She sells seashells by the sea shore // Any

[Aquaria]

Her smile is sweet and absolutely no promise against drowning. Not that she'd ever do so intentionally, but it would be all to easy with their different natures. Water and air is what they were. Vivid embodiments of their own elements, unable to survive where the other felt most at home. But if he wanted to see her home, well, perhaps some creative thinking would allow it. 

Her disappointment at his not knowning her friend was quickly forgotten, as the winged boy smiled at her again. It would be impossible to stay disappointed with such a smile for long. "Behave yourself, and you'll have nothing to worry about. Or don't, and see what happens." She teased, a dare in her eyes. Her party tricks had all been harmless thus far, but he'd be a fool if he thought the pretty sea mare wasn't capable of much greater things when she called on the water. Beauty and danger could be found in equal measure when one looked at the ocean and her daughters. 

"It sounds lovely. You would like the view below, I think. It's a riot of colors, and the landscape always changes. There's more kinds of creatures in the sea than you'd imagine. I'd love to show you, someday." Her voice turned wistful at the description, but brightened at the thought of sharing her secret world with someone. She wasn't sure how it could be done just yet, but committed herself to figuring out a way by the time she ran into Pteron again. 

His last comment found her blushing, uncertain if he was referring to their surroundings or herself. She took a chance, and nudged the solid plane of his neck gently with her forehead. "You're a terrible flirt, you know this?" She asked gravely, a wry smile on her lips. "I like it." It was a brief, but entirely truthful admission, even if she couldn't quite make eye contact after saying it. 

@[Pteron]

[Pteron]

Aquaria tells him to behave himself, and Pteron shakes his head playfully. He takes her warning lightly, for his infatuation and reckless courage combine into something quite like foolishness.

“I can’t promise anything,” he tells her with a smile, but says nothing further as she begins to describe her underwater world. The dun stallion tries to picture it in his mind as she does, and he recalls the odd underwater song of the illusion that Aegean had woven for them high in the mountains. Do they have those creatures here, he wonders? Without knowing what they are called he is reluctant to ask. He’d have to mimic the sound to give her any hints, and the idea is rather embarrassing. So instead he nods with gusto at her wish to someday show him.

“Someday,” he repeats. He does not know how, but he has seen a great many wonderous things in Beqanna in his short life. Surely breathing underwater for a bit is not out of the realm of possibility.

When she blushes at his words, Pteron feels an electric thrill, a flush of satisfaction that rises as she comes closer. Her forehead is cool against his dry shoulder, and though he considers tugging at her finlike mane the way he might curls, he is uncertain how delicate the glistening thing is, and instead just rests his muzzle briefly in the soft place where her head meets her neck.

“Good,” he replies, reaching out to bump up her jaw so she might meet his gaze. “I hope that means you’ll be excited to see me when I come back.”

He does mean to leave, that much is clear from both his words and the way he pulls away, his wings shifting at his sides.

“I’m afraid I’ve got to get going,” he tells her, and there is genuine reluctance in his voice. “But I’d like to come back, and see more of your Ischia.”

@[Aquaria]