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[rewarded_by_god]

It should have been quite a relief, to have such undisputed confirmation that he wasn't, in fact, out of his mind. It should have given him some comfort that she was well and truly gone. That he was free of her. Free of those shackles, weighting down his every step. After such a very long time without her voice whispering in his ear, nearly

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[knowthyexits]

"I wouldn't speak so soon," Sarah warns. She's not anywhere near a regular sleeper and so while others are off tucked happily into bed, she's here, close enough to hear that little retort. She crosses her arms around her torso, her way of protecting herself, and merely smirks at him. "Sorry?"

[rewarded_by_god]

Gaius startled visibly, a sharp cry lodging in his throat, but all of that was unsurprising. He'd always been a bit high strung, guilty conscious or not.

"Oh, Ms. Baum. I didn't see you there," he said, attempting to cover with a charming smile.

[knowthyexits]

She barely reacts to that sudden burst of charm and the jump he seems to have had in direct reaction to her. "I'm not much of a sleeper," she admits, giving her a perfectly reasonable excuse (so she thinks) for why she's out there. "What is no one around to give a damn about?"

[rewarded_by_god]

"Oh, it's nothing," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand, then, with equal flippancy, he added, "My sudden bout of nostalgia, I suppose."

Giving her a sideways glance, he admitted, "I used to be quite a sound sleeper. I'm not entirely sure what happened." Guilt would to that to a man.

[majorhellstrom]

Funny how things worked out. Hellstrom hadn't particularly expected to find anyone wandering around on the beach this late, but then again, here he was, so what the hell.

"You can't rely on anyone to give a damn but yourself," he said, voice at its usual polite timbre.

[rewarded_by_god]

Gaius sucked in a startled breath, but otherwise, managed not to make a complete fool of himself.

"Pardon me?" he asked, unaware he'd spoken aloud.

[majorhellstrom]

"You can't rely on anyone to give a damn but yourself," Hellstrom repeated, a little slower this time, dragging out his words in a way that was slightly more threatening than condescending.

"The more you rely on others, the more likely it is for you to be let down."

[rewarded_by_god]

"Ah," Gaius said, his expression openly baffled, "That would be quite sound advice, had I been asking for it."

[likes_to_bite]

As Sunny gets older, she's growing more independent, and with it, a little...rebellious.

She read a story the other day about a girl who had lots of adventures with her pet horse, and Sunny wants to have adventures, too. That's why she's sneaked away from her bedroom and brought Fairy here to the beach.

The nighttime is mysterious and a little scary, so she creeps with Fairy by her side, stopping when she comes upon Gaius all alone.

"Hello," she whispers, like it's not okay to make noise in the dark.

[rewarded_by_god]

Frowning at what was unmistakably a real voice, Gaius looked over his shoulder, left and right, before finally drawing his eyes down, a bemused, "Hel--" half out of his mouth before he caught sight of the giant snake and let out a startled yelp.

Quite manly, really.

"Get away from there," he told her, only a bit frantic as he backed away and motioned for the little girl to follow.

[likes_to_bite]

Sunny's eyes widen like she has no idea what he's so scared of.

"Away from where?" she asks, trying to contain a giggle. People are always scared of Fairy!

[rewarded_by_god]

"Away from there!" he said, pointing, every ounce of dignity he had left effectively lost forever at the sudden shrillness in his voice.

"It's a snake. A huge snake."