First Social and a Waterfall (Private)

Alyia walked up to the guild with a smirk on her face. Earlier that day she had had a brilliant idea. The idea resulting in getting her partner to go outside and have fun. She didn’t know exactly what he liked but she knew that he loved strawberry sundaes. She was going to get him to come out of that dreadful room with promise of a mission and instead of a mission she was going to take him out for ice-cream and then a fun day. ‘He can’t stay in that room forever. It can’t be good for him. Besides it can’t be worse than mission with the bugs,’ Alyia thought as she reached the guild. The mission with the bugs had almost gotten her killed at her partner’s own hand. But with honesty she and Deniel had worked their way out of that issue and were both still alive. Alyia paused in her step and remembered one of the rules that Deniel followed. Don’t hide anything from him. Alyia shivered as she remembered the last time she didn’t follow that rule. But this time it was different! This time she was going to get him outside of his room and not put them in any danger. Continuing in her initial direction Alyia walked inside of the guild. It was empty. This surprised her because her luck was awful and always wanted to make her life miserable. Walking over to the entrance of Deniel’s room Alyia prepared herself for the trip down to the room. She pushed open the hidden door and started down the darkened hallway that lead to the room of death.
Alyia had walked down the passage way. It seemed longer than it usually did. Not that it was a sort distance to begin with. Finally reaching the bedroom Alyia poked just her head in and looked for her partner. She had done this everytime she came down now because of the one time that she just walked in and Deniel had jumped down from a perch on the wall and scared her. “Deniel? Are you there?” Alyia looked above her and saw nothing on the wall. Thinking that it was safe to come in the blonde moved forward into the room and away from the entry way.

At the moment, Deniel wasn't inside of his room. He was out doing a job by himself yet again, but luckily for Alyia, he was nearly back. He was in his brightest of moods, finishing yet another job and walking back to his room with his pockets stuffed with jewels. "Another job done, another payment. Huh...for some reason, it's lost its charm, Nidhogg." He was carrying his katana sheathed in the scabbard in his left hand like he usually did so he could draw it with his right should he need it. "Maybe because you've done it too often, Deniel? I think you should give them a rest for a while and have some fun." Deniel was still an ignorant hard-ass, so the word "fun" was nearly poisonous to him. "Fun? I don't have time for fun, Nidhogg! I need more power!" His hand clenched around Nidhogg's scabbard as he started to draw close to the second entrance to his hidden room: the entrance that lead from the base of Phoenix Mountains to the inside. "Will it honestly hurt one day to give your body some time to recover, and your mind to be at ease?" Before Deniel could answer Nidhogg, he was inside of his room, and he already had company. He saw his blonde partner, Alyia, inside his room and waiting for him. He had not heard her call for him earlier, and he didn't know how long she had been waiting for him. "Alyia, what do you need?" Deniel walked over to his bed so he could sit down and rest his tired legs for a few moments. He leaned his sword on the bed beside him and removed both of his black gloves, awaiting Alyia's answer.

Alyia was surprised when Deniel suddenly spoke from behind her. ‘And to think that I was saved from being startled.’ With an adjustment of one of her braids Alyia took a breath and started to speak, “I have a small job that we need to do. It will be easy and there is a great reward for it.” Alyia was going to bribe him with a job and then instead of actually of doing a job she was going to take him to Talonia and get ice-cream and from there she was going to make it up as she went. Perhaps they were going to go to the waterfall and take a dip or just sit up at the top and relax. Or they would just walk around the park that was there and play pranks on people that were there. “We just need to go to Talonia and check up with the person.” Alyia had gotten pretty good at lying over the year that she had been with other people. But, for some reason she didn’t like to lie to her partner. ‘It’s not a lie it’s just not telling all of the truth. Besides, it’s seems like a job for me. I might get killed… again.’ Alyia looked at Deniel he seemed somewhat in a good mood. But as she looked closer she could see the wear under his eyes from not taking a break from doing jobs. ‘He needs a break,’ Alyia thought. ‘I guess this wont just be a job for me. But also for him. He needs to learn when to take a break.’ With a tilt of her head the blonde female looked at her partner. This was a small give away that she was planning something, her only habit she had when she wanted to do something fun. “What do you say. Wanna go?”

Easy and a great reward to it... Deniel repeated the thought into his head. It sounded like it would be a dream come true, but that's what was suspicious about it. No great reward came with an easy job, it was impossible. Then again, it could be easy for me and have a great reward for her. What's the harm in it? It also seemed like it was a new opportunity for Deniel to explore. He had never been to Talonia, so this seemed to have "Win" written all over it. Deniel, make sure you leave me behind on this job, alright? Nidhogg was once again communicating with Deniel through his mind. He had no idea why the sword didn't want to go with him on a job. Nidhogg could never get tired, it was an inanimate object. If you say so, Nidhogg. Why? It was unlike Nidhogg to not want to go with him on a job. Ever since Deniel obtained the sword, it went with him everywhere. You'll find out when you get there. This made Deniel a tad bit suspicious about everything. Nidhogg had a habit of knowing things Deniel didn't and only told him during the last second. This situation was sounding a lot like one of those, and especially more like the bug situation. Deniel thought about just saying "No" to her, but then again, he wouldn't know until he found out. And if she did take him to more bugs, he could just kill her...that simple. He stood up from his bed, leaving his gloves and katana behind. "Alright, Alyia, I'll go." With that, Deniel walked towards the second entrance to his room, the one that he came in from earlier. "Let's go." He motioned her to follow him through the exit that would lead them from the hidden room she was so scared of all the way to the base of Phoenix Mountains. "You'll probably have to lead the way, though."

Alyia shrugged when Deniel had told her that she would have to lead the way. She knew kind of where Talonia was, but not exactly. She followed him out of his room and paused at the entrance to the passage way. She had never been out this way. It was cool to see how the light from the outside world came closer and closer. She had felt like saying I see the light as he lead the way out of his room. But instead she kept quiet so that she wouldn’t ruin the surprise that she had planned. From there she started to walk in front leading them to Talonia. She walked just a few steps in front of Denial so that he could not see her face and the smirking smile that had so graciously formed there.


They had walked a few hours before Alyia had seen the growing buildings of Talonia. Talonia was mostly occupied by guileless mages making in a more neutral area. Taking in a deep breath Alyia was proud of herself not once had she teased Deniel or spoken about her surprise. Feeling more relaxed Alyia turned to her partner with a smirk on her face. "I'm going to meet with the job poster. Meet me at the bar. Don't do anything stupid," the blonde said as she spun on her heel making her hair spin around her ankles and made her way off to see if she could find an ice-cream parler and pre-order a strawberry sundae for her partner and a double chocolate sundae for herself.

Alyia had been walking for a full ten minutes without spotting a single ice-cream shop. She was starting to become worried about time and one not even being in Talonia. Deniel was probably going to start to get suspicious about what she was doing. With her hope dwindling Alyia had almost not seen the small ice-cream place that was a little hidden due to its size. The shop was small but cute. It had booths inside and circular tables outside with umbrellas over them to block the sun. The short girl walkers up to the shop and entered through the entrance door. The inside was bigger than it looked from the outside. But that was not what surprised her. What surprised her was that there was no one in the shop. A grin appearing on her face Alyia walked up to the counter where one would order. "Hello?" She called. Not a moment later a young girl walked out into the open from behind the counter. "Yes?" She asked." Alyia didint know what to say so she just said what she was planning to do and if she could pre-order the sundae's. The little girl behind the counter gave her a big grin and nodded. With a nod and a thank you Alyia left the shop and bolted down the street so that Deniel would not be anymore suspicious about what she was up to. She had reached the bar in record time and took a deep breath trying to even out her breathing. Once she felt that her breathing had evened out Alyia entered the bar in search for her partner.

Throughout the entire way to Taliona, Deniel felt a tad bit awkward. Not only was he traveling without his gloves, but also without Nidhogg. The lack of his gloves not only showed off his skin, but his Eclipse Soul guild mark that was on the back of his right hand. He wore the gloves to keep it hidden, not because he was embarrassed of the guild, but because he wanted to remain as anonymous as possible. In addition, he had his left hand awkwardly clenched around the air since he was used to the feeling of having Nidhogg's scabbard in his hand. He looked down at his hand and stared at his empty palm. Already, he was missing the sword's company. Alyia may have been his partner, but nothing could replace Nidhogg. The only person he could ever consider a friend. "Nidhogg..." he whispered to himself as he walked behind Alyia to the unknown city of Taliona.



He had never visited the place before, so he had no idea what he should expect of it. He was a tad bit surprised to see a calm, almost empty place. There were buildings and people, but it was no wear near to places he had went to such as Clover Town, or even Rose Garden. He looked down at his partner Alyia and nodded, watching the blonde mage go off in her own direction. He may have nodded, but he wasn't entirely sure what she was up to. She hasn't filled me in on the details yet, and she's going to the client without me. She's up to something, I know it... As much as Deniel didn't want to, the only way he could know what she was up to was to find out for himself. He sighed and shrugged, thinking about the place that she told him to go to. "Nidhogg, what's a ba-" Deniel had never been to a bar, and since he was so ignorant on the world, he didn't know what it was. He usually relied on his sword, Nidhogg, to give him the information he needed. That's when he realized that Nidhogg wasn't with him. "Oh...right." Deniel felt very disappointed, almost sad to know that his sword wasn't going to be keeping him company.

Sighing and brushing it off, Deniel began to walk around Taliona in search of the place Alyia called "the bar". Were it not for the giant sign labeled "Bar", Deniel would have never found the place. It looked very interesting, and had a peculiar smell to it. "Huh...smells like the stuff Virgil or the prison guard used to drink." Deniel walked inside the bar, and immediately all eyes turned on him. It was quite a run-down adult-like place. Grown males were everywhere, drinking, gamboling, and being surrounded by women. Deniel didn't like the sight to it right away. Sinners! The thought came to his head right away, and he didn't even need to think about it. He walked further inside the bar, still with some eyes on him. Mostly they were looking at his guild mark. Some of these people were guildless or others just didn't like the legal guild system. Despite their stares, all Deniel did was stare back with a frown or scowl. He was tempted to pick a fight just to show them what he was made of, but he then heard Alyia's voice in his head: "Don't do anything stupid." Deniel seated himself on one of the stools, awaiting Alyia's arrival.

Despite looking away from them, he could still feel some eyes on his back. Deniel suddenly widened his eyes and ducked his head. Right over him, a fist harmlessly flew straight through the air. Deniel turned around in his seat, sending his hand to grab the shirt of the person who had just tried to hit him. Deniel stood up on his feet again and scowled at the person who just try to hit him. "What's the big idea, asshole!?"

Alyia had just seen the commotion in the bar and was ready to bring him back home and not get him ice-cream. But, she would let this one pass because he technically didn’t start it. With a sigh Alyia walked into the bar and put a hand on Deniel’s arm trying to relax him. She knew that he was tense. She could see it. The way that he had talked and the way that he was holding the guy up by his shirt. “Put him down Deniel.” She spoke softly as if trying to calm her partner down but not treat him like an animal that was scared or a child. Today she was not going to be her usual joking self. She was going to try to be more gentle. Only to Deniel at least. She didn’t care if she was cold to other people. She just wanted Deniel to take a break and relax. “Down Deniel, put him down. Don’t do something you are going to regret later.” Alyia shifted her stare away from her partner and to the guy that had tried to hit Deniel. She narrowed her eyes and glared at him. What had caused him to try to punch Deniel? She could feel all of the looks on her. Ones of lust and ones of curiosity, as if wondering why she was here with the dark haired mage.

Deniel had heard the voice of his partner, Alyia a few moments after he picked up the stranger who tried to assault him. “Put him down Deniel.” The corner of his eye stared down at his blonde haired partner. His red eye was glowing, which was usually his sign of anger or frustration. Deniel didn't let go, in fact, his grip moved from the man's shirt to his neck. “Down Deniel, put him down. Don’t do something you are going to regret later.” Once again he stared down at his partner without words, only an angry look in his eyes. Despite his look, he released the grip to the man. He dropped down on the ground harmlessly, and gasped for breath. He looked down at the man he just dropped and grunted, turning away and heading for the exit. "Let's go." He walked past Alyia and exited the bar. When he was outside, the first thing he did was take a deep breath like he usually did to make sure that his emotions would calm down. It always seemed to work, and it didn't fail himself now. He could feel the feeling in his stomach and throat fading away, and the glow in his eyes ceased. "Alright, so what's the real reason you brought me out here, Alyia? This isn't for a job...I know it's not."

At that moment Alyia bit her tongue. It was all she could do to stop her from snapping at Deniel and his overly smart deduction skills. Taking a deep breath the blonde stopped biting her tongue and looked right at Deniel. “It is for a job. Trust me. Just not a job that you should worry about,” Alyia explained to Deniel with a small frown on her face. Yes, this was going to be a job. A job for her. “Now, lets go. I have somewhere we should be going.” With a swish of her hair and a spin on her heel Alyia headed away from the black haired mage and towards the ice-cream parlor where their sundae’s were waiting for them. And with the way that Deniel was acting right at this moment Alyia hoped that the sundae would at least lighten his mood.

Walking down the street had been one of the most nerve racking moments she had ever had. Right after the moment of Deniel almost killing her. She could feel her partners presence always reminding her that she still hadn’t told him what they were doing or what they were going to do. When she finally caught sight of the shoppe she let out a sigh of something that could have been relief.

He certainly wasn't happy about her response at all. He knew he didn't have any way to prove it, but from all of the things that had happened so far, she definitely wasn't taking him out on a job. Now I am worried... He frowned at his partner keeping him in the dark once again. She had done it once before, and he could certainly remember how that turned out. His red eyes stared down at her with each and every step he took, and he felt himself naturally clench his fist down at her. She's lying to me again! He felt his anger swelling up inside of him, and he almost felt like giving her a piece of his mind. She thinks she can get away with it so easily!? He felt his hand twitching, and then slowly raise itself from his side into the air. Then again... He slowly lowered his hand back down to his side and stopped thinking with his anger, and more with his mind. What harm could it possibly do? She knows the danger, this has to be for a good cause.

He sighed to himself and once again put his anger in check. He was supposed to be a level-headed person, why was he getting angry at her so easily? And she wasn't just any normal person, she was his partner. He looked ahead of himself to see the two of them heading to a very small shop; an ice cream shop. "Ice cream, huh? You know, you could have just asked. You didn't have to lie to me."

Alyia looked at her partner and smiled at him. He was the only person who she consistently smiled at. He was, after all, the person that she had gotten the most close to in the last ten years of her life. Not like there were many people she had gotten close to to begin with. "I didn't lie to you. I just didn't tell you. Besides, this is a job that we are doing, just more of a personal one." With that Alyia saw that they were now at the ice-cream place and was glad that she had decided to come here first on their day off. “And ice-cream is the first part.” Walking up to the shop Alyia spotted the little girl that she had seen before and waved. She watched as the little girl widened her eyes and ran to the back of the shop. The smile still on her face Alyia sat down at one of the outside tables. “Come sit down, it’s not like we will be going anywhere for a while,” the blonde said as she looked right at her partner who had followed her to the shop.

It was a couple minutes before the ice-cream came out and Alyia heard the little girl before she saw her. Her small feet padding against the concrete and the clanging of a spoon against a glass bowl. Slightly turning her body Alyia looked at the girl that was walking to the table. She was right. In both hands rested a bowl of ice-cream; strawberry and chocolate.

Deniel didn't really understand exactly what she meant, but he didn't care. He was right to at least ask her about it before assuming this was going to go wrong. If it was ice cream she wanted, then he was going to bear with her. "Okay, Alyia." He followed her to the shop where he spotted a little girl. He figured that Alyia already ordered ice cream for the two of them, which explained why she ran inside the shop upon seeing Alyia. “Come sit down, it’s not like we will be going anywhere for a while.” He nodded at her and sat down right in front of her with a blank look on his face. He didn't know what he should feel. Happy that she risked herself just to take him out for ice cream? Angry that she didn't tell him? His eyes looked to his right without turning his head to see the little girl returning with two bowls of ice cream. One was chocolate, and one was strawberry. Ew...chocolate. Deniel didn't really appreciate chocolate as much as he did strawberries. In fact, he was nearly disgusted by it.

Deniel kindly took the bowl of strawberry ice cream and lifted the spoon out of it right away. His face was still completely blank. He opened his mouth and put the metal spoon inside of it. With his lips still sealed, he slid the spoon out of his mouth: it was pretty much wiped clean. He swallowed the ice cream, and as soon as he did, a smile appeared on his face. "Thank you, Alyia. Nidhogg was right; I do need a break..."

Alyia smirked at Deniel’s comment. Maybe this day wouldn’t be so bad, maybe it wouldn’t be a job. Her smirk still on her face Alyia thanked the small girl who was holding her bowl of chocolate ice-cream as she took it from her small hands. “Thanks.” Turning back to the table Alyia set the bowl down and picked up the spoon. Dipping the metal object into the cold dessert Alyia could almost taste the sweetness on her tongue. With a little ice-cream on her spoon Alyia brought it up to her lips. Placing her mouth around the spoon the blonde girl hummed. It was just as good as she imagined. Slipping the spoon from her mouth with not a speck of chocolate ice-cream on it Alyia took another spoonful from the bowl and placed it in her mouth. Another sound echoed through her mouth as she tasted the sweet chocolate. Seeing Deniel across the table eating away at him own Ice-cream sundae Alyia took the spoon out of her mouth. “How is it?” She asked and she dipped her spoon back into the frozen goodness and left it sitting there. She placed her hands under her chin and looked at her partner wanting a response.

With a smile still on his face, Deniel put his spoon back down in his ice cream and then pulled out another spoon full of strawberry ice cream. He opened his mouth again, and just like before, enclosed his mouth around the spoon. With his lips still sealed, he pulled out the spoon from his mouth just like he did in his first bite with it completely clean. One mouthful after another, Deniel finished his ice cream in just a few moments. Once he was finally finished, he gave a relaxing sigh. He finished it so fast, Alyia asked her question just as soon as he did. "Whew...it was good, Alyia. Very good." He rested his chin in the palms of his hands and looked at her with his red eyes. He was still just a tad bit suspicious about something. He brought her all the way out here just to eat ice cream when there's plenty in the guild? There was more to this. "So what else do you have planned for me, Alyia? What comes after the ice cream?"

Alyia smirked at Deniel’s question. She didn’t know herself, but one thing was certain they were going to go see the waterfall that this place had. “Well, there is a waterfall here. I want to go. I’m just not sure if we should swim or not,” Alyia told Deniel as she shrugged. He had put together that she was taking him out to have a break so she might as well ask him for his opinions on somethings. She wasn’t the only one who was supposed to enjoy herself. Reaching for her spoon that still laid in her bowl Alyia took another bite of her chocolate sundae. Slipping the spoon from her mouth clean of chocolate she took another scoop of the ice-cream and placed it in her mouth this time leaving the spoon in her mouth as she looked at Deniel for his opinion on the idea of swimming. If they were to go swimming she was going to have to buy a swimsuit because she hadn’t planned their entire day and he would have to buy one as well. Tilting her head a little to the left the blonde mage continued to look at her partner.

“Well, there is a waterfall here. I want to go. I’m just not sure if we should swim or not.” Deniel tilted his head on his palms to the side upon hearing her answer. Swimming? Deniel had swam before, but it wasn't any of the good kind of swimming. It was more of part of his training that had been done by Virgil. Virgil wanted to prepare him for anything, so he taught him how to swim. The idea of swimming that Alyia gave him wasn't necessarily what she was thinking. Why would Alyia want to do training with me as 'fun'? Ignorant as he was, Deniel had no idea what she really meant by swimming. Still, he wasn't going to say now. "Swimming sounds nice. But..." he took another look at Alyia eating her ice cream, "You probably can't swim in those clothes, can you?" After that, he took a look at himself. He wasn't suited for swimming right now either. "And I suppose I'm not, too. Well, it's a good thing I came back from a job, I've got plenty of money for us."

Alyia was surprised. Deniel would actually swim with her. But narrowing her eyes at Deniel there was something not right about the guy. Was he thinking the way that she was thinking or was there something else going through his mind. She just didn’t know. With a small nod at her partner she finished up her ice-cream spoon full by spoon full. Finishing she set her spoon down in the bowl and stood up only to grab the her bowl and her partners and walk them back to the ice-cream shop. Walking back to the table she motioned to her partner. “Come on, if were going to get swimming suits we better get going. I want to get to that waterfall.” With those words Alyia walked away from her partner and down the street back the way that they had come. She knew that she had seen a shop on this street that sold swimsuits. Looking back and forth she tried to spot the shop. But with no results she hung her head and sighed maybe she hadn’t seen a shop at all.

Deniel watched his partner finish her ice cream and then take the bowls back to the shop. While she was gone, it gave him a small window in time for him to think about everything to himself. He tapped his finger on the table and focused on the whole "swimming" situation. Before he could delve too deep into his thoughts, Alyia had come back sooner than he expected. “Come on, if were going to get swimming suits we better get going. I want to get to that waterfall.” She caught him a bit by surprise, as he wasn't expecting her to be back so early. He jumped in his seat and looked at her before nodding a few times. "Yeah...let's go." He followed her down the street to whatever it is they were looking for. He was hoping she would know what the shop would look like, because he sure as Hell didn't. However, with her looking up and down the street, he figured she was just as lost as he was. That's when something suddenly grabbed his attention. He walked away from Alyia and approached a building, one with a large glass frame in front of it. He sat there staring at the glass for a few moments. "Hey Alyia, what's this for?" He pointed to the glass, which held plastic body figures with different kinds of bikinis on. Deniel had never seen such clothing before, so he was curious to what they were.

Alyia looked back at Deniel and what he was asking about. Spinning around on her heel she took a look at the object in question. A smirk appearing on her face she looked at Deniel. “Those,” Alyia said as she pointed to the bikini’s in the window, “are swimsuits for girls.” Taking a step towards Deniel she put her hand on his upper arm. “You found the swimsuit shop!” Alyia flashed her partner a quick grin and walked into the shop. Upon entrance the blonde girl saw every kind of swimsuit imaginable. From bikinis to one pieces, from strapless to both straps. Alyia also took notice that one side of the store was for males and the other side was for females and that the changing rooms were in the center of the store. One stall for each male and female. Meandering over to the girls side Alyia brushed her fingertips against each piece of cloth as she passed. She browsed through the swimsuits and finally found one that she liked. It was dark red and faded into black at the edges. It was spaghetti strapped and tied once around the back of her neck and again behind her back. The bottoms were the same colour as the top and did the same thing. Fading into black. The bikini tied at the hips but had a string so that if they untied the bottoms wouldn’t come off. Taking the bikini off of the rack she headed to the changing rooms to see if it fit. Slipping off her clothes and and tieing the bikini on without any trouble. She turned to the mirror to see how it looked. It was perfect. With Alyia and her petite frame and medium sized chest the bikini did nothing but compliment her. Slidding it off she hung it back on the hanger and exited the changing room and looked around to see if she could spot Deniel and tell him that she was done.

"Those are swimsuits?" While Alyia went inside the shop, Deniel proceeded to look into the glass frame and the plastic figures inside. The last time he went swimming with Virgil in his training, he wore no such thing as "swimsuits". He was either fully clothed or without any clothes. One was to make sure he could swim while he was, and the other was to get him used to the cold. "Huh. Interesting." He walked inside of the store a few moments after Alyia did, and he saw her on one side of the store he saw his partner brushing through what seemed an endless line of clothes, and then she picked one out from it. Deniel stared at what she picked out in complete silence. She's going to wear that? Deniel could never imagine Alyia wearing something that seemed so...degrading to him. He didn't understand why these swimsuits had to show off so much. He shrugged it off and then walked over to the boy's side of the store. It only took him about five seconds to find something he liked, and he didn't even have to go in the changing room. It was a simple pair of black shorts with two red lines running down the side on each side. After picking it out, Deniel walked over to the counter and purchased it. After he did, he held it up in front of him in full view so he could get a better look at it. "Good enough, I suppose." from the corner of his eye, he saw Alyia come out of the changing room. He gave her a nod from across to store to let her know that he was already done.

Alyia saw the nod from Deniel from across the store she nodded back herself and went to the cash register to pay for the suit. Reaching the cash register she placed the suit on the counter and pulled out her wallet. Handing the cashier the money for the suit. Alyia grabbed it off of the counter and pulled it off of the hanger only keeping the suit as she handed the hanger back to the person behind the cash register. Swimsuit in hand Alyia walked up to Deniel and smirked she honestly couldn't wait until they got to the waterfall. She would have to change before they got there though. Perhaps in a bathroom on the way there? Looking up at the black haired mage Alyia spoke, "Let's go." With that the blonde haired girl turned away from Deniel and walked out of the shop with her long hair swishing around her ankles.

They had walked for a while and finally after what seemed like a long while for Alyia they finally reached the waterfall. She had stopped at one of the couple bathrooms along the way so that Alyia could change into her new swimsuit. They had walked along a hiking trail in what one would call a small forest to reach the waterfall. So when they reached it all Alyia wanted to do was run and jump into the lake that had been created under the waterfall. Walking up to the edge of the small lake Alyia dipped her toes in to see how cold it was. It wasn't too bad. Walking farther in shore she stripped down to her bikini and ran to the top of the waterfall with her hair flying behind her. She looked at Deniel once she reached the top and gave him a small wink before jumping off the top of the waterfall and plunging down to the body of water below.

"Okay." Deniel was very silent the entire way there, and didn't even think about much. It was like a sudden wave of sadness came over him. He didn't say anything, nor did he have any emotions on his face. All he did was blankly stare at the ground the entire way there with one hand carrying his swimming shorts. When he was inside a different bathroom that Alyia and changing out of his normal clothes into his swimming shorts, he thought about how he was going to do everything. He settled with the idea of putting his swimming shorts on and his jeans over it, and then take it all off when they arrived at the waterfall. Upon seeing Alyia after they had both gotten out of the bathrooms, he figured she had the same idea as him. Even after they came out of the bathrooms, Deniel still didn't look too happy about everything. He was somewhat thrilled about doing this at first, but a huge dark thought came over his head as soon as he came out of the shop. They arrived at the lake, and he stared at the pure and crystallized water with blank, dark eyes. "Huh..." he slowly walked over to the water, very far behind Alyia, and stared down at his reflection in it. He looked to his right to see Alyia running for the waterfall, but not before she stripped herself only to her bikini.

Deniel honestly had no idea what he was feeling when he saw her running in one. He had never seen so much of her skin exposed at once, and for some reason, he liked seeing it. But why? It was just skin? He had some, too. Deniel had a tight feeling in his chest and stomach upon seeing her like that. He was completely wordless. There wasn't a word or anything he knew that could describe this. Shrugging, he took off his coat to start off and then his combat boots. He removed his jeans so that he was simply wearing a T-shirt with two dangling cross necklaces, and a pair of black and red swimming shorts. Normally a guy would take his shirt off as well, but that was Deniel's dark thought. So far since he had met Alyia, he made sure that his shirt wouldn't come off one bit, even now. His despaired look got even worse, and he put his hand at his chest area. He felt a pulse, but he knew it was fake. In a bit of anger, he clenched his shirt around the area and sighed.

"She can't know." He walked over to the shore of the lake and only sat there with his legs dipped inside the water. He saw Alyia jump down from the waterfall and make quite a splash despite her small body. Her body...he thought about seeing it in a bikini once again, and that's when his weird feeling overcame him once again. "But then again, I've trusted her plenty so far now. And she trusts me. What kind of partner am I that can't trust my own partner?" His mind was racing about whether or not he should take off his shirt and reveal to Alyia one of his deepest and darkest secrets. And his ignorance about his feelings for her only made his thoughts worse. While she seemed happy, he was a complete wreck.

Though despite her small body when Alyia entered the water she made a semi large splash. Staying underwater for a second Alyia took in the chill of the water and then rose to the surface. The water wasn't all too bad. Breaking the surface she took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Staying in the water she took a quick look around in search for her partner. Finally spotting him at the edge of the lake sitting in her swim trunks and a black t-shirt. She dove back under the water and swam towards her black haired partner. surfacing from the water Alyia cupped her hands and threw water at Deniel. She could sense that something was wrong with him as soon as she got close. Was he worried about something? Was he mad at her? All she wanted to do was cheer him up. Which for her was a new feeling. Wanting someone else to be happy. Approaching Deniel a little more she placed a small hand on his leg. Tilting her head to the left she looked up at him. His black hair was now wet and water was dripping down the eds from her splashing him. "What's up?" The words slipped out of her mouth. She was trying to figure out what was wrong because what kind of partner would she be if she let Deniel face what he was going through alone.

The worst Deniel feared started to come true when he saw Alyia dive underwater and start swimming again. Even when she was underwater, her red bikini wasn't necessarily hard to notice. Oh no, she's coming to me. What do I tell her?! He could feel his fake pulse rising and beating even faster, which made him even more frustrated. It only kept reminding him of one thing. To him, every beat screamed the word: "Fake! Fake! Fake! Fake!" He clenched his hand around his shirt once again with his frustration starting to rise. And then, at the perfect moment, he felt a sizable amount of water hit his face. As a natural reaction, his eyes shut tight and then opened shortly afterwards. Water dripped down his hair and nose, and it was exactly what he needed. A splash in his face erased all negative emotions and doubts that he had from this all along. She's my partner! And...she's kind of cute. There's no harm in letting her know. Besides, she might figure it out sooner or later. Deniel gripped the bottom part of his shirt and looked down at her. "Alyia...I..." Deniel took a big gulp, and in one big tug, he pulled his shirt off and over his head. He wasn't afraid of her seeing his upper body, since he had absolutely no shame in it. He had a scrawny figure, but his actual body was well toned and chiseled despite the shape.

What Deniel was afraid was at his chest area: right in the center, from his collar all the way down to his upper abdomen, was a very large and thick scar. It looked like his chest was ripped wide open and sealed again. And, it was. With his shirt off, he pushed himself down in the water right in front of her. And since they weren't far out, he was able to stand on both feet in front of her. "Tell me...what do you see?"

Alyia looked at Deniel as he spoke her name. She watched as he clenched his shirt in his fist. There was something seriously wrong. She backed away as he pulled his t-shirt off and slipped into the water right in front of her. She was close to Deniel. Too close for her liking, her heart was racing and she didn’t know what to do. But she was on her tip-toes in the water and if she moved back only just a little bit she would have to to start treading water to keep her head above the water. But as she looked at Deniel she saw why he was hesitant to take off his shirt. It wasn’t the fact that he was too skinny, no, he was sculpted and beautiful to her eyes. It was the large scar that ran along his torso. "Tell me...what do you see?" She heard the words exit his mouth.

Alyia looked up at Deniel tearing her eyes away from the scar. “I see a scar. I see something that is a part of you and what you have gone through.” Alyia didn’t know what she was saying, but as it exited her mouth she knew it was the right thing to say. Looking back at the scar she reached her hand out and touched the top of the scar. “I see nothing that you should be ashamed of.” She traced the scar down to where his heart would have been and let it linger there before she pulled it away and back into the water. She looked up at her partner who was standing in front of her so that blue met red.