“No starberry is quite differrent from strawberry. I like it much more. I love sweet things you see. I have quite the sweet tooth.” Cirice takes a bite of the mochi before feeding him another bite. An indirect kiss but she’s not sure if he’ll mind. Can’t hurt to try. When he eats the last bite she smiles happily.

“I’m happy to share so many firsts with you. Its really nice.” She hums and stretches, “Now that we’ve eaten…. FIRST ONE TO THE WATER WINS!” She shouts playfully and springs to her feet, dashing towards the water with a joyus laugh.

Cirice gets a good head start because Gerhart locks up trying to decide should he just go for the win or let Cirice win and be cute? Maybe there's a way to do both. He smiles as he stands up and rushes forward[1] but as he does, he scoops Cirice into his arms to carry the moon elf bridal style into the water as he laughs.

Gerhart grins down at her, "Since I'm carrying you, does that make this a tie? Should I carry you back to the beginning? We can take another run at it."

Surprised, Cirice laughs as he scoops her up and carries her in his arms. “No no this is fine! It is a tie!” She nuzzles into his shoulder, “Let’s just splash into the water!”

Gerhart keeps running with her in his arms and they hit the water, quickly getting up to Gerhart’s waist before hitting the trough and stumbling into the deeper water before the sand bar. They both go tumbling into the water and come up with a laugh, soaked.

“Are you okay? I should have warned you! It gets deep between the beach and the sandbar.” She swims over to him and gently pushes the wet hair out of his face, “Welcome to the ocean!”

The end of the run does result in a slightly unceremonious dumping of Cirice into the water as Gerhart suddenly runs out of things to run on. He comes back up, tossing his hair back with a laugh as they start to just tread water.

"That drop off really sneaks up on you." He grins as he stretches out to float on his back and enjoy some of the sun. "This is much warmer than any lake or river....but I guess it makes sense because its so bright out here."

For the moment, he is happy to float along the surface and just take in the experience. Today was about getting outside what he knew and taking steps to make himself happy. He grins as he turns to watch Cirice in the water, still a little stunned he is lucky enough to have this moment.

Cirice swims over and floats next to him, staring up at the clouds. “I don’t think lakes have waves, do they? I like the gentle bobbing on a calm day. On a rougher day it would be a bit more dangerous, but its perfectly calm today.”

She finds his hand in the water so they can float together like otters, “This is wonderful.”

"This is....I can't think of the last time I've just...relaxed for a day." He smiles and takes her hand to pull her closer. "Thank you for giving me this Rice~ I was so nervous you'd just say no so this is way better than anything I could have ever imagined."

It's hard to see as they float on their backs, but Gerhart is grinning from ear to ear. For all the positivity he held in his heart, this moment topped everything he had experienced so far.

“You let yourself relax more. I’m happy I could join you for a nice, relaxing day Gerhart.” Cirice mirrors his smile, “But… why would you think I’d say no? I haven’t stopped thinking about you since we met. When I got your invitation I was so excited I came home right away.” She admits with a laugh.


“We met under dire circumstances, but… I realized pretty instantly that you were an amazing person. From the moment you caught me as I fell I think I’d fallen for you. When I think of what a hero looks like I just picture you.”

"I can't make any promises that I will...but I can try." He laughs as well, a little shocked by the admission from Cirice. "You haven't? Cause n-neither have I."

Gerhart turns his head to look over at her, "I guess I kinda worried after the tomb it would kind of...go away? I didn't really do a good job of keeping in contact with you or Cyran....I've only ever had like passing crushes and stuff, never anything like this, so I didn't know how you deal with it and all or what it's like when someone else feels the same way. Like I said, it's all kind of new things today." Another laugh from the young ranger.

“For me too… After the tomb I felt so afraid and shaken. I didn’t really talk to Cyran much either. But I kept going and adventuring and starting to get stronger, until I thought I could face you again.” Circe stops floating and treads water, looking down into the depths with a sad smile. “I wasn’t sure how I felt at first either, other than ashamed at how much I held you and Cyran back. When I would think back to that time I just… Wanted to be half as reliable as you are. Because I want to adventure with you more and I want to be able to stand proudly at your side.”

She takes a deep breath and dives down into the trench of the sandbar and grabs a large conch shell and a sandsolar and swims back up to him after clearing her head a little, “I’ve never had more than a crush before either. Never had someone who stuck in my head as much as you. But I’m excited to explore this new experience with you.” 

“Held us back? You’re the only reason we are alive.” Gerhart smiled and floated over to her, putting a hand on her cheek as he gently touched his forehead to hers. “If I’m not allowed to put myself down then neither are you all right?” He watches as she moves back to dive under, thinking for a moment to chase after her, but lets her pass.

“I am pretty persistent like that, huh?” He laughs, moving a bit of the hair from her face. “I’m excited for this experience too. We can just take this as it comes you know? No sense in rushing either of us.”

Cirice takes a deep breath and sighs it out as their foreheads touch, accepting his compliment and letting the protests die on her tongue. “Deal. Neither of us put ourselves down.”



She smiles up at him as he pushes the hair out of her face. “I don’t know you seem to me like the kind of man that dives head first into things and worries about the details later. I’ve seen you rush into danger. Taking our time and feeling things out should be a nice change of pace for both of us.”



She presents him with the things she brought up from the depths. “Its a tradition, that when you leave the Crescent Isles you take a little of the ocean with you wherever you do. A shell to hear the sounds of the waves no matter where you are, and a sandsolar so that wealth finds you all your days. These are for you.”

"Fighting monsters is one thing, then I have to just rush in or it'll come after people I care for. This is a little less daunting than a mummy full of flies." He grins, before looking down at the shells she offers, somehow grinning wider.

"These are so cool!" His thumb traced the color and striations on the shell, it weirdly looked like some of the river stones he'd found whenever he bothered to look. "I think I do have something I can give you as a gift, it's just back in the saddlebags....well two things actually. They aren't as meaningful as this though, but I hope you like them."

“A lot less daunting I hope.” She jokes. “You don’t have to give me anything, I just wanted to share some of my culture and traditions with you. Its customary to give guests gifts. Not the other way around.”

She chuckles and swims around a little. "What do you think of the ocean? Better than a river or lake?"

"I know I don't have to, but I want to. Besides one of the things is less a gift and more something I think can help you when you're traveling.....And yes this is a lot less daunting in most ways at least." He grins and takes his turn diving underwater.



No one will be calling Gerhart up to the Olympics anytime soon, but he's a decent enough swimmer that Cirice doesn't have to worry about him drowning. He chases after a few fish like a kid before coming up for air, tossing his moppish hair back. "A lot better, you can actually see underwater and stuff. There's usually too much dirt and sand getting churned up that you can't see anything! This is definitely way cooler."

“Something to help when I’m traveling…” She echoes as he dives down. She watches him as he swims, enjoying the joyful glee on his face. As he surfaces she can’t help but be grinning ear to ear at just hope adorable he is when he’s having fun. “I’m glad you like it. Maybe when we’re not busy we can make time to meet here and swim and enjoy the beach. Its important to take breaks and both of us have the ability to fly now so transportation shouldn’t be too hard.”