fh_trips | Zakynthos, Wednesday Morning/Afternoon

"Ohmygosh!"

See Vette, see Vette gasp in some crazy combination of delight and shock, tightening her grip as Sidon jumped, and then giggling like an idiot and pressing her face against his shoulder for a moment as she recovered from both.

At least it was only a moment, though she was briefly tempted to stay there for a few moments more. She was grinning again as she lifted her head, giving him another squeeze just so he knew she was alright. Or maybe as encouragement? She felt safe out here with him, and was starting to really get into this. If he wanted to show off, well, she was finding that she was very keen to have him show off.

Clearly, this now required Sidon to enjoy at least one more sweeping loop through the water with a few more little jumps, even though he was pretty certain there was probably little more he could do to inspire a reaction quite as wonderful as that one.

He was fairly certain he could do this all day and be perfectly content with it, but he would be loathed to traipse anywhere near the point where even a minute portion of the excitement would start to wane for Vette. So after those extra few jumps, he turned his head slightly to call out, "Shall we head in now?"

Vette needed a moment to not go, 'Awww,' there, but she wasn't too terribly heartbroken, either. It was much easier to babble about how neat that had been when there wasn't water trying to splash up into her mouth as she spoke, anyway.

"Let's," she said, a laugh still evident in her voice. "We've got to come back this way too, right?"

"We wouldn't necessarily have to," said Sidon, who didn't much care for the idea of presenting an alternative but felt it was important to at least be honest about it, as he turned back toward the shore in an arc that was unnecessarily wide to take up a bit more time, "but it would be significantly easier," and more preferable, "to do so.

"Now," he added, slowing down a little on the approach, because that...made it easier to talk, yes, clearly, that was the reason why, "as far as the caves go, I can see one of two options: there's one we can enter via the water that flows through it and keep swimming, or there's one just off that small strip of beach there accessible by land. And as it is your tour, I shall naturally divert to the lady's choice."

Lady's choice in this particular situation was very, 'well, if I get to CHOOSE to start like this...'

The lady was also not going to put it that way, no.

"Well," Vette mused, "we're on a roll now, right? And I bet the cave you get to by water isn't going to be as busy as the one with some beach in front of it, too..."

Sidon chuckled a little, as he barely needed any elaborate reasoning to convince him toward that particular choice, but was ultimately pleased with whatever reasons would lead Vette that way. "Then we shall remain diligently on this roll and continue as such!" he announced happily, charging forward again with the motivation of a set direction, knowing that he'd slow down again when they neared the low gap in the white cliffs where the water flowed underneath the rocks into the cool darkness of the caves, taking his time, almost as slow as when they'd started, so they both could enjoy it. He had, after all, developed a strong fondness for these caves the moment he saw them, though he could hardly say there were his favorite thing about this trip so far. Not anymore, anyway.

"Great," Vette chirped, grinning... mostly at him, admittedly. This was the sightseeing tour, but the most interesting sight by far was still the one who she had gone on it with. "Have you explored all of these caves yet? Do you have a favorite?"

She was kind of really curious. Couldn't help it. He did almost everything with so much enthusiasm, and even if his reason happened to make no sense or confuse her or whatever, she'd be happy to hear it.

"I have explored most of them, yes," Sidon admitted, chuckling faintly, as he decided against mentioning that he'd actually spent the night out here instead of back at the hotel, feeling strangely embarrassed over his inability to fully adapt to the whole bed situation. It would have been pointless to bring it up, anyway, when they were just trying to enjoy each other's company...and the caves, too, of course. "And, actually, I believe this one would earn the auspicious title of my favorite; perhaps you'll see why for yourself. It goes back a little deeper than some of the others, and it's just...rather quiet...and peaceful...and beautiful."

"Sounds nice," Vette said, her tone a little wistful. "I've seen a lot of caves, but I wouldn't describe many of them as quiet or peaceful."

One or two managed to actually be a little pretty, maybe. That was something, right?

And there was the one problem Sidon might have had with this current set-up, though it was a minor complaint at best. With Vette on his back, he could hear that light wistfulness in her tone and he'd heard it before, so he could easily imagine the faint expression on her face that would go along with it, but he couldn't see it, and that was really too bad. Especially as he prompted her for more while gliding smoothly through the water.

"How would you describe them, then?"

"If I had to pick a word? Exciting, maybe," Vette offered. "Most of the caves I've been in have been hideouts for gangsters, or were infested with some kind of big, dangerous animal or another. Some of them managed to be pretty too, but it feels weird to be entering any kind of cave without having my blasters on me."

Because that was how you got dead.

"I assure you," said Sidon, grinning, "for better or for worse, you'll find no need for blasters in this cave. Though I suppose, if you'd like, I could go find an angry shark or a temperamental octopus to chase in here if you find calm and peaceful a bit too dull."

"Hmmm," Vette hummed, grinning. "Let's see how this cave tour goes, and we can go from there. I probably won't need to fight any sharks in order to enjoy it."

She had a suspicion, anyway.

"Fair enough," said Sidon, maneuvering easily through the wide mouth of the cave, and almost immediately soaking in the tranquil transition. "You just say the word, and we'll see what can be wrangled up. Especially since...there's really not too much to the cave than this, if I'm completely honest."

"Well," Vette said lightly, smiling around at the... the quiet, in here, mostly, "there's still pretty great company."

And now that Sidon was paddling around more sedately, she actually did chance sitting up.

"I can see why you like it," she added. "I'm sure there are plenty of places like this back home, but I've never seen any of them."

"It's the quiet of it that I think I like the most," Sidon admitted after a long moment of just enjoying the soft sound of the water moving against the walls of the cave as he pushed through it, the sound of Vette's voice slightly amplified, the fact that she seemed comfortable enough to sit up, making the adjustments in his position to compensate for the slight shifting of weight as he continued forward. "A bit like home, on sunnier days. And we've plenty of caves along the rivers and coasts, but it's nice to not have to worry about octoroks or lizalfos lying in wait around a bend like that."

Or maybe there would be, this time, which could make for an interesting adventure, but he was pretty sure it would be just as quiet and empty as all the other times he'd been here so far.

Vette was quiet, silently watching the way the little bit of light from outside filtered and scattered across the ceiling and walls, the water reflecting it almost eerily around them.

"On Ryloth," she said, at length, "some Twi'leks live in caverns. Not quite like this. Um, they're more dry, for starters. Ryloth is a very... extreme... world. But if the caverns go deep enough underground, then people are safe from the heat storms and the lyleks."

She glanced back down at him, teasing her lip with her teeth.

"I don't really remember those ones. I've heard about them, mostly, from other Twi'leks. Taunt and Flash and Plasmajack have more stories than I do. But sometimes I think about what it must be like, living life mostly underground. Probably not very different from Nar Shaddaa. You really don't see much of the sun there, either."

"Well, then," Sidon noted, a faint chuckle of amusement in his tone, though he seemed mostly thoughtful. "It seems to be my lucky day; two Twi'lek tidbits, and I didn't even have to ask!"

And he used that humor to help carrying him into his next question, a bit more hesitantly, because he understood it was significantly more personal, and he should really be avoiding personal questions if he wanted to continue to be distracted for his own personal hardships, but he just couldn't help being curious...

"How old were you when you left? You must have been quite young..."

There was a long pause, before Vette admitted, "I'm not entirely certain. Five, maybe?"

Before then, before she'd become property of that Rodian guy, she'd still been on Ryloth, just... working in the mines. She still had her mother and her sister. It wasn't great, but it was better than what had come after.

"It kind of all runs together, before a certain point."

And yet it didn't. Some of it stood out in painfully crisp, raw contrast from the rest.

"I can only imagine," Sidon mused, "and I mean that to the fullest extent, as before coming to Fandom, I have only lived in Zora's Domain, and even then, I've always wandered far more than others of my kind. Why, I believe I could say with confidence that I am the most well-traveled Zora in at least a few centuries. If not ever!"

Which was interesting, because, to hear Vette speak of where she was from, he felt as though he'd only experienced a small speck of what was really out there...

"Around this bend here," he added, "there's a bit of a rock ledge, if you might be feeling a need to..." To what, exactly? Get off? It was the very last thing Sidon would have wanted right now; he was quite content to go like this all day if he could, but he didn't want to dare assume about how she felt, how comfortable she was, if she was feeling even remotely uncomfortable, then he would just feel terrible if he hadn't at least given her the option "...stretch your legs or anything like that..."

"My legs?" Vette laughed a little at that. "You're the one who's been doing all the work, I should be asking you if you need a break," she teased.

... She was perfectly happy where she was at, and was quite happy to stay there for a while longer.

"I," she said, "think I'm doing pretty well, if I do say so myself."

"Oh, good," said Sidon. And then Sidon realized that he not only said that out loud, but that Vette more than likely felt the large sigh of relief that came with it. So what could he do at that point but to swim with it, letting out a laugh and just leaning in? "Splendid! That's marvelous to hear, and don't worry about me at all! You have easily been quite possibly the most wonderful and pleasant passenger I've ever had!"

And it was the truth, too. She hadn't even pulled his headtail once, which was much more than could be said for the multitude of hatchlings that had had the privileged.

Well, having two extremely sensitive head-tails of her own, Vette was well aware of how pulling was definitely not the done thing.

"Wonderful and pleasant, huh?" Vette laughed a little, herself. "Well, now you have me wondering if I ought to ask what the other ones have been like."

"About a third of your size," Sidon chuckled with the answer easily enough, "and stupendously rambunctious! The hatchlings always scramble to get to me first, as I am clearly one of the fastest!"

If he may be allowed to shine his own scales for a moment there.

"I bet you do everything you can to make sure they're having a great time, too," Vette said, smiling fondly. "I'd love to see that someday. You taking the younglings out for rides, them tripping all over one another to get their turn..."

She looked around the cave again, tilting her head thoughtfully.

"I should learn to swim."

Re: Keri Beach

in_sidon_we_trust - 2018-10-13 02:56 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Keri Beach

chirpchirpchirp - 2018-10-13 07:02 (UTC) - Expand