"I don't think it'd be too hard to find another beach and leave you there, practically erasing the ordeal we've had." Kayin leaned sideways, looking down at the ground with a clinical eye. "We should be safe here," Kayin said, directing Aspen down onto an island in the middle of a green lake.
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"It wouldn't erase the emotional impact this ordeal has created." Gold pointed out. "That's practically been the most terrible part." He was exaggerating, but Kayin didn't need to know that. "Oh, that's kind of pretty!" Gold peered at the ground below. The sight of the lake made him very excited. It reminded him of home, though the lakes at home were a lot more blue than green.
Kayin smiled lopsidedly, revealing sharp canines. "Yes, my main concern was whether or not the aesthetic appealed to you." He began pulling off her leather armor, then the tunic underneath, leaving the cloth tightly wrapped around their chest in place. She washed the tunic in the water, watching sand and dirt spiral off the cloth into the water. "If you even think about touching my armor, I will eviscerate you."
"Oh, thank you very much. I appreciate it." Gold quickly jumped off the dragon and hurried to the edge of the water. He paused for a second before dipping his hands into it. "Hikam se de seyanal, leyi velio li." Gold had no idea if the prayer would work, or if it would even be able to reach the one it was meant for, but he had to try. "Why the beaf would I do that, huh?" He looked over at Kayin, still crouched on the edge of the water.
"Because you might attempt to stab me, then hijack my dragon and escape without me, leaving me on this island." Kayin pulled off their boots and their pants, then jumped into the water, floating on her back to rinse out his hair.
"Right, because hijacking a dragon is such a good idea. What makes you think your dragon would even think about listening to me?" Gold rolled his eyes. He didn't quite get why they had suddenly stopped to have a beach day, but he wasn't complaining. He wasn't going to strip like Kayin, but he could stick his feet in the water for a little while.
"Aspen might listen to you. And I don't know why you'd hijack my dragon." Kayin got ot of the water, then sat with his back to Gold and rebound her chest with a clean strip of cloth, then redressed and checked all of the knives.
"Might. Exactly. And rest assured, I'm not going to take your dragon." Gold stood and waded a little ways into the water. He didn't look at Kayin as they got out of the water, instead gazing across the water. If he closed his eyes, he could sort of imagine he was back home.
"Alright. Next stop is the nearest market town, for supplies and to see if I can find a map." Kayin adjusted his shoes, looking at Gold, slightly confused.
"Oh, we're finally getting a map? Oh, thank hikama, you've come to your senses." Gold opened his eyes to look at Kayin with a triumphant smile. "What? You're looking at me weird." The smile quickly melted into a scowl.
"Yeah, you just got into the water with all your clothes on, psychopath. And for the record, my senses have already been there, you just haven't noticed." Kayin crossed her arms.
"Well, I'm not going to take all my clothes of in front of a stranger. And I only went in up to my knees, it's not that bad." Gold sighed heavily. "Well, that's just because I haven't witnessed you using them."
“Oh, you have,” Kayin shot back. “How about both times I saved your ass? Come on, we’ve got places to be.”
"I suppose," Gold sighed, not sounding very convinced. Well, whatever got him back home. "Alright, fine, let's go." He waded back to the shore and towards Kayin. He was not looking forward to another ride on the dragon, but it was the only way.
Kayin offered Gold a hand after climbing up onto Aspen’s back. “Look, I don’t want to start whatever this is off on the wrong foot, so sorry for being kind of a bitch.”
Gold accepted Kayin's outstretched hand, knowing that he would struggle a little getting up onto the dragon otherwise. He was taken by surprise by Kayin's apology. Why would she do that? Didn't he kind of hate Gold? Or at least not like him very much? "Oh, uh… thanks? Sorry… also, for being a little short with you. Um."
“You don’t particularly have a reason to apologize. I did threaten to run you through with my blade, after all. I wouldn’t like to travel hundreds of miles on bad terms with someone who may or may not be famous.”
Gold looked away from Kayin. "I was just being polite." He raised his eyebrows at their last sentence. "I'm not famous, don't worry. But I would appreciate to not be on bad terms with you," Gold added, half-thinking that this whole conversation was useless anyway. After all, he was planning to leave him as soon as he could. So there was no point in being nice or making up with her.
“Alright then. Now that we’ve gotten the sappy shit out of the way.” Kayin signalled for Aspen to take off and the dragon did a little hop and spiralled upward, nearly vertically.
"Beaf!" Gold cursed, grabbing onto Kayin. At this point, it was instinct to grab onto them whenever Aspen so much as moved. He kind of hated that it had come to this, but he couldn't stop the rush of fear that ran through him whenever the dragon took off. No matter what Kayin said, he was very sure he was going to fall off the dragon at some point.
“For God’s sake! I’m not going to let you fall off.” Kayin gently pulled on Gold’s arm. “You really need to relax.”
"Are you sure about that?" Gold asked, reluctantly loosening his grip on Kayin slightly. "What would you do if I did happen to slip off?" His tone was a bit sarcastic, but he actually wanted to know. Just in case, so he could know if falling off would be a death sentence.
“Um, did you not hear me? I said I wouldn’t let you fall.” Kayin signalled for Aspen to level out. “In the rare occasion that you do fall off, I would magik you back onto my dragon, or have Aspen turn back to catch you.”
"Right, I heard you. I'm just being careful," Gold grumbled, letting out a small sigh when the dragon leveled out. This was much better. "Alright, I guess." He wasn't so sure about the safety of either of those options, but at least Kayin had a plan. He should probably relax a bit more now. This was becoming embarrassing.
"You sure don't act like it." Kayin leaned back slightly, then turned around on A spends back to face Gold. "So. How'd you get here?"