Gerhart had no good reason for why he hadn't reached out to Cirice sooner after the business with the Sultan's Tomb. It was hard to explain that little twisting feeling in his gut he felt whenever he thought about her. It wasn't painful or uncomfortable, but it was something new to process. Sure, he's had crushes before, but it was never quite like this. That must be the power of trauma bonding.....but still he didn't actually know much about her. With the help of encouragement from Zarius and Cyran, two very reliable sources of information for romance, he decided the best option was to just grip it and rip it as his dad said.

A letter was written to see if she was amicable to meeting at the Crescent Coast. Gerhart was intentionally vague with what he wanted to accomplish for fear of scaring her off, so getting the letter back was something he celebrated vigorously. So vigorously it scared Halcyon, that was a fun conversation with him.

Gerhart stood on the beach, the giant kestrel nearby just in case. Taking a girl on a ride on a giant bird is fun and romantic right? Mubashir seemed to like it. 

"What do you think? Do I look fine?" Gerhart presented himself to the bird, having packed his armor and weapons in Halcyon's saddlebags. The bird chirped and nuzzled at his head with a beak to smooth out his rider's hair.

Cirice hadn’t really said much to Gerhart after their escape from the accursed tomb in the desert. Not for any reason in particular, just their paths hadn’t crossed again after saying goodbye. Life had a way of getting busy, especially when you’re an adventurer, and she hadn’t had the time to seek him out, even if she thought of him often.

She had in fact been searching for the right gift to give him to commemorate their near-death experience together and perhaps as an excuse to see him again. She knew nothing of armor and she wanted to give him the perfect thing to help protect him to make up for her weakness and him protecting her before. Just nothing felt right.

Every bazaar she perused, every shop she searched, every item had fallen short of what she thought he deserved. It didn’t help that every time she thought of him she couldn’t help blushing. Its hard to picture giving someone a gift when picturing them fills you with butterflies.

His letter was an unexpected catalyst for her getting something, anything, and rushing back to her homeland to meet him. She’d wanted to visit her parents anyway, she hadn’t just rushed here for his sake, that would be overeager. She wasn’t even sure what he was wanting to do, his message had been rather vague. Perhaps he’d found a new dungeon to delve or a new adventure and he wanted her help. Certainly that was the case. He needed a healer he knew. Perhaps this was her chance to show him how much she’d improved since they parted ways…

Cirice sat side-saddle on the back of her steed Hitia, the strange and ethereal deer she’d come across in her travels as he strode across the sand of the Crescent Coast. She straightened her skirt and fidgeted with her hair, trying to look her best for Gerhart. She’d worn her best outfit today, draped in silks of purple that flow about her body and are trimmed in silver with matching gloves. Even if they were ruined in an adventure she wanted to look good for him. He deserved her best.

She sees him, standing there against the backdrop of the water and her heart flutters nervously. He looks nervous and handsome, in plain clothes and not armor surprisingly. Theres a massive bird nearby which gave her slight pause but her focus is on him as the reindeer brings her over and she hops down from its back.

“Hey.” She says shyly. “I hope you weren’t waiting long.” She smiles up at him and when her eyes meet his she’s overcome with the urge to jump into his arms for a hug. So she does just that, the shyness fleeting as her arms surround him. “I missed you!”

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SPOILER: Click to show

Gerhart is glad the Cirice goes in for the hug first because 1) hugging pretty girl nice and 2) it meant he had a chance bud the near immediate blush on his face. He smiled as he wrapped his arms around her, lifting the elf off the ground a moment in his excitement.

”I-I missed you too….You um you look great by the way.” He separated from the hug, though his hands still lingered on her shoulders until he realized how awkward it might have been.

”How’ve you been? I see you have a new friend! They seem incredible.”

Cirice smiles up at him, a blush tinging her purple cheeks darker. “I’ve been good! Busy! Thank you. Oh yeah thats Hitia! He’s an ethereal deer! He can fly and heal! I haven’t really flown on him though. You have a friend too, thats a big bird.” She looks over at Halcyon curiously then back up at him. “How have you been? Have you had any great adventures?”

She looks him up and down, definitely for any new scars and not just to admire him noooo. “You haven’t gotten hurt since I last saw you, have you?”

"Nah, nothing serious at least. Still too stupid to die after all." A sheepish chuckle escapes as he smiles, rubbing the back of his neck. Gerhart perks up a bit at the mention of the bird. "Oh this is Halcyon! I got him from a trainer outside the Fighter's Guild. I figured if I was going to keep traveling so much, it would be a lot faster if I had a ride, ya know?" Another little grin as he looks over Cirice as well, also just making sure his friend is well. "Maybe we could go flying together sometime, I bet people would be real confused seeing a deer next to a bird."



He gives a wide smile, his whole body still burbling with nervous energy. It's hard to contain, a slight shifting in his feet making it hard to stay steady. "Well I uh....I didn't really um have a plan or anything, I just wanted to see you...um Z-zarius had said you're from here so I thought um....thought it would be nice to come back here..and well I don't know. Do you wanna go for a walk?"

“Don’t say that!” Cirice gently raps him on the chest with her knuckles in admonishment. “You’re not stupid at all. You’re amazing!”

“Halcyon… I like that name. He’s beautiful. I’d love to fly together. That sounds really fun! We’d definitely be quite the sight soaring through the skies!” She giggles.

“Oh Zarius mentioned me? I didn’t know you two knew each other. He’s a very kind man.” She grins, “I am from here, well from the island of Shingetsu south of here. I met Zarius in Starlight City and he sends me jobs from time to time. I thought perhaps you wanted to adventure together, but a walk sounds lovely. A nice walk on the beach. Have you ever collected shells before? There are lots of beautiful ones here! If you want we can pick them up and I can tell you about them. I-if that doesn’t sound too lame…”

"Oh yeah I was.." Wait, don't tell her you were asking for advice on how to ask her out. Quick say something else, just cough to hide the pause. "*cough...cough* Ahem uh sorry Zarius was one of the first people I really met adventuring, did a little patrol with him and just caught up."

Brilliant save Gerhart, she won't know a thing. "Sea shells? No, I've never gone looking for them, turtle shells though, they make pretty good bowls if you don't have much else." He gives a small laugh and smile. "Or hats if they are big enough....that doesn't sound lame at all! That sounds like a lotta fun actually. As much fun as adventuring is, it's nice to just you know.....not adventure for a day."

Without thinking, he turns to walk down the beach offering out a hand to hold.

Cirice smiles at him and takes his offered hand with only the slightest hesitance. “Zarius was the first person I met when I really started adventuring too. I met him and Blue Raspberry and Astrid all at the same time. Do you know them too?”

The pair of them stroll down the beachfront where the water meets the sand, “I’ve never thought of using a turtle shell as a hat before… Bowls yes, but not a hat. Hmm…” She ponders it and chuckles.

“You know… I feel like I don’t know that much about you, Gerhart. Where are you from? Tell me stories about you. I bet you’ve had some great adventures!” She squeezes his hand gently.

He gives the hand a happy little squeeze as they walk. "There's a person named Blue Raspberry?....Like the candy? Can't say I've ever met them, but I know Astrid. Heck of a fighter, we took out some weird dwarves who were turned into yetis because of a curse, that was a weird afternoon."

Gerhart chuckles softly, occasionally kicking a little rock down the sand as they walk. "Huh, me? I never know what to say." He gives a sheepish smile and rubs at his neck with his free hand. "I promise I'm not so interesting."

"I grew up uh in Moonglade...outside the Moonveil Forest, not uh...not much really um, really happened there. So I thought I'd try my hand at being an adventure to get to explore, fight crazy monsters, protect people. That sort of thing."

He pauses a moment trying to think about the adventures that he's had. The tomb was the biggest thing, but Cirice was there for that. What else had he done that sounded impressive? "I don't know about exciting adventures, I like taking the little jobs to help people. Chasing owlbears away from festivals, helping Shaa infiltrate The Clasp, simple stuff like that ya know?"

“Well he says he’s ‘just a knight’ but he turns into a sticky blue wolf and runs up cliff faces so I don’t know about that. Astrid is a very skilled fighter, she’s kind of terrifying. Yeti cursed dwarves… That does sound like quite the afternoon…”

“You know as much time as I’ve spent traveling, I’ve not really spent any time in Moonglade… Perhaps you could show me around someday? Even if not much happens there I’d still like to see it. Though I feel you about getting to explore and help people, thats why I left home too! Well in part, also to spread my faith of course!” Cirice giggles. “I think you’re very interesting and impressive. You handle things with a smile and you’re really strong and upbeat and I love that. You’re great at protecting people, I owe you my life several times over.” She smiles up at him with grateful admiration as she listens to him describe his adventures like they’re nothing special. He’s too modest for his own good.

“You really like helping people, don’t you? I admire that so much. Having power and prowess means nothing if you can’t use it for the sake of others. You’re strong and kind, just don’t forget to care for yourself while you care for others, okay?”

Gerhart is all blushes and 'aw shucks'as Cirice compliments him. He definitely is too modest, but he'd still argue he's not doing much else other than what folks are supposed to do. He smiles and gives her hand a gentle squeeze.



"You know I could say the same for you, both you and Cyran had a lot more tricks up your sleeves to solve a bunch of those riddles....Oh, I could show you my actual home. I bought one with some of the riches from the Sultan's tomb...you really wouldn't have much fun seeing where I grew up, not even a town anymore."



Smooth Gerhart, bring up something incredibly sad and distressing on a date. Nailing it. Quick cover! "Oh look, little tide pools! Think we can find some crabs or something hiding in there?" He grins and starts to head off ready to bulldoze post that mine he set for himself.

“All I could do was watch and try to be clever as you fought for our lives, then patch you up as you got hurt… I’m stronger now, I don’t want to feel useless like that ever again….” She trails off, leaving that topic hanging in the ocean breeze, “You bought a house? I’d love to see it. Oh I’m sad I can’t see where you grew up, but I’m sure that your house is lovely.”

She giggles as he gets distracted by the tide pools and the little critters within. Together they lean down and look at the tiny microbiome, the small fish and plants and creatures awaiting the sea to surge back in and whisk them away.

“My father is a fisherman and when I was young we’d walk around at low tide and look at the pools and he’d teach me about all the life you can find there. Starfish, crabs, little fish that got caught. Sand dollars that were still alive and not bleached white in the sun… If you dig like this you’ll catch some small crabs.” She leans down and scoops up some wet sand, letting it fall through her fingers until she’s holding a little crab in her hands. It pinches at her fingers angrily and she offers it to Gerhart. “See? He’s friendly!”

“Careful of that spiky ball, its a sea urchin. They’re pretty tasty but they’ve got a wicked sting.” She happily sifts through the tide pool looking for interesting things to show him. "Have you spent much time at the ocean?"

He is all boyish smiles as they crouch down to look through the tide pools and see all the different things, laughing softly as she holds up the crab. He offers out his hand which it also angrily pinches at, but he can't help but smile and laugh as the pinches did little.



"That sounds fun, I bet your dad has caught a lot of cool fish! What do you think is the biggest thing he's ever caught?" Gerhart deposits the crab back into the sand, tiny little pincers still show its anger at their insolence. He reaches out to gently touch the sea urchin, avoiding any poking.



"Not much, I've been on a ship a few times, but never really spent time, ya know? Much more used to the forests and land. But it's hard not to be taken by it. There's nothing quite like it." He grinned as he now poked at a starfish, unable to resist the urge. "You can go swimming in the ocean right? My sisters said you're not supposed to because of the monsters in there, but I don't think that's right."

“Hmm I don’t know, maybe a shark? Chichi has caught all kinds of things.” Cirice shrugs, watching him with a giggle. “You can totally swim in the ocean! You haven’t? We should! Do you have a swimsuit?”

“We could maybe go buy some and go for a swim! I love swimming. Its been so long since I did. Why would your sisters think that? The monsters usually aren’t that big of a problem, not out here at least.”

“A shark is pretty impressive though.” He smiles and scoops a little hermit crab from the water, letting it crawl around his hand before offering it over to Cirice. Gerhart is admittedly a little lost in watching all the creatures. “Swim suit? I didn’t know that was a thing. We always just kind of went in our small clothes, double as washing clothes too.”

Another little laugh as he stretched a moment, “Who knows why they would say that~ probably just trying to tease each other or something. The stupid stuff you do or say to siblings ya know?”