adulting

With lily in hand, the couple of the hour make their way to the Mountain's Roar. Vai knows that what they need to do is behind the waterfall, but gods if it isn't a sight to behold when they arrive. Her hair and clothes are still damp from the humidity of the hotsprings, and her blue eyes are wide with wonder as she gazes up at the crashing waters and the vast and churning pool below. "Wow," she breathes, her voice almost lost in the noise of it all. Glancing over her shoulder to Zeph, she flashes him a very fiendish grin indeed, already starting to strip off. It's easier to swim naked, what can she say? "Come on," she says. "We'll swim across and under it, and there's supposed to be an archway behind the falls. You want a headstart?" Balling up her shirt, she tosses it at him and, once stripped completely, she splashes into the water. vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

There's gonna come a day when you'll feel better
You'll rise up free and easy on that day

You've seen your fair share of neat waterworks in your time, but little compares to the glorious waterfall that crashes through the cave. Your appreciative whistle is nearly drowned beneath the torrential roar, wide brown eyes bright with admiration and just a little respectful fear. "Wow," you echo Vai eloquently, "It's really somethin', ain't it?"

Still admiring the waterfall, you don't realize she's stripping down until her warm voice reaches you, and then you find the falls forgotten in favor of an altogether more entrancing view. Raising an eyebrow at the suggestion that you might need a head start, you affect a deeply wounded expression. "I resent t'implication that I ain't a champio- oof!"

Her shirt cuts off any further protest, striking your face and falling away to reveal a bright grin. With the speed and talent of someone who grew up on a beach you swiftly follow suit, stripping down until all you have is your oil-slicked bag, the lily tucked safely within.

"Fucking fuck a fuckery fucker fucked!" The water is cold, and your string of expletives should be evidence of how you feel about that. Sucking in a breath you bite the bullet and dive, the bag wrapped around your waist as you set off after her through the frigid water and underneath the falls.

And float from branch to branch, lighter than the air
Just when that day is coming, who can say?

zephyr

"You can say that again!" Vai's voice is higher pitched than usual - almost a squeak, really - and it's clear that she's also not a fan of the cold dunking into the deep pool of water. She can't even see the bottom, nothing but black falling away beneath them, but damn if it isn't refreshing as fuck. And there's only one way to warm back up, and that's to move, and move quick. Luckily, by the time she dives beneath the churning waterfall, her muscles are already burning and the cold has eased off some, Vai surfacing and hauling herself out of the water in one fluid movement. The archway before them takes her breath away, the platform beneath it, the lilies softly sitting in their hollows. Seven, she counts. Soon to be one more. "Wow." What else is there to say? vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

There's gonna come a day when you'll feel better
You'll rise up free and easy on that day

The cold, cold, cold water remains cold, though it becomes more tolerable as you move through it, your body built for swimming no matter the medium. Soon enough your make your way behind the waterfall, and now comes the worst part: getting out again.

Your teeth are chattering in your head when you pull yourself onto the rough stone, much less fluid than Vervain given the sharp pain that slices its way through your shoulder. Arms wrap around her, your damp body hunting for warmth as your bones ache, though you'd be lying to say the sight isn't beautiful. "Aite, let's do it," you murmur gruffly against her hair, rummaging in your bag to extract the lily from its careful container.

Gingerly, not quite sure how to go about it, you press the flower into one of the clearly delineated spots. "Here's hopin' it'll put an end to th'madness," you murmur, stepping back to wrap your arm around Vervain, content to admire the scene and its promise until she's ready to go.

{fin}

And float from branch to branch, lighter than the air
Just when that day is coming, who can say?

zephyr