"We should try to at least you know like once a month...as much as I wanna be selfish and just never let you go, I imagine Mother Moon has lots of things she needs you to do." His boyish laugh breaks out again. "Plus I'll probably be busy doing stuff for the guild....bet there's gonna be a lot of work after that Sol Stone business. Can't imagine something like that happens and we just don't hear about it ever again."

He smiles a moment, looking down at the shell and sand dollar before back to Cirice. "Wanna head out of the water for a bit? Just so I can put these up and give you at least one of your gifts."

“Mother Moon leads me lots of places. Maybe we could meet in other places as well. You could show me around Moonglade some time?” Cirice smiles, “Guild? What guild are you in? I’m thinking of joining the Mage’s Guild. With all the Sol Stone business I imagine there will be a mess. Especially after the crown tried to ignore it.”

“Yeah let’s head to the beach and build a sand castle too!” She turns and starts swimming back to land and laying on the sand. “I much prefer beach sand to desert.”

"I would love to show you Moonglade! We should write to Cyran and invite him there sometime. He will probably want to know we're giving us a go." He laughed softly as he turned to start swimming back. "The Fighter's Guild! It's where I met Zarius and Shaa, that's how I got started with all of this."

Gerhart shakes his head like a dog to fling off water as they exit the ocean, face still grinning. "The sand is certainly a lot nicer~ Take a seat on the towel, I'll bring you the first gift, but you gotta close your eyes."

He jogs over to Halcyon who was snacking on a deer he caught while the others swam. One claw is put on the carcass as he looks to Gerhart. "Easy buddy, just need in the saddle bag, I'm not eating your kill."

Eventually Gerhart plodded his way back towards Cirice, approaching from behind. Over her shoulders he would drape a shoulder cloak with a hood, the inside lined with dense owlbear furs. It doubled nicely as a towel.

"Ok you can open them, what do you think?"

---

The Owlbear Cloak offers 1 hit prevention while wearing it.

SPOILER: Click to show

“Actuially since I was coming home I invited him to come visit later this season for the festival. I suppose I can tell him then. Next time we meet in Moonglade then.” Cirice smiles, “Fighter’s guild? That sounds fun. I know Zarius as well! Seems he knows everyone. But who is Shaa?”

She sits on the towel and closes her eyes, “You really don’t have to…” She protests gently.

He sets the cloak on her shoulders and it takes away the chill from the air and she opens her eyes in surprise. She feels the soft furs carefully, enjoying the texture of the coarse hair.

“Oh wow… This is… Beautiful!" She looks up at him in alarm, “Its too nice! You should wear this!”

"I have enough layers as it is, it's fine." Gerhart leans back, putting his hands behind his head as he spreads out on his half of the towel.



"Besides I have a few layers of armor to get though, I thought you could use something to give you a little bit of protection. It's not much, but owlbears are pretty tough guys."

Cirice wraps her arms around her torso, hugging the cloak to her chest with a grateful smile. “I’ll wear it always. Thank you Gerhart. I love it! I feel so safe and warm. Like a hug.”

She lays down next to him, facing towards him with a happy sigh. “A Gerhart hug. A Gerhug. Did you make this yourself?”

"I mean don't wear it always, you will have to wash it." Gerhart gives a dumb grin as he turns his head to face her, trying to keep it together when he realizes how close they are.

"Y-yeah I did! Some owlbears attacked a town in Marsh Flats so some small woman with these awesome metal guys fought them off with me. I don't know if you've met Veliky, but she was really cool. Really powerful too....but that's where I got the feathers......Then Cyran and I hunted some Cave Fishers that were harassing some people...I know it's going to sound weird, but their webbing can be really useful, helps make it a bit stretchy while staying really strong....the rest of the leather is just from a deer I hunted."

“Then I’ll wear it whenever its not getting washed.” Cirice winks. “Oh yeah I know Veliky! Don’t tell Cyran but for Winter’s Crown I kinda stole a bunch of stuff from one of her warehouses as the Red Rogue and gave it out in the slums of Sol City… I made her a bracelet to match mine!” She shows him the small friendship bracelet with the little purple heart beads.

“Its not as fancy as a cloak you made with things you defeated! That is so cool. And you got the pieces with our friends, that makes it extra special. I’ll treasure it always. A hug from my hero.”

Gerhart feigns a gasp as Cirice admits to stealing. "I don't know if this will work, I'm an up and coming adventurer, I can't be seen with a criminal." He grins, taking her hand to get a closer look at the beads with a smile. As they relax, he'll stay holding her hand this time instead of letting go.

He smiles sheepishly and looks down as she calls him a hero, "Not a hero~ just....trying to do the most for people who need the help ya know? Can't do much to make the people in power care about us down here, so I'll just help them myself."

Chuckling she squeezes his hand, “It was for a noble cause. That’s okay I’m pretty good at hiding in the shadows, no one will know about your secret criminal.” She teases right back.

“That is the definition of a hero, I think.” She says softly. “Helping people because you can for no reason other than you have the means to is incredibly heroic. Incredibly noble. I think that’s beautiful, Gerhart. You're a truly wonderful person.”

"I guess I'll just have to trust you that it was." He smiles, slowly bringing his gaze back up to meet hers. "You're just as amazing, you know that? So kind and smart, just as selfless too...even more so to have the trust of people like Mother Moon. You're incredible..." Before he knew it his face was drifting closer and closer to hers, barely any space between them as they speak.

“I’m really not all that special…” She says softly, looking into his deep green eyes. mesmerized, “I just try to do my best, same as you. All I can offer is myself, so I will give my all to help people…”



Its subtle, the way they draw closer together, as if sharing a secret, “You’re the incredible one here…” She whispers as their lips meet softly, uncertainly, gentle and tender.

Gerhart holds to the sensation for a moment, the realiztion that they are kissing taking a moment to register in his head. After a moment or two more he pulls back with a a harsh red hue adorning his cheeks.



"S-sorry, I didn't mean to just sort of...go for it, but I didn't know how to ask."

Cirice freezes, blinking and having a hard time computing. That just happened. Her first kiss. With someone she truly likes. It felt so… Natural. Brain no want work as she just reflects for a moment, her entire face as dark as a bruise from blush.

“No no you’re fine…” She scrambles to find words and piece them together into sentences, “I- mm- You- Um…” Come on brain, use your words stop panicking. She looks at him, just sort of dazed. “Your lips are really soft…”

"I could say the same for you." He gives a little smile, only backing away so that they could both reset and give their beating hearts a chance to avoid exploding. His certainly felt like it was about to.



Gerhart gives a sheepish smile across the blanket, "Now seems like a good time for your second present if you're ready. I promise it's nothing big or anything like that."