✦ 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ✦

Thirty Six

Nyx swooped down in the brisk air, his wings closing in on themselves as he neared into a dive. The mountains around them were piled high with snow and Nyx narrowly missed the tip of one of the frigid peaks.

"Careful there," Mala murmured, though she doubted he needed a warning, knowing he was all too keen on their surroundings to so much as crash.

She caught the end of his toothy grin as she stared below.

He then proceeded to point himself further downward, almost folding his wings completely inward. Wind blew harshly into Mala's face, and she tilted her face towards Nyx, trying to avoid the cold breeze.

She felt him adjust and hold her tighter to him as she perceived him drop drastically through the air. The bright lighting around them suddenly lowered and Nyx aligned himself horizontally with Mala before touching down on ground.

Mala was lowered and Nyx unwound his arms from around her, letting her go. She turned around immediately, assessing the area in which he had landed them in.

It was a dark cavern, though the opening to the outside lit it up fairly well with a dim amount of light. Inside the cavern however, was a different story. A large, murky blue pool sat in the center of the cave, the water giving off a small distinctive glow.

Mala threw a glance at Nyx, an amused smile playing on his lips. She already knew what he was thinking, and he didn't even have to read her mind to know she was imagining the same thing.

"I figured a soak in some hot springs might do us some good," he murmured, his voice low in quiet explanation.

She nodded in acknowledgment, though did well enough to hide her own smirk.

"Well then, are you going to turn around while I undress myself?" she asked with faux questioning.

"I didn't take you to be so modest my dear..." he blinked with innocence like a small child would do so.

"Are you not going to then?"

He pondered the question before replying with another one of his own.

"Do you prefer me to, dearest?"

She considered for a moment before deciding.

She wasn't that shy.

"I don't believe I have a particular preference for it in hindsight."

His smile grew automatically at the statement and he went silent. Very subtle.

With a rush of confidence and adrenaline still coursing in her veins, she unslung the attachments of her leather tunic. She did so quickly before the self-assurance fell through, though she doubted it would happen any time soon given how she was fairly collected most of the time.

As she removed the rest of the clothes off of her frame, she glanced up at Nyx. His eyes were glued to her body, and it didn't take her much time at all to discern the emotion his face was filled with.

"Enjoying the show?" she purred, her nerves nonexistent, knowing she had nothing to hide.

"I can see why you had so many willing suitors," he muttered, only taking his eyes off her figure to meet her gaze halfway.

His eyes were lidded and his face was darkened by the dim lighting, but his feline smile was unable to be hidden by any amount.

Mala swung around, heading towards the misty water's edge, the front of bare figure only visible to the deep pool she was making her way to.

Nyx took no time at all to begin shucking off his clothing, not at all taking as much time to do so compared to the fae female. In a microsecond, he had winnowed himself next to Mala with her slow pace after having freed himself of all accessories.

She glimpsed him next to her and chuckled, the situation having sprouted out of almost no where. He joined in, having come to the same conclusion as she.

The female's toe touched the waters edge before her foot followed suit. Soon, she was fully immersed and she closed her eyes and submerged her head into the water, not even bothering to check with Nyx before doing so.

She brushed the hair out of her face when emerging from the water before finally opened her eyes back up again. Nyx had joined her in the water and he stood, staring at her, a longing in his eyes.

She pretended to ignore it, though she knew his gaze followed her as she swam about in the warm water, fog surrounding the air around them both.

"I have a proposition—" Nyx started, but he cut himself off.

He glanced downward, a low rumbling beginning beneath them. He looked back at Mala and they rushed towards one another, knowing that if they were about to face something, it would be best to do it together.

Once they were standing next to each other, Nyx spoke once again, though what he said did not happen to rise any of Mala's hopes.

"What is that?" a light hint of fear accompanied his tone.

If he didn't know what it was, Mala surely hadn't a slight clue besides the obvious facts.

"I'm not entirely certain what it is, though from what I can determine, it's occurring right below us, which means the best case scenario would be for us to—" Mala rattled on quickly, but before either of them could move an inch, they were sucked downward.

The last thing she was able to assess before the water forcefully shut her eyes was a bright light shining below the water's surface. Then the world around her disappeared from her vision altogether.

~srry for delay <3