tragic_mask | (no subject)

"I wish I knew," she says.

"We'll find a way. The beauty of working together, eh?"

"Indeed," she says solemnly.

"I suspect it will involve the beach."

He continues eating, lost in thought.

She looks sideways at him.

"The beach. What about it?"

"All change comes from the ocean," he says, as though it were a perfectly logical statement. "No two waves are alike, and the water is always wearing away at the shore. A beach, it must be."

She ponders. "I see. Well, sounds thrilling."

"Warm beach or cold beach, that would be the question. I know which I prefer, but maybe going against preference is what is needed."

"I'd go with warm... but I think that's because of my past. So, if we're going to continue the metaphor, we should definitely jump into the cold sea and shock myself into doing something new."

"I know just the beach for it," he says. "But it's a long way from here. And that's assuming the landscape is the same here as it is back home."

"Which beach did you have in mind?"

"...how do you feel about fjords?" he asks with a smile.

"I never had a particularly strong opinion on them," she says, raising an eyebrow.

"You will," he says. "One way or another, I'm sure. Hopefully a good opinion. I find them beautiful, myself."

"I hope I'll be able to agree with you," she says. "Certainly it would be a testament to my ability to go outside my comfort zone."

"We can go in the summer," he says. "Less of a shock to your comfort zone that way. And quite beautiful."

"What is beautiful about it?" she asks.

"The contrast," he says. "The mountains--lush, green, steep--sloping down to the clear blue water. A sharp, dramatic landscape. Land that seems to be two days past the moment of its creation, not worn down like some."

"That does sound beautiful."

"And if you don't mind water that's a bit on the chilly side, it's perfect."

He glances up at her, grinning a bit. "I'm not one of those people who goes swimming in icy rivers in the winter just for the sake of it. Don't worry about that."

She gives him a skeptical look in return.

"Aren't you?"

"I can do it--I can be very cold-blooded when I need to be--but the muscles tense up, and it isn't very comfortable. I prefer more normal temperatures."

She finishes off a pancake.

"Well, that is something we have in common."

"Although I have been known to go for a swim in the winter when I have just finished working in the forge, if there are no more modern bathing facilities available," he admits. "Cleanliness takes precedence over comfort, in that case. If you ever see how filthy I can get in the forge, you'll understand why."

"Oh, I have no doubt," she says.