Kelton nodded as he listened to Nova, his eyes focused on the trees past them, "Alright, I don't think we will, but just in case, let us go." But he didn't start walking right away, in fact he decided to head back into the water, "Or, we could just stay here for a few more minutes, it is rather enjoyable, and plus, it's not like the sun is setting yet. We have a whole day to spend hear, so why not enjoy it!!!" Then, as if to make a statement he ploped down in the water sort of making a bit of splash, "It's not that cold, maybe you should get in, at least half way like I am, then try it again. And no need to worry about any clothing being soiled, we can always wash them." H was smiling a bit now, and waited for Nova to at least try getting into the river.
"Yeah, let's!" Nova grinned, leaning back slightly and dipping their feet back into the water for a few seconds. "That is what I like to hear." They laughed at Kelton's entrance into the water. He looked like he was having a good time, and it wasn't like they couldn't just get out if it got too cold. "Alright, alright." Nova pulled themself to their feet and hesitently stepped into the river. "Ah, it's cold!" They took a few more steps into the river, finally making their way to where Kelton was standing. It was absolutely freezing, but refreshing as well. "Huh. If you get past the temperature, it's actually kind of nice," Nova admitted, scooping up a bit of water and flinging it at Kelton.
Kelton rolled his eyes, "It isn't all that cold, in fact for me it could be almost described as a warm." He said shrugging. He was really enjoying himself, a lot more than he thought he would be. He had figured that they would set out on the quest then end it as soon as possible, but at this moment he didn't even care if they reached the castle, in fact he almost wished that they could stay at the river forever. Yet, he knew that it wouldn't be. Kelton had duties that needed to be attended to-no matter how much he did not want to do them- and he was sure that Nova had plans, or at least an idea of where they wanted to go from there. Seeing Nova splash water at him, he chuckled and tried to doge it, but still got decently wet. "Oh no you don't!" He said as he splashed water back at them.
"Yeah, so, you're crazy," Nova frowned at Kelton with a teasing smile. "I can hardly feel my feet right now." They glanced down at the water and wiggled their toes a bit. This river really was beautiful and they were glad Kelton had agreed to the scenic route to the castle. That was probably one advantage of only traveling with one other person– it was easier to align motivations. With a whole group, who knew how much sweet-talking they would have to do to stop at a few sights. Nova grinned with delight at Kelton getting splashed, then gasped and tried to dodge away from the water he splashed at them. They were unsuccessful, given that their legs were short and they'd only gotten a few seconds of warning. "Heh, you've just started a water fight!" Nova cupped some water in their hands and threw it at Kelton with a wildly happy smile.
Kelton groaned playfully shaking his head, "Of course, the one who thinks that they are in charge of the butterflies think that I'm crazy." Smriking, he just gave Nova a strange look, before saying, "I don't believe that this is a water fight, I believe, let's see. . ." he trailed for a second, "I DECLARE WAR!!!" He yelled as he threw water back at Nova, this was actually quit a bit of fun. It reminded him of when his family would have outings and such, and the fun he and his would have doing things like this. Those memories sort of sparked up a side of him that had been hidden in him for a while.
"Hey, I know I'm crazy. I just wanted to let you know that you are too." Nova shrugged, brushing a few strands of wet hair away from their eyes. "It's the least I could do." They grinned at Kelton, a slightly confused look on their face. "Ahh!" Nova laughed and held their hands in front of their face. It didn't do much against the water, though. "Oh, you're on!" They scooped more water in the direction of Kelton, eyes playful. Kelton was turning out to be even more fun than they had thought he would be. A water fight– no, a water war– wasn't what they had expected at all, but they weren't complaining at all. This was a lot of fun.
Kelton grinned happily, really enjoying this. "Oh hush up! Me crazy!! That's. . ..well, crazy!" He said in between splashes and dodges. He had sort of moved into the deeper area of the river, and knew he was at a disadvantage, so he started to move so that Nova was there instead of him. Then sort of pushing his limits, and getting caught up in the moment, tackled Nova.
(I know it's short, and I'm showy, I wish I could give you more, but I'm half awake at this point)
(You're totally fine!)
"Crazy right!" Nova exclaimed, following Kelton towards the center of the river. It probably wasn't a good idea for them, given their height, but they were having fun. Following him turned on them quite soon when he somehow made them stand in the deep part instead of him. "Aww, come on! There's no way I'll be able to win now–" Nova started, sweeping some more water towards Kelton. And then he tackled them. Nova managed to take a gasp of air before getting completely dunked into the freezing water.
Kelton chuckled as he tussled with Nova underwater. Then lifted them both up for a breath of air, "I think that's point, I don't think that I'd let you win, at all." This was way too much fun for him, and he hoped that he wasn't pushing it too far, after all, he didn't want to ruin their friendship, or aquaintenship -if that was even a thing- or even their partnership. Just in case, he let Nova up so that they could breath.
Nova kept their eyes open, a delighted smile on their face. This was a completely unforeseen turn of events, but they weren't complaining. There was nothing like wrestling in an ice-cold river. Though, thanks to the water war, Nova wasn't really feeling the cold anymore. "Well, I hope you wouldn't. I like to earn my victories," Nova replied, taking a deep breath of air and grinning at him. It was highly unlikely that they would win this, however. Kelton obviously had the upper hand.
Kelton smirked taking another deep breath before dunking Nova again, "I wouldn't, it wouldn't be fun to give up a fight, at least this soon." He knew that he had a pretty good chance of winning, but he also wanted to be fair to Nova, so he eased up on the other guy a little bit, "So tell me." He said while they were above water, "Have you ever done anything like this before?"
Nova's eyebrows raised slightly at Kelton's smirk and they just managed to take a breath of air before getting dunked again. Even thought they were obviously losing the war, they were having a lot of fun. The water was refreshing instead of freezing– a nice turn of events. Kelton let them out of the water and Nova quickly brushed their hair out of their eyes. "If by 'this' you mean have a water fight in a river in the middle of nowhere with someone you met yesterday, then no." They smirked at Kelton and flicked their fingers at him. "I never thought I'd do it, but it's a lot of fun."
(Oh my gosh, I did not see this as a notification. Oof, I suck)
Kelton rolled his eyes at Nova's comment, "Not exactly what I meant, but I guess that's true too for me." After a few minutes of dunking each other Kelton eventually let Nova win. He was growing tired, and he knew that sooner or later they would need to catch something to eat. He swam out from underneath Nova's grip and caught his breath, "Goodness, that was tough, I didn't realize that you were that stong." He said between pants, "How about a rematch, a little later, maybe after we find the castle, hhm?"
(Oh, yikes.)
"What did you mean, then?" Nova asked, pushing Kelton back into the water. They were slowly gaining the upper hand, and smiled wide when they won. "Ha! I win!" Nova let Kelton go and fell backwards into the water with a splash. "Gods, it was. And thank you. I do try," They laughed and gave Kelton a smile. "Yeah, let's do that. Maybe you'll end up winning that time." Nova let out a breath and pulled themself to their feet. They were completely soaked, so it was probably a good thing hunting was the next activity on the list. It would give them time to dry out their clothes a bit.
(It's short, and also three days late, I'm sorry, I didn't exactly see the notification for this)
"Never mind that." Kelton said shaking his head, he began to tread the water back to the shallower part so that he could dry of a little before they went hunting. "Of course I'll end up winning, I'll have a better idea on how to fight and win against you." He said with a grin, and began to shiver a little bit, "Now I'm cold, what about you? Hhhm?"
(Oh, gods, sorry. I thought I sent it but my computer must have freaked out and not done that.)
"Alright, fine." Nova shrugged and moved towards the shallows. The cold of the water was starting to seep into their bones, making them shiver a bit. "Well, what if I have a secret move you don't know about?" Nova sked, smirking at him. "You'd be done for, then." They moved towards the beach and stepped out of the water. With it no longer swirling around their legs, they were a bit warmer, but their wet clothes presented another problem. There was a slight breeze, though their clothes made it feel like it was a wind from the dead of winter. "Yeah, just a little bit." Nova shivered again. Having the warm sun on their bare skin would feel really nice, so they started wrestling their shirt off. It was a spectacle to watch, since the shirt kept clinging onto their skin and making it even harder to remove. Eventually, though, they managed to pull it off. "Gods, that was hard," Nova grumbled, wringing the water out of it and setting it onto a sunny rock. Without the wet clothing to suck in cold, the breeze was actually very pleasant. The sun helped too, of course. "You should come out of the river, Kelton! It's much warmer out here." Nova spread their arms and soaked in the sun for a few seconds, then squeezed the water from their hair.
Kelton groaned a little hearing that, "Hhm, someone's being a little bit cocky, and i don't believe that either, I'm sure my amazing fighting skills shall let me defeat thee!!!!" He was getting a little bit dramatic, which to him was sort of a good thing, he growing more comfortable around the other person, and he actually enjoyed Nova's company, "It isn't that cold Nova, I think that it is the perfect temperature, at least for me." He said with a shrug, but Nova was right, it was getting a bit cold. After a few more minutes Kelton finally stood up again, and got out of the water, "Hopefully our next camp will be near a river, it's just oh so nice around one."
"Ha, you're hilarious." Nova rolled their eyes playfully, a small smile on their lips. They were really glad that Kelton was growing more and more fun to be around. "I mean, 'thee'? Honey, please." Nova shook their head, water droplets flying around their head. "You just said you were cold. Did you just want to remind me of the temepture so I would get out?" They stared at Kelton, an exaggeratedly sad look on their face. "I thought you liked me!" The sad expression only managed to last another few seconds before Nova burst out laughing. Sad expressions didn't stick around very often with them. While they waited for Kelton to get out of the water, Nova soaked in as much sun as they could. It was ridiculous how good the sunlight felt after being in freezing water. They opened their eyes at the sounds of Kelton getting out of the river. "Ha, you finally come to your senses." Nova turned around to look at him. "Yeah, I agree. Rivers are wonderful."
((Thank you!!))
Kelton sighed, "I'm not trying to be funny at all, but I guess I'll take the compliment." He said giving Nova a playful glare as he walked over to him. "Hey, I don't judge the fact that you think you're the king of butterflies, so don't tease me when I say thee. IN FACT, I think I might as well say it more often." He crossed his arms a little bit, "Of course I would do that, I wouldn't want to share my river any longer." He said with a smug look on his face, then he saw the face Nova was making and sort of panicked, "Oh gods, I didn't mean to hurt you're feelings, please don't loo. . .Oh, you're only joking." He sighed louder to show his annoyance then sat down on the ground next to him, "Oh, hush, it's not my fault that I enjoy colder water."
"Well… I guess that's fair. But don't blame me if I laugh whenever you say it. It's kind of funny." Nova smirked at him and ran a hand through their hair. Oh, gods, they had gotten Kelton so good. They burst out laughing again at his total freak-out. "Ha, you totally fell for that!" Nova let out one last giggle and dropped onto the ground. "Sorry, darling, but I couldn't help myself." They shrugged, tilting their head back and closing their eyes. "I guess so." It would be nice if this could just go on forever. Traveling the world, seeing new things… of course, that had to wait until they got all that treasure from the castle under the hill. Even though the castle seemed like a barrier between them and their dreams, Nova wasn't annoyed at it. It was just another adventure to tackle. "Are you worried about the castle?" They asked suddenly, opening their eyes and looking over at Kelton.
Kelton grumbled a little bit, "That's fair. . .I guess." He mumbled, still giving the Nova the stink eye, he wasn't too happy that he had fallen for that, but he hated to see people sad or hurt by him. If he actually hurt someone physically or verbally, he normally would apologize so many times trying to fix the situation. Unless he completed disliked the person, then he could care less. He zoned out a bit, not really paying attention to what Nova was saying at that point, and began to think of his family back at home, or what was left of them. The treasures I would collect from the castle should go to them, or at least some of it right? Ppffh, what am I even talking about, I might not even make it out of there alive. . . He hadn't really taken it seriously that he might die in the castle, that these days that he spent travelling there might be his last, Good gods, what have I gotten myself into? He jumped slightly when he heard Nova's voice pierce through the silence and brought him back to reality, "I am terrified," he answered bluntly, "What about thou?"
Nova kept grinning at Kelton, though it faded when he answered their question. "Yeah, I can get that. I'm trying not to think about it too much. Just… enjoying the journey, you know?" They sighed. They weren't exactly terrified of the castle, but that might have just been because they weren't thinking about it. Honestly, Nova wasn't really focused on the whole 'you might die' thing at all. They probably weren't going to accept it until they were breathing their final breaths. Nova wasn't really a 'future plans' kind of person. Things happened, and they just went along with it. "But we're going to be fine. I know it sounds stupid, but we're going to be the first people to make it out of the castle alive. I just know it." Nova patted his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.
Kelton sighed, "I don't understand you, you tell me to not think about dying too much? And to just enjoy the journey?" He tried to keep his voice calm and not raise it at Nova, it wasn't the other's fault that he was terrified to die, "I just have so much that I want to do before well, before I die, but if something goes wrong, I just might due to all of this." he shuddered thinking about that, "I know I must sound like a voice of doom or something but thou must understand, I'm just not prepared to die. Even if you think we'll survive."
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