[SpringsSong]

It had been several years since she had been in Idalani, but there was a good reason for that.  The last time that the Re’klettan Goddess of Love found herself in Idalani, it was just before the Awakening of the Gods, and Yesac had come and taken her and was going to try and force her to be his bride.  Before that, she, Ciren, Deraj, and Aila had gone on an expedition that had put a lot of strain on her relationship with Ciren because of what had happened.  Since then, they had reconciled themselves to one another, and now, they were here again.

Nyera carefully stoked the fire that she had started by the lake, preparing the various pots and pans that she had brought with her.  If she knew Ciren, he would probably be bringing a few fish with him, because he would doubtless be coming by way of the rivers and lakes—that was just Ciren for you, in her reasoning.  She paused as she let one of the pans heat up, though; it may have been three Evelonian years since she and Ciren had gone through that period of strife, and though they had forgiven one another and had grown closer, Ciren still had not proposed to her, which was something that Aila had foreseen.

“Nyera, you need not to worry so much about this,” she said to herself, sighing as she went back to preparing various things for the meal that she would be preparing once Ciren arrived.  “He’ll propose to you in the time that Atlantia and Eruanna have set for such a thing…”

[1.2]

[SpringsSong]

He was a part of the water; blending in with it perfectly as he snatched up fish after fish as he swam to the spot where he knew that Nyera would be.  How did he know she would be there?  Quite simply, the place that he was swimming to was at the base of the waterfall where they’d camped all those years ago, when the incident in the caves happened before the Awakening of the Gods.  She mentioned loving that spot, and he was not about to argue with her in that respect, for it was one of the most beautiful spots in all of Idalani.

“Oh, Nyera~”

He called out to her as he materialized from the water in his Paragon form first, but once he was on the land again, he shifted into his human form, a net of fish hanging from his shoulders as he smiled, walking up to her and giving her a gentle kiss on the cheek.  He knew how much she loved fish; not just that, he knew how much she loved cooking.

“They were really out in force today, these guys,” Ciren said, laughing.  “All I had to do was blend in with the water and carry the net behind me.  I think we’ve got enough for a few meals out here, wouldn’t you say, darling?” he asked.

[1.2]

[SpringsSong]

Nyera smiled as Ciren emerged from the water with the net full of fish.  She also returned the gentle kiss on the cheek that Ciren had given her, wrapping her arms around him before she ran her hand through his black and blue hair lovingly, her eyes bright.

“That will be more than enough for a few days, dearest,” she said, smiling as she looked at the fish carefully, examining the various types of fish that there were in the net.  She only needed to look for a little while before she found one that looked suitable for pan searing, which was the way she wanted to prepare the fish that night.

“It’s been a little too long since I’ve done some good cooking,” Nyera said, looking around as she picked various herbs from around their little campsite.

[1.4]

[SpringsSong]

“It has indeed been too long, Nyera,” Ciren said, laughing as he moved to sit by the fire, tending to the other fish while Nyera prepared the one that they would be eating that night.  “Don’t get me wrong, Aila’s cooking is good, but… yours, darling, is simply divine,” he said, leaning over to kiss her gently before he went back to boning the other fish and filleting them.

“You know what else it’s been too long since we’ve done, Nyera?” he asked, easily filleting the fish with his claws (which he was using in place of his hands for this particular job as he did not bring a pocket knife with him).  “It’s been forever since we did some swimming, as well as some exploring.”

Now, he knew there was a reason for both of those things, but three years had passed.  Surely Nyera had reconciled the incident with the caverns by now.

[1.4]