He heard the splash of the stranger turning and sinking into the water, caught quick movement in his peripheral. His grin broadened, knowing that, if nothing else, the handsome, mystery man wasn't going to immediately attack him.
His plan would have been to slowly lower his gaze, to tilt his head and let his grin become a confident smirk. He definitely didn't plan on hearing his name stuttered in a voice that froze him in place. The question that followed had him whipping his head down, eyes wide, smile gone.
His skin was darker than the shade Rance had once seen beneath dappled forest light. His shoulders seemed broader and, as he'd just seen, there was considerable definition to his body now. But there was no mistaking the line of his jaw, or the color of golden eyes, framed with wet curls of black. His pack slid off his shoulder to thump unnoticed on the rocks and sand, his bow staying in place only by virtue of how it was looped across his chest.
"Fuck... Kellan?" He was breathless, confusion and possibility stealing the air from his lungs, heart pounding as hope and shock clenched tight around it. "Ghost Queen take me early -- Kel?! How... how the fuck?"
He'd accepted that he would never see anyone from his old life. That all he would have of them were memories and a few words written in his old journal. He'd even begun to make new friends, to settle in. That didn't mean the friends and family he'd left behind were gone from his heart, but he'd known he would never see them again.
Only... Kel was here.
His plan would have been to slowly lower his gaze, to tilt his head and let his grin become a confident smirk. He definitely didn't plan on hearing his name stuttered in a voice that froze him in place. The question that followed had him whipping his head down, eyes wide, smile gone.
His skin was darker than the shade Rance had once seen beneath dappled forest light. His shoulders seemed broader and, as he'd just seen, there was considerable definition to his body now. But there was no mistaking the line of his jaw, or the color of golden eyes, framed with wet curls of black. His pack slid off his shoulder to thump unnoticed on the rocks and sand, his bow staying in place only by virtue of how it was looped across his chest.
"Fuck... Kellan?" He was breathless, confusion and possibility stealing the air from his lungs, heart pounding as hope and shock clenched tight around it. "Ghost Queen take me early -- Kel?! How... how the fuck?"
He'd accepted that he would never see anyone from his old life. That all he would have of them were memories and a few words written in his old journal. He'd even begun to make new friends, to settle in. That didn't mean the friends and family he'd left behind were gone from his heart, but he'd known he would never see them again.
Only... Kel was here.
