She's a rebel, she's a saint. || 74.07.30 [Moo]

[Moo]

“That I did. I never imagined you’d be such a willing participant.”

At the mention of Cliffside – and his in particular – N’kio smirked and rolled his eyes. “Oh aye, possible shipwrecks and a complete halt in trade sounds like a great deal of fun,” he laughed.

“I’ll be sure to let you know when the next Gather is. As far as my friend goes, well…Erol knows a great many things, but that wouldn’t be one of them. You’d have to ask a local for that.”

He looked up as she swam away, his smile never fading as she moved just out of reach, her tan skin almost gleaming in the clear, blue waters of the sound. It felt more like a dream than anything else, being here with Elora, as she swam in naught but her skin and the sea and the sun.

Her next questions caught him by surprise. Wasn’t the answer obvious? N’kio moved a few steps closer to her, all the while minding enough distance for anyone passing by on shore.

“I’d like to think you already know the answer to that question.” His gaze moved over the rivulet of water on her face, then to her lips, and finally, up to her eyes.

“Especially considering your enthusiasm for swimming.”

That was what it was, wasn’t it? She wanted to swim with him. To be…here. It didn’t take Metanath to point out the fact that if she wasn’t interested in either prospect, she wouldn’t be here right now.

N’kio decided it best to cut to the chase.

“I wanted to see you, Elora.”

[Nicole]

"Is that an invitation to the next Gather, then?"

She laughed, a tinkling sound that seemed to echo among the otherwise quiet beachfront. Elora watched him move further into the water, ocean water sloshing against his chest. She rolled her shoulders back, feeling each muscle move and relax in the warm embrace of the sea.

I wanted to see you, Elora.

She had known why he was here. Part of her had, anyway. But it was still nice to hear, particularly because she was certain that he didn't just mean seeing her as she was now; he meant talking to her, just being with the person she was and not just the body she inhabited.

It was a gloriously new sensation to have somebody who actually cared. Or who she thought cared.

This whole getting-to-know people thing was really difficult.

So, for a moment, she didn't say anything. She dipped her head back, drenching her hair in the salt water and smiling as she pulled back up.

"I'm glad you came."

[Moo]

As her peals of laughter rang out over the crash and pull of the waves, N’kio half-smiled for what felt like the hundredth time that morning. He honestly couldn’t remember the last time he had smiled so much on his own, but he was willing to bet it was another instance when Elora was around.

“I daresay a Gather without you is a Gather not worth having,” he replied a moment later, his eyes wandering just below the surface of the water as she stretched and rolled about. With practiced nonchalance, he slid his hands inside the pockets of his pants and looked first to the horizon, and then back to her face.

But when Elora moved to wet her hair, N’kio couldn’t keep his gaze away for long, absolutely mesmerized as she arched her back, her chest pushing forward in the clear, salt water.

They certainly didn’t make weyrlings like her when I was one, he thought to himself, just shy of an appreciative whistle. He turned his head and looked over his shoulder at the shoreline – the coast was still clear, and they were still alone together.

At the sudden sound of her voice, however, N’kio turned back around; she had straightened up again. His mouth fell once more into the familiar tug of a smile.

“Aye, I’m glad I did as well.”

Under her own smile, however, he shifted where he stood as a jittery, warm feeling settled in his stomach. The secrecy of their tryst, as well as the apparent solitude of the beach, made the combination heady beyond words.

With a slight tip of his head, N’kio motioned to Elora.

“Come over here, lass.”

[Nicole]

Water rained down her back from her hair, rivulets merging back into the sea as Elora tilted her head to the side, absently licking her lips as she looked at N'kio.

"You want me to come over there?"

She tilted her head the other way, eyes sparkling mischievously. Pushing a strand out of her face, she grinned. "That sounds awfully inappropriate, given the situation."

And it was. The entire situation was awfully inappropriate, and moving closer to N'kio would make it infinitely more dangerous and exciting and Eggs, she wanted to move over there.

Wanted to do a lot more than move over there. Her eyes dropped his gaze and traced his jawline, covered in scruffy beard, before lingering on his lips.

How many rules was she willing to break today?

With a laugh and a deep breath, she dove underwater, moving towards where N'kio stood in the more shallow area, planting her feet next to him and popping her head out of the water. Her body remained submerged, even though she had to crouch to do it.

"It's really a good thing I don't care about what's appropriate or not."

[Moo]

N’kio laughed lightly in response. “Could be inappropriate,” he murmured, no stranger to the way he felt her eyes move over him. “Dependin’ on who you ask.”

His eyes gleamed with mischief as she swam over and crouched by his side. He submerged himself deeper in the water, until he felt he was both level with Elora and still above the waves.

“Glad to hear of it.”

In a flash of inspiration, he bent forward, picked her up at the waist, and pulled her close to his chest. He tried to quell the frantic beating of his heart as he held her up against him, her legs around his torso, her chest against his chest.

“I suppose it’s a good thing I don’t, either.”

Metanath would have a fit if he were here.

N’kio tipped his head close, his forehead touching hers, his blue eyes fixed on her brown ones. He glanced down to her lips and leaned in, his breath warm and shallow, his lips just shy of touching her skin. He moved to one side of her face, their proximity far past dangerously close, as he leaned over to her ear.

“You’d better take a breath, lass,” he whispered.

He pulled back with a wicked grin and, in the span of a few seconds, hoisted her out of the water, over his shoulder, and tossed her back into deep water with practiced ease.

N’kio laughed to himself, knowing he shouldn't, but entirely unable to help himself otherwise. He could break the rules, too.

[Nicole]

song = hot in here | rascal flatts

As N'kio wrapped his hands around her waist, effortlessly pulling her close to him, Elora was certain that they could both hear the loud beating of her heart. It echoed in her ears, a steady pounding that only increased in speed as he rested his forehead against hers. His lips were just out of the lips of her own. She could just reach further, snuggle her chest against his, press her mouth against his-

Curse him. Curse him for making her want something, want him, curse him for having a charming smile and a great laugh and for making her care.

His beard brushed her cheek as he leaned towards her ear, and she saw the wicked grin more than she heard his comment and braced herself, taking a deep breath as she flew through the air. Wind whistled past her skin on all parts before she submerged into the water, closing her eyes to keep the salt water out and shooting herself back up to the surface.

Head dripping with water, she took a deep breath, chest heaving in the ripples of water spreading out from around her body. N'kio's laughter hung in the air.

"You flitter-brained moron!" She glared at him, lifting her hands and sending a giant splash of water arcing in his direction. "I'll get you back for that."

But the grin that spread over her face a moment later took away any sort of idea that she actually would, and with her heart still pounding in her chest, she motioned for him to join her in the deeper waters.

[Moo]

Not closing his mouth fast enough, N’kio, in mid-laugh, caught a mouthful of seawater. With a roll of his eyes he spat it out and snickered again.

“Flitter-brained moron? Well, that’s certainly a nice way of putting it,” he replied, his heart pounding hard in his chest as she motioned for him to move closer. Well, if she was planning the same trick he had, he figured he was pretty safe – weighing more than her and all.

“Diplomatic, even.”

He could still feel her in his hands, against his body, but the warmth she left behind had already faded in the cooling waters. Still, he wouldn’t forget that for a while. Trying to ignore the growing tightness in his pants – which he was simultaneously grateful for wearing and annoyed by – he ducked under the water and swam to her side.

He couldn’t get there fast enough.

Luckily, he hadn’t thrown her too far behind him. Taking a breath as he surfaced, N’kio blinked away the salt water dripping down his face and into his eyes.

“So what d’you have in mind for me?” he sniffed, brushing the water out of his eyes with his forearm. He sighed and moved to float on his back, still watching her. Even if his view was now upside-down, it was still a fantastic sight. N’kio licked his lips and tasted salt.

“Or is that a secret?”

[Nicole]

Elora followed the trail of water dripping off his eyelashes and onto his lips, his tongue dashing out to touch it as a shiver of excitement ran up her back.

His question made her grin, and water splashed up towards her shoulders as he flopped back in the water.

What did she have in mind for him?

Nothing at all. Everything she was doing was on instinct, on what she decided she wanted in the moment. It was her favorite way to operate. Live without regrets and do what you wanted to do.

And while she couldn't do exactly what she wanted to do - Saphireth would freak out, and there were some rules she supposed she should try to obey, especially given her history - she could settle on doing some things she wanted to do.

"I'm not going to do anything. No secrets here."

A tiny lie - her history technically wasn't a secret; he could know and just not care - but one that she didn't mind as she moved through the water, lingering close to him.

"Do you know we've known each other for nearly a year now? Time flies."

[Moo]

Stretching backwards with a slight groan, N’kio closed his eyes as a deep yawn pulled itself from his chest. He wanted to say he wouldn’t mind if she did decide to do anything, but he didn’t want to push it, the way things were going already. One thing at a time.

Through his yawn, his voice lilted with amusement. “You’ve been minding the time since we’ve met?”

Maybe they weren’t moving as fast as he thought at all. She said it was nearly a turn since then, right? He thought back to when they first met and – Ah, yes, that was when she gave Metanath that massage. There would be no way he would ever forget that day.

“I didn’t realize it’s nearly been so long.”

For reasons he couldn’t place, N’kio found the news of their time together a little surprising. Pleasantly so, but still surprising. It wasn’t normally how he handled relationships – well, not since Isbel. Waiting was never really part of the game plan that followed her.

That was, what, eight turns ago? Elora would’ve just started her Candidacy then, he told himself, making a slight noise in his throat. N’kio wasn’t quite sure how much he liked knowing that he was getting older, but it wasn’t like he could do anything about it now.

Elora didn't seem to mind, so maybe he shouldn't, either.

N’kio smirked, “Metanath would congratulate you on how long you’ve had to put up with me.”

He glanced over to her out of the corner of his eye. “We should celebrate it,” he added in an off-hand manner -- and then paused a moment later.

Wait, what was he saying? He knew what he was thinking, and it was anything but innocent, but still…Rules were rules, and they were already close to breaking more than a few at a time.

Then there was Saphireth to consider as well, and he knew Metanath wouldn’t let him do anything to upset her. That’s why it’s been so long in the first place, N’kio realized. If it weren’t for Saphireth, would it have lasted as long?

“Time’s got a funny way of moving faster when you an’ I are together, Elora.”

[Nicole]

We should celebrate it. Elora let the smile sweep over her face, looking away from him and back towards the beach so he wouldn't see.

They had something to celebrate. She hadn't thought of that; hers had been more of an observation on how, despite all that time, and all she felt, they still didn't really know each other.

But they had something to celebrate.

Even if she didn't know quite what it was.

"Time's got a funny way of moving faster when you an' I are together, Elora."

His comment brought her head swiveling back to his face, the smile still dancing across it.

"That's funny. Last time we were together, time seemed to stop." Elora's smile faded into a smaller grin as she moved closer again, moving just enough out of the water to keep her chest covered as she looked down at him. "Or maybe that was just me."

This was more than flirting now; this was dangerously close to Elora revealing what she actually felt.

And - to her sudden surprise - she didn't fear him knowing anymore.

Curse him.

[Moo]

When she turned away, N’kio closed his eyes against the sun and imagined the scene they were making from the shoreline. Their clothes lay crumpled and abandoned in the hot sands, the wind tossing their hair and stirring up small eddies in the blue waters. And then there was Elora, not so far from his side, her hair flowing around her sleek, slim body. The sight of her set a combination of excitement and nerves coursing through his veins, similar to the feeling of casting off into open waters.

She was uncharted, a new sea, an utter mystery to him.

Her voice was closer now.

N’kio opened his eyes and looked up. She was smiling – a small smile – but the sight of that smile warmed him up like no fire ever could. He couldn’t get enough of it.

Now she was speaking again, and though his head was tilted back in the water, and all sounds but the loud drum of his heart were muffled in the swirling waves, he could still make out what she had said.

She said time had seemed to stop when they were together.

Her body was closer still.

The blood pounded in his ears as he recognized the weighty import of the situation. So…this could finally be it. Without much effort, he switched position and moved from floating on his back to standing upright. He stepped closer until their bodies nearly touched, his hands at his side, beads of water streaking down his bare torso.

“Or maybe that was just me.”

Were she anyone else, any other woman, he was sure he would have pulled her to him, onlookers or not. But she was not just anyone, and he wanted her to determine what would happen next.

His heart beat all the harder in betrayal of that logic as he looked down at Elora.

“Should we put it to the test?”

[Nicole]

He was a hair away from her, close enough that if Elora took a deep enough inhale, the skin would touch. Considering the rapid beating of the heart in her chest, she was surprised she wasn't gasping for breath.

No, she knew how she looked at a glance; calm, smirky, seductive in just her skin and the water. It was how she liked looking, how she liked to hold herself.

It was her eyes that were giving her true feelings away; they gleamed with excitement and danger and feeling. So much feeling. Curse him.

"Shall we put it to the test?"

She tilted her head up slightly to meet his gaze, moving her shoulders back to stand up straighter. "I hear Metanath doesn't like rule breaking."

The smile that had been winding across her face burst into a grin and a giggle as she looked at the red-headed sailor in front of her.

She had given up everything to come to the Weyr. It had been a go big or go home moment.

Elora very much liked to live by those.

"So I suppose it's a good thing I'm not his Rider."

And before Saphireth could wake up enough to convince her otherwise, and before the Weyr-related part of her brain kicked in and reminded her about the rules, she moved that last hair forward. She kept them like that for a moment, the center of their own little wavepool, her chest pressed against his, the water rippling out around them in circles.

She kissed him with a smile.

[Moo]

When she crossed that final boundary and pressed against him, when her lips touched his, he stared for a moment, shocked into submission by the fact that they were, at last, actually kissing. His next impulse was to laugh – more of a defense mechanism than anything – this was real, right? He could hardly believe his eyes.

So he closed them.

And then there was no thinking, only reaction.

N’kio held her close as he bent his head and returned her kiss with his eager one, his lips overlapping hers. He hadn’t realized how much he had wanted this until now. Imagining only got a person so far, but this…this was so much better. So much more.

His hands began down by the slight swell of her hips, his palms running slowly over and up the smooth expanse of her back, his calloused fingers mapping out the dips and curves of all he could touch. He trailed them lightly over her sides to her waist, along her abdomen, up her taut, flat stomach to her shoulders…

Tracing his tongue over her bottom lip, he shifted where he stood and tried to ignore the ever-growing tightness in his pants. He had half a mind to know he should feel a bit embarrassed – he knew from experience that water could only hide so much.

Metanath easily found his way into his Rider’s mind, now that any guard he had placed up dissipated with the kiss. I let you alone for no more than half a day and this is what you get up to?! Oh, just you wait until you get back here, Nikio Marre!

N’kio could almost hear the angry bugle from his Black -- he had used his full name, after all -- but oh, he didn’t care.

He broke the kiss for a moment, to both breathe and find his bearings. Were they still alone on the beach? He opened his eyes and smiled at her.

“You remind me of the ocean.”

[Nicole]

Time had most certainly stopped.

Or if it hadn't stopped, it has slowed down to the point where Elora didn't notice it's passing. All she noticed where the rough touch of his hands gliding across her skin under the water, the pressure of him against her, the way his eyes fluttered shut as they both succumbed to the moment.

This was what she had wanted, and now she knew why.

This was right.

She couldn't place why it felt so absolutely perfect, and it wasn't just because of the physical touches; it was how they fit together, moved with the water swirling around them, how they responded to the other without ever having to ask what the other wanted.

The flicker of his tongue against her lips made her core heat up and her brain dance towards the idea of much more than a kiss.

But then he broke away and her eyes shot open again, immediately skimming his face for a reaction. The smile on his face brought the smile back to hers.

"You remind me of the ocean."

A compliment? That's what she thought it probably was, but the confusion quickly spread over her face as she arched an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side.

"I don't know what that means."

She kept her arms wrapped around his waist.

[Moo]

The feeling of her arms around his waist was one he could definitely get used to. N’kio tilted his head like she did and listened, his smile never lessening.

“I keep forgettin’ you’re not around Cliffside as much. It’s a saying there -- or more of an exclamation, mostly used by the sailors. It’s reserved for personal moments, and it's a way to...Well, sort of explain a situation when we’re faced with something that we know is dangerous, and could come at a high cost, and yet we can’t help but chase after it.”

It was a bit more difficult than he thought to explain the depth of the saying – something that was so innate to him – in an easier way of understanding. N’kio shrugged, his fingers tracing light, circular patterns over her shoulder blades.

“The sea’s in our blood, lass. We say something reminds us of the ocean because it’s the one thing we both fear and love." His eyes glimmered as he spoke. "The sea is as mysterious and beautiful as she is cruel. There's always a risk of dyin' out at sea, but we sail because we crave it like nothing else.”

He removed a hand from her to scratch at the side of his beard and tilted his head back to normal. “Does that make any sort of sense?”

All he knew was that enough time had passed between their first kiss, his pause for a breath, and what he hoped would be a second kiss.

And possibly more.