<span style="font-family: 'Georgia'">She didn’t dare look back when Théadan called that he’d already given Wyndagar fresh water; she was too busy slipping through the door and wondering how far she could get before he caught up to her. The moment he likely wanted to hear of had come to mind almost as soon as those whales had finished breaching the water, as if her mind was ready to fess up and share the most embarrassed she’d ever been. There was no fun in just giving in though; there was a stubbornness in Navia that urged her to flee. So she’d gone down the first flight stairs that led to the cargo deck and debated her options. By the time she’d set foot on the steerage deck to find Wyndagar, she had an idea and Théadan’s voice was carrying down the stairs after her.<br/>
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“Maybe,” she called back up to him with a small smirk, knowing how useless it was to try to hide from him when they were on a ship and shared the same bed. Besides, she didn't actually want to avoid him. The story was embarrassing, but she had suggested the bet and she had lost. She just could not give in so easily, not when they could use it for a little fun. They were running out of things to entertain them, were they not? Navia’s dark eyes jumped around the steerage deck, analyzing her options. Wyndagar stood not far from their cabin door, his big black eyes blinking curiously at her, probably wondering why she was not going over to greet him like she so often did. But past him was much of the cargo Risho was bringing to Khlurios. Stacks of crates a few inches taller than she, tied down the floor of the ship and spaced out so they would not knock into each other if they shifted during rough seas. They effectively created a small maze, one Navia had not done much exploring of. <br/>
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“We saw whales, Wyn,” she said, crossing over to the horse and giving him a pat on the shoulder. She went ahead and double-checked his water so she wasn’t a liar and found Théadan wasn’t one either. “They were bigger than any animal I’ve ever seen and probably weighed more than a whole herd of you,” she smiled softly as Wyndagar butted her shoulder with his snout, then nibbled at the sleeve of her dress, “And so graceful. I never knew they were so elegant.” Movement in her periphery guided Navia’s eyes toward the stairs and she could see Théadan’s boots coming down them. Expression guarded, a hint of sparkle in them that he had followed after her, Navia gave her head a small shake to toss her dark hair out of her face before she dipped under Wyndagar’s neck to put the horse between them when Théadan stepped into the room. <br/>
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“I was just telling Wyndagar about the whales,” she explained, giving her equine obstacle a quick scratch under the chin, “And my plan. Maybe telling you would be easier, but you know what would probably be more fun? Distracting you somehow until you forget about that silly bet.” She gave a quick wiggle of her eyebrows, playfully allowing Théadan think of ways she might do that until she took a few backward steps toward the bundles of crates behind her. “Or maybe making it so you have to catch me before payment is rendered?” She knew the ship better than him, tended to be quicker. Navia winked at Théadan with a grin before disappearing amongst the crates, weaving her way around until she was about in the middle and could maneuver depending on what he did. “But if you’d rather me just tell you, I suppose I can do that as well,” she called out with a satirical sigh from her hiding spot. </span>