(No P.O.V.)
It was a mostly nice night. Gallant helped Earnest find another constellation which was called the Fairy. They soon fell asleep, with Earnest edging a bit closer near Gallant. Yet it wasn't to last as Gallant was stuck in a nightmare, and Earnest had noticed, and he did something he hadn't before.
And that was holding Gallant's hand, rubbing it rhythmically to calm Gallant down, and soon, Gallant was peaceful again, sleeping deeply, with Earnest smiling happily, coming to love the peaceful look upon Gallant's face.
They woke up albeit awkwardly, but got over it quickly enough as Earnest actually didn't worry that he was getting comfortable being with a man. Gallant grabbed fish for breakfast as usual, and after finishing up breakfast and dosing the fire sparks, they headed out to the next site to get the pearl in the shell.
Two hours later, and a break was taken first before Earnest admitted that he wasn't a good swimmer, and so it was up to Gallant to do the retrieving. He swam down to the shoal, but a huge red-skinned octopus with gray eyes is guarding the shell which is open, revealing the beautiful cream pearl.
Gallant tried to swim past the octopus, but the beast grabbed him, holding him tightly in his long tentacles. Gallant struggled so much, using his strength to escape the octopus's strong arms until he finally was able to twist out of them, retrieving the pearl from the shell. He grinned as he swam back to the surface, realizing that he had beat Earnest this time.
As it took a bit of time down in the shoal, and about three hours of breakfast and journeying, it was well coming into noon for the day, yet the day was cloudy, and much to Earnest's nervousness, the clouds were becoming bigger and darker. Earnest quickly helped Gallant out, as he's literally soaked wet, through his boots were left with Earnest, entirely dry.
They got the pearl added to the map, with the second sentence of the riddle black, and just as they were checking where the diamond in the cave is, it started raining hard. Both men ran for cover under a oak tree, rolling the map up, and tucking it inside Earnest's hip under the trousers. Suddenly, thunder sounded out, and Earnest screamed, hugging himself while Gallant was both surprised and alert.
(Gallant's P.O.V.)
I never had imagined that I'd see Earnest so scared, and for once, I didn't dare to flirt or tease. I quickly held him close to my chest, yet I didn't care about being soaked to the bone, and he blushed red as a tomato. He then shrieked in fright as the loud thunder sounded out, instantly hiding himself against my chest. I whispered quickly, "We better check the map. There gotta be a house or something out there. All this rain could give us the chills if we don't find somewhere warm and safe.".
Earnest nodded weakly yet he didn't move another inch. I sighed lightly, glancing down as I looked for the map, gulped lightly, "I apologize, Earnest, but I need to get the map.". Earnest sniffed, "Okay..". I then moved my hand, heading down to rest upon Earnest's thigh, hearing a squeak of surprise from him, and I quickly grabbed the map, swiftly removing it from the inside edges of his trousers.
Suddenly, the map shivered, and glowed brightly, and the wrap came undone, unrolling itself, shining out as a beacon of light, and without my other hand to hold the other end up, the map moved itself into a comfortable angle so I and Earnest can see it properly.
The map zoomed down to our current position, and sure enough, the yellow dots representing I and Earnest are seen easily. A moment later, a red path formed, leading to a dark purple dot. I hummed, nodding to myself, holding Earnest tightly as the thunderclaps didn't let up, allowing Earnest to whimper and shiver in fright.
"Earnest, you gotta run with me. It's not far, this purple dot place. Five, ten minutes, I think.". I spoke softly. Earnest whimpered softly, shaking his head, "But I can't! It's scary! I am really afraid of thunderstorms...". I closed my eyes softly as I heard the tremor in his voice. He's really scared.
I opened my eyes determinedly yet nervous as I leaned down slightly, finally doing something I've so waited to do. I kissed the edge of Earnest's forehead as I whispered encouragingly, "Do you trust me?". Earnest slowly looked up at me, his wide and scared eyes taking upon a shimmer of hope. He spoke softly, "Yes.".
I exhaled softly, smiling encouragingly bright, "Okay, come on. Ready?". I grabbed his left hand, and he seemed so nervous, shivering furiously at the sounds of the thunder yet he nodded affirmatively. I spoke, "Map, lead us to the safe spot, please.".
The map wrapped itself up, still glowing, then flashed on in a flying motion almost like a paper airplane, stopping at once under a tree some distance away yet being visible to our eyes, despite the heavy rain and the dark sky.
"Let's go!". I called out as I ran, holding Earnest's hand tightly, hearing his heavy pants mixing with yelps of fright as the thunder clapped loudly here and there, and under five minutes of repeating to hide under a tree and the map darting out again and again as a guide, we made it, seeing a cabin in the opening of a clearing.
I slammed the door in, the map darting inside as Earnest shivered violently, and I closed the door quickly, heaving heavily in relief yet exhaustion. I looked around to see a small kitchen, a fireplace, and a bed. I hoped there was a dry pile of logs near the fireplace as I made my way over to it, knowing that we need warmth fast.
Gratefully, there were plenty of cut half-logs and sticks, and I sparked up the fireplace, and warmth soon filled up the small cabin. Earnest quickly sat close to it, shivering as the thunder was gratefully muffled by the walls. I bit my lip nervously, spoke, "Earnest, I am about to say something crazy.".
Earnest looked over to me in curiosity, asking, "What is it?". I exhaled, "We can't afford to wear those wet clothes right now...". Earnest gasped in shock, then looked thoughtful as he remembered something.
"Wearing wet clothes is bad as we would catch the chills or worse.". He whispered lowly. I nodded, gulping nervously as I quickly removed my shirt, hearing Earnest sigh and mutter to himself. We ain't going nowhere with this rain and thunder.. I am scaring him.. But I don't want him to be sick...I don't know how to fix this...No flirting or teasing would help this...