"please be careful where you climb. i don't want to see you fall. but the idea of having you all to myself while i care for you does have its appeal." (celica)
“Don’t think you can drag me away from quality time with Mother Nature,” Ephraim jokes, looking back down.
He’s halfway up a tricky shelf when Celica calls out to him, and he wants to keep going - a peaceful protest against her worry. But something she said about having him all to herself piques his interest more. Ephraim takes a look at the next handhold, a slippery cleft with a harsh vertical angle, and decides he’s done for the day.
His feet reach out for the previous footholds, retracing the path he took to get to his position, and with a satisfied hum Ephraim jumps the last ten feet down, landing in front of Celica. A little dusty, but otherwise unscathed. There’s his trademark grin, like a child who just finished his first sand castle.
He leans forward, arms around her waist, and pulls her in. “If you want me with you,” he whispers in his ear, his nose brushing against her neck, “all you have to do is ask.”
