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Aries cleared his throat, the sound a soft rasp in the quiet air, then gave his head a brief, almost imperceptible shake. It was as if he was trying to dispel a cloud of unwelcome thoughts, a swirling vortex of anxieties and memories he wasn't quite ready to confront or entertain.
Estella, ever observant, tilted her head curiously, her gaze following his strange behavior with a mixture of concern and amusement. Her eyes, pools of quiet understanding, searched his face, seeking answers to the unspoken questions swirling between them. "Quickly," she said gently, her voice carrying a soothing warmth that immediately settled into his chest, a comforting balm on his troubled spirit.
"It's lonely in here." The words hung in the air, an invitation and a plea, hinting at the solitude she felt and the connection she craved.
He said nothing at first, offering her only a faint, hesitant smile, a subtle acknowledgment of her presence and his own inner turmoil. Silently, he reined in the storm raging inside him, a tempest of emotions threatening to overwhelm him. He forced himself to focus on the present moment, on her, on the task at hand. With slow, deliberate movements, he began peeling away his outer layers - his shirt, his belt, and his gloves. Every action was practical, measured, devoid of any unnecessary haste.
There was a sense of purpose in his movements, a controlled precision that betrayed the chaos he was suppressing. He set aside his weapons with meticulous care—his sword placed within arm's reach at the water's edge—his instincts never fully resting, never allowing him to completely relinquish his vigilance, even in this stolen moment of peace and intimacy.
With a final, fortifying breath, he stepped into the cold water. The initial shock of it, a biting, invigorating chill, grounded him instantly, anchoring him to reality. It cleared the haze from his mind, washing away the lingering shadows of his thoughts. He moved slowly, wading deeper into the water, swimming toward Estella with calm, deliberate strokes. He didn't want to startle her, to disrupt the fragile serenity that had settled between them, like a delicate butterfly poised on a flower.
She stood in the shallows, seemingly lost in her own quiet world, her expression pensive, her hands playing absentmindedly with the water, drawing lazy circles in its surface, smiling softly to herself as if listening to a secret joke. Aries didn't speak, choosing instead to observe, to wait patiently until she noticed him, the way someone might approach a fragile creature at rest, careful not to frighten it away.
She turned toward him with a radiant smile that reached her eyes, crinkling the corners and illuminating her entire face. In that moment, everything else faded away into insignificance. The surrounding forest, the weight of their mission, the anxieties that plagued them both – all vanished, leaving only the two of them suspended in time.
Her presence softened everything in him, smoothing the rough edges of his soul, calming the restless energy that constantly simmered beneath his surface. Her bare skin glistened under the filtered light that dappled through the trees, catching the water droplets and turning them into shimmering jewels.
