Dipti and Tide for amuse me (because I'm going to do break me)
It wasn’t rare for Dipti to succumb to the occasional mood. Tide certainly couldn’t blame her. He knew firsthand the pressures of noble life, but he couldn’t begin to grasp what kind of weight flowed through the woman’s veins as she sat before him, eyes fixed sullenly on the expansive river before them.
He had taken her here with their meal in hand, simple smoked meat and vegetables on a stick to partake in while they watched the water flow by on its journey from Dipti’s home to Tide’s. The princess’ mood had been dangerously dark since their confrontation the other day, a disagreement about... well. Tide didn’t care to dredge it up again. Like the water that was so tantalizingly close to their feet, he found himself bending around the issue and leaving it behind him.
However, Dipti didn’t seem to share that particular philosophy. No, it didn’t seem like they shared much at all. The very thought made the world seem all that much smaller to Tide, giving him a feeling of his surroundings closing in on him, ready to squeeze his last breath from his lungs.
No, it was best not to dwell at all. Moving forward was the way of the ocean, of its life, and of Tide. Never look back. It would only bring pain.
Just as the tension seemed ready to clamp in its jaws and shake them out of their deafening silence, Tide stood abruptly. Without a care for coin or for lunch, he tossed his food to the ground. There was nothing left of the meal but the vegetables he’d been avoiding, anyway. No harm done.
“...what are you doing.” It wasn’t a question. Dipti stared up at him through hooded eyes, her distaste all but striking him in the face. Ouch.
He braced his shoulders, trying to appear even a fraction as impressive as he’d once thought himself to be. Dipti had a way of tearing at his pride until all that was left was the man beneath, raw and defensive.
‘Moving forward’, he chided himself. ‘Don’t think about that now’.
“Stand up.” The seer told his companion, putting on a smile for her. “Let’s swim.”
“Excuse me?” An unimpressed monotone, not even bothering to put on any mask of fondness for him. Good old Dipti.
“Swim. You know how, right? Don’t you get special lessons on everything, princess?” There was a bite to his own voice, though lighter in tone and harder to detect. Even a man as evasive and lighthearted as Tide had his limits.
Her mouth, those soft lips that always drew in his attention, opened to reply. He didn’t give her a chance. With an indignant squawk, Dipti was pulled rather unceremoniously to her feet. Tide was lucky not to have a knife pulled on him as he planted two strong hands on her slim hips and lifted her, deaf to her protests. One meal wasted, plunking against the ground and left to the dogs.
With one quick toss and a jump, both of them were in the river and soaked to the bone. His familiar laugh, deep and melodious, rang out as he admired how Dipti resembled a soaked cat when she looked at him that way.
He was a dead man, but it was all worth it a moment later when she managed to drag the heavy fabric of his drenched mantle over his head, effectively blinding him. But Tide didn’t need his eyes to hear the heart stopping sound of her laughter, loud and true, ringing in his ears.
In a world as dark as their own, anything was worth it to drag a genuine laugh out of Dipti’s throat.
He was torn from his lovestruck thoughts as his head hit water, Dipti’s shockingly strong grip dragging him under by his long hair.
