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Many people in the city seemed to be nervous of the cliffside, with nothing, but the ocean to catch you if lost your footing. However, Timaeus was not like most people.
As much as he secretly despised his home province it was here, on the edge of stable life and free falling death, where he felt most comfortable. He had learned to ride by hugging the mountain ridges, being safely carried on the backs of horses who were more familiar with the rocky pathways than open fields. The games of his youth involved chasing his brothers just a little too close to the edge before veering around at the last second, sending loose cobbles skittering down into the valley below. He had trained to fight along those roads, how to swing a sword in a way to keep your opponent from doing the same and perfecting the dance needed to send them over the edge so there would be no needing to wait for lifeblood to seep out. The cliffsides were a part of him he could never deny. They made him into the man he was today. Timaeus could travel the world a thousand times over and those cobbled pathways and thin mountain air just seemed to guide him back to where he belonged.
They always had this way of calling him back home.
Perhaps that what drew him to the edges of the city of Midas on that particular afternoon. That was the innate need in him to be on that edge, to have that thrill of facing danger in the face without a care in the world. After all, the cliffsides were in his blood.
After completing the necessary tasks for the day in his manor, he had has his favorite stallion, a chestnut-colored beast called Thrasos bridled and the two of them set off to the only cliffsides in the city that mimicked the ones they knew and loved. Out on the very edge of the city, overlooking a nearly empty bay he knew well from the nights of drunken revelry he previously spent there with the heirs and younger sons of other noble houses, there were a set of steep roadways that would feel like home if he closed his eyes and ignored the overwhelming stench of the salt in the water below.
However, before the young lord could begin to explore the pathways, he made a point to bring Thrasos to the highest point, just out of view of anyone in the bay below.
Glancing down at the water below, he was met with the most peculiar sight. One that he couldn’t help, but snicker and roll his eyes in response. There, out in the middle of the bay, was a girl in a boat, waving about frantically as if she was in danger. At first, as he watched the scene with a stupid grin on his face, he thought it was a bit of a dramatic show. Her reaction was nothing more than a guilt trip to some other person nearby so she wouldn’t have to drag her now adrift boat back in.
But no one came to her aid. In fact, Tim couldn’t see another soul anywhere from his high perch above the rocks.
As the moments ticked by, her actions became more frantic and painfully clear that she was not acting. She really believed that she was in danger and Tim could tell that she would soon tip the boat. If she was this panicky out of the water, well there was little doubt that she would not respond well to being in the water. Sighing at the thought of a lost afternoon, Timaeus realized that he would have to do something before she actually hurt herself.
“Let’s go, come on.” He said quietly to Thrasos as he turned him away from the cliff's edge and towards the downward sloping path that he knew led to the bay where the damsel in distress was.
It took him a few minutes to reach the rocky shores and the girl would have probably seen him approaching by this point. Perhaps she may have been confused why he led the horse so slowly when he could now clearly hear her shouts. Nor would it probably bring her much peace to see him so casually dismount the horse and almost leisurely remove his shoes and sword from his side before tossing both by his horse’s feet. It was only then that he turned to and called out to her, the distance between them being so short that he didn’t even feel the need to cup his hands over his mouth so the words would carry farther, “Relax, I’ll be there in a moment!”
Not even glancing around the shoreline for another empty boat to use to reach the girl, he moved across the sharp stones with relative ease and entered the murky water. The sand hidden beneath the surface squished between his toes, making Tim both feel squeamish and ticklish at the same time, drawing a small laugh from him as he moved through the water towards the little dinghy and the now considerably calmer girl now that a savior was on his way.
He walked further and further out to the girl, never losing his footing for a moment to a dropped reef or hidden pit. If anything he was only slowed down by the soaked weight of his chiton, something he would have shed as well if it hadn’t been a lady out on the water. He moved with such confidence and assuredness that it must have been either confusing or reckless to the girl, perhaps even both. It took only a few moments for Timaeus to be astride with her boat.
His feet were still just as firmly in the sand as they had been when he first entered the water, which out here had only reached to just below his armpits.
She never had been in any danger whatsoever.
The water may have been murky, but it was shallow. If she had tipped the boat or fallen in, she would have learned how close to shore she really was. The only possible way she could have drowned was if she had suddenly lost the ability to stand up. That’s why Timaeus didn’t feel rushed and was laughing the whole way. She had put quite a spectacle for no reason whatsoever. Tim could have very easily ignored her and gone on his way, saving his chiton in the process and the outcome wouldn’t have been any different. But this had been too great of a story not to pass up, Tim knew that both Silanos and Roxana would be in absolute stitches when he told them later.
Now that he was out here and was able to see her features more clearly, he was also very glad that he had taken the five minutes out of his day to lend his assistance because my oh my, was she absolutely stunning. Timaeus couldn’t pull his eyes away from her fiery red locks, something he had never seen before. Not to mention her delicate, near porcelain, pale skin, and near flawless complexion made her truly a sight to behold. He was very clearly stunned for a moment, his breath catching in his throat as he wondered how such a pretty little thing like her ended up in a situation like this.
He recovered quickly though as he reached out to still the rocking boat and get a good grip on it so he could safely drag it back to shore without her falling in. “You don’t venture out into these waters often do you?” He said with a light laugh, it was more of a commentary on the situation than an actual question.
“Come on, let’s get you back to shore before you fall in.” He said as he turned around, holding onto the edge of the boat and began to push it back to shore just as casually as he walked out to it.
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This character is currently a work in progress.
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Many people in the city seemed to be nervous of the cliffside, with nothing, but the ocean to catch you if lost your footing. However, Timaeus was not like most people.
As much as he secretly despised his home province it was here, on the edge of stable life and free falling death, where he felt most comfortable. He had learned to ride by hugging the mountain ridges, being safely carried on the backs of horses who were more familiar with the rocky pathways than open fields. The games of his youth involved chasing his brothers just a little too close to the edge before veering around at the last second, sending loose cobbles skittering down into the valley below. He had trained to fight along those roads, how to swing a sword in a way to keep your opponent from doing the same and perfecting the dance needed to send them over the edge so there would be no needing to wait for lifeblood to seep out. The cliffsides were a part of him he could never deny. They made him into the man he was today. Timaeus could travel the world a thousand times over and those cobbled pathways and thin mountain air just seemed to guide him back to where he belonged.
They always had this way of calling him back home.
Perhaps that what drew him to the edges of the city of Midas on that particular afternoon. That was the innate need in him to be on that edge, to have that thrill of facing danger in the face without a care in the world. After all, the cliffsides were in his blood.
After completing the necessary tasks for the day in his manor, he had has his favorite stallion, a chestnut-colored beast called Thrasos bridled and the two of them set off to the only cliffsides in the city that mimicked the ones they knew and loved. Out on the very edge of the city, overlooking a nearly empty bay he knew well from the nights of drunken revelry he previously spent there with the heirs and younger sons of other noble houses, there were a set of steep roadways that would feel like home if he closed his eyes and ignored the overwhelming stench of the salt in the water below.
However, before the young lord could begin to explore the pathways, he made a point to bring Thrasos to the highest point, just out of view of anyone in the bay below.
Glancing down at the water below, he was met with the most peculiar sight. One that he couldn’t help, but snicker and roll his eyes in response. There, out in the middle of the bay, was a girl in a boat, waving about frantically as if she was in danger. At first, as he watched the scene with a stupid grin on his face, he thought it was a bit of a dramatic show. Her reaction was nothing more than a guilt trip to some other person nearby so she wouldn’t have to drag her now adrift boat back in.
But no one came to her aid. In fact, Tim couldn’t see another soul anywhere from his high perch above the rocks.
As the moments ticked by, her actions became more frantic and painfully clear that she was not acting. She really believed that she was in danger and Tim could tell that she would soon tip the boat. If she was this panicky out of the water, well there was little doubt that she would not respond well to being in the water. Sighing at the thought of a lost afternoon, Timaeus realized that he would have to do something before she actually hurt herself.
“Let’s go, come on.” He said quietly to Thrasos as he turned him away from the cliff's edge and towards the downward sloping path that he knew led to the bay where the damsel in distress was.
It took him a few minutes to reach the rocky shores and the girl would have probably seen him approaching by this point. Perhaps she may have been confused why he led the horse so slowly when he could now clearly hear her shouts. Nor would it probably bring her much peace to see him so casually dismount the horse and almost leisurely remove his shoes and sword from his side before tossing both by his horse’s feet. It was only then that he turned to and called out to her, the distance between them being so short that he didn’t even feel the need to cup his hands over his mouth so the words would carry farther, “Relax, I’ll be there in a moment!”
Not even glancing around the shoreline for another empty boat to use to reach the girl, he moved across the sharp stones with relative ease and entered the murky water. The sand hidden beneath the surface squished between his toes, making Tim both feel squeamish and ticklish at the same time, drawing a small laugh from him as he moved through the water towards the little dinghy and the now considerably calmer girl now that a savior was on his way.
He walked further and further out to the girl, never losing his footing for a moment to a dropped reef or hidden pit. If anything he was only slowed down by the soaked weight of his chiton, something he would have shed as well if it hadn’t been a lady out on the water. He moved with such confidence and assuredness that it must have been either confusing or reckless to the girl, perhaps even both. It took only a few moments for Timaeus to be astride with her boat.
His feet were still just as firmly in the sand as they had been when he first entered the water, which out here had only reached to just below his armpits.
She never had been in any danger whatsoever.
The water may have been murky, but it was shallow. If she had tipped the boat or fallen in, she would have learned how close to shore she really was. The only possible way she could have drowned was if she had suddenly lost the ability to stand up. That’s why Timaeus didn’t feel rushed and was laughing the whole way. She had put quite a spectacle for no reason whatsoever. Tim could have very easily ignored her and gone on his way, saving his chiton in the process and the outcome wouldn’t have been any different. But this had been too great of a story not to pass up, Tim knew that both Silanos and Roxana would be in absolute stitches when he told them later.
Now that he was out here and was able to see her features more clearly, he was also very glad that he had taken the five minutes out of his day to lend his assistance because my oh my, was she absolutely stunning. Timaeus couldn’t pull his eyes away from her fiery red locks, something he had never seen before. Not to mention her delicate, near porcelain, pale skin, and near flawless complexion made her truly a sight to behold. He was very clearly stunned for a moment, his breath catching in his throat as he wondered how such a pretty little thing like her ended up in a situation like this.
He recovered quickly though as he reached out to still the rocking boat and get a good grip on it so he could safely drag it back to shore without her falling in. “You don’t venture out into these waters often do you?” He said with a light laugh, it was more of a commentary on the situation than an actual question.
“Come on, let’s get you back to shore before you fall in.” He said as he turned around, holding onto the edge of the boat and began to push it back to shore just as casually as he walked out to it.
Many people in the city seemed to be nervous of the cliffside, with nothing, but the ocean to catch you if lost your footing. However, Timaeus was not like most people.
As much as he secretly despised his home province it was here, on the edge of stable life and free falling death, where he felt most comfortable. He had learned to ride by hugging the mountain ridges, being safely carried on the backs of horses who were more familiar with the rocky pathways than open fields. The games of his youth involved chasing his brothers just a little too close to the edge before veering around at the last second, sending loose cobbles skittering down into the valley below. He had trained to fight along those roads, how to swing a sword in a way to keep your opponent from doing the same and perfecting the dance needed to send them over the edge so there would be no needing to wait for lifeblood to seep out. The cliffsides were a part of him he could never deny. They made him into the man he was today. Timaeus could travel the world a thousand times over and those cobbled pathways and thin mountain air just seemed to guide him back to where he belonged.
They always had this way of calling him back home.
Perhaps that what drew him to the edges of the city of Midas on that particular afternoon. That was the innate need in him to be on that edge, to have that thrill of facing danger in the face without a care in the world. After all, the cliffsides were in his blood.
After completing the necessary tasks for the day in his manor, he had has his favorite stallion, a chestnut-colored beast called Thrasos bridled and the two of them set off to the only cliffsides in the city that mimicked the ones they knew and loved. Out on the very edge of the city, overlooking a nearly empty bay he knew well from the nights of drunken revelry he previously spent there with the heirs and younger sons of other noble houses, there were a set of steep roadways that would feel like home if he closed his eyes and ignored the overwhelming stench of the salt in the water below.
However, before the young lord could begin to explore the pathways, he made a point to bring Thrasos to the highest point, just out of view of anyone in the bay below.
Glancing down at the water below, he was met with the most peculiar sight. One that he couldn’t help, but snicker and roll his eyes in response. There, out in the middle of the bay, was a girl in a boat, waving about frantically as if she was in danger. At first, as he watched the scene with a stupid grin on his face, he thought it was a bit of a dramatic show. Her reaction was nothing more than a guilt trip to some other person nearby so she wouldn’t have to drag her now adrift boat back in.
But no one came to her aid. In fact, Tim couldn’t see another soul anywhere from his high perch above the rocks.
As the moments ticked by, her actions became more frantic and painfully clear that she was not acting. She really believed that she was in danger and Tim could tell that she would soon tip the boat. If she was this panicky out of the water, well there was little doubt that she would not respond well to being in the water. Sighing at the thought of a lost afternoon, Timaeus realized that he would have to do something before she actually hurt herself.
“Let’s go, come on.” He said quietly to Thrasos as he turned him away from the cliff's edge and towards the downward sloping path that he knew led to the bay where the damsel in distress was.
It took him a few minutes to reach the rocky shores and the girl would have probably seen him approaching by this point. Perhaps she may have been confused why he led the horse so slowly when he could now clearly hear her shouts. Nor would it probably bring her much peace to see him so casually dismount the horse and almost leisurely remove his shoes and sword from his side before tossing both by his horse’s feet. It was only then that he turned to and called out to her, the distance between them being so short that he didn’t even feel the need to cup his hands over his mouth so the words would carry farther, “Relax, I’ll be there in a moment!”
Not even glancing around the shoreline for another empty boat to use to reach the girl, he moved across the sharp stones with relative ease and entered the murky water. The sand hidden beneath the surface squished between his toes, making Tim both feel squeamish and ticklish at the same time, drawing a small laugh from him as he moved through the water towards the little dinghy and the now considerably calmer girl now that a savior was on his way.
He walked further and further out to the girl, never losing his footing for a moment to a dropped reef or hidden pit. If anything he was only slowed down by the soaked weight of his chiton, something he would have shed as well if it hadn’t been a lady out on the water. He moved with such confidence and assuredness that it must have been either confusing or reckless to the girl, perhaps even both. It took only a few moments for Timaeus to be astride with her boat.
His feet were still just as firmly in the sand as they had been when he first entered the water, which out here had only reached to just below his armpits.
She never had been in any danger whatsoever.
The water may have been murky, but it was shallow. If she had tipped the boat or fallen in, she would have learned how close to shore she really was. The only possible way she could have drowned was if she had suddenly lost the ability to stand up. That’s why Timaeus didn’t feel rushed and was laughing the whole way. She had put quite a spectacle for no reason whatsoever. Tim could have very easily ignored her and gone on his way, saving his chiton in the process and the outcome wouldn’t have been any different. But this had been too great of a story not to pass up, Tim knew that both Silanos and Roxana would be in absolute stitches when he told them later.
Now that he was out here and was able to see her features more clearly, he was also very glad that he had taken the five minutes out of his day to lend his assistance because my oh my, was she absolutely stunning. Timaeus couldn’t pull his eyes away from her fiery red locks, something he had never seen before. Not to mention her delicate, near porcelain, pale skin, and near flawless complexion made her truly a sight to behold. He was very clearly stunned for a moment, his breath catching in his throat as he wondered how such a pretty little thing like her ended up in a situation like this.
He recovered quickly though as he reached out to still the rocking boat and get a good grip on it so he could safely drag it back to shore without her falling in. “You don’t venture out into these waters often do you?” He said with a light laugh, it was more of a commentary on the situation than an actual question.
“Come on, let’s get you back to shore before you fall in.” He said as he turned around, holding onto the edge of the boat and began to push it back to shore just as casually as he walked out to it.
Timaeus didn’t know what to expect once he dismounted Thrasos, but whatever it had been… it sure did not include having his ear talked off by the girl stranded out on the water.
He shook his head in laughter as he heard her go on about all sorts of things; flotsam and jetsam, a guide for lost souls sent from Hades, and the sunrise oddly enough? It was all really in one ear and out the other for Tim, who didn’t know what to make of it all. Well, at least it didn’t seem like she was really searching for an answer to everything she said. It was more like… she was speaking just to fill the silence. That’s what made her rambles oddly endearing to him a weird sort of sense when he knew he should have found it annoying. He just didn't.
Perhaps it was because he knew the feeling a little too well, as he moved through the water towards her and her little drifting boat, his mind, but couldn’t help wandering to back when he too had been a position where rambling had brought him a sense of comfort. It had been back when he had first begun to take on his newfound responsibilities as the baron and found himself, inexperienced and still too lost in his own grief, to reasonably hold his own with the other barons, men who knew what they were doing. He had talked a lot then to make it seem like he had it together. It did not work. No one was convinced by his act.
Shaking these thoughts from his head, lest he dwell too much on dark memories, he refocused himself as he approached Leni. She seemed utterly surprised that he had his feet firmly on the ground, a notion he gave a hearty laugh. “Yes, I am still standing.” He said simply, amused at how little she seemed to know of the bay. Glancing her over, he considered how she would fare if he had left her to flounder and discover on her own the lack of danger. He could tell that her frame was slight and on land, he would definitely be at least a head or so taller than her, but he didn’t know if it would be enough for her to comfortably walk back to shore. At this depth, she might have to swim to keep her head above the water.
“It might be a bit too deep, don’t go jumping out on me now.” He jokingly warned, knowing full well she probably wouldn’t do such a thing to begin with, let alone after someone had actually wandered out to bring her back à la prince charming.
Now having grown comfortable with sludge-like mixture underneath his feet, on the way back he picked up the pace a little bit. He moved quickly and with a new sense of confidence that there was nothing sharper than silt on the murky seafloor. In the interest of getting back to the shore quickly, Timaeus deviated from the path he took to reach Leni, marked by his footprints now pressed into the sand. This was now the fastest way to shore as the boat had drifted a bit since Timaeus entered the water so each new step was new territory.
However, he wasn’t really thinking about this, instead, he was quietly listening to her ramble on about whatever seemed to cross her mind. It was incredible to him that she had enough air in her lungs to say so much, so quickly. It was quite astonishing really and, truthfully, Tim didn’t really know what to make of it. Not only was she was she the first person he’d encountered with such an ability to go at ends about seemingly anything, but she was also the first woman who was capable of doing so. That had really thrown him for a loop. Most of the girls he had encountered were significantly quieter, even his mother and Roxana weren’t ones to go on at such length, but then again he had only really had conversations with two kinds of ladies: noblewomen and flute girls. Those categories didn’t tend to bleed together and were on two different ends of the social ladder and this girl didn’t seem to be on either end. Maybe in the middle, they were more talkative? Tim didn’t know.
Either way, these thoughts made his mind drift to one of the questions Leni had posed on the way out there that morning. Had he seen the sunrise? No. Timaeus hardly ever saw the sunrise as he woke when the dawn gave way to the brightness of morning. He only saw the first signs of Apollo making his journey across the sky if he had stayed up through the night before, but he was hardly ever in the condition to pause and watch those first rays whenever that happened. Yet at the same time, he felt as if he had seen the sunrise before just based on the colors Leni had used to describe it. Did she realize she was just describing her fiery locks, something Timaeus had rarely ever seen, to the young lord? Now Tim’s interest was piqued. If possible, he would have to make a point to catch the sunrise. Perhaps he might be lucky enough to also see what Leni had seen. That seemed to be a blessing all within itself.
So, as these thoughts raced about in his mind, he didn’t really say anything in response, instead, he just nodded his head when it seemed appropriate and said short yeses and nos when Leni was searching for more. His mind was far more occupied with the task at hand. Mostly he was concerned with keeping the boat stable as he pulled it along, his grip tight on the wooden edge. It seemed almost unnecessary, but based on how she had acted earlier when she believed that she was floating out to sea, Timaeus suspected that she had a fear of the water itself… which didn’t really make sense if he actually thought about it figuring since she was the one who found herself “adrift” in the first place…
Nevermind the details.
Timaeus didn’t understand her or her actions. She was just as confusing as she was pretty, but he could just tell that her falling in the water would be a bad thing.
That much was clear to him.
When the water was at the midpoint between his upper chest and navel, a quiet lull settled over the pair and sensing an opportunity to get a word in of his own, Timaeus turned his head back to the girl to ask the one thing on his mind since he had spotted her out on the cliff edge. “What were you doi- AUGH”
With a sudden cry of pain, Tim felt his world drop out from underneath him. His left leg stayed firmly rooted in the muck, but his right leg? It was falling, dragging Tim down with him.
In a blind moment of panic, Tim’s grip on the boat tightened as a way of breaking his fall and keeping his head above the murky water. Yet he still felt it slip out his hands as he stumbled forward and slipped beneath, losing the steadiness of his other foot as it slid out from underneath him. Screwing his eyes shut, he kicked his leg about, trying to figure out what had happened. All he could feel was weeds and water. A pit, his subconscious understood before the rest of him did, I’ve just stepped into a pit.
Having a firm grasp on the situation now, Timaeus calmed as he exhaled, forcing his body to sink a bit faster and giving him a chance to reground the foot that had slid out a moment earlier. With that extra moment of stability, he was able to pull his trapped foot free. Now all he needed to do was kick off.
But something touched his forehead.
His eyes shot open, stinging them in the filthy water. They had barely been open for a moment, but the image was burned into his mind thanks to his confusion and heightened reactions blending together. What had brushed against his forehead had been a bit of light colored fabric. The same light colored fabric that the girl had been wearing.
She was now in the water.
Great, just fucking great.
He kicked off, arms outstretched to catch her on his way up. Because of the relative shallowness of the water, it only took a second for him to find her and thanks to her near perfect positioning in the water, just another moment for his arms to curl beneath her back and hook under her knees, instinctively pulling her closer to his chest. He then broke the surface with her in his grasp. He sputtered for air for a moment, completely unaware of the slight burn in his lungs until that moment. Small tendrils of his normally pushed back hair now clung to his face. He tried to push them away by shaking his head, but it didn’t do much.
Tim then opened his eyes and glanced down at her, to make sure that she was okay, but found himself faced with a new dilemma… her gown… it was now very sheer and clung to her body in a way that left nothing to Tim’s imagination.
Without realizing it, his eyes drifted from her face to her chest as a sudden warmth rushed to both his cheeks and his lower half, contrasting sharply with the cool water. Still unsure of who she was and how much trouble he could face, he forced his eyes away from her. His gaze rested on the now overturned boat, realizing for the first time how she had landed in the water. His death grip on the side of the boat must have brought the boat down with him, flipping her in the process. He groaned a bit at that since, after all, that was what he had wanted to avoid and he knew there was no way he was going to be able to turn that back over while also supporting the girl.
“Sorry ‘bout that.” He said simply, making a point to glance down at her face, not that helped. She may have been just as soaked as he was, but damn she was still easy on the eyes. Not good for him. Definitely not good.
By now she would have seen the state of her boat and must have realized that there was no way it was being flipped over. If she now wanted to stay out of the water, she was going to have to be carried. Embarrassed and clearly flustered with his reddened face he stammered out as he glanced back it, “We'll -- I’ll come back for that.” There wasn’t much else that could be done at the moment. The boat would just have to be abandoned for now.
Shifting her slightly to make it easier to hold her as he would need to walk the couple dozen yards to shore, he managed to pull a light joke at his own expense, trying to offset the embarrassment he felt, “I promise I won’t fall this time.” Pausing for a moment, he also realized something important, neither of them knew each other’s names…. “I guess if I’m going to carry you back to shore, you should know my name at least.” This brought out a small grin from him, an obvious joke at the intimate position they had now found themselves in, “I’m Timaeus.”
He paused for a moment, waiting for her to also share her name while bracing himself for the long-winded ramble he expected with it. Not that it was a bad thing, of course, though it might mean the answer he sought might disappear in her words.
Eyeing her lips, he realized he'd just have to pay close attention to what she said.
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Timaeus didn’t know what to expect once he dismounted Thrasos, but whatever it had been… it sure did not include having his ear talked off by the girl stranded out on the water.
He shook his head in laughter as he heard her go on about all sorts of things; flotsam and jetsam, a guide for lost souls sent from Hades, and the sunrise oddly enough? It was all really in one ear and out the other for Tim, who didn’t know what to make of it all. Well, at least it didn’t seem like she was really searching for an answer to everything she said. It was more like… she was speaking just to fill the silence. That’s what made her rambles oddly endearing to him a weird sort of sense when he knew he should have found it annoying. He just didn't.
Perhaps it was because he knew the feeling a little too well, as he moved through the water towards her and her little drifting boat, his mind, but couldn’t help wandering to back when he too had been a position where rambling had brought him a sense of comfort. It had been back when he had first begun to take on his newfound responsibilities as the baron and found himself, inexperienced and still too lost in his own grief, to reasonably hold his own with the other barons, men who knew what they were doing. He had talked a lot then to make it seem like he had it together. It did not work. No one was convinced by his act.
Shaking these thoughts from his head, lest he dwell too much on dark memories, he refocused himself as he approached Leni. She seemed utterly surprised that he had his feet firmly on the ground, a notion he gave a hearty laugh. “Yes, I am still standing.” He said simply, amused at how little she seemed to know of the bay. Glancing her over, he considered how she would fare if he had left her to flounder and discover on her own the lack of danger. He could tell that her frame was slight and on land, he would definitely be at least a head or so taller than her, but he didn’t know if it would be enough for her to comfortably walk back to shore. At this depth, she might have to swim to keep her head above the water.
“It might be a bit too deep, don’t go jumping out on me now.” He jokingly warned, knowing full well she probably wouldn’t do such a thing to begin with, let alone after someone had actually wandered out to bring her back à la prince charming.
Now having grown comfortable with sludge-like mixture underneath his feet, on the way back he picked up the pace a little bit. He moved quickly and with a new sense of confidence that there was nothing sharper than silt on the murky seafloor. In the interest of getting back to the shore quickly, Timaeus deviated from the path he took to reach Leni, marked by his footprints now pressed into the sand. This was now the fastest way to shore as the boat had drifted a bit since Timaeus entered the water so each new step was new territory.
However, he wasn’t really thinking about this, instead, he was quietly listening to her ramble on about whatever seemed to cross her mind. It was incredible to him that she had enough air in her lungs to say so much, so quickly. It was quite astonishing really and, truthfully, Tim didn’t really know what to make of it. Not only was she was she the first person he’d encountered with such an ability to go at ends about seemingly anything, but she was also the first woman who was capable of doing so. That had really thrown him for a loop. Most of the girls he had encountered were significantly quieter, even his mother and Roxana weren’t ones to go on at such length, but then again he had only really had conversations with two kinds of ladies: noblewomen and flute girls. Those categories didn’t tend to bleed together and were on two different ends of the social ladder and this girl didn’t seem to be on either end. Maybe in the middle, they were more talkative? Tim didn’t know.
Either way, these thoughts made his mind drift to one of the questions Leni had posed on the way out there that morning. Had he seen the sunrise? No. Timaeus hardly ever saw the sunrise as he woke when the dawn gave way to the brightness of morning. He only saw the first signs of Apollo making his journey across the sky if he had stayed up through the night before, but he was hardly ever in the condition to pause and watch those first rays whenever that happened. Yet at the same time, he felt as if he had seen the sunrise before just based on the colors Leni had used to describe it. Did she realize she was just describing her fiery locks, something Timaeus had rarely ever seen, to the young lord? Now Tim’s interest was piqued. If possible, he would have to make a point to catch the sunrise. Perhaps he might be lucky enough to also see what Leni had seen. That seemed to be a blessing all within itself.
So, as these thoughts raced about in his mind, he didn’t really say anything in response, instead, he just nodded his head when it seemed appropriate and said short yeses and nos when Leni was searching for more. His mind was far more occupied with the task at hand. Mostly he was concerned with keeping the boat stable as he pulled it along, his grip tight on the wooden edge. It seemed almost unnecessary, but based on how she had acted earlier when she believed that she was floating out to sea, Timaeus suspected that she had a fear of the water itself… which didn’t really make sense if he actually thought about it figuring since she was the one who found herself “adrift” in the first place…
Nevermind the details.
Timaeus didn’t understand her or her actions. She was just as confusing as she was pretty, but he could just tell that her falling in the water would be a bad thing.
That much was clear to him.
When the water was at the midpoint between his upper chest and navel, a quiet lull settled over the pair and sensing an opportunity to get a word in of his own, Timaeus turned his head back to the girl to ask the one thing on his mind since he had spotted her out on the cliff edge. “What were you doi- AUGH”
With a sudden cry of pain, Tim felt his world drop out from underneath him. His left leg stayed firmly rooted in the muck, but his right leg? It was falling, dragging Tim down with him.
In a blind moment of panic, Tim’s grip on the boat tightened as a way of breaking his fall and keeping his head above the murky water. Yet he still felt it slip out his hands as he stumbled forward and slipped beneath, losing the steadiness of his other foot as it slid out from underneath him. Screwing his eyes shut, he kicked his leg about, trying to figure out what had happened. All he could feel was weeds and water. A pit, his subconscious understood before the rest of him did, I’ve just stepped into a pit.
Having a firm grasp on the situation now, Timaeus calmed as he exhaled, forcing his body to sink a bit faster and giving him a chance to reground the foot that had slid out a moment earlier. With that extra moment of stability, he was able to pull his trapped foot free. Now all he needed to do was kick off.
But something touched his forehead.
His eyes shot open, stinging them in the filthy water. They had barely been open for a moment, but the image was burned into his mind thanks to his confusion and heightened reactions blending together. What had brushed against his forehead had been a bit of light colored fabric. The same light colored fabric that the girl had been wearing.
She was now in the water.
Great, just fucking great.
He kicked off, arms outstretched to catch her on his way up. Because of the relative shallowness of the water, it only took a second for him to find her and thanks to her near perfect positioning in the water, just another moment for his arms to curl beneath her back and hook under her knees, instinctively pulling her closer to his chest. He then broke the surface with her in his grasp. He sputtered for air for a moment, completely unaware of the slight burn in his lungs until that moment. Small tendrils of his normally pushed back hair now clung to his face. He tried to push them away by shaking his head, but it didn’t do much.
Tim then opened his eyes and glanced down at her, to make sure that she was okay, but found himself faced with a new dilemma… her gown… it was now very sheer and clung to her body in a way that left nothing to Tim’s imagination.
Without realizing it, his eyes drifted from her face to her chest as a sudden warmth rushed to both his cheeks and his lower half, contrasting sharply with the cool water. Still unsure of who she was and how much trouble he could face, he forced his eyes away from her. His gaze rested on the now overturned boat, realizing for the first time how she had landed in the water. His death grip on the side of the boat must have brought the boat down with him, flipping her in the process. He groaned a bit at that since, after all, that was what he had wanted to avoid and he knew there was no way he was going to be able to turn that back over while also supporting the girl.
“Sorry ‘bout that.” He said simply, making a point to glance down at her face, not that helped. She may have been just as soaked as he was, but damn she was still easy on the eyes. Not good for him. Definitely not good.
By now she would have seen the state of her boat and must have realized that there was no way it was being flipped over. If she now wanted to stay out of the water, she was going to have to be carried. Embarrassed and clearly flustered with his reddened face he stammered out as he glanced back it, “We'll -- I’ll come back for that.” There wasn’t much else that could be done at the moment. The boat would just have to be abandoned for now.
Shifting her slightly to make it easier to hold her as he would need to walk the couple dozen yards to shore, he managed to pull a light joke at his own expense, trying to offset the embarrassment he felt, “I promise I won’t fall this time.” Pausing for a moment, he also realized something important, neither of them knew each other’s names…. “I guess if I’m going to carry you back to shore, you should know my name at least.” This brought out a small grin from him, an obvious joke at the intimate position they had now found themselves in, “I’m Timaeus.”
He paused for a moment, waiting for her to also share her name while bracing himself for the long-winded ramble he expected with it. Not that it was a bad thing, of course, though it might mean the answer he sought might disappear in her words.
Eyeing her lips, he realized he'd just have to pay close attention to what she said.
Timaeus didn’t know what to expect once he dismounted Thrasos, but whatever it had been… it sure did not include having his ear talked off by the girl stranded out on the water.
He shook his head in laughter as he heard her go on about all sorts of things; flotsam and jetsam, a guide for lost souls sent from Hades, and the sunrise oddly enough? It was all really in one ear and out the other for Tim, who didn’t know what to make of it all. Well, at least it didn’t seem like she was really searching for an answer to everything she said. It was more like… she was speaking just to fill the silence. That’s what made her rambles oddly endearing to him a weird sort of sense when he knew he should have found it annoying. He just didn't.
Perhaps it was because he knew the feeling a little too well, as he moved through the water towards her and her little drifting boat, his mind, but couldn’t help wandering to back when he too had been a position where rambling had brought him a sense of comfort. It had been back when he had first begun to take on his newfound responsibilities as the baron and found himself, inexperienced and still too lost in his own grief, to reasonably hold his own with the other barons, men who knew what they were doing. He had talked a lot then to make it seem like he had it together. It did not work. No one was convinced by his act.
Shaking these thoughts from his head, lest he dwell too much on dark memories, he refocused himself as he approached Leni. She seemed utterly surprised that he had his feet firmly on the ground, a notion he gave a hearty laugh. “Yes, I am still standing.” He said simply, amused at how little she seemed to know of the bay. Glancing her over, he considered how she would fare if he had left her to flounder and discover on her own the lack of danger. He could tell that her frame was slight and on land, he would definitely be at least a head or so taller than her, but he didn’t know if it would be enough for her to comfortably walk back to shore. At this depth, she might have to swim to keep her head above the water.
“It might be a bit too deep, don’t go jumping out on me now.” He jokingly warned, knowing full well she probably wouldn’t do such a thing to begin with, let alone after someone had actually wandered out to bring her back à la prince charming.
Now having grown comfortable with sludge-like mixture underneath his feet, on the way back he picked up the pace a little bit. He moved quickly and with a new sense of confidence that there was nothing sharper than silt on the murky seafloor. In the interest of getting back to the shore quickly, Timaeus deviated from the path he took to reach Leni, marked by his footprints now pressed into the sand. This was now the fastest way to shore as the boat had drifted a bit since Timaeus entered the water so each new step was new territory.
However, he wasn’t really thinking about this, instead, he was quietly listening to her ramble on about whatever seemed to cross her mind. It was incredible to him that she had enough air in her lungs to say so much, so quickly. It was quite astonishing really and, truthfully, Tim didn’t really know what to make of it. Not only was she was she the first person he’d encountered with such an ability to go at ends about seemingly anything, but she was also the first woman who was capable of doing so. That had really thrown him for a loop. Most of the girls he had encountered were significantly quieter, even his mother and Roxana weren’t ones to go on at such length, but then again he had only really had conversations with two kinds of ladies: noblewomen and flute girls. Those categories didn’t tend to bleed together and were on two different ends of the social ladder and this girl didn’t seem to be on either end. Maybe in the middle, they were more talkative? Tim didn’t know.
Either way, these thoughts made his mind drift to one of the questions Leni had posed on the way out there that morning. Had he seen the sunrise? No. Timaeus hardly ever saw the sunrise as he woke when the dawn gave way to the brightness of morning. He only saw the first signs of Apollo making his journey across the sky if he had stayed up through the night before, but he was hardly ever in the condition to pause and watch those first rays whenever that happened. Yet at the same time, he felt as if he had seen the sunrise before just based on the colors Leni had used to describe it. Did she realize she was just describing her fiery locks, something Timaeus had rarely ever seen, to the young lord? Now Tim’s interest was piqued. If possible, he would have to make a point to catch the sunrise. Perhaps he might be lucky enough to also see what Leni had seen. That seemed to be a blessing all within itself.
So, as these thoughts raced about in his mind, he didn’t really say anything in response, instead, he just nodded his head when it seemed appropriate and said short yeses and nos when Leni was searching for more. His mind was far more occupied with the task at hand. Mostly he was concerned with keeping the boat stable as he pulled it along, his grip tight on the wooden edge. It seemed almost unnecessary, but based on how she had acted earlier when she believed that she was floating out to sea, Timaeus suspected that she had a fear of the water itself… which didn’t really make sense if he actually thought about it figuring since she was the one who found herself “adrift” in the first place…
Nevermind the details.
Timaeus didn’t understand her or her actions. She was just as confusing as she was pretty, but he could just tell that her falling in the water would be a bad thing.
That much was clear to him.
When the water was at the midpoint between his upper chest and navel, a quiet lull settled over the pair and sensing an opportunity to get a word in of his own, Timaeus turned his head back to the girl to ask the one thing on his mind since he had spotted her out on the cliff edge. “What were you doi- AUGH”
With a sudden cry of pain, Tim felt his world drop out from underneath him. His left leg stayed firmly rooted in the muck, but his right leg? It was falling, dragging Tim down with him.
In a blind moment of panic, Tim’s grip on the boat tightened as a way of breaking his fall and keeping his head above the murky water. Yet he still felt it slip out his hands as he stumbled forward and slipped beneath, losing the steadiness of his other foot as it slid out from underneath him. Screwing his eyes shut, he kicked his leg about, trying to figure out what had happened. All he could feel was weeds and water. A pit, his subconscious understood before the rest of him did, I’ve just stepped into a pit.
Having a firm grasp on the situation now, Timaeus calmed as he exhaled, forcing his body to sink a bit faster and giving him a chance to reground the foot that had slid out a moment earlier. With that extra moment of stability, he was able to pull his trapped foot free. Now all he needed to do was kick off.
But something touched his forehead.
His eyes shot open, stinging them in the filthy water. They had barely been open for a moment, but the image was burned into his mind thanks to his confusion and heightened reactions blending together. What had brushed against his forehead had been a bit of light colored fabric. The same light colored fabric that the girl had been wearing.
She was now in the water.
Great, just fucking great.
He kicked off, arms outstretched to catch her on his way up. Because of the relative shallowness of the water, it only took a second for him to find her and thanks to her near perfect positioning in the water, just another moment for his arms to curl beneath her back and hook under her knees, instinctively pulling her closer to his chest. He then broke the surface with her in his grasp. He sputtered for air for a moment, completely unaware of the slight burn in his lungs until that moment. Small tendrils of his normally pushed back hair now clung to his face. He tried to push them away by shaking his head, but it didn’t do much.
Tim then opened his eyes and glanced down at her, to make sure that she was okay, but found himself faced with a new dilemma… her gown… it was now very sheer and clung to her body in a way that left nothing to Tim’s imagination.
Without realizing it, his eyes drifted from her face to her chest as a sudden warmth rushed to both his cheeks and his lower half, contrasting sharply with the cool water. Still unsure of who she was and how much trouble he could face, he forced his eyes away from her. His gaze rested on the now overturned boat, realizing for the first time how she had landed in the water. His death grip on the side of the boat must have brought the boat down with him, flipping her in the process. He groaned a bit at that since, after all, that was what he had wanted to avoid and he knew there was no way he was going to be able to turn that back over while also supporting the girl.
“Sorry ‘bout that.” He said simply, making a point to glance down at her face, not that helped. She may have been just as soaked as he was, but damn she was still easy on the eyes. Not good for him. Definitely not good.
By now she would have seen the state of her boat and must have realized that there was no way it was being flipped over. If she now wanted to stay out of the water, she was going to have to be carried. Embarrassed and clearly flustered with his reddened face he stammered out as he glanced back it, “We'll -- I’ll come back for that.” There wasn’t much else that could be done at the moment. The boat would just have to be abandoned for now.
Shifting her slightly to make it easier to hold her as he would need to walk the couple dozen yards to shore, he managed to pull a light joke at his own expense, trying to offset the embarrassment he felt, “I promise I won’t fall this time.” Pausing for a moment, he also realized something important, neither of them knew each other’s names…. “I guess if I’m going to carry you back to shore, you should know my name at least.” This brought out a small grin from him, an obvious joke at the intimate position they had now found themselves in, “I’m Timaeus.”
He paused for a moment, waiting for her to also share her name while bracing himself for the long-winded ramble he expected with it. Not that it was a bad thing, of course, though it might mean the answer he sought might disappear in her words.
Eyeing her lips, he realized he'd just have to pay close attention to what she said.
When Leni mentioned that him “saving” her was a debt she may not be able to pay, the Sil-like side of him wanted to come out to play. It wanted to suggest the countless ways a pretty girl like her could repay the baron and if this had been four years ago, Timaeus would have freely allowed this side to reign free, but he managed to keep him contained for now. Timaeus lived by different standards, morals that would now do him no good in breaking. So he ended the conversation and hid that part of him with a simple statement, delivered with a small cheeky smirk, “We’ll discuss that later.”
Glancing at her, there was just no possible way he could ignore how beautiful she was and now that the shock of seeing someone with hair the color of fire had worn off, he began to notice other things as well. Like her eyes. Although they were as dark as mud, Timaeus found himself easily being lost in their depths. They were like magnets, pulling him in. She was also thin, but not slight enough to bring about concerns over whether or not she had enough to eat. No, her elegant silk dress made it very clear that she was someone who had access to more than a few drachmas, to say the very least.
Though as Timaeus took in the sight of the dress now, he hoped that whatever pocket she got her coins from, it would be a little bit deeper than most.
As the dress was made of silk, it clearly did not survive the girl’s tumble into the lake. He smirked at her attempts to cover herself. Too late for that. he silently thought as he looked away just the same in order to give her the privacy she clearly wanted. She was a woman of high status, oogling would only lead him into a whole heap of trouble.
He felt a rush of blood rush to his cheeks when he saw Leni bite her lower lip, driving that Sil-like side of him absolutely crazy. He closed his eyes to keep himself under his control. He was a man. He liked pretty things like Leni. It was natural, but he knew that reacting in such a manner would be no good for anyone. She may be noble and besides it was just a nerve thing, right?
“Of Eubocris, you say?” Tim said as a bemused smirk crawled across his face. He paused for a moment, waiting to see if any sort of glimmer of recognition would pass over her. After all, his name couldn’t have been too uncommon in the province, surely she would vaguely be aware of who the baron was at the moment, especially given the chaos that had been unleashed upon the Valaoritis household only two years before. The death of his brother was good gossip fodder and as someone who had been dealing with such rumors surrounding his family his entire life, it seemed almost ridiculous that someone from the province wouldn’t recognize his name and start spewing vitriol on sight. Yet, there was no sort acknowledgment of his position on her part. It made the pause awkward as he waited for a reaction that was never going to come and once it dawned on Timaeus that she really didn’t know who he was, he couldn’t help, but shake his head in disbelief as another laugh came tumbling out.
He couldn’t deny it though, it was nice to clearly see that there was at least someone from the province who didn’t seem to think he was a murderer on sight. It was refreshing, to say the least.
A small part him also didn’t want her to know. At least for now.
Eager to end the awkwardness and explain why he had spent looking at her rather expectantly for what would now be no reason, he decided to tell her part of the truth. “I also happen to call the Gorge home as well, Zelenia,” Tim said with a smirk, trying out her name on his tongue for the first time. Although it was a lovely name, just as beautiful as the girl who bore it, it didn’t sit quite right with him. It felt a little off. It felt too formal for a girl who acted so casually around the man she didn’t realize was the baron. Zelenia felt sultry. It belonged to a temptress, not the bubbly rambly girl tucked up in his arms. It just felt wrong
“Can I call you Leni?” He suddenly blurted out, instantly wishing he could take it back in case it overstepped any boundaries she had. “I’m just… terrible with names,” He said almost sheepishly, a small blush of embarrassment creeping onto his face as he admitted one of his faults to her.
“You can call me Tim if you’d like, a lot of people do,” This statement from him did help him chase away that embarrassment as another grin appeared almost involuntarily on his face.
He was so cheerful. He was so happy. This was rather odd for him and yet, he couldn’t stop. Even though his cheeks hurt from grinning like an idiot so much, he couldn’t bring himself into that stoic Baron of Eubocris mindset he normally held around the people of his province. Not with this girl, who oddly enough didn’t seem to mind that she was just accidentally dunked into the water. She clearly wasn’t like other girls that he had met in the past, she was… different. But in a good sort of way.
Could it be those differences that kept his usually stoic nature back?
Adjusting his hold on her one last time, just to account for her now holding onto his shoulders, or at least that’s what he told himself. Timaeus wouldn’t realize this until much later, but that adjustment brought her closer to him, raising small goosebumps where her skin touched his, even through the layers of soaked fabric. It sent a small shiver down his spine, which he attributed to the cold water clinging to him.
Sure, that’s definitely it, isn’t it Tim?
Once he was sure he wasn’t going to drop her, he started to make his way to the shore. He moved much more slowly now, burdened by the weight of Leni. Not that he struggled with her, oh no, with the way she was built, she was no different than carrying a lack sack of supplies. Instead, he was more careful with his footing as he wanted to ensure that Leni did not fall again. He was silent as he carefully moved forward, balancing himself in such a way that he wouldn’t risk falling if another pit appeared. This wasn’t a bad thing though as he assumed she would go on another amusing ramble. For some reason, he liked hearing her talk even though he knew others would be annoyed with it.
However, if Leni glanced up, she may notice a flicker of annoyance in his expression, especially as they moved closer to shore. It had nothing to do with her though, It was his stupid hair. The stray little bits that had clung to his forehead were now dripping murky seawater down his face into his eyes and it was bugging him to no end. He tried to ignore it for as long as he could, but there was a point he just couldn’t take it any longer.
Pausing when the water was now just starting to hug his hips, Tim adjusted Leni again, moving her in such a way that she’d be to reach the offenders. “It’s getting in my eyes,” He said simply, assuming Leni would know immediately what he meant as the stray hairs as there wasn’t anything else near his eyes. “I can’t reach them, please, could you move them? Push them back.”
Without realizing it, Tim had just asked Leni to run her hands through his hair.
He just wanted to get them out of his face, but it would be easy to see him asking for the gesture as something else...
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This character is currently a work in progress.
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When Leni mentioned that him “saving” her was a debt she may not be able to pay, the Sil-like side of him wanted to come out to play. It wanted to suggest the countless ways a pretty girl like her could repay the baron and if this had been four years ago, Timaeus would have freely allowed this side to reign free, but he managed to keep him contained for now. Timaeus lived by different standards, morals that would now do him no good in breaking. So he ended the conversation and hid that part of him with a simple statement, delivered with a small cheeky smirk, “We’ll discuss that later.”
Glancing at her, there was just no possible way he could ignore how beautiful she was and now that the shock of seeing someone with hair the color of fire had worn off, he began to notice other things as well. Like her eyes. Although they were as dark as mud, Timaeus found himself easily being lost in their depths. They were like magnets, pulling him in. She was also thin, but not slight enough to bring about concerns over whether or not she had enough to eat. No, her elegant silk dress made it very clear that she was someone who had access to more than a few drachmas, to say the very least.
Though as Timaeus took in the sight of the dress now, he hoped that whatever pocket she got her coins from, it would be a little bit deeper than most.
As the dress was made of silk, it clearly did not survive the girl’s tumble into the lake. He smirked at her attempts to cover herself. Too late for that. he silently thought as he looked away just the same in order to give her the privacy she clearly wanted. She was a woman of high status, oogling would only lead him into a whole heap of trouble.
He felt a rush of blood rush to his cheeks when he saw Leni bite her lower lip, driving that Sil-like side of him absolutely crazy. He closed his eyes to keep himself under his control. He was a man. He liked pretty things like Leni. It was natural, but he knew that reacting in such a manner would be no good for anyone. She may be noble and besides it was just a nerve thing, right?
“Of Eubocris, you say?” Tim said as a bemused smirk crawled across his face. He paused for a moment, waiting to see if any sort of glimmer of recognition would pass over her. After all, his name couldn’t have been too uncommon in the province, surely she would vaguely be aware of who the baron was at the moment, especially given the chaos that had been unleashed upon the Valaoritis household only two years before. The death of his brother was good gossip fodder and as someone who had been dealing with such rumors surrounding his family his entire life, it seemed almost ridiculous that someone from the province wouldn’t recognize his name and start spewing vitriol on sight. Yet, there was no sort acknowledgment of his position on her part. It made the pause awkward as he waited for a reaction that was never going to come and once it dawned on Timaeus that she really didn’t know who he was, he couldn’t help, but shake his head in disbelief as another laugh came tumbling out.
He couldn’t deny it though, it was nice to clearly see that there was at least someone from the province who didn’t seem to think he was a murderer on sight. It was refreshing, to say the least.
A small part him also didn’t want her to know. At least for now.
Eager to end the awkwardness and explain why he had spent looking at her rather expectantly for what would now be no reason, he decided to tell her part of the truth. “I also happen to call the Gorge home as well, Zelenia,” Tim said with a smirk, trying out her name on his tongue for the first time. Although it was a lovely name, just as beautiful as the girl who bore it, it didn’t sit quite right with him. It felt a little off. It felt too formal for a girl who acted so casually around the man she didn’t realize was the baron. Zelenia felt sultry. It belonged to a temptress, not the bubbly rambly girl tucked up in his arms. It just felt wrong
“Can I call you Leni?” He suddenly blurted out, instantly wishing he could take it back in case it overstepped any boundaries she had. “I’m just… terrible with names,” He said almost sheepishly, a small blush of embarrassment creeping onto his face as he admitted one of his faults to her.
“You can call me Tim if you’d like, a lot of people do,” This statement from him did help him chase away that embarrassment as another grin appeared almost involuntarily on his face.
He was so cheerful. He was so happy. This was rather odd for him and yet, he couldn’t stop. Even though his cheeks hurt from grinning like an idiot so much, he couldn’t bring himself into that stoic Baron of Eubocris mindset he normally held around the people of his province. Not with this girl, who oddly enough didn’t seem to mind that she was just accidentally dunked into the water. She clearly wasn’t like other girls that he had met in the past, she was… different. But in a good sort of way.
Could it be those differences that kept his usually stoic nature back?
Adjusting his hold on her one last time, just to account for her now holding onto his shoulders, or at least that’s what he told himself. Timaeus wouldn’t realize this until much later, but that adjustment brought her closer to him, raising small goosebumps where her skin touched his, even through the layers of soaked fabric. It sent a small shiver down his spine, which he attributed to the cold water clinging to him.
Sure, that’s definitely it, isn’t it Tim?
Once he was sure he wasn’t going to drop her, he started to make his way to the shore. He moved much more slowly now, burdened by the weight of Leni. Not that he struggled with her, oh no, with the way she was built, she was no different than carrying a lack sack of supplies. Instead, he was more careful with his footing as he wanted to ensure that Leni did not fall again. He was silent as he carefully moved forward, balancing himself in such a way that he wouldn’t risk falling if another pit appeared. This wasn’t a bad thing though as he assumed she would go on another amusing ramble. For some reason, he liked hearing her talk even though he knew others would be annoyed with it.
However, if Leni glanced up, she may notice a flicker of annoyance in his expression, especially as they moved closer to shore. It had nothing to do with her though, It was his stupid hair. The stray little bits that had clung to his forehead were now dripping murky seawater down his face into his eyes and it was bugging him to no end. He tried to ignore it for as long as he could, but there was a point he just couldn’t take it any longer.
Pausing when the water was now just starting to hug his hips, Tim adjusted Leni again, moving her in such a way that she’d be to reach the offenders. “It’s getting in my eyes,” He said simply, assuming Leni would know immediately what he meant as the stray hairs as there wasn’t anything else near his eyes. “I can’t reach them, please, could you move them? Push them back.”
Without realizing it, Tim had just asked Leni to run her hands through his hair.
He just wanted to get them out of his face, but it would be easy to see him asking for the gesture as something else...
When Leni mentioned that him “saving” her was a debt she may not be able to pay, the Sil-like side of him wanted to come out to play. It wanted to suggest the countless ways a pretty girl like her could repay the baron and if this had been four years ago, Timaeus would have freely allowed this side to reign free, but he managed to keep him contained for now. Timaeus lived by different standards, morals that would now do him no good in breaking. So he ended the conversation and hid that part of him with a simple statement, delivered with a small cheeky smirk, “We’ll discuss that later.”
Glancing at her, there was just no possible way he could ignore how beautiful she was and now that the shock of seeing someone with hair the color of fire had worn off, he began to notice other things as well. Like her eyes. Although they were as dark as mud, Timaeus found himself easily being lost in their depths. They were like magnets, pulling him in. She was also thin, but not slight enough to bring about concerns over whether or not she had enough to eat. No, her elegant silk dress made it very clear that she was someone who had access to more than a few drachmas, to say the very least.
Though as Timaeus took in the sight of the dress now, he hoped that whatever pocket she got her coins from, it would be a little bit deeper than most.
As the dress was made of silk, it clearly did not survive the girl’s tumble into the lake. He smirked at her attempts to cover herself. Too late for that. he silently thought as he looked away just the same in order to give her the privacy she clearly wanted. She was a woman of high status, oogling would only lead him into a whole heap of trouble.
He felt a rush of blood rush to his cheeks when he saw Leni bite her lower lip, driving that Sil-like side of him absolutely crazy. He closed his eyes to keep himself under his control. He was a man. He liked pretty things like Leni. It was natural, but he knew that reacting in such a manner would be no good for anyone. She may be noble and besides it was just a nerve thing, right?
“Of Eubocris, you say?” Tim said as a bemused smirk crawled across his face. He paused for a moment, waiting to see if any sort of glimmer of recognition would pass over her. After all, his name couldn’t have been too uncommon in the province, surely she would vaguely be aware of who the baron was at the moment, especially given the chaos that had been unleashed upon the Valaoritis household only two years before. The death of his brother was good gossip fodder and as someone who had been dealing with such rumors surrounding his family his entire life, it seemed almost ridiculous that someone from the province wouldn’t recognize his name and start spewing vitriol on sight. Yet, there was no sort acknowledgment of his position on her part. It made the pause awkward as he waited for a reaction that was never going to come and once it dawned on Timaeus that she really didn’t know who he was, he couldn’t help, but shake his head in disbelief as another laugh came tumbling out.
He couldn’t deny it though, it was nice to clearly see that there was at least someone from the province who didn’t seem to think he was a murderer on sight. It was refreshing, to say the least.
A small part him also didn’t want her to know. At least for now.
Eager to end the awkwardness and explain why he had spent looking at her rather expectantly for what would now be no reason, he decided to tell her part of the truth. “I also happen to call the Gorge home as well, Zelenia,” Tim said with a smirk, trying out her name on his tongue for the first time. Although it was a lovely name, just as beautiful as the girl who bore it, it didn’t sit quite right with him. It felt a little off. It felt too formal for a girl who acted so casually around the man she didn’t realize was the baron. Zelenia felt sultry. It belonged to a temptress, not the bubbly rambly girl tucked up in his arms. It just felt wrong
“Can I call you Leni?” He suddenly blurted out, instantly wishing he could take it back in case it overstepped any boundaries she had. “I’m just… terrible with names,” He said almost sheepishly, a small blush of embarrassment creeping onto his face as he admitted one of his faults to her.
“You can call me Tim if you’d like, a lot of people do,” This statement from him did help him chase away that embarrassment as another grin appeared almost involuntarily on his face.
He was so cheerful. He was so happy. This was rather odd for him and yet, he couldn’t stop. Even though his cheeks hurt from grinning like an idiot so much, he couldn’t bring himself into that stoic Baron of Eubocris mindset he normally held around the people of his province. Not with this girl, who oddly enough didn’t seem to mind that she was just accidentally dunked into the water. She clearly wasn’t like other girls that he had met in the past, she was… different. But in a good sort of way.
Could it be those differences that kept his usually stoic nature back?
Adjusting his hold on her one last time, just to account for her now holding onto his shoulders, or at least that’s what he told himself. Timaeus wouldn’t realize this until much later, but that adjustment brought her closer to him, raising small goosebumps where her skin touched his, even through the layers of soaked fabric. It sent a small shiver down his spine, which he attributed to the cold water clinging to him.
Sure, that’s definitely it, isn’t it Tim?
Once he was sure he wasn’t going to drop her, he started to make his way to the shore. He moved much more slowly now, burdened by the weight of Leni. Not that he struggled with her, oh no, with the way she was built, she was no different than carrying a lack sack of supplies. Instead, he was more careful with his footing as he wanted to ensure that Leni did not fall again. He was silent as he carefully moved forward, balancing himself in such a way that he wouldn’t risk falling if another pit appeared. This wasn’t a bad thing though as he assumed she would go on another amusing ramble. For some reason, he liked hearing her talk even though he knew others would be annoyed with it.
However, if Leni glanced up, she may notice a flicker of annoyance in his expression, especially as they moved closer to shore. It had nothing to do with her though, It was his stupid hair. The stray little bits that had clung to his forehead were now dripping murky seawater down his face into his eyes and it was bugging him to no end. He tried to ignore it for as long as he could, but there was a point he just couldn’t take it any longer.
Pausing when the water was now just starting to hug his hips, Tim adjusted Leni again, moving her in such a way that she’d be to reach the offenders. “It’s getting in my eyes,” He said simply, assuming Leni would know immediately what he meant as the stray hairs as there wasn’t anything else near his eyes. “I can’t reach them, please, could you move them? Push them back.”
Without realizing it, Tim had just asked Leni to run her hands through his hair.
He just wanted to get them out of his face, but it would be easy to see him asking for the gesture as something else...
“Ah, that’s a shame,” Timaeus said quietly when Leni admitted that she hadn’t been to Eubocris in many years. He surprisingly felt torn over her response. A large part of him was relieved, now there would be no way she would know of the rumors that surrounded him and his family. That was very obviously a good thing, but still, there was an odd twinge of sadness mixed in that he really didn’t understand, “Perhaps someday you could return to the Gorge? Those mountains just have a way of calling us back,” He said with a small laugh. Hinting at how he was also a bit of a traveler himself or at least, he used to be. Now that he was baron, he didn’t seem to have the luxury of being able to leave Colchis at the drop of a hat. No, instead the farthest he could go now was the City of Midas and that was hardly the sort of thrilling adventure he craved ever so desperately.
Though, luckily at least today was a little bit different from the others. Especially since he couldn’t recall the last time he had to wade out to “rescue” a damsel in distress and have them both end up soaked to the bone.
“No! No… no,” He said quickly in reassurance when Leni suddenly became self-conscious of her rambling. It was true, her tendency to talk seemingly on-end without needing to pause was peculiar, but Timaeus found it far from ridiculous, "I don't mind it -- It's a bit..." He started to say, but he was forced to pause midway through as he struggled to find the right word to describe how he felt. Charming and endearing were ones that immediately jumped out to him, but they felt too strong for a pair of strangers. That is what they were, of course. Granted, the closeness, the intimacy, they now shared made it naturally difficult for Timaeus to want to label them as such, but at the end of the day, that's what they were. After all, he barely knew her name and she didn't know the entirety of his. They were still barely acquaintances. Using such charged words wouldn't end well.
To be honest, he rather liked how relaxed she seemed to be in his rescuer's embrace. And the way her arm rested on his shoulder... it was less for support and more for comfort. Even the slight shill from the goosebumps raised in every place her skin touched him, shielded by layers of soaked clothes, didn't seem to bother him. In fact, it felt so pleasant, so desirable, that he wanted to pull her closer to him. If that was even possible at this point.
All this was possible thanks to the instant trust she seemed to hold in him and the admiration he already held for her. Timaeus didn't know her thoughts. He wasn't a mind reader. If he finished his thoughts with something too strong... it might ruin that. She might pull away, demand to be put down. She was more than certainly capable of walking at this point as the water was just barely at his waist. He didn't want her to do that. Not yet at least.
"Delightful." He finally said with a small shake of his head as if to reprimand himself already for his word choice. Delightful? That was the best you could really do? It barely even made sense! But Timaeus was never a wordsmith. He never claimed to be. Hell, he struggled with remembering people's names. Being able to instantly sort through hundreds of words to find the perfect one was never going to be a skillset of his.
Oh well, too late at this point to take it back. "It's quite nice not just having to listen to the water." He clarified with a small grin knowing full well that any other girl in their situation would have probably been quietly resigned to silence while Tim had been guiding the boat back to shore. It was expected of them, but figuring they only were in this position now because of Leni's rambling... maybe it might be a good thing to buck the trend others had come to expect.
He also didn't necessarily agree with the notion that Leni was now a frightful mess. So what if her hair was wet and her face was dark with the running makeup? Was she or was she not just dunked in the ocean? Timaeus would be more concerned if she had come out of the water looking as flawless as she had been while she was in the long forgotten boat... and besides her soaked state gave him a nice view before she sheepishly covered himself. Could that be what spurred on this weird feeling in him?
Tim grinned at her when she accepted the nickname he suggested. Zelenia was a lovely name, he wouldn't even think twice in regards to calling it beautiful, like her. However, it felt almost too dangerous for the young baron. Similar to Leni, he found the name romantic, but not in a fairytale sort of way. Zelenia sounded like a name for hushed, breathless whispers uttered with eyelids barely open. Something said across pillows or between echoing pillars of a quiet corridor. It was something said under one's breath before lips crashed into each other... again. It was a beg for more. It was a beg for her with the same exotic touch as her flaming hair. It was too dangerous for him to utter while he didn't know how she felt.
Damn. He didn't even really know how he felt right now.
It was becoming clear to him that he was falling hard and falling fast, but for what? He didn't know her. She didn't know him. All he knew was that it was the excitement she brought that was pulling him in. This was an adventure to his poor landlocked mind yearning, begging, to be able to escape the dull life he had come to know. She was new. She was exciting. She wouldn't last. He needed to regain control of his heart and remind it who was really in control here. But who was he kidding? It took orders from no one. Not even Timaeus himself.
Only Leni could seem to coax it to change. She made it beat faster by just uttering his name and charming in the same sentence.
"It's not really," Tim said sheepishly as he ducked his head, desperate to hide the slow blush crawling up his cheeks. He didn't think of anything about himself as charming. He was ... just Tim. Sil was the charmer, he was the one who was always able to sweep a girl off her feet with a smile here, some whispered words there. He didn't bother with that, not while he deemed it too risky because who knew where a jealous husband or angry brother was lurking. No, instead he was far more straightforward when he craved the touch of another like his brother did. He would travel to Megaris and spend a night there with a flute girl. More expensive, but far easier. He didn't bother anymore with being the charming type. Not when he knew that the rest of his life would be for the good of the family name. Not for himself. Charming was not the word to use to describe this man.
If she thought for a second that he was going to put her down when he asked for her to adjust the stray hairs clinging to his forehead, Leni was sorely mistaken. No, he enjoyed holding her close and he didn't want to let that moment end so quickly. If pressed, he'd just say that it was the noble and honorable thing to do. Which was true, but only part of the reason why he wouldn't be setting her down until there was no more ocean lapping at his feet.
When her fingers danced across his skin, it brought goosebumps with every feather-like touch she made. She pushed the stragglers back into the damp, dark-colored crop that was now flattened against his head, his natural curls forming instead of the pushed back style he preferred. His heart thundered in his chest and his breathing grew ever so slightly more shallow as he glanced down at her before the natural urge to close his eyes took over. They started to flicker open when he felt the last little bit be moved away and he caught a little glimpse of that lower lip bite. Oh god. Was she doing this on purpose? Trying to get him to melt under her touch? Oh god, it was working. Holy hell, it was working.
Her next move seemed to show that was exactly her plan as her hands moved from his hair to catching the drops of seawater running down his temple, check, and even his nose. Closing his eyes again, he lost himself in the moment of her touch and how it felt. He was careful though. As loudly as his heart seemed to beat, he controlled his breath, not letting on he felt. Only when she moved away for the last time did he finally breathe a deep sigh of relief and allowed himself to let it be just as needy for air as hers.
"Much better. Thank you." He said quietly, slowly coming down from the high Leni brought on as his eyelids fluttered open. For a moment the two of them stood in silence, just letting the moment wash over them, that was until Tim readjusted his grip on her once more as he restarted the trek back to shore.
For the most part, it passed in relative silence, or just about as silent as you can get with Leni. Not that it was a bad thing, but the two of them were just too caught up in their own minds for much else.
Before Tim realized it, they were already back to the shore.
Stepping onto the sand he finally set her down onto the sandy beach right at the place where the dampened sand brought in by the rolling tide gave way to the dry and gritty particles. Far enough away from the water’s edge to abate any worries of the ocean from her, but still close enough to keep their skin from burning if they decided to sit. “Wait a moment,” He said once her feet touched the ground, almost as delicate as a butterfly landing on a rose. Although the beauty of the sand was questionable at best… hers was not. With every passing moment, Tim could feel himself be drawn in a little more, like back when he was younger and Eros made him pine after some village girl he happened to run across, but this was far more intense. This was stronger. This was faster. It confused and thrilled him all at once.
Crossing the hot sand to Thrasos he winced as it burned the soles of his feet making him regret not bringing his sandals closer to the water’s edge before casting them aside. Those were the first things he would need to take care of once he got the boat back to shore. He moved impatiently from foot to foot as he fiddled with the decorated cloth he used for a saddle. His quick and agitated movements put Thrasos on edge, which Tim tried to calm with hushed whispers of incoherent nonsense, but that wouldn’t do much while his feet were set alight with the blazing heat of the sand. However, it didn't take him too long to get the saddle and snatch up the discarded shoes nearby. He almost immediately turned on his heels and headed back to Leni, extremely grateful for the cool, damp sand moistened by the waves.
As painful as the hot sand was, the burning sensation was helpful in cooling the effects Eros seemed to have on him that moment by shaking all those confusing thoughts from earlier out of his mind as he approached the girl.
“Not the most pleasant smelling,” He said with a small shrug in reference to the fact that it was a saddle blanket, meant to be on a horse, not a human. “but it’ll have to do.” With that, he draped the fabric over her shoulders, encouraging her to take it and wrap herself in it. Not only would it keep her warm as the cold ocean water dried, but it would give her the coverage she sought back out on the water. Hopefully, that would be enough to offset the fact that it reeked with a horse smell that you either loved or hated. Tim didn’t know just quite yet which group Zelenia would put herself in.
Although she was now safely on shore, Tim could say to himself that he had done a good job and go on his merry way, but he knew that there were still a few things that needed to be righted….quite literally.
“Here, sit down and relax while I go get the -” Tim started to say before trailing off at the end to glance back at the overturned rowboat back out on the open water. His original plan had been simple enough. Zelenia would stay here on the shore, ensuring that she would be fine while Tim would go back one more time to retrieve the boat. However, that wouldn’t be happening now as in the time that had transpired, the boat had managed to float closer to where Tim knew the drop off from the gentle bay to the open ocean to be. Just like how he couldn’t hold Leni and flip the boat, Tim knew he wouldn’t be able to safely bring it back if it floated out into the open ocean and he would need to tread water... which would definitely be the case by the time he got it.
Unfortunately, the boat was just a lost cause now.
“Nevermind,” He said simply as he lowered himself onto the sand next to Zelenia. Leaning back on one arm, he noticed how his gaze kept flickering between her hair, her eyes, her lips… it was almost as if he couldn’t tear his own eyes away from her. He wanted to drink in every detail so that when they inevitably parted ways, he would still be able to cling to what she looked like. Somehow, he could just tell he wouldn’t want to forget her anytime soon. Not if Aphrodite had her say in things.
Pulling his thoughts back in for a moment, Timaeus regained his composure momentarily as he glanced her up and down one last time to make sure that she was physically okay. Not that she wouldn’t be, he had been in the water longer than her, but the protective instinct he had developed over the past few years of serving as the head of his house commanded him to do it anyway. Satisfied that she wasn’t hurt, his mind drifted back to the question that had been nagging at him since he had first spotted her up on the cliff edge. What on earth led her to this kind of mess in the first place.
"So..." He started to say with a confused tone, clearly trying to gather all the pieces together in his mind, "How did a merchant's daughter end up floating out to sea?" He had a little bit a teasing inflection as they both knew that she was never in any sort of danger in the end. Oh boy, that was something he probably never let her live down.
Though in case if she took offense to it, which he doubted at this point he tacked on at the end, "Why were you out in that boat in the first place?"
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“Ah, that’s a shame,” Timaeus said quietly when Leni admitted that she hadn’t been to Eubocris in many years. He surprisingly felt torn over her response. A large part of him was relieved, now there would be no way she would know of the rumors that surrounded him and his family. That was very obviously a good thing, but still, there was an odd twinge of sadness mixed in that he really didn’t understand, “Perhaps someday you could return to the Gorge? Those mountains just have a way of calling us back,” He said with a small laugh. Hinting at how he was also a bit of a traveler himself or at least, he used to be. Now that he was baron, he didn’t seem to have the luxury of being able to leave Colchis at the drop of a hat. No, instead the farthest he could go now was the City of Midas and that was hardly the sort of thrilling adventure he craved ever so desperately.
Though, luckily at least today was a little bit different from the others. Especially since he couldn’t recall the last time he had to wade out to “rescue” a damsel in distress and have them both end up soaked to the bone.
“No! No… no,” He said quickly in reassurance when Leni suddenly became self-conscious of her rambling. It was true, her tendency to talk seemingly on-end without needing to pause was peculiar, but Timaeus found it far from ridiculous, "I don't mind it -- It's a bit..." He started to say, but he was forced to pause midway through as he struggled to find the right word to describe how he felt. Charming and endearing were ones that immediately jumped out to him, but they felt too strong for a pair of strangers. That is what they were, of course. Granted, the closeness, the intimacy, they now shared made it naturally difficult for Timaeus to want to label them as such, but at the end of the day, that's what they were. After all, he barely knew her name and she didn't know the entirety of his. They were still barely acquaintances. Using such charged words wouldn't end well.
To be honest, he rather liked how relaxed she seemed to be in his rescuer's embrace. And the way her arm rested on his shoulder... it was less for support and more for comfort. Even the slight shill from the goosebumps raised in every place her skin touched him, shielded by layers of soaked clothes, didn't seem to bother him. In fact, it felt so pleasant, so desirable, that he wanted to pull her closer to him. If that was even possible at this point.
All this was possible thanks to the instant trust she seemed to hold in him and the admiration he already held for her. Timaeus didn't know her thoughts. He wasn't a mind reader. If he finished his thoughts with something too strong... it might ruin that. She might pull away, demand to be put down. She was more than certainly capable of walking at this point as the water was just barely at his waist. He didn't want her to do that. Not yet at least.
"Delightful." He finally said with a small shake of his head as if to reprimand himself already for his word choice. Delightful? That was the best you could really do? It barely even made sense! But Timaeus was never a wordsmith. He never claimed to be. Hell, he struggled with remembering people's names. Being able to instantly sort through hundreds of words to find the perfect one was never going to be a skillset of his.
Oh well, too late at this point to take it back. "It's quite nice not just having to listen to the water." He clarified with a small grin knowing full well that any other girl in their situation would have probably been quietly resigned to silence while Tim had been guiding the boat back to shore. It was expected of them, but figuring they only were in this position now because of Leni's rambling... maybe it might be a good thing to buck the trend others had come to expect.
He also didn't necessarily agree with the notion that Leni was now a frightful mess. So what if her hair was wet and her face was dark with the running makeup? Was she or was she not just dunked in the ocean? Timaeus would be more concerned if she had come out of the water looking as flawless as she had been while she was in the long forgotten boat... and besides her soaked state gave him a nice view before she sheepishly covered himself. Could that be what spurred on this weird feeling in him?
Tim grinned at her when she accepted the nickname he suggested. Zelenia was a lovely name, he wouldn't even think twice in regards to calling it beautiful, like her. However, it felt almost too dangerous for the young baron. Similar to Leni, he found the name romantic, but not in a fairytale sort of way. Zelenia sounded like a name for hushed, breathless whispers uttered with eyelids barely open. Something said across pillows or between echoing pillars of a quiet corridor. It was something said under one's breath before lips crashed into each other... again. It was a beg for more. It was a beg for her with the same exotic touch as her flaming hair. It was too dangerous for him to utter while he didn't know how she felt.
Damn. He didn't even really know how he felt right now.
It was becoming clear to him that he was falling hard and falling fast, but for what? He didn't know her. She didn't know him. All he knew was that it was the excitement she brought that was pulling him in. This was an adventure to his poor landlocked mind yearning, begging, to be able to escape the dull life he had come to know. She was new. She was exciting. She wouldn't last. He needed to regain control of his heart and remind it who was really in control here. But who was he kidding? It took orders from no one. Not even Timaeus himself.
Only Leni could seem to coax it to change. She made it beat faster by just uttering his name and charming in the same sentence.
"It's not really," Tim said sheepishly as he ducked his head, desperate to hide the slow blush crawling up his cheeks. He didn't think of anything about himself as charming. He was ... just Tim. Sil was the charmer, he was the one who was always able to sweep a girl off her feet with a smile here, some whispered words there. He didn't bother with that, not while he deemed it too risky because who knew where a jealous husband or angry brother was lurking. No, instead he was far more straightforward when he craved the touch of another like his brother did. He would travel to Megaris and spend a night there with a flute girl. More expensive, but far easier. He didn't bother anymore with being the charming type. Not when he knew that the rest of his life would be for the good of the family name. Not for himself. Charming was not the word to use to describe this man.
If she thought for a second that he was going to put her down when he asked for her to adjust the stray hairs clinging to his forehead, Leni was sorely mistaken. No, he enjoyed holding her close and he didn't want to let that moment end so quickly. If pressed, he'd just say that it was the noble and honorable thing to do. Which was true, but only part of the reason why he wouldn't be setting her down until there was no more ocean lapping at his feet.
When her fingers danced across his skin, it brought goosebumps with every feather-like touch she made. She pushed the stragglers back into the damp, dark-colored crop that was now flattened against his head, his natural curls forming instead of the pushed back style he preferred. His heart thundered in his chest and his breathing grew ever so slightly more shallow as he glanced down at her before the natural urge to close his eyes took over. They started to flicker open when he felt the last little bit be moved away and he caught a little glimpse of that lower lip bite. Oh god. Was she doing this on purpose? Trying to get him to melt under her touch? Oh god, it was working. Holy hell, it was working.
Her next move seemed to show that was exactly her plan as her hands moved from his hair to catching the drops of seawater running down his temple, check, and even his nose. Closing his eyes again, he lost himself in the moment of her touch and how it felt. He was careful though. As loudly as his heart seemed to beat, he controlled his breath, not letting on he felt. Only when she moved away for the last time did he finally breathe a deep sigh of relief and allowed himself to let it be just as needy for air as hers.
"Much better. Thank you." He said quietly, slowly coming down from the high Leni brought on as his eyelids fluttered open. For a moment the two of them stood in silence, just letting the moment wash over them, that was until Tim readjusted his grip on her once more as he restarted the trek back to shore.
For the most part, it passed in relative silence, or just about as silent as you can get with Leni. Not that it was a bad thing, but the two of them were just too caught up in their own minds for much else.
Before Tim realized it, they were already back to the shore.
Stepping onto the sand he finally set her down onto the sandy beach right at the place where the dampened sand brought in by the rolling tide gave way to the dry and gritty particles. Far enough away from the water’s edge to abate any worries of the ocean from her, but still close enough to keep their skin from burning if they decided to sit. “Wait a moment,” He said once her feet touched the ground, almost as delicate as a butterfly landing on a rose. Although the beauty of the sand was questionable at best… hers was not. With every passing moment, Tim could feel himself be drawn in a little more, like back when he was younger and Eros made him pine after some village girl he happened to run across, but this was far more intense. This was stronger. This was faster. It confused and thrilled him all at once.
Crossing the hot sand to Thrasos he winced as it burned the soles of his feet making him regret not bringing his sandals closer to the water’s edge before casting them aside. Those were the first things he would need to take care of once he got the boat back to shore. He moved impatiently from foot to foot as he fiddled with the decorated cloth he used for a saddle. His quick and agitated movements put Thrasos on edge, which Tim tried to calm with hushed whispers of incoherent nonsense, but that wouldn’t do much while his feet were set alight with the blazing heat of the sand. However, it didn't take him too long to get the saddle and snatch up the discarded shoes nearby. He almost immediately turned on his heels and headed back to Leni, extremely grateful for the cool, damp sand moistened by the waves.
As painful as the hot sand was, the burning sensation was helpful in cooling the effects Eros seemed to have on him that moment by shaking all those confusing thoughts from earlier out of his mind as he approached the girl.
“Not the most pleasant smelling,” He said with a small shrug in reference to the fact that it was a saddle blanket, meant to be on a horse, not a human. “but it’ll have to do.” With that, he draped the fabric over her shoulders, encouraging her to take it and wrap herself in it. Not only would it keep her warm as the cold ocean water dried, but it would give her the coverage she sought back out on the water. Hopefully, that would be enough to offset the fact that it reeked with a horse smell that you either loved or hated. Tim didn’t know just quite yet which group Zelenia would put herself in.
Although she was now safely on shore, Tim could say to himself that he had done a good job and go on his merry way, but he knew that there were still a few things that needed to be righted….quite literally.
“Here, sit down and relax while I go get the -” Tim started to say before trailing off at the end to glance back at the overturned rowboat back out on the open water. His original plan had been simple enough. Zelenia would stay here on the shore, ensuring that she would be fine while Tim would go back one more time to retrieve the boat. However, that wouldn’t be happening now as in the time that had transpired, the boat had managed to float closer to where Tim knew the drop off from the gentle bay to the open ocean to be. Just like how he couldn’t hold Leni and flip the boat, Tim knew he wouldn’t be able to safely bring it back if it floated out into the open ocean and he would need to tread water... which would definitely be the case by the time he got it.
Unfortunately, the boat was just a lost cause now.
“Nevermind,” He said simply as he lowered himself onto the sand next to Zelenia. Leaning back on one arm, he noticed how his gaze kept flickering between her hair, her eyes, her lips… it was almost as if he couldn’t tear his own eyes away from her. He wanted to drink in every detail so that when they inevitably parted ways, he would still be able to cling to what she looked like. Somehow, he could just tell he wouldn’t want to forget her anytime soon. Not if Aphrodite had her say in things.
Pulling his thoughts back in for a moment, Timaeus regained his composure momentarily as he glanced her up and down one last time to make sure that she was physically okay. Not that she wouldn’t be, he had been in the water longer than her, but the protective instinct he had developed over the past few years of serving as the head of his house commanded him to do it anyway. Satisfied that she wasn’t hurt, his mind drifted back to the question that had been nagging at him since he had first spotted her up on the cliff edge. What on earth led her to this kind of mess in the first place.
"So..." He started to say with a confused tone, clearly trying to gather all the pieces together in his mind, "How did a merchant's daughter end up floating out to sea?" He had a little bit a teasing inflection as they both knew that she was never in any sort of danger in the end. Oh boy, that was something he probably never let her live down.
Though in case if she took offense to it, which he doubted at this point he tacked on at the end, "Why were you out in that boat in the first place?"
“Ah, that’s a shame,” Timaeus said quietly when Leni admitted that she hadn’t been to Eubocris in many years. He surprisingly felt torn over her response. A large part of him was relieved, now there would be no way she would know of the rumors that surrounded him and his family. That was very obviously a good thing, but still, there was an odd twinge of sadness mixed in that he really didn’t understand, “Perhaps someday you could return to the Gorge? Those mountains just have a way of calling us back,” He said with a small laugh. Hinting at how he was also a bit of a traveler himself or at least, he used to be. Now that he was baron, he didn’t seem to have the luxury of being able to leave Colchis at the drop of a hat. No, instead the farthest he could go now was the City of Midas and that was hardly the sort of thrilling adventure he craved ever so desperately.
Though, luckily at least today was a little bit different from the others. Especially since he couldn’t recall the last time he had to wade out to “rescue” a damsel in distress and have them both end up soaked to the bone.
“No! No… no,” He said quickly in reassurance when Leni suddenly became self-conscious of her rambling. It was true, her tendency to talk seemingly on-end without needing to pause was peculiar, but Timaeus found it far from ridiculous, "I don't mind it -- It's a bit..." He started to say, but he was forced to pause midway through as he struggled to find the right word to describe how he felt. Charming and endearing were ones that immediately jumped out to him, but they felt too strong for a pair of strangers. That is what they were, of course. Granted, the closeness, the intimacy, they now shared made it naturally difficult for Timaeus to want to label them as such, but at the end of the day, that's what they were. After all, he barely knew her name and she didn't know the entirety of his. They were still barely acquaintances. Using such charged words wouldn't end well.
To be honest, he rather liked how relaxed she seemed to be in his rescuer's embrace. And the way her arm rested on his shoulder... it was less for support and more for comfort. Even the slight shill from the goosebumps raised in every place her skin touched him, shielded by layers of soaked clothes, didn't seem to bother him. In fact, it felt so pleasant, so desirable, that he wanted to pull her closer to him. If that was even possible at this point.
All this was possible thanks to the instant trust she seemed to hold in him and the admiration he already held for her. Timaeus didn't know her thoughts. He wasn't a mind reader. If he finished his thoughts with something too strong... it might ruin that. She might pull away, demand to be put down. She was more than certainly capable of walking at this point as the water was just barely at his waist. He didn't want her to do that. Not yet at least.
"Delightful." He finally said with a small shake of his head as if to reprimand himself already for his word choice. Delightful? That was the best you could really do? It barely even made sense! But Timaeus was never a wordsmith. He never claimed to be. Hell, he struggled with remembering people's names. Being able to instantly sort through hundreds of words to find the perfect one was never going to be a skillset of his.
Oh well, too late at this point to take it back. "It's quite nice not just having to listen to the water." He clarified with a small grin knowing full well that any other girl in their situation would have probably been quietly resigned to silence while Tim had been guiding the boat back to shore. It was expected of them, but figuring they only were in this position now because of Leni's rambling... maybe it might be a good thing to buck the trend others had come to expect.
He also didn't necessarily agree with the notion that Leni was now a frightful mess. So what if her hair was wet and her face was dark with the running makeup? Was she or was she not just dunked in the ocean? Timaeus would be more concerned if she had come out of the water looking as flawless as she had been while she was in the long forgotten boat... and besides her soaked state gave him a nice view before she sheepishly covered himself. Could that be what spurred on this weird feeling in him?
Tim grinned at her when she accepted the nickname he suggested. Zelenia was a lovely name, he wouldn't even think twice in regards to calling it beautiful, like her. However, it felt almost too dangerous for the young baron. Similar to Leni, he found the name romantic, but not in a fairytale sort of way. Zelenia sounded like a name for hushed, breathless whispers uttered with eyelids barely open. Something said across pillows or between echoing pillars of a quiet corridor. It was something said under one's breath before lips crashed into each other... again. It was a beg for more. It was a beg for her with the same exotic touch as her flaming hair. It was too dangerous for him to utter while he didn't know how she felt.
Damn. He didn't even really know how he felt right now.
It was becoming clear to him that he was falling hard and falling fast, but for what? He didn't know her. She didn't know him. All he knew was that it was the excitement she brought that was pulling him in. This was an adventure to his poor landlocked mind yearning, begging, to be able to escape the dull life he had come to know. She was new. She was exciting. She wouldn't last. He needed to regain control of his heart and remind it who was really in control here. But who was he kidding? It took orders from no one. Not even Timaeus himself.
Only Leni could seem to coax it to change. She made it beat faster by just uttering his name and charming in the same sentence.
"It's not really," Tim said sheepishly as he ducked his head, desperate to hide the slow blush crawling up his cheeks. He didn't think of anything about himself as charming. He was ... just Tim. Sil was the charmer, he was the one who was always able to sweep a girl off her feet with a smile here, some whispered words there. He didn't bother with that, not while he deemed it too risky because who knew where a jealous husband or angry brother was lurking. No, instead he was far more straightforward when he craved the touch of another like his brother did. He would travel to Megaris and spend a night there with a flute girl. More expensive, but far easier. He didn't bother anymore with being the charming type. Not when he knew that the rest of his life would be for the good of the family name. Not for himself. Charming was not the word to use to describe this man.
If she thought for a second that he was going to put her down when he asked for her to adjust the stray hairs clinging to his forehead, Leni was sorely mistaken. No, he enjoyed holding her close and he didn't want to let that moment end so quickly. If pressed, he'd just say that it was the noble and honorable thing to do. Which was true, but only part of the reason why he wouldn't be setting her down until there was no more ocean lapping at his feet.
When her fingers danced across his skin, it brought goosebumps with every feather-like touch she made. She pushed the stragglers back into the damp, dark-colored crop that was now flattened against his head, his natural curls forming instead of the pushed back style he preferred. His heart thundered in his chest and his breathing grew ever so slightly more shallow as he glanced down at her before the natural urge to close his eyes took over. They started to flicker open when he felt the last little bit be moved away and he caught a little glimpse of that lower lip bite. Oh god. Was she doing this on purpose? Trying to get him to melt under her touch? Oh god, it was working. Holy hell, it was working.
Her next move seemed to show that was exactly her plan as her hands moved from his hair to catching the drops of seawater running down his temple, check, and even his nose. Closing his eyes again, he lost himself in the moment of her touch and how it felt. He was careful though. As loudly as his heart seemed to beat, he controlled his breath, not letting on he felt. Only when she moved away for the last time did he finally breathe a deep sigh of relief and allowed himself to let it be just as needy for air as hers.
"Much better. Thank you." He said quietly, slowly coming down from the high Leni brought on as his eyelids fluttered open. For a moment the two of them stood in silence, just letting the moment wash over them, that was until Tim readjusted his grip on her once more as he restarted the trek back to shore.
For the most part, it passed in relative silence, or just about as silent as you can get with Leni. Not that it was a bad thing, but the two of them were just too caught up in their own minds for much else.
Before Tim realized it, they were already back to the shore.
Stepping onto the sand he finally set her down onto the sandy beach right at the place where the dampened sand brought in by the rolling tide gave way to the dry and gritty particles. Far enough away from the water’s edge to abate any worries of the ocean from her, but still close enough to keep their skin from burning if they decided to sit. “Wait a moment,” He said once her feet touched the ground, almost as delicate as a butterfly landing on a rose. Although the beauty of the sand was questionable at best… hers was not. With every passing moment, Tim could feel himself be drawn in a little more, like back when he was younger and Eros made him pine after some village girl he happened to run across, but this was far more intense. This was stronger. This was faster. It confused and thrilled him all at once.
Crossing the hot sand to Thrasos he winced as it burned the soles of his feet making him regret not bringing his sandals closer to the water’s edge before casting them aside. Those were the first things he would need to take care of once he got the boat back to shore. He moved impatiently from foot to foot as he fiddled with the decorated cloth he used for a saddle. His quick and agitated movements put Thrasos on edge, which Tim tried to calm with hushed whispers of incoherent nonsense, but that wouldn’t do much while his feet were set alight with the blazing heat of the sand. However, it didn't take him too long to get the saddle and snatch up the discarded shoes nearby. He almost immediately turned on his heels and headed back to Leni, extremely grateful for the cool, damp sand moistened by the waves.
As painful as the hot sand was, the burning sensation was helpful in cooling the effects Eros seemed to have on him that moment by shaking all those confusing thoughts from earlier out of his mind as he approached the girl.
“Not the most pleasant smelling,” He said with a small shrug in reference to the fact that it was a saddle blanket, meant to be on a horse, not a human. “but it’ll have to do.” With that, he draped the fabric over her shoulders, encouraging her to take it and wrap herself in it. Not only would it keep her warm as the cold ocean water dried, but it would give her the coverage she sought back out on the water. Hopefully, that would be enough to offset the fact that it reeked with a horse smell that you either loved or hated. Tim didn’t know just quite yet which group Zelenia would put herself in.
Although she was now safely on shore, Tim could say to himself that he had done a good job and go on his merry way, but he knew that there were still a few things that needed to be righted….quite literally.
“Here, sit down and relax while I go get the -” Tim started to say before trailing off at the end to glance back at the overturned rowboat back out on the open water. His original plan had been simple enough. Zelenia would stay here on the shore, ensuring that she would be fine while Tim would go back one more time to retrieve the boat. However, that wouldn’t be happening now as in the time that had transpired, the boat had managed to float closer to where Tim knew the drop off from the gentle bay to the open ocean to be. Just like how he couldn’t hold Leni and flip the boat, Tim knew he wouldn’t be able to safely bring it back if it floated out into the open ocean and he would need to tread water... which would definitely be the case by the time he got it.
Unfortunately, the boat was just a lost cause now.
“Nevermind,” He said simply as he lowered himself onto the sand next to Zelenia. Leaning back on one arm, he noticed how his gaze kept flickering between her hair, her eyes, her lips… it was almost as if he couldn’t tear his own eyes away from her. He wanted to drink in every detail so that when they inevitably parted ways, he would still be able to cling to what she looked like. Somehow, he could just tell he wouldn’t want to forget her anytime soon. Not if Aphrodite had her say in things.
Pulling his thoughts back in for a moment, Timaeus regained his composure momentarily as he glanced her up and down one last time to make sure that she was physically okay. Not that she wouldn’t be, he had been in the water longer than her, but the protective instinct he had developed over the past few years of serving as the head of his house commanded him to do it anyway. Satisfied that she wasn’t hurt, his mind drifted back to the question that had been nagging at him since he had first spotted her up on the cliff edge. What on earth led her to this kind of mess in the first place.
"So..." He started to say with a confused tone, clearly trying to gather all the pieces together in his mind, "How did a merchant's daughter end up floating out to sea?" He had a little bit a teasing inflection as they both knew that she was never in any sort of danger in the end. Oh boy, that was something he probably never let her live down.
Though in case if she took offense to it, which he doubted at this point he tacked on at the end, "Why were you out in that boat in the first place?"
