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Who: Asbjørn & Ruby.
What: Moonpool hunting.
Where: Sobek Croix.
When: A week or so after Bad Blood.
Notes: Glow in the dark shenanigans!
Warnings: Partial nudity because swimming in moonpools.

Prior to the bad blood business, Asbjørn had learnt that there was something in the forest surrounding Sobek Croix, in that roundabout 'I heard it from a guy in a pub, who heard it from his sister's hairdresser' sort of way. The locals were wary. A few magic users he'd encountered, who had lived in the city for several years, had nudged each other and shared knowing looks. And thanks to being cooped up in his flat with nothing better to do than lick his wounds and read, a few books on local history and landmarks had hinted at interesting things.

...what's telling is that he took that information and decided a place widely rumoured to be haunted was best explored after dark. At some point during the day, Ruby would have gotten a text that read:

up for a late night forest adventure in sobek croix? i can promise food, good company and supernatural goings on. and only one of the last two things is me.

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She tips her head to the side, squinting--it could be some other kind of light, but out here, that's sort of dubious. Ruby picks up her pace a bit, hoping that if they get nearer to the light source, they'll get a better idea of what it is they are looking at.

"I think we might be in luck."

"Let's hope so. I have to admit, I don't completely know what's here --some of the books weren't written in English, and my reading in anything other than Norwegian is a little rusty anyway-- I just know that there's supposed to be something interesting--"

Someone likes to chatter when he's excited.

As they approach, the outline of a large pond comes into view, and it becomes clear that that's the source of the glow. "Whoah. What is that?"

When they reach the glowing moonpool, it is bright enough that it illuminates the surrounding trees and their figures next to it, too. Ruby's appropriately awed; it's beautiful, the sort of thing she saw in her childhood that everyone told her was only in her imagination. Now, of course, she knows better.

She crouches down next to it, setting her lantern down on the ground.

"Unbelievable." She dips her fingers through the water, looking up at Asbjørn.

"Mind if I go swimming?"

It's got to be a rite of passage where these things are concerned.

"Sure. Just tell me when to break off a tree branch and I'll carry you home like a giant popsicle." Which is to say Ruby, it's cold and you are not indigenous to the Arctic circle. But then again it's doubtful he could stop her, even if he wanted to.

In the meantime, Asbjørn sets his bag down and unpacks a few necessities. "I seriously hope I can make an ink out of this," he says as he lowers a jar into the pool. Moonlight splashes up his arm in the process.

Edited 2011-10-31 22:22 (UTC)

"It's not like it's the dead of winter," she protests, cheerfully, "not to mention if I freeze, I happen to know a certain tall guy I can climb all over to leech body heat."

Ruby starts unbuttoning her dress, watching him with the moonpool in the meanwhile.

"It looks like you could do a lot with it."

"Mmhmm. One of these days I'm going to wise up to your, what's the word, uh..."

While Asbjørn's kind of were isn't cursed by the moon, they're not precisely immune to its effects (especially the older he gets; a fact that's slipped his mind more than once over the past several months). Right now, the edges of the more human parts of his mind start to blur slightly.

He sits back, securing the jar and trying to finish the end of that sentence. "Damn it, I should have had my coffee before I left."

"Wiles? ...shenanigans?" Ruby suggests, helpfully.

She steps past him and slips into the moonpool (dressed in her underwear, at least, which are off-white in color and a bit sheer as it is), which given her general level of paleness and hair color creates quite a look. She turns to look at Asbjørn, treading water.

"This is really goddamn cold," she admits, laughing a little. Ruby is aware that if they get caught out, this will be fascinating, but she can't resist.

"Mmm." That was intended to sound like more of a vague agreement, but instead it tails off into a small chuffing noise.

Either way, Ruby's movements distract him from whatever he was trying to say. If he were inclined to think more coherantly, he would be aptly reminded of Leonard Cohen lyrics: her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you.

Instead he has a sudden desire to be as near to her as she'll let him. A jar rolls off his lap as he crawls over to the edge of the pool, stretching over as far as possible.

She quiets when he does, moving closer, toward the edge. Ruby tilts her head up to meet Asbjørn's eyes, with a little smile. Moonlight spills over her hand and down to the glowing surface of the pool when she lifts it, just barely touching the collar of his shirt.

She wants to say something, but she's afraid of ruining the stillness, somehow. Like if she does say what's on her mind, the spell--the moonlight's, maybe--will change.

A little unknown fact for most people is that wild polar bears have a sense of courtesy. One of the ways they interact, especially when it comes to asking for permission, is meekly touching noses.

Which is what Asbjørn does as he bends down towards Ruby. It might look like he's about to kiss her; instead he's quite content to give her the slightest of nuzzles.

There's a half-dreamy expression on his face despite the little hint of wildness in his eyes. And a low sounding purr makes itself heard from the back of his throat.

That's something she wasn't expecting--of course, she's not surprised, in a way, it's natural because it's who he is. Her eyes widen a little.

"You're..." She doesn't finish the thought. Instead her fingertips travel to barely drift over his throat, as though she can feel the vibration there.

It's a word that breaks the spell after all. Asbjørn blinks, suddenly self-aware of his actions. The pull of the moonlight is still very strong, tugging at him, and for a moment everything is a mix of human butterfly stomach embarassment and bear desire to court and protect.

He pulls away slightly, one hand coming up to rub at his forehead. "I, uh. I feel kind of strange."

"...bad strange?" Ruby drifts back in the moonlight a little, though not more than a few inches. She can't help wishing he hadn't pulled away. Ruby doesn't know where that was heading, but the moment was intimate enough that she can't pretend they're just platonic friends in her head right now, not any more.

She doesn't know what to do with that. It's so soon after Orion, but she can't hang her whole life on one failed relationship, either.

"N-no. I--"

Definitely not bad strange, Ruby. Not with the way he's looking at you right now.

"--I just, ngh." One arm reaches out to where she was a moment ago.

Before he knows what he's doing, his boots are getting kicked off, his hoodie and t-shirt tossed aside as he slips into the pool beside her (...jeans and socks still on, yes, this is such a rational idea). Something in him feels satisfied again. Almost. A hand goes out to touch Ruby's shoulder, if she'll let him.

The opposite of minding, in fact--Ruby draws a little closer. In the back of her mind she is aware that he's probably not going to be too comfortable in those jeans shortly, but the rest of her is far and away from caring. Her heart feels very like it might be beating approximately ten thousand miles an hour, and that alone is enough to distract from practicalities.

She doesn't know what to say, so she doesn't say anything, just strays nearer to him. Her eyes are very dark in the set of her pale face and the glow of the moonlight-water surrounding them, but she's looking at Asbjøorn so intently.

Then one hand rests on Ruby's shoulder; the other reaches up to touch her cheek. Asbjørn resumes his attentions from a moment ago, eyes half-closed as the blissed out part of him washes over skittish human emotions.

Until his lips drift closer to Ruby's, where he hesitates. It's almost as if he's forgotten what to do for a moment. Kisses are a very human gesture, after all.

Ruby, however, is mostly human. And although she knows she shouldn't, that she is still so damaged and freshly wounded from everything that has happened to her in the past year--she just knows she likes him in a true, almost innocent way that she hasn't had for a long time. Moreover, she's comfortable with him. And moments like this, where the air in her lungs seems like it carries with it a rush of energy, where she forgets everything else around and only focuses on one person...she knows that those are rare enough to not let go of them easily.

So in a rush of moonlight spilling off her shoulders, she moves the rest of the necessary few inches the water. Ruby kisses Asbjørn first, sweet and quick and more than a little bit desperately impulsive.

If Asbjørn blinks repeatedly once they break away, it's only because he's wondering whether this is truly happening or not.

But for once every interal force inside him aligns. And despite the doubt, and the fear, and the downright terror that he could ruin everything, he is completely certain that right now, in this strange enchanted place, this is what he wants.

When he kisses Ruby again, it's longer and much more sure. Something between a soft sigh and another purr also makes itself heard.

This is the last thing Ruby expected to be doing out here, and she's reasonably certain the same is true for Asbjørn. When they separate for a second time, she's a little bit out of breath, and struck with uncertainty just as he seems more certain.

She doesn't want him to think less of her. Or that she's been gaming him since the start.

"Is this okay?" Her voice is hushed, in accordance with their circumstances, but audible.

Well, now that Ruby sounds uncertain. Then again, while he takes stock of the situation, they are experiencing their first kiss half-naked in a pool of magic whatever while Asbjørn's more animal instincts make an unexpected appearance.

"That depends." he says, a little slowly as he deliberates on his thoughts. "How completely insane do you think I am right now?"

It's not completely rhetorical.

"I don't think you're insane." That much is true, and she says it with sincerity.

"I think...I don't know what we're doing. It's not the first time I've thought about this, but..." She tips her head back, moonlight glimmer touching her hair. "I don't want to leave Sobek Croix and feel like we can't be normal together anymore."

Asbjørn nods in agreement, even though the little sinking feeling inside him is starting to gather momentum.

"Yeah, I uh--" A stressed chuffing noise escapes him and his hand quickly clasps over his mouth.

Between fingers, he manages to say. "--I seriously need to get the fuck out and away from this stuff."

"Wait--"

She reaches for him, impulsively, and there's a split second where she doesn't know if that request is because she doesn't want to go or if she really wants to ask this question. Ruby hesitates one troubled moment longer, and forces up her bravery.

"Just-- tell me it's not the moonlight that made you want to kiss me."

Unless, of course, that's what it was, she tells herself, and if it was, she can take that, too.

"No." It comes out a little more forcefully than he intended. "God, no --look it's...a bear thing, okay? I promise. But, I--"

He sighs, pressing the heel of one palm to his closed eyes. "I've had...feelings for you for a while now. But I haven't wanted to act on it. For my own reasons."

This is all sounding so much more horrible than it did in his head a minute ago. "God, that sounds shady. Look, I swear on my mother's life I'm not some kind of guy who likes a girl and pretends to be her friend only because he wants to date her. I think you're amazing, it's me that's the problem."

It's not you, it's me is one of those relationship lines she's never actually heard before (because Steven was pretty comfortable saying "it's you"), but she's said it to other people. It doesn't feel good to be on the other side, but she has faith enough in Asbjørn that she believes it's true, rather than a line.

If she can't have faith enough in herself, that's something.

"Okay," she says, after a treading-moonlight silence. "I don't think you're that kind of guy. I know you aren't. Let's--here, let's get on the edge."

Near the moonlight, but not actively in it, at least. Ruby pushes herself up onto the edges, her whole body tinted with the traces of that iridescent glow, gauzy underwear sticking to her a little strangely from the texture.

"Tell me." She doesn't say 'please', but she might as well have, from the softness of her tone.