He had been so lost in admiring the mantas that he had let his guard down; a dangerous state of affairs that had already gotten him in trouble before. Just because he had started his bath alone didn't mean he would remain that way, and Kel jumped at the low, rumbling voice coming from the edge of the pool, flinching as his attention was torn away from the beautiful creatures nearby.
He had started to turn, remembering too late that his knife - his clothes - were out of reach on shore, inconveniently behind whoever had showed up when the purred flirtation swept over his skin like an unwanted caress and he ducked back down into the water as he finished twisting to face the newcomer, so only his shoulders remained bared. Amber eyes glared at the rude voyeur, with his dark red hair and pale skin that proclaimed him not a local, as if the heavy pack didn't make that clear enough.
Except... except the hair was a little different, a little longer and shaggier and the body was leaner than he remembered, but he knew those cheekbones. That straight nose. The hooded eyes and the curve of that smile. Kel stared, chest tight with confusion and utter disbelief, completely in denial of what his eyes saw but his head and mind couldn't believe.
Didn't dare believe, or it would be the end of him. He'd only just begun to accept his place in this world and move forward again, but the vision - the dream, the nightmare, the beacon - on the shore threw him back into the past once more. He didn't even realize that goosebumps had broken out over his skin, or that he had wrapped his arms around himself in shock as he stared hungrily, drinking the sight of that handsome body in with as much fear that it was an illusion as hope that he was real.
"R... rance?" he asked, voice cracking in a way it hadn't since he'd been fifteen. "Is that... are you... r-really him?"
He had started to turn, remembering too late that his knife - his clothes - were out of reach on shore, inconveniently behind whoever had showed up when the purred flirtation swept over his skin like an unwanted caress and he ducked back down into the water as he finished twisting to face the newcomer, so only his shoulders remained bared. Amber eyes glared at the rude voyeur, with his dark red hair and pale skin that proclaimed him not a local, as if the heavy pack didn't make that clear enough.
Except... except the hair was a little different, a little longer and shaggier and the body was leaner than he remembered, but he knew those cheekbones. That straight nose. The hooded eyes and the curve of that smile. Kel stared, chest tight with confusion and utter disbelief, completely in denial of what his eyes saw but his head and mind couldn't believe.
Didn't dare believe, or it would be the end of him. He'd only just begun to accept his place in this world and move forward again, but the vision - the dream, the nightmare, the beacon - on the shore threw him back into the past once more. He didn't even realize that goosebumps had broken out over his skin, or that he had wrapped his arms around himself in shock as he stared hungrily, drinking the sight of that handsome body in with as much fear that it was an illusion as hope that he was real.
"R... rance?" he asked, voice cracking in a way it hadn't since he'd been fifteen. "Is that... are you... r-really him?"
