The realm of mist

[Sinbad]

He had no idea what kind of a reply he had expected. Maybe none at all. They had always had their own way to communicate between the lines, sometimes without words sometimes using words but meaning things different from what they were saying. And despite their countless little fights, Sinbad knew there had always been a sort of understanding between them that rooted in the deep knowledge that they just ... knew each other. It had always been a good feeling, a feeling that had made him whole. And when she had been gone, it had been like he had been left in pieces. Therefore, even though the matter they were talking about was making his heart ache, it felt good to have that feeling of silent understanding again. It felt good, so much better than anything in the last six months.

He noticed her nod, first taking it as a sign that she accepted his words which was probably as far as her admittance went. He was fine with it. He had never wanted to say something like that in this way, it went too far and he didn´t like the tension these words had created. Tension could be a good thing, but that was not the tension that made you feel bad.
Then he realised, when she went on, that she was on to something else. Briefly irritated by the fog retreating he glanced around before he returned his attention to her, scowling slightly. "Maybe," he said, still scowling, a questioning look on his face. He was confused and didn´t see the connection. "but what does that have to do with anything?" It was a normal question, not asked in a snappish or strange tone at all and yet, somewhere, deep inside him, he started to fear her reply.

[Maeve]

Maeve blinked back a couple of times before avoiding his gaze completely, casting her eyes on the strange mist dispersing itself around them, losing its whiteness. However, her glancing at the fog was more of a cover up. She wasn’t really paying attention to its mysterious behaviour because her mind was racing to find a good enough explanation that would justify why she seemed to know so much. The sorceress considered brushing the subject aside, sparing him and herself the tension the truth would bring, but Maeve knew that ignoring it would be just as worse as lying about it. Still, she didn’t trust herself to be emotionally strong and confident enough at the moment to face all the consequences a revelation like the one she would have to make eventually would generate. And the expression on his face told her that he wasn’t either.

Therefore, she opted for the evasive response once more, answering his question with another one. Turning her head to him, her gaze rested on his toes for a few seconds before traveling all the way up to his eyes. “Have you taken a look at yourself recently?” Maeve made it sound like a simple innocent inquiry, with no traces of provocation or reproach in her tone. But as futile as it echoed in the fog, the implications it held went a lot deeper than it appeared.

[Sinbad]

His scowl deepened, because at first glance her question made no sense to him. Recently didn´t seem a fitting word because they had not seen each other for so long that ´recently´ wouldn´t cover the last times they had had together. He tried to rewind what he had said and done ever since he had ended up in this strange place ... if one could even call it a ´place´ and didn´t find the answer in that, either.

Then he made a connection, one that was rather bewildering. What he could tell was that he had been feeling more miserable and more happy than he had in half a year in these few minutes and he was sure that this had to show on his face. But why was she pointing to that? Unless, that was, unless Maeve had just taken a rather bold step into the direction of pointing just that out to him - something she had never done before, something that would equal her confronting him about the feelings he had for her. That seemed unlike Maeve, because just like they had never admitted anything openly to each other or the world and yet things had always been obvious, there had usually been a sort of invisible line that had kept them from such a confrontation. They would indirectly refer to each other´s jealousy, they would drop obvious remarks if anyone else showed a remote interest in either of the other, but being that bold? It made him feel bewildered. And cornered. Why would she do that?

He opened his mouth to ask yet another question about what she was playing at, but never spoke it out. There was another option. He hated himself for it, but knew that his appearance as a whole probably didn´t look like him in the best of times. Even though every day he kept pretending that he was fine, that things would be fine, deep inside he had stopped being fine months ago, in that partiular night. He had kept his thoughts, his grief, his loneliness to himself, thinking it an unfit thing to burden his crew with and yet for the only reason that he was uncapable of talking what she meant to him. He would never have admitted it and he wqas reluctant to even admit it to himself, but he was scared to death that once he admitted all of this into his life, into the life that no longer had her, things would start to shatter and tumble around him even more, leaving nothing but ruin. Therefore he hid it. "I...tend to avoid it." he said, the implications behind that different from hers, miserably failing to smile.

[Maeve]

Maeve wasn’t sure what she had expected him to say, whether a nice brush off warning her to let go of the matter, whether an elusive response like the one he had granted her. After all, they were always reluctant and defensive when it came to such confrontations, so it shouldn’t have surprised or disappointed her to see him beat around the bush like they usually did to protect themselves. But Maeve knew that his answer was disguising some sort of disinclined admittance to the implications her question had held. He knew what she had hinted at; he was just not ready to deal with it and Maeve understood she had to respect that, just like he had respected her intimacy and her secrets. However, being aware, and maybe a little too much, that Sinbad had taken in a wrong turn in the last few months bestowed upon Maeve a horrible feeling of responsibility and helplessness. Every time she saw the small sparkling light of goodness in his eyes fade away, she felt him slip to the dark place he seemed to be retreating to a little bit more ever day. And it scared her. And knowing she was the reason for this downfall scared her even more.

Sooner or later, someone would have to expose this shadowy reality to him. But as Maeve glanced around them at the retreating mist, at the strange greyish realm that was allowing them some time together, something told her that perhaps she wasn’t the one to do so. Perhaps he would find his way back on his own and the redhead could only pray he would. Before it would be late to turn back.

Maeve opened her mouth to speak, not really knowing what to say that would probably only add some more tension and uneasiness to the conversation, but she didn’t have the time to ponder her words because something caught her attention elsewhere. Her feet were wet. Frowning in confusion, she cast her eyes downwards. Water. She was standing in water.

“What the-” were the only puzzled words that she managed to mumble.

[Sinbad]

He was watching her carefully now, confused by her words and open questions, still wondering what she was getting at and at the same time wishing that they could just get into some of their usual playful banterings about all and nothing, about some random flings, whatever he had been up to these last few months. For a moment he almost wished she knew about those so she could snatch that at him, hiss and glare and he could reply something nonsensical. Just some little verbal fight, anything but uneasiness.

The water, whereever it came from, strange as it was, was almost a welcome distraction. He hadn´t noticed it either, but now that she mentioned it, he looked down at his own boots and frowned.
"Oh, great..." he murmured. "Where does that come from?" He didn´t know anything about this place after all and as he was still looking at his boots and the water reaching up to his ankles, there seemed to be a soft little wave creeping over the leather of his shanks and in another moment the water was a little higher.

[Maeve]

And yet another mystery that they had to solve. Maeve had no idea where the water had come from; the realm’s weird mechanism was now reaching beyond her magical understandings, and as bewildered and confused as she was about the water’s sudden appearance, she was gladly relieved it was putting their little not-so-pleasant discussion on hold. Sure, the Celtic sorceress often loved the tension that was installed between them, but certainly not that kind of tension. At least now, with the water rising up, they were being offered the opportunity to focus on something other than themselves…

As the water got halfway to her calves, Maeve shot Sinbad a questioning and worried look. “More to the point, how high is it going to reach?” She didn’t expect him to have the answer; she was just thinking out loud, voicing out her interrogations hoping it would help her figure out what was going on.

[Sinbad]

Sinbad made a probing step and was almost surprised that the water made a sound. There was no echo of course but it sounded like water and looked like water. And felt like it as he could tell because in that minute it edged high enough to make it over the shaft of his boots. That was... strange. And mildly unsettling.

"I have no idea." he said, trying to make out where the water was coming from but not seeing anything. "you´re more of an expert when it comes to weird places." He met her gaze which was worried. That wasn´t good, he decided. He had no idea what was going on here.

[Maeve]

Maeve didn’t like it. She was definitely missing some key information here, but what? The whole realm, the whole situation; it was impossible to analyse and comprehend. Frustrated at her incapacity of concentration, the redhead tucked her hair behind her ears to get a better view at the water that kept on creeping up her legs. She noticed it wasn’t cold nor warm, just simply in-between, but that observation failed to ease her growing nervousness. Making a few side steps, she listened to Sinbad who appeared just as puzzled as her, her defensive countering instincts kicking in at the sound of his words.

“Yeah, well, the expert has been trapped in an alternate dimension for over six months! She’s lacking a little bit of practice in the field right now!” Her tone didn’t sound offended at all. In fact, it curiously held some playfulness, even in her current state of apprehension.

[Sinbad]

The situation was getting rather bizarre, Sinbad thought, wondering what to call bizarre and what not in a place like that. The mist had retreated a great deal so he could look around for maybe a hundred feet and there was nothing there, nothing but calm water that nonetheless was starting to get more by the look of it, its smooth surface only disturbed by the movements they made to unsuccessfully avoid it.

He didn´t know what to make of the situation but distantly registered, even though not consciously though, that her voice was sounding a little less tense. He felt relief at that... even though the rest of this didn´t really add to it.
"Well," he said, giving her a I-guess-we´ll-just-have-to-make-the-best-of-it-then look "in that case, let´s listen to the water expert then."
His inner voice perked up at once. What was he even talking there? He didn´t have any idea what was going on, let alone how he should stop the water, when it would stop or what to do if it didn´t stop at all.
As if in answer to his momentary cockiness, there was a slight rumble from nowhere and something like a wave rolled up from nowhere, splashing against his shin, spraying him with strangely un-temperatured, yet very real, water, leaving him wet to his belt and his legs up to about a hand span over his knees in water.

[Maeve]

Maeve raised her eyebrow expectantly at him. The look he was giving her was one she knew all too well, one that meant that they would have to improvise their way out of what they had gotten themselves into. She had missed that cheery optimistic look. Nevertheless, she inwardly rolled her eyes at his bold casual cockiness. Some things never change, Maeve thought.

Then, as she was about to grant him one of her salty remark, a distant rumble caught her ears and before she knew what was happening, the water leaped up to their knees, splashing Sinbad all the way up to his waist. Taken aback by the suddenness of the spray, Maeve’s mouth dropped open at the bedazzled figure in front of her, but she closed it immediately to imprison her laughter. Still, as much as she tried to contain it, she couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well, what does the water expert make of that?”
The teasing words had just left her mouth when another roar was heard, followed by a wave that splashed Maeve’s back abruptly, making her gasp, shocked by the unexpected wetness.

[Sinbad]

Sinbad couldn´t help it. His instant reaction, despite the oddness of the place, despite the fact that there was water coming from nowhere that was rising with unsettling speed, he gave a short laugh, unsuccessfully trying to hide a grin that followed it. He would probably be rewarded with something snappy, but he didn´t mind. Her startled face when the water hit her back was priceless, forcing the chuckle out of him before he could keep it in. And for the moment, he couldn´t have cared less, not even noticing that this was the first full hearted, honest just-because-one-is-in-a-silly-mood laugh he had had for months.

"Well," he said, clearing his throat in the lame attempt of returning to something like matter of fact seriousness "he thinks that people doubting a sea captain´s expertise better watch out, because there seem to be sudden waves."

As if reacting to every cocky remark till now, this time there wasn´t even a rumble. The next wave, appearing sudden and out of nowhere, was partial, hitting him full force against the chest so he didn´t even have the time to react but was knocked right over. The water level was raised once more, but not considerably, leaving the captain in the embarassing situation of sitting flat on the ground with the water up to his neck only a moment after his remark.

[Maeve]

When the dimpled-grin she had missed so much disappeared behind a splashy curtain of water, Maeve quickly stepped out of the way to avoid being knocked down by the wave as well and when his face reappeared just above the surface, she didn’t even try to restrain herself and literally burst out laughing. The whole situation was reaching a pretty ridiculous point now, but the absurdity of it all just made her laugh even more. Even if she didn’t fully comprehend why they were here, stuck in a dream, in a place whose mechanism was nearly impossible to figure out, right now, laughing so genuinely made her realize that it probably all wouldn’t matter in the end. What mattered at the moment was that they were together.
At least for now…, Maeve thought as a tinge of nervousness ran through her. How long did have exactly?

But the sorceress quickly brushed her worry aside and started making her way toward a dumbfounded Sinbad, meaning to help him up and spare him further embarrassment. “Aye then, no more doubting the capt-” Before Maeve had the time to reach him, another wave came crashing down on her, sending her stumbling to the side. When her senses came back to her, the sorceress noticed that she had somehow managed to remain on her two feet, regardless of the impact. Yet her clothes were now completely soaked.

[Sinbad]

He had been sitting there, spluttering water, not aware of the fact that he had only quickly blinked it away, almost scared to close his eyes for a longer moment.
When another wave hit her, this time soaking her even though Maeve didn´t tumble over, it was his turn to laugh. Whatever was going on here, he had no idea, but strange as it was, the place seemed to have some strange justice of its own he stated for himself, a huge grin on his face.

It was strange how the tide had turned - literally - changing the mood so drastically from one moment to the next, leaving him in a nearly exhilerated state of boyish stupidity - and mischief.
Acting on an impulse, even though possibly not a smart one, he snatched out for her foot, aiming to complete what the wave had not managed. He was still sitting in the water and that was slowing down the movement a bit, but she was standing close enough for him to reach her, aiming to grab her ankle and make her stumble in the by not thigh high water.

[Maeve]

Maeve, still taken aback by the wave’s blow, didn’t have the time to solidly regain her stability when she felt Sinbad’s hand reach out for her ankle through the water. The redhead clumsily staggered to maintain her standing position but it wasn’t long before she lost her balance and fell in the water.

Dumbfounded, now sitting in front of him, the sorceress cast him one of her you-didn’t kind of look and splashed him square in the face. “Why you little sea scoundrel!” Maeve attempted to sound offended but the little amused smile on her face was betraying her. She just couldn’t believe how totally care freely they were acting right now, after all the tensed moments they had shared only a couple of minutes ago. And it was just amazing how they were good-heartedly laughing and teasing each other as if the possibility of drowning was simply impossible, not bothering them at all, when the water in which they were childishly having fun was still unsettlingly going up.

[Sinbad]

Sinbad was desperately trying to maintain a straight face - which of course wasn´t easy, even if it was just for the fact that he was feeling so utterly ... free right now that he could impossibly remain all too serious. It was a feeling that he had almost forgotten and that now, that it was hitting him full force, was exhilerating.

"What?" he asked, his voice sounding fake reproachful, but a faint chuckle came into it. "It could´ve been a sea serpent or something, but you just suspect me right away." He shook his head just as if he was expressing his disappointment.

He hadn´t noticed that he was more floating than sitting by now. He still had good footing, the water was waist deep roughly by now which meant the level had gone up once more but he didn´t really pay attention to that right now. He had meant to make a remark about how useless it was to complain about wet clothes or a ruined hairdo, but didn´t, because such a remark would have gotten them too close to the topic he wanted to avoid most of all right now: the fear of waking up.