Red Amongst the Snow

OOC: Some background music

Tala was closing her eyes, just allowing the warmth to soothe her sore muscles. It had been awhile since she last soaked in a hot spring, and it was a welcome detour after fighting the Frost Eater. She had to smile at Hitomi being slightly embarrassed to relax, but was glad she was attempting to relax.

When was the last time Tala got to relax herself? Not just in the sense of resting, but actually be in the company of someone and just being idle? For a moment she thought of Aldmerrow, its lush hills, its soft pink hue at twilight, just sitting by a tree with a guitar in hand as the person next to her read a book on his lap...

It was so long ago, but the memory was still fresh. Even with the sadness it brought her, she couldn't bring herself to forget it that easily.

The sound of Hitomi making a small hum made Tala open her eyes again. Hitomi was looking at her and pointing to her chin.

Not one who knew about sign language, Tala took this to Hitomi gesturing with her chin. She wasn't really sure what Hitomi meant for a moment, but for some reason what came to mind for Tala was the only other thing that really happened between them and that was that awkward kiss. Tala's face flashed red.

"O-oh, my, you're right, I-I never did fully explain earlier!" she said. She let out a nervous chuckle and scratched her head. "I-I really was just trying to resuscitate you, though you're absolutely right I should've checked to see if you were conscious! Infactyoucouldsayitendtobetooimpulsiveformyowngood!"

She began to speak even more rapidly, bumbling along the way. Regardless, she clasped her hands again.

"A-anyways, I can understand if you're weirded out by it, just know I'm reallysorryandpleasedon'tberfreakedoutI'llneverdoanythinglikethatagain!"

...Oh.

Well that's not what she meant...

Hitomi felt that burning sensation on her face again. Was she coming down with something? Her heart was beating faster too now that that was brought up again. Was she....Was she embarrassed?

Despite her own problems, Hitomi couldn't help but let out a small laugh as Tala had a small freakout in front of her. Idly, she swam over and briefly stepped up out of the water. The cold immediately assaulted her upper body, but she had to write something quickly.

Taking the end of the brush with her mouth, she expertly scrawled something down on a notepad. She then bit down on the notepad itself and swam back over to Tala, holding it out for her. Once she took it, she'd swim back slightly and smile softly at Tala.

'Im sorry, I really should've written things down. I wanted to know more about you and to thank you for saving my life. I'll admit, I am quite envious of your skills.

Also I'm not weirded out at all. I would've assumed the same had I been in your position. Plus, your lips are quite soft. It wasn't a rude awakening per say.'

Tala had been expecting a number of responses, but HITOMI TEMPORARILY REACHING OUT OF THE TUB BARE CHESTED was not one of them. Again, Tala was often used to being naked around other women due to her background, but there was something a bit more embarrassing about being alone with one person doing the same. Tala instantly slapped her hand over her eyes, but a LITTLE too hard.

This...this girl might just be the death of me.

She stifled a groan of pain, and when she opened her eyes (her upper part of her face now red from the slap), Hitomi had brushed a note onto paper.

She read how Hitomi was trying to say thank you and praise her skills. And also how her lips were soft.

"Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...."

A small, sustained squeak came out of Tala's mouth in the form of an exhale just as she started to sink lower and lower into the water.

Yep. Just might kill me of embarrassment.

Whatever the case, Tala shook her head and tried to get a grip of her senses. She waved her hands dismissively.

"I-it's really nothing!" she said. "I was no better than you out there, and you're forgetting you saved me, too! I probably would have hit the icy water straight if you hadn't caught me!"

Tala subconsciously covered her mouth and touched her lips.

"A-and y-you have nice lips too," she said. She blushed but then shook her head again.

GET A GRIP, TALA!!!

"A-anyways..." she said as she sunk into the water bashfully. "I think I pretty much summed up myself earlier. I'm an old lady that's been hunting beasts for a living. I suppose this wasn't always my job. I used to be, well married. But that didn't work out so now I'm here."

Her brows furrowed at the word 'married', but it didn't last too long. She smiled at Hitomi.

"Plus my magic skills aren't really worth being envious about. I learned Cartic magic in my adulthood and my sources limit me from using it to its full potential," she said. "How about you? Have you always been in Eisleyn?"

Realizing that Hitomi was probably going to write another note, she prepared her hand to cover her eyes again.

Hitomi couldn't help but beam at Tala as she complimented her lips as well. She never thought of herself much as odd as it was. Hearing a compliment every now and then felt good, even if it made her heart skip a beat or two...That probably wasn't healthy right?

When she went on about her casting ability, Hitomi began to push herself out of the water again. It was too cold....She quickly wrote down more. 'What do you mean by limit? Also can you please hold my notebook when I need to write? It's really cold.' She swam over and showed her the paper, hoping she'd say yes.

If she did, he next writing would put her right in front of Tala. Tala would see a look over concentration take her features as she began to write out. Sometimes, she crane her neck to made a stroke on the paper. Other times, she'd loosen her grip with her teeth and use her tongue to move the brush. After about a minute she swam over and gingerly placed her brush down before moving back to Tala.

'Honestly, you saved my life, please don't diminish that. I didn't forget, but you still deserve praise for your heroics. Well thank you for the compliment. That actually would've been my first kiss. Who would've thought it would be a kiss of life hmm?

As for me, I was born in Sakigake actually. I'm a recent immigrant. Just trying to right wrongs.'

When Hitomi made her way over asking for Tala to hold the notebook, she flushed a bit.

"O-oh, sure," she said as she held the notepad.

She was quick of course to shift her gaze away, trying to not accidentally get a peep of Hitomi while she wrote. She did glance once though just because she was amazed at how well Hitomi could write with her mouth. Tala couldn't even keep food in her mouth at times when she was eating too fast, let alone have the precision Tala had gripping the brush and writing as she bobbed her head.

Once she was done though, Tala flipped the pad over to read it. The first way Tala reacted, was of course, turn red. Embarrassment as well as slight guilt came over her as Hitomi mentioned it being her first 'kiss', and she squeaked a bit.

"E-erm, well, it wasn't really a kiss, just me giving you air," she said smiling reassuringly. "I'm sure you'll have a real first kiss one day and i-it won't be because you're dying!"

She then read the lower part of the note. She supposed it made sense that she came from Sakigake as an immigrant. She wondered if the civil war had to do with what happened to Hitomi's limbs, but she decided not to ask. Instead, she asked about her last sentence.

"Right wrongs, you say? How so?"

At Tala's reaction, she would hear Hitomi's short laughs. While not much sound came out, she could see Hitomi's wide smile and the exhalation of breath. She didn't laugh in the traditional sense, but anyone looking would know she thought something was funny. There was a lighthearted humor in her eyes, something Tala had not seen up until now.

As Tala asked her questions, Hitomi would swim over once again and grab her brush. Again she gestured for Tala to hold the notepad and began to brush out another message. She hesitated at first, and Tala would see that small smile appear once again.

Once she was done, she left the brush off to the side and turned back towards Tala once again.

'Well, I wouldn't have minded anyway. I found it enjoyable.' Which was strange to Hitomi herself. She never thought much about such things. It seemed she had discovered something about herself today.

'There is a lot wrong with Esterelf. I know know much about politics, but I know suffering when I see it. People are being oppressed for just existing, corrupted beasts are roaming the countryside uninhibited, and there is an entire land falling away to stagnation due to a supposed mad princess. There's more problems I've seen, but I can't tackle them all at once. I'd like to deal with Esleyn's problems and then move on from there.

Also, you never answered my question before. What do you mean by limited? I haven't seen much magic, but you seem incredibly powerful to me.'

Tala relaxed slightly when Hitomi started laughing. It was refreshing to see her smiling, especially after how serious things had been earlier in the fight. Heck, it was refreshing to see it in Eisleyn in general. Everything here was always just SO depressing. Plus, Hitomi looked too cute when she smiled. If they weren't in the awkward position of being naked in a hot spring post-cpr kiss, Tala would squish her plush cheeks.


Of course, though, when Hitomi wrote something again (Tala swore she needed to focus because she would end up glimpsing SOMETHING if she didn't pay attention to when Hitomi moved around), Tala had to suppress another squeak when Hitomi mentioned the kiss was enjoyable.

At this, Tala slowly sunk into the water, trying to hide the flush in her face.

"W-well, I-I'm glad you found it nice," she said. "H-hopefully if you ever have another one, it'll be even more pleasant. Fr-from someone else, of course, that'd you'd actually like!"

The tone would shift, though, as Hitomi discussed how she was frustrated at what was going on in Eisleyn and how she wanted to do something, but could not. Tala's eyebrows furrowed. Hitomi saying all this made her think of something, but she was hesitant to really ask just yet. Fortunately, Hitomi followed-up on her question about Tala's magic being limited.

To this, Tala replied.

"Ah, well, you see, Cartic magic as you know can only be use based on how much energy you can place in Cartic stores," she said. "Depending on the medium, it can be harder to store energy. Most rich people and scholars can afford to cast lots of spells thanks to having precious stones and fine metals. The only store I have is my scythe. I have to be careful how much energy I use, so I can't just always be casting glyphs when I want or just shoot fireballs the way a mage would do without hesitation.

It doesn't help that charging Cartic stores is hard in Eisleyn. The blizzards and snow make it hard to channel the Lei energy. So yeah, I'm limited mostly to my combat and using my magic in ways that strengthen my combat skills rather than use outright spells. It's why most of my skills are gravity-based."

At this, she smiled at Hitomi sadly.

"But that's alright. I was never a fan of all the fullblown magic casting anyways," she said.

She was quiet for awhile and then looked towards the ceiling.

"It's admirable you want to do a lot for Eisleyn," she said. "Given the circumstances, it might feel impossible to change any of it. But maybe...maybe it's not."

Tala closed her eyes for a moment before looking at Hitomi seriously.

"Given how you fought alongside me willingly, I'm taking a leap of faith to trust you," she said.

Tala would swim closer to Hitomi, and Hitomi would be able to pay closer attention to her eyes. Without her glasses, they were rather pretty eyes. At first glance they might appear to anyone as dark or black, but in the right light they were a very deep blue. There was a lot to her eyes. Sadness, anger, but more importantly...resolve.

"I think it IS possible to fix Eisleyn," she said. "It's just the matter of me connecting all the pieces together. And I could really use the help if you'd be willing."

Hitomi only smiled in response to Tala telling her that her next kiss would be even more pleasant. While she wanted to tell Tala that she liked her (she didn't really know why Tala didn't think that.) Sadly, the conversation moved on.

She nodded along when Tala described why her magic was limited. She'd, honestly love to see her at the top of her game them. In her eyes, Tala was incredibly powerful. To be fair, she also hadn't seen many magic users in her day. After that, things got fairly serious. Tala was trusting her with something and asked her for help. Hitomi gave a slow blink and swam over once more, taking the brush again.

She leaned forward, though her eyes never left Tala.

When she finished, there was a soft look in her eye, though a steely determination was smoldering just below the surface.

'I'm more than willing. Whatever this quest turns into...I'll look out for you if you do the same for me.'

-Hitomi

She'd ended up signing her name. It was something deeply personal for the girl. In fact, when Tala would look up, she'd see a nervous expression on Hitomi's face and a deep blush that was following.

Reading Hitomi's new note, Tala gave her a tender smile.

"Hitomi," she repeated thoughtfully. "What a nice name. My name is Tala. It's really nice to meet you."

She gave Hitomi a warm smile.

"And..."

Hitomi would temporarily feel Tala's forehead press against hers, much like they had after Hitomi was reassuring Tala out on the ice.

"I promise to look out for you, too," she said cheerfully.

***

Eventually the two would finish soaking up. Tala wanted to stay longer, but knew that they'd have to take their business elsewhere. She was sure others would want to use the hot springs, plus while it was out in the open, she wanted a more discreet place to discuss plans.

As they finished dressing up, Tala would turn to Hitomi as she reattached the chain of her scythe to herself.

"If you're interested in discussing things in more detail, my place isn't too far from here," Tala told her. [color-#e32636]"I also need to recharge my stores before another threat goes, so it's best I head there. Are you alright coming with?"[/color]

When Tala actually said her name, Hitomi turned a deep shade of red. While her eyes continued to stay straight ahead, Tala would notice her almost shrink into herself, her left ear twitching for a few seconds as she seemingly tried to regain her composure.

She blinked in surprise as Tala suddenly pressed her forehead against hers. Slowly, Hitomi shoulder's would relax again, her eyes closing as the tension left her. "Mm.."

--

After their soak, Hitomi would end up needing a bit of assistance with her prosthetics. While she COULD get them on herself, it was always easier with a bit of assistance. She was a bit sad that she couldn't spend a longer time in the springs...Oh well, she'd do it another time for sure.

She was stretching out her arms as Tala began to speak. As she invited her to come with her, Hitomi gave her one last smile and nod before affixing her mask back to her face. It was back to being nameless for her. At the very least, she could be Hitomi around Tala now. That selfish comfort oddly brought a small amount of joy to her.