[Sunset Falls] Respite (Lillis + Cerus)

[Lillis]

21st day of Spring, 510AV

She'd heard the roar of the falls long before she saw them; she'd caught the scent of freshwater on the air even before she'd heard the sound.

A smile began to grow on her full cerise lips as she grew nearer to Sunset Falls, the luminescent glow of mid-afternoon turning the water bright yellow. Sliding down from her mount, she tugged her gown over her head and folded it neatly, allowing the sun to beat down on her shoulders. She considered for a moment removing her slip and linen pants as well, but settled on kicking off her shoes as she set about hobbling her Gildling where he could sip form a small pool of fresh water.

This was her day off. In fact, this was her third day off in a row. The fortune telling business had not exactly been paying off -- though she refused to accept that it could be because she was a lousy fortune teller. Despite the fact that she had the gift of true divination, and despite the fact that she had been cultivating the art of auristics, she refused to touch her clients, refused to see into them in ways she knew she was capable. She would rather swindle them out of their coins with cards or careless palm readings -- there were just certain things she did not want to know about strangers.

But this was her day off. She and Quix had spent the better part of the early morning en route to the falls, and now that she had arrived, she intended to do nothing more but lay like a lizard on a rock, soaking up the sun of a warm, spring afternoon and feeling the gentle spray of the falls nearby. Spreading out her woolen blanket, Lillis reclined, a pool of flaxen curls forming beside her head as her eyes came to a close. She inhaled deeply, and felt her muscles relax...

[Cerus]

Sometimes it was necessary to drift like the northern snow. His mother always had a saying for every occurrence, and now he found himself recalling her voice every time he came upon a situation she could say something in. It was comforting in a way to Cerus, to remember Avanthal and his start to the world. He often found himself thinking of the melting snow up north recently. It didn't make him home sick exactly, more stirred his wanderlust.

As such he found himself at the falls with no real plan to come there. He had ridden half through the night when a fit of insomnia took him and he'd seemingly blinked and found himself standing with reigns in his hand on a large stone near the bottom of the falls. He remembered the trip in bits and pieces, but mostly the thoughts that he'd bounced to and from pervaded his memory in place of trees or rocks he'd passed.

It was then that his stomach reminded him he'd skipped breakfast and now lunch by rumbling loudly. Running his and down the length of his mount he stopped to rummage through the saddle bag for a half crust of bread. It was a small miracle that he'd remembered to pack that, and he smiled to himself as he walked a few paces away from Roxx. He was in mid bite when he noticed he had company.

"Hello." He said when he'd swallowed the bite.

[Lillis]

She'd been aware of him by sound alone, but thought that if she remained very, very still, she would remain unnoticed. And so, with the exception of one stolen glance from behind a forest of dark lashes, she kept her eyes clothes and breathed as quietly as possible, willing him not to see her.

Of course, her over-enthusiastic Gildling began to snort and shake his head at the approach of another horse, as though asking, Do you want to run together? We could run long distances together!

But when he said "Hello", she inwardly cringed. It was nothing personal, of course. Though she was inwardly cringing, she was outwardly smiling a sweet, small smile as she opened one large, gray eye to peer up at him.

"And hello to you," she said, rising onto her elbows. She paused a moment to see if he would say anything further, and when he did not, she offered a simple, "Lovely weather we're having for this time of year," and reclined once more.

[Cerus]

Roxx whinnied once and looked at the horse and then it's rider before putting his head down to nibble at a tuft of grass. The horse, much like it's owner, were indifferent to most people or horses unless there was something else in the interaction.

Though Cerus was feeling much more social than Roxx at the moment, being as he casually strolled over and took a seat on his rock.

“It is indeed.” He had grown to love the warmth over the years, enjoying the sun not only on his face. With a small smile he looked her up and down in the friendliest manner he knew how to, which was to say she was weighed and measured in an instant.

He looked back to the water, back into his thoughts. And back to the shadow of a memory that he couldn't catch. It was no wonder his eyes were near black, with only the slightest of red around the pupil.

[Lillis]

Lillis made a point of looking him up and down in a manner most exaggerated as soon as she caught him eying her. That done, she grinned rather good-naturedly and rose to her feet, padding silently along the rock until she came to her folded gown. She did not relish being looked at; thus, she tugged the dress over her head and smoothed it out over her lithe form.

"Have you been to the hot springs?" She asked, simply by way of casual conversation. "Those are nice, too. Very... mm... warm." She slid her feet back into her shoes and canted her head gently to the side as she regarded him. "Also quieter." A gentle pause, two dimples framing her lovely smile. "I mean, the water -- the water is... loud here. Not bad loud, just... loud, loud."

[Cerus]

Watching her out of the corner of his eye he took another bite and chewed thoughtfully.

“Mm. I have been there. The water is nice on the muscles. But cool is sometimes nice too. Especially when the weather gets unbearably hot.” Which it often did in his opinion, then again he was used to temperatures going in the other direction. Years away from it hadn't changed that. The chill had seeped to his bones before he was born.

“The waterfall is loud.” He agreed as he finished the last bite of his bread. “I didn't mean to interrupt whatever it is you were doing. If you wish to be alone no one is going to force you to speak with me.”

Dusting his hands he stood up from the rock and turned to glance at Roxx. Animal and man regarded each other for a second, and then the horse slowly decided to walk over as if there'd been a conversation. When Roxx reached him he opened the saddle bag to reach inside.

"Orange?" He asked while pulling one out.

[Lillis]

She was just about to confirm that she had, in fact, been interrupted and bid him good day, when he produced an orange from his saddle bag. She beamed brightly and approached him: "Yes, please," she said, and accepted the orange by gingerly plucking it from his hand.

She moved a few paces away and sat down, curling her legs underneath her and began to peel the orange. "Thank you," she said at length, casting a glance up at him before returning her attention to her orange. After a length of silence, she finally blurted: "I'm Lillis."

[Cerus]

He watched her with a half smile when she plucked the orange from his hand and he couldn't help but half chuckle. He had meant to share the orange with her, but he supposed that karma would dictate that sometime in the future he would get an orange himself. Or at least a drink. He would accept that as repayment.

An apple was produced from the saddle bag, and then another. One was fed to his horse and he carefully offered hers the other. He would not be losing a finger today trying to be nice. Not that he could really figure out why he was being so nice and friendly. Perhaps it was the beautiful scenery that made him feel at ease.

“I'm Cerus. It is very nice to make your acquaintance Lillis.” With an empty saddle bag, he resigned himself to settling back to sitting on the rock he'd previously been on. He turned half around to keep her in sight as she peeled the orange.

[Lillis]

She peeled the orange in thick, spiraled bits and laid the rinds to rest in her lap. In her enthusiasm, it honestly had not occurred to her that he'd meant to share, so she began to eat slices of it bit by bit, savoring the taste of sweet citrus.

She had easily gone through half the orange when she saw him feed her Gildling the second apple she'd assumed he had procured for himself. A delicate blush rose into her cheeks as she stood, brushing the rinds away, and held out her hand by way of offering him what remained of the orange. "Sorry," she muttered.

[Cerus]

“No. You look as if you're enjoying it more than I would. Please, finish it.” He turned his face up to the sun and shut his eyes against the light.

“Besides, if I were really hungry I would just procure something from the river.” He said it as if it would be just that easy. Like he was going to walk down there and pluck a salmon from the river. Maybe he could, but it didn't seem if he wanted to get up in any event.

“You could save the seeds though. I'm sure that someone enterprising enough could sell them.”