The sun had already been in the sky for at least two hours when Caius finally woke. He groaned lightly at the feeling of sore muscles and started to stretch, but froze when he felt the soft body pressed against him. His eyes snapped open, and he looked down at Elle curled with her back to his chest. His arm tightened on her waist reflexively, which did not help his frame of mind at all. The only thing it accomplished was to pull her closer to him, which had his senses reeling once more.
As memories of the previous night flooded through him, he could not stop himself from leaning down and placing a soft kiss on her shoulder. It was enough that she finally stirred and blinked awake. When she started to stretch, he had to bite back the sound that wanted to spill from his lips. She felt delicious against him. When she paused in her actions to look back over her shoulder with wide eyes, he finally allowed a chuckle to come out. "Good morning."
He felt his body stir when her cheeks heated. He had seen it several times through the night, but it was such an unusual thing for her. It shot a thrill through him to know he was the cause of the anomaly.
It did not take her long to turn to face him. When she did, he pulled her as close as he could and placed a soft kiss on her lips. She grinned back, and his breath was nearly stolen by the sparkle in her eyes. "I would say it's a good morning! I hope you slept well. I know I did."
The heat that had been building in him languidly suddenly shot through his veins as understanding dawned on him. An extensive part of him wanted to push her back and take her once more. He had no doubt that he would find her ready and willing. Unfortunately, he had finally noticed the sunlight coming through the window. He managed to curb his appetite and brushed her hair from her face.
"Yes, I slept well. And as much as I would enjoy staying in this bed with you until the next sunrise, our presence will be missed. I imagine it has already been noted that we are late."
Elle groaned as she rolled away from him. His reminder brought up all the things she had been putting off. What did this mean for the two of them? How should they handle it? Would it be alright if others knew, or should they keep it private just because of their positions? She was shocked from her thoughts when he leaned over and cupped her cheek. He was grinning at her.
"I suppose it has become easier for me to read you. Your face is blank, but I can still see the thoughts whirling in your mind. Be at ease. We may not have time to discuss things this morning, but you have my word that we will later. For the moment, it might be best to not let others realize what has happened. At least not until we figure it out ourselves."
She wasn't thrilled at the idea of hiding her actions, as that made it feel as if they had done something wrong. She didn't believe that was the case, but she nodded anyway. It wasn't like he was ashamed of this, more like concerned. He was also correct in the fact that they still didn't have any idea what to call this, so it would be hard for them to explain to others.
At her acquiescence, he kissed her once more before he sat up. He did not miss her grimace when she sat up as well. He gave her a concerned look. "Are you well?"
She looked over to him and rolled her eyes as she chuckled. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that I'm going to have to focus on how I walk today, so I don't limp."
Despite her laughter, her words did not help ease his worry. "Why would you limp? Were you hurt?" He didn't understand how it could have happened and was only confused further when her cheeks heated before she stood with a groan.
Elle looked back over her shoulder as she finally stretched fully. Caius almost didn't hear her words as his attention was wholly on her gloriously nude form. He had to forcefully turn his head to keep from grabbing her again.
"I'm not hurt, but we weren't exactly gentle with each other. The soreness should work itself out soon enough. I'm sure you're just as sore as I am."
Caius had to close his eyes and focus on his breath to counteract the images her words invoked. No, they had not been gentle, but he also knew she was not upset with that fact. He finally pointed to the bathing room. "The water is not heated, but you should clean up nonetheless. We can't take much longer."
Elle chuckled at his change of subject but moved to do as he suggested. He had been right in that the longer they took, the worse it was likely to be. She did not want to soak in a cold bath, so she only added enough water for her to clean up. She was still shivering when she got out and donned her clothes from the day before. She grinned when she thought that it shouldn't cause too many raised brows. It wasn't as though Yeul didn't already know she hadn't slept in the compound the night before. It wasn't unexpected either since she had been told to enjoy herself. And oh how she had.
She quickly squashed those thoughts as she grabbed the hair jewels from the counter and padded back into the room. She was slightly disappointed to see that Caius was already dressed, but he shocked her when he motioned to the bed. "Come sit. I will take care of your hair."
She raised a brow at the unexpected offer. "What do you know of women's hair?"
He chuckled and patted the spot next to him. "More than you know. It will be faster this way."
She went ahead and took the seat. Almost as soon as she was seated, he had a brush going through her hair gently. She was surprised to find herself relaxing into the action. It wasn't something she was used to. After only a few moments, she was jerked back to the present as he finally started to speak as she felt him separating her tresses into strands.
"Your hair is like sunlight, granted by the goddess to grace the surface of Gran Pulse. To see it down and flowing is an unexpected treat."
She chuckled at his assessment and tried to turn to look at him. He gently turned her head back, but she spoke up anyway. "Who knew you could be so poetic."
He gently pulled on one of the strands in reprimand. "Hush, and let me finish."
She chuckled again but didn't say anything until she realized he was braiding her hair. That had several questions popping up in her mind, but the teasing one was the first from her lips. "If you enjoy my hair down, why are you putting it up?"
Her breath hitched as he leaned forward and placed a kiss on her neck. His voice next to her ear caused her to shiver. "Because, while it enchants me, I find that I am not fond of the idea of it possibly enchanting anyone else."
His words had a bolt of electricity shooting through her veins. It suddenly made her wonder how long he had felt that way. She doubted it just happened overnight. As much as she wanted to ask, she found herself changing the subject. It was probably for the best anyway, as they needed to leave soon, and that wasn't a quick conversation.
"How did you learn to braid hair? I know yours is long, but not that long. I can't see you in braids anyway."
Caius chuckled at her quip as he tied the braid off and turned her to face him. He answered while he placed the two jeweled combs in her hair. "When we first arrived in Paddra, I helped take care of Yeul. I was the only person she was comfortable with for the first two years. Now she relies solely on her guardian, as it should be."
As Elle watched his eyes while he finished, she realized that Caius still cared a great deal for the girl, even if their relationship was more professional these days. It made his dedication that much more understandable. At least she knew he would be a great guardian when the time came.
Once he was done placing the combs, he cupped her face and gently kissed her. As he leaned back, Elle wondered how the hell she was supposed to get through the day with this man by her side and resist the impulse to tackle him to the ground every twenty minutes. It didn't help matters when he stood and held out his hand. She took it and allowed him to help her to her feet, but she could already tell this was going to be a long day.
By the time Caius and Elle made it to the platform in the center of the city, the crowds had already thinned. There was still a line of people waiting to be heard, but the rest had better things to be doing. It was a festival after all, and it only happened twice a year. Everyone wanted to make the most of it, from the vendors down to the laughing children.
When they walked up to Yeul, she gave them both a bright smile. She didn't greet them otherwise until the man she had been speaking to headed off stage. Once he was gone, she gave Praes a look that had him holding back the rest of the queue while she went to speak to the latecomers. "I am glad to see you took my advice. Do not worry overmuch about the hour, as you are not the only ones with groggy heads this morning.
Elle felt both relief and worry but didn't say anything right away. Yeul had given them both an evaluating look before her smile brightened, and she gestured to the crowd. "Will you be joining us again today?"
Elle had to force herself to not look at Caius to try and gauge his reaction. She instead shrugged. "I thought it was mandatory. I apologize for being late, even if you say it's alright."
Something flashed through Yeul's eyes, but Elle couldn't understand it before it was gone. Instead, she allowed Yeul to lead her back to the place they were yesterday as Caius moved to take up his spot behind them both. Yeul's voice was pitched low as she maneuvered them into position.
"The rest of the week will not be as long as yesterday. Even I am allowed to enjoy the festival, so we will stop a little early." She paused for a moment before she looked up at Elle's hair and smiled again. "Your hair is even lovelier today than it was yesterday. You should braid it more often."
Elle suddenly had the sense that the girl knew that she hadn't been the one to braid her hair. She tried not to let it show. "Thank you. I'll consider it, that is if I don't get it all cut off. It is getting ridiculously long."
Yeul gave her an odd look, but it too was gone quickly. "That would be a shame, but I would understand." She then turned to look at Praes, and he allowed the next people to approach again.
After that point, the day once again blurred into one person after another. Elle was lucky that most of them seemed to want to speak to Yeul, but she wasn't going to leave until the session was called. Thankfully, it was still early afternoon when Yeul had Praes call a halt for the day. She gave Elle and Caius one last smile before the Guardian led her into the marketplace. He had given them both a hard look before they left but had not said anything.
Once they were gone, Elle turned to Caius finally and found she could not hold in her grin, no matter how hard she tried. At least she was conscious of the remaining people and didn't say the first thing on her mind. No, that would have caused all sorts of issues, as it involved how edible he looked. She took a deep breath and tried to rein in her appetite when he joined her. "So, what now? Are we still free for the week, or do we have other duties to attend to?"
Caius seemed to be having the same issue as his smile was brighter than any she had seen before. "You have just fulfilled your duties for the day, and mine is to accompany you. So the question should be, what would you like to do for the rest of the afternoon?"
Elle had to literally bite her tongue to keep from saying the first thing that came to mind. 'You' would be a horrible answer while they were in public. Even if they ended up not caring if people knew, that didn't make it alright to simply blurt out things like that. Instead, she managed to gesture back to the market. "We didn't get much of a chance to look around yesterday since we spent most of the time looking for pubs. Why don't we see what they have?"
Caius looked like he was about to say something else, but he finally nodded. "After you then. I would recommend that you not buy too much today, however. There will be even more exotic goods after the week is over, and the rest of the traders have come in. This crowd is nothing compared to what it will be."
She paused at that point and gave him a pointed look. "If that's the case, why don't we go take that swim we missed yesterday?"
Caius rolled his eyes at her and shook his head with a smile. "You do realize that to me, and most of the city, it is far too cold to even consider getting into water that is even colder than the air."
Elle tried not to laugh, but it was a lost cause. She still managed to wave his concern off. "Fine, fine. I guess let's go window shop then. I wouldn't want to torture you."
He gave her a look that made her heart freeze before it started racing. He waited until he was right next to her before he spoke in a near whisper. "No, you've done enough of that already today without trying."
He stepped past her as soon as it was out of his mouth. Elle didn't trust herself to move for a few seconds. At least not until she was sure she could look at him and not do or say something stupid. Once she had herself under control, she turned to follow him into the crowd.
They ended up spending the rest of the afternoon walking through the vendors that they had overlooked the day before. Despite her desire for window shopping only, there were several times she was tempted to buy something. It was only the reminder that there would be more in just a few days kept her pouch closed.
They had run into a few of the other hunters, but none of them stuck around for long. They were doing much the same. They had also reminded the pair that the rest of the hunters had to go back to patrol shifts. Though, for the next two weeks, they would be shorter to give everyone the chance to make the most of the trade season.
By late afternoon, Elle had her fill of looking around. Despite how much she tried to keep her mind on the moment, she had other things she was interested in. When she asked if they could head back, Caius gave her a shocked look that almost bordered on hurt. He quickly wiped it away and turned to head back to the edge of the city.
Elle was more than a little concerned when he didn't say anything at all. His face was almost turned down into a frown, so as soon as they were away from the crowds, she got a little closer so she could keep her voice down. "Caius, what's wrong?"
He turned stormy eyes to her, but he managed to keep his voice even. "Please do not mind me. I- I simply thought the evening would end differently."
Elle stopped at those words. Suddenly she felt something burning in her chest. Did he not want to go back so they could talk, and, well, do other stuff too? Despite her vow to wait to speak about whatever was going on until they were in private, she couldn't hold back her concern. "I thought you would be as ready to go talk as I am. Is that not the case? I mean, I figured we had a lot to go over, and it would be best if we weren't up all night again."
He took a step back and looked confused. "It is not dusk yet. I thought you wanted to go back to the Seeress' complex."
The relief that rushed through her was almost enough to knock her from her feet as she grinned up at him. "Uh, no. Honestly, I'm already trying to figure out how I can get away with not sleeping there again."
His eyes flashed at her words, and she could tell it took a great effort for him to turn around and gesture toward the road. "Well, if that is the case, why don't we get going. I will agree that we have much to discuss."
Elle grinned at his back as she fell into step with him. His emphasis on that last word had her blood boiling already. As she watched his muscles under his top, she began to wonder how much talking they would get done. Not a lot at first, that was for sure.
A/N: I almost feel sorry for the two of them, lol. As much as they both may want this, it can't be easy. Anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying the fluff while it lasts, because we don't have long before things get difficult for our heroes. Thanks for reading!