Take A Deep Breath

Shall We Go Together?

   "A swimsuit? Oooh, so ye did maybe wanna see me in one, ahfturall?" Kristi teased as she waggled her eyebrows. Rayla smacked the back of her head. "Oww!" Kristi whined.

   "Uhh... no," Callum replied incredulously, "Rayla, I think it's time you got over your fear of water. And how better to do it than a swimming lesson. I was required to take them when I was little, so I guess I can start teaching them."

    Rayla seemed distress and Callum could see the sweat pouring off her. "Och, ye must be summat insane. I cahn't swim. Even if I could, I wouldn't want to. We have so much farther tah go." As if on cue, Azymondias sneezed shrilly from her backpack.

   Kristi turned to Rayla and flipped her pack open. "I know I heard somethin' in he..." Kristi was amazed. An icy blue dragon with an immaculate white mane and eyes the color of ocean water stared at her. "Is.. is... is that... the.. the..."

   Rayla rolled her eyes. "Yes! It is. But keep quiet. Y'know how most of us would find it if a human was seen with the Dragon Prince." She gestured towards Callum, who waved back awkwardly.

   Kristi couldn't believe this. Her childhood bestie did not only join the assassin guards but also had a human for a boyfriend and the long thought dead Dragon Prince with her. "Wha' is this li'l cutie's name?" She stroked Zymy underneath his chin and he cooed in response.

   Rayla turned Zym away from Kristi. "His name is Azymondias an' yeh will address him as that," she stressed on the 'will.' Kristi raised her hands in surrender.

   Callum pryed his hands between the girls and forced them apart. "Please, can we drop the subject? Now, c'mon. We need to go. But, the next river or lake we come across you are taking a swim with me."

   "Like hell," Rayla scoffed.

   "Lake Hill!" Kristi cried out. Callum and Rayla stared at her in confusion. "There's a lake on the hill jus' north o' here. An' I 'aven't been swimmin' in a while. Shall we go together?"

   Rayla scowled. Kristi was not invited along. What gave her the right to assume she was just automatically made part of their travel group? "Atch'ally, no. We shall not go together. In fact, we shall not go a' all," she said while staring daggers at Callum.

   Callum, however, was not going to let yhis opportunity slide. He had learned to swim when he was very young. If he could get over his fear of water then so could she. "Well, we could always use a new friend. Why not, Kristi? If you have a swimsuit, we could all go to the lake on that hill you mentioned," Callum blushed. It wasn't like he had a double meaning but something about asking a girl if she had a swimsuit made him feel dirty.

   This little moment did not go unnoticed by Kristi. "I thought ye said ye din't want tah see me in one?" Kristi winked at him.

   Callum blushed absurdly and Rayla fumed with rage at Kristi's unmitigated audacity. "Maybe ye'd find it better from back in yer shop, ye flirtatious who-"

   "Ohhhhhkaaayyyy. How about we make our way, so that we can get Kristi's stuff and we'll head up the path to the lake?" Callum didn't want the two elf girls to end up in an escalated argument. He still didn't think that Rayla harbored any of the emotions Kristi so greatly exaggerated but if she didn't she was doing a horrid job of passing it off as a trivial matter.

   "So rude, Rayla. C'mon. We'll drop by mah house and pick up a few things then we're off tah the Lake Up North," Kristi jumped on the punctuation to add more emphasis in her excitement. Callum applauded the idea quickly and offered Kristi a well received high five.

   Rayla was not so greatly excited. Her childhood friend was barging in on her new friendship uninvited and rudely. Zymy struggled in his hideaway in Rayla's backpack. Oh, that was another issue. She was distracting them from a mission of continental importance. That was kinda there too. Zym clawed at her shoulder as if her thoughts were insulting him. "I 'aven't forgotten ye. I know we still need tah get ya home. An' we're workin' on it. But, wha' harm can a li'l break do us?

   Oddly enough, that did not seem to be what Azymondias wanted to hear as he trilled smally and faced the fround with a look of despair on his face.

   "Rayla, c'mon!" Callum shouted from ahead.

   "Comin' Callum," Rayla called back.

   The road to Kristi's house wasn't long. The group reached it in a matter of minutes. Kristi said something in draconic which seemed to serve as the key to her lock. Callum found this interesting, of course. He throttled Kristi with questions as she gathered her swimsuit, towel, and waterside umbrella. "Fer the last time, it' just a common thing in Xadia. Dragomaj locks are normal tah have."

   "Well, ok, yeah. But, like, how do they work?" Callum persisted.

   Kristi gritted her teeth and almost shouted at him to shut up but Rayla tapped her on the shoulder and spoke first. "Ye sure he's not the hottie ye thought he'd be?"

   Kristi raised an eyebrow. "Even if I thought he was hot, I wouldn't go stealin' an authentic foreigner from your butter fingers. Ye'll probably drop 'im anyway an' save me the trouble," she spoke in a teasing tone.

   Rayla stared daggers at Kristi but Callum intervened. "You girls almost ready to go? We have a climb to make before we can rest and relax."

   Rayla rolled her eyes. This death trap was supposed to make her relax? And what was worse was that Callum had gotten her size right and the swimsuit fit her perfectly. Packing Azymondias up, Rayla walked out the door and Kristi locked her house and followed them. If there was one thing this little excursion was shaping up to be, it was a disaster.

This took... longer than I meant it to. It was supposed to be done before the weekend but my stupid self got into a writing contest that broke my focus on this. But, hey, it is here now. And I hope you enjoyed it. Until next time, au revoir, mon amis, and a fond farfarren.