Closed If only we knew... (Razkar)

[Edreina]

Edreina did not want to be comforted by Razkar. She did not need to be comforted by Razkar. So yes, she fought against his steely embrace will all the fire of a caged wildcat, maybe leaving a few bruises on his ribs. She fought until the fight left her and she had to sag against him for support, hands coming up to cover her face as she pressed it against his chest. Everything seemed to burst forth at once as she wept into the security of her hands, all of her pain, her anger, and even her confusion manifested in a series of heart-wrenching sobs. There was no sound to her cries aside from that of her halting breath, no whimpers or shouted questions of "Why?". It was simply a release of all of the negative thoughts and emotions. She had tried so hard to be strong, to act like what happened had not gotten to her. But there were times when she woke and Ekvan was standing over her again, predator's smile dancing over his lips as he stalked her from the shadows of her room. Her throat burned with memory of a knife being pressed against it, the helplessly enraged look on Razkar's face as he entered her hold. Her cheeks were quickly soaked as she continued to weep, forcing her to wipe off her face and look blearily up at Raz. "If need to do this, do it. Let out pain. Better for soul..." She was abruptly thankful that he had restrained her, kept her from tossing more of her stuff overboard. Though there was no need, Edreina marveled at his strength. Ekvan had come here after him; she had just been a sorry byproduct. And yet, he was as unperturbed as ever. Perhaps it was because Raz was strong enough and skilled enough to defend himself while she had been a helpless babe at the mercy of a madman. Her tears eventually ceased falling, leaving her face slick and her nose pink and puffy, as she looked up at Raz, finding in him the strength she needed to face the ugliness in this world. Their gazes were locked for what seemed like an eternity before Edreina inexplicably broke the connection, looking down and away with a sigh. What are you doing... With gentle pressure on his chest, Edreina convinced Razkar to release her and she took a safe step away from him, leaving the sphere of energy that seemed to dance between them whenever they were that close. "I- I'm going for a swim..." She whispered. Keeping her eyes firmly upon the ground, she peeled away her breeches and kicked them away. The gauze encircling her shoulder was ripped away with a sigh as her wound smarted in the air. From there, she made her way up to the deck and, without pausing, leapt into the Suvan. Yes, she had promised that she would not go swimming for days yet, but she needed this more than any salve, any poultice. The feeling of the Suvan rushing up over her, enveloping her in its warm embrace... it was the world's best medicine. Sure, the salt burned her wound, but it was a clean burn that she welcomed. The salt was surely killing any little demons that would infect her flesh and endanger her arm. For several bells, she remained beneath the water, eyes closed, heart slow. When she finally emerged, she paddled carefully with one arm. Her face was the brightest it had been in days, eyes clear of the haze that had clouded them for days. For several more bells, she simply lay back, floating upon the Suvan and absorbing Syna's warmth. When she felt recharged, she managed to pull herself back into the boat with one arm and a well-swung leg. When she was on the deck once more, she was once again pounced upon by Navis as he began to rub himself on her, as if attempting to dry her. With a breathless laugh, she stretched out upon the warm deck, luxuriating in the realization that she was finally free of the dark, dank, interior of Syliras. For a few days at least.

[Razkar]

Razkar had lost count of how many of these long, pregnant, stupid petching glances they'd endured, and that was becoming the right word for it. Whenever they were that close, skin to skin, the Svefra and the Myrian always seemed to have those... moments.

Brimming with promises and all the words and feelings they never spoke or expressed or succumbed to. Their fingers always tensed, twitched, their mouths opened a little bit-

-and right before they could take that final step, something always dragged them back from the ledge. Usually themselves.

Razkar swallowed and heard her say something, but he just nodded dumbly, blood pounding in his ears. Goddess... he'd kissed her, hadn't he? Earlier that week, when she was recovering, and it was... not just as a friend, though how you can kiss someone on the lips in a "friendly" fashion was beyond his thinking.

No. It had been one of those kisses. One of those he'd given to... to...

You swore. On the jungles and the stars and her, you swore. So what are you now if not a liar and oathbreaker?

There was a crack as his fist lashed out and slammed into wood a lot harder than his knuckles. Razkar bared his teeth, bit back a yelp of pain... and found himself alone. Hand throbbing under his massaging fingers, he glanced around, seeing breeches lying a heap in front of him. Wait... didn't she mention something about-

Then he heard the splash.

"Edri?!"

Whatever aches and pains he'd suffered over the last few days were forgotten in a blink as he took the stairs from the hold three at a time, rushing to the rail-

-and finding the Svefra floating amiably enough on the surface. Instantly he started fumbling with his cloak and breeches at the same time, reasoning he had a few moments before she sunk under. He hadn't been keeping up with his swimming but...

Then he stopped. His hands stilled as he looked down at her, face settled in a mask of peace, eyes closed as she seemed to draw such... tranquility, from the simple, gently lapping waves. His eager and worried hands reluctantly left his clothing, and Razkar sighed softly.

A small and worried whine from below, and he looked down to find Navis on his haunches, staring at the same thing, looking quizzically up at the Myrian.

"I not think she needs us, hmm?" A strange little growl of... was that agreement? Maybe. "Keep eye on her. Any trouble, let me know. Do and I give you snake meat."

He bent a little lower so there'd be no chance she'd hear his final word to her beloved pet.

"Again..."

That sealed the deal, Razkar saw with delight, Navis keeping his eyes trained on the female as she weaved and floated on the surface. Razkar headed towards the steps again, already making a mental list of how to cook the Dhani hunks he had wrapped up below deck.

Before he vanished under, he looked one more time... and saw his friend with her mane of red hair spilled out across the surface. Her face was unwrinkled, not tensed and pinched in pain like it had been for days, and her eyes didn't frown as they did when he'd spent bells sitting next to her as she slept.

She's at peace. She's with her god. Let her be, male. She needs you, she'll let you know.

The Myrian smiled softly to himself, and nodded. Good advice.

[Edreina]

A woman of action and reaction, Edreina often had little time to sit and write her thoughts in a form that pleased her. Something beautiful and passionate would often flit through her mind, only to be lost at a moment's notice as she flickered quickly to her next thought, next action. Sometimes, the thought would be so beautiful that Edreina would seem to glow from within, basking in the beauty of what she had discovered, others she would be moved to snarl or to tear up for an instant at the intensity of the emotion evoked. But it would be gone before she could spare it a second though, for Edreina was a woman in the moment. It took her nearly a chime to remember the scrap of beauty hidden within her bosom. But, when she finally did, the woman started with enough force to rock the boat, fumbling to her feet and then sprawling her way down into the hold. Careless of Razkar's current whereabouts, and trusting Navis's keen growl to alert her to the Myrian's approach, the woman quickly riffled through her intact bookshelf until she found what it was she had been searching for. It was a simple wooden box, wrapped in dark, aged brown leather so that it resembled a book's spine. Years ago, she had bartered for it with an old woman who claimed that land-dwellers would hide fortunes there, just before unsuspecting eyes. Though it contained no gold, no jewels, there was a great treasure within: Edreina's innermost thoughts. No more than a scattered and unorganized collection of parchment, the box nearly exactly symbolized the redhead's mind. There were many pages from her youth, many pages of her adolescent ramblings. But scattered among the refuse were a few unpolished gems. Roughly sketched drawings and scraps of poetry nestled themselves among a teenager's whining. For the first time in quite awhile, Edreina was going to add something worthwhile to the collection. A cursory dig provided the Svefra with a few pages of parchment, barely marred but by water and splotches of ink. From beneath her bindings, she retrieved a small, folded square of parchment, now soaked to a dark brown by her haphazard swim. Ever so faintly, words could be made out. They were scratched out and organized into some semblance of order through the use of multiple arrows and jotted numerals. To the sane eye, it would appear to be nothing more than a waterlogged jumble. To the manic redhead, it was a small piece of herself, captured during the monotony of her stay at the healers. With a great deal of fumbling, a featherless quill was found and its nib dipped into sour ink as the redhead sat crosslegged upon the subdeck, box perched in her lap to form a makeshift table of sorts. Her hair, still dripping musically, concealed her frown of frusteration as she attempted to decipher her own code, having to rely upon memory where the ink had been washed away. Each quill-stroke was quick and precise, but not completed until she was sure that it was necessary. There was a pause as, just for an instant, the woman was tempted to keep such thoughts private. But, as many things did, the thought drifted from her mind as she set to work upon the next stanza. The poem composed was far from a masterpiece, lacking any sort of pattern or gentle flow. Like water crashing over a stony precipice, the piece was imperfect and rough upon the ears. Despite this, the woman sat up proudly when her work was complete, satisfied with her ability to capture her own thoughts and pin them down upon parchment. Hours had been spent toiling over the grammar, syntax, and diction of the piece, so it was truly as if Edreina had put a part of herself into creating it. Far less hurried than before, the woman returned the box and its new addition to its former hiding place before returning to the deck, face flushing lightly as she thought over the poem once more. It was a silly little thing, really. But it was her silly little thing. Stretching with a mild groan, she made her way over to her favorite place to sit against her mast. As seemed to be his new favorite acrobatic trick, the ever present little fox kit was in her lap before she had finished sitting. But, his antics were a comfort. Perhaps now things could finally return to how they had once been...

[Razkar]

The dark figure kept to his internal promise and stayed on the other end of the casinor, bent over the neat little stove that Edreina had prepared there. Raised from the deck and cushioned by rocks and leather, there was no way her beloved 'grotto would scorch, and no way Razkar's meal would be ruined.

The Myrian smiled as he inhaled his childhood memories when the sizzling meat was about ready, grinning over the charred and smoking hunk of Dhani flesh. He'd made a serviceable skewer for their meal and carefully took the meat off and away from the smoke and flame, digging around for a handful of herbs.

Admittedly for the Svefra's hold, and he felt a twinge of guilt at the intrusion, but it was only a few jars and bottles. Razkar came from a people where personal privacy was a relative term in the close-knit clan structure, but he knew better than to root around in the affairs of others.

She did wonder what was in that chest, though. It looked well-traveled, and with age came such interesting stories...

The deck creaked and he turned to see a shock of red hair emerge from the cabin. Ah, the hermit was returning, apparently. He'd noticed her vanish below deck a while ago, but did not think to disturb her. For one thing, the food wasn't ready. But now...

"When it happens, you won't know,
When it's done, you won't care,
But it will strike like an arrow,
From the clear morning air..."

Fragments. That was all that came to him as he sprinkled paprika and salt and pepper and some other herb that smelled tangy and exotic onto the meat. He smiled a little as the half-remembered words came back to him from the mists in his mind.

"Don't follow my footsteps,
Long in regret and heart's pain,
I was a fool to deny her,
That arrow won't strike again..."

The smile froze. Aya. That was who he thought of. Her face and her smile under the eaves of that bar, the foreign place in Taloba, both of them sharing a jug of lethshine and laughing at his pathetic singing voice. He waited for the sting in his chest and the twisting dagger in his heart...

... but they did not come. A twinge, perhaps, a memory of pain, but like a faded scar to a long-healed wound.

Time passed. Things change. We try to fight against the entropy with our words and our deeds, but...

His eyes flickered over the meat and gazed on the Svefra bathing in Syna's touch, peaceful and serene, smiling with a ball of happy, panting fur in her lap, and a smile tugged at his lips unbidden.

"Time to eat!"

Edreina's eyes opened and her nostril quivered at the thick, strange smell. Not entirely unappealing, but entirely alien to her, held in two bowls by the grinning savage standing over her. So bizarre, she thought, seeing the weapon-festooned Myrian with scars and tattoos of a hundred skirmishes bearing her food like a proper waiter.

"Dhani." He said simply, extending her a bowl filled with chopped up chunks of steaming meat that looked almost like pulled pork. "Family recipe. Or near as I can make with barbarian herbs..."

He chuckled but it morphed into a scowl when his eyes flickered down to the disapproving growl emanating from the occupant of her lap.

"None for you, White Rat..."

[Edreina]

"Time to eat!" As if her thick lashes were suddenly far more weighted than they appeared to be, Edreina's eyes opened slowly, lazily. It was not as if she smelled through her eyes, but as soon as she noticed the food being offered, her nose became aware of its presence. The smell was like beef, but... wilder. It seemed to her as if more flavor would exist innately in this meat than any other sort she had tasted. Head cocked curiously, she took the bowl and crossed her previously stretched legs, upsetting Navis's position for the instant it took him to adjust. Normally, she would have chuckled at the threatening growl Navis issued towards the one who had just provided their food. The irony was lost, however, as the blue-eyed woman critically examined her food, as if the spirit lingered and would possess her food to bite her. Delicately, she pried one strip of meat free and offered it to Navis. After he gobbled it up fiercely, eyeing her in such a way that she had to fight the urge to give him all of it, Edreina frowned playfully. "Then again, you'd eat your own poo if I let you..." Breaking out in a grin, she scratched the little creature between the ears and took her first bite. Needless to say, the new experience was enjoyed by the enthusiastic woman. After her first bite, she moaned lightly, mouth filled with succulent, spicy juices. Her lips were licked appreciatively after the meal and a grin flashed at the chef. As long as she did not think about the fact that she was eating something vaguely human, in her rather naive opinion, the meal would rank among her best. Even then, her most interesting. For days, she had subsisted on the flavorless food they served her at the healer's. Now, she was more than amply sated. Grin still in place, she scoot a bit further down on the mast so that her body was not entirely vertical and puffed out her flat stomach dramatically before patting it. "Meal was good, Raz. You'll have to cook for me more often!" A saucy wink briefly obstructed one bottomless pool of silvery-blue as the redhead sat up properly once more. With a groan, for she truly was more full than she preferred to be, not that she would be swimming again any time soon, she uncurled her legs and stretched them out before her, limber feet pointing in a way most would view as painful. As her feet did acrobatics, her arms reached towards Syna, back arching until she jerked her injured arm back down with a startled cry. Will it ever be the same? The inopportune thought seemed to drain all of the joy that being back in her element had seeped back into the redhead. It killed her to think that she might not be as she once was, that her life would forever be altered because of one instant. Oh come now... You saw a fisherman lose an eye and be back at his line the next day... Stop your pathetic little pity party! Somehow, the sharper enunciation of her Fratavan thoughts made the mental jab have a greater impact. Shaking herself as Navis would when a fly attempted to land upon one of his massive ears, Edreina drug herself back into the present. Worrying over what had not yet come to pass would do her no good. For all she knew, her shoulder would heal and be perfectly fine once more. Looking up, Edreina was reminded of a question that had presented itself during her stay elsewhere. Since her injury, Razkar had seemed more prone to slip into flat stares of introspection. Every time she turned around, she found him in a sort of daze, staring at nothing, minute muscles of his face occasionally twitching as if anticipating a blow, or perhaps remembering one. She deeply hoped that he did not blame himself for what happened. Such thoughts were the most unhealthy a person could have. It tainted the soul and seemed to cast a shadow upon every action from there on. "You ok?" Her question was gentle, coaxing. As if it would draw a straight answer from him, Edreina's hand moved of its own accord to alight upon the warrior's dark skin.

[Razkar]

When Edreina's luxuriant stretch turned into a sharp twitch of pain, Razkar flinched away from the sight of her as if it was his own body harmed. But his eyes flickered back to that ugly red line on her shoulder, knowing that in the years to come it would fade, lessen, but always be there. Always remind her and him and the world of what he did.

What you had to do.

"That will get better," he said eventually, smile creasing his face as he gestured to the gnarled and puckered scar tissue massed on his left shoulder. "That was tiger. Could not use arm for season. Nearly lost it. But now?" He stretched his arms over his head and kept the smile, feeling not even a trace of that aching agony he'd lived with for days and days. "All good!"

Razkar chuckled, and he meant it. He meant the smile, too. But when the noise of it had faded and the pull of his lips had fallen... there was still that remorse. His eyes gazed onto the deck and then into nothing, running over those fateful handful of ticks days ago.

The bearded monster looming behind his beautiful friend; the knife at her neck. The snarled command that smacked of animal desperation, his own clear, amoral, clinical solution to a knotty problem.

One thrust. One kill. And one friend maimed.

His bowl was nearly licked clean, the two of them enjoying their meal. Now it sat at his side, forgotten. The meat was from an enemy; a worthy victory he'd won with cunning and, he was not ashamed to say, underhanded works similar to those he'd displayed in the hold of the 'grotto. One of the Ancient Enemy, his people's bane since before Myri was their Goddess-Queen... and he had slain him, scalped him, looted his corpse and then hacked off chunks to dine upon.

A simple thing, in its way. Clear. Unambiguous. But the thought he had caused like pain on her-

"You OK?"

Her touch brought him back to the day. He blinked and felt soft, warm fingers on his arm. His head moved slowly and his gaze found them, touch matching the concern in her eyes. Razkar smiled, almost dreamily, the gesture clashing with his ink- and scar-pocked face.

"'OK'." He repeated, as if testing the word. "Still not used to that word. 'OK'. No-one tell me what it means yet..."

His voice trailed off and he sighed. So much he still did not know... but he had plenty of time to find out. Plenty of chances. The thought seemed to galvanize him, and his gaze flickered up to her face. Her pale and beautiful eyes... he ripe lips...

Something finally gave up the ghost in him, realizing it was long past due, and he leaned forwards, slowly but inevitably-

It was not like the times on the Flotilla. Stolen and forbidden but still snatched, like a stolen treasure. His lips pressed to hers and his tongue gently massaged her lips, two slow swipes and a taste like salty fruit with the meat's spices fresh on them...

Razkar sighed against her and then broke it, forehead resting against hers.

"Yes." He said quietly. "I am OK."

[Edreina]

"Oh! Okay means, alri-" The explanation was never finished as Razkar leaned in to claim Edreina's fluttering lips with his own. There was a previously lacking strength in his kiss, as if for the first time he was sure about what he was about to do, not merely being guided by instinct. For the first time, there was motion in their kiss. Recovering from her moment of frozen shock, the Svefra melted - nearly literally - in time for her tongue to boldly reach out and meet the Myrian's as it made its second pass along her lips. The motion was innocuous in and of itself, but for some reason, the uncountable days that had preceded it, every moment of frustration and confusion filled the simple, innately intimate, contact with a bust of energy. For the brief instant that their tongues brushed together, Edreina felt herself burst into flames; the chemical reaction that came from two compatible sets of hormones mingling for the first time seemed to create a combustion that would have illuminated the entirety Sylira. That single moment of light, pure and clean, banished the shadows that had been clinging to the edges of her mind for more than a season now. Razkar did care for her. He cared enough to keep himself from capitalizing upon her angst and make her the other woman, the succubus. He had been able to rein in his own feelings, however potent they may have been, out of respect for both she and Ayatah. He would subject them all to torture by harboring emotions for both women. The fact that he was now kissing her, hesitant, careful, it meant that a decision had been made and it was, finally, in the redhead's favor. Well. Perhaps not. Perhaps he had still not totally chosen Edreina over Ayatah, but he had finally admitted, perhaps even to himself for the first time, what he felt for the former. And that was what gave her hope. This was not the kiss of "I'm sorry. Goodbye." it was the kiss of "I see now...". At the very least, she was now in the running for the Myrian's heart. And, though it saddened Edreina to realize that she may have been stealing a man who had become the object of another woman's every thought, every affection, it also brought her a selfish sort of joy, one in which she only rarely indulged. It was only when Edreina admitted that the Myrian felt anything for her other than friendship that she truly began to fathom the depths of her own emotions. Never had she been in love, so even the mere concept of the feeling was entirely unknown and frighteningly alien to her. She was far too afraid, even yet, to admit that she may love Razkar. When the unending contact finally broke, Edreina found herself breathless, as if she had just swam to greet Laviku himself. Her hand was resting delicately upon his neck, thumb making small motions along his jugular. As if to spite the torrent of unsure emotions swirling about in her mind, Edreina smiled a very small, fragile smile. It was different from any that Razkar had seen before, in that it somehow manage to convey her joy, her surprise, her lack of sureness, her fear, her courage, and her hope in a single expression. But the queerest thing about her smile was that it seemed to be meant purely for Razkar, as if she wanted only for him to be able to read it, to understand what she could not say. Even her eyes were in on the intimate expression, blue depths swirling, a flurry of questions without answers. As her emotions welled and threatened to consume her, Edreina did not want him to see how much a simple kiss had terrified her, thrilled her... It was all so much to try to handle at one time. With a distinctly happy sound - for that was the foremost in her long line of emotions to be seen and heard out by the monarch of her mind, Lord Logic - the woman flung herself at the man. In an instant, she was hugging him fiercely, arms beneath his, applying as much pressure as she could muster, grinning cheek against his chest, careless of how such a motion would send them sprawling on the sun-warmed deck. What she did care about, rather abruptly, was how childish "hugging" someone seemed. Just as quickly, she disengaged herself and went back to sitting upright, knees tucked beneath herself. In a rare moment of nervousness, Edreina brushed a lock of hair behind her left ear, hiding behind the curtain that remained on her right side, lip caught between her teeth. Sheepish as a newborn Keai, Edreina peered up at the Myrian, hoping to see some semblance of her sudden imbalance.

[Razkar]

When their lips parted, Razkar was mildly surprised to find the world had not, in fact, ended. He'd tasted something deeper than mere physical attraction, felt it in the slow affection of her fingers on his throat, the urgency and well finally tapped in her breathing inhaling against his mouth...

When he opened his eyes and his vision was nothing but swirling, wide blue orbs... Razkar could not help the smile from spreading across his face.

They don't have the word "goofy" in Mizahar. Which is a shame.

"What do-"

Then a hundred pounds or so of overjoyed Svefra barreled into his chest and he went swaying back on his ankles, feeling her wide grin against his chest, sputtering out a laugh-

-and going over on his back.

"Oh, for the love of..."

Whatever curse that went with his scowl died on his lips when Razkar looked back up and saw Edreina, knees hunched up, biting on her lip with sharp white teeth and staring at him with one guileless blue eye. It would have been like beating a puppy.

He couldn't look away. Not just that she was a vision of loveliness, shapely and beautiful... but she wanted him as much as he wanted her. And he did... didn't he? But weren't these the feelings he'd had for Aya? Didn't he say the same things, make the same plans? Did they mean nothing now?

No. Now they don't; then they did. Welcome to history.

The Myrian squatted on the balls of his feet, arms resting on his knees, every inch the savage they always said he was. Without his cloak and his breeches, clad only in his loincloth, sandals and weapons harness, every ravage of his life was laid bare for her eyes under the untrammeled Syna.

At least the physical ones.

Razkar cocked his head to one side and regarded her with a smile... that was so unlike everything else she looked at. Or, more accurately, what everyone else looked at.

"I do not know if this is good idea." He said, slow and measured, wanting his Common to be up to this crucial moment. "But I know what I feel. I am tired to deny it. I nearly lost you. I do not want to risk again."

Razkar leaned his weight forward until he was on his toes, knuckles touching the deck... and relished the fact that he could bring his lips to hers without fear of rejection, or shock, or scorn. The warrior sighed and nodded. The smile faded as a multitude of doubts and fears clouded eyes already black by his birth. But they looked up at her with something that glimmered beneath all of them.

Hope.

"So... what do you need me to do on boat?" The smile returned, or a younger sibling of it. "We still have some of Syna. We must use it."

[Edreina]

"I do not know if this is good idea. But I know what I feel. I am tired to deny it. I nearly lost you. I do not want to risk again." The words would become a mantra to the woman, something that she would repeat in the still of the night, when the world felt so enormous and she ever so alone. I nearly lost you. I do not want to risk again. Someone cared for her out of more than a sense of responsibility that stemmed from being podmates; and what made it better was that she cared for him as well. Neither of them were left the pining lover, hearts aching for what would never be. Instead they were a duo, fighting the currents that moved to part them with clasped hands. He came in to kiss her once more, and automatically her body responded, as if such a hitherto rare action was commonplace. Blue eyes were obscured by pale lids as her pink, seashell lips fell from a smile into a soft pucker. This kiss was more chaste than the last, a simple brush of lips to remind one another of the bond that they shared. Sparks, however, made their way down the redhead's spine once again, raising tiny bumps across her freckled skin. "So... what do you need me to do on boat? We still have some of Syna. We must use it." Looking around her ship, Edreina nearly cringed at the state of it. When was the last time that she had swabbed the deck, scraped away the barnacles that were now likely infesting her hull, or even attended to her sails? Grimacing gently, the Svefra stood and began to prioritize. Barnacles could ruin a hull's integrity, but she was not fit to be beneath the water, throwing her weight into scraping, and this was not the place to be tilting her ship. Razkar would be strong enough, but he was not a strong enough swimmer. The hull-care would have to wait. The swabbing and the care for her sails, however, could be accomplished today. "I will need your help carrying something up..." Not at all accustomed to having any one help her, Edreina's voice was rather sheepish. Descending into the darkness, Edreina made her way over to where she had stowed her mainsail, mop resting against it. In the sultry light of the hold, the energy that always rippled and danced between the two seemed to be multiplied. The cramped hold gave it no room to dissipate and the fact that they now could act upon their mutual whims became achingly obvious. But the ever present question of "would" remained between them. Well, just because he admitted to caring for her did not mean that he had other feelings for her. With one foot, she nudged the mainsail, carrying the mop above deck herself. With one hand, she made an errant motion as to where she wanted the sail placed, continuing over to the side of the ship. The question of how to demonstrate how she wanted her deck cleaned was quickly solved when she remembered how Surai had done it when he broke his wrist. Using her strong arm, she held the handle of the mop with her hand, tucking it under her arm so that it moved more as an extension of her arm. After dunking it, she placed it upon the deck and walked forward, following the grain of her deck."Like this," she said with a smile, turning her torso slightly so that she moved back and forth over a single spot until the dirt came free of the woodgrain. Cocking her head to one side, Edreina smiled at Razkar, teeth capturing her lip for an instant. The thought of him glistening with sweat, laboring over her deck... it was not unappealing in the slightest. "Think you can handle it?" In a motion oddly reminiscent of him teaching her to use a blade, Edreina spun the mop once in her grip and sent it hurtling towards towards him. Without pausing to see if he caught it, she sauntered over to her sail and began to unfold it, grimacing once more at the creases that lined its linen surface.

[Razkar]

It's always the simple things that truly exhaust you. Don't believe that? Talk to a marathon runner. One foot in front of the other, at twice walking speed... over... and over... and over... for twenty miles. Seems simple, and that's because it is. But after that first mile, or to, or three, your body starts reminding you that simple does not mean easy.

A bell into his labor the moss squelched onto the end of the deck and Razkar turned his face up to beseech the bright sun. Just a gust, he prayed, just some lick of air...

No-one was listening, apparently, and the Myrian bowed his head after a moment. His half-naked body was dripping with sweat, rivulets of it following his path across the deck like some kind of spastic snail trail. But there was far more water in that trail, the deck he'd left behind shining with his labor. He really should have done this earlier, before she got back. It wasn't that big of a deck after all.

"Yeah," he muttered to himself, wiping his forearm across his brow, grinding sweat on sweat and coming out of it only slightly more refreshed than before, "Easy to say that now..."

Still that steady scraping behind him. He turned and saw her as she'd been for quite a while, just on a different patch of deck: crouched over the sail laid out across the freshly-scrubbed wood, bad arm holding the sail steady, good arm moving back and forth with grim determination, eyes fixed and lips pressed into a bloodless...

Yet Razkar found himself smiling fondly. She'd barely been away from her sickbed for a day, and there she was, maintaining her precious 'grotto and shirking work that needed doing, damn it all. Once again he thought it a tragedy she was not born within Myri's light...

And then she would not be her, would she? She would be harder, stronger, more focused... but not Edreina.

Something twisted and roiled in his guts, but he ignored it... for a little while. He was tired to ignoring it, or denying, rationalizing it away or just plain shouting it down when it whispered in his ear. The girl across from him could have died mere days before. Stolen from him, and gods above, below and walking the earth, she had come so close.

She isn't, but it taught you something. So stop acting like you both have all the time in the world.

Razkar decided the serious face didn't fit Edreina. His eyes flickered to his bucket of water, now more than a little tepid and stained from his work... he slowly dunked the mop head back into it... slid silently across the wet deck... reared back with the mop like he was ready to bring a gigantic club crashing down, whipped it forward-

-stopped it straight out in front of him-

-and sent a spray of fat, smelly water raining horizontally against the Svefra, sending her body into minor spasms and dragging out an outraged, stunned shriek, red hair flaring like a cobra's hood as she whirled on him, shock making her paler face all the more stark against the crimson locks-

-finding nothing but a grinning Myrian leaning on his mop, scarred and tattooed and radiating... happiness. Joy. Peace.

"I think I have thing handled. Good fun, this mop thing..."