I wanna fade away with you

i'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck

"Well, there you have it, the thing I forgot." Ever says with a delighted grin. "I forgot to add the Archive as a stop on our date." Letting one side of his mouth crumple with faux disappointment, he tilts his head to press an apologetic kiss against the inside of one of Isla's arms. "Hopefully you can forgive the oversight."

Letting his hand rest softly against her cheek for a moment, the aviator swallows thickly as his smile grows, falters, then grows even larger. "It's very difficult not to kiss you, I hope you know that." He says softly, and no doubt Isla will feel the way his fingertips press and then are forced to soften against her lower back. "Honestly I'm afraid of what I'd do, or rather not do, if I did." Ever adds with a sheepish smile.

"Do you?" Raising his eyebrows, out of interest rather than doubt, Ever frowned thoughtfully. "Oh, he's brought a few home." The aviator says with a shake of his head. "Nothing onto La Verbena I should say, but to his shop. He has an entire room for dangerous plants that he keeps a few in."

.

Isla

"Ah, there you have it." Isla laughs, snapping her fingers as if to playfully chastise the aviator on his forgetfulness. "What a shame. I suppose that just means we'll have to arrange another date exclusively to go and visit the Archive." Oh nooooo.

Feeling a shiver ripple across her skin where his lips brush against it, Ever clearly isn't the only one in danger of getting too carried away should their affections stray any further than this. "You and me both," she tells him easily, walking her fingers around to trace the strong line of his jaw before - and it's with profound reluctance - she peels herself out of his lap and further into the hot springs.

"I should have known," she trills about Mateo and his dangerous plant room. "Perhaps he'll find an answer to this whole mess." For now, though, she's interested in exploring the Eye further, beckoning for Ever to follow her deeper into the mist. "Come on, I'd like to see if we can spot any ships down in the Arclight."

we're gonna separate ourselves tonight
we're always running scared but holding knives

i'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck

"No doubt I'll forget something too, and you'll just end up being forced to go on dates with me forever." It's the sort of thing that Mateo would likely have scribbled out with a red pen and put into the things not to say on a first date column right alongside I'm in love with you, but as he says it, Everest doesn't think for a moment to be concerned.

Meeting her eyes, the position of Isla's body certainly has his mind thinking of doing more than just kissing her, and gods if she hadn't moved away, he'd have been helpless to stop himself. As it was, he found himself suddenly colder for the lack of her around him, and a touch breathless for the distance between them. If nothing else it allowed for a slight readjusting of the swim shorts Mateo had picked out and for the aviator to give himself a bit of a mental shake before pushing off and trailing after the Remedy.

"You know, it wouldn't surprise me. He's a lot more clever than most give him credit for. Moreso than even he gives himself credit for." Ever says with a nod. Swimming behind Isla even though he was able to stand, the aviator relishes the warmth of the water as it covers his body. "Torchline is that way." He calls, nosing just slightly to the left of where Isla was heading; if there were boats below, likely they'd be most easily seen heading to or from Torchline's shores.

.

Isla

"What a shame that would be," Isla trills playfully over her shoulder - whatever red lines Mateo might have annotated over Ever's working out, clearly the subject of said research doesn't mind at all. Both frustrated by the distance as much as finding it equally as necessary, the Remedy focuses on swimming out into the middle of the hot springs until the aviator's voice reaches her again. "Oh?" Smiling over her shoulder, Isla turns to wade in that direction until, beneath them, the world yawns black and silent.

"Ah, I think I see one," she says in a hushed whisper, as if worried she'll frighten it away. Gesturing below and beckoning Ever closer, of course as soon as he is in range, Isla will splash water at him, only to try and hurry away through the springs to escape any consequences.

we're gonna separate ourselves tonight
we're always running scared but holding knives

i'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck

Not necessarily wanting to call bullshit, Everest schools his expression into one of polite curiosity as he swims over toward where the Remedy was indicating. Given how high up they were and the poor visibility, he was almost certain they wouldn't be able to see anything. Already, though, there was very little he wouldn't do if Isla commanded it, and so he appeared obediently at her side, leaning down to try and spy the speckle of white somewhere down below.

And then he's splashed.

As Isla tries to make her getaway, Everest raises his hands to his dripping face and cries out. "My eyes!" With his hands splayed, the aviator leans forward slightly and into his palms.

.

Isla

Had this been anyone else, it might have been Isla's turn to call bullshit. But of course, given that she doesn't know Ever as well as any of those other people (yet), the medic in her surfaces as soon as his call hits the air. "Oh, shit--" Only a few metres away, she turns to wade back towards him, her hands immediately reaching out as if to guide him back towards one of the stone sides of the springs.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't think," she's saying, feather light hands brushing against his own so she might be able to get a better look. "Are you alright? I'm sure there will be a first aid spot around here if we need it." Way to go, Isla.

we're gonna separate ourselves tonight
we're always running scared but holding knives

i'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck

Behind his hands, Everest had been peaking through the spaces left by his fingers to see if Isla had taken the bait. Only when she was near enough did he let his hands lower, before reaching out suddenly for her. Trying to scoop one hand beneath the back of her thighs with the other around her shoulders, the aviator spun her in the sort of reckless circle that would have them both feeling the spray of the water as he laughed with boyish delight. Tucking his head against one of her shoulders as if to use her to keep the worst of the splash from hitting him and actually getting into his eyes, only once he started to feel dizzy did he slow and eventually stop.

"I can't believe you fell for that." He murmured breathlessly, still huffing laughter.

.

Isla

Typically, Isla reacts exactly as expected yet again, and her surprised scream turns into a peal of hopeless laughter as Ever seizes her in his arms. Left clinging to him so as not to go flying into the water - or end up splashed too badly as well - the Remedy is equally as dizzy as he finally slows to a stop. "That was very unfair of you!" she protests, though of course she doesn't mean it at all.

"I am still happy you're alright, even if it was a wicked ploy all along," she adds, smiling up at him and leaning in suddenly to steal a kiss from his lips, as if unable to wait a moment longer before trying to taste the laughter on them to claim it for herself. Of course, whether Ever will be able to continue to keep his balance from here is entirely up to him.

we're gonna separate ourselves tonight
we're always running scared but holding knives

i'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck

"Of me?" Ever protests, still laughing. "You started it! Pretending you had seen a ship below." Tutting disapprovingly as if he might have been some amateur ship watcher who'd been duped by the promise of a vessel only to receive a splash instead.

"Alright, well I suppose then I'm so—" But then she's kissing him, andgods it's like the first time all over again. Her lips against his own have the aviator reeling and had gravity not been tempered by the water around him, Everest might have fallen to his knees. Instead, with both of their bodies being fairly weightless, all he did was stagger a few steps, though that only resulted in him clutching the Remedy closer against his chest.

Not wanting to part from her but suddenly quite starved of oxygen, Ever is forced to break their kiss, but only enough to sip in a hasty breath before pressing his lips against hers again.

.

Isla

Isla isn't sorry, not that Ever has asked that - not for the splash or the kiss, now that she can feel his lips pressed against her own and the heat of something more than the hot springs in her cheeks. Smiling and managing to snatch in a breath or two as he parts from her, the break is very much short-lived, not that the Remedy is complaining. Moaning softly as their lips meet again, she shifts weightlessly in the water enough to get her feet beneath her and lean against the aviator, hands slipping around him beneath the water.

"I am beginning to think we ought to get out of here," she whispers breathlessly as they finally part a second time. "Otherwise I'm worried that not even the mist will stop a few people getting more than they bargained for out here."

we're gonna separate ourselves tonight
we're always running scared but holding knives

i'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck

Keeping his lips against hers even as he released her legs, Everest combed his fingers across her cheek until his fingertips began to slip through her hair. Wanting nothing more than to pick her up in his arms again, the aviator instead began to slowly walk them forward if only so that they were out of the deeper portion of the pool. Somewhere behind Isla was the wall, but Everest wasn't willing to open his eyes or pull his hands away from her body to find it.

Allowing his eyes to flutter open, the aviator's lips began to form a disagreement that he wouldn't allow himself to give voice to. "No, of course." He agreed, shakily, and though his answer was immediate, his willpower was nevertheless only hanging on by a thread. "You..are..." With the Remedy's upturned lips and flushed cheeks so near, the aviator was at a clear loss as to how he was meant to reason let alone form a coherent thought. Laughing under his breath and momentarily trying to look anywhere but Isla, he found his gaze hopelessly dragged back to her pebble blue stare.

"...incredible." He decides at last, swallowing hard and wondering if perhaps Isla were to give him a good slap to his cheek if that would help redirect his blood flow back north.

.

Isla

Isla's back does hit the wall eventually, something which only finds her caged in by Ever (happily so, mind you) and his impossibly blue eyes. Smiling helplessly away from the aviator as well, it's a fruitless endeavour with the warmth of him so close and available, the Remedy finding her fingers ghosting across his chest quite without her permission. "And you are charming, and funny, and a wonderful date," she informs him easily.

Glancing up to meet his eyes again, she tilts her head coyly to one side. "You know," she murmurs, "we could always go and look over the side of Stormbreak tomorrow. It isn't as though the sun will have risen to ruin the view. If you wanted to go to that inn you booked now, I mean..."

we're gonna separate ourselves tonight
we're always running scared but holding knives

i'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck

Ever's laughter is partially lost in the way his throat has seemingly narrowed, resulting in a sound that was far rougher than he intended it to be. "Even if I did trick you?" He wonders before giving his head a hopeless little shake.

Bracing his arms on either side of her against the wall, Ever lowered his head slightly as his arms flexed with the way he was grasping the stones. To anyone watching it might have appeared as if he was trying to look down her bathing suit, but in reality, all he was trying to look for was his sanity. "I do want that." He admits, before shivering slightly. Goosebumps ripple across his arms and torso despite the heat that's partially to blame for the flush on his cheeks. "But I don't want you to think that's all I want from you."

Wincing, the aviator lifted his head somewhat as he fought between competing urges of ravaging Isla right against the rock wall, professing his love, and being a polite date.

"I don't mean to make it seem as if your body is all I can focus on." Despite his rather pained expression, he tries to smile. "Because you're so much more than that to me."

.

Isla

"Even if you did trick me," Isla confirms with a bob of her head, grinning up at him only to feel him lean forward, allowing her hands to sneak up and run through his curls before drifting down against his shoulders. "Oh, Ever." The Remedy's laughter is soft and warm, and she steps forward and against him as if to close the distance between them without risking the passion of a kiss.

"I know that isn't all you want from me. You're a very sweet and thoughtful man, and I wouldn't have suggested it if I didn't want it as well." Leaning in as if it's a secret, Isla whispers against the shell of his ear. "But between you and me, you're also very handsome and I love the feel of your body against mine, and I don't know if I can wait until later before I have it again."

The flowers, the dinner, the hotsprings and the exceedingly interesting conversation have only paved the way for it, in fact.

we're gonna separate ourselves tonight
we're always running scared but holding knives