a winter's swim

[Vera Shaw]

Darkness. The ocean was one of those places where there were more moments of complete darkness and utter silence. To some, it might have been unsettling, but for Vera it tended to be welcoming.

In the darkness, her hearing was muted. Beneath the waves, her sense of touch was overwhelmed by the cold and cruel waters, making her feel as though she could fly if she so desired it. It was frightening but it also made her feel alive, reminding her that she was still fortunate and that she was capable of doing anything she set her mind to.

Despite spring creeping its way through the winter, the ocean was still frigid. When she felt the near desperate need for air, Vera floated back up to the surface to break through with a gasp for fresh air. The air bit at her skin and she shrieked before it melted into laughter. Caleb hated that she did this, because it was dangerous, and now she'd probably risk catching a cold.

Finally feeling the sand beneath her feet, unseeing eyes blinked the water away as she trudged forward. She was grinning even though she was cold, feeling that shift clinging to her, doing nothing to ward off the chill...but she was certainly awake now! The rest of her clothes were left on the beach up ahead, including that nice, warm wool cloak that would help ease off the wind.

[ Atlas Marston ]

[Atlas Marston]

He couldn’t sleep again. After that near scare with Perci, Atlas had barely let himself get any form of sleep. To the point he was nearly falling asleep grooming Daffodil. He was pretty sure August had caught him leaning against the dairy cow, using her as a pillow. Mother was going to start to get worried again if she wasn’t already. He was so gosh darn tired, and get afraid at the same time. His night terrors turned him violent, and he was afraid to be in the house with his family in the wee hours of the night. Afraid he might sleep walk and mistake them for enemies.

So….He didn’t sleep. For several days, merely dozing if he did. He’d decided to take a walk that evening after dinner. Solitude usually made him feel calm and at peace but so did the ocean with it’s gentle waves. He’d gone out to the beach, rolled his pants up to his mid calves and had started walking along the sandy beach. The sun had still been high and going down he’d walked for what seemed like ages. The breeze ruffled his blond hair and his shirt. Eventually he found a decent enough spot that he sat down on, watching the waves, and he found his eyelids starting to droop.

“Okay, ten minutes…” Atlas muttered as he placed his hands behind his head and then leaned back so he was laying down in the sand. The heat of the descending sun warmed his skin, and the waves suddenly became a lullaby as his body finally took what it so desperately craved.

Sleep.

He didn’t know how long time had passed, just that when he awoke next there was a sharp pain suddenly in his ribs. As if he’d just been kicked, or like a dripping wet, scantily clad, blind woman, had just come out of the ocean and tripped over him.

[Vera Shaw]

Despite her blindness, Vera was capable of seeing a bit more than most people believed. Well, shadows at least. And in her bad dash from the cold waters, she wasn't completely paying attention. She'd walked up and down this beach so many times since moving to Aralore, and there were no large boulders or anything terribly dangerous. So she was expecting anything but a few pebbles and shells.

And she didn't see the sleeping man lounging there in the sand until it was too late.

Accidentally kicking him in her quick shuffle, it caused Vera to trip. She let out a surprised cry, her arms immediately coming out in front of her to brace her fall, wherever she might go down. She knew she was on the beach, but she was so lost and confused now. The lithe girl went down, slamming hard against poor Atlas as she practically fell across him sideways.

When she realized it wasn't a rock or anything else, she gasped in exclaim all over again. "Oh! Oh gods, I'm-" She flailed, feeling the embarrassment reach her cheeks as she tried to sit up, the sand sticking to her wet skin and shift. "I'm so sorry!"

[Atlas Marston]

It was probably a good thing that Atlas had been having a dreamless sleep or else someone falling literally on top of him would have been bad. Considering the reason why he was out here to begin with had been because he’d mistaken his little sister for the enemy…

The kick to his ribs caused a small “oof!” from him, as he instinctively turned inwards on himself. His eyes shot open in alarm just as the poor woman that tripped over him, came toppling down on him, knocking the wind out of him. So much for sleeping…

The woman was lithe, and she was soaking wet from what Atlas could tell. His hands instantly went to her shoulders to try and steady her, as he tried to sit up. Her flailing on top of him caused him to groan slightly, as he tried to find his voice. ”I-it’s oka-” Now that he could actually focus on her he realized she was a dark featured woman with dark hair and eyes. Pretty at a quick glance, and she was only dressed in a slip. And again, she was wet.

Very wet.

“O-OH my,” He stammered, his eyes instantly squeezing shut as he removed his hands as if she’d burned him. “I-it’s o-kay uh-” He didn’t know what to do. Did he just sit there more? Did he stand up? He didn’t realize yet the woman couldn’t actually see him, and now with his own eyes shut, he couldn’t see her. He half expected her to slap him, and he was already preparing for the flinch of the crack of her hand against his face. Instinctually, he brought his hands up to cover his eyes.

[Vera Shaw]

This was beyond embarrassing! Vera wasn't sure if she had somehow drifted further down the beach during her swim, but she was often so careful. During this time of the day, there were less people about, especially during the winter, and yet...here she was, literally tripping over someone. And worst of all, by the sound of the voice, it was a man.

She felt his hands on her shoulders, warm against her chilled skin as he tried to help her off of him, all the while she struggled to at least get to her knees. The sand was clinging to her, but she was too busy hugging herself to care about that mild discomfort. "I didn't see you-" she began, and it might have been funny if she wasn't so horrified. "I'm sorry, I wasn't-" Those dark eyes were blinking, trying to discern where she was by the blobs of shadows all around her. It had gotten a lot darker than she anticipated, and she didn't do so well at night. "...paying attention." Vera finished her sentence because she didn't want to flat out tell this stranger on a dark beach that she couldn't see. She couldn't be sure if he was dangerous or not.

Trying not to panic at these thoughts, Vera began to blindly (literally) reach around her for her cloak and rest of her clothes. "I didn't expect anyone else to be out here at this time of day." Or night, she wasn't entirely sure currently in her frenzy.

[Atlas Marston]

This was beyond embarrassing on many accounts. He shouldn’t have laid down in the first place! He should have just kept walking or at the very least found a rock to sit on or, or something! Now he’d become a literal tripping hazard to this poor woman because exhaustion had finally caught up with him.

He thanked his lucky stars she hadn’t fallen on him in the middle of a night terror or… Well...He didn’t want to think about that.

Atlas noticed the woman struggling to get to her knees and his hands moved to the top of her arms, trying to help keep her up. He certainly noticed she was in nothing but a skiff and soaking wet, but he kept his eyes on her face. He had three younger sisters, and certainly wasn’t going to oggle them, or any woman for that matter if they were in the same situation as this poor woman. He merely hoped she wouldn’t pay too much mind to how red his face was.

“H-hey, It’s uhm-” He began to stammer out once she seemed to be upright. He released her arms then, quickly pushing himself up into a better sitting position. “I-it’s okay, I w-was uh-” Now he most certainly was as read as one of his mothers cherry tomatoes…."Ah-Asleep.” He admitted sheepishly, quickly averting his eyes.

He waited a few beats before he glanced up, seeing as she was still searching for something, and he frowned, looking over to see the clothes she was looking for were just out of her hands reach. “I didn’t t-think, uhm a-anyone was out here either.” He said slowly, before he was reaching over for her cloak. Carefully moving it closer to her so she wouldn’t have to struggle so much. He watched her carefully for a moment, watching how her eyes stayed put for the most part, and how it was her hands that were searching for her things. He titled his head a bit as he gently pushed the cloak into her hands. “Here.” He said softly.

[Vera Shaw]

The darkness made it difficult to be able to see even the shadow of him, so she was avoiding trying to pretend like she could make eye contact. If Atlas was perceptive enough, and could get over this embarrassing moment, he might sense that something was...different, maybe even a little off about how her eyes focused. Or, well, didn't seem to focus on things properly. Her gaze remained downcast, no matter how she moved.

So, in other words, she couldn't see how red his face got, but he'd be able to see the pink that flushed her softly tanned cheeks.

After a few more seconds, Vera softly began to panic, searching with one hand now as her other arm hugged herself as if she was trying to shield herself. She heard him talking, something about sleeping, but she couldn't reply right away. In fact, she completely stopped moving when she felt the soft cloak in her grasp after he gently urged it there. She swallowed hard.

Out of habit, her head had tilted into the direction of his voice, but still those eyes didn't look to him. Somehow, she felt even more embarrassed now. She didn't think it was fear.

"Thank you..." she said softly, drawing the dry cloak around her shoulders. "I'm, uh...sorry to have disturbed your nap." Despite the awkwardness, she sounded slightly amused now by this.

[Atlas Marston]

Atlas averted his eyes once she took her cloak, allowing her to cover herself before he looked at her again, and he noticed the way her head had turned towards his voice, but still, her eyes didn’t focus on him. They were downcast, and out of curiosity, he slowly waved a hand at her. Waiting for her eyes to drift towards it or something. He was studying her, as that’s what he did when he wasn’t at the farm and alone. He watched people. He read people a lot while as a ranger, as it had been needed for his survival.

It slowly became to done on him then. Was she blind? What was a blind woman doing out here? And swimming no less? His concern was quickly growing, and if he was a braver man, he might have yelled at whoever was in charge of her, or looking out for her. If it had been Percie, or Daph, or even Tavi…

His jaw clenched he a let a small exhale out. She’d managed to swim safely on her own, so he couldn’t get too upset. He didn’t even know the woman. “Your welcome.” He murmured back to her as he pulled his long legs closer to himself. “I-it’s okay. I s-h-hu-n’t have out here so late anyways…” He stuttered out, reaching up to scratch the back of his head. His embarrassment for sleeping around hadn’t quite disappeared, and he imagined it wouldn’t anytime soon. “A-are you okay? D-didn’t h-hurt yourself did you?” He swallowed nervously. His fear of strangers making itself known by his failure at properly speaking. He found himself even more nervous around women, and despite her not being able to maybe see him, he forced his eyes down to his lap.

[Vera Shaw]

Vera would not see him waving that hand, she wouldn't even feel the subtle air movement because of the current ocean breeze that washed over them. If she wasn't so surprised by this entire moment, she might have realized that she was a lot colder than she felt. Sometimes, going for a swim in the winter wasn't the best of ideas.

Those dark, unfocused eyes blinked as she listened to him stammer. For some reason, her lips remained curled into a gentle smile- not because she thought it funny or that she would mock him for it, but out of the two of them, she figured she should be the most nervous or embarrassed.

"I'm fine, I promise," she assured him. By the way he had given her the cloak, Vera was wondering if he realized what was wrong with her, so she didn't beat around the bush. If anything, she'd be cheeky with it. "I should probably say that it's silly to sleep on the beach at night, but...I suppose it's foolish for a blind girl to swim, too." That smile broadened, and she laughed at herself. Perhaps they were both fools.

Judging from where she had heard him last, one of those hands slipped out from the warmth of that cloak to extend to him in greeting. "I'm Vera, by the way."