Bathed in moonlight

She had never been this close to someone before, she was always on guard, always paranoid that those around her would betray her trust at some point.

In most cases she found herself to be correct, the thought of Tahir being close frightened her.

He didn't understand the full extent of what she had done, chances were knowing it all would disgust him, as it had so many others and it was not something she could hide forever.

"Uhh, yeah okay."
She mumbled softly as he pulled away, she swam back out to the middle of the pool and ducked underwater, hoping the cool water would clear her head.

She couldn't be close to people, Aeker was the only one she was close to and she had nearly killed him.
How long could she pretend that she could have normal relationships like everyone else.

She really liked Tahir and as such she could not let him get too close, the more time they spent with each other the more likely it was that she would hurt him, she couldn't live with herself if that happened.

A stream of bubbles left her mouth as she sighed, breaking the surface of the water as she came up for air.

Her heart felt oddly heavy in her chest but she shook the feeling, the best thing to do for both of them would be to keep the lycan at an arms length from now on.

Once he had finished he saw that she was back in the middle of the pool.

A playful grin returned to his face and he took a running start for the water, leaping in and curling himself up tight in the air before colliding into the water with a huge splash.

"Wooo! Did you see that!?" He asked with a grin once pushed himself up to the surface.

A smile quickly brightened up her face, after all these years she was very good at hiding her emotions from people.

"Very impressive."

She replied with a nod, yes she adored his playful nature.

Perhaps they could still converse with one another, be companions, but she would not strive for anything more, she'd not let herself touch him again, it wasn't fair to either of them.

"It's nice to see people enjoying the pool, I've been down here a few times and have never seen anyone using it."

He swam up to her, silver eyes brimming with a blithe spirit.

"I bet you couldn't do that. I bet your splashes barely cause a ripple." He teased, wanting to see if he could provoke her into jumping in like that herself. He used to love to have splashing contests with his mates back in the day. It'd really give him a kick if she did that with him too.

He had no idea that she was feeling what she was on the inside. It was easy to lie to him. Arzu was the only person he could read very well, and even she was able to mislead him.

She laughed at him softly.
"I don't think I could either, not one that big, your body mass is so much bigger than mine."

She replied, rolling her eyes at him, how was she meant to make a bigger splash with such a small body.

The only way she would get close would be to let her wings out, but that was not a trick she was willing to share at the moment.

"Not that I am going to let that stop me."
She added, no she wouldn't make a splash quite like his, but that didn't mean she wouldn't join in.

Swimming over to the edge of the pool she hoisted herself out, her wet hair clinging to the back of her body. She rung it out quickly, bringing her hair over the front of her shoulder as she got a small run up to the pool.

She leaped into the air managed two front flips before curling up into a ball and landing in the water with a rather small splash.

The Persian man grinned even more when she said that the chances weren’t going to stop her. That’s exactly what he liked to hear!

He admired her with lit up eyes as she pulled herself out of the pool and rung out all of that beautiful silver hair. His jaw dropped in amazement when she did the double front flip.

Once she resurfaced her head out of the water Tahir clapped his hands, still smiling big.

“The splash could have been better but I think you evened it out with your little trick there.” He said, twirling his finger in the air to signify her flipping.

Alexis chuckled and placed her hand over her chest, bowing as best she could in the water.

"I was always did like acrobatics."
She replied with a grin.

"But yes, I don't think I have a body made for splashing, perhaps I will have to challenge you to something I am more able in."

There would have to be something that both of them had equal chances of winning.

Tahir leaned himself against the wall in the pool, holding his arms out on either side of it to hold himself up and keep from sinking.

“I’m trying to imagine myself doing anything like acrobats and it’s just not looking right in my head.” He said with a grin, shaking his head no at the thought.

He let his waist and his legs float up to the top of the water and kicked them around gently, not enough to splash but enough to cause small little waves.

“Got anything in mind?” He asked, intrigued with her line of thought.

The vampire shook her head and laughed softly.
"I think you are a little too bulky for acrobatics."

She replied, swimming over to him and sitting herself up on the edge of the pool, dangling her feet in the water.

Alexis looked down at him and shrugged slightly.
"No idea as of yet, has to be something that doesn't favor strength, speed or body mass."

Strength and he would win, speed she would win and mass could go either way depending on the challenge.

Tahir closed his eyes and smiled, feeling very at peace and content.

“When you do let me know. But none of that arty shit because I’m not very talented in that department.” He said, waving his hand dismissively at the idea of anything to do with the arts.

“Maybe a duel of some kind, with sword or magic or something. Though I’ve gotten pretty rusty with my magic. Haven’t practiced in over 700 years.”

His eyes flew open.

“Oh I know!” He said, smiling up at her. “We can see who can hold their breath under water for the longest. I’ll win, I haven’t been using my lungs for centuries.” He said, a faux sense of cockiness about him. He was clearly making fun of himself, something he didn’t mind doing in the least.

"A magic duel could be fun, it's rare that I get to go up against someone who actually knows what they are doing when it comes to magic.

I'd agree to a sword fight but my blade is broken to the point that I don't want to use it in case it causes more damage."
She sighed for a moment, bloody Taylor ruining her blade.

Alexis burst into laughter as his last suggestion, leaning over to flick him on the forehead.

"What's the point of doing that if you know you're going to win, it defeats the point of a contest."

She replied, shaking her head at him.

He listened and nodded as she spoke about the duels.

“Arzu would definetly be a better opponent when it comes to magic. She’s been practicing it for hundreds of years.” He thought out loud.

He turned his head up to her when she spoke of her sword.

“Have you tried getting it repaired?” He asked, knowing how close someone can become to the weapon of their choice. As they spoke of the other night, a weapon can become intimate to the beholder, something that can’t just be replaced.

He blinked once when she flicked his forehead, the smile never leaving his face.

“No no Lexis this is the part where you tell me that I don’t stand a chance against vampire lungs or something like that.” He said, as if she should know better. "Everyone knows you’re supposed to boast before a friendly competition." He added.

"I don't know anyone who would be able to fix it, it isn't your typical sword."

Far from it, Alexis' blade was unique to her, there was only one like it. She needed a decent weapon-smith to fix it, but in this day and age those weren't exactly common.

She chuckled softly and shook her head.
"Oh yes of course, competition banter, how silly of me.

If you're out of practice with your sword and magic work, I may just have to train you up again."
She added with a grin, it would be fun to train with Tahir.

Tahir rolled over so that he was facing Alexis better, looking up at her with a lit up expression.

"Alexis, I'm a really good weapons smith. I forged all my own blades and battle equipment. I even know how to bind them with spells on destruction, conjuration, restoration and illusion. I'd be happy to try and repair your weapon if you would like." He said. If there was one thing he was very confident on, it was his weapons smithing.

"And the trade off could be you helping train me up again after having been locked up for the past few centuries or so. What do you say?" He asked with a smile. He'd love to be able to use his old skills again. Those were his passions after all.

Her face lit up with joy, he would be able to fix it?
"Deal, I'd love to help you train and if I trust anyone to fix my weapon it would be you.

You must be very careful with it though, their are parts of it which are not normally exposed that are made of silver, the main blade itself does not contain any silver at all but there is a dagger concealed in the handle."

She wanted to warn him now, the last thing she wanted was for him to get silver poisoning because she forgot to warn him.

The unfamiliar feeling returned to his heart when he saw her face light up the way it did. She was always beautiful, but damn she was really beautiful when she truly smiled like this.

"Thanks for warning me about the silver." He said, pointing to a scar on his left shoulder. "More then once I had to fight against mongols using silver weapons. Not a pleasant experience." He said, though his tone was lighthearted.

"But now I know it won't be a problem at all." He said with a grin, eager to work on her weapon. He'd missed forging his craft.

"What kind of blade is it anyway?" He asked, curious.

She ran her fingers along the scar on his shoulder, for it to scar like that it must have been quite a bad wound.

She remembered when she had stabbed Zeke, the way he howled how, she could not imagine how silver must feel to a lycan.

"I wouldn't let you work on it if there was a chance of you hurting yourself because I forgot to warn you about it."

Her eyes shone brightly as she though of her blade and the fact that she might be able to use it again soon.

"It's a five foot and 6 inches battle scythe embedded with decay curses but they would of warn off by now."

The Persian man's skin got a few goosebumps from her touch. He made sure to hold back a delighted shiver, that would be embarrassing. But hell he loved her gentle touch.

A big smile came to his face when she spoke of her weapon. A scythe, that suited her well. She'd look an enchanting sort of fearful yielding the weapon that so often symbolized death.

"I can't wait to get started on it." He said with a grin, his fingers twitching in anticipation. He'd have to be patient though, as he didn't even know where he could find a forge, workbench, or grindstone.

"I know a freezing spell I can bind to your scythe, so that when you slice into someone or something all that came in contact with the blade would ice over. Very painful but it looks amazing." He said, his enthusiasm for his work showing clearly.

She pulled her hand away from him, she had promised herself to stop touching him, it was making him uncomfortable and she didn't want to frighten him away with her advances.

A smile stay on her face because of his enthusiasm.
"Pretty sure the garage has everything you'll need, and I can't wait to be able to use it again."

"A freezing spell sounds interesting, I only really know curses and shadow spells, they are my strong point. But using something else for a change would be nice."

She wondered what he would think of her completely ready to do battle, armor on, wings out, scythe at the ready and her shadows cloaking her.

Tahir noticed how she pulled herself away. He worried he'd given her the wrong impression, so he looked at her with a re-encouraging smile.

"Perfect." He said, glad to hear that there was equipment available for him to use. He'd be just as willing to build a forger himself, he'd done it before. But this would save a lot of time if it was all ready ready for him.

"I figured since you said you came from a snowy place you'd like an arctic like spell. Something that could remind you of your homeland." He said, revealing that he actually did listen to what she said and was the type of person to bare it in mind when fixing her weapon.

She smiled warmly down at him.
"That's very thoughtful, I'd really like that."
Alexis chuckled inwardly, he had been listening to her and actually gave it some thought, she was definitely impressed.

"As soon as my scythe is fixed we will have to start training together, get you back into fighting form in no time."

She'd like to see him in his former glory, he was out of practice but warriors never forgot their masterys.

Tahir could hardly wait to not only fix her weapon but also begin training side by side with her. He'd never trained with someone who was on par, if not better then his skills. It would be a new and wonderful experience.

He looked up at her and saw how peaceful she looked, how fair and lovely despite the power she held.

Without warning he jumped up and wrapped his hands around her waist, pulling her into the water so the both of them fell in with a splash. He'd never grow tired of messing with her like that.

Alexis let out a soft yelp as he grabbed her and pulled her into the water.

Whilst still submerged she gave him a playful punch to the stomach and came up for air.

She couldn't help but cough softly from inhaling water in the surprise of being pulled under.

"Cheeky wolf."
She grumbled whilst still smiling, pushing him back under water before he could come to the surface.

Tahir let out a soft "oof" like noise when she punched him, bubbles streaming out from his lips. Again he let himself open his eyes under the water, seeing the blurry but pale outline of her skin under the water, lighted by the moonlight was near magical for the man.

He tried to come up for air but was pushed down again, and despite sucking in some water he couldn't help but smile at her spunk.

When he finally was able to come up for air he himself coughed a few times before smiling big at her. Were in his wolf form at the moment his tail would be wagging about from being riled up.

"So what about that breathing contest Lex?" He asked with a grin.

She could not help but giggle softly at the grin on his face, he always looked so happy. She wondered if he was always like that or was it because of her company?

"Who can hold their breath the longest...
I'll take you on, a lycan's lungs against a vampire's, I wonder which species is better.

Don't forget, I can go into a state of hibernation to nurse bad injuries, I am use to going without a lot of oxygen."

She smirked at him, she would definitely put up a challenge for him.