyhow. It is not like they are learning anything from the past and adapting. I can't pull them all, I can just show them to move.

There was one person that not only moved along, but at times pulled him forward, doing what he tried to do with others, guiding him and in turn being guided by him at certain moments. As they reached the dock, Gavin slammed his fist into a pole nearby, flexing his fingers to soothe the pain and muttered softly. "Sure could use a bit of a fight right now. Pity Gwayne is not around. Swordfighting lesson would feel just about right. We could go see Milkhaire later and have some fun now."

[Syrawenn]

Don't believe this. Don't friggin believe this.
Who the flip do they think they are. All high an mighty in a little mirage of their own making. Trying to rule their teeny world in a giant universe by conveniently ignoring everything that don't fit.

Well then I won't fit anymore. Screw all the timetrips, save-the-worlds and archenemies. Gimme a barbrawl any day. Just goddamn lemme finish what I start!

A loud WHAM shook the girl out of her maddening musings. Her head snapped around in time to see Gavin nurse his fingers back into shape.

"HEY!" She exclaimed indignantly. "That's MY job!"

It had crossed her mind; just finding a wall to slam into; just feeling something real instead of the constant phantom pains for a world that did not need her. And here the big guy was, stealing her thunder as well as her actions! If she wasn't so pissed off at his NEXT comment, she'd be laughing.

"And WHAT exactly do ya mean with Gwayne not bein around. I ain't good enough to fight? Hm? Okay, so I don't do swords, but flippin fruitflies, Gavin, I think I can give ya a fight!"

Visions of snow and shivers of imaginary cold.

The girl set her jaw. "Unless ya need a sword to back up yer words I say we find a spot RIGHT now, mister."

The words were much fuelled by sheer frustration, coming out harsher than she might have otherwise in this precarious start of what might possibly be something vaguely resembling some kind of a relationship in the young girl's distorted mind.

[Gavin Tylvan]

Gavin did not turn right away at the sound of Syra's voice, running his bare fingertips across the rough top of the pole they used to tie boats to, years of use failing to even out the surface forever scarred by the hammer that drove it into the earth. It was a few flickers before he glanced over his shoulder, one of his bushy eyebrows arched, a grin threatening to curl his lips up. "Mmmmhmmmm, sure you can give me a fight. There being just one problem. See I am not a girl, where you are. And my mom always taught me it ain't nice to fight with girls. Said they were gentle and delicate. Like flowers." He turned and grinned, moving towards the nearest empty spot, casually unbuckling his sword and removing it from the back.

She wanted a fight and by Gods she was going to get one, cause he felt it would do them both good to vent some frustration and do a it of an exercise. And the docks were just a perfect spot for a fight, or rather the beach that had to be close by was. He began unbuckling his armor as he started walking, despite saying he would not fight girls. "You know what I think. I think she was referring to ladies when she said delicate and flowers. And you ain't a lady as far as I can tell. One of the things I love ya is that you ain't a lady." He shrugged the armor off and tossed it aside, the sword flying to join it, before he crossed his arms before his chest and turned to face her. "So, are ya a lady or not? Or should I put it like this? Are you a wuss or a not, stinko?"

[Syrawenn]

Twentyone...twentytwo...twentythree...

It was taking too long for the man to actually respond. Either he had not heard her at all or he was playing at something.

Twentyfour...twentyfive...

He glanced at her.

Twentysix...

The eyebrow went up, almost perfectly mimicked by her own.

Twentyse....

"A GIRL?" Syrawenn exploded. "That sure didn't matter when..."

Shit shit shit, not this lifetime! Quickly! Think of a non-dream situation! Uhhhh.....

"...Dort was burnin!"

Bleh. Nice save.

The girl followed him down to the beach, taking notice of how exactly he unbuckled the different pieces of armour. It showed her a little about the fastenings -and with that the weak points if she ever came up against one of those armoured guys for real.

"Ya know damn well I ain't no lady, buster." She growled, cracking her knuckles while grounding her ankles in the sand. The way he folded his arms was enough to infuriate her. He was just being so...so incredibly....GUYISH!

"Wuss this!" She stepped in to throw a punch with her right fist, yet her real aim was actually to stomp his toes a good one.

[Gavin Tylvan]

A few months ago the short pause in Syrawenn's voice might have gone unnoticed, but this time the big man smirked, not wishing to ruin the perfect moment by saying anything. Then they were at the beach and he stood there, immobile, arms folded loosely around across his chest, watching her intently. For a flicker he entertained the thought of digging his toes into the sand and kicking it up the moment she moved, but he refused to be the first one to fight dirty. Once she did it however, gloves were off and fun was about to begin.

Gavin had not expected a punch, but as it were he was quite fine with it, only a fraction of a flicker passing before he overcame his reflexes and did the exact opposite of what his body wanted to do. Instead of blocking the blow or leaning away from it, he took a step forward and into the punch, left shoulder raised to shield his head, ready to receive her punch on his upper arm. He did not expect the foot, grimacing as she nicely trod upon his toes, and then with a forced grin, kicked as hard as he could. Not at her, but past her, parallel to her shoulders raising his foot to keep her foot in contact with it. If it worked the adorable hellion was in for a bit of a sand sprawl, and even if it did not she would be a bit unbalanced.

[Syrawenn]

It was unnerving to have the man give her his undivided attention. Nervewrecking and almost unnatural. Part of her system screamed for him to look the other way while the other part positively basked in those eyes.

Yet it was not enough to get rid of the explosive energy she had been building up inside. It would hardly have done to yell at the count or his redhead, especially after they had sealed the deal anyway, so this was ...

Perfect.
Just perfect.

Come and GET it!

The girl jumped in, threw her punch, stomped his feet and much to her shock and surprise actually hit on both accounts! Instead of evading -which she had fully expected- the big man stepped in and caught her punch on his arm!

It threw her off balance for the merest flicker while he kicked up his foot...including the girl.

"HEY!" She protested, tumbling back into the sand with a resounding *floff*. "Why you...." At least she had the victory of knowing her stomp got through.

As quickly as the girl could she scrambled back on her feet, not forgetting to pocket a hand full of sand for future reference. It was an instinctive reaction, nothing more. This was not a fight to the death, but she'd be damned if she did not give it all she had!

She flexed her left hand and raced in low, trying to grab him below the waist to tackle him down. If he actually planned to step aside, he'd get a comical tumble, but maybe it would get him off guard for her next move.

[Gavin Tylvan]

Gavin had ever been a defensive fighter, preferring to wait for his opponent to make a mistake while blocking and dodging his blows, preserving his energy as much as he could. Thus, Syrawenn was a perfect opponent, greeted by a smile as she rose to her feet once more. The foot hurt, but it was nothing he could not deal with, and thus he found him ready and in a fighting stance. "Mind your step. People might think you clumsy if you do that again." And then she came forward again, though this time he was ready for any deception. And again he did no do the most obvious thing, and instead of dodging took her impact full on and let it carry him back, exhaling to cushion the blow. By the time her shoulder hit, Gavin was already falling backwards slowly, his arms wrapping around her waist, and with a sharp inhale, both to give him strength and because she pushed some air out of his lungs, sought to lift her up and tumble her over his head. If it worked they would both end up on their back in the sand, Syrawenn having the misfortune of hitting the ground a bit harder than Gavin did. Had it not been sand they fought upon, he would never had done it, but as it were, he had every faith that she could take a few tumbles in the sand.

[Syrawenn]

In a strange way it was a perfect match, or perhaps the lousiest match possible. With Gavin on the defensive and Syrawenn anything but defensive, they had their scene cut out for them. There was no way in Nether the girl was just going to stand there and wait unless something really weird happened. She was used to acting before someone else got the upper hand; keeping people busy to avoid worse things to happen.

It had worked on the insane cheater -who in the end had merely bruised some of her ribs- and it might just work now...if the big man was not so damn stubborn about it!

Again she was taken by surprise as she hit home, working Gavin down into the sand while she ended up on top for the merest flickers before being thrown off again. She felt herself flying through the air for a moment, then landed unceremoniously on her back, knocking the air out of her lungs.

"Oof!" Quickly breathing in the girl rolled over on her stomach, seeing Gavin still lying down. Now she could of course just jump over him and bite his leg, but she was not in the biting stage just yet. That would happen if he tried to capture her in any way. Right now the good old musclework was just what she needed and that was what her reaction needed to be based upon.

There was no finesse to her fighting, or any training at all. The girl had spent her life making speed to avoid any fights up close and personal. As such she was left with on the spur decisions and right now scrambling over to try and get her legs around his neck seemed just the right thing to do...

[Gavin Tylvan]

While big and tall, Gavin could hardly be called slow, and by the time Syrawenn scrambled he was already trying to rise up, the glance over his shoulder making him hesitate just long enough for her pounce to work. Again, instincts were overridden, Gavin's arms not going up to shield him from Syrawenn body, likely to get trapped by her legs, but were pressed next to his body, where he could wriggle them free easily enough. Biting passed through his mind as well, thigh being such a nice spot to bite, fleshy and soft and protected only by thin fabric of pants, but he was not at that level just yet.

As it were, he wriggled his arms free and began mercilessly tickling the girl's sides, using it as a distraction for the real attack that came from his legs. Really, Syra should have thought about trapping him better if she hoped to keep him down, the large warrior demonstrating what an average agility could do to a person who sat on a person's chest. With Syrawenn sufficiently distracted, Gavin raised his feet up and then pulled his knees towards his stomach, calves passing the girl's head. His ankles locked before her face, as he pushed his chest up, legs moving down at the same time. With her shoulders against his calves he had a good leverage over her and a flicker later she was lying flat on her back, trapped under Gavin's legs, her feet up in the air, knees around his ears.

[Syrawenn]

"NononononoNO!" The girl yelped and giggled, unable to keep from twitching and loosing her grip under the unexpected attack. It was not only costing her valuable breath, she simply could not stop herself from kicking -a bad but very useful instinctive reaction, although her brother disagreed on the latter.

Upside down she went, back down into the sand yet again. Because of the thrashing and kicking she at least had some leverage left in her legs, which she quickly used to bend her knees and get her feet on his shoulders.

The youngster pushed as hard as she could, counting on his upset balance to help her. If the man actually went backwards, she'd have to get out from underneath his legs pronto before he regained his composure. Yet this left her with another choice and no time to decide...was she just going to jump again while he was down? Or was she going to wait until he got up?

Both situations had their ups and downs -she almost grinned at the stupid pun- but there was no time! Now some people were apt at multitasking. Syrawenn prided herself on being able to multithink. As such she could not help but wonder what any innocent passers by might think. At least there was no blood flowing and well, it was not as if she was protesting too loudly now, was she?

Don't think! Act!
It was way too late to still have him on the ground, even though only a few flickers had passed. Already the man was getting on his feet and she had no clue how to proceed. The real problem here was that she wasn't angry enough. It was already fading after getting into the nice rumble. If anything she enjoyed the feel of their bodies meeting.


SHUDDUP

But without anger, she wasn't going to cut it. So there she stood...loosing initiative.

ooc
small assumptions in both players' posts made with full consent and cooperation.

[Gavin Tylvan]

Had it been anything but a friendly fight, Gavin would have pressed the advantage when she had the girl down, but as it were, her shove pushed him backwards, and down onto his back. As Syrawenn scrambled from under his legs, he used the force of her arms to lifts his legs up and roll backwards, rising onto his feet and grinning, shaking his head to get the sand out of the hair. It has been quite a while since he had fought someone just for fun and it felt goooooood. She kept on coming after him and he did not plan on letting her stop now, just because she failed twice.

Kicking up a bit of sand at her with a grin, Gavin started circling the little hellion, trying to get his back to water, edging closer to its edge. "You'll have to do better than that if you want to get me." he made a feint as he was going to move forward and stopped after a single step, looking straight into Syrawenn green eyes. "Oh, sorry. Is it my turn yet to attack? Or are you too tired to continue?" He was goading her to attack, the water behind him about to be a site of much splashing and churning if she indeed attacked again.

[Syrawenn]

Now, the lack of anger did not mean a lack of energy or want. Alright, so she lost control, but the girl was pretty sure she did not have that from the start, even if she had initiated the attack.
She flexed her shoulders. Her fists met up with each other and a spark brightened up in her eyes.

He was heading for the water!

"Pfft!" She spit out the grains of sand that reached her lips.
"I have to do better? What about you, lazylegs! You ain't done nothin yet but stand there! You wanna continue? Fine! We'll continue!"

Her muscles tensed at his motion, but he did not go through with it.

Damnit, feints...don't spend all yer energy on that!

It was a bit of a gamble, but with the man had the sea at his back now and really, there was precious little to loose here. In fact, every gesture was a victory. It was liberating to just pounce around and get her frustrations out of the way. So Syrawenn took the bait and ran straight at him.

"CATCH!" she yelled and jumped up, intending to land either in his arms or against his torso, much depending on his own reactions, and thus toppling them both over right into the splashing water!

[Gavin Tylvan]

Now, had Gavin been in a proper fight, he would have moved away from the water to give himself room to move, as this severely limited his maneuvering space. But, then she did precisely what he wanted and Gavin lowered his body a bit, exhaling as her body slammed into his torso, wrapping arms around the girl's body. He did not simply fall backwards, twisting his body around instead, and pushing off towards the water, leaping up and towards it.

Gavin aimed to land on top of Syra, submerging them both as he pushed further into the waves, gripping her tightly and breaking the surface for air, quite confident that water would make any punches and kicks aimed at him ineffective. He grinned broadly, looking directly into the emerald green eyes, his fingers gripping the hellion's sides, grasping the shirt tightly. "Geez, you could have said you needed to go for a swim. Only people usually don't do that in their clothes. I understand not wanting to get naked here, but did not know you were that impatient."

[Syrawenn]

Syrawenn jumped.
Gavin leaped.

Toghether they landed in the shallow water. Salt was getting into her nose, ears and eyes as the girl quickly closed her mouth to avoid an overdose. "AIR!" She giggled and gasped as Gavin brought them up from the water. With his hands firmly in her sides there was no way she was going to get closer. The water effectively turned her movements into the slow motion version.

Still coughing to get the last of the salty water out, she lifted her arms and placed her hands on the joints of the very constraints that were holding her in place. With a grin the girl put her weight in. Even if it wasn't much, there was always a chance to force the guy to at least bend his arms.

"Impatient? I'll show you impatient!" If he indeed bent his arms, her plan was to lean forward in the same movement and plant a quick kiss to distract him.

[Gavin Tylvan]

Landing face first in the water Gavin did not have to worry about water getting into his nose, shaking his head for a moment too get some of the water from his hair, grinning happily as Syrawenn tried to wriggle away. He knew he was stronger, and as long as he could avoid being kicked, or hit or pinched or bitten he would have the upper hand, and thus water was perfect.

He expected a knee to hit him next, hopefully in the stomach and not lower and thus easily bent his arms a bit, reducing the room for Syrawenn maneuver. That close up the tall warrior felt an urge to kiss the green eyes hellion, and could only gasp when just such a thing happened, mumbling into the kiss for a moment, and then for not reason at all, letting go her sides, wrapping arms around her and diving under the water once more, kissing Syrawenn back with zeal.

[Syrawenn]

The man bent his arms remarkably easy and that in itself should have been a warning of things to come. Yet the girl was too content with the effect to have it bother her as she planted her lips full on his. Now, the plan was to distract him with the kiss and then try to land him on his back for a change, yet as Gavin responded and threw them both back into the water, the youngster found herself drowning in more than one way.

Suddenly the kiss was no longer a distraction but became a goal in itself as she wrapped her arms around his neck out of sheer self preservation. Of course she could let go. Any sensible being would let go when diving under water. But really, how sensible was she? And how much gain was there in letting the man go?

Precious flickers passed as she tried to make it last without having to come up for air. Gavin's arms were now around her in a strange kind of embrace. Normally she would protest against such proximity, but it just felt too good.

His moustache tickled in her nose.
Water trickled into her ears.
Breathing was slowly becoming a necessity.

She began to wrestle for air, trying to wriggle free by kicking her legs, or at least make it known that she needed a breather RIGHT now! Her lips parted from his as she blew out the last airbubbles in her posession. Her neck strained to break the surface.

[Gavin Tylvan]

Where Syrawenn lost control of the situation as they plunged into the water again, Gavin kept his calm, albeit with a slight delay caused by the kiss, feeling all warm and fuzzy and definitely lightheaded for a few flickers, as only the kiss and the girl existed. Then his boot scraped the bottom and, curling his lips into an impish smile he pushed them deeper into the waves, skidding to a halt as the water reached about the level of his shoulders.

They both emerged upon the surface, Gavin gasping for breath and then planting another, quick kiss to Syra's lips. He still held her, keeping her head above the surface, and her feet from touching the bottom, grinning like mad. "Now, now, look what have we got here." Then his face went all serious like, and he teased on, though truth be told he meant what he said, the words being a tease only because he knew she would feel all blushy about them. "I did not know kissing you would feel so good. Well, I hoped, but damn. Wow."

[Syrawenn]

Air!
The girl was very much aware of the fact that they were moving deeper instead of back to land. It did not matter much, seeing how they were both drenched already. It did matter, however, that she could not feel any ground underneath her feet anymore!

Clearly Gavin had the upper hand in this particular game, his length a definite advantage as he held her in all safety. But how could she complain if her legs had gone to goo anyway? Syrawenn was quite sure that had they been on land, her knees would have tried to give out on her.

Damn...not good..not good!

There was a tinge of panick as the youngster realized her feelings were on a rampage outside the dreams as wel. It was downright scary to have her entire being reacting to this man holding her.

She kept her arms around his neck, pulling herself up ever so slightly. "So now yer a merman?" Her breath came fast, her cheeks coloured a bright red. It was so hard to meet his eyes. The intensity was hard to face because she knew it to be reflected in her own look.

"You..."

You knew, but...you don't remember. I remember the first kiss. I think you remember somewhere. But this is real. This is really real.

"You friggin idiot!" She finished the sentence and thwapped him. Not too hard though. She did not want to run the risk that he'd let her go or -even worse- stop kissing her.

It did have the added benefit of not having to react to his comments, even though her stomach was churning at the confirmation of his feelings.

[Gavin Tylvan]

“Nope, not a merman. I have proper toes, as you’ll see later when I take the boots off to get the water out.” Gavin nodded sagely, with a grin upon his face quite different from the serious tone of his voice. He kept on grinning, shifting in the water, keeping his body in balance with some effort, his hands busy holding the girl’s head over the surface.

Then came the thwap and a memory flashed through his mind, followed by a gasp as ghost o a pain lanced through his back, the tall warrior paralyzed for a flicker, feeling like a hot knife had been thrust into his kidney. He pushed himself back, then did so once more, finally slumping down to sit in the sand, pulling Syrawenn with him, water reaching just above his chest as he sat and stared speechless for flicker after flicker. “Uhm, you know, I may have dreamed of you.” He blushed a bit at that, but did not divert his eyes. “Aaaaaand…..” He coughed to get his voice back. “Well, you ma have been naked in my dream.” He glanced back where his possessions lay on the beach and gulped. “Wolf skin. We were under one after a fight and we were naked. Oh boy.” He stopped there and just stared up at Syra.

[Syrawenn]

The pull of the waves was nice.
The feeling of his arms holding her in place was even nicer.

Is he real?
Is this real?
Is he gonna freak out soon?

And as if the demons played with it, right after her playful thwap the man just froze up!

Oh shit.

She felt the muscles tensing against her body. Somehow it almost seemed as if he turned cold. This was a sudden shock if she ever saw one.

Great.
No more kissing.

The girl flushed when she caught herself at that thought. Meanwhile Gavin was moving back through the waves towards the beach. There was very little choice but to let him drag her along, until she finally felt the shifting grounds under her own two feet.

He sat down in the water, something that was quite impossible to mimick since it would mean her going more or less under. So instead she stayed half crouched, bobbing in the gentle waves.

It wasn't the water that made her turn cold.
It was his words.
He remembered.

Cold
Warm
Cold
Warm

It was impossible to keep the colour from her face. "Well shit, Gavin..." she mumbled, splashing up water out of sheer shyness. "We talked dreams before. We both know stuff happened in another reality...right?"

Truth be told, she was getting rather confused. Dreams and reality were weaving together seamlessly and she was not so sure she enjoyed that.

Okay, it has some benefits. She eyed the bearded man next to her and her heart skipped a beat.

The fact that he remembered her naked without either one of them really having been together was...eerie.
And strangely exciting.

Syrawenn glared at the man from under her dark eyebrows. "It was wintery cold an lots of snow. I ain't seein no snow here an I sure as nether don't..."

don't wanna repeat every detail of that dream..That was very much the wrong thing to say. It would be interpreted wrongly. It was wrong! Very wrong!

She took a deep breath. "Yeah. I know that dream. Was there, ya know. So...right back at ya."

[Gavin Tylvan]

Emotions tugged one way. Proper manners tugged another. Logic had its own destination. But, she was so damn close and cute and adorable and doubly cute when she was blushing like that. Words were slow in coming, as he had to ponder what she said, while at the same time he had to remember what he wanted to say before she said what she did and it all got mixed together into a single line of words that he needed to say now that he knew it all. “Yah, but you were there too. And it was us, you know. Stuff that happened might have been different and unreal, and stuff. But it was us. And that means….. What we did there is what we would do in any reality. Which is good cause……” He gulped and blushed just a bit. “Well, I want to do it with you.”

A bad joke seemed like a good idea at that particular moment, as Gavin hoped it would reduce the tension he felt in his stomach and in his throat. “Besides, snow is cold and not really comfortable. Sand is much better. Or a bed.” The tall, and so very young warrior bit his lower lip at those words, hoping he did not say the wrong thing, but not wanting to keep it in. He grinned and tried to distract her at that moment. “So, if we were both there, does that mean I was dreaming of you naked, or was it that you dreamed of you naked so I could see you naked? And the other way around?” It was the interesting conundrum.

[Syrawenn]

It was as clumsy as clumsy comes. One moment they were having a great fight and even bonus kiss, sending shivers up and down her spine in sheer anticipation, the next they were sitting down and reasoning about being naked or not!

If there was anything the girl did not feel like, it was reasoning things out. For although a part of her wanted to know how real that dream had been -certain bodily aspects certainly made her curious- another part had no intention at all in accepting that it had been real! Yet here he was, talking about it and making her accutely aware of the fact that they were in a far from secluded spot.

Sand is fine. Bed is fine...yah...What the flip is he sayin here? Does he mean he wants to...?

Still hanging between the ground and the watersurface Syrawenn used her arms in a wavey motion to stay above water with her head. Her mind was going in about tenthousand directions at the same time, although her body was screaming for the guy to stop talking and start acting already.

"Snow was fine." The youngster mumbled, having a hard time keeping her voice level. "Was just fine." The memory was much warmer than the snow. All she remembered was a cosy fire and that wolfskin. The snow was just a funny tidbit on the side as it had involved plenty of snowballs hitting a bearded target.

"The Nether if I know what ya dreamed. Or if it was me." A sore spot. If it was her, then she was making it happen, for here they were, working up to a very similar situation. A grimace moved over her face, disappearing as soon as she noticed it happening.

Still...he ain't opposed to the idea...hrm, GEEZ we got a city to save! Get yer mind out of the gutter!

"If we would in any reality, then shuddup already." She grumbled and moved forwards, fully intent on making him shut up by trying to revive that wonderful kissy moment.

[Gavin Tylvan]

He was quite aware of where they were, even though most of Gavin's attention was focused on the girl before him and the maelstrom of emotions that raged through him, uncertainty trying to win over the affection, but losing the battle and dying messily. "It was cold. But good. You are right. Snow was better than fine." And then there came another kiss, and though for a flicker he tried mumbling a reply, soon his mind cleared of all distractions, filled by a warm, fuzzy and so very fluffy could. And it was pink, even though he was never partial to that color. Slowly leaning down, he rested upon his hands, letting the waves splash against his chin, softly humming into the kiss.

It may have been the cold of the waves, or the lack of brain following the delicious kiss, but next words that came from his lips surprised even the tall warrior. "Once this is done, we will find us a big warm bed and crawl in. And stay there for a full week." He drew her into a tight embrace, shivering at the cold of the waves. "Sand and snow are fine, but nothing beats a warm bed." Resting his head on Syrawenn's shoulders the last few words came out as a whisper. "Don't care in which reality it is, but I do know I want that you to be with me in that bed." Somewhere deep down he knew that those words were supposed to make him blush, but he simply did not care. They were what he felt, and he was too stubborn to let a silly thing like shyness prevent him from saying the right thing.

[Syrawenn]

There was cold and cold, of course. Now that they were no longer moving about the water started to seep into her being, leaving a blanket of goosebumps all over. Yet it was hard to determine which bumps were from the water and which from the warm lips touching hers.

Mmmmm don't care.... She decided, closing her eyes for a few flickers to make the moment last. Next she knew Gavin pulled her in tight. The girl savoured his proximity, the feeling of his body against hers.

His beard tickled her ear. She tried to resist the urge to scratch it. "Sounds good." Syrawenn whispered, suddenly feeling her throat constricted. Where they ever going to get out of this mess? Was it ever going to work out? Life had a tendency of hitting back hard when she thought things were well. When would it knock her off her feet again?

They goddamn better keep their blimmin filthy paws off Gavin! She thought murderously, hugging him close. I get it by now. Trust me, guys up there and down below. I get it. No need to remind me. If I want to make somethin happen, I gotta do it myself. It's not like anyone else is gonna do it for me.
Fine.

"We'll make it happen."

[Gavin Tylvan]

Gavin's mind at that time simply could not follow the line of thought Syrawenn was going down, though he did think about what the future held. But, his mind was focused on the fact that now he knew for certain that he would not have to struggle alone, and that she would be there to help and support, and at times frustrate and lead. He knew she would not just follow, but lead and test his plans and ideas, and that was more important than simple support, as that would keep both of them alive. With a happy smile etched on his face, he wriggled a bit, trying to settle deeper into the sand and preserve a bit of warmth in his body. "But, I think I will need a long hot bath before that bed. Full tub in which I can lay and relax." This time he could not muster the courage to be naughty and add a quip, and instead just snuggled close to her, shivering in the cold waves, but not wishing to break the hug just yet. And, since there was a chance of a few more kisses coming his way, he definitely did not want to break the hug.