Tempe simply sat, like a moping puppy, cooling off until Zephyr came out. She was back to her normal, slightly cool temperature when he did, hopping to her feet and scurrying to meet him. Her eyes raked over him quickly, and she blew out a breath when he seemed fine. She let a little smile bloom at the joke. "Really? Thanks. I think you're pretty hot too. Not literally, but you know." She rambled just slightly, glancing at his arm with a twinge of guilt. "I'm sorry I hurt you. I know I did, and you don't like the heat, and I didn't fix it fast enough- I would never have- hurt you on purpose or anything like that. I'm fine now. You can touch me. Well, that sounded weird- I mean, not that I don't want you to touch me- because, like, I love it when you touch me- but you dont have to, if you dont want to, but if you did, I won't burn you, or anything, so you don't have to be afraid. I guess that's what I'm trying to say. Yeah." She blurted, going a little red in the face. Why, suddenly, did her composure have to fly out of the back of her brain? She took a deep breath and his comment, glancing darkly over her shoulder. "I'll find out, don't worry." She answered softly. And then they'll never shoot another arrow again. She blinked at her own dark train of thought, but she knew quite well that it was true. She would make sure whoever shot him never even considered doing it again.

On a normal day, his heart was usually cold as stone, but at Tempe's compliment, it melted into a puddle of unusable goo. "Yes, really, but also literally, and thanks as well." Zephyr answered, emotionally glowing slightly as he sat down. He usually was like a shadow with emotions, but right now he felt all fuzzy and weird. Did Chiron drug him without his permission? This feeling was confusing. As Tempe started talking, he slowly looked over at her, his eyebrows inching up slightly. When she finally finished, he put an arm around her shoulders with a faint smile. "I'm never afraid of anything, so you don't have to worry about that. And since you actually said you love it when I touch you, then I'll try to do it more often. However, next time you need to tell me something, try and talk less like the Oracle and more like the confident/scary person I know." he teased lightly, grinning before casting a glance at her, her next words a little ominous. Don't get it wrong, he looooved ominous, but he could only guess what Tempe would do if she did find who it was. His mind flitted along the lines of torture+death, but he decided to forget that. "No murdering." Zeph stated sternly, not really joking, because he had a slight feeling, with the way she glared at the spot, that murder might be an option in her mind. "And also, don't go searching on your own. We can find the person together so I can scare them to death with skeletons and whack them across the face." He smirked as he thought about it, liking that idea better.

Tempe settled down beside him as he sat, worrying at her lower lip with her teeth. She offered him a warm, sheepish smile at his answer, leaning into him as he slung his arm over her shoulders. She flushed slightly and nodded, closing her eyes as she settled her head on his shoulder. "Don't change on my account. It's perfectly fine if you don't want to touch me more often." She joked, looking up at him and trying to edge him into admitting he maybe, slightly, a little bit, liked touching her too. "I'll work on being less Oracle-y in the future." She chuckled softly, settling her body gently against the side of his. She let out a soft huff at his order. "No promises." She answered softly, speaking into his shoulder for a moment before she raised her head. "It's not murder if it's a duel. And I wasn't planning on murder- just making sure that one or both hands are permanently useless." She shrugged nonchalantly, huffing at him. "Fine. If you promise to do the same. But promise me I get to break at least a couple of bones, and hit them with a few bolts?" She counteroffered, peering up at him.

Zephyr smiled slightly, warmth radiating through his side where Tempe leaned up against him. A good kind of warmth, though. Not a searing heat, but a comforting warmth. He glanced at her as she spoke, guessing she was trying to edge an answer from him, as that seemed to be something she would do. "I like being near you in any way possible, and I'm SLOWLY warming up to this. Slowly. Very. Very. Slowly." He stressed the slowly part, but there was a smile playing on his lips as he spoke. He was coming to find that he enjoyed the closeness a lot more now, even though it had only been- a couple days? He didn't even know at this point. All he knew is their first kiss had sent him for a loop and he had executed the second, which was even crazier in his opinion, because he would have NEVER done anything like that a week ago, no matter how close he was to any person. Tempe was really.. changing him. No, not changing. Bringing out the real him. The happier side. As she spome again he narrowed his eyes at her, huffing quietly in return. "No, no murdering. And no permanently dispatching hands. If anyone does that, it'll be me. It's my revenge. I promise to stick by your side, and you can break 1 BONE and hit them with 2 BOLTS. The rest I get to execute." He counter-countered, a little amused at how they were arguing over a terrifyingly painful revenge plan.

Tempe gave him a soft, genuine smile for his answer. "Slowly is fine. I don't care how fast, as long you enjoy it. I have all the time in the world for you to like whatever you end up liking. I have all the time in the world when it comes to anything, for you. I'll make the time, if I have to." She hummed quietly in response, curling her arm around his back, since he seemed in a mood that called for it. His words had her heart beating a little faster, and her skin warming- not searing, but closer to that of direct sunlight on a brisk day. Practically glowing.

She lifted her head sternly at his rules. "What about permanently dispatching a singular hand?" She offered, sketching a brow at him. She knew what he said was right- the revenge was his, first and foremost. But Gods, she desperately wanted revenge for the same reason. "That's ridiculously low! 4 bones and 8 bolts at the LEAST!" She said indignantly, sitting up straight from where she had been lounging in the curve of his side.

(Wow. Just wow. I absolutely LOVE how our characters can LITERALLY argue about torturing someone. Not whether or not to do it, but how many bones to break XDDD)

+++

Zephyr glanced at her with a twinkle in his eyes. How did she manage to turn the creepy emo skeleton kid into this happy person? His heart almost hurt. It shouldn't feel so light- was it trying to pop out his chest? What was WRONG with him? This was absolutely NOT a normal feeling. No wonder he avoided it for years. However, he liked it. A lot. "I have all the time in the world for you, too, unless I die before then. I apologize if that happens. Howwwwever, I may be able to pull something with Hades, so yep! All the time in the world!" He said cheerfully. Honestly, he almost seemed to be getting himself in a fix that usually included almost dying. If he wouldn't have moved, he'd have bled out from the arrow by now. Luckily, it was only throbbing painfully, but he could barely feel it, as he was focused on Temperence.

He contemplated her next words before caving. "MAYBE. That's not a yes." he answered, then snorted at her protest. "I said we can't kill anyone. As long as you don't accidentally kill the person, fine." He rolled his eyes, looking at her. "You look like an indignant turtle, chill out." Zeph muffled a chuckle/

The sign of real, true love

Not if they can find who it was, but what to do to them WHEN they do xD))

Tempe offered him a grin for his words. "Don't die." She ordered simply, shifting to face him and set her head in the crook of his neck, curling both arms around him. Just the thought was enough to dim her mood, so she shoved it far, far away. His skin was slightly cool against the natural heat of her face, so she tentatively nuzzled into his neck, gently in case he was uncomfortable and wanted to shove her off. She wasn't great with... talking about feelings. This was her way of expressing that she most definitely did not want to think of him and death in the same moment.

She grinned into the side of his neck. "I can deal with that." She nodded, lifting her head with a scoff. "I absolutely do not!" She exclaimed, huffing at him.

(I'm literally laughing so hard I had to take five minutes just to breathe LOL)

+++

Zephyr could tell she didn't like the sentence he spoke about, well, dying, so he didn't say another word on the subject, also not mentioning his father was the god of death. Or that he had a scar of a skull on his chest. Or that he could raise skeletons from the ground. None of that mattered, anyway, as long as he was with Tempe. A smile flickered pnto his face as he could feel her breath on his neck- at first, he would've thought he wouldn't like it, that he would be uncomfortable, but he gave it a chance, and it was really just calming knowing that she was right there. When she lifted her head and huffed at him, he tried to choke back a laugh, but it was impossible. Glancing away for a second, he muffled his laughter with coughs. "Now you look even more like one." he wheezed, not even caring that his stomach felt like it was going to die. "I absolutely do not!" he mimicked her high-pitched voice, then made the face she had been making, which quite honestly could be simply explained as an indignant turtle face.

Tempe scowled at him, but she didn't mean it- couldn't mean it, when she was with him. "Gods, you're insufferable. You know that, you dirt-brained bat?" She mocked, gently smacking his chest. She stood up and started hobbling away, still managing to seem halfway graceful as she limped toward the stairs. "Just for that, you're not getting cuddled for at least the next hour." She huffed over her shoulder, as if she could ever resist the offer anyway. She halted at the top of the steps, staring down the three planks she'd have to walk to get to the ground. She huffed and glanced over her shoulder at him, a wordlessly pleading look in her eyes.

"I love being insufferable! Because when I'm insufferable, you scowl, and when you scowl, you look kinda cute." Zephyr teased, probing at her buttons, mostly just to get her to blush or say more amusing things at this point. As she hobbled away he smiled widely, especially at her comment. "Funny, because I seem to remember- or at least guess- you can't resist. You love cuddling. Didn't you just say that?" He stood and walked over, standing just out of arms reach, smirking as he looked at her. "Have fun getting down." He said cheerfully as he started to step down before turning instead. "Wait- why did the teacher marry the janitor? Because he swept her off her feet." Zeph grinned lightly as he scooped Tempe up in his arms and walked down, dropping her most of the way before making sure NOT to smash her into the ground, setting her gently down. "You can walk on mostly flat surfaces, right? Let's go figure out who shot at me. That'll be entertaining." He said cheerfully.