Diamond in the Rough! Ikra and Kaal!

[Instinct]

    Breathing a sigh of relief, Kaal patted Ikra one more time on the head before the two separated. It seemed as though he'd be unable to refuse the woman's company just as he had predicted, and to be perfectly frank, the fair haired familiar didn't really want to anyways.

    Somewhat surprised as Ikra's ability to have bounced back so quickly, even though he likely shouldn't have been in the first place, Kaal got back to his feet- taking her hand and returning to his standing posture before looking back at Steven and giving him a nod of great appreciation. He never knew the day would come that a poor man would make a better wing man than some of the upper class military nobility he had rubbed shoulders with in the past, and yet, here they were.

    Unwilling to let the man go without having properly thanked him, Kaal quickly made his way back toward Steven for a few moments, pulling out from within his back pocket a sizable pouch of Beri. Setting it into his hands, and folding his fingers over the gift, the former marine nodded one more time to Steven, mouthing a small 'thank you' before catching back up to where Ikra now stood.

    Raising his eyebrows, Kaal offered his arm to Ikra once more, waiting for her to take it before going back promptly to where they had left off, guiding the two toward the middlemost part of the city as he said in a tone of greatly reinvigorated interest, "As I said earlier, I greatly appreciate your intervention back there- however, I must say I wasn't expecting you to be a Devil Fruit user. Nonetheless, it's quite a beautiful ability to witness in the flesh, and one befitting a woman of your stature of course."

    "I presume there must be a grand story behind you getting your hands on such a delicacy? Although, if it is one you're not comfortable with sharing, I understand as well."

Post Count: 8
Fox

[Fox]

“I don’t recall! I must have eaten it when I was quite young,” Ikra said, placing a hand on her cheek as she walked arm in arm with Kaal, “It’s like that with a lot of things unfortunately… but you know you don’t have to be so shy, dearest. Hehe, I’m not one to take offense to personal questions. I want to open my heart to everyone and have them open their hearts to me in turn, so it wouldn’t do to get offended over an interest in me, would it? That would be counterproductive! Can’t have that!”

Life was simply too short to waste time like that anyhow. Best to let people know exactly who you are and how you feel! Ikra nodded to herself confidently, reaffirming the thought in her mind. As they passed through the city, the buildings began to thin out to reveal a stunning, sparkling waterline. Ikra raced forward toward a small wall and leaned over, looking out at a shining beach, bright greenery, and water that was crystal clear and blue like the sky.

“Woooow!”

Ikra bounced from foot to foot, glancing around. They were up on an embankment, but she spotted some stairs down to the greenery and beach fairly quickly. She ran down the stairs, slipping out of her shoes as she stepped onto the lush greenery. She spun around excitedly to look back at Kaal.

“It’s beautiful! Come see, Kaal!”

Running ahead again with shoes scooped up in one hand, Ikra stepped onto the beach. She winced a little at the sting of the hot sand on her feet, but it wasn’t long before she ran to the water. She sighed with relief as the gentle waves lapped at her feet. Stepping into the water as far as her ankles, she stood and looked out at the surface of the oasis, taking it all in.

---

Ikra | Post Count: 9

[Instinct]

    "I will try to keep that in mind then, dear. I do continually forget that you are much more open than most when it comes to personal matters, haha," Kaal replied, as the lady in red reassured him once more about his poking and prodding of her past matters. He supposed the only reason why he was more touchy about it than Ikra appeared to be was the fact that his own history was one that still made him recoil in disgust to this day. Still reeling from the shortcomings and failures that his younger self essentially chained his present day down with, Kaal was not a very easy clam to open up- but, if anyone could do it, it was probably the woman standing next to him right now.

    Although, truth be told, Ikra still had a little ways left to go for her to gain that much of the golden boy's trust. That wasn't to say she wasn't doing a damn good job of grabbing it though, and as the two continued on, Kaal's attachment to her only grew- his hand instinctively reaching back toward her as she ran over to a small wall just a little ways away, leaning over the structure and gazing over to the beachside below. 

    Looking down at the hand she was originally hanging off of in disbelief for a few seconds, Kaal's attention was quickly plucked back by Ikra's exclamation of amazement. The sandy haired associate striding on down the stairs right after the beaming ball of energy as she danced right onto the warm, grainy sand just ahead of the greenery that now surrounded them. Choosing to keep his own shoes on, Kaal leisurely made his way to Ikra's side once again, but for once his eyes weren't trained on the nacre-user beside him.

    Eyes looking across the crystalline oasis waters that expanded across their shared vision, Kaal sighed.

    "These waters... They remind me of the ocean's very own. What a beautiful sight they were to live upon, day to day..."

    The former marine man spoke in a nostalgic, yet growingly somber voice. While of course he still used the majority of the sea for travel between jobs and leisure-time, it's been an extensive amount of time since Kaal's last true expedition out at sea. Ever since the Grand Line incident, he's made a point to avoid being on the water for more than a day or two at the worst, and he didn't particularly have any plans to change that anytime soon either.

    ... Though, with a great deal of convincing, someone may be able to change that.

    But who?
    
Post Count: 9

[Fox]

Ikra tore her eyes away from the view to look up at Kaal who was staring wistfully out at the water. He sounded nostalgic. Almost forlorn, in a way. Truth be told, Ikra didn’t know much about Kaal’s past or history. She was curious about it, yes, but in truth, she really didn’t need to know to have a good grasp of his character. He was valiant, sweet, and endlessly kind. She smiled softly at him.

“Would you like to live on them again?” she asked, “If you do, you should come with me!”

Grabbing Kaal’s hand with both of her own, she bounced in place for a moment with excitement.

“I love you!” Ikra said, not batting an eye, “And I’m sure Pesha and Demitri would love you too!”

She let go of his hands momentarily to think. In truth, their crew was a little limited. They had a lot of deckhands, but Demitri was the only one who fit into a traditional crew role as navigator. Pesha was her stalwart first mate! But that left a lot of open room for the other roles. A dedicated cook wouldn’t be bad to have. As well as a doctor. Some of those could be filled in from the people who had chosen to accompany her from Bliss, but none of the people on the ship had a vast amount of experience sailing though the dangerous seas of the world.

“Hm…”

Even if Kaal didn’t fill a role, she was just more than happy to have him. She did find him absolutely darling, after all. Her golden eyes flicked back to him. She just knew having him along would be amazing!

---

Ikra | #630330 | Post Count: 10