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NEAR MEAN PEAK - AFTERNOON
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Erika gasps as she rounds another cliffside edge with Nesseth, trying to balance between running as fast as they are able but not falling down from a rather uncomfortable-looking cliffside. She takes several breaths, leaning her back to the cliff, listening to any sounds behind them. Hearing none for several very tense seconds, she glances at the exhausted lizard next to her: "I t-think we lost it." She takes another several breaths before daring to glance around the corner. No beast in sight.
Erika gives Nesseth a smile, wiping sweat from her forehead: "T-that... wow. Might have been a bit of a reckless idea, having sex down there. Persistent thing too, that... I'm not actually sure what it was that chased as, do you?"
Nesseth takes a few seconds to catch his breath, his trusty crossbow gripped tight in both hands and held at the ready, seeming not too concerned with the fall right next to him as he keeps it leveled at the corner, in case something rounds it without warning. "No, no idea what that was..." He sighs a bit and lowers the crossbow when it becomes clear nothing is tailing them, "Guess we were too close to its territory, though. It probably just wanted to get us away from their den or something..."
Erika lets out a nervous, tired giggle: "I sure hope so. Been a while since I had to run that fast." She looks down at her naked self: "And now it'll be harder to get the rest of our stuff if we were near a den or something."
Nesseth hums quietly as he leans against the cliff face for a moment, his legs burning a little from the run. "Well... we can try and get our stuff in a bit, if we're sneaky about it... or we can try and rough it a little until the morning time and see if we can snag it while that thing is away from the area."
Erika nods slowly: "Yeah... maybe best we wait." She then giggles: "Suppose we found some of that adventure out here, after all."
Nesseth chuckles quietly as he catches his breath and nods. "Yeah... we definitely have been getting a bit of that out here recently, haven't we? First that fox wandering around way out from town, and now that thing."
Erika shakes her head: "I suppose it wasn't entirely unexpected... besides the timing of it, I suppose. Not that I really have that much experience of having some horizontal mambo out here I guess."
Nesseth laughs a little more as he looks over at Erika and grins cheekily. "It's just a shame we got interrupted, hm? I'll have to make that one up to you later on, I think." He shrugs a little as he looks out over the trees far below the cliff, still smiling despite the situation, "But... yeah, wilderness is bound to have a bit of adventure pop up when we least expect it."
Erika smirks at Nesseth: "Oh, so you owe me one? I suppose we can arrange something..." Her hand wanders over to Nesseth's chest as though examining it: "...or other."
Nesseth glances down at Erika's hand and gently rests his free hand on top of it before he looks towards her. "I'm sure we can, but probably somewhere a little less risky than at the edge of a hundred-meter drop." He smiles playfully at the okapi.
Erika sticks her tongue out: "What, had your fill of risky sex?" She glances down, getting a brief moment of vertigo: "W-well, to be fair so have I."
Nesseth sticks his arm out and gently presses Erika against the stone wall to stabilize her when she looks over the edge of the cliff. He does, however, chuckle at her question. "Well, of course not, but I'd at least want some kind of net or catch, just in case we get... too eager."
Erika giggles nervously: "Us, eager? Perish that thought." She swallows: "That said, think it's safe to get back enough not be staring at potential death by gravity?"
Nesseth nods as he takes a moment to glance further along the cliff face to see how the path goes. "Yeah... let's, uh... carefully make our way back out the way we came in. I don't know if this "path" we're on continues all the way around, or if it just stops."
Erika nods as she glances around: "Yeah, sounds... well, probably good. Let's hope that whatever that was lost interest."
Nesseth hums quietly. "If you want, I can take the lead. I'll just have to carefully step around you."
Erika sticks herself to the cliffside as best she is able: "Please be careful. Grab me wherever you need, you know that."
Nesseth nods as he carefully starts to move around Erika, though he does pause as he braces his hands on either side of her. "Hm... you know... there might be something to a position like this." He smirks, then kisses Erika as he continues to move around her to a less precarious position and readies his crossbow again.
Erika giggles but tries her best to not move as Nesseth makes his way past her. "Of all the times to think dirty... Tsk, you."
Nesseth grins over at Erika as he starts to lead the way back off of the cliff face and onto a more... sturdy section of land. "You mean there are times where I don't think dirty? I'm usually just pretty good at keeping it contained."
Erika walks after Nesseth, sticking her tongue out: "So you say, but how could I know how dirty you really are? I suppose I'll have to interrogate Vix again about it."
Nesseth peers around the corner for a moment, then carefully sidles around with his crossbow leveled as he scans for any danger. "Looks clear, dear." He grins as he reaches a hand over to Erika, "As for Vix, you could ask. I'm sure she'd probably tell you pretty readily, considering you two seem to get along pretty well."
Erika takes the offered hand and winks: "Are you sure you want to encourage us to conspire against you? Because we will."
Nesseth laughs as he leads Erika a bit away from the cliff. "I can't stop you two if you do. I might as well say it's fine."
Erika giggles as they walk: "Fine, that works. Just remember to pretend you're surprised at times."
Nesseth grins as he continues to scan around. "Oh, you both still have the element of surprise. Not like I'll be expecting an ambush or anything all the time, after all."
Erika sticks her tongue out again: "You certainly didn't down there."
Nesseth chuckles. "To be fair... I was focused on something a bit more interesting at the time~"
Erika spreads her hands, showing her assets of interest: "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Nesseth gives the nearby area one more quick scan, then approaches Erika and wraps his free arm around her waist for a warm hug. "Really? Maybe I should show you, then." He sneaks another soft kiss on her neck, "Though... we should probably plan out how we want to get our stuff back before we... get distracted~"
Erika giggles at the kiss, leaning on Nesseth for a moment before letting go: "Maybe we should. Get our stuff, I mean, not get distracted again." She pauses: "...yet."
Nesseth grins as he takes a step back again before they wind up tangled together on the ground. "Yet. Did we want to try and snag our stuff now, wait a bit, or wait until the morning?"
Erika frowns: "Going to be awfully cold in the night... we might have to snuggle very hard to survive."
Nesseth nods a bit, thinking. "Could try and fashion some kind of shelter if need be. Wouldn't need much in the way of tools for it..." He hums quietly, "Mmh... probably better to at least try, so we can have some clothing for protection. How did you and Cavro make it work while you two were out here?"
Erika hums, musing: "Mostly by keeping pace, I guess. Lots of campfires in caves, too."
Nesseth nods again. "True, caves would make for really good shelter, if there's nothing already using for the same purpose." He spends a moment thinking, then sighs, "We're going to need shelter anyway, even if we do retrieve our stuff."
Erika nods, looking around: "True... we still have the actual gathering to do, for the most part." She glances at Nesseth with a smile: "Something about getting distracted."
Nesseth hums with a soft smile. "Yeah, so... maybe we can find something for shelter, then try and make a bid for our stuff once we have a spot? That way, we don't have to scramble to set up if we do have to wait until the morning."
Erika nods slowly, continuing to look around: "Yeah... there's got to be something we can use. It seems to be safe, should we have a look around?"
Nesseth nods in turn. "Yeah, let's see what we can find. Set up a shelter, get things in order, then we can go and try to grab our stuff and get back to spend the night."
Erika listens to her stomach growl in protest: "...and find something to eat."
Nesseth hums. "Mmh, yeah, thankfully it'll be easy to gather up some stuff for you to eat. I should be okay for now, but I'll probably have to hunt something tomorrow morning if we can't get our supplies, at least."
Erika smiles softly: "I suppose we have a plan, then." She offers her hand to Nesseth: "Shall we?"
Nesseth reaches out and grabs hold of Erika's offered hand, smiling as he does so. "Yeah, let's see what we've got nearby."
Erika winks: "And hope nothing finds us again. Let's be careful."