As it turned out, Ha-Rin had been correct. Hrafn had not once removed his gaze from Haneul. The alien’s expressions ventured anywhere between intrigued to a complex twist of pain. Haneul would have felt awkward and uncomfortable if it hadn’t been for the fact that the guilt that Hrafn exuded was almost palpable. Hrafn needed reassurance just as much as Haneul did. If not more so.

From the other side of the campfire, Ha-Rin and Chief Seong sung drunkenly, raising their bottles of soju up into the night air. They’d tried to outdrink Hrafn, however they hadn’t taken into account that a creature two humans tall would need a considerable amount of alcohol to get wasted. Haneul hadn’t drank, wanting to remain as sober as he could for tonight. Anxiety washed over him before he felt his fingers twitch. Even with the inebriated screeching, he stood up and walked over to Hrafn.

“Do you want to explore the coast while they…continue whatever that is?” Haneul gestured weakly to Chief Seong laying flat on his back while Ha-Rin danced around him.

“As amusing as it is to watch them, I would very much like to observe the ocean with you.” It was the most eager thing Hrafn said the whole night. 

Haneul gestured for the alien to follow him to the tidepools, both of them picking their way carefully from the outcropping down to the beach. The pebbles crunched under the soles of Haneul’s heels and between Hrafn’s talons. At some point, as they approached the tide that swept inland, Haneul gave up and kicked off his dress shoes and his socks. He placed them higher up on the shore where the ocean waves wouldn’t sweep them away. Hrafn watched his movements carefully before they continued to wade out into the water. 

"Ack, it's freakkin' cold," Haneul said as he stepped through the low waves, clenching his jaw to stop his teeth from chattering.

“Won’t your suit get ruined?” Hrafn asked, tentatively stepping into the water like a crane. 

“I have others, it’s not the end of the world.” 

Hrafn hummed. 

By the time they made it to where the water was chest-high for Haneul, it hardly came up waist-high for Hrafn. The water was frigid, and Haneul wondered if he should just submerge himself completely to chase away the bite of the sea. When he checked to see how Hrafn fared, his heart stopped in his chest. There was a plain and simple smile upon the warlord’s face as he ran his hands through the water, curiously splashing at it with his tail feathers and his claws. 

Haneul burst out laughing, his jaw clicking as he tried not to bite his tongue. 

“I—” A disgruntled look passed over Hrafn’s face quickly before he shook his head with a smirk. “Yes whatever, go ahead and laugh.”

“Sorry, I just couldn’t have imagined such a cute look from you,” Haneul chuckled. 

Hrafn cocked his brow with an amused glance. “Me, cute? I’m not sure if I’m insulted or flattered.”

“Oh, then you’re really not going to like this,” Haneul said. “Come here and kick up your legs like you’re just going to lie and float.”

“Drowning me already?” Hrafn half-heartedly laughed. His voice sounded wary but he listened all the same. Wading through the water before Haneul and after a moment’s worth of hesitation, lounging back and floating.

Taking a deep breath, Haneul prepared himself for the worst reaction—a solid punch to the face, maybe—and slid one arm along Hrafn’s back and the other behind his knees. He held the warlord like a bride, aided by the lightness granted by the water. Hrafn floundered for a second, his large hands gripping onto Haneul’s shoulders as his eyes went wide and his wings flailing. 

“Don’t or you’ll tip us both over!” Haneul choked out an embarrassed laugh, realizing this was probably the dumbest plan he’d made. It had seemed romantic when he had thought of it…

“What—” Hrafn squirmed for just a moment before going still as Haneul held him closer. 

“I’m sorry, for earlier today,” Haneul said quietly. “I didn’t mean to pull away. You do not scare me and what you are does not scare me either. Your issues either—we’ll deal with your council as they come at us. I just wanted you to know that.”

Hrafn blinked slowly, as if lost for a second, before nodding. 

Haneul swallowed hard. He didn’t know where to go from there. The mood wasn’t wrong but it wasn’t quite right either. There was this starry-eyed glaze in Hrafn’s eyes watching and waiting for something to happen. But he made no move to dictate what he wanted, and Haneul knew better than anyone that he couldn’t just presume he’d be allowed to make a move. 

“The water, it’s pretty cool right?” He chattered away anxiously, “I know you mentioned that both your planet and the other one don’t have large bodies of water.”

“Haneul.” Hrafn said evenly.

He continued to egg on in a panic. He’d messed up again. He’d read the situation wrong. “And because of the density or whatever of water, don't ask me why my specialization is anthropology okay, but I think gravity doesn’t quite work the same. So I can lift you like this—”

“Haneul.”

“Oh boy, did I mention my feet can barely touch the bottom of the floor now. Haha, I can let you down now—”

They were both upended. The high tide came in and they both were pushed under the water by an disorienting wave. Haneul wondered if this was his karma for being an idiot. But before he could question if it’d be better for him to just stay beneath the surface so he wouldn’t have to face Hrafn again, a sturdy grasp slung around his waist and pulled him up out of the water. 

He realized it was incredibly embarrassing to be held like a bride. 

Hrafn’s hair lay plastered against the sides of his face, his feathers hung sloppily on his wings, and his outer shirt clung to his skin. He looked a lot like a drowned cat. Despite his abhorrence, Haneul couldn’t help but snort out an undignified laugh. 

Hrafn gave a surprised look before his eyes narrowed coyly. Suddenly Haneul was dropped back into the water. 

It took a moment to right himself, pushing himself against the floor and up past the surface. He gasped out, wiping salt water from his eyes and mouth. 

Hunched over, Hrafn shook with laughter, his wings furling and unfurling playfully. 

“You’re so in trouble now,” Haneul growled, splashing water towards the warlord. 

Hrafn regrettably had his mouth open at that moment, and was greeted with a torrent of water into his face. 

Haneul cackled triumphantly for about a second before he saw the look in the alien’s eyes. It was a glowing and viciously happy look.

“You have two seconds to run.” Hrafn smiled.

“Oh shit,” Haneul gasped, wading back to the shallows before sprinting. 

He didn’t get very far before he was tackled. If anyone was there, they might be very concerned at the giant currently dragging him from the ocean. However, every movement of Hrafn’s was calculated and gentle. No touch or grab was harmful or too aggressive. When they fell, Hrafn cushioned the tumble with his own body. 

This is all a stupid dance you’re doing around one another.

The water washed along their sides as they laid on the beach, pebbles pressing into their backs. He’d never, in all the time that Hrafn had been grounded on Earth, heard Hrafn laugh this much. The alien’s eyes were squeezed shut—that was probably the saltwater—and his torso shook with each joyful bark. His wings curled happily as he splayed out flat on his back. 

Laying on his side, watching with fading huffs of mirth, Haneul wanted to stay in this moment for as long as he could. He propped his head up with his hand. 

“If the tide gets any higher, you’ll swallow more sea water,” he warned gently. 

“Let me then,” Hrafn snorted, resting his arm on his forehead. “It would not be the first thing I’ve done against better judgment.”

“Oh? And what would be the first?” 

“Recently?”

Haneul nodded. 

Hrafn huffed and smiled fondly, refusing to open his eyes still. “Chasing after you.”

“Well, you caught me.” Haneul’s voice shook as if he were afraid that urging the alien on would scare him away again. 

“I did.” Hrafn agreed.

His heart hammered in his chest. Haneul didn’t know what to do next. What was he supposed to do? He watched with fascination. The rosy tint on Hrafn’s cheeks lit by the night sky. The way his clothes clung to his skin. And the way his wings fluttered in the air, hovering just a bit above the incoming tide.

Haneul’s breath clogged in his throat, then—dread fluttering above him in the shape of pleasantly curled and definitely not broken bones and feathers. “Your wing, Hrafn…”

The splint was gone along with the bandages. Probably washed away with the water when they’d been swept under the first time. Hrafn sat up immediately, flexing the formerly injured wing with testing movements. At the crook of the arm, there was a terrible scar where feathers grew lopsided and sparsely. But the wing itself was healed. Hrafn gave a few more test flaps, amazed. 

Whatever Haneul was going to confess died away. It would have ended soon anyways.