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 Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 3:36 pm
Pelagia lay in the surf. Her legs were tucked beneath her, her head held high to breathe clear of spray. Waves washed over her in steady intervals. As they did, sand slowly shifted around her. Her legs were almost half-submerged in it at this point. She wasn't worried for that. It wouldn't be long until her mass settled onto the layer of more solid sand. She wasn't in danger of getting stuck.
She watched the water softly. It looked so calm to her, a marvel. She knew that life underneath the water was never calm. Life moved at an almost frantic pace under the water. Lives were gained and lost every day. The fish and other creatures of the sea were always so frantic that they seemed to know that their existence was temporary. There were few things that would attempt to seriously harm a soquili under the water. Pelagia wondered if she would be frantic too if that wasn't the case.
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Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 3:41 pm
Barinthus swam. The sea floor was rocky here, though he knew there was sand lurking beneath the rocks and up on shore. All sorts of creatures lived in and on those rocks. He could see hosts of brittle stars, crabs, snails, even an enterprising octopus, a rare sight during the day. The octopus was wrapped tightly around a clam, slowly prying it open. That clam wouldn't live out the day, he knew.
He was on his way to see a dear friend of his, Pelagia. They'd first met at the scene of a foundering ship. Since then, they'd managed a calmer correspondence. He enjoyed spending time with her but didn't get to do as much of it as he would have liked. Today he hoped to change that.
He snorted out a chest full of stale air as he reached the surface. It was too shallow here to continue completely underwater. He could see her there, waiting on the shore.
"Pelagia!" He called out a greeting, smiling broadly as he splashed through the shallows and lay himself down next to her.
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Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 3:44 pm
"Hello!" Pelagia smiled at him warmly. "I hope your trip over was uneventful?" Once he had been harassed by a pod of dolphins that thought he'd been poaching their fish. It might have been funny, given Barinthus' status, if they hadn't left him with so many rostrum-shaped bruises after. He seemed in good spirits now and she assumed he'd been unbothered, but it never hurt to check.
As she looked at him, she realized that his colors were even more dazzling than usual today. The rich fiery colors and the blues complemented each other stunningly. It almost was enough to take her breath away.
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Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 3:47 pm
"Nothing to report about the trip," he said with a chuckle. He too remembered those dolphins. Young male dolphins in a group rarely had pleasant outcomes. Unspirited dolphins kicked the males out when they reached a certain age. After his encounter, he understood why.
"And how have you been?" he asked. She had been sitting there in the waves so long that droplets from the spray clung to her. The way they hung on her winglets, it made them sparkle like gold. It was one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen.
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Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2016 5:52 pm
"I've been fine." She smiled wryly, then amended her statement. "Well, in general. I pulled a young boy back to shore yesterday. He was out swimming when he got caught in a riptide." She shook her head in exasperation. "I don't know what possessed him and his friends to go swimming along that beach. It's all rocks, Bari. It's hard enough on hooves that I can't imagine what it would feel like on their bare human feet."
The humans that lived in the area rarely swam in her strand of beach. They preferred to go east where it was sandy and calmer. She suspected that the human boys had been swimming somewhere unusual as a challenge to themselves, as young males of any species often did.
"He was fine and so were his friends, but he was so scared." She sighed with sympathy. "I hope he learned his lesson and grows to be more careful, but it pains me to see them so frightened."
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Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2016 5:56 pm
"I doubt they'll try it again," said Barinthus, echoing her thoughts unknowingly. He was distracted now, mind checking over what he had prepared to say. He had planned on bringing it up after they had settled into a discussion, but now realized that sooner might be better. He didn't want to have to interrupt once they had gotten deep into another topic. He took a breath. Yes, now was a good enough time as any.
"Pelagia," he started, looking her straight in the eyes with a firm gaze. "I know we talked about it before as an option, but I'd like to bring it up more seriously. Would you come to live with my herd instead? You know we would be glad to have you..." We. By we, he meant a very specific person, himself. He was the one who wanted her company. He was the one who wanted more of her to himself.
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Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2016 5:59 pm
Pelagia's eyes slipped away. She found that she could no longer hold his gaze, not when he was so earnest, and she was in such turmoil. "I..." Pain blossomed in her. She'd deliberately tried not to think too hard about this option before. She'd known that he would ask someday for an answer and yet had been cowardly hoping that time would never come. She wanted to move away with him to his herd of dignified culture, but she couldn't. She swallowed. She could sense his demeanor changing even without looking at him directly. He knew her answer without her saying a word.
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Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2016 6:02 pm
Barinthus breathed out heavily. It stung to see the rejection her face, even if he had been expecting as much. It was affecting him more than he thought he would, and he hated the way he couldn't keep himself from snapping in response to her telling silence.
"Why, Pel? You can't stay here forever. The humans that crash their ships on the rocks... it isn't your fault and it isn't your problem. You're torturing yourself, and I won't let you keep doing it!" That was the wrong thing to say, it was controlling. He forced himself to pull back, to refigure his tone.
"I'm worried about you, staying all alone out here where it's so dangerous. If something happened to you, there would be no one there to help. No one would ever know if you were hurt, or worse..."
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