So far the trip had been rather enjoyable. Lunch was delicious, and Vulpes met Eric who seemed to adore him almost as much as he loved Cytherea. Honestly, the two were practically twins. It hardly surprised him when they both went running off to find a candy store in Alexandria. Of course that left Vulpes and Aurora to do whatever they pleased, and that was actually the way Vulpes preferred it.

Somehow they had ended up on the beach near where they had, well, landed. And somehow Aurora had talked Vulpes into learning some hand-to-hand combat. He supposed it had something to do with that incident on the train. Still, Vulpes agreed, although he wasn't very enthusiastic; and it was sort of hard being excited when Aurora pinned him every other minute.

With great dread Vulpes picked himself up off the ground for the ninth time and shook as much sand out of himself as he could. He heaved a sigh and looked at Aurora while taking what looked like a fencing stance. "I thought you said you'd go easy on me?" Vulpes teased playfully. "And ready when you are."

Aurora was having a blast.  With her cargo's rolled up to her knees, hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, feet bare and just in her t-shirt, grappling on the beach with Vulpes turned out to be the highlight of her day.  That was saying a lot since she was in Egypt: a gorgeous place that she fell in love with at first sight.

Though rather warm outside, Eric had used a cooling charm on Aurora so she wouldn't get heat stroke (since she spent all her time outside).  She was elated that Eric and Vulpes got along so well in their first meeting.  Eric adored Cytherea as well, since they were both kids (in one way or another).  Aurora was never happier than she was that day.

Jumping side-to-side on her feet, she couldn't contain her beaming smile and the adrenaline coursing through her.  "I am going easy on you," she said with a chuckle.  "Now, remember what I told you.  When I go for your arm, grab my ankle, twisting it just so so that I lose balance." she added and counted off to start again.  "Go," she said, and the fighting continued with Aurora kicking his elevated arm away with her left leg.

Like he did the time before, he succeeded in grabbing her ankle, twisting it so that she lost her balance.  Stumbling a bit on her right leg, she used momentum to spin on her heel, making Vulpes lose his grip and her left leg to be released.  Landing with her left leg behind her, she smiled in approval and continued their routine.

After a minute or so of back-and-forth sparring, Aurora managed to grab both his wrists, wringing them behind to his sides and knocking him on his back.  Straddling him, she pinned his arms above his head and smiled down at him.

"Pinned you again," she said lightly in amusement.  "Although you lasted way longer than before.  I think in a few more sessions you'll be able to get me on my back." she added with a chuckle.  "So, mister Conner, what are you going to do to make that happen?" she asked playfully.

Ahhh this was horrifying! Vulpes was really bad at fighting. Ducking and dodging, no problem; actually fighting back? Not at all. Luckily due to his own natural agility he managed to avoid a few grabs he now noticed as ones that would land him flat on his back. But it was no use, she finally proved too much for him and Vulpes found himself laying in that sand, again, arms pinned at the wrist. The only part of his body that wasn't completely held fast was part of his left leg. And he had no idea how to use that to escape.

So he squirmed slightly, tugging  and twisting at the hands around his wrists. Well that sure didn't work. Vulpes gave a huff. "I'm never going to get the sand out of my hair at this rate," he said playfully. Blushing slightly at the comment about how he'd get her on his back, Vulpes frowned and thought about it.

In short he answered, "Not a clue, love," and smiled at her. "Now, you gonna let me up or not?"

Aurora giggled a little at his squirming.  "You know, I think I forget to tell you how much I adore your new haircut," she said with a 'tsk'.  "I get to see more of you." she added with a sigh and a soft smile.  Her smile faded at the change in his expression.  Am I hurting him? she wondered, furrowing her eyebrows slightly at his frown.  Loosening her grip, she shook her head slightly and let out a sigh.

"To knock me down, you need to use your leg as a tool and your upper torso as momentum.  Get your leg behind one of mine and secure my arms like I did with you.  Then use your other leg to kick my other leg out from under me.  Then presto manifesto, knock down." she said, letting go and helping him up.  "That was really wordy, wasn't it?" she asked rhetorically with a chuckle and resumed her fighting stance.

"Ready?  Go," she said, and they replayed the same song and dance.  Surprisingly, Vulpes almost secured both her arms in an attempt to knock her down, but Aurora managed to scramble it out of his grasp and use it to her advantage.  Once again, Aurora knocked him down, but with a little more difficulty than before.

"Wow, you are really learning quickly," she said breathlessly, looking down as she had him pinned like before.  "But, I pinned you again." she chuckled a little and smiled warmly at Vulpes.  Using just one hand to pin his arms above his head, she used the other to wisp away some sand that had gotten on his forehead.  Moving a lock of hair from his face, she was momentarily stunned by Vulpes, unaware of how she studied his eyes with a certain look.

Almost. Vulpes almost got her that time. But close only counted in horseshoes and hand grenades. So for the tenth, and hopefully final time Vulpes landed in the sand. "Dammit," he muttered just as he felt his arms pinned above him. And now she was just taunting him, using only one hand to do it. Vulpes stared up at Aurora and felt a strange feeling as she leaned so close to him.

Well not strange. He had felt this twice before that he knew of. So it wasn't much of a surprise to him with what he did next. Ignoring his voice of reason that told him not to, Vulpes struggled to lift his head closer to Auroras.

And for a third time in his life he kissed her.

Aurora immediately stopped breathing the moment his lips touched hers.  Her instincts made her kiss back, but after a moment her brain stepped in.  No, no, no! she screamed mentally with eyes widened.  Pulling away quickly, Aurora jumped off of Vulpes as if shot with a thousand bolts of electricity.  Rolling in the sand, she jumped up and was about to run away when she realized she was barefoot.  Mentally cursing herself, she practically ran to where her boots lay, cradled them to her stomach and off she went back to the hotel without looking or speaking to Vulpes.

No!  Why would he do that?!  I thought we agreed to pretend nothing happened!  That implies that it shouldn't happen again!  No, no, no!

Aurora reached the hotel without realizing it and was already in the room she shared with Eric.  Throwing her boots somewhere in the middle of the room, she paced in front of the beds while clutching her head.  A million thoughts were running in her mind all a-jumbled that she couldn't tell how long she stayed in the room, pacing back and forth as if trying to burn a hole in the floor.

Church let out a long heavy sigh. "Yep. I saw that coming," he said aloud, still laying in the sand, body still in its pinned position. Why had he done that, he wondered. After all they had promised not to, again. But there was something in her eyes, in her voice just then that he couldn't resist.

Quite annoyed with himself he rolled to his feet and tried to shake all the sand out of his hair and clothes. "Just watch," he said through a sigh. "Six months from now I'll still be shaking sand out." Finally giving up, Vulpes began making his way back to the Hotel.

He suddenly felt like a shower. And a nap.

-End (For now)