Mura By Moonlight (Quelen)

[Cilaes]

A social dance… Dancing with strangers to get to know them. The idea makes me a little uncomfortable but then, that is what we’re doing. He held up his right arm to mimic what their other hands were doing, keeping it at the height it would have been had Quelen a hand to hold. Focus was certainly what Cilaes was doing and the Ethaefal barely heard what Quelen was saying to him as he stared at her webbed toes. They were slick and shone each time the pair’s motion brought them to a fresh patch of moonshine. Each foot lifted slowly over the other, forming a grapevine as they twisted in slow circles. The speed began to pick up, but just barely as Cilaes’s legs began to respond to the demands of the dance. He looked up to smile back at the Charoda, believing his toes would know where to fall without his eyes’ direction. Oh, not yet! His boot caught the ankle of his other leg and the Ethaefal tumbled forward, swinging his free right hand in an attempt to catch his balance. This too was unsuccessful and the hard surface of the road left an uncomfortable throbbing in Cilaes’s tailbone while his momentum pulled less than gentling on Quelen’s arm. “Oh please, I’m terribly sorry! Are you alright Quelen?” Pale eyebrows rose up with surprise and concern as he apologized, having hardly begun to pick himself up.

[Quelen Dran'Sora]

Quelen's encouraging smile only grew larger as Cilaes started to slowly move a little quicker, obviously growing more confident in his movements, and she opened her mouth to speak to him as he smiled at her.

Before she could say anything though Cilaes stumbled. Quelen gasped and got a better grip on his hand to try and keep him up, but when Cilaes fell the force of his accidental pull was more than the lithe Charoda was prepared for. With a startled noise, best described as a shrill squeak, Quelen stumbled forward. A few staggering steps caused her to reach Cilaes' prone form, and her momentum caused her to continue forward and trip over him to tumble onto the road at his side.

Landing on her back Quelen stared up at the dark sky for a silent moment, and then gave a soft musical laugh at Cilaes' apology, "It's alright, Cilaes, I'm fine. Dancing on land is certainly hard isn't it?" Quelen gave another little laugh as she sat up, "I only really started to learn how to do it yesterday. You have to think about your feet so much more," suddenly Quelen gasped and her eyes went wide, "Oh! Can you swim Cilaes?"

[Cilaes]

The Ethaefal lifted himself from the road and offered a shimmering hand to Quelen. "Yes, indeed. Though you were doing marvelously, you almost had me dancing, a feat no one else has achieved." It was with a sigh that Cilaes ran a hand through his white hair, feeling the smooth surface of his horns as they passed underneath his fingertips. Not even Telen... His thin mouth flickered between a gentle smile and a faint frown as he remembered her. "Oh, well, I'm not an especially good swimmer, in fact my skills are rather shameful for having lived on an island my whole life, but I can float a bit, and not drown. Would you like to go to the water?" Today has been rather strange, I could hardly say I've acted like myself, he thought, thinking about the depression that usually marked his life. However, it would be a lie to say it only began today. I've been changing since winter, perhaps even before. Maybe Quelen is just helping me see that... It was with a steadier smile that Cilaes lead the Charoda down a street that would take them to a quiet beach nearby.

[Quelen Dran'Sora]

"You were dancing Cilaes," Quelen said with a bright smile as she took his hand, "A lot of people have a hard time dancing at first, and you weren't even doing a learning dance. You were doing great Cilaes."

With Cilaes' help Quelen pulled herself up, and then used her forward momentum to help propel herself into a jump, one leg kicking forward and the other pointing back as she pointed her toes, and landed a short distance away. Following Cilaes' down the street towards the beach she said encouragingly, "You don't need to go swim with me if you don't want Cilaes, but I thought it'd be helpful for you to not have to worry about your feet. Besides, I'd be right there with you so I'll make sure you don't drown."

She was glad to see Cilaes smiling, though she wondered about the faint frown she had seen earlier. That seemed like one of those things that you weren't supposed to ask about though, and she didn't want to upset Cilaes. He was being very nice to her, and they'd just met earlier that day.

[Cilaes]

”To be truthful I find the sea at night to be very refreshing, elevating in a way. And I’m not worried, who better, safer, to swim with than a Charoda?” It was a beautiful sight that greeted the two as the well paved road of Mura opened onto the ocean. In the calm waters of Silver Lake Leth’s visage had been an undisturbed orb. On the surf of the sea his luminance was scattered about in jagged chunks, sinking and breaking with the waves. The wet sand mimicked the stars’ twinkling, winking up at the pair after each receding wave. “I hope you won’t find it too indecent if I remove a few of my clothes, shirt, shoes and the like. I doubt a Charoda would understand, but I hate the sensation of soggy toes.” Cilaes grinned at Quelen and seated himself on a rock, unlacing one of his boots as he watched the moonlight crash against the shore. With a deep breath he sucked air laden with salty mist into his lungs. Nights like this, with such a clear sky above them always lifted his spirits, and the heaven’s seemed so much broader by the sea. OOCI am sorry for taking so long Quelen, life got crazy.

[Quelen Dran'Sora]

"I don't mind," Quelen responded to Cilaes' question with a smile and then a soft musical laugh, "Charodae often wear very little. I only wear as much as I do because I heard that landwalkers liked to wear more clothes," she paused and tilted her head at Cilaes as he started to take off his clothing, "Why is that? Do landwalkers not like the sight of the skin of others, or is it to keep warmer in case the wind blows?"

As Quelen waited for Cilaes' response she took the time to look over his night form a bit more. This form looked much prettier than his other one had, but she wasn't sure if he would like to hear her say that. She remembered hearing once that male landwalkers who got called pretty became so embarrassed that their face burned! While she was very curious what this looked like she didn't want to embarrass or hurt Cilaes.

OOCNo worries, obviously it took me a while to respond too. Here's hopin that life is nicer to both of us for a while.

[Cilaes]

The Ethaefal shed everything except for his trousers. Cilaes took each piece of clothing and folded it carefully, placing them atop his boots and well out of the reach of the sand and surf. "That makes a good deal of sense, clothing seems to offer a lot of resistance when it's wet. I can imagine it would be difficult to move properly for a dance if you were covered in soggy cloth." For her question it was more difficult to find an answer. Rolling up the edge of his pants until they were above the knee he remembered something. "You know, I'm not entirely sure. Part of it is certainly to protect ourselves from the elements but there isn't much of a reason for clothing on fine days, is there? I suppose it's simply something we're taught. When I was born here a Konti found me on the beach, naturally I had no clothes on. She was mortified, and I remember being very confused about what was bothering her. Now I'm simply used to it." With what was almost a twinkle he shrugged his shoulders. His bare skin had taken on a pale, silvery sheen in the moonlight, a color made more striking by the brilliant white of the Ethaefal's flowing hair. "Shall we?" He grinned and began walking into the soft tide that surrounded Konti Isle. With an icy gasp he felt the cold water sink through the cloth of his pants and press in around his thighs. Cilaes stopped when the water reached his waist, holding his elbows well out of the reach of the waves and turned to Quelen. "Is this deep enough or should we go further out? I don't mind much, but I've never been terribly good at convincing myself to wade into the cold."

[Quelen Dran'Sora]

While Cilaes busied himself in carefully placing his clothes and shoes away from the water Quelen simply slipped off her sandles, and gave a little happy giggle at the feeling of the sand against her toes. She'd spent so long walking on the land lately that she'd almost forgotten what it was like to not wear the shoes of landwalkers.

"This is fine," Quelen responded to Cilaes' question with a bright smile, having followed him into the water, and then took position in front of him while taking hold of his left hand with her right, "The water will help support us still, and your shoes won't be in the way either."

Speaking about the boots brought another question to Quelen's mind, and she tilted her head at Cilaes' once more, "Why do you wear such big shoes Cilaes? I know shoes are nice for landwalkers to help protect their feet," she nodded back to her sandals, up on the beach, "But are there other things that would make big heavy shoes like the ones you wear nice?"

[Cilaes]

"Ah, good," he said, slowly letting his elbows sink into the surf and gasping softly as the waves washed against his stomach. Her soft skin was even slick with the sea water as he closed his hand around hers, waiting for direction and momentum to flow from her through the grip. "Mmm, boots are rather sturdier. They support your ankles, and are good for walking long distances, or through tall grass or snow. However, in the water they act more like buckets than shoes, so I suppose each design has its flaws." He smiled at her. It's fascinating talking to her, she's from such a different world. I wonder if I was as curious and unknowing when I first came here... It's a struggle to remember anything well, I was so confused and disoriented, I doubt my questions were as thoughtful. "Are we starting over Quelen? I'm worried I may have already begun to forget the first few steps."

[Quelen Dran'Sora]

"I'll have to remember that if I spend a lot of time walking on land then," Quelen replied to Cilaes' explanation with a grateful smile, appreciative of him for explaining things to her.

At Cilaes' next question Quelen gave a soft musical laugh, and her smile brightened, "Don't worry Cilaes, just follow my movements," despite her laugh her voice was reassuring as she held gently to Cilaes' hand with her right.

With a warm smile she started the dance of the Four Pearls again, slowly turning her left side out and away from him into the open position and then moving back to the starting position, "It's nice and simple Cilaes. Try not to think of it as precise movements, but just let your body flow back and forth," her steps on the ocean floor were light, using little more than the toes and balls of her feet, as she moved to the second repetition of the open and close movement.

OOCSorry for the delay again, life got hectic for a bit.