Like a flower waiting to bloom.
The arrival of once strangers had shaken Ischia up. She hadn’t spoken to all of them yet, but both Circinae and Krone had approached her. At first she had wanted to hide from them, to just ignore their presence, but the more time passed by, the weirder that became. By now Kylin understood they weren’t going to leave.

They wouldn’t make her leave either, and secretly, she liked it that she no longer was the only one there. The disappearance of her family had left her quite lonely.

Luckily she had one rock in the wild sea that was her life. His call isn’t entirely unexpected, after all, Ivar had promised her to come to visit and he had never broken a promise made to her. As her eyes search his black and white scaled form, her answer is already carried towards him by the wind.

Kylin doesn’t waste time and spends no effort as she hurries herself towards the sea. ”Ivar!” she greets him as a wide smile tugs at the corners of her lips. It’s impossible for her to express how happy she is to see a familiar face. ”You came.” She steps forward, invading his personal space without really realising it, and her muzzle is pressed against his neck. Oh, she liked the smell of the salt laced with his. ”You finally smell like the sea again” she teases him when she pulls back, her hazel eyes searching his. Kylin keeps her fins at her side, like one would fold his or her wings. It is not on her mind that he hadn't seen the new addition yet, as the fins were are very much a part of her.

”How are you?” There are so many things she wants to ask. How Loess is, if he settled in as new king, and how he deals with all responsibilities of the title. She combines it in one simple, short question. Kylin tilts her slightly dished head a little to the side, with Ivar in the center of the attention.

Like a flower waiting to bloom.
It is like every time she sees him, he is getting more and more handsome. For now Kylin blames it on the sun, who’s rays brighten him up and almost cast a kind of halo or aura around him. And once again she has to remind herself that they are just friends, nothing more. Though that doesn’t show in the way she presses herself closer against his scaled form as they embrace.

Her eyes fall closed as she draws in one last deep breath, just to smell him. Oh yes, the salt really smelled good on him. Kylin finds herself humming softly as he starts to reply, but his surprised ‘oh’ has her looking up. As her head tilts a little her fins move slightly, like one would naturally ruffle his wings. ”What are what..?” she asks, then bending her neck as he steps away so she can look to what he was referring to. ”Oh.” Her fins.

His intense stare over flusters her a little. For a moment – to allow Ivar to closely observe – she spreads her fins, only to pull them flush against her side again a little while later. Transparent and matching there are light lavender lines and spots. But before she can look back to him, he asks if they are wings, and Kylin cannot help it but to laugh softly as she shakes her head. ”No, not wings. Fins, for swimming only” she tells him with a slight grin.

Perhaps now they could go and swim in the sea together. Last time Ivar had visited Ischia he had learned her how to swim, and although she’s sure that he still is a better swimmer, now she finally dared to hope that she maybe, just maybe, could keep up. ”And? What do you think of them?” she asks, a mix between a smile and grin upon her lips. Though soon it falters, suddenly very aware of his eyes upon her form. Maybe he didn’t like the new addition she had gained somewhere after she had returned from her visit to Loess.

Like a flower waiting to bloom.
She occasionally still does think of her brother, but no longer in the way she used to. Kharon was gone, just like everybody else in their family. He is only a ghost of the past, and although she misses him, he is now in the past. And becoming an adult had changed her too.

One of the few things that hadn’t changed in her life was Ivar’s presence. Perhaps they didn’t met each other as often as she would like, he was still there. And Kylin still enjoyed his company. Though right now she’s looking at the scaled piebald, a mix of hesitance, hope and fear in her eyes as she awaits his reaction.

And when he does, addressing her by her name, her heart skips a beat. Her eyes are focussed on Ivar only. When her lips curl up into a flustered and warm smile, her eyes lit up, not failing to convey the very same emotion. Her cheek tingles, and the praise has her casting her gaze down for a short moment. The word ‘really?’ lies on her lips, but Kylin manages to keep them sealed. She doesn’t know what to say or do. Nobody but Kharon had never before told her she’s beautiful – even though Ivar only refers to a part of her, it still very much affects her.

He doesn’t fail to break through it. Her smile becomes less flustered and more enthusiastic, how could it not? Kylin would never pass up an invitation to swim, especially not coming from her swim instructor. ”I’d love to!” she tells him, following him as he turns towards the sea. Falling in step with him, her nose at his shoulder, she turns to bump her muzzle against him. ”Sure you are up for it? Not afraid you’re completely out of shape?” After all, Loess didn’t have water like Ischia had.

For a moment her eyes meet his, the grins till tugging at the corners of her lips, and then she’s off. The sand on this part of the beach is heavy, making her gallop slower than what it could’ve been, but once she reaches wet and sturdier sand, Kylin speeds up. The next resistance is formed by the water, but she doesn’t once hesitate, nor glance across her shoulder. She knows Ivar is on her heels.

An electric bolt runs down her spine, as always when she dives into the water. Waves wash over her white and lavender coat. It’s like coming home. Her fins spread themselves, trembling slightly when meeting the resistance of the water. Then they move, pushing her body forward as her legs work in an attempt to keep up and move with them. Water splashes up, wetting her head, but it doesn’t bother her, as long as the salt didn’t get in her eyes.

Like a flower waiting to bloom.
She reaches the water before he does, but she is very aware that Ivar is hot on her heels. Right now she doesn’t think of what would and what would not please him. She doesn’t worry about what he will think, not when Kylin is trying to beat him at his own game. After all, Ivar had been the one who had learned her how to swim.

Though Kylin had been in and around water a lot, she hadn’t been swimming a lot. Her fins move the water around in a much more effective way than her legs ever could, and although she is faster than an equine should be in the water, Ivar races past her. No way that she would let that happen! Using all the strength her muscles can gather she pushes herself forward, on instinct her legs fold under her belly and her body rises above the water, gliding across the surface until gravity wins over speed.

Sadly it’s not enough to for her to catch up. When he reaches the beach Kylin is still up sea. Unable to reach the sea floor yet, she forces herself up. Each step is a little higher, and by the time she reaches the shore the lavender and white woman is walking on top of the water. Like Ivar she’s panting, her whole body screaming for oxygen after the use of energy. ”Impossible” she teases him with a grin, though she shakes her head as if she truly believes that. ”There is no way you could’ve won without cheating.”

Not being able to breath underwater she was forced to keep her head above the surface, and even if she would hold her breath and dive, her eyes would squint because of the salty water. There was no way Kylin could’ve noticed his fish tail, she’d only been allowed a glimpse of it when he had raced past her. But even if that was cheating, her own fins would probably fit in the same category.

Like a flower waiting to bloom.
Off course she follows him towards the shade. It is as much part of her nature as her gentle soul, and Kylin doesn’t second guess it. He is her friend and right now he is also the only one she’s trusts blindly. ”Cheating” she repeats with a teasing smile as she settles herself in the shade next to him. Her left hindleg is coaxed up in a resting pose and her neck bends in favour of touching her fin. When wet, they reflect the sunlight.

When her gaze moves back to Ivar her lips part to speak, to ask him if he perhaps went to a change like herself and hadn’t told her about it yet, but she is caught off guard by what she sees. Her parted lips find one another again as her hazel eyes are fixated on Ivar’s hindlegs, or, scratch that, fish tail.

Without realising it the lavender and white girl moves closer, her nose dipping closer to the sand as she extends her neck to reach out. Kylin doesn’t think of minding personal space, like they still are the children they once were. Her muzzle touches sleek scales, smooth and slippery to her touch. Slowly her gaze moves up, to meet his, and for a couple of moments she just stares at Ivar. Then her lips curl up, teasing. ”So you did cheat.”

It is not her own teasing that makes her laugh softly. The look upon her features is a cross between amusement and curiosity. ”Your mother is a dolphin?” Kylin could only imagine what it would be like to be free in the water like a dolphin. Not bound by depth, or the need of air, one with the sea. Ivar was, or could be, but Kylin would never be free like that. ”Did you get your tail from her? I wish I could’ve seen you swimming…” Or join him like that for that matter.