Welcome to Gaia! ::

Qaphsiel glanced around a couple of times before descending toward the water. For all of his playfulness, another part of his attention had been set aside for serious protective purposes. Perhaps she would never suspect that, but it was especially easy to hide darting eyes in the darkness, nervously tense muscles in play. Or perhaps all of that could be mistaken for self-consciousness, and his bravado just a front.

The cool water lapping about his feet was refreshing, though rising it was especially chilling on the legs. "The best way to get used to the water is to jump right in." The shock must almost be like getting kissed for the first time, too. He didn't expect her to jump in though. Most girls won't. So the boy is forced to jump in and call to them, and as a last resort splash them with water...

Qaphsiel slipped into the water when she had gone under, but waited until she came up to dunk his head under. Already dark in the moonlight, his hair became jet-black when wet. His distance from her remained discreet, partly because his wings were cumbersome, and partly so that he could maneuver if anything should happen. It was a natural and subconscious adjustment that he made.

He grinned and nodded when she agreed that the water felt nice. "How are your wounds? Feel better? And why not? It's not like it's a bad thing to be naked." He just did not feel any of that modesty and shame that she did, though he felt some note of appreciation from her that he couldn't help but feel proud of. Didn't she realize that she too was beautiful? Silly girl.

"It is my fault you were injured. I didn't intend to but it's still my responsibility." Listen to him spout such honorable stuff. But the truth was he did feel a bit guilty, now that he knew how helpless she was even with that strange magic. He could bend reality a little because he seemed to be able to do things with dreams and perception, but it wasn't overly useful in most instances (especially during the day). His physical strength though, he needed to be careful...

He watched her move past him, perplexed. "Why not let it down while you're still in the water?"

"Ah, yes," he nodded in understanding. Muscular strength and the strength of endurance were very different. He could see the latter was likely in this girl. She was adapting to new things, accepting the encounter of before in stride. This flexibility of mind (endurance of the mind) went hand-in-hand with physical endurance. It was very admirable.

He tilted his head faintly. Stumbling upon her words didn't seem in character; he wondered what she had been about to say. There was plenty of time to ponder this; he turned to the side and shielded his eyes. "All right, tell me when you're done." He had to wonder what a fireball would do to protect hair ties, however.

Qaphsiel turned just in time to see the ball pop and hear the hair ties fall to the ground in the darkness. More surprising was how she looked with her hair down. Perhaps it was the sweeping gesture it made as it fell down and settled. He stared at her for a moment, his face cast in shadow, and suddenly had no idea what they had been talking about before. He approached without really considering what he was doing and stood over her. "Ah, your injuries. We were discussing those, but you said they were all right." He reached out to touch a more discreet area of her chest. The wounds beneath his fingers were clean and warm but the swelling remained low.

"They feel all right. They're healing," his voice was velvety and quiet, and he nodded, "I'm glad."

His eyes widened and stared at her hand sliding along his hip. She stepped closer and curiously he glanced back up to look her in the eye. "Control like that takes practice, strength, and knowledge of one's body." The hand at her chest slid up behind her neck, the other rested at the small of her back. He leaned closer until their foreheads touched. His lips brushed hers. "That's all. You could learn it too."

Qaphsiel grinned, "You've already impressed me with your abilities. And you probably don't need anyone to protect you," he confessed. At the time protectiveness had taken over but to think about it now she was probably perfectly safe. So there had been no intention to lie to her.

This girl and their closeness were very bewitching. The control he spoke of a moment ago wavered when she kissed him. Who knows what may have happened if she had not broken the silence with a question, but it took him a moment to gather his thoughts to reply. In that time he pulled away a little, slipping back to hold her arms lightly. "I can see during the day, it's just the brightness that takes some time to adjust to." It was very difficult to adjust between extreme darkness (though there was the moon to guide him) and fiery light. "What violet light?"

"But you can use them to surprise someone, like you did tonight, then quickly run away." She had the ability, she just needed to develop that frame of mind.

"Yes I can walk during the day. I'm not a vampire," he chuckled. He just preferred the night. He was named after a creature of the night. "Just give me a few seconds to get used to it, I'll be fine."

Qaphsiel would not have been sorry to hold her all night. He rarely felt a bond with anyone, but this girl he was really drawn to. Whether it was due to circumstances or something else like compatibility, he was not the sort to know. All he knew were the things he witnessed, felt, and understood. Other things would either come in their time, or they were not worth knowing. She let go; he could not help but lean back and kiss her again, a longer one, held until he started to feel dizzy again and jumped away. It felt good to be in the chilly water. He was already treading water when he called back, "Yes, let's swim!"