[center][img]https://i.postimg.cc/dV59HGJp/Leon-new.png[/img]  [img]https://i.postimg.cc/t4t8crKt/Kaureerah.png[/img][h1][color=fff200]You're Going Where?[/color][/h1][hr][hr][b][colour=fff200]Location:[/colour][/b] Brazen Head Beach, Ersand-Enise  |  [b][colour=fff200]Interacts with:[/colour][/b] Kaureerah [@Force and Fury][hr][hr][h3][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ntb6DX2-jU0]♫[/url][/h3][/center]

[color=deb887]"Hoory aup, saunfeesh!"[/color] Kaureerah's head popped out of the water, long blue-black hair clinging to her near-naked form, eyelashes batting. [color=deb887]"Yoo heve been eeten by te shaurk foor tymes. Waun moore foor te secred naumber."[/color] Then, with the sort of grace a human - much less a non-mariner like Leon - never could've managed, she dipped down beneath the waters. He had ten seconds to make a break for it.

Leon, who had clearly bitten off more than he could chew trying to outswim an Eeaiko, was trying to hide his shortness of breath. One could say he was like a fish out of water here but it was very much the complete opposite. [color=fff200]"Four? I think it was three by my count."[/color] He chuckled, the obvious lie was obvious. Then he snapped out of it as she dived, she was already getting ready to catch him and he had wasted precious seconds. Leon took a big breath and did his best to escape the hunter. It was doubtful but he might be able to impress her with a getaway this time.

There was a tug on his feet from the 'shark' and that was that. Both surfaced. 

[color=deb887]"Deed yoo knoow thet te saunfeesh hes no sweem bledder?"[/color] Kaureerah chirped. [color=deb887]"Soo eet maust keep sweemeng oor eet weell seenk.[/color] treading water, she flipped her hair over a shoulder and reached back to undo and tighten the drawstrings of her bra. [color=deb887]"Hauwever,"[/color] she continued, [color=deb887]"because eet es soo poorly baulenced, eet auften fleeps over end ees pooshed too te soorfece auf te oceen where eet jaust flaups eraund emlessly."[/color] She nodded sadly, still fiddling with the strings. Perhaps it was the webbed fingers. [color=deb887]"They caumpensete by leyeng three haundred meellioon eggs et e tyme."[/color] Kaureerah chirped, but her face turned frustrated. [color=deb887]"Looks lyke e waurdroobe maulfoonction,"[/color] she teased.

[color=fff200]"Are you calling me a sunfish?"[/color] Leon joked. [color=fff200]"Because I certainly hope you aren't expecting me to lay that many eggs."[/color] Seeing her struggle with her bra he reached back to tie it for her. As much as he enjoyed a well-timed wardrobe malfunction, there were people back on the beach. Finishing the knot, he held her by the hips similar to that of a male lead dancer. It was interesting because if anything [i]she[/i] was supporting his weight and not the other way around. [color=fff200]"At least I can be handy in other ways, even if I'm not the best swimmer."[/color] He winked.

She simply leaned forward and gave him a small kiss. The beach was not all that busy yet and she had kind of wanted to do a little something, but maybe it was [i]good[/i] that Leon was a gentleman. Maybe it made him mean a little bit more. [color=deb887]"Your hands are very... talented,"[/color] the eeaiko admitted with a cheeky smile. 

It had been morning and was now trending towards noon. They began to make their way back, holding hands for part of the journey, until she could feel her feet touch sand. Leon's already had and he was essentially pulling her [color=deb887][i]Why do men have to be taller?[/i][/color] she wondered inwardly. 

Without meaning to, her eyes scanned the beach. It was a habit built from years of living in the shallows. There were no Lek-i-koom - sandbar threshers- here. She shook her head both to clear it and reassure Leon when he noticed and shot her a quizzical look. [color=deb887]"Oold haubeet,"[/color] she remarked. [color=deb887]"baut Eye doon't sense eny threshers, forr whaut eet's woorth."[/color] She winked to make it playful and squeezed his hand.

Leon eased up knowing that her caution was built on habit rather than a genuine threat being present. Scouting for threshers was something he never even had to consider. It showed the difference between their upbringings but made sense when he thought about it. [color=fff200]"Really?"[/color] He said with a raised eyebrow and a mischievous look in his eyes. [color=fff200]"Because I think you're forgetting about the sunthresher."[/color] In a swift movement, he pulled her hand and dropped to the beach such that she landed on top of him. Dressed in nothing but tight-fitting shorts, he would have to deal with the sand that caked his back. That didn't distract him from the moment, his hands reached down and gave her butt a squeeze in a cheeky simulation of a thresher attack.

But the topic of threshers brought the mission to the forefront of his mind, in the fun of the date it hadn't crossed his mind to tell her yet. His smile grew less playful but more fond. [color=fff200]"Speaking of, I have a beast like that of my own to contend with coming up, the White Thresher. I think your swimming lessons might come in handy."[/color] He brought one hand up, rose, and kissed her forehead before falling back to the sand. [color=fff200]"Try not to get too lonely without me, okay?"[/color]

Kaureerah was midway through turning to face Leon, about to straddle him, when he dropped the bomb. She blinked, sitting astride him, toes in the sand. She shook her head, covering worry with playful dismissal. [color=deb887]"Eye theenk Eye sauw thet waun,"[/color] she admitted. [color=deb887]"Eye ended aup tekeeng enauther."[/color] She was wringing her hair out now, regarding him with an unreadable expression. [color=deb887]"We coold've ended aup toogether eef saumwaun deedn't aulweys woork aun saunfeesh tyme."[/color] She rolled her eyes and sunk forward until she was lying on his chest, the top of her head nuzzling up against his cheek. Momentarily, she craned her neck to kiss his chin.

[color=fff200]"You what?"[/color] Leon played off with a chuckle, cautious not to ruin the moment but the shock was evident in his voice. Quite simply, Kaureerah taking a mission caught him off guard. With all the perception he had of the girl, there was nothing that led him to expect that she would risk her life for something as inconsequential as a school mission. What reason did she have to fight? [color=fff200]"If this is the joke about the missing cat mission, Tku already told me that one."[/color] There was denial in his voice as if trying to believe it was a joke when he could guess differently. He caressed her back gently, trying not to let his poorly hidden confusion disturb her.

[color=deb887]"Wee eeaiko eet cets, Leaun."[/color] She stroked his chest absently with one of her hands as she said it.

He paused. Even if she delivered it in a joking manner, it was all but confirmation that Kaureerah was going on a mission, a real mission like the Lorenthine Queen. It only now set in for him the meaning of that and he would be unable to affect the outcome of any of it. What kept him all the more unsettled was that he couldn't tell why. Why would she risk her life for something like this? But it wasn't his place to demand an answer, she was a woman free to choose as she wished and if that was what her heart desired then what place did he have to stop her?

[color=fff200]"I'm starting to really hate sunfish time about now..."[/color] He spoke longingly and wrapped his arms around her. Perhaps wishes of safety and good luck should have come to mind, but none did. Instead, he held a little tighter. For now at least, he just wanted her close to him.

Kaureerah lay on top of Leon and closed her eyes, feeling the warm sun on her eyelids, a bit of it coming through, making them purplish from the inside. She could hear the apprehension in Leon's voice - [i]feel[/i] it in his arms and shoulders. [color=deb887]"Baut Eye'm okey weeth eet,"[/color] she replied, both firmly and tenderly, and she [i]was[/i]. [color=deb887]"Eet's aur tyme,"[/color] she murmured into his chest, [color=deb887]"Saun end feesh, yoo knauw?"[/color] She opened her eyes momentarily to smile at him. [color=deb887]"Mekes these moments thet mauch better..."[/color] She let her head back down, closed her eyes, and breathed. He breathed too, their chests resting against each other. For a moment, she held him a little tighter as well.


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