#tekei

It came in the middle of the night, well after the gentle patter of rain on the window had lulled her to sleep. A lurching stop, warning cries from up on deck, and the vague shadow of something big visible outside her cabin window, even through the rain. She didn’t even dare pause long enough to don her armor, just grabbed sword and shield and headed for the deck. The earlier drizzle had worsened into a torrential rainstorm that quickly soaked through her clothes and severely curtailed visibility.

Still, it was hard to miss the massive form that reared up over the starboard rail. Even as Kei took rapid stock of the situation, tried to process that they were being attacked by a kraken of all things(she’d almost have preferred fighting that vithrak pirate again), she caught the silhouette of a torso-thick tentacle swinging toward the deck from the opposite side of the ship. She was already moving, stumbling across the rain-slicked deck, before she’d calculated where the tentacle would hit.

And who was in its path.

The rocking of the ship threw off her aim, but Kei still managed to grab Tekēhu’s arm and half-spin, half-yank him out of the way just before the tentacle smacked into the deck hard enough to dent the boards and send up a shower of splinters. The two of them slammed into the mast but caught their balance a moment later.

Tekēhu grinned. “My thanks, Captain.”

Kei matched the grin as she dashed water from her eyes. “Would have been a bullshit end for Ngati’s favorite, and we wouldn’t want that.”

He laughed, the sound rising in harmony with yet defiance of the storm. “Very true, indeed. Let us vanquish this monster, instead, I say.” He tugged her down as the writhing tentacle swung toward their heads. “And add another impossible feat to our own legend.”

She shook her head at his teasing enthusiasm, water flying from her hair. “I’ll settle for driving it off before it sinks my damn ship!”

As if to underscore her sentiment, the kraken bellowed and slammed another tentacle to the deck, splintering the rail and knocking several crates into the turbulent water.

“Don’t let it wrap around!” Kei hollered, pushing off the mast with her shield arm to hack at the tentacle trying to do just that. It took three blows of her sword to cut away the upper part. The kraken screeched as it flailed the maimed tentacle away, knocking Irrena and Kostanten perilously close to the shattered rail as it withdrew. They caught their balance just in time.

Several frustrating minutes passed, where no one armed with guns or melee weapons could do much damage to the beast itself, thanks to either the pouring rain or the distance. Kei lost track of how many times she or Edér or Rekke wound up sprawled on their backside for trying. But there was only so much good that could be done hacking off tentacles; it would take more serious injury to drive away this beast.

Finally, however, the rain started to slack off even if the kraken didn’t relent. Indeed, it appeared the barrage of spells--along with several lost tentacles--it had suffered made it all the more determined to drag this ship down. Or at least exact recompense in kith’s lives. The tentacles not trying to curl around the Defiant or too badly injured swept toward sailors and companions alike, and there was only so much dodging one could do while also keeping the beast at bay. It showed particular malevolence toward Xoti, Aloth, and Tekēhu--the ones doing the most damage. Kei deflected so many hefty blows from arrow-pricked or bleeding tentacles in their defense, her shield arm started to go numb.

Xoti jumped a tentacle swiping at her legs and took advantage of the increased visibility to drop a pillar of fire on the kraken’s face.

It screeched and reared back, and a few seconds later came a muffled bellow belowdecks as a pair of the Defiant’s cannons took the opening to fire. Another, even angrier, screech filled the air and the tentacles snaking across the deck jerked back toward the water. One snapped a yardarm as it went, forcing several of the crew to scramble aside as the spar swung down toward the deck.

“Get this thing off my ship!” Kei hollered in frustration, and though the words were lost to the wind, the cannons roared again as if in answer. Two of the tentacles went flying, blown off at the root.

The kraken thrashed, bellowing and screeching in turn, the remaining tentacles flailing in search of something to grab, a way to claim recompense for damage suffered. Every time one started to close around a sailor or other kith, however, someone nearby pulled them back or made it pay. Another volley of cannon shot thundered over the dying storm, the casters each hit it with spells in quick succession, orange flame and purple energy illuminating the barrage of thorns, and Rekke and Serafen each hurled bombs at its head.

This final assault was too much for the kraken. What tentacles remained on or around the ship withdrew, still twitching.

“Kuldrun, get us out of here!” Kei yelled hoarsely toward the quarterdeck. Kuldrun’s reply, if he made one, was lost to the weather and what she hoped were the death howls of the repelled leviathan as he brought the Defiant about. She made a quick scan of the deck as adrenaline faded into exhaustion. They’d taken a beating, but nothing that couldn’t be repaired, and it didn’t look like they’d lost anyone, which was a minor miracle--

As if in a final Fuck You to the meal that got away, a tentacle whipped through the air, wrapped around Kei’s hips, and yanked her into the air. Her sword and shield dropped from her relaxed grip, but even as she cursed the lack of weapons, the tentacle fell limply away. Not that that improved her situation much; she was now in freefall over a part of the ocean she knew contained a very pissed, very hurt kraken, not to mention the still-dizzying waves from the storm.

She was close enough to feel the spray from the waves and see the kraken’s blood staining the water when something else wrapped around her waist and suddenly she was flying back toward her ship. Kei’s hands instinctively went to the pressure around her midriff, found it malleable and... wet? Water?  

Tekēhu. She smirked as the water-tentacle twisted around so she could see the rapidly approaching ship, her friends’ worried faces, and Tekēhu towering over the rest of them as he concentrated on reeling her back in.

The Defiant rode up a wave at the worst possible moment and threw off Kei’s landing. She hit the deck at the wrong angle, barely got her arms under her to keep from cracking her head, heard something snap on impact, and rolled a couple times before running into a crate hard enough she just knew it was going to leave a  bruise. She sat up with a groan, shook her head to clear the dizziness, and sent Tekēhu a still-dazed grin.

“My hero,” she said glibly, leaning back against the crate she’d hit as she started tallying various aches. “Knew sweet-talking the Watershaper would pay off someday.”

Tekēhu chuckled, but she could see the worry lingering in his eyes as he glanced at the wrist she held cradled to her chest. “Ekera, Captain, I would have preferred not to injure you in the process.” 

“Of saving my life?” Kei finished for him. She pushed wet braids out of her face, winced at the sting as her hand grazed a cut on her forehead. “Trust me, this is vastly preferable to being kraken bait.” She tried to stand, but her knee and hip both flared with pain.

“Or drownin’“ Edér chipped in cheerfully as he helped Beodul tie down loose crates. 

“Or drowning,” she agreed with a nod.

“The ocean, of all things, is not allowed to take you from me,”Tekēhu said, and light-hearted as the comment sounded, Kei could hear the underlying seriousness in the words.

“It hasn’t yet,” she promised with a wink.

“Perhaps not, but you still need to see the surgeon, beloved,” he returned quietly as he crouched to help her stand. 

“No arguments here,” Kei grunted. Besides the various other bumps, bruises, and aches, she was fairly certain her left wrist was broken. “But surely there’s others who need it more.”

“That’s why you hired more than one,” Aloth countered as he raked hair out of his face. “For situations like this.”

“True.” But thinking about the healers made her mind leap elsewhere as Tekēhu guided her up to her feet. “Oh, gods, Vela!”

“I saw Daelia scoopin’ her up on my way to the deck, Kei,” Xoti said, looking up from the bruise on her arm with a smile meant to comfort despite the priestess’ large black eye. “I’m sure she’s fine.”

Kei’s knees wobbled, a combination of relief and pain, and Tekēhu caught her elbows to keep her upright. “Thanks,” she mumbled, her good hand clasped against his bicep.

The soft light of ship lanterns showed the mischief dancing in his eyes. “My pleasure, Captain. Now, let’s get you seen to.”

Even if she’d intended to protest--she hadn’t--the faintest brush of his hand against her injured wrist made her whimper. Tekēhu gently shifted them so her arm was around his shoulders to help her cross the deck.

Kei tripped over the threshold as they reached belowdecks, started to rest weight on her bad leg to compensate, and yelped as she promptly fell against Tekēhu’s chest. His arms wrapped around her in support, and he seemed content to let her take her time recovering from the slip.

“How long have you been dreaming of me all soaking wet and snuggled close like this?” Kei asked playfully.

Tekēhu chuckled. “More months than is likely wise to admit.” He carefully wiped blood off her forehead with his thumb. “The injuries are a less welcome addition, I say.”

You and me both. She laughed, rested her forehead against his temple. “That’s a relief. Might’ve had to end things if you were fantasizing about me getting the shit kicked out of me.”

“Perish the thought,” Tekēhu declared, pressing a tender kiss just below the cut on her forehead. “I’d much rather you whole and hardy, my lioness.” He winked. “There is much more fun to be had then.”

Kei raised a brow and smirked. “Well, if we stop flirting and start walking, I think one of the surgeons can help with that.”

He eased back ever so slightly. “You are ready to continue, then?”

She nodded. “Fun as it is to flirt with my handsome fish, I would prefer doing so without various background aches.”

Tekēhu grinned. “Your handsome fish would prefer that as well.” He nodded toward her cabin, the door still ajar from her earlier hasty exit. “What say you wait in there, while I fetch one of the surgeons, beloved?”

Kei hesitated. She hated to be so much trouble, but walking was an ordeal right now, and steps would be extra tricky… “I say that sounds like a good plan,” she finally nodded. “One that minimizes further jostling of my injuries and doesn’t risk you hurting yourself to help me.”

“Ekera, Kei, never fear on that count,” he protested, carefully shuffling them toward her cabin. “You would be worth a tumble down the stairs, I say.”

“Very romantic,” Kei deadpanned, but she couldn’t fight a smile. Her wrist twinged and she instinctively cradled it closer to her chest as Tekēhu helped her across the room to the wide seat under the window. 

He kissed the top edge of her forehead. “I’ll bring one of the surgeons with all haste, beloved.”

“Only if they’re not busy,” she called after him. Badly as parts of her hurt, she’d hate to pull Daelia or Tylla from someone who needed the patching up more.

Tekēhu didn’t reply, but she thought she saw him shake his head slightly before he was out of sight down the stairs.

As promised, he was back only a couple minutes later with Daelia right behind him--and a giggling Vela wrapped around his arm like a spider monkey.

She let go as soon as they passed the doorway and dashed across the cabin to perch on the corner of the bed. “Did you win, Mama?”

Kei chuckled. “We did. Is it that had to tell?”

Vela shrugged. “You us’lly don’t get hurt so bad when you win’s all.”

“Usually we’re not fighting something so big,” Kei said with a smile. “Did you stay with Aunt Daelia like I told you?”

Vela gave an emphatic nod. “I ‘membered what you said if anything happened to the ship. An’ I was good,” she added, anticipating the next question.

“She was,” Daelia confirmed with a chuckle as she rolled up her sleeves.

“Happy to hear that, and happy you’re both safe,” Kei said. “Were there a lot of injuries?”

“Mainly bruises and the like,” Daelia replied. “Tuliak’s shoulder got sliced open, so Tylla’s stitching her up. And what about you, Captain? Aside from the obvious”--she nodded toward Kei’s swollen wrist--”what other injuries did you sustain?”

Tekēhu sat next to Kei as she started to list off the ones she’d found, lacing his fingers between those of her good hand. Daelia pointed out an additional gash Kei hadn’t noticed across the inside of her arm just below her elbow.

“Best to take care of your wrist first, though,” she mused, “since that’s the most serious.”

“Won’t hear me complaining,” Kei muttered, squeezing Tekēhu’s hand. She glanced at Vela. “You don’t have to stay, sweetheart. It’s late; you can try to go to sleep.”

Vela shook her head and fiddled with her carved fox necklace, a gift from Sagani for her last birthday.”I know you’re okay even if it hurts, Mama. You’re very tough and very brave.” She wrapped her hand around the wooden pendent. “‘I’m not sleepy anymore, an’ I wanna see.”

“Ekera, it seems you have a surgeon in training here, Kei,” Tekēhu chuckled.

“Or else just an insatiably curious daughter,” Kei said wryly. “You can stay if you want, Vel.”

Vela nodded. “I do, Mama.”

“Alright, then.” It didn’t really surprise her Vela wanted to stay; both to be close and out of that insatiable curiosity. 

“Would you like a better seat, dear one?” Tekēhu asked, extending his arm toward Vela in clear invitation.

Another eager nod. “Thank you, Teku!” she effused as she climbed down from the bed and up into his lap. She giggled and made a face--“You’re all wet!”--but settled in regardless.

It made Kei smile, even as Daelia started feeling out the extent of damage to her wrist and the pain spiked. She tightened her grip on Tekēhu’s hand, teeth grinding together.

“Fairly simple fracture,” Daelia  commented. “Shouldn’t be hard to set straight.”

“Good,” Kei managed between clenched teeth.

Tekēhu leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “Breathe, my lioness,” he whispered.

Kei pulled in and released a deep, slow breath at the remainder, and it did help. Daelia was as good as her word; she had Kei’s wrist set and splinted in short order, then set about tending the other injuries.

Despite her assertion of not being tired, Vela fell asleep halfway through, curled up against Tekēhu’s chest. He just shifted her more center on his lap with one arm and settled in again, hand still intertwined with Kei’s.

Finally, though, everything had been tended. Her hip was just bruised, she’d wrenched her knee, the gash on her arm had needed a few stitches, but the cut on her forehead wasn’t serious, just needed cleaning and would scab well enough. After Kei had thanked Daelia profusely for her help(and the pain draught that had her a very pleasant level of numb), the elf took her leave and Tekēhu very gently settled Vela on the bed.

He ran a slow, appraising look over Kei, taking long enough she finally arched a brow.

“What?”

Tekēhu chuckled quietly. “Just musing on the likelihood you would desire dry clothes before turning in, beloved.”

“And planning to offer your assistance?” she asked, smirking.

“Ekera, it is as if you read my mind,” he grinned. “You do only have one good hand at the moment. And I promise to behave myself with your daughter in the room and you so battered.”

“What a relief,” Kei deadpanned, mischief sparking in her eyes. “In that case, I accept.”

His grin widened, but he made no comment as he dug in her trunk for dry clothes, coming up with deep brown trousers and a short sleeved, off-white shirt.

“Good choice, with this,” Kei said wryly, briefly raising her splinted wrist.

“My thoughts exactly,” Tekēhu confirmed. He returned to his seat by her side, helped her gingerly remove her sodden clothes and dry off before just as carefully pulling on the new ones.

Once she was dressed, Kei paused to cup Tekēhu’s jaw with her good hand. “Thank you, Teku,” she whispered playfully, leaning in to kiss him.

His low laugh rumbled into the kiss. “It was my pleasure,” he murmured, then kissed her back. “And I won’t tell Vela you stole her nickname.”

“Borrowed,” Kei protested with a smile, resting her forehead against his. “Just this once.” She kissed him again.

“Ekera, beloved, you are making it quite difficult to keep my promise,” Tekēhu mumbled, breath ragged, between kisses. His hand cupped the back of her neck, fingers toying with the narrow braids.

“Which one?”

“To behave myself.”

She leaned more fiercely into the current kiss for a moment before pulling back. “Sorry.” She traced a finger down his cheek. “You’re just extra irresistible when you’re being sweet.”

He favored her with a warm smile for that, turned his head to lightly kiss her palm. “All the more reason to do it frequently, I say. But for now…” He reluctantly sat back. “I believe Daelia instructed you to rest?”

Kei nodded, letting her hand fall to her lap, the warmth of his skin lingering. “She did. And it is very late. Or is it early, now?”

Tekēhu chuckled, helped her stand. “I don’t imagine it makes much difference either way. You should go to bed.”

It was a short journey, but he didn’t let go until she was safely settled in bed. Vela easily shifted in her sleep to curl up snuggled with her mama. Kei ran a hand over her hair and looked up at Tekēhu. “Thank you,” she repeated. “For everything.”

He bent down and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “You are most welcome, my lioness. Though I do wish my help had not cost you such an injury.”

Not wanting to wake Vela, Kei rolled her eyes instead of scoffing. “And as I said, I’d rather have a broken wrist than be kraken bait. Thanks to you, my handsome fish, I lived to tell the tale. My wrist will heal.” She smiled. “Now, you should get some sleep as well; you look ready to fall over.”

“I would lie to deny it,” Tekēhu admitted with a wan smile. “So if you have no more need of your handsome fish tonight, Captain, I shall do as you say.”

I always need my handsome fish. Kei giggled and rolled her eyes again. “Goodnight, Tekēhu,” she said, patting the bed next to her and Vela.

His eyes fairly glowed as he accepted the unspoken invitation.

Kei had been right; he was asleep with his head on her shoulder mere seconds later. Her own lingering aches made it take a few minutes before she followed into slumber, and she didn’t truly mind. They’d fought a monster straight out of legend tonight and lived to tell the tale(grown their own legend in the process, she was sure he’d point out). Sleeping sandwiched between her two favorite people in Eora was as perfect a celebration as she could want for now.

“True,” Xoti said, still shaking the slime off her hand, “but it’s still gross.”

Kei bit her lip to keep from pointing out Xoti had been the one who first suggested “poking around” in here. “Just be careful,” she said instead. “If it’s slippery in addition to old, I don’t want either of you getting hurt.”

“Yes, Ma,” Xoti teased before summoning a spell to give them more light than the weak sun filtering in through holes in the roof provided.

Tekēhu reached for Kei’s hand as it groped by habit for where her sword usually hung. “Relax, my lioness. It isn’t often I have to remind you to have fun...”

Kei smiled at the playful teasing in his tone. “I will. Soon as I’m sure it’s safe...”

He squeezed her hand. “The element of risk is part of what makes it fun, I say.”

She snorted a soft laugh and squeezed his hand back as she nodded in concession of the point. “True enough. And today is supposed to be about having fun.” She kept hold of his hand as the two of them moved forward to follow Xoti. “Though I am curious why there’s algae so high up. Isn’t that usually in water?”

“Maybe this place floods with the tide?” Xoti suggested. She’d reached the juncture of both an ascending and descending staircase, and was pointing down the latter. A good ten feet down the shiny, algae-slicked stone lapped placid ocean water. A faint burbling along the tower wall showed where it had found its way in.

Kei’s gaze instinctively went up the other stairs, noting the line roughly ten feet up where the algae thinned out and the wall went dry. “Well, if that’s the case and memory serves, we have about an hour before the tide starts coming in. So I hope we can fit all the exploring you two want in that hour. I, for one, don’t fancy being stuck in here.”

“Not even with my wonderful company?”  Tekēhu gasped, unsuccessfully battling a smirk. “Ekera, beloved, you wound me deeply.”

“Maybe if it was just you,” Kei muttered under her breath, which made him laugh.

“I heard that,” Xoti sing-songed cheerily as she skipped up the stairs. “I’ll try not to take offense.”

“Thank you kindly,” Kei chuckled as she eyed the ascending stairs with a bit more caution than her friend. Unlike the flight leading down, this one was mixed wood and stone, the former moldering and saggy. It didn’t look like it would hold much more weight than the cheerful priestess now standing at the top, even above the demarcation line. She and Tekēhu  made their way up slowly, one at a time, testing each step as they went. A few sagged further under Tekēhu’s weight, and one under her own, but they made it up without incident.

Xoti was already poking around in one of the rooms when they joined her. “No point wastin’ time, right? Not that there’s anything really to see...”

She was right; any interesting finds had been claimed by previous explorers. This held true for all the rooms--the only worthwhile thing they found was the view out the uppermost windows. They could see almost the whole island, including the beach where the rest of the crew was relaxing.

And the ocean, waves rolling in past where the Defiant had anchored to break against the shoreline. Including the tower.

“That would be the first warning the tide’s coming in,” Kei said dryly as the floor trembled faintly with the arrival of a good-sized wave. A few small bits of masonry rained down as if to preemptively underscore her next words. “And this place isn’t exactly sturdy.” 

“Yeah, you’re right,” Xoti nodded, pushing away from the window sill. The wood gave under her hands. “This place ain’t worth gettin’ stuck in.”

The three of them headed back down, carefully on the sagging steps. One still splintered under Kei’s weight, making her stumble as she rushed the rest of the way to the ground. The water had risen, maybe five feet below floor level now. Higher than she’d thought it’d be.

“It’s a smaller space,” Tekēhu explained when Kei’s brow furrowed. “Thus the water in here is higher than the tide outside.”

There was a more definite tremble and fresh rush of water below. Followed by the grinding rumble of stone on stone from nearby.

Xoti’s eyes widened. “What’s fallin’?”

“With my luck?” Kei snorted, already moving toward where they’d entered. “I’ll give you three guesses.”

Her own guess was correct--one of the decorative pillars in the first rooms had begun to topple. It angled across the way out, temporarily caught against the next column in line, but that was already beginning to waver under the weight.

“Xoti, go. Now,” Kei said, urgency sharpening the words.

Xoti complied, darting forward to duck through the gap, now barely big enough for her to pass comfortably. She spun on one heel, carving a divot in the sandy soil. “What about you two?”

Kei glanced at the teetering columns and took a step back, pulling Tekēhu with her. “We’ll figure something out.”

The words were barely out of her mouth when the load-bearing pillar gave out. It slid sideways and toppled in toward the room, rather than against the next column in line. With no support, the initial pillar dropped completely in front of the arch, leaving only a small half-moon gap at the top even Vela wouldn’t fit through. Kei and Tekēhu scuttled back practically to the stairs to avoid the collapsing stone

“We’re fine!” Kei hollered soon as the air cleared. “Just have to find a new way out!”

“I have an idea on that front,” Tekēhu said, coughing into the back of his hand as fresh dust curled around them.

“No jokes about us being trapped alone together first?” Kei teased, dusting off her shirt and trousers.

“Ekera, a crumbling ruin such as this is no place to entertain one so special as you,” he returned with a grin and a wink.

“Well, then, thrill me.” Kei looked at him with brows arched. “How do we get out?”

“The same way the water is getting in.” He gestured toward the stairs down, now completely underwater, a shallow trickle starting to seep across the floor.

“Smart as well as handsome,” she chuckled. “But how do we know know the hole is large enough for us to fit through?”

Tekēhu leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “I shall go and see for myself,” he murmured before starting toward the stairs.

“Right, because you’ve never almost drowned doing something like that before,” Kei snarked, grabbing for his arm.

She missed, but he stopped anyway and turned to face her, resting his hands gently in her arms. “This is not Hasongo, Kei. It is a hole though a wall at the edge of the ocean, not a flooded hallway full of debris. Quite different, I say.”

She sighed and nodded raising one hand to rest against his cheek. “I know. I’m still going to worry about the risk to my handsome fish. It’s just who I am.”

“Ah, but remember, the risk is part of the fun,” Tekēhu chuckled and kissed her forehead. “I will be right back, my lioness.”

This time she let him go. She still worried her lower lip between her teeth from the moment he started down the steps, through the time he vanished under the water, until his head breached the surface again.

“Ekera, it is large enough we could swim through side by side,” he called over, shaking water from his hair. “We simply need to time it with the waves. Come.”

He gestured for Kei to join him, but it wasn’t as if she had much choice. The water had risen enough to cover her boots. It was this or retreat higher and be stuck until the tide went back out. Kei waded toward the steps, misjudged where the top one was, and nearly fell in. She caught herself and continued down until the water came to her waist before pushing off to swim for where Tekēhu waited.

He grinned when she reached him, took her hand, and guided it to grasp the back of his belt. “Hold tight, my lioness.”

Several smart remarks she could make floated through Kei’s mind, but she let them pass and merely nodded as she tightened her grip.

“When the next wave comes, deep breath and under we go,” Tekēhu instructed, wiping salt water from his face with the back of one hand. “We are both good swimmers, Kei. This won’t be difficult. Trust me.”

“Oh, I do,” she promised.

A wave came in before he could reply, but she saw his eyes light up as they each took a deep breath and dove beneath the surface. Her eyes instinctively squeezed closed and she understood why he’d had her hold his belt. She kicked her feet to keep close so she wasn’t creating drag, felt one heel glance off the upper edge of stone as they passed through the hole, and then they were heading up, angled to the side to get past the tower.

Kei let go of his belt and swam for the surface, water streaming off her as she broke through.  Tekēhu wasn’t far behind, already grinning as he popped up next to her.

“There, you see?” he chuckled. “Not hard at all.”

“My hero,” Kei laughed affectionately as they headed in toward the beach. Her boots dragged through the water, and if they weren’t among her favorites she would probably kick them off and let them be lost. Fortunately, however, it wasn’t far to water shallow enough they could stand, waves lapping around their shoulders. “Well, that was an adventure,” she said glibly, flipping narrow braids back from her face.

Tekēhu laughed. “That it was. Thank you for your willingness to indulge curiosity.”

Kei smiled, moving close into his space. “You’re most welcome.”

He tucked her braids behind her ear and left his hand cupped to her jaw. “I’ll have to think of a way to show my gratitude, I say.”

She raised her hand to run her thumb over his lower lip. “I think getting us out of there balanced the scales pretty well.”

“Still...” he let the word trail off meaningfully, and she rolled her eyes as she kissed him.

A wave broke over their heads and shoved them under the surface. They came up sputtering and shaking off water.

“That’s right, Ngati doesn’t think I’m good enough for you,” Kei joked, blinking rapidly to clear droplets from her eyelashes.

“Then I will simply have to convince Her otherwise,”  Tekēhu returned, and kissed her deeply again. This time there was no oceanic interference.

“You took your sweet time!” Xoti’s voice drifted out from the beach, and whether she meant kissing or finding a way out, Kei and Tekēhu both ignored her.

Aside from the (fairly impressive) wave Tekēhu pushed toward her, at least.

They broke the kiss to share a grin at Xoti’s dismayed yelp before both leaned back in for more, so fervently they almost toppled into the waves again.

Kei laughed as they regained their balance. “We should head in,” she said reluctantly, stealing one last salty kiss.

“As you say, Captain,” Tekēhu winked, and let his hand linger a moment longer before they parted and began wading in toward where a very drenched Xoti was waiting for them.

“Tekēhu, that wasn’t very nice,” she pouted, shaking off like a dog.

He chuckled. “Ekera, have you learned your lesson about teasing a Watershaper when he is surrounded by water, friend Xoti?”

“Yeah, alright,” she chuckled ruefully, squeezing water from her hair. “Glad you got out fine.”

“Me, too,” Kei said with a wry grin as she balanced against Tekēhu’s shoulder to pull off her boots and socks. “Maybe we be a little more careful where we explore in the future? Even if risk adds to the fun?”

“Good plan,” Xoti nodded. “As is dryin’ off. We should get back to the others first, though. Before they think the jungle ate us or somethin’ and Serafen takes over.”

Kei laughed. “Also a good plan.”

With that endorsement, Xoti started briskly down the beach. Kei and Tekēhu followed at a more leisurely pace, close enough to the water an occasional wave lapped over their feet. Kei spared one last glance back at the tower and shook her head as she turned away. Some things aren’t worth the risk.