LEVELER (Emily)

[vaan]

SHORT FIRST POST IS SHORT, SRY M4N. They always are for me...

The grand waterfall of Zora's Domain was more beautiful than it normally was; the day was cool, yet the sun shone brightly, reflecting off the falling water, creating a gorgeous scene across the waterfall basin. Vaan had spent the day as he normally did: teaching the younger kids about magic and how to unlock its potential, as well as teaching them the more important academics and what that encompassed. It was fun work, though he went unpaid; however, the work itself was payment enough for Vaan.

The young and very lazy man walked past the entrance pathway into the Domain and stared up at the waterfall. Today, he decided he'd laze the day away by sitting by and enjoying the water. And he did just that; Vaan walked the pathway a bit further to a point where he was fairly isolated from the the Zora people. He sat down, let his feet fall into the water, and leaned back, looking towards to sky.

Before too long, he was fast asleep.

[emily]

Woooooooooooow!

Emily walked through the entrance way to Zora's Domain and gawked up at the waterfall. It was so majestic, so beautiful. It was a truly inspiring sight. It had started with a normal day of walking along aimlessly and quickly transformed into a game of 'what's that roaring noise in the distance'. It had peaked Emily's boundless curiosity to the point where she couldn't resist venturing off the beaten trail and down this miscellaneous path to any sorts of dangers or wonders. The venture had been fruitful, however, as Emily stumbled across this grand spectacle.

Okay, it was a waterfall. They were majestic and inspiring for maybe the first five minutes after you saw it. Still Emily gawked anyway, wondering where the water went from here. Or something along those lines. There was wonder in her eyes and her head was in the clouds as she stepped toward the middle of the glade, not hearing the snores of the sleeping boy over the roar of the waterfall. And that was her folly. With the next step forward Emily's foot dug sharply into the boy's ribs and she toppled clear over him.

And straight into the water. After much frolicking and panic she twisted around and managed to find the surface, resurfacing with a gasp for air. There was a lily pad on her head when she resurfaced which was quickly discarded as she shook about rapidly to flick water everywhere. "Oh man, I liked this outfit," she murmured as she tugged at her shirt, which was streaked with algae and mud and various other disgusting pond muck.

[vaan]

Vaan snored loudly again. His dreams were strange; full of trees and plants and lots of people frolicking about in the forest. Even the roar of the waterfall couldn't wake him, though that wasn't saying much; Vaan could sleep through just about anything, and he'd proven that time and time again through his efforts to catch a few z's in even the most unusual of places: for example, today, in the Domain. He would almost rather be sightseeing than sleeping, but the young man was, unfortunately, always tired. Or so it seemed.

And then it happened. In his dream, when he was running around, something stabbed him in the stomach. He looked around, but all he saw were these strange glowing trees. The pain hadn't left; in fact, it seemed to be intensifying. Vaan feverishly looked around, trying to find the source of the sharp pain, but he couldn't. It was as if the pain was an invisible entity...

Then he awoke. With a cough, a grunt, and spit flying out of his lazy mouth, Vaan shot forward. He heaved and grasped for his stomach as the pain he felt in his dream became real. At the very least, he knew what the pain was now. Absolutely terrified, Vaan looked over to the water, where the only thing he could see in his half-asleep state was water splashing everywhere.

"...Huh?" Vaan wiped his eyes. He still couldn't tell exactly what was going on, but the real world was becoming more clear to him. Was it a girl in that water? Vaan's eyes shot open. Someone wasn't drowing, were they? He was, of course, still confued about the pain in his stomach, and it was ever unrelenting, but he ignored it for now. Eventually the splashing stopped, and he saw a pretty girl with orange-colored hair pull a lily pad off of her head.

Vaan stared at her in curious wonder, then yawned heavily. He absentmindedly scratched his head, and attempted to speak, but nothing could come out. His stomach hurt, there was a girl in the water... The strangest things happened when Vaan went to sleep. That much was certain.

So, in an effort to placate the awkwardness of the situation, Vaan extended his hand as an offer of aid to help the girl out of the water, but he was still too shocked to say anything.

[emily]

Truth be told Emily was quite already with the boy's speechlessness. It saved her the trouble of stuttered explanations and an excessive amount of blushing. Not that her cheeks weren't already rosy with embarrassment, but with her hair clinging to her face she hoped that much was covered up. She reached up and brushed the hair away from her eyes so that the water-darkened brown strands were framing her face.

And emphasizing the blush.

Silently cursing herself ten times over Emily reached out and took the offered hand, climbing out of the water. She was dripping wet and her clothes clung to her just as much as her long hair. There were places where reeds and water grass stuck out instead of hair, and the overall effect gave her a nature sprite aesthetic.

A wet, drowned-rat type of nature sprite.

Emily brushed herself off as best as she could now that she was out of the water, but she was soaked through so it didn't do much good. She did her best to recompose her appearance, then looked up at the boy and offered him her well-traveled apologetic smile. "I'm so sorry I ruined your nap!"

[vaan]

Vaan had to laugh a little as the girl blushed and he helped her out of the water. The poor thing had really fallen in and gotten the worst of it too; shame it was simply because the outfit had been nice and was now likely ruined. He felt bad for her, and offered a sympathetic smile as he helped her out of the water and onto the land. He sat back, letting her compose and brush herself off to the best of her ability, though not much could be done with the water having ruined things.

The young man was taken aback by her apology, but he also had to consider that she didn't know him. That being said, she didn't know that he slept all the time, and one simply nap being interrupted, especially by a pretty girl, really didn't matter that much at all. He could make up the lack of sleep later on in the day, when he retired for the day. Laughing again, Vaan sat back, resting his weight on his arms.

"Sorry? Don't be sorry." He said, and followed with a large and loud yawn. Still a bit lost in sleepiness, he met her eyes with his own green ones. "I sleep all the time. Eh, I should probably start spending more time awake, huh?"

[emily]

Emily was caught off guard by the laughter. She wasn't used to that kind of reaction when she tripped over or into people. Usually there was some shouting, an apology or two, maybe a shameless pick-up line that went straight over Emily's naive little head, but rarely was there laughter. Then again as he laughed she couldn't help but smile at the humor in the situation. It was pretty funny, all things considered. The ever so slight movement in her facial muscles caused a strand of water-heavy hair to flop loose and straight into her face.

The boy sat down and dismissed her apology. Emily followed his lead and sat down on her knees, her hands folded neatly across her lap. The movement made a wet plopping sound as her wet clothing hit the grass and the hard ground, and it nearly caused her to jump forward before she realized what it was. It's okay, calm down Emily, there's no need to be skittish. Next you'll be jumping at your own shadow. She offered the boy that apologetic smile once more. Those were perhaps the most used muscles in her face.

"I don't think I'd be able to sleep all the time. There's so much I'd be afraid I missed," Emily responded quietly, still bashful and shy after tripping over the boy. "Did I hurt you, by chance? I'm sorry if I did! I need to learn to get my head out of the clouds!" she piped up suddenly, then recoiled again shyly. "Um, my name's Emily, by the way." Okay, calm down, deep breaths, think about your words and how much emphasis they need.

[vaan]

Vaan decided the girl was trying very hard to articulate things correctly. Perhaps she was nervous, or perhaps she was always this way. She seemed to be worried about saying the wrong thing, or maybe not saying something she was obligated too. Vaan chuckled at her as she spoke, offering a warm smile in her direction, attempting to relieve her of whatever was bothering her. Her-- whatever it was-- didn't bother Vaan, though he was never so self-conscious about his speech himself.

Sitting back to allow the girl more room to seat herself, Vaan turned to a cross-legged position on the ground, resting his arms in his lap somewhat like this girl, who introduced herself as Emily. He bellowed with laughter at her remark about his sleeping; it was so usual for someone to comment in such a way. Vaan was an unorthodox young man, and understood that pretty much no one else could sleep like he did.

"Eh," He began, looking towards the waterfall, then back at Emily. "I don't really miss anything. I guess that's because most of what happens to me comes to find me; I rarely go in search of something else." He finished, thinking about how events in his life came about. Most of his problems and trouble found him, but so did most of his fortune as well. He was a lucky guy, that much was certain.

He laughed a bit, again, as was customary of Vaan, when she apologized again. She was such an apologetic person, which wasn't a negative thing by any means; however, her apologies, as Vaan thought, weren't necessary at all. His eyes met hers again, after drifting about the scene, then he addressed her. "No, you didn't hurt me." He lied, thinking about the pain in his stomach. He simply couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth though; he was very afraid of how she'd react. He didn't want to crush her spirit, so he pretended like his stomach was okay. Fortunately, the pain really was starting to subside a bit.

"My name's Vaan."

[emily]

Emily was, indeed, relieved by the warm smile. It wasn't often she stumbled upon someone as optimistic when it came to apologies, and even less often that it was literal. She did stumble upon, over and right by him in the end, and as she recalled her foot had caught him quite hard. But she said he was okay, so he must be, right? She was a fairy, so if he wasn't okay she could heal him as necessary. But did he know she was a fairy? Maybe he didn't realize she had healing magic available.

Was it rude to just say she was a fairy to him? He probably wouldn't understand what she meant by that.

Anyway.

"It's funny, it's usually the other way around for me. I walk around and seem to fall into trouble everywhere! But I have little tricks that let me get away from it just as easily. Couldn't survive this long and this clumsy without them, could I?" she joked, or at least attempted to, and giggled a bashful little sound in response to her own attempt at a joke. "It's nice to meet you, Vaan! I'm E..." Wait, she already introduced herself. "It's a beautiful waterfall, isn't it!"

[vaan]

Vaan smiled again. "I guess not." He assumed, grinning a bit as he thought about how clumsy she was. Not only physically, but she seemed to be socially clumsy too; it seemed as though she was about to reintroduce herself to him. Perhaps, Vaan thought, his presumptions about her thinking too much about what she had to say were true. In reality, Vaan thought it was cute how clumsy she was. He wondered if she was like this with everyone.

"The pleasure's all mine, Emily." He said nicely, nodding his head to her, then looking off to the waterfall. From the looks of the sun in the sky above them, night would be approaching soon. Evening was Vaan's favorite time of the day, and ironically, the time when he did the least amount of sleeping.

Night had always brought comfort for him. It was when he could be alone and think to himself, or have long conversations with interesting people. It was when the softly shining white stars were the only light besides the moon in the sky, and it always seemed to cast such a wondrous glow anywhere. It brought cool temperatures and fun experiences, and Vaan was anxious for night to come. Perhaps Emily enjoyed it like he did.

Lost in his thoughts, Vaan's gaze became a little glazed over before he snapped back into reality at Emily's statement about the waterfall. He smiled and nodded, saying nothing. It was indeed his favorite part of the Domain. Standing, the young man made his way back to the water's edge and faced the power of the waterfall. He watched as the gallons poured over the source and down into the pool, crashing tremendously with the calmer water below it. It was a wonderful sight, and it made Vaan happy.

Turning back to his new companion, he motioned for her to stand up and join him. "Yeah, it definitely is," He breathed dreamily, looking back towards it. The lazy wayfarer stuffed his hands in his pockets and stared towards the falls. "So, Emily... What brings you out here?"

[emily]

Emily saw an all too familiar look in Vaan's eyes. The way his gaze glazed over and he seemed to be staring at nothing in particular. He was lost in thoughts. She leaned in closer and stared into his glazed over eyes, wondering to herself what others wondered about. She was often found in that state, but everyone in this day and age seemed too aware for their own good. All about the dangers and stuff.

Of course in wondering about other's thoughts Emily herself got lost momentarily in her own thoughts. Funny situation, that, but with her gaze where it was the sudden movement as Vaan blinked out of his own trance broke Emily of hers and she sat back on her legs again, as if she weren't leaning in staring into his eyes. Such an intimate moment and all. Emily was too shy to be caught doing something like that, and the thought of explaining herself already turned her cheeks pinkish.

Then Vaan got up and motioned for her to join him. Emily, oddly enough, was a creature of impulse and did just that. She climbed awkwardly to her feet, her skirt dried in some areas and still wet in others. In fact the wet areas were cooled and as they shifted about and brushed against her skin where it had dried it caused her to jump and reach behind her before realizing exactly what had happened. She looked down at the ground, then stepped forward toward Vaan.

Her arm linked up with his and she rested her other hand against his bicep. It just seemed right, considering they were moving and all. He was a nice boy, though that might be Emily's quick-to-trust nature. "There was a trail I'd never been down before that I decided to go down, and then I heard the waterfall," Emily said simply. "How about you? It's an interesting place to nap but the roaring of the waterfall might keep me awake if I tried."

[vaan]

Vaan couldn't help but offer another slight smile. This girl blushed rather easily, and while that was a cute trait in Vaan's eyes, it was also silly to be so shy around him of all people. His social graces were nothing that should warrant such nervousness; in fact, in most cases, Vaan's socially unacceptable behavior brought out a particular confidence in most people, perhaps because they all thought he was beneath them because he slept everywhere, burped everywhere, scratched everywhere, and yawned everywhere. He didn't much care for the public opinion; however, with this Emily, things seemed to be almost the opposite in all aspects.

He wasn't used to people feeling trusting around him. He almost spoke, but instead blushed, when Emily joined him and rested her arm inside of his, and her hand on his upper arm. He was indeed taken aback, but chose not to speak. Instead, he looked towards to the waterfall so as to hide his blush, and listened to her speak as she mentioned the path she hadn't taken before. Odd, it was, as Vaan took this particular path all too often; it was one of his favorite places to nap.

The young man chuckled. "Well, I..." He thought, wondering how he'd explain that he was the deepest sleeper she'd probably ever met. He could and would sleep anywhere he got the chance. "Well, I sleep everywhere... Anywhere I want to. Heh, I'm a pretty deep sleeper, too." He added with a chuckle, meeting her eyes momentarily, and then he looked back towards the falls. "But I don't know. I guess I feel more at home here. It doesn't make much sense, does it? Being Hylian and feeling the Domain to be most at home? It does though... I love the falls."

His gaze was frozen on the falls, the dreamy look in his eyes having returned upon the focus of such things.

[emily]

It was hard for Emily to see Vaan as anything but a gentleman considering he hasn't been anything but one since she tripped over him. And, as always, Emily was remarkably quick to trust. It was one of those character traits that disguised themselves as flaws. In this day and age, though, it rarely turned out bad for her. At least not yet. Of course Emily hasn't met everyone in the world, so any day now she could come upon someone who took advantage of that trust.

Poor Emily.

As it started to get darker with night falling Emily realized she was getting colder, what with her drenched hair and waterlogged clothing. She spent most of her life covered with various elements of nature, it seemed. She fought against the shivers but lost, shaking slightly. Instinctively she moved closer to Vaan, mostly just to steal away some of his warmth as she continued to try and hide the fact that she was cold, and fail at doing that. Poor Emily.

"It doesn't matter if it makes much sense," she mused on his comment. "Home is where the heart is, and if you love the falls then this is obviously where yours lay. It's not like this is strictly the Zora's home, it's merely their domain. They welcome everyone, don't they? So this could be your home, too, just as easy as that!" She grinned just a little. "See, over there's the kitchen," she said, pointing to some rocks near the water. "And over there's the living room! I really love what you've got done with the place!" The living room was behind them, apparently, but with her arm linked in his she could turn him around to face the arbitrary thicket of trees easily enough.

[vaan]

Vaan couldn't help but laugh as his eyes followed her remarks. He looked towards the rocks, the walkways, the paths, and thought about how what she was saying probably wasn't meant to be as deep as he took it. She did make a lot of sense; that much was certain. He liked her way of thinking, appreciated it greatly, and was happy to have someone to lift his spirits. "Maybe you're right." He said at last, thinking about what it would be like to live in the Domain. His mind began to wander again, and he found himself lost in the near-night atmosphere of the domain.

His trance was broken when Emily scooted closer to him. To hide his blush, he looked away and towards the falls. She was a sweet girl with a kind heart, and Vaan was definitely glad to have company. He almost, ALMOST, would rather be where he was than be asleep. In Vaan's mind, sleeping was better than literally anything. But company was good... something he wasn't used to. He wasn't used to someone being so close to him either, though that wasn't to say he didn't enjoy it, because he certainly did.

Unfortunately, he could feel how cold she was. She was trying not to shiver; he didn't know why she'd try to hide the fact that she was cold. With a large yawn, Vaan thought about his options. They could just leave, but the falls got even prettier at night, and he didn't want to miss it. The Zoras would retire for the night, and he could go swimming in the somewhat luminescent pool at the waterfall basin. He didn't want to leave. So, acting on instinct, he removed the jacket he always wore, though it was a short-sleeved one, and wrapped it around Emily. He was taller and bigger than she was, so the jacket seemed to fit around her well enough. It wasn't much, but it was something.

Instead of saying something sweet, smooth, or hitting on her, Vaan yawned. Again. It was characteristic of him to do so. Scratching the back of his head nervously, the young man wondered what she thought. Hopefully she didn't try to give it back. "Um..." He began, not exactly knowing how to address the situation. Awkwardly, he said with a slight blush, "Don't freeze."