Numair stared at the embers of the campfire, counting to ten before he let his gaze travel to the girl... no the woman... across from him. He had originally been facing away from their campfire, but after turning his body back and forth so many times to catch a glance of her, he had finally resigned himself, and laid facing his student. Now he was at least trying to go a full ten seconds without staring.

His eyes flickered to her slight form, lying less than two meters from his own. It was odd really, how many things he had never noticed about her before midwinter. Or maybe it was odd all the things he had noticed, but just not recognized? He had always known she was beautiful. He was male after all. Even as a shy and broken thirteen-year-old she had been striking. Now though...had he always known her curls were so soft? He could almost feel them beneath his hand, their smoky brown ringlets brushing his palm as he so often held it to her cheek. He wondered if that was still appropriate now? Had he ever noticed the way her lips turned down, and slightly opened, in a pout while she slept? He longed to brush his own against them. Her fist curled outstretched before her, just outside his reach. Her hand, which he had always seen as so strong and capable, seemed so small and delicate in her sleep. He wished he could reach out and grasp it, just to reassure himself. He sighed loudly, and then stiffened when Daine mumbled something in her sleep and flipped onto her back. He slowly released the breath he was holding as her own breath steadied back into its sleeping rhythm.

He didn't know how he was going to do this. The barrier between the Mortal and Devine Realms had fallen less than forty-eight hours ago. Yet, it was the crumbling barrier in his mind which preoccupied his every waking thought. How had he not known? How had he not recognized this? He was arguably the most powerful mage in the mortal realms, but he was powerless to the eclipsing emotion that was engulfing him.

He glanced back at the dying embers, and counted to ten.