"You sure did," Jack said, shaking his head in amusement. "Believe me, it was strange for me too." * * * Ellia still had her spyglass trained on the creatures. "They're amazing," she said, focusing the lens even further. She took a moment, and then offered it to Jared. "Want to take a look?"
Jared curiously took the spyglass and took a look at the Dobhar-chus. He looked at them with a furrowed brow. "I... don't see what you see from them. They're just creatures..."
Cobiah plucked a rifle from the barrel, and carefully examined it. "I don't know too much about firearms, but will these really be enough to take out the cre-" He noticed the explosives warning on it. "Oh, never mind then. I'm liking where this is going, in fact." He said, with a small smile curling around his lips.
"Look at the way they follow each other so keenly," Ellia said, using the other spyglass to peer at the animals. "And look how they close their eyes when they go below the water, but they're open when they resurface. So much information could come from studying them." *** Natalia nodded. "I thought you'd see it my way," she responded. "Hurry to the deck." She ran back up the stairs, and disappeared. *** "Perhaps that would be preferable," Jack said, grinning. "It was fairly unnerving, although not totally surprising."
Avice brushed her hair back, laughing. Her laugh was silvery and quiet, and her nose crinkled when she did so. "I would think so. I guess licking someone would be a good defense."
He cocked his head for a moment, lost in thought as he watched her laugh, but he quickly realized that he was staring, and shook his head, embarrassed. He stood up, and dusted his hands on his trousers. "Well, I should probably head back to the deck," he said.
"Oh. Alright." Avice shook her head in understanding, but she seemed slightly disappointed. "I'll see you later, then."
He nodded, started to walk away, paused, and then turned back to her, his actions sudden and jerky. "I.." he began, and his blue eyes searched her face for a moment as he tried to find the right words to say. His eyes were reminiscent of the sky right before daybreak, and he seemed to contain that apprehension, that tension. Any minute now, and everything would change. He exhaled and shook his head. "I was right." "I was right, earlier, when I said that we have to worry because anything can happen at any time. Because, right now, our crew is going into the most dangerous, and unprecedented expedition in history, and either of us could die tomorrow, and that would be the end of it. " He laughed nervously, pinching the bridge of his nose as he spoke. "I was right about that." He paused and took a moment to take another deep breath to steady himself, or to gather his courage. He considered the ground in front of him, opened his mouth to speak, and then looked up at her and shrugged helplessly. "I adore you." He pressed on, his hand on his temple as he spoke. "I just... I need you to know that. Because I was right, and everything can change in a second, and if something were to happen, I'd have wished I told you." He exhaled, and shook his head, turned away from her, and began to walk away. (This confession is brought to you by Eluuna's IRL parents! This is actually very similar to how my father confessed that he loved my mother! [except she had just broken up with her fiance days before, and they had absolutely no romantic interactions before that moment, and they weren't on a ship but you know. kinda close.] Also, just a quick reminder, they have been partners for several weeks now. That time skip covered quite a lot of time.)
Avice was a silent, her mouth drawn in a line. She considered for a moment, and spoke up. "Wait." Her words were simple, and she put her feet on the ground, standing up shakily. Her head ached from the sudden movement, and she placed a hand on her head before continuing. She walked towards him and, despite previous events which had occurred in her past, she hugged him. She was very awkward about it at first, but relaxed eventually. "Thank you for telling me. When you go out there, please try to stay safe?" (Oh my goodness, that is so cute!)
He was frozen when she first hugged him, and there was a moment that felt like shock, but Avice would quickly feel him hug her back, his hand resting on the back of her head and the other crossing her back. If Avice paid attention, she would notice that he was shaking ever so slightly. "Yeah. Yeah, I will."
Avice reluctantly took a step back, her hand was still holding his arm. "You're shaking," she said, tilting her head. "Are you okay?"
He laughed weakly and shook his head. "I'm alright," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose with the hand that Avice wasn't holding captive. "That was terrifying, though."
"Well, I'm glad you told me," she said, letting go and sitting on the bed again. "God knows I wouldn't have said anything."
"Well," she said, "because I'm a weenie. That's why. I mean, I'm sure I would at one point, but it would a long time." She laughed nervously.
He seemed to relax and raised an eyebrow. "A weenie?" he asked. "I just confessed feelings to a weenie?" He shook his head in mock disappointment and gave her a wicked grin. "See, now we have a problem."
Avice rolled her eyes, smirking. "Fine then!" She turned around, crossing her arms. "I see how it is." She looked back at him and stuck out her tongue. "I guess weenies aren't good enough for you."
"But they'll probably try to kill us... I just don't... whatever..." Jared said, unable to figure out the reason behind Ellia's interest about the sea monsters.
