Adventure Time [Flynn]

[Amalea]

The knock on her office door broke the red-head’s concentration from her task of entering new donors into Sanguine’s system. With a sigh, she shut the database down as she called out for the newcomer to enter. An eyebrow raised slightly as the door opened to reveal one of her legal staff. “Sarah, this is a surprise,” Amalea gestured to the seat in front of her desk, “What brings you by?”

The blood thief turned to retrieve a couple of bottles of water from her fridge as way of her standard procedure for all guests. She wasn’t sure why she had started the tradition, but everyone who ended her office for a meeting left with a bottle of the cool, clear liquid. Passing one bottle to Sarah, Amalea observed the woman quietly as she settled into her seat. It was rare that either member of the legal department ventured to her door unless they brought news of a project. The lack of file with woman was a sure indication that this was not a visit about such things.

“As much as it pains Jerome and I to admit, we need help. The company’s portfolio is expanding faster than we ever thought possible - which is great - but we can’t keep up and get things done in a timely manner.”

“Sarah,” the blood thief started gently, “there’s nothing wrong with needing help. I admire how well you and Jerome have been doing with the workload. I’ll get someone hired within the next couple weeks and you guys can test drive them for the standard ninety-day period. If they won’t work out in your department, I’ll either find them another position in the company or let them go, depending on your feedback. That work?”

“It does. Thanks for being so understanding. I’ll let you get back to work,” Sarah replied as she stood. Amalea rose, following the woman to the door to let her open.

“My door is always open to you,” she smiled. Watching Sarah walk off, she turned to her assistant having made a decision for the rest of her day. “Lita, I’m heading home. The majority of the new donors for Sanguine are in the system and I’ll complete yesterdays and todays signups tomorrow. If anyone needs me urgently, they should leave a message on my cell phone.”

All work and no play made for a very unhappy Amalea, but there was nothing against mixing business and pleasure. Or, in the case of what she had in mind, killing three birds with one stone. Pulling her phone from her pocket, she flipped to the messaging center so she could text Flynn.

[t] Let’s go on an adventure. I’ll bring lunch.

With the message sent, she silently blinked out of existence to reappear a half second later in her home. A quick change of clothes into a more casual look of jeans and t-shirt later found the woman in the kitchen putting together a suitable picnic lunch of new dishes she was testing for Crimson. Even if Flynn wasn’t up for a trip, she was going to have to make it herself. She only hoped he could be convinced to go; company was always great and they rarely got to do normal things together.

[Flynn]

”That could have gone better…” were the only possible words Flynn had as he entered ihis (now, former) office, the door shutting softly behind him. Immediately, his back dropped against it, supporting his weight as the tension of the previous situation eased away. A hand rose, forefinger and thumb pinching the bridge of his nose as he let out a breath, giving in to the acceptance of the situation. The firm couldn’t give him the hours and support that he needed with the new change in circumstance, and that wasn’t something he could fault them for. He had tried, they had negotiated, and in the end, there was no solution to be reached other than a mutual agreement that Flynn submit his resignation. There was nothing to be done about it other than clean out his office and be on his way. There was little point in feeling bad or guilty over something that just didn’t fit in his life, anymore. Unfortunately, that something had to be his job. No big deal.

Pushing off from the wooden door, he moved around his desk, tilting his phone up to catch a glimpse of a quick text from Maria. [t]All is under control. Upon his arrival that day, Liam in tow, he’d asked Maria for a favor. Take Liam out, keep him busy till the end of the work day. She’d agreed without question, likely as an excuse to get out of the office on a nice day, and she was trustworthy enough that Flynn was comfortable leaving the boy in her care. He’d have asked Amalea, but...well, she had a day job, too.

According to the illuminated screen, it was just about time for lunch and a break from the place before he packed up was a welcome notion, save for the fact that he had no idea what sounded good or where. They’d been back in the city for a couple of weeks, at most, but it still felt like an adjustment. Harper Rock operated on a different timetable, and maybe he was just lagging behind. Like jet lag, but without flying. Then again, maybe that was just the way his body wchoseto remind him that he was, once again, surrounded on all sides by the undead, rather than just the one that slept next to him. And with that thought in mind, he made a mental note to make a visit to the Castle, sooner rather than later. Nearly a year was a long time to be out of "the game" if one wanted to call it that, and testing his limits seemed like a bad way to go.

An incoming text ended his thoughts short, his eyes once again dropping to the screen. His eyes narrowed on the name, lips twitching with the desire to grin. ”Ears ringing, Lea?” he muttered as he raised the device, his mind now redirected once again to the charming redhead. She had been at their door only hours after news of their return, arms ready for a vice-like hug. He’d missed her. More than he’d realized.

[t] I’m up for just about anything right now, and food sounds fantastic. Where should I meet you?

Dropping his phone into his pocket, he reached out for his jacket hanging up, skimming his fingers over the tome tucked away there. In a blink, he found himself surrounded by the familiar atmosphere of his Veil Tower apartment, the quiet of the space immediately soothing his frayed nerves. A glance to his left assured him that the bedroom door remained firmly shut, separating him from his sleeping partner as the daylight hours reigned. It hadn't always been the plan for Azraeth to sell his properties for the pair them to move into Flynn's old apartment with Liam in tow, but with the need for a fresh start nearly a year later, sacrifices were made and they would work on finding something more suitable in the future. For now, Veil offered what they needed and that was that.

As he waited for Lea’s return text, he slipped through the bedroom door to grab a change of clothes, easily moving in and out without a stir from the occupant (as expected). And then, it was just a waiting game for more information on just what this “adventure" was going to be.

[Amalea]

What most people considered normal was pretty overrated in Harper Rock. The red-head wasn’t even sure the usual definition of the word even applied to the city - even before last year’s events. In all honesty, she tended to think it had no place in this section of the world. Not when there were too many species running about to cover under that umbrella term. Humans couldn’t even be considered the normal of them all given how many ‘varieties’ had sprung up. Flynn and herself were just two of the several that she knew about. Lord only knew how many others were yet to be uncovered. It was still a mystery how it all managed to work together. Circle of life and all that happy crap, she supposed.

The sound of her phone vibrating against the counter had her grabbing for her phone instinctively. God. I was being philosophical again. Her head shook to erase itself of the thought as she unlocked the screen to read the new message. Lips tugged into a smile as she saw the reply. She had really missed the paladin and her brother while they had been away. While she always been close to the Mystic, it had taken the events of last winter to push her closer to the other. Now, she found both relationships something to be cherished.

[t] How about Swansdale station? Little man is welcome if he’s with you, of course.

Her phone was slid into her pocket as she crossed to the fridge to grab a couple of the juice boxes she had on hand for Liam, just in case he came along. Flynn would likely say she had a soft spot for the child, which she wasn’t about to deny. On their first night back, she’d had appeared at their door with lots of hugs, a casserole, and a book - The Lightning Thief - she hoped the child would enjoy. She had to admit he was pretty adorable and she didn’t mind watching him at all.

A quick check of the basket’s contents to ensure she was satisfied with everything later, she blinked over to the alley by the station where she intended to meet Flynn. If he decided he’d rather choose a different place, it would be easy enough to go to him. It was all part of the adventure.

[Flynn]

As soon as he escaped from the bedroom, Flynn was greeted by the sight of one massive ball of fluff blocking his path, tailing wagging in greeting. Ares waited patiently for his master to approach and when the Paladin knelt down, a large paw settled against his knee. ”Sorry, buddy. Not this time. I’ll take you hunting soon, hm?” he said with a grin at the pup, scratching under the dog’s chin. ”Besides…” he continued, his voice lowering into a conspiratorial whisper. ”You’re vampire sitting.” Maybe the Caucasian Shepherd hadn’t been trained as a guard dog, but that didn’t make him any less effective at it, and while in St. Catharines, that’s exactly what he did during the day. He stayed home and kept an eye on things, and in turn, an eye on Az. Paranoid? Definitely, at first. Once things escalated, not even a little bit. In fact, Flynn had insisted Ares be with Az at a point.

The vibrating in his pocket signaled a text and he stood, leaving a hand buried in the dog’s fur at the top of his head. With his free hand, he pulled his phone free and read the reply, glancing down briefly as Ares took that moment to wander away, no doubt to find Athena. A shake of his head and he returned to the device, sending off a quick reply to Lea. [t] Little man is occupied today, so just me this time. Swansdale it is. Returning the phone to his pocket, he quickly glanced down to check that he had what he needed, only to realize that his jacket, with tome secured within, was back in the bedroom. Along with his keys. He could teleport there and back home, but leaving home without it left him feeling out of sorts. Unprepared.

Wrinkling up his nose, the paladin crept back into the bedroom for the second time. As he passed by the sleeping vampire on his way back out with jacket in hand, he pressed a light kiss to the top his head. Once the door closed behind him, he blinked and appeared in an alley nearby Swansdale, almost immediately shuddering as he settled. Even doing it himself, it still wasn’t something he enjoyed. Still better than the god awful static tug from Azraeth summoning him, but it wasn’t high on his list of enjoyable activities.

Exiting the alley, he immediately spotted the bright red hair of the woman he sought, picnic basket in hand. An eyebrow rose as he approached, grin in place. ”If it isn’t the lovely Amalea, gracing little ol’ me with her presence.” His tone was teasing as he leaned in, pressing a kiss to her cheek in greeting. ”What’s the occasion? It’s not every day I get a lunch invitation with ‘adventure’ attached.” The paladin held out a hand, offering to take the basket from her as they went...wherever it was that they were meant to be going.

It was as he took a step back that he happened to notice the t-shirt the woman was wearing, that grin shifting into a worthy smirk. ”Classy as always, doll. Classy as always.” Maybe he hadn’t been close to Lea for very long, but the woman possessed a strong, feisty personality that he appreciated. She saw the world (or Harper Rock, at least) in a similar light that he did, choosing to stand somewhere in No Man’s Land when it came to relations with vampires. Perhaps they stood a little more on the ‘vampire’ side of things, but their mutual understanding of each other only made for a strong relationship between them.

[Amalea]

Feeling her pocket vibrate, she shifted the basket slightly so she could retrieve the device. While the blood thief could have accessed it mentally, she typically preferred the normalcy that came with touching the screen. It was a quirk she had developed within the last year though she would be hard pressed to pinpoint a specific time frame for it; it did seem more prevalent when she was out in public, though. Unlocking her phone, she scanned the message, laughing softly to herself as she shook her head in silent amusement as she slipped it back in her pocket without a reply.

The red-head returned her attention back to the small crowd of people milling about. Judging from the influx of humans leaving the station a train must have just arrived. Lunch-at-home business types mixed with a handful heading towards Veil Towers, it seemed, though she couldn’t be sure if they were in search of food or merely off to engage in some lunchtime retail therapy. She wasn’t quite that good at reading strangers; hell, somedays it seemed she wasn’t even great with reading people she knew.

She was so focused on her people watching that she didn’t notice the paladin approach at first. A smile tugged at her lips at the sight of him walking towards her. Chuckling at his greeting, she couldn’t help but tease him back, “Can’t a girl just miss a guy?“. With a soft, good-natured sigh, she slipped the basket off her arm to the waiting hand with a quiet, “Thank you.“ and one-armed hug. At one time, the red-head would have balked at the gesture, offended that it wasn’t thought she wasn’t capable enough and needed the help. It had been a struggle for her to get to the point of realizing some people offered out of a desire to be helpful rather than as a declaration of her inability. She was still getting used to accepting the help, though.

“Why thanks. If the shoe fits,” she winked as she giggled softly, “I thought it was appropriate.” The shirt had been something she had run across while running her errands a while back. Having found it quite fitting - well, except maybe she as a bit more of a smart *** than it applied -, she had purchased it and tucked it away for a warm day; short sleeves just didn’t suffice in a Canadian winter. She was glad the paladin approved. Their relationship was newer than most and by all rights shouldn’t work, but it did and that was just part of what made it so special. It helped that it had begun because of Azraeth being a mutual acquaintance but it had developed far past that into its own thing. It had been a long time since she had had a friend that wasn’t undead; it helped that they found themselves in similar positions within their world. It was like walking a knife’s edge and she always found herself recalling the quote from The Lord of the Rings about the quest balancing on the edge of a knife. The unspoken reality was that she wouldn’t willingly give up their relationship for anything.

“I have a small new project in the works that I need to check the progress on and I think it’s something you’ll enjoy.” She smiled before quirking an eyebrow slightly and lowering her voice enough that none of the passersby would hear, “How confident are you in your teleport abilities? The site is outside of the city.” There were other ways to get to their destination, but she was hoping to make a discreet trip out and didn’t want to involve them.

[Flynn]

A startled sort of chuckle escaped before the paladin could even think to prevent it at the woman’s comment, no sooner shaking his head in amusement. ”I’m usually known as the ‘curse his name’ type, actually.” His track record of relationships spoke to a particular pattern and one that was rarely deviated from. As soon as things got comfortable, too comfortable for his liking, he’d find the nearest exit. In doing so, there was no doubt that some had spat his name for weeks after the fact. Azraeth was his longest standing (and most stable) relationship to date, though he wasn’t sure he could even place it in the same pool as the others when he mindset on it was so drastically different ”I’m glad for the invitation. Today’s turned into...something else,” he finished, choosing to leave it vague as he offered a nod of acknowledgement to her thanks, smile still in place in regards to her clothing choice.. His fingers closed around the handle, bringing it to his side as he stomach chose that moment to remind him of just how hungry he was.

Then she was asking about his confidence in teleportation and his nose wrinkled. In truth, he didn’t regularly “practice” the ability that he picked up from his vampire. He went out of his way to avoid it as much as possible, really, and he’d never tried for a location beyond the city limits. Amalea seemed to take to some of their vampire counterparts’ power like a fish to water, while there were some that he struggled to adjust to more than others. Any form of magical, supernatural transportation being among them. ”Let’s go with somewhere between ‘confident enough not to drop myself into the river’ and ‘not confident enough to think I can get myself somewhere I don’t know’.” he responded, shrugging up a shoulder as he did. With his luck, the river is the exact place he’d end up if he tried.

Flynn’s head tipped towards his shoulder, his eyes narrowing on the woman in front of him. ”Not to mention that I have seen your business ventures, and I’m not sure that you know what a ‘small project’ is. A small project is Azraeth managing to hang a wall size portrait of himself in our house, and I don’t think that’s quite what you mean,” he added with a an eyebrow raising with an implied question. A small project could very rarely be something one would give the word ‘adventure,’ but she had certainly caught his interest. He was caught up in the number of possibilities, but none of which really stood out to him as something particularly “Amalea” with the added benefit of his own enjoyment. The paladin wasn’t hard to please by any stretch of the imagination, and he would have enjoyed simply sitting in the sun with food. Clearly, that was not the extent of this whole thing.

A body slammed against his side and he stumbled, only just catching himself before crashing into Lea. Turning to find the source, he watched the bodies moving up and down the sidewalk with a critical eye, though he had no intentions of saying or doing a thing about it.. A businessman a few steps ahead turned and waved a hurried apology before rushing off, no doubt trying to achieve a goal before he was required back at whatever office he came from. It strange, really, to come back to the city and see things so much the same, and yet different as the remaining occupants struggled to adjust to their new “normal.” If Harper Rock could have ever earned that label.

”But if it gets me off this street, then I’ll give it my best shot,” he finished with a sigh, rolling his shoulders to fend off that uncomfortable sensation that came from being touched by a stranger. ”What do I need to know in order to get there?”

[Amalea]

The red-head was initially a touch surprised at his comment until she considered that she was only aware of two of his relationships. She was also incredibly biased when it came to his current one given he was with her brother and all. The reality of it was that she thought they were great together and had no issues defending them against any who would say otherwise or threaten the relationship. She had yet to sit down with the paladin for the ‘hurt my brother’ talk that was her sisterly duty, but after getting to know him as well as she had, she wasn’t sure she was going to be able to make it through it with a straight face. While it would be a (mostly) serious conversation, she had no doubt it’d be fun and a bit lighthearted.

A slight rise of the eyebrow greeted his statement about the day; that was nearly never a positive sentiment. She knew that first-hand having used it herself before but she wasn’t about to push him about it. If he wanted to talk about it, she would be a willing listener, otherwise she was content to provide quiet support. “I’m glad you accepted,” she offered with quiet sincerity.

The red-head was glad he hadn’t been offended by her questioning his confidence in his ability. She didn’t think poorly of his skills - quite the opposite really - but some of the vampire powers they were able to call upon could be finicky until one got used to controlling them. Humans weren’t exactly naturally inclined to some the interesting things vampires could do, after all. For the adventure she had mind, she wanted to be sure he could do it safely. A trip to the hospital was not part of the plans; that was an adventure she didn’t really want to have. “No offense meant,” she supplied softly, “but being a spur of the moment idea, other arrangements would have been difficult.” Her head tilted slightly as she thought. “We could always do a multi-hop teleport.”

She had the good grace to look sheepishly chastised at the paladin’s comments about a small project likely being an understatement. A soft, light chuckle escaped her lips as her mind pictured Az doing exactly as he counterpart described; she could see it. “I guess to most, it isn’t quite a small project, she acknowledged as a slight blush crept over her cheeks. “It helps I’ve got a good team helping which makes things easier.” Mentally, she was debating how much of the project to reveal before they reached their destination as she did like her surprises. “We’re building a new complex so today I need to go over and ensure all the structures going in are laid out where they should be. Her lips tugged into a smile, ”And I thought the location would make a great picnic spot. We rarely get time to hang out just the two of us.”

She softly squeaked as he unexpectedly stumbled, bracing herself just in case it became a game of dominos. She glared at the back of the businessman that waved. This was part of why she hated to be out in crowds; it was too easy for someone to get into your personal space before you could react. Subconsciously, she shook slightly as her mind worked out all the possible scenarios that could arise just from being bumped into in such a manner. The sound of the paladin’s voice focused her back to the present. “Agreed on getting off the street,” her head shook lightly as she fished her phone out of her pocket. “We can hop closer to the city limits before shooting for the final destination, if it helps. But, this is where we’re going to end up.” She held out her phone which she had opened to the image of a clearing with lush green grass with numbers along the bottom of it. “The numbers are the GPS coordinates,” she offered, knowing some people could use those better than images.

[Flynn]

Flynn tried. He really tried to keep the skeptical look off his face as she offered a multi-hop teleport, like that would somehow aid in the disaster that was about to occur. For a man with such strong self-control, his expression morphed anyway and his hesitation was clear, though he refused to admit as much out loud. Even if he ended up in Guam (was that even possible..?), he was going to give it his level best and hope for better luck on hop number two. So, his lips remained firmly shut as Amalea continued on to describe her project. His lips twitched up into that ever present smirk, silently counting that as a victory in his head. That was one thing about the woman he admired; her drive. Her willpower to start a project, see it through, and make sure it was kept up as it should be. How she had the time to manage it all, even with a great team at her back, he’d never know. He assumed she just never slept.

It was only after the businessman fiasco that he finally turned back to Amalea and acknowledged her earlier comment. ”I am honored to get this front row seat to your new endeavour,” he teased, his lips stretching in a full, genuine smile. She was onto something, really, in that they did not spend enough time together just the two of them. Maybe it had played a part in why it had taken a little longer for their relationship evolve beyond a smile and small chit-chat, but all that meant was a concentrated effort to ensure he saw more of her. Especially now that he lacked a day job, he would have plenty of time to devote to grabbing lunches more often. Assuming, of course, that his sleep schedule managed to stay constant...all four hours or so. ”Let’s give this teleporting thing a go, then, so that I can see just what this small project really is.” he stated as he took her phone in hand while simultaneously reaching for his own to pull up the GPS. Once he had the location set, he gave the device back and studied the map image.

The halfway point fell outside the city limits and there weren’t any good landmarks that far south. He’d have to pick a random point and hope for the best. Best case scenario, he ended up right where he was supposed to in this lush little clearing. Worst case, he got lost in the wilderness and died of starvation. Or drowned by what looked like a whole lot of water. Turning his screen to Lea, he pointed to his decided location. ”I’m gonna aim for this spot here as a midpoint and cover the rest from there. I’d say that if I don’t make it there in, like...fifteen minutes, you should start to worry.” he said as he glanced back to the woman beside him and grinned. He even went so far as to wink just before he focused on the small clearing along a long stretch of road south of the city limits and the increasingly familiar sensation of teleportation settled over him. The road could be his landmark for now.

As soon as he landed, his foot caught against a root and he stumbled forward, crashing against the trunk of a tree as he struggled to catch his balance. A hiss of pain escaped his lips once the pain against his palms registered, the bark having scratched them on impact. Collecting himself, the paladin looked around the unfamiliar location, rubbing his stinging palms against his pants. The light from his phone shone across the root covered ground from where it’d fallen. As he stooped to grab it, he thanked whatever higher powers than be for a lack in cell service, but a GPS still stating (what he hoped) was his location.

Which was not even close to where he’d intended. The road he’d chose as the landmark was a good 5-7 kilometers away, assuming that the GPS was giving an accurate reading. The path to said road was a hazard of trees if he wanted to hike it for the sake of knowing he was where he’d planned to be, but that just seemed like a little too much effort. Not to mention that it would definitely require more than fifteen minutes, and then Amalea would have to worry and try to find him. ”Son of a…” he muttered under his breath, glancing up at the sky to gather just what position the sun was at and use it as a guide for heading south. He took a few tentative steps in that direction followed by a sigh. Who was he kidding? Hiking it wasn’t even an option. ”Alright, it’s just one more hop...it will be fine…” The words provided little encouragement, really, when his nerves over the very prospect made focusing much harder, but with one last glance at his phone and the coordinates Amalea had provided, he tried this teleportation thing one more time.

And was no sooner greeted by the stinging of freezing water against his skin, his body immediately tensing as it was submerged.. It took a moment for his thoughts to catch up with this new reality enough to propel him into action, swimming for the surface with renewed annoyance at this method of transportation. As he broke through, he sputtered and coughed, trying to catch the breath that had been taken from him by both teleportation and the freezing temperatures. Wiping water from his eyes, he glanced around and spotted land not too far off and he kicked off in that direction. ”Oh, thank Christ…” he mumbled as he pulled himself from the lake, laying on his back as the sun shone overhead. An arm crossed over his eyes, chest heaving. ”I...am never doing that again…” he continued to mutter, completely unaware of whether or not Amalea was even there.

[Amalea]

The red-head had caught the look of hesitation as it passed across the paladin’s face. He didn’t mention it though, so she wasn’t going to bring it up. She wasn’t about to poke at someone else’s insecurities in such a way; it wasn’t something she appreciated, personally. It was also her experience that just because they were present didn’t mean they were paralyzing. Teleporting was a bit easier to correct course on as long as you didn’t land yourself in a perilous situation. Between that and her ability to track or summon him, she wasn’t overly worried about him getting lost or hurt.

She could emphasize with his hesitation as her own unease at using her newfound abilities was not something she was likely to forget. Telepathy had been easy enough to master and had proved dead useful since, even if she had initially been wary of sending wayward thoughts or contacting the wrong person. Connecting to the internet has proven trickier but still manageable. Teleporting, though, had taken her quite some time to both become comfortable with and master. At first, probably due to her love of Harry Potter, she had been afraid of leaving body parts behind. Once she learned that that wasn’t much of a thing, it was a bit easier but she had still spent weeks secretly popping around her apartment and the floors of the Necropolis before she was brave enough to attempt hopping between the two.

She was pleased he was willing to take the plunge, so to speak, and try the jump even if it was out of his comfort zone. It was no small feat to push at and past ones limits. One of her favorite quotes from Divergent was about that very concept. It was something she tried to live in her own life, but didn’t always succeed. Flynn, though, seemed to have a better hand on that ideal than she did. It was one of the things that inspired her to think highly of him.

The blood thief chuckled lightly at his comment. ”Nay, good sir, it is that should be honored by thine presence, she teased, a soft giggle passing her lips. ”But seriously, I’m happy you’re up for being in that seat for this.” It was an honest statement. While she had human employees in her company, she truly valued Flynn’s opinions above theirs knowing that he had less reason for sugarcoating or skirting around his true thoughts. That they both straddled two worlds ensured that the insight he could provide would be well-rounded for the entirety of the city in which they lived. She also enjoyed spending time with him; it had been a long time since she had had a human friend in the city.

”I’m hopeful you’ll like it,” she offered as she handed over her phone for his perusal. She stood quietly as he set his phone to the coordinates. Taking back her phone, she slid it in her pocket as she studied the paladin studying the map. She was looking for the subtle, telltale signs that he was distressed by the idea of the jump, though she couldn’t find one. Pushing limits was great but not at the expense of an anxiety attack; something she didn’t want to occur. Focusing, her attention turned to the point he indicated on his screen, committing it to memory even as he indicated his intentions. ”Think positive thoughts,” she prodded gently. Her lips curled into a light smirk, ”I have no desire to give my dearest brother a reason to be out for my blood. Ergo, I have every intention of returning you home in one, unscathed, piece.” She squeezed his arm softly, ”Really, I think you’ll be fine.

As she was planning on making a single jump, she waited a minute after he left just in case he ran into trouble and came straight back. When he didn’t reappear in that time frame, she concentrated on the clearing they were meant to meet in. It was devoid of the other human when she arrived which wasn’t unexpected. He did say fifteen minutes though she planned on only giving him ten just for the sake of her own sanity. A loud splash coming from the water drew her attention just in time to catch sight of Flynn surfacing. ”****,” she swore under her breath as she ran towards the water’s edge. The red-head kept an eye on the male as she darted around the various rocks, poles and ropes. ”Oh thank goddess,” she muttered, grateful he knew how to swim; she didn’t and she really didn’t want to explain to Az how his human had ended up in the hospital because of that.

Head to my place, round up a couple of the guest towels, the first aid kit, and the containers on the second shelf of the fridge, would you please? she mentally inquired of her assistant. The woman was used to such things, thankfully, and would text her when she had the requested items.

”I don’t blame you,”, she replied quietly to his mutterings as she caught up to him. ”Aside from being soaking wet, are you alright? Anything sprained or broken?” She sank down beside him as her eyes scanned looking for obvious major injuries. The tickle of an incoming text message was met with the red-head merely summoning her assistant to her, thankful for that particular ability. Taking the bag handed to her, she dug out the towel and offered it to the paladin with a soft, ”Sorry.”

[Flynn]

Every article of clothing stuck to the paladin’s skin like glue, heavy and uncomfortable as he shifted against the ground. His arm shielded his eyes from the sun but the water soaking his sleeve dripped over his face. Thankfully, there seemed to be no nausea this time around, except that the trade-off was now he was wet and cold. Better? Not even close, but it wasn’t any worse. The sound of running feet approaching told him that someone, hopefully Lea, had witnessed his little plunge. And if it wasn’t Lea...there was the potential for an even bigger problem, because how would he even begin to try and explain that away?

But it was Amalea’s voice that came as the sound of running stopped and he breathed a inward sigh of relief. She questioned whether he had any injuries and he silently catalogued his limbs, all of which seemed intact with no pain. Flynn hummed in response to the question and he knew he wasn’t really providing an answer, but he still felt he needed a minute to collect himself. That was, until she uttered an apology. His arm rose up over his forehead and he narrowed his eyes at her, turning his head just enough to block out the sunlight while still keeping her in view. ”Why would you apologize for something that I did? That’s just silly. Put it out of your mind, ” he said as he sat up, waving a hand dismissively before taking the offered towel with a grateful nod, only barely just acknowledging that she hadn’t had it when they’d left. ”Thank you. And, no. I will not accept any possible rationalization on how you are somehow at fault for…” he continued with a glance down at himself. ”...this.” He didn’t know if Lea was that type, but people tended to do that sort of thing. Take blame where there wasn’t any.

Flynn took a moment to pat himself dry before standing, doing his best to wring out his shirt of the excess water. It was in the process of patting at his pockets that he realized his phone was absent. Because it had been in his hand. Slowly, he turned to stare at the water he’d just crawled out of and frowned. ”Well, ****…” he sighed, already planning out a trip to go and get another as soon as he returned to the city. And it was in that moment of staring at the water that another thought hit him, his eyes widening as he turned to back to look at Amalea. As if it might have somehow managed to reach the island where he had not, he glanced quickly around to ensure it wasn’t there. Satisfied that he wasn’t about to lie to the woman, he ran a hand through his dipping locks. ”So… bad news? I definitely lost my phone to those depths. Worse news? I lost the basket, too.”

As he mentioned the basket out loud, the paladin paused, tipping his head in thought. Had he even had the basket when he made the jump back in the wilderness? A hand rose, one finger up in the universal signal for ‘hold on.’ Now that he thought back, he wasn’t sure he remembered grabbing the basket back there, but he’d definitely used both hands to catch himself on the tree. He had the marks to prove it. Flynn’s bit his bottom lip and the finger fell, ”Actually, there is a pretty good chance I lost it before I hit the water...which means it could still be there? But...I’m not sure I could really tell you where that would be, because it wasn’t where I was supposed to be.” Not to mention the fact that animals probably took off with it, if his luck of the day was anything to go by.

”Remember when I said that today really was turning out to be something else? Well, I’d say we’re keeping with the trend.” he added with a laugh, pulling the woman to him for a hug knowing perfectly well that he was going to get her wet in the process of doing so. ”I’m sorry for losing the basket and leaving us to starve.” He pulled back with a teasing grin, but sincerity in the apology. She had put effort into something that he'd now lost, but somehow, the afternoon felt a little less overwhelming. And all it took was the polar plunge. No big deal.