Stress. It wasn’t something he had felt in a long while. Life had been easy. He had grown complacent. Medusa had made life easy. Sit around, patrol the border, keep an eye on pups that dared to be unruly, and that was about it. Nothing exciting, nothing dramatic, and maybe that was made his skin crawl as of late. Even with the approach of pups that he would claim as his own, there was something… missing.

That missing puzzle piece was leading to stress. A permanent crease in his brow as he wandered toward a cavern he had only visited once more. While he wasn’t one to partake in drugs or alcohol, he had enjoyed the coziness of the cavern and its bright lighting that covered the ceiling and walls.

Beneath the surface, within the caverns, it was quiet. His paws muffled by thick moss and the drip of water silenced by muscles that bloomed in every crevice. He would continue until he found a decent sized cavern off the main pathway that appeared empty. There he was plop down upon that velvet moss and stretch out his sore leg muscles. Resting his face against a comfortable rock, Ghoul closed his eyes for a moment in hopes the stress would eventually fade away.

There wasn't much to do but wait for her brother to join them, so Deluge took the opportunity to continue scouting out places they could potentially keep some caches. This cavern... had she been here before? If she had, she had been too drunk to remember so she wandered forward, looking at the glowing fungi on the wall and wondered, were these the sort of mushrooms that were only edible once?

A familiar scent walked ahead of her and she grinned, calling into the caverns ahead, “Oh great Chief, have yer forsaken yer beautiful little spit o'sand an' left yer crabby subjects ter their own devices?” Her voice echoed off the walls, as did the clinking of bottles over her hips. It was strange that they kept running into each other like this. “I can't imagine why...” It was a tease, the grin obvious in her tone as her voice bounced off the walls around her. Maybe she was walking into a game of cat and mouse, or maybe he'd just call back, and they could catch up over some drinks? She lifted her toes as she continued on so her nails wouldn't click on the stone and give her away. Just in case.

“Speech”

As he drifts lazily, eyes half-opened, staring at the twinkling lights that surround him, he had not expected to hear her voice. At first, his body freezes, ever muscle tensing. He hadn’t heard her approach. Not a single paw squishing against soft moss or even the gentle clink of bottles draped over her hips. His brow furrows as he lifts his head from his rock pillow and blinks away the blurry sleep. Had he imagined it? A faint dream from their night on the crescent island?

She lures him with a teasing sentence and his confusion turns into something… A slight smile as he begins to push himself up onto his paws. Glancing around, he can tell she isn’t quite near him yet. Should he go find her or help lure her closer? Something in him shifts as he moves toward a far wall away from where the echo of her voice came from. Concealing the sound of his own paws with the dense moss beneath, he pauses before turning to call back to her.

“Perhaps I was hoping for a chance to see a certain Pirate Captain again,” Ghoul calls out, his husky tones bouncing off slick walls covered in dimly glowing mushrooms.

The answer that comes back sends a little shiver of delight down her spine, and she took a swig from one of her bottles. It's been too long since she has just let loose for the sake of it. She carefully places the open bottle in plain sight and moves to unhook her spares and set them down against the cool and mossy stones, right next to the tunnel where his scent was strongest. If she wanted to be sneaky, their clinking wouldn't do her any favours, and there wasn't any harm in dragging things out a bit, right?

She feigned ignorance and strolled casually past the entrance of the tunnel and deeper into the cavern. “Maybe I was wrong, perhaps yer a pirate too? We seem ter end up in th' same waters often enough...” She sidestepped into another narrow passage that spit off from the main path, ears tilting to see if he was going to join in her little game, while still trying to keep just far enough ahead that the chase wouldn't be too easily won.

“Speech”

Following her scent through the cavern, he notices the bottles placed neatly alongside the wall. A brow raised and his smirk widens. Ah, so he's not imagining her. Grabbing a bottle, he takes a long swig for some liquid courage before pressing on. Lifting his nose slightly, he lets his nostrils flare, hoping for a breeze, but gets nothing but stale cavern air. Releasing a snort, he looks around until he notices slight impressions in the moss that appear similar to paw prints.

Turning to walk down the corridor he hopes she's gone down, he tries to follow and is thankful when she calls back to him. He can't help but laugh in response. A Pirate? Funny wasn't it? That his mother had fallen in love with a Pirate right before her... demise. Giving his head a shake, he tries see if she is up ahead, but isn't sure. Her own fur glows similarly to the mushrooms that line the walls.

"Pirate? Only if you consider my treasure to be you," he calls back. Was this more flirting than he'd ever done in his life? Yes. The liquid courage seemed to be doing the trick. Unlocking a piece of him that he didn't even know existed. Keeping his pace leisurely, he continues to make his way in the cavern, always a few steps behind her.

He seemed to have picked up her trail and she dragged her flank along a rare clear patch of wall to give him a little more to go off as she followed the sound of trickling water. “Ah, so it's m' booty yer want?” she teased back, unable to contain the giggle that bubbled in her chest, “It'll take more'n a few pretty words ter plunder tha' m'dear.”

Her steps splashed audibly as the tiny trickle of glowing water widened, and so did the cavern ahead of her. Her steps slowed as her eyes turned upwards to take in as much of the space as she could. Mushrooms lined the walls and pool sat in the middle of the room, bioluminescence rolling along the ripples from her steps. Of course, she was a sitting duck, but there was plenty of moss to break her fall if her companion decided to pounce.

“Speech”

Ghoul laughs in response. A low rumble in his chest as he continues to follow her at a respectable distance. She'd figured out his plan after all, hadn't she? As he passes by that rare piece of wall, a zap of electricity runs through him. Her scent is nearly intoxicating. How he wished he had grabbed a bottle of that booze for the road. Would he even be able to handle a woman of such confidence? "I'm certain I can provide more than a few words to prove I'm worthy of plundering," he replies as the cavern opens up in front of him. A sparkling ceiling dazzles with a faint glow as water trickles down the walls. The sound of water splashing draws his ruby gaze to the widening pool. There she stands in all of her beauty. She's prettier than he remembers, but that last time, he had been decently drunk so it tracks. Stepping closer to her, he reaches out with his teeth to try and nip gently at her flank. "I never imagined I'd ever get a chance with a gorgeous woman such as yourself," his tone drops to a husky volume as he inches closer to her, his own paws causing ripples in the cool water. "It's as if the gods dropped you straight from the heavens themselves," Ghoul gives her a little smirk, a slightly tilt of his head before he reaches out to try and graze his tongue along her thigh.

Words. She snickered under her breath, a brow arched at the suggestion she had dropped from the heavens, more like crawled her way out of the depths of hell. Her mother would correct him, tell him he was in the presence of the Devine and he should act thus, but Deluge didn't harbor her mother's lofty opinions of herself. She allows the words to wash over her with a smirk, and when he licks at her thigh she raises a foot to press into his chest, holding him at bay. Her tail waves invitingly so he'll know it's not for long, but she had no need to rush things, they could have a bit more fun yet. "I could let yer be th' Captain this time..." Her eyes crinkled at the corners, "all it'll cost yer is yer name." She wondered if he'd bother trying to figure hers out.

"speech"

Her paw presses into his chest, forcing him to lift his head up and raise his brows at her. It wouldn't have taken him much to be discouraged, but the inviting wag of her tails keeps his hopes up. As each second passed, the more he wanted her. Wanted to feel, taste, enjoy ever inch of her. He couldn't quite understand it. Maybe it was the fact that she wasn't his. That she could be someone else's or entirely not his at all that further ignited the flame in his groin. He's surprised though when all she wants is a name. His smirk grows as he leans in closer. "Why I would enjoy bein' the captain if it means hearing you moan my name," Ghoul murmurs, pressing back against her paw that rests firmly on his chest. "Ghoul is my name and perhaps this captain can have yours so he may whisper it later on?" He reaches forward, attempting to playfully nip at her heel.

Ghoul, she could have chuckled, it suited him. When he asked after own, she saw no reason to lie. "Deluge," she responded simply, dropping her paw from his chest and strolling further into the glowing cavern. Bioluminescence rippled out from where her paws disturbed the shallow water, and her own coat began to glow in response. She turned her eyes upward to see how far the glowing mushrooms reached and realised they coated the walls and the ceiling. She strolled towards the back of the cavern, regretting leaving her alcohol behind, only a little as she looked for somewhere a little more dry, that would still allow them to bask within the otherworldly scenery they had stumbled across.

"speech"