[member="Joran Del-Finn"]
Karking hell.
He kissed her.
Really kissed her.
She hadn't been expecting that.
You know what else she hadn't been expecting?
She kissed him back.
At first it was pure instinct - Nei hadn't been kissed in a while. Being a paranoid smuggler, and going through the stuff she had recently didn't exactly leave much room for a love life. But after a heartbeat or two, it became less instinct and more...natural. He, at least, was a natural kisser. Probably from all the, ah, "practice" he'd had. Even so, she was in a bit of a daze. After all, Joran Del-Finn was supposed to be the one human who got under her skin. The one who drove her up the wall. The one who could ruin her mood in a single breath. And yet...
And yet he was the one who she'd confided the most in. It wasn't a lot, but he knew more about her history than anyone else. He was the one she'd called to for help, thought of when she was in danger. He was the one that she, despite her earnest attempts to deny it, that she thought of as a friend. A true, honest to goodness friend.
Maybe even....something more?
Either way, it was he who broke the kiss. He who pulled away as Nei slowly released her grip on him, til the only thing she held was his arm. It was then that she came to her senses.
Pulling away, the Nautolan looked at him with an almost unreadable expression, her eyes dark and murky. Gone was the youthful exuberance of earlier; gone, even, was her normal grouchy attitude. She stayed like that for a moment. It felt like centuries, though it couldn't have been more than a few heartbeats. "I..."
Suddenly, the woman looked down and away, lips pressed firmly together as her tresses began to writhe. Karking hell, what was she supposed to do now? Nei was no sappy romantic. But this? Even she, dull though she might be sometimes, recognized that this was a make or break moment. This was a moment that would define the relationship she and Joran had for years to come.
It was also starting to make her head hurt.
Her black eyes turned back to look at the human. "Si'hklesi foh," she whispered. There was no malice, no regret...but no tenderness or passion. It was.... it was a plea, of sorts. A plea from Nei Laa, asking this human to just...give her a moment. She needed it.
With a soft snort, the Nautolan sunk into the water and sat on the sandy floor, far enough away from him that she had her own space, but close enough to let him know she didn't plan on rejecting him....yet.
Submerged in the water, Nei began to think. Her old self would've definitely given him a shiner or five. Maybe bitten off a chunk of his throat. Maybe scratched and clawed him until he was a bleeding mess. But that was before everything. Before he picked her up from the tavern. Before she confided in him about the Horizon. Before he made this special detour, just for her.
Before he made her feel like the world was okay. Like there was nothing to worry about. Like she could relax and just be herself, the Nei who knew how to laugh and joke and tease and didn't have to watch out for enemies, both real and fake.
Two minutes later, Nei knew what she had to do.
Unnaturally quiet, the Nautolan resurfaced so that she was in front of Joran again. Studying his face for a moment, her fist suddenly flew out and hit him in the arm. "That be for not asking first," she told him, half-joking. In a more serious - and quiet - tone, Nei asked, "Why kiss me?"