Open Head In The Sand

[Briza]

"When the wind springs from whence it comes, it carries with it a damned memory," she whispered, the gusts catching at the words, whipping them about as if they were tangiable and touchable. She attempted to grin at his failed attempt, but found it coming across as a grimace. Each burst of air brought with it a memory of falling, pumelling against rocks.

She reached her hand out to the breeze, as if to hold it, though knowing she could not. It felt as if it caressed her hand, called to her. It was a foolish thought, but some part of her wanted to close her eyes, forget about where she was, and dance in the wind like a banshee.

"Have you ever just wanted to close out the world, open your wings and let the breath of the land carry you away, even if only in your thoughts?" She asked softly, her eyes closed and her face aimed into the wind, her hair whipping violently within it, symbolic of fire.

[Calters]

When she expressed her fear of being carried away but her desire to be a free spirit, Calters was blown away by her soft voice and careful thoughts. She certainly looked wild and free with her burning hair snapping about her face and her head turned to the wind fearlessly. When she asked him if he had ever dreamed of drifting away, his first instinct was to snort but her sweet whisper made him reconsider. He let the question settle in his mind and he found it more intriguing than he initially imagined.

Had he ever dreamed of being swept away in the wind? It sounded carefree and graceful, but also a lonely and distant life. Now, if he were to succumb to the wind with someone close, he might consider it.

An idea slowly formed in Calters mind. He could feel the doubt piling up, bringing with it a dismal mindset as he had been trapped in earlier in the morning. But the idea was too good to pass up so Cal shoved the blue thoughts to a corner of his mind.

"Why only in our thoughts?" With a coy wink, the Akvatari rose and held out his arms to the Inarta, stretching his wings pointedly. "I won't go high if you don't want me to." He whispered, "We can stay right here on the hillside and you can feel the wind brush underneath you and wash all your bothersome thoughts away. And it won't be just the wind holding you, I'll carry you too."

While he wanted nothing more than to hear her talk more and vocalize her intricate mind, he also wanted her to be happy and comfortable. Calters felt a strange draw to the average looking Inarta, as if all her beauty was contained somewhere on the inside and he had been blessed, allowed to glimpse the hidden gem.

[Briza]

She'd lost her thoughts to the wind as she stared up into the brightly lit sky. The air smelt salty, tinged with an overlay of something. Trouble? she asked herself, feeling another soft shift in the wind.
Calters request shocked her. Could she truly go into the air again? Feel the brush of the wind under her feet?

She stared at him in slight shock, her eyes wide and glistening with unshed tears. What a strange man this was, for all his banter he was a soft soul, she could see it. She was sure there was darkness in there too, but she wasn't sure how to draw that out, see what bubbled beneath the surface.

"That is an amazing thought," she replied, taking a tentative step towards his open arms. "How should I do this, just embrace you?" She asked, letting her fingers gently touch the edge of his wings.

[Calters]

Calters almost felt as though she had taken away his breath. She trusts me? It was a foreign thought for the solitary Akvatari, disturbing him more than it should. He was not about to argue though, however taken aback he may have been.

When her fingers brushed against his wings, he felt the same strange mix of vulnerability and strength rush through him. This time he was certain that the feeling was stemming from her touch and the thought thrilled him. He reached his hands out just an inch farther and brushed his palm against her shining hair.

He could have sworn he felt the warmth coming from her fiery mane, but perhaps it was coming from inside of him instead. He nodded mutely, grasping her upper arm tightly with one hand and her opposite wrist with the other.

"I think you just need to climb into my arms." Cal pulled her wrist up so that it lay on his shoulder, waiting patiently for her to continue. Until she did, he was content to watch her eyes glisten with a mysterious emotion, trapped between fear and wonder, faith and mistrust. He knew that he must look much the same way, except that he felt caught between his typical deep melancholy and a fresh, blooming contentment.

In one hand, he held the Inarta's arm but there was more than the eye could see. In that hand he also held a fragile chance at a new beginning. In the other, there was nothing. His empty hand fell at his side, open to the influence of his depression dragging him down to the ground and telling him that he couldn't do it. He couldn't do anything...or so it told him.

[Briza]

Briza found herself subcounciously holding her breath as she climbed up into his arms. She felt cradled as a child might be, though she'd not been cradled much as a babe. It just wasn't really the way of her people. She could feel that darkness in him again, something boding and sad, and perhaps angry?
She shook the thoughts from her mind and rested her head on his shoulder, allowing herself to trust him. What was the worst that could happen? Could plummet to our deaths she thought bitterly as she adjusted herself in his arms.

"I'm sure you know what you're doing," she stated to him, gazing up into his face and those thoughtful, haunted eyes. Her hand reached out to dust his beautiful wings again, everytime she felt them it was as if she'd been stung by a wasp. Though it wasn't entirely unpleasant, just shocking.
"Up and away?" She asked softly, letting her hand fall back against her chest and away from his wings.

[Calters]

OOCSorry this took so long.

Calters knew as he rose from the ground that this was the determining factor. They had two paths to take; one where Briza found her sweet memories and serenity and another where she found the damned memories she had been hiding from.

It was impossible to tell from her face what she was feeling, so Calters opted to look away from her. Instead, he turned his head to face the wind and closed his eyes, letting the smell of the salty sea brush over him. It was comforting and in it, he found a strange sort of peace. It was not the kind of peace that made you smile and sigh, but the kind that revealed your inner emotions and let them all out- good or bad.

He barely remembered that he held the Inarta cradled in his arms. She was just as much a part of this experience- and him- as his wings and the soft gale embracing them both.

He fluttered his wings and rose a little higher until they could see over the side of the cliff. Trying his best to speak gently, he asked "Is this good?"

[Briza]

Her eyes fluttered shut in silent prayer. It would not do to die on the gusts of the ocean and the rocks it called it's own. She trusted Calters, though she knew not why, but that didn't mean she trust the wind that had once nearly taken her life and had ripped the life of her beloved Eagle from her. She supressed a shudder at that memory. How strange that she would again be floating on the breeze. In the past she'd had not a care in the world when with her bird, now all she had was care. The fear was invigorating as much as it was crippling.

She tried to catch his eyes, but he'd turned away from her, emmersed it seemed in his own world. Facing his own demons or angels she could not be sure. "Come back to this plane my winged Prince, for it would be grander if I and this magnificent view had your attention," she whispered against his ear. The darkness that roamed around them scared her, for she was sure it emminated from him.

[Calters]

It would have been easy to mistake the breath on his ear for the wind surrounding him but when he heard the now-familiar sound of Briza's words, he knew it could be nothing else.

She beckoned him closer, bringing him back to the conscious world. Her words glorified him, calling him a prince, implying that he could make the world brighter even though he knew he brought quite the opposite. But when he looked at her for what must only be the third time that day, he was blown away.

Her elegant speech, her petite frame cradled beneath him, her wide eyes shimmering with hidden memories and overwhelming emotions- every last thing about her drew him towards her.

He had never known any strong relationships. He had loved his father, of course, but that had ended so many seasons ago that he hardly remembered the ferocity of such feelings. Now he was left with distant acquaintances and uncaring audiences enjoying his music without really seeing him. No one else seemed to look deep enough to find the sadness crying out inside him but he got the feeling that Briza, with her fears and brutal honesty, understood why...Understood him.

He tried his best to convey this to the woman.
"Briza." He started. His voice sputtered, but he continued in determination.
"I feel that we are close even within this short time. Perhaps it is an illusion, telling me these things and filling my mind with nonsense. But just the same, it could be Lhex. Just think, this day could have turned out any way. I could have finished my drawing one tick too soon or not come up here at all! I don't know why you're here or why I'm here but I'm glad that it happened like this."

His long-winded speech ended abruptly, leaving nothing to be said. Calters felt that his way with language was insufficient in comparison to hers. He spoke music and knew few other ways to communicate.

He did know one, universal language, however.

The Akvatari leaned ever closer to the Inarta. He breathed in gently, smelling the unique scent of warming summer air and the salt leftover from the ocean on his own skin. There was something else too, that he could only attribute to the woman in his arms. She smelled the same way that a windy midnight alley did. It was dark but free, and it made his eyes flutter shut in ecstasy. His heart beat fierce and rapid and his arms shook with the strain of pulling her closer.

It was worth it, though, when he touched his lips to hers.

[Briza]

Thoughts drifted through the sea of her mind. Tossing about, and slamming against barriers. Those barriers she had built up over years, barriers to protect herself from the reality of her life and newly established barriers to protect her from allowing herself to be drawn in. Loss was something that she wasn't sure she could deal with again.

Floating in the sky with this fascinating creature-man didn't keep those thoughts at bay, there was something unsettling about him, but on the other hand she felt completely at peace in his arms.

He could feel him shuddering slightly and she shifted in his arms to get more comfortable, then the most unexpected occured. She felt his lips, on hers. She gasped slightly, an animalistic sound deep in the back of her throat. How did she allow that to happen?!

For some reason her body responded and she pressed herself closer into him, her lips allowing his to capture them, returning the kiss with lustre.