This girl is a gun, before you know it, it's done
And you'll be wishing that you crossed your fingers

smodeus' figure - blessedly alone - quickly manifests from the rippling line of the horizon. Marceline is glad to see him looking hale, amber eyes roving appreciatively across his finely muscled form as he makes his approach.

The spotted mare holds her position on the shore despite every fiber of her swim-fatigued body urging her forward. The svelte muscles beneath her rose-and-ivory pelt twitch with burgeoning anticipation as Asmodeus swiftly closes the distance between them, sidling up next to her with ease. He does not reach for her, a fact that goes largely unnoticed by Marceline who offers him her touch freely, reaching out to brush her whiskered nose tenderly against the latch of his throat as he rumbles a greeting. The low timbre in which her name is spoken brings a flush to her face and her lips quirk into a pleased half-smile.

"Oh, boredom, mostly," Marceline replies cheekily, flashing asmodeus a winsome smile that belies the small, gnawing ache within her chest. In truth she had been feeling rather isolated atop her mountain, loneliness pressing in like a shadow at all sides. Güneşlenmek was a faithful companion, and her children were adept at keeping her on her toes, but she longed for something more than distant companionship or fleeting gestures of familial affection, even if it was only for a day.

Asmodeus' words, though meant to be teasing, wriggle their way into her mind and hook themselves there. She would not give a voice to the doubts that had begun to eat away at her in the small hours, but there were doubts, locked tight behind the near-constant purse of her lips. Apprehension had taken root and try as she might marceline could not weed it out. Once she had thought she could bring the band of misfit peak mares to glory, to make them as feared as their counterparts across the commons, but thus far it had proven a harder task than imagined. A true case of easier said than done.

"Dear Asmodeus, do you ever take no for an answer?" comes her teasing repartee, her voice pitched low and sweet, a sharp smile slicing its way across her sanguine lips. His attempts to persuade her all those seasons ago had been rebuffed, but there were times she would drift back to their first fated meeting on the Crossing, letting the scene play out with a much different ending. "In truth, I needed a break from the Peak. Looking at that mountain day in and day out doesn't do wonders for my sanity. I trust your daughter will keep the place running while I'm gone." Would he be disappointed that she had not brought Antoinette, or glad to have her free of distraction? Marceline would tell him anything he wanted to know about her, if it afforded her more time to linger on his shores.

"Come, let's have ourselves a little catch-up while you show me to the water. You can tell me what you've been up to while we've been apart."