[Mousen]

"Yes, well." She said, her voice breaking as she coughed. There was even sea water up her nose. Ugh. She made her way back to the shore, quite content to follow him. She liked the water, she'd been brought up in the desert and it was still a novelty to her, but it had been enough for one day.

She walked until she was out of the water, and then wriggled her arm out of Belias's grasp. If anyone else had grabbed her like that, they'd currently be sporting a broken nose. Though, as it was just Belias, she settled for a glaring as she went to pick up her clothes.

"Oh, the horror." she replied, her expression softening.

[MythicDusk]

"Please accept my sincerest condolences on the fact that you must wake up to a large, snoring brute of a man with a terribly scarred body but a set of pecs to die for." He teased, watching her, having worn his clothing into the water, he didn't bother collecting anything. He felt the arm sun dry his sodden skin and clothes, inhaling the scent of the ocean, he smiled wider, feeling a weight off his heart as he looked towards his girlfriend. He was, indeed, deeply madly and insatiably in love with her. He loved her like he had loved no other. Well, there was one, but she never had this effect on him. His face never changed from an expression of loving adoration as he gazed at her, holding out his hand for her to take, a smile softly touching his lips.

[Mousen]

She raised an eyebrow at him, trying to look unimpressed. Although, the fact that she was barely containing her giggles rather ruined the effect. "Funny thing is, I don't see a reason to apologize for that at all. Sounds fine to me." She slipped on her shirt over her damp bikini but left her jeans folded up. The shirt was a long one, anyway.

Zari caught his gaze, then looked away. For all of her loudness and her heart-on-her-sleeve attitude, affection, unguarded and genuine was something she rather struggled with. She took his hand, though and smiled.

"I'm glad you're here, Belias."

[MythicDusk]

"And I'll never leave again." He grinned, pulling her close to his chest. He buried his face into Zari's hair, breathing deep, trying to commit her scent to memory, which he had done a long time ago. "I love you, Zari. With every fiber of my being, I love you." His words were murmured gently into her hair, his arms tight around her as he held her, determined to never let her go again. "I swear, I'll never leave your side again. I'll make up for all of that time I was away, getting myself hurt. I'll make up for all of those times that you had to bandage me, had to heal me. I'll make up for it all." His promises were muffled gently, and his shoulders shook as he bit back sobs, his throat constricting as he continued to speak. "I'll be right here, I promise." His arms tightened around her, his grip firm.

[Mousen]

Zari wrapped her arms around him, slightly surprised by this sudden show of affection. It wasn't as though he wasn't often affectionate, it wasn't as though she didn't appreciate it, now and again. "Well, it'd be a little bit silly at this point, if you didn't, huh?" she replied softly. "You know, but for what it's worth, I love you too."

She looked up at him when she realized that he was struggling to keep his voice steady. Then, a thought struck her. This show of affection, the retirement, the emotion, it made sense if you factored in something else. "Wait. Belias? You are okay, aren't you? Like, are you sick?" she paused, realizing how that sounded. She pulled away from him slightly, so she could look him in the eyes without straining her neck. "Not for being emotional, I mean. But. Well, if you're planning to die on me or something and it kinda sounds like it is you will be in so much fucking trouble you don't even know."

[MythicDusk]

A laugh croaked through his gentle sobs and he began to pull away, batting away the salty tears, he began to laugh again, the deep, chesty laugh that he very rarely let anyone hear, besides Zari of course. "I'm fine, my love. If I wasn't, I would have told you sooner. I'm just... Exceptionally happy." His hands gently squeezed her shoulders, resisting the temptation to pull her into a close hug again. "And I also feel guilty. I can only imagine how much pain I must have put you through, and yet every time I returned home, you were there, always waiting for me." A smile tugged at his lips, eventually breaking into a beaming grin as he placed his mangled hand on her cheek, running his large thumb across her cheekbone. "How can I resist from crying when I know that every day for the rest of our lives, I'll be waking up next to you." He murmured the last words, moving in to hug her again.

[Mousen]

She looked up at him, frowning slightly. "Are you sure? You sound like you're dying. Like, horribly of some really fatal disease. More fatal than normal fatal diseases and everything." Zari knew she was babbling, but couldn't seem to quite stop herself from doing so.

"Is this what this is about? You feeling guilty about leaving? Of course I was worried about you, more so than I am usually. After all, let's face it, it's not like you ever give me reason to not worry." she paused. "I had to be there when you got back, you'd have probably bled to death on our doorstep. Besides... I have a bit of a habit of burning bridges, y'know? I want to maintain this," she gestured vaguely to Belias and then back to herself. She was looking away from him now, focused on some distant point on the horizon.

Ah. Safer ground. She looked back towards him, grinning. "You're taking that for granted, you know. You're assuming that I'm not going to throw you out."

[MythicDusk]

When she gestured between them, a grin crossed his face again and he began to chuckle, deep in his chest. "Why do you think I always came home, even at my worst?"

At her last statement, he gave a deep, throaty laugh he pulled her close again, bowing his head slightly, he gave her a gentle smirk. "And that's implying if you did, I wouldn't be sleeping on the doorstep every night like a lost pup." He gave her a gentle kiss at that point, wanting so badly to pull her closer, to let her know he was immovable now, that he would never leave her side. He missed this, he missed the feeling of his arms around her, the touch of his lips on hers, he missed her scent, her eyes, her hair, he missed everything about her. It gladdened his old, crusty heart that he was going to be able to reacquaint himself with all the things he loved about her, and more.

[Mousen]

Oh. That was actually genuinely sweet and- Zari felt her composure slip slightly. He was not going to make her cry. She took a deep breath and smiled. "Because you love me, maybe? Because I'd have hunted you down and turned you into a handbag if you didn't? Because you know that I love you as well?" One of the above, surely.

She laughed, and then kissed him back as he pulled her closer. "True, true. I'm not sure I'd ever be able to get rid of you. You'd probably just live in the front garden and chase away door-to-door salesmen if I didn't let you back in." Though the thought was amusing, Zari didn't think her willpower would last long enough for that.

Oh. One more thing. "Belias, if you ever, ever have another idea as stupid and dangerous as becoming a mercenary ever again, you won't even last long enough to see it kill you, because I'll have done it myself." she paused for a moment, then added: "Or, I'll run away and become a nun. I haven't decided yet."

[MythicDusk]

Laughing gently, he smiled. "Why not both? I'd deserve it." He murmured, laughter shining in his eyes. Slowly, he pulled away, one hand still resting gently on her wrist, waiting for her to take his hand, but always wanting to be in contact with her. "Let's go get something to eat, or go somewhere to dry off, I don't really mind." He grinned, a large grin that was reserved only for her, and maybe Betty when she was being especially cute. Mainly Zari, though. He resisted the temptation to kiss her again, to just sweep her off her feet and find somewhere to stay and just hold her for the rest of their natural lives. She wanted to never let her go again. She was going to be so fed up of him by the week's end.

[Mousen]

Zari took his hand and have it a gentle squeeze. His, broad and scarred, her's, slender and calloused. His, from years of fighting, her's from years of acrobatics. For a moment, she found something amusing in the juxtaposition between the two. The sight of her fingers entwined around his had always been a source of happiness for Zari (even if the thought of admitting out out loud made her wince). It seemed like it would be a much more frequent sight from now on.

She didn't dare let herself think that it might be plain sailing. If that happened, she was sure some sort of terrible blood-thirsty creature would descend from the sky and try to kill them both.

It wouldn't, after all, be the first time that it had happened.

"Sounds like a plan." she grinned. "We have two options. Either, you take me out to lunch and we start bickering about the bill until you agree to let me pay half or we head over to the circus. It's passing through here, you know. The first one guarantees lots of strange looks, but decent food and the second one guarantees good people with the possibility of very strange food." Either way, they' probably end up back there. Zari had the impression that her friends had been wanting to see Belias again for awhile. They were curious about the man that had managed to take Zari from them. That, and they maybe had a few words about his old habit of leaving her to go and fight wars every now and then. She shrugged at him, giving his hand another squeeze. "Your choice."

[MythicDusk]

Belias hummed loudly, although his decision was already made. He needed to see Mort about something important, not that Zari needed to know that. "I'd like to go to the circus again. The last time I was there, I didn't leave the best impression." His voice dipped to sorrow, his eyes automatically flicking to the mangled hand that was so tight in Zari's. The only thing he regretted about the injury is the fact that it was so badly scarred, he could barely feel Zari's hand in his. Beforehand, he was painfully shy about his scars and wounds, trying to hide them behind a facade of anger and bitterness that he didn't truly feel. How could he, when he had gained them protecting one of the best things in his life? But, for a little while, it stopped people from commenting. He hummed happily, raising his eyes from his own hand and letting them trail up Zari's arm until he met her eyes, giving her a large grin.

He was chancing drastically because of this woman, all of the bitter resentment held in his heart and the harsh words he said when they first met meant nothing now. He loved her, dearly and truly. Nothing would ever change that.

[Mousen]

She nodded. There was no way she could ever forget that particular encounter. "I don't think they made the best impression either. It's changed since you were last there, though. We get a lot of people who come and go as they please. Only a handful actually stay." It was a bit of a mixed bag like that. There was certain faces that would always be there, as regular as the sunrise. Others... well, sometimes they left wouldn't return for months, or years, or not at all. In their place, new faces would appear until they too slipped away.

Zari looked around, her hand placed on her brow to shield her eyes from the sunlight. Not that she needed it, the desert where she'd grown up was much brighter then this. And... ah! There it was. She could just see the top of one of their largest tents, mostly obscured by houses and buildings, but not too far.

"Let's go."

[MythicDusk]

Nodding lightly, he smiled, beginning to walk forward at a quick pace, his eyes intent on the largest tent. They quickly got to a street, and despite all of his sodden bulk, Belias could move rather lithely, his body flowing between people, barely making contact, uttering apologies and excuse-me's. His broad shoulders moved carefully and non-threateningly. He winced slightly as he passed by a child, who caught sight of his scars and burst into tears. At this, Belias bowed his head and lost his focus, knocking into quite a few people who shied away from demanding an apology, thinking the Battleheart was simply too intimidating to argue with, despite the murmured apologies he already gave. His hand ell from Zari's, suddenly extremely self-conscious.

[Mousen]

Zari hurried after him, glaring at anyone who stared at Belias as he passed. As it turned out, she could do an awful lot of glaring when the need arose. Though, when the child burst into tears she swore under her breath. What stupid bloody parents. Surely, it didn't take two minutes to explain to your child that not everyone had the privilege of going through live untouched and un-scarred by it? There was people with worse injuries than Belias out there. She pushed through the crowd herself instead of following behind him, getting a few choice phrases muttered in her direction. "Sorry! Excuse me!"

She was next to Belias now, and tried to catch his gaze. "Belias, Belias. Talk to me." She frowned, dodging around a couple who were going in the opposite direction to them. They glared, but said nothing. "Listen. Screw 'em. It doesn't matter."

She grabbed his arm and pulled him down a smaller street. They were away from the main shops here, and it was just residential cottages. The cottages looked out onto a reasonably sized field, and it was on this field that the circus resided.

The Circus, which had gone by many names in it's history, now stood before them. A mixture of tents and caravans, old and new. The tents were striped, with black and then brighter, more vivid colours in between. The largest tent almost looked like it had stained glass in between the stripes, but the smaller tents were simpler in design. Apart from the black, they stuck to one colour, a pale pink, yellow or orange. Colours that couldn't help but remind you of the dawn.