The Tempest

[Sara]

"No I didn't find any food!" She shot him a glare and then, feeling immeasurably childish, moved to stand over him so she was dripping water directly where he was. "I did find some water though." She wrung out her hair over him for good measure, flicking the remnants of the water from her hands for good measure. It was the sort of thing she would have done when she was a girl and her brothers were being particularly irritating. 

She sat down next to the fire, teeth chattering. "Is the shack fixed?" She shuffled closer to the fire. Her dress was in the shack but she'd need this scratchy tunica eventually and she figured (foolishly) it was more likely to dry next to the fire and when on her. She was freezing though. 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Lucius jumped as she sprinkled water at him, still laughing. Once the fire was going she curled up next to it, still in her wet tunica, looking miserable. Lucius on his part emptied her beddign materials inside the shack, and then returned with the sail and her dress. "Change out of that, you'll catch a cold. I won't look."

He turned his back.

"Is the shack fixed?" 

"Yes. Pretty steady" he nodded, proud of himself. "Shall I go find some food?"

@Sara

[Sara]

"If the shack is fixed then I'll change in there." she gave him a smug smile as she stood and snatched up her dress and the sail and then sniffed, feeling bad...despite the fact she was still sprinkling water over him. "Thank you." 

And with that she sauntered off to the shack as he went to find food (to which she acquiesced with a wave of her hand). He had done a good job; as soon as she was in the four walls she felt warmer as she stepped out of the wind. She shivered and then slammed the door shut before hurriedly, without a second thought, disrobing and tugging on then ripped but clean chiton she'd been wearing during the wreck. She then wrapped the sail around herself like a palla and wrung out her hair. She smiled at her moss, arranged in the vague shape of a bed. She'd need to find something to stuff it in but the prospect of sleeping on it rather than the hard ground was delighting. 

She stepped back out into the wind with a shudder and shiver, her teeth still chattering. She virtually ran back to the fire and deposited herself down, warming her freezing bones. She felt bad. She should have gone for water. 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Ovinia took over the shack to change. Without protest from her, Lucius headed out with the bowl to get water and some food. The weather was turning for the worse; there where white caps on all the waves now. Whoever had built the shack had made sure the water wouldn't reach it even in a storm or tide, but the sea did look a lot closer than it had a few hours before.

First, Lucius trekked back across the island for figs. They were not going to be an endless supply, but fishing in this weather was not going to yield results. He gathered a decent amount of them in his tunica, and then headed over to the spring to fill the bowl. He was considering trying the rocks above the beach to see if he could find eggs, when suddenly thunder struck with a deafening crash and a blinding light. And then the rain came, and the storm engulfed the island.

@Sara

 

[Sara]

The thunder clapped like the hands of the Gods right next to her ear and she screamed in fright and shock. The blinding white light that struck the water a little way off didn't help. The first few rhythmic drip, drip, drips of water hit her squarely on the face and then it came down, in buckets, drenching her almost immediately and the fire - dousing it. Ovinia panicked. Lucius had said the fire had to stay outside, that it was important. She tried to fan it for a few pathetic moments, to get  the embers to glow again as they had before but everything was soaked through. She glanced to her right and saw the drenched blanket and then down at herself; her chiton was as wet as the one she had discarded earlier, and the sail wrapped around herself wasn't better. 

She bolted for the shack, gripping the blanket as she did and as the thunder clapped again and as she pulled back the door, the ferocity of the wind made it seem as if it would be ripped from its hinges. Inside the shack, as she finally stumbled into it, small patches of water were forming on the floor - in the corners where the moss hadn't been placed, but there were no major leaks. Yet. The roof was making ominous sounds though as the wind whipped and ripped through the island. Ovinia stood there, chattering and soaked as Lucius made it back in. She got the distinct feeling they were now in very dangerous territory. Everything was ruined by  the deluge and they had nothing left.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Lucius swore as he made it back to the shack, running and slipping. Ovinia was already inside, looking drenched for the second time in a day. Lucius fell through the door and yanked it closed behind himself, securing it with pieces of wood. Here they were. The shack was only leaking a little, but they had no fire, and literally no dry clothes or blankets left. He could hear Ovinia's teeth chattering, and water was dripping down his own face in the light of frequent lightning bolts. The wind howled outside. At least the shack held up. Lucius looked at Ovinia in the half-darkness.

"Well... fuck."

[Sara]

Lucius looked about as well as she did and she choked. He had been the stalwart in his usually irritating, brooding, arrogant way but it made her feel better - it made her feel like they had a plan. Now she was left adrift like she was three mornings ago - buffeted by the waves and having absolutely no clue what to do. So she asked.

"What do we do?" She choked and wound her arms around herself in a hug, in the tangle of drenched sail and chiton material. "C-can we light a fire in here?" An obviously terrible idea but she had never been this cold before and by the sounds of the wind howling outside, they weren't going to be able to venture back out for some time. The gloomy atmosphere of their little shelter made it all the more ominous. "I-I shouldn't have washed the blanket, I'm s-sorry!" If she hadn't they'd at least have it, dirty as it was, and her tunica to wear. 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"What do we do? C-can we light a fire in here?"

"Not if we don't want to choke on smoke." Lucius sighed. A fire would have been so nice. And he'd have to start one all over again after the storm.

"I-I shouldn't have washed the blanket, I'm s-sorry!" 

"Ovinia it's not your fault." he sighed. "It's just a storm. It will pass." He took the figs out of his tunica and placed them in the bowl in the corner. "There is... one thing we can do, but you'll murder me for suggesting it."

@Sara

[Sara]

"And we'll be dead and frozen when it does." She complained with an almost comical chatter accenting her words as she hurriedly rubbed her hands up and down her bare arms in an attempt to get some warmth. She didn't care what he said - she shouldn't have washed the blanket and she stared at it melancholily in its drenched pile in the corner.

Having absolutely no idea what he was referring to, she stared at him with a deep frown creasing her forehead and an expectant look in her eye. "I'm so cold I don't care, what will help?" She clawed at the mess of dark waves from hair, trying to wring out the water onto the puddle already forming in one corner. The planks on the roof rattled and rose.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

She was cold, and she said she didn't care, but somehow he doubted it. Well, worst case scenario, she'd forget about the cold, fueled by anger...

"Body heat." he replied with a sigh. "Our bodies are warmer on their own than the soaked tunicas. We could... um." Cuddle? Snuggle?... "Get... closer."

Gods, Lucius. Get a grip.

@Sara

[Sara]

She blinked at him, completely sure that she'd heard him wrong. She stared him down with that same confused, utterly bewildered expression on her face for a long moment until a thunderclap hit almost overhead and she jumped in fright. It cast her out of her reverie and she choked an ugly noise. 

"Y...You want me," She was chattering but her words were jumbled and stuttered out of surprise as well, "T-To be clear, you are suggesting we l-lie naked in bed, or...or moss t-together?" She wrapped her arms so tightly around herself that she could have knotted her hands together. "I-I'll take my chances in the c-chiton, thank you, you u-utter, u-tter pest." she glared at him, "A-any excuse!" 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Her reaction was as expected. Shock, indignation, suspicion. Lucius sighed throwing up his hands.

"Fine! Whatever. Told you you'd hate it. But it's true. I'm warm, you're warm. We'd be warmer together. Whatever." He shook his head, and then pulled off his tunica, hanging it up on one side of the wall. At least the wind was not whistling through the shack. Left in his subligaculum, Lucius sat down at the wall, picking up a fig from the bowl.

@Sara

[Sara]

"I'm a married woman!" She said indignant, before a little voice in her head chipped in; no you're not, you're an unmarried virgin, but she shut that away completely. Better he thought she was affronted because of some imaginary husband than her own awkwardness and fear of the male form.

She averted her eyes as he pulled off his tunica and wrapped the sodden sail further around herself as if in protest. Likewise, she went to sit at the opposing wall of the shack, facing him but pointedly not looking at him in the half-gloom. "Unb-believa-able." She muttered through shivers and then glared at him. She was relieved she couldn't see him properly. "You're unbelievable! Why on earth d-did y-you think that-that's something I'd d-do?"

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"I said it's fine!" Lucius frowned. He was freezing, but he'd experienced storms before. He'd be fine. Hopefully. But they were looking at a long, miserable day and night without any warmth. Damn propriety. "I didn't ask you to... forget it."

 "Unb-believa-able. You're unbelievable! Why on earth d-did y-you think that-that's something I'd d-do?"

"Because you didn't want to spend the night freezing?" he shot back, chewing on the fig. "If your husband wants you to be polite and sick, rather than this... well, it's up to the two of you."

@Sara

[Sara]

"It is up to the two of us," She said as her body jerked in trembles of cold, her glare could have melted ice though as she directed it squarely at him. "You don't understand you-" She shuddered and clasped her arms around herself as tight as she possibly could, "-you probably say that to the all the women you know, b-but nobody like m-me would be caught d-dead like-like that with you." 

She was utterly freezing though, so much so her teeth were rattling inside her skull and she couldn't stop the jerking movements of her limbs. She sniffed and rolled her head back to stare the ceiling. "I-It wouldn't work an-anyway, we're al-already cold I...you're just l-lying..." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

 

[Chevi]

"It is up to the two of us.You don't understand you-you probably say that to the all the women you know, b-but nobody like m-me would be caught d-dead like-like that with you." 

"To all the w..." Lucius stared at her, incredulous. "How often do you think I'm stranded on an island with a woman under these specific conditions?"

Ovinia was visibly shaking. It was frustrating. Lucius told himself he cared because it would be nice to be a bit warmer.

"I-It wouldn't work an-anyway, we're al-already cold I...you're just l-lying..."

"Why the fuck would I lie?" Lucius groaned, wrapping his own arms around himself. "If I wanted to take advantage of you, I'd done it a long time ago. Gods, woman. I don't need to force anyone for affection. Especially not in such a shitty way." He sighed, and paused. But it was more awkward to sit in silence. "You... really think your husband would take it out on you? Trying to survive?... Possibly pregnant?" He asked, more quieter. The answer might be yes, after all.

@Sara

[Sara]

She listened to him, and the rational side of her mind knew everything he was saying was absolutely right. If he wanted her body he could have had her on any of the preceding days or nights - he didn't need to wait until they were freezing and exhausted and trapped because of the storm. But she couldn't admit that no, nobody would take it out on her that actually she was utterly uncomfortable because no man had ever seen her like that, had touched her or held her. Her father likely would take it out on her if he heard, but she'd never, ever let him hear about it. 

No! Stop it! You're fine! She tried to snap at herself. She didn't need him, didn't need the warmth. But another spasm of cold rippled its way up her body and she shuddered so much she thought her teeth might actually splinter. She choked. "T-turn around." She snapped, swallowing, "F-face th-the wall." She was wearing her subglaculum under her chiton but no strophium. The sail was soaked but it would at least provide her with some cover. She hurriedly peeled the sodden material off of her skin and then ripped it at its edge so she was left with a long, soaked strip she could at least tie around her chest. "I-if  you t-try anything y-youre dead." She choked but at that moment the wind howled and raised the planks on the roof, deafening the place. "D-don't look, give me a f-few moments." 

When she was satisfied he wasn't staring at her, she'd undress.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

T-turn around. F-face th-the wall." 

"Did you change your mind, or am I being executed?" Lucius raised an eyebrow, but did get up to face the wall. She rustled around behind him, and he could hear fabric ripping. What on earth was she doing?...

"I-if  you t-try anything y-youre dead. D-don't look, give me a f-few moments."

"Fine, I'm not looking." He had basically seen it all already, with the state of soaked dress she'd been in since they met, but he was not going to point it out. His own teeth were chattering, so he did not want to piss Ovinia off any more than he already had.

@Sara

[Sara]

After one final look in his direction to confirm he wasn't looking, she set about peeling off the soaked chiton. It crumpled to the floor at her feet with a squelch and she stepped out of it. The feeling of the wind fresh against her skin made her shudder and then as she wound the strip over her breasts she screeched at the cold. She knotted it tightly and then lowered her shaking fingers. She felt tears bubble up in her eyes. She'd never felt so exposed. Of course she bared herself in the baths but that was only with women. 

She sniffed and then wound her arms around her waist, gripping her sides and then cleared her throat. She made no other move to tell him to turn round though, and no other indication she was going to lie down. She had absolutely no idea what to do and was convinced if she stood as still as possible then she'd wake up from this dream.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

There was more rustling; Lucius assumed she was undressed now. Well, this was going to be interesting.

"Can I turn?" He asked after a long silence. He thought about offering to keep his eyes closed, but honestly, it would be pointless. Once he got permission to turn, he saw Ovinia trembling, naked apart from a few strips of cloth, and looking utterly, utterly miserable. 

Lucius sighed, picking up the sail and the chiton, and hanging them on the walls. They wouldn't dry for long, but they could at least act as additional insulation. He finally turned back to face her in the dim light, clearing his throat.

"Alright. C'mere. I promise I won't hurt you. Okay?" He opened his arms. A hug was a good start, right?

@Sara

[Sara]

As she mumbled that he could turn around, she steeled herself. At least the utter cold was distracting her from how uncomfortable she was being looked at. Fortunately, he made no real indication of seeing her virtually undressed save for her underwear. She swallowed and took a half step back as he swooped to pick up the chiton and sail to hang on the wall. She still had her arms wrapped around her middle as he cleared his throat. 

She nodded at his instruction. And then stood stock still. She eyed him in the dim light with eyes half-full of fear and the other half, curiosity. She'd pointedly averted her gaze every other time he had so ungracefully stripped off. Now she couldn't avoid it. Realising she'd agreed and done nothing to show it, she took a few tentative steps closer and ducked her chin down so she was staring down at her feet. She bunched her forearms together over her her chest and then paused, a few inches from his own skin. "I-I meant what I said." she swallowed, her teeth chattering, lips blue. "A-and nobody can know." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

She stepped closer but pulled up short, still hesitant even though her lips were turning blue.

"I-I meant what I said. A-and nobody can know." 

"I know. I won't tell." He was serious about it. Not adding that if he did tell, it'd be his skin on the line. But he was too cold to discuss it further.

Carefully, he wrapped his arms around her. He made sure to avoid the injury on her shoulder. He winced at the strip of cloth that was wet and cold, but the rest of her skin, despite how much she was trembling, still brought a feeling of warmth. Lucius wrapped her in a hug, pressing together the largest surface of skin possible.

@Sara

[Sara]

She flinched as he touched her but there was warmth in his skin and against all of the instincts drummed into her from girlhood, she sank into his touch, pressing her body closer to try and get some of the heat. She shuddered and moved her arms to wrap around his waist. She was so cold. This would be utterly unconscionable yesterday, or even this morning, but this was exactly what she needed right now. The fact he wasn't making fun of her or belittling her made it better, more tolerable.

Her cheek was pressed against the skin of his neck and she mumbled into it; "Are w-we going to stand in a hug all night?" She joked, trying to lighten the suddenly very oppressive atmosphere of the shack. Lightning flashed through the gaps of the walls and then an almighty, deafening boom sounded as thunder rolled across the sky. Ovinia jumped in fright, mumbling into his neck in fear.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Ovinia finally relaxed a bit, and wrapped her arms around him, seeking heat. Skin contact was warm, even with both of them half frozen. Her breath was warm too against his neck, and in another situation, he would have maybe enjoyed holding her like this... but this was not another situation.

"We could lie down." he nodded at the bed, which was at this point just a symbolic wooden frame filled with moss and grass. "You can lie on top." he added with a chuckle. He unwound his arms from her waist to run them up and down her arms. Warming up.

@Sara

[Sara]

She stepped away from him a fraction as he himself pulled away and managed a small, feeble half-smile as he ran his hands up and down her arms. She tried to do the same  to his own, but couldn't as he worked on hers. She didn't understand exactly what he meant though and glanced over at the battered wooden frame. On top?

"What do you mean?" She swallowed and frowned up at him. At least she had stop shuddering quite so dramatically now and instead just stood there shivering, frowning at him in that very Ovinia-way. It didn't occur to her that as a married woman, she should know how to simply lie in a bed with a man. She had no clue. Instead of thinking on it though, she stepped away from  him on long, wobbly legs. She sat down on the edge and then shuffled back on the moss to the side closest to the wall. "Try and control yourself." She mumbled as she led down on her back, staring up at the clattering planks of wood overhead.

 

TAG: @Chevi