Who: Ciaran and Khepri What: Sirens being dumb, Snake Demons being judgy~ When: Summer 1972 Where: The banks of the River Nile, near Luxor, Egypt Warnings: TBD Prompt: Vacation
Of all Ciaran's ideas, both good and bad, this had been one of the latter. He knew that the closer you got to the equator, the hotter it would be. He knew that Egypt, on the northernmost tip of the African continent and connected to the Middle East, would be hot during the summer months. He was more than aware that, as a pale-skinned siren who hailed from Ireland, the heat would not be good for him. Yet a brief mention of it - something about a turn of the tides regarding the country's allegiance in the Cold War - that he had read in a newspaper while on a train headed for Berlin, had lit the spark on his curiosity and he simply had to go. He had been south before, several times, but had never dipped his toes in the Nile or explored the booming hub that was Cairo, the bustling city of Alexandria, or the historic monuments in Luxor. But now? There was nothing stopping him.
It had been as thrilling as he had expected it to be. Each new place ignited his imagination, the architectural feats constructed thousands of years before his own birth breathtaking to behold. It was a dream, a mirage brought on by the stifling heat, for nothing so glistening and golden could possibly be real. The sketchbooks that he had brought with him were all but full, crammed with every little detail he could translate from reality, though nothing could do what he saw justice. Everything was perfect.
Well, almost perfect.
Despite telling himself to let the past go, to move on, there was still something that wouldn't allow him to. Ciaran had tried for years to no avail, seeing flashes of that handsome face amongst the crowds, those blue eyes reflected in the clear waters. No matter what he did, he couldn't seem to leave the past where it belonged.
It was with this thought at the forefront of his mind, as it so often forced itself, that Ciaran branched off from the crowds in search of solitude. It was surprisingly easy once he left the busy streets and instead meandered towards the river, its pull leaving him no need for directions. He walked, and walked, and walked, eventually stopping once the city was no longer in view. Dropping his belongings on the sand, he heaved a sigh and rubbed at his eyes before his hands moved up to remove his shirt. He continued until he was naked, the heat from the sun beating down on his sensitive skin, before he began to wade out into the river.