Written August 10th 10:37 PM

The prospect of taking on a mission that required numerous weeks spent at sea filled Ailith with excitement. The First and Last hadn’t had much luck on boats, necessarily (Ailith still had nightmares about drowning in a sea of spiders) but the change in scenery was always appreciated. A dwarf named Groundhammer showed the group around The Disaster’s Mistress, ending with the sleeping quarters below decks. Ailith’s attitude towards the whole sea-voyage thing got decidedly worse when she realized they would be sleeping with the rest of the crew. In a big room. In hammocks.

She shot a look at Feyra, unsurprised to see the other woman staring at the hammocks with a look of distaste on her face. It wasn’t that they couldn’t sleep in hammocks, gods knew they had slept in stranger places before, but they had both gotten so used to the luxury of sharing a bed while at Feywinda’s – it felt strange to go backwards. Ailith sighed. It’s only a couple weeks, she told herself.

That night, Ailith lay awake listening to the ship creak around her. There was the odd huff as one of the crewmembers shifted in their hammock, and she was pretty sure Talus was snoring somewhere next to her. The rocking of the ship was soothing, but she couldn’t sleep. Feyra was in the hammock below her, so close she could almost feel her – wait, what is-?

Ailith felt a hand reach through the rope of her hammock and brush against her arm. Before she could respond, the hand gave a tug, swinging Ailith’s hammock slightly. Ailith twisted, peering through the darkness to where she could just make out Feyra’s eyes looking up at her. Grinning, she rolled slowly herself out of her hammock, lowering herself gently until she was straddling Feyra’s hammock, balancing her knees on the outside edges. She braced herself, muscles taut and shaking, trying to stay steady. The last thing she wanted was the both of them falling out and waking up the entire crew; Xiv would never let them hear the end of it.

“You good up there?” Feyra whispered, hands coming up to hold Ailith’s hips.

“Don’t worry, I’m super dexterous,” Ailith replied, letting go of her hammock and bringing her hands down on either side of Feyra’s head.

“Oh, that I know,” Feyra teased. Ailith gasped and squirmed when Feyra ghosted her hands up her sides, the touch light enough to tickle. “Shh!” Feyra admonished, fighting back laughter. “We have to be quiet.”

“I don’t think that will be a problem,” Ailith murmured as she pressed kisses along Feyra’s jaw. “For one of us, at least.” She grinned wickedly against Feyra’s pulse-point as the other woman stifled a groan. What could Ailith say? She enjoyed a challenge.