"You're usually not on edge for no reason, though," Glory pointed out. "Do you want to take a look around and see if there's anything in the area that might be causing it?"

Léan shook his head. "No. I'm all right. I will be fine," he retorted, simply. He felt all right. He still felt quite nervous about everything that was happening with them, and the stress from it--for him, there was a lot of stress--might have been getting to him.

"If you're sure..." Glory said. Inwardly, she was glad he didn't want to look around. She was comfortable in his arms, and she didn't want to let go of him.

Léan nodded, silently, and closed his eyes again, going back to enjoying their company. He wasn't prepared to do anything more than this...not on his own, anyway. He could deal with gentle, innocent things like this. But anything more...he was terrified to do on his own.

Glory was perfectly content just cuddling with him. She had no intention of taking things any further until they were both comfortable with it, which would undoubtedly take a while. For now, cuddling and the occasional kiss would be just fine.

As long as contact was regular, Léan would warm up to the idea. It wouldn't take more than three months, as long as he kept his confidence strong...but no less than three weeks...he seemed fine, for now.

"You know, it would be easy to fall asleep in your arms like this," Glory said, a bit teasingly. She knew that, had they been cuddling on the beach back home, or even on her couch, she'd have dozed off already.

'We had better move to shallow water, then," Léan teased, right back. "Because if you fall asleep and I fall asleep, you'll drown. And I'm tempted to."

"Maybe we should, then," Glory replied, grinning a bit. She didn't mind a nap on the beach, if it was with him. She could even ignore all the sand she'd get in uncomfortable places.

Léan swam them both back towards the shallow water, where there were barely any waves. He swam so quickly...even faster than the shark. He released his grip on her slightly so she could get comfortable in the sand.

Glory held on as he pulled her towards the shore, and cuddled closer to him once they settled at the edge of the water. She knew she was going to get a sunburn, at least a little, so she didn't worry about it. It was worth it to snuggle with him.

Léan kept his tail in the water, in case someone came by the beach. He shuffled a bit closer so they were both comfortable and settled down to rest.

Gently, Glory laid her head on his chest and started to doze off in his arms. She'd been up very late the night before waiting up for Selena, and she'd been woken up early that morning by Viktor, so it didn't take her long to fall asleep against Léan.

Léan took his time falling asleep, since he was used to keeping his guard up when others were around. But, he eventually settled into a light, but restful, sleep.

Glory slept for a little while, but it was sleep she needed. She woke up later still snuggled close to Léan, but her skin was feeling hot and tight. She didn't need to look to see that she had burned.

Léan was still asleep. He was singing in his sleep once more. It was soft, alluring sound, though it was much more hypnotic when he was underwater.

((Bed-time for me--it's late here. ^^))

((I'm going to bed, too))

Glory listened to the singing for a little while, mesmerized. Finally, she had to force herself to wake him up. Gently, she shook his shoulder.

"Hey," she said softly. "Wake up. I need to go back inside, I got pretty crispy, and you were singing in your sleep again."

Léan was jolted out of sleep, and he shook his head a few times, blinking. Despite having laid in the sun for so long...he was absolutely devoid of sunburn. Perhaps it had something to do with his species?

"Oh...I see. My apologies." He paused, then shifted. "Do you want me to go with you? I can, if you want..."

"You don't have to," Glory replied. "That tank can't have been very comfortable, and it seems safe enough out here for now. I mean, if you want to come back in with me, that's fine, but I won't make you."

Léan frowned, tail flicking back and forth again. His tail seemed to betray his emotions. "If, ah...Selena wouldn't mind...and I don't know how she'd feel about it...I wouldn't mind, either. I don't want to cause problems..."

"I'll ask," Glory said. "But I should get inside and put something on my burn... It's going to hurt tomorrow as it is, and I can't imagine how it's going to feel to be in long sleeves and jeans again when we get home."

Léan nodded, then paused again. "You should do that first. I'd like to have a look around the islands and scout for traces of my father. A look around should take me a few hours, and it will make me sure my father is gone, unless I find something."

"Alright. I'll come back out in about a couple hours, then," Glory said. That would give her time to take care of her sunburn and talk to Selena. Leaning down, she gave him a small kiss. "Be careful, alright?"

Léan gingerly responded to the kiss before nodding and turning around. He slid back out into deeper water, and soon disappeared around the side of the island. He was vaguely wondering if he'd run into any others of his kind, since he'd heard there was a settlement around here.

Glory was pleasantly surprise when he returned the kiss and waited until he was out of sight before turning to go back inside. Once she was out of the sun, she could feel just how hot her skin was, and she knew that she'd be peeling for days once the burn healed. Heading into her room, she was a little surprised to see Selena there.

"Hey," she said. "Do you have any idea if we have any aloe or lotion or anything here?" She was careful not to say anything about her new relationship with Léan, though she had no idea how perceptive Selena might be on the subject.