The Tempest

[Chevi]

"What do you mean?"

Ovinia was looking up at him for all the world as someone who did not get his meaning at all. It had been half a joke, and half him trying to be courteous... And she did not get either. Instead, she went to lie down. Oh well.

"Try and control yourself." 

"Oh, get over yourself" Lucius rolled his eyes but he smiled, lying down next to her. "C'mon." He nudged her gently, pulling her to his side until she was half on top of him, resting against his shoulder and side. He wrapped his arms around her again, hand rubbing her arm and side gently. It was still very cold in the shack, but the contact helped, at east. "Better?"

@Sara

[Sara]

She shifted as he led down next to her but as he nudged her, she begrudgingly and silently moved to lie on top of him, draping her arm over his chest and then her fingers naturally moved to grip his waist, seeking warmth. She mumbled against his chest with a nod. "Better." He wasn't exactly warm but it was better than being draped in the freezing cloth of the battered chiton. The home-made strophium was cold though, the water dribbling down her side and making her squirm occasionally. 

"You're useful for something at least." She managed now the chattering of her teeth had stopped. She shifted slightly to get closer to his skin, her wet, dripping hair hitting him accidentally as she did. She didn't care, she just needed warmth...and comfort. Despite his obvious displeasure at being stuck here with her, he was compassionate in his own way...she had to admit that at least. 

She smothered a yawn against his skin and settled back down.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"Same goes for you" he chuckled, then yelped as her wet hair hit him. Some of her was still cold. The damn cloth over her chest especially, but he was not going to point that out. "Told you" he added with a smirk, rubbing her skin in slow circles. At least neither of them was shivering now. It was still thundering outside... but they might just survive it.

@Sara

[Sara]

She sunk into his touch and made similar motions with her own fingers  over his side, trying to warm him up. Her fingers skirted around the bruises and scratches from the wreck. "You're nicer than you let on." She mumbled into his chest and then turned her face up to try and peer up at him although in the dimness of the shack, she could only make out the outline of his features. "You brood around, grumpy and antagonising me in the day but when push comes to shove, you're sweet. Handsy, but sweet." she chuckled with a slight smile and then sunk back down. 

She was tired. Whether that was the cold or the events of the day she didn't know but she smothered another couple of yawns in the silence that swelled. When she did speak, her voice was exhausted and her eyes had already closed; "Will it be like this tomorrow, do you think?" The planks on the roof rattled and shook and wind whistled past their bodies, "You know the sea, do you know the weather Gods as well?" 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"You're nicer than you let on. You brood around, grumpy and antagonising me in the day but when push comes to shove, you're sweet. Handsy, but sweet." 

"I'm n..." he opened his mouth to protest, but then decided against it with a sigh and a chuckle. He really was not a brooding person, but then again he had never been stranded with a woman who was so annoying. They didn't exactly bring out the best in each other. Her fingers traveled over his skin, though, and he felt his muscles relax.

"Will it be like this tomorrow, do you think? You know the sea, do you know the weather Gods as well?"

"I have to. These kinds of storms never last long. We'll be fine tomorrow." He tightened his hold, pulling her closer. She didn't exactly make up for a blanket, but holding her felt... right. Comfortable.

@Sara

[Sara]

She relaxed into his touch as he tightened his hold on her, hooking his arm around the curve of her waist. She smiled into his skin. They would be alright tomorrow, "I'll hold you to that." She smirked and then ducked her head into his neck as another clap of thunder sounded, deafening in the close confines of the shack. She shuddered in fear. She'd never been afraid of storms before but then...she'd never been so vulnerable in one before. "I need to..." She yawned and tucked her face closer to him, "Sleep." She managed to mumble before she drifted off though; "Do-don't try anything...I'm a light sleeper..." But she wasn't and she was out like a lamp almost immediately, dead to the world.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

They both needed sleep, more than they realized. Lucius hummed, holding Ovinia close. She felt calmer now, even with the storm still raging outside. She was warm and cozy, and Lucius had a smile playing on his lips as he drifted off to sleep. He had not slept this soundly since the shipwreck.

...

Morning was heralded by a few thin needles of sunlight filtering through the cracks in the walls. The shack was still standing. It was a warm, sunny morning outside, as if the storm had never happened at all. 

Lucius and Ovinia still lay on the makeshift bed. They had shifted over the course of the night, and now Ovinia was lying on her good side, with Lucius curled around her back, their legs and arms intertwined, his face resting against her neck. It was warm, and comfortable. Lucius mumbled, only half awake, tasting salt on her skin in the process.

@Sara

[Sara]

Ovinia shifted, tucking herself further into the warm embrace of something although tired and half-asleep as she was, she couldn't figure out what. She felt something against her skin and smiled in pleasure, confused but dreaming. It was only when the heat of something against her face caused her to blink open an eye that she realised where she was. Sun was shining directly into her dark eyes from the gaps in the wooden plank and she slammed her eyes shut again.

She mumbled and tried to block out the light, clutching at what she had thought in her half-dreaming state was a blanket...to find that blanket had fingers, draped over her hip. She frowned to herself, moving her own to brush over knuckles. Where...her eyes flew open at once and she made herself be perfectly still. Lucius. Oh. She didn't know if he was awake and didn't want to find out. This was comfortable, pleasurable even as the warm winds buffeted the shack but she was absolutely not going to admit that and she was not going to wake him up to talk about it. Instead she lay in frozen silence, contemplating how best to slip out from his arms...much as one part of her didn't want to. 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Ovinia shifted and moved, and Lucius drifted slowly out of sleep. They were alive, they were warm(er), and he was draped all over her like they were lovers. Which they definitely were not. He sighed, and Ovinia started squirming, which was... uh.

Lucius' hand tightened on her hip, instinctively trying to keep her still before... things got obvious. If she... He would be so dead. So. Dead. Gripping her hip probably didn't help either, so he let go. He paused. Was she... awake?

@Sara

[Sara]

Ovinia felt his hand on her hip grip and tighten and she breathed as deeply and quietly as she could, whilst simultaneously trying to gently, gently move away from him. Maybe he was just dreaming and tightened his grip because of it? Maybe it was a nightmare? If he was thinking of her then it probably was. She stayed still when she realised his grip was keeping her in place and then...his hand flew away and she swallowed. Definitely awake.  

She needed to bluff it out. She cleared her throat. "Good morning." She tried to keep her voice light and airy and yet she didn't move her body, pressed against his at it was. She felt something in her back and grumbled, shifting her hips, presuming it was a rock or something else picked up in her moss-collection. "Ugh." She said in frustration as she moved, sniffing, "You snore." She lied as she debated sitting up. The shack was lit up this morning and they no longer had the cloak of darkness to keep them hidden. "You get up first, so I can get my dress." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Ovinia was definitely awake. And squirming again. Lucius held his breath, trying to control... basically everything, and failing. Damn woman. Not like she was even that... it was just nature. Natural.

"You get up first, so I can get my dress." 

"Good, yes." Lucius basically bolted out of bed, aiming for the door of the shack. "Youu get dressed, take your time. I'll see... the outside. How the outside is."

@Sara

[Sara]

Ovinia flinched as he all but launched himself out of the bed and across the room. She blinked and pushed herself up to peer at him, noting the sleep-mussed hair, the way the sunlight caught on his body and then she glanced back at herself, embarrassed before she could see anything else.

She was left alone shortly after and gently pushed herself up, padding over to the hook which housed the chiton and the sail. Damp. They weren't even close to being dry. She bit her lip. She couldn't hear Lucius outside but he wasn't dressed either. She didn't want him to see her in the bright light of a sunny day but nor did she relish the prospect of putting the wet chiton and sail on. She glanced around, his tunica, the blanket and the spare they had were all balled on the floor, equally sodden. With a huff, she gathered them up and the chiton and the sail and balled them against her waist before she stormed out of the shack. She spied him from the corner of her eye and blinked into the sunlight. "Don't you say a word." She hissed and then moved in her make-shift bikini to lay out their other clothes in the sunlight. "They're still wet." She muttered by way of an explanation, not looking at him. "How's the damage?" She sat down next to the laid out clothes, wrapping her arms around herself.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Lucius would have cherished some privacy,but he couldn't exactly bolt and leave Ovinia alone, or she would freak again. Instead, he marched away at a brisk pace from the shack and leaned against a rock, cooling down in the morning breeze. The sun was rising, and it was likely to be a clear, hot day. Thank the gods. They could dry everything.

Ovinia apparently had the same idea, because she appeared with a bundle of soggy things.

"Don't you say a word. They're still wet. How's the damage?"

"I... I think we're fine. We need to dry the clothes, and start a new fire and find food... but we're fine." he sighed, standing up and stretching now that he had some semblance of control back.

[Sara]

Three weeks later

Ovinia sat on the small slope of the beach, dressed in her repaired chiton, knees bent, toes curling into the sand. Her hair, braided loosely, fluttered in the wind and freckles had started to appear on her nose as she spent more time in the sun. None of that made her mood any better as she squinted out to sea, watching for boats on the horizon as she did every morning. 

Herself and Lucius had fallen into a regular rhythm now they had been stranded for almost a month. The shack was virtually fixed up now and a fire burned constantly outside - throwing thick black smoke up at the sky. They woke most mornings in their separate beds and Ovinia went to gather food and water, coming back as Lucius finished stoking the fire. They shared their meals and most of the day which inevitably led to arguments. Like this morning. Now she was sat here stewing she wasn't quite sure what it was about - maybe he had critiqued the fish she was cooking, or her lack of sweeping  that morning (she was a tired and it could wait until the heat of the morning had passed) but either way she had stormed off to ocean-gaze.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Time passed on the island without measure (although Ovinia, he suspected, was still counting days) and the two survivors had settled in for the long haul. They had shelter, they had food, they had fire, and they got on decently for most days. But on others, they inevitably argued. They never shared a bed again, and that left some sense of longing behind. But it was better this way.

After a month, Lucius was sporting what now definitely counted as a beard, although sometimes he scraped at it with a sharp rock when Ovinia made a fuss. Not very successfully. Ovinia, on her part, was learning how to cook things properly, but still did not take to criticism very well. This morning, they once again had a spat, and Ovinia had stormed off to the beach while Lucius headed up to the center of the island to fetch fresh water from the spring. Sometimes, the island was just not big enough for the both of them.

@Sara

[Sara]

She running her fingers over the small tears in the chiton when she spotted it. It looked like a mirage at first and she swore it hadn't been there a moment ago. It was a lump - or what looked like a lump - but there was something moving on top, something striped red and yellow. She pushed herself to stand and moved hurriedly down to the waters edge, heart thrumming against her chest, breath catching in her throat. A boat. A boat. She choked and took a stumble back up the beach, tripping and landing on her back. She scrambled up right again and fixed her gaze on the horizon. It was still there. 

She made off at a run, sprinting through the sand back to the shack where the fire was still spewing smoke into the sky. She glanced around, breathless, flushed, wishing Lucius wasn't quite so petulant so he could be here and do something. She set off at a run through the trees - roots and rocks and twigs scratching at the soles of her feet until she came to the spring breathless and flushed. "B-boat!" She choked with her eyes brimming, "There's a boat!" 

Salvation, or so she thought.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Lucius had decided to take a bath in the spring. He needed to cool down, stay quiet, and just let the moment wash over him. Even with one other person, sometimes talking was too much of an effort. He sat in the water and felt his muscles relax.

And then Ovinia exploded out of the bushes.

 "B-boat! There's a boat!" 

"What?!" Lucius" eyes flew open and he stood, chest deep in the water. "Where?"

@Sara

[Sara]

"In the fucking sea!" She choked back, but she was grinning ear to ear. A month might not have changed somethings, but it had loosened her tongue to curse words. 

It was only then that she realised what he was doing and what he was not wearing. She averted her eyes and grabbed his tunic, hanging from a tree branch; "Get out! Get dressed!" She self-consciously smoothed a hand over her own ruined chiton, imagining the glare of disapproval from her father if he could see her like this. As if she didn't have bigger things to deal with. "Come on! The fire is going but I don't know what else to do!" She screwed her eyes shut so he could leave the water and held his tunic for him to grab.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"In the fucking sea!"  

"Well, you're swearing, so it must be serious" he grinned.

"Get out! Get dressed! Come on! The fire is going but I don't know what else to do!" 

He wasn't obeying her orders, he just had the same thoughts. Jumping out of the spring Lucius hurriedly got dressed, shaking drops of water out of his hair.

"Come on!"

They hurried back together, along the path that was well known and well worn by now. Lucius felt his heart jumping to his throat as they both reached the edge of the grove at the same time, on the hill above the beach.

The really was a ship.

@Sara

[Sara]

She was breathless again by the time they made it to the edge of the grove. The ship was the same distance out - its red and yellow sails fluttering in the wind from where she squinted to see it but now, drawing closer was a smaller skiff with on black sail. She frowned and reached up on her tip toes, as if to get a better vantage point. 

"What...what do we do? They have to be a rescue party, surely?" over the intervening four weeks it had seemed like any prospect of a rescue was dwindling but now...surely that was what this was. There was no other ship for miles around and there hadn't been since their arrival. "What do we do?" She glanced up at him, desperately yearning for direction, with a wide open, earnest face.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

There really was a ship. It was getting closer now, heading to the island. The smoke from the campfire was visible in the clear weather. They had to have seen it.

Lucius' grin froze.

"What...what do we do? They have to be a rescue party, surely?"

No. They weren't.

"What do we do?" 

Lucius stared at the skiff, then grabbed for Ovinia's hand, growing as pale as his sun-darkened skin could be.

"Ovinia. That's a Cilician ship."

@Sara

[Sara]

She blinked, frowning at the skiff to try and see it better. She jumped as he grabbed her hand and then looked up at him in confusion. His paleness, the horror that was darkening his features made her stomach drop to her toes. She choked and looked between him and the skiff, feeling as if she couldn't breathe. 

"What...what does that mean? M-maybe my brother sent word from Patara? Maybe they're..." She could see the men aboard clearer now - they were still some minutes off but the shine of the sunlight reflecting off of their weapons were as clear as day. She choked, panic rising. "Pirates?" 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"Pirates." Most likely. Sure, there was a chance that nice, peaceful Cilician fishermen would venture out this far... But not much of a chance. On the other hand, pirates seeing fire on an uninhabited island... that was easy pickings.

With nowhere to hide.

"We have to go." He pulled her away from the sight, back into the grove, back towards the center of the island. "We need to hide. Run!"

[Sara]

She followed his urging, gripping so tightly to his hand she was worried she would she would break his hand. She bolted, only releasing her vice like grip on his hand as she broke into a full blown run. She felt her heart hammering against her chest and she was on the verge of tears as she finally drew to a stop, too exhausted to carry on running. She leant her palms on her thighs, head hanging low as she tried to catch her breath. 

"There's nowhere to hide to L-Lucius," She said as she gulped down breaths, chest burning. They were on a deserted island and they'd explored every inch of it. There weren't any caves, no other buildings, nowhere. She glanced up at him, her face pale and terrified. "W-we could climb trees? O-or," She glanced around panicked, their idyll utterly shattered. "Or we could c-confront them. Maybe if we offer them payment they'll take us to the mainland." She wasn't usually so naive but she needed an idea.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"There's nowhere to hide to L-Lucius,"

There really wasn't. Lucius' heart threatened to jump out of his jest as he looked around.

"W-we could climb trees? O-or. Or we could c-confront them. Maybe if we offer them payment they'll take us to the mainland." 

"If you don't pay up front, they'll just take the ransom. For you." If they were kind enough. If they were not, they would do... unspeakable things to her, and then sell the both of them. "We should hide. We need to hide." There was nowhere to hide on the whole island. "Come on." Lucius dragged Ovinia along to the other side of the island, still looking around for an idea. Anything. "... we need to get off the island."