Harder and Harder To Breath [Brink]

When it gets cold outside and you got nobody to love, You'll understand what I mean when I say There's no way we're gonna give up.

Tears left Arielle's dark eyes as she tore towards her cove, mixing in with the salty water around her. She needed to get away from here, away from home. Away from the arguments and yelling. Away from the old memories that decided to resurface when it would have been best for them to stay hidden. It had just gotten too much. She needed to get away from here, needed to escape.

And her cove was the perfect place to escape the world, the perfect place to attempt to forget that the world and everything in it even existed. Just what the redhead needed tonight. To be anywhere but home.

Bursting out from under the waves, her listless eyes took in the sunset, not even smiling at the sight like she usually did. Slowly she swum over to her usual resting place and clambered up onto the rock. An involuntary shiver ran through her, making her wrap her arms around her in an attempt to keep warm. It was so warm earlier - how'd it get so cold so fast?

And like a little girl cries in the face of a monster that lives in her dreams; Is there anyone out there 'cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe.

Brink perched on an outcrop above the bay, watching the sun set, and the dark clouds on the horizon. She's gunna be a stormy one, Brink, you should try head to cover soon..
He held on a while longer, watching the last sliver of sunshine disappear below the ocean and his eye-line before he picked up his gear and turned to head back to camp.

The sudden splash and cry from the cove made him start, and he ran straight towards the sound. Leaping down the slope, he slid to a stop with the gravel at the base of the steep hill, and looked around wildly. Spotting Arielle, he whistled out to the girl and started to run over.

"Hey, Arielle, are you OK?!" he shouted, a worried frown sat on his brow, darkening his features.

Dropping his bag off, he clambered up the boulders to her, and sat down heavily next to the sobbing figure. Placing his coat around the mermaids shoulders, he wrapped his arms around his knees and whispered quietly,
"Let me know when you want to talk, ok..?"

For once the girl wished she was human. Simply so she could run away and hide. Hide and forget, in a place where absolutely no one knew her.

Hearing the shout, the redhead was about to dive back under when she realised it was Brink. She almost smiled, but couldn't quite manage it. Ah, Brink. That sweet boy...

"Hi Brink. Yeah, I'm fine," she lied, hastily wiping away her tears. "Just got something in my eyes during my swim here. Probably a tiny bit of driftwood or something..." Gods, I hope he didn't see me crying. Not a good look. At all. Never show emotion, never show weakness. Those were the rules Arielle had lived by ever since the Eric and Ursula dramas.

She snuggled into his heavy jacket, thankful for the warmth. "Thank you," she whispered, eyes looking out at the horizon. As a silence fell over them, she dropped her head onto his shoulder. Wow... I'd forgotten just how nice it was to just be close to someone, the girl thought in slight amazement. Years had passed since she'd just been close to someone, even in a moment like now. She avoided it at every cost usually. But tonight...

Tonight I need it. I don't want to be alone tonight...

"Hey, you're ok.." he whispered, as she rested her head. "And don't worry, I'm sure everything'll be fine. Want to tell me what's got you a bit wound up..?"

He shuffled his scarf to make her more comfortable, and brushed the hair out of her face. Her eyes were still red and wet, he didn't believe the driftwood story for a second.

"Damn driftwood, eh..? Make people do all sorts of crazy stuff." he laughed a little to himself, and put his arm around the quiet girl.

"Honestly, I wont tell a soul what's up if you just need a confidant. Just let me know what's up?"

The redhead gave a sniff, not meeting his gaze. Why did you have to be so nice to me all those times...?! Why did you have to come along and change my opinions on humans once again...?

He was so sweet. His eyes betrayed a world-weariness that oddly contrasted to the naivety that seemed to shine through whenever he was with her. So unlike other humans I've met... And that's exactly what intrigued her about him. What made her want to spend time with him.

As his arm went around her, she couldn't help but slightly snuggle into the crook of his arm. "It's just my family. My dad and sisters bringing up old dramas again... I...." she gave a sigh, thinking over how to continue on with that sentence. "I dunno... I don't want to talk about it. Don't want to talk about me. Not tonight. What's been going on with you lately? I haven't seen you in a while..."

"Well, hey..," the boy continued, "family is family, and despite the worst of it that's one thing that will never change."
"And, unfortunately, home is where the heart is. As well as your family. Make a compromise, avoid them a while.. you'll be ok! At least you get a choice."
He smiled at the girl, a little wry on the edges,
"You don't know what you''ve got 'till it's gone!"

He did up the front of the coat, held her close. Kissing the top of her head, he looked down and smiled.
"And me? Well, it's all a bit of a fog to be honest. I was working with some of the other students the other week to combine different element magics. Didn't really work though - the fire caused the water to explode outwards and we all got drenched. I think the Five probably got sick of us messing around, to be quite honest!!!"
He laughed childishly, and continued,
"And other than that, I've been working, really. Did some helping at the local bookstore. They needed someone to mind it and clean the shelves while they went to get more stock. Eh, it's all food-money, right?"
He smiled, and pulled up his backpack. Digging through the litter of food-preserving paper (most of them empty from various snacks and meals), he eventually found his coin-purse. Proudly displaying it's weight, he jokingly dropped his hand as he pulled it out of the waxy-linen bag.
"Well, food and a couple of luxuries... I brought some chocolate with me, and it was for a special moment.. Would you like some..?"
He dug through his bag again, finding it at the very bottom. Offering the girl a piece, he ate one.
"I promise it's not poisonous." he laughed, pure pleasure across his face as it began to melt in his mouth.
"Take it already, silly!"

Arielle smiled slightly, looking at him for a moment as he talked. At times he seems so young and...well, childish. And yet, times like now... Times like now he seemed so much older and wiser than he was, like life had thrown so much more at him than he was letting on.
"I'll be fine, really," she said, lying back on the rocks and looking up at the first stars of the night that were beginning to appear. "Come tomorrow morning, it'll be like none of this had ever happened. Unfortunately this all happens more often than any of us would care to admit," she added with a slight shrug. Family - they drive you absolutely insane and yet you can't live without 'em. Stupidly wonderful is what they are...

She contemplating commenting about his job, but decided against it. It wasn't as if she was a great expert on working for money. Sure, she had a job which she dutifully did, but that was for the love of the job not the money. That and the fact that without the job she'd have nothing to fill her days, and she simply refused to be friends with boredom.

"Thank you," she said softly, sitting up to take the proffered treat. That was really sweet of him, to share something he clearly loved but could rarely afford. To share something that was special. Popping the chocolate into her mouth, a goofy grin appeared on her face as she savoured the sweetness of it, falling back onto the rock and grinning like a loon. Geez this is amazing. It's beyond amazing! So much better than the merfolk-made stuff. Humans do have their usefulness.

"Gods that is wonderful," she managed to say, brain deciding that being a puddle of mush inside a skull probably wasn't the best of ideas. "This needs to become a weekly thing. You gotta promise me that we'll do this more often." She would more than happily spend all her money on human-made chocolate. "Promise?" she asked, assuming a puppy-dog look.

"Well, worst comes to worst I suppose that you'd have to just pop by and see the city. You can get a lot more than I can of this, I guarantee, Princess"
He chomped on a block himself, letting it melt in his mouth. It was lovely how easy this stuff relaxed you.

He turned as the mermaid lay down next to him, sighing about the stars. Falling next to her, he offered his coat as a pillow, nestling himself in the crook of his arm.
"Here, the rocks are far to solid for comfort. Try this.."

He let his arm fall behind her, grabbing his fallen coat as he did. Letting it bundle up, he waited for her to raise his head.

"Well, yes, it happens a lot. But don't fret. Do you have something you do away from the family? Other than this, of course..! It helps to get away."

He looked over to her as she chirped about the chocolate. With a smile, he met her puppy eyes dead-on, holding the eye contact while his chest slowly inflated with hot air.

"But yes, we can definitely do this more often."

The redhead pulled a face at this suggestion. The city wasn't really her thing - too many bad memories. Sure, there were times when she went to visit the town and had managed to enjoy herself. But on the whole it reminded her too much of the whole Eric-Ursula drama. Not only that but it was rather tiring on the spirit being surrounded by so many humans and seeing them go about their daily lives with ease, when she couldn't even get into a store without magic, a drainer in itself.

"I'll pass. And turning you into a chocolate-fetching errand boy just seems too mean," she teased with a laugh, gratefully accepting the coat-pillow. "Though it would be very well paid..."

She edged closer to him, snuggling up to him. "Oh there's plenty I do to get away from my family. Usually I hide out with either the alchemist or the botanist. And if I can't do that, I'm usually at the library," she told him, nestling into the crook of his arm as she spoke. "I don't have a place of my own to stay in though. Every thing I do is watched by someone or other. I'm a bit envious of you in that regard - that you have your own place and can do what you like, whenever you like."

"But really, enough with all this sombre stuff...! I'd rather not think about all that right now. Do you have any plans for Yule yet? Just a quiet night in with your family, or are you planning on going to Princess Aurora's annual Midwinter Ball?"

Brink grimaced a little at the word 'family'. It had been a long time since that pleasure came about.
"Well, the celebration is the big thing on my cards... It's all a tad exciting, and every graduate of the magic school is invited, as per usual. It's held in the grand hall, rather than the castle, this year. The King and Prince rarely, if ever, grace it anyway - so now they're even less likely to join in. But hey, I'm sure they're plenty busy with the war to fight and all that." Brink looked over at the girl, and wrapped is arms around her.

"So, I might as well ask, would you care to join me at the ball? You don't have to, there are understandable hassles, but a girl's gotta get out every now and then!" Brink poked his tongue out, laughing. "And besides, it'll be quite the night. Some of the best decor magicians have come together this year. They say that the hall will be Snowing! Inside! He grinned like a little kid, imagining the idea. "That takes some serious skill, especially if it's for the entire celebration!"

Arielle had seen his grimace. It was gone as fast as it had come, but she had seen. So he was missing family too. They were in the same boat, as it were. Sure, she was only missing her mother, not her whole family like she assumed Brink was, but she still knew the pain and hardship that he must have gone through.

She nuzzled his shoulder with her cheek, a silent mark of empathy and condolence to him. "That sounds absolutely amazing!" she exclaimed softly, a delighted smile on her lips. "The ocean balls are always spectacular, but there's never anything like that..." She was silent for a moment, before looking into his eyes, her own green eyes sparkling with joy at the fact that he'd asked. "I'd love to go..." she said softly, shyness creeping into her tone.

She'd have to pull a tonne of strings, especially if she was wanting legs for the occasion. Which, really was a must have otherwise what was the point in going to a ball. But it would be worth it. It would be worth everything just to get dressed up and have a wonderful night out with Brink. She bit her lip, her lips turning a delicate pink. She'd told herself that she wasn't going to have anything to do with humans, but now look. He was kind and attentive and just wonderful in ways that Eric never was. And now she was going to a ball with him. And she didn't regret accepting the offer, not one bit.

"So...Will you pick me up here? Or will we meet there? And I hope you know that I expect flowers," she added teasingly with a giggle.