The word sure has barely left Clayton’s mouth before Adria beams up at him, smiling. Even covered in thick fur from a winter spent underwater she still looks soft and feminine, a bright gold sheen to her now-dry hair that gives her the false appearance of a healthy looking horse. Unlike Clayton, whose gaunt shadows and somewhat dull coat imply he might be sick, Adria shows no signs of the terror multiplying just below the surface. She carries the disease that torments so many, but as she slowly and playfully eases backwards towards the water again that fact doesn’t bother her as much as it once did.
She couldn’t hurt Clayton anymore than he was already hurt. Not like she’d done to Jinn, anyways.
She kept both eyes trained on the bloody bay stallion, stopping when one of her hind hooves finally dipped into the lake. The Nereid feared that if she took her eyes off him for one second, Clayton might think twice about what she was going to do. “Come; stand next to me.” She cooed hypnotically, excitement thrumming in her veins. She could feel her powers spring to life, practically buzzing across her skin, and the water near her heels began to bubble merrily in response. “I liked the way we kept each other warm, chè zanmi.”
She had liked it. The rich color of his fur seen up close, how Clayton’s scent was so much like the earth: spice and musk. “Will you… do it again? Tanpri?” Please?
Now the playful ease was gone, replaced by a shy sort of look as Adria pivoted around. She was nervous to ask for such a thing as physical comfort again; would he think she was always like that? “Cuddling” up to males, as she’d heard some other mares call it. Too hesitant to turn her head and look to see, the seamare focused on the water below her which had rolled back from the shore and away from where she stepped. With her grip over the element of water, she could bend the lake any way she pleased, and her intention was to build a dome above and around them so they could walk down into the lake bottom without ever getting wet.
Clayton, she assumed, couldn’t breath underwater. So she decided to see if she could make a bubble for him. Well, for them really.
Confidently (and with a determined look) she inhaled and began to shape the great, circular structure. It pulled up in a thin but sturdy sheet and began to arc overhead, like a wave in slow motion, but before it could stretch any further and touch the water again Adria held it in place, suspended and frozen. It could fit them both for now and the mental effort of using her gift was minor, not everlasting though. “What do you think, eh? Now you will see what I see. Lak la, or as you land-dwellers call it: ‘The Lake’.” She explained with a glance towards him, stepping past limp plants that had never touched air until now.
When he came close to join her, the water dome closed behind them and encapsulated the two horses perfectly. Together, Adria was leading them down a muddy, sandy slope and the waters of Hyaline’s great lake surrounded them, clear as glass. Fish swam close and the light filtering in from above grew dimmer. “It’s quiet down here, no?” She whispered to Clayton, looking around at the air bubble she’d created. Her voice echoed gently. “There are kristals growing from the dirt, somewhere close.” She told him, and then asked, “What’s happening in Silver Cove these days?” as they walked.
upon my journey i must go, to where the river flows
Adria
@[Clayton]