Welcome to Gaia! ::

The ocean seemed almost to reach up for him as Lithian sank into it: a welcoming embrace of warmth, familiarity, power, and safety that never failed to make him feel at home. A shudder traversed his body, and he shut his eyes as he slipped beneath the surface. His hair fanned out in every direction, like a turquoise net. His scales relished in the endless moisture, and his magic rippled outwards, a hungry web of energized, invisible fingers, burying themselves in their element and dancing through it.

This, to Lithian, was always and would always be home.

They had made back to Eowyn safely, from Aisko, the trip longer and colder than seemed to agree with Casseth, but bearable, certainly, and over now. As promised, the immediate day after making it ashore, Casseth came with Lithian to the beaches of Eowyn. They chose a fairly remote location, far detached from the bustle of life in Taliuma proper. Lithian liked it that way. Though he had been raised on the outskirts of a great city himself, his young life had always been peaceful — remote, quiet — and he still appreciated things that way. While he might never be fully comfortable with the concept of removing himself from civilization entirely, he loved the balance of the in between.

Smiling some at the thought, Lithian turned, plucking lazily at his magic as he pivoted through the water, agile as a fish, or almost so. It relaxed all of him, to let go inside the comfort of such familiar surroundings and when he broke the surface, he was smiling broadly. Thoughts of what precisely his and Casseth’s relationship would mean to others, how they would tackle it, and what they would say all lingered at the back of his mind, but for this specific moment, he wanted only to relish in happiness.

“Casseth…” He eyed his friend — lover? — still waiting on the shore, and moved back into shallow water, stepping up the sand lightly, though the ocean still reached his waist. Well aware that Casseth was not comfortable with the water — could not even swim, to Lithian’s knowledge, though such a thought was horribly foreign to him — he tilted his head, softening his smile to something gentler and trying to look inviting. “Won’t you join me at all? I promise not to let the water hurt you…”

Lithian blinked, startled that Casseth moved out on his own so quickly. Nervous, yes, but still more confident than Lithian gave him credit for. But then again, Casseth had always been better at that than he. Smiling some, Lith reached out, settling his hands beneath the water at Cas’ hips and smiling as he dipped his head.

“Yes…” He brushed his lips over Cas’ forehead, then kissed his nose, and then his lips, lightly. He thumbed his fingers over Cas’ skin as he spoke. “Relax a bit…” His magic, like a directed tide, sent the water rippling up in a light current, pushing upwards to lift at Cas’ weight making him more buoyant. “Do you think you could come out further?”

Dipping close, Lithian kissed Cas’ temple, cheek, and then throat, keeping his grip steady as he edged — ever so gradually — backwards into deeper water. The water felt so natural to him, and, given his height, he could hold Cas steady even without the help of his magic to the point where Cas would be floating before his own feet ever left ground. To get to that point, though, he kept their progression gradual, and encased Casseth’s weight in a rippling cocoon of currents — light, for the most part, but there — ready to catch him if Casseth managed to slip.

Lithian couldn’t deny it was an interesting role reversal as far as he was concerned. In general, Casseth lead their ‘adventures’ as well as everything else. Casseth charged forward, challenged fear head on, and dragged Lithian along with him despite his tendency to handle risk with far more caution than Cas. Here, however, Lithian held the absolute upper ground, and it was strange — though not unsettling, passively satisfying, even — to watch Casseth experience uncertainties.

When the reached the edge of Cas’ range, Lithian held to Cas’ hips and leaned in again. “You’re alright? Try leaning your body out some…lifting your legs, and kicking, if you can. The water will carry you aloft better than the air can — it’s substantial — you just have to let it. It might help to think of it, though, like flying…pushing the water beneath your feet and holding yourself up with it as you would the wind beneath your wings…”

Lithian smiled, steadying Cas and bursting with pride. He took it slow, encouraging Casseth actively and guiding him along. They traversed a small section of the beach, back and forth, getting Casseth used to the basic feeling of moving through water. Understandably, Cas did not make it much past a few pedals of his feet on his own during this session, but Lithian felt it was a great success overall, regardless, and in the end, devolved to the both of them on the shore’s edge, locked together and ‘practicing’ techniques related to things wholly separated from swimming.

Lith shuddered as he rocked his hips closer, knees in the sand, toes in the ocean, and body fully soaked as he nipped at Casseth’s lips. “We ought…find someplace less public,” he suggested, “…if we’re to do this more than a moment or two longer…”

“But…” Lithian’s breath fluttered from him, words dying on an exhale, and he bit his lower lip as his lashes fell shut. “Casseth…” For a moment, Lithian forgot himself. Pulse thrumming hard in his wrists under Cas’ fingers, he felt his body rise on instinct, arching into Cas like a trained dancer.

Then, he remembered their location, and groaned.

“Cas.” He forced himself to pull his hands out from Cas’ pin, even as his cheeks burned, and he shook his head. “I’m not a woman, Casseth, you can’t just…if someone saw—”

“I don’t care if anyone sees.”

Lithian winced at the look on Cas’ face: confused and almost hurt at the rebuttal. “It’s not that. Cas, you know I don’t—what I’m meaning to say is…” He shut his eyes, frowning. “It’s different. Many aren’t alright with it…”

“I’m not out for anyone’s approval, Lithian…” Despite his words, though, Casseth seemed to have caught on to the seriousness in Lithian’s tone, and he backed off a fraction, allowing Lith to sit up and watching as he did. After a long moment, he sighed. “You wanna tell me what this is about? Did I do something wro—?”

“No!” Lithian blurted, flushing and immediately shaking his head before Casseth could so much as finish that statement. “No, I…no. You’ve don’t nothing wrong. You’ve done everything right, and I would love to have you…here…” His blush darkened further, “…just like this. But…it’s dangerous, you know? Bad enough that we’re not of the same race, but worse still that we’re both men on top of it. Some would aim to hurt us just for one or the other, but we’re both at once, and…have you…” Lithian winced, eyeing the sand as he fingered the tips of a lock of hair. “Have you thought about your father’s reaction…? Anyone who saw us together…you’ll get more stares than you used to, more hate than you used to…are you…certain you’re alright with that, too?”

Lithian flushed, and opened his mouth, frowning, mid dialogue to point out that Casseth didn’t walk around with his wings out, for the very reasons Lithian was stating. Eventually, however, he let the subject drop, for the most part, and simply urged Casseth up and with him. This time, Casseth didn’t object, and by the time they made it into Casseth’s house and confirmed they had the space to themselves, stressful topics were quickly forgotten in favor of more stress-relieving pursuits. Wet clothes found their way to the floor, and Casseth and Lith found their way to the bed.

The door, for better or for worse, never did manage to lock itself.