The celebration, if it could be called that, lasted about ten minutes.
This celebration was the specific type that occurs when three individuals, who have just endured a challenging experience, find themselves on solid ground in the open air, basking in the afternoon sun with no imdiate responsibilities demanding their attention; the release of that pressure manifested differently in each of them.
Talyra expressed it loudly, with both arms out and her face turned up to the sky. Aisella expressed it by running a second complete self-diagnostic with the thoroughness of soone who had not yet fully accepted that they were fine.
As the warmth enveloped them, the contrast between their previous struggles and the current tranquility beca palpable. anwhile, Talyra’s laughter echoed in the air, drawing Aisella’s attention and prompting her to pause her analysis, if only for a mont, to savor the joy of simply being alive.
Rex expressed it by standing still and watching both of them and thinking about what he had in his telekinetic carry and what it ant. As he contemplated the weight of his thoughts, Rex felt a surge of determination.
He knew that this mont could redefine their paths, and he was ready to embrace whatever ca next.
The gauntlets floated next to him, catching the light.
"Can’t you all believe that...?!" Talyra said, "We actually did it," and the way she said it was not the performance of achievent but the real kind, the kind that cos from facing sothing bigger than you thought it would be and coming out of it whole.
She turned to Rex with the energy of soone who had already made a choice and was already doing sothing about it.
Her eyes sparkled with determination as she continued, "We can keep moving forward, and nothing can hold us back now."
She was going to hug him. Rex could see it in the way her weight had shifted forward and her arms were already starting their outward movent.
But then...
Aisella gently grasped her wrist, halting her motion before she could embrace him.
It was not rigid, just a gentle grip to stop the motion before it was done. Talyra looked at her with the sa look she had when she was surprised by soone she hadn’t been watching.
"We’re covered in cave dust," Aisella said, and that was certainly true. "Are you really going to go through with that in this condition...?"
The fine gray-white mineral dust that had been falling around them since the cliff section ca down had gotten into their hair and clothes, and the way it settled on their skin when there was a lot of it.
"I thought you were going to ruin the mont, but you actually saved it for !" Talyra began to shrug off the dust, but there was a lot of it. "Urgh... where are we supposed to clean up...?"
Aisella continued, "There’s a waterfall in the interior." Her tone was characteristic of how she often spoke: as if she were revealing a valuable piece of information she had been saving for just the right mont.
"I discovered the source yesterday while I was cataloging the northern periter. The water is clean and cold, and it slls much better than we do right now."
Talyra looked at Aisella and then at herself.
"You’re an absolute genius, Aisella!" she said, as if she had no other ideas and had heard better ones before. "Let’s go and take a massive dip in the cold water after surviving a collapsing god’s retreat!"
"We’ll clean up and et back at camp," Aisella said.
Then she looked at Rex with a look that didn’t an anything and said, "We won’t be long."
"Take your ti enjoying that cold water; both of you deserve it," Rex said. "I’ll handle lunch so that when you get back, you can both enjoy it."
This was true and also not the complete version of his intentions for the next hour, but it was the version that was relevant to the two of them and was therefore the version he offered.
"You know, you can join us in the water—" Aisella nudged Talyra in the stomach with her elbow to snap her back to reality. "Gugh!"
"Don’t you want to, Aisella?!" Talyra exclaid while clutching her stomach. "We could just wear our underwear!"
"NO!" Aisella said, turning her gaze away. "It’s better if it’s just the two of us!"
"Heh... no fun. Sorry, Rexy, maybe next ti," Talyra giggled while Rex stared at her with a blank expression.
"I didn’t plan to take a shower right now anyway..."
Talyra pointed at him with the energy she had for things she was going to do. "Well, make sure you don’t let the fish cook too long."
"I don’t like my fish overcooked."
"Don’t worry." Rex said, "I won’t."
Thereafter, both of the girls walked away from the island’s edge, and Rex watched them go until the tree line closed behind them. Then he looked at the gauntlets floating next to him, and the afternoon changed into sothing else.
"Well... to be honest, I want to accept that offer to enjoy the cold water with them." Rex smirks while looking at the gauntlet. "Having sex under a waterfall might be a peak, not gonna lie..."
"But... I have my priorities right now, and I can’t miss it by a slight bit for my future plan to get more won."
...
The waterfall Aisella had found was about ten minutes into the island’s interior, following the sa geological fault line that connected the surface water sources to the cave system below.
It ca off a shelf of volcanic rock about four ters up and fell into a pool that was clear enough to see the bottom through and cold enough that Talyra made a very specific sound when she stepped into it, which was the sound of soone’s body encountering a temperature it had not been adequately prepared for.
Aisella entered with more composure, partly because she was an elf with a different baseline temperature tolerance and partly because she had seen the waterfall the day before and adjusted her expectations accordingly.
"Hahhhh... so good..." Aisella said while stretching both her arms straight. "Today was indeed a busy day..."
She took a mont to enjoy the cool mist that surrounded her, which made her feel better. She felt at peace as she looked around at the bright green plants around her. They reminded her that even in the middle of chaos, there were still beautiful monts to rember.
They sat on the flat rock at the pool’s edge afterward, with their feet in the water, and the specific quality of that kind of afternoon settled around them. The dust was gone and the sun was coming through the tree canopy at an angle that made everything it touched look like it was worth looking at.
Talyra stared at her feet in the water for a while, a practice she used to prepare herself for discussing thoughts that had been on her mind. She could feel the gentle current around her ankles, which was like the thoughts that ca and went in her mind.
Finally, taking a deep breath, she turned to her friend, ready to share the weight of her reflections.
"Hey, Aisella."
"What...?" Aisella answered with a low tone because she could predict what Talyra was going to say.
"So... uh... about Rex," she said.
Talyra paused for a mont to find the right words. "I think it’s ti we talked about how he really makes us feel," she said, looking straight ahead but with a hint of doubt.
Aisella didn’t say anything as she looked at the waterfall.
"What about him...?"
"I an—" Talyra said, but then she stopped just to look away, which was strange because Talyra didn’t usually stop herself when she talked about sothing.
Her hesitation caught Aisella off guard, as if she were grappling with thoughts too complex to share. The silence that followed was palpable; Aisella was waiting for her to find the words that seed to elude her.
"Uh..." She turned back to Aisella. "You probably know what I’m going to say, right?"
"Maybe," Aisella said. "I have been able to read you easily since the first ti I t you."
Talyra added. "And you can’t stop ."
"Maybe..." Aisella said, "but I’m still deciding whether I should hear it or not," which was the truth.
Talyra turned around and looked at her feet in the water. The gentle lapping of the waves against her ankles seed to echo the uncertainty in her heart.
With a deep breath, she finally spoke, her voice barely above a whisper, "I just need to know if you see a future for us."
For the first ti, Aisella appeared confused by what Talyra had just said. "A future for us...?"
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