Though the sun was beating down on them with a ferocity only the desert could possess, and even though Caspian would rather beat himself over the head with a beached whale than endure another moment outside of the water in this heat, he found an odd comfort kneeling next to Keir. His face felt strange, for a lack of a better word, in having been smiling so consistently for so long. And on that note, his insides felt stranger, strung tight with worry but undeniably, positively fuzzy with happiness. And why was he so happy? Because Keir said he'd trusted him, because Keir didn't run away, or because he hadn't simply died much like everyone else might have in the same situation? Or maybe because, for the first time, Caspian felt as if he were just where he belonged, perched in the sand over the body of this fellow kelpie, wiping his blood dementedly over his shoulder.
Er... Well, it didn't sound so good thought out in so many comprehensible and tangible sentences, but the feeling itself was satisfying and very new to Caspian. It felt like the day could quite literally only go upwards from this low point, and given the odds... well, it was highly unlikely that anything could ever be worse than trying to eat someone. Unless, of course, your attempts to make that person feel better out of a deep rooted emotion - which Caspian wouldn't even bother identifying right now, but was relievingly brotherly in nature - backfired in the most terrible way. Which was what Caspian was waiting to find out! At the most, he might have expected a few twitches, or little twinge of discomfort. He wasn't at all braced for what was about to happen, but when it did, he reacted openly. His typical, tough-kelpie filter was no where to be found in this moment of vulnerability.
And what a moment it was, absolutely key for Keir to pull such a dramatic stunt!
Caspian froze in place like a mannequin, his blood-stained finger preserving it's exact position over Keir's shoulder as he watched on in nothing less than completely undisguised horror. "K-Keir...?" He spluttered, eyes snapped wide and brows knit upward in genuine confusion, "Keir, what is it?! Are y-" But he never was able to finished his sentence, felt his cognitive ability to form cohesive sentences drop from the tip of his tongue as the younger kelpie sniffled in an adorably sad way, and then... Oh God, opened his eyes to reveal them upset and blue and wet with tears! Caspian jerked his hand back, holding it in plain terror against his chest as he watched the tears slip down Keir's cheek with an intensity that one might reserve to watch a terrorist in an airport.
There were too many things at play here for Caspian to keep up, too many faults that his brain was spewing in red flags to keep him from knowing any better. The guilt that it was his fault, especially, was the weight that broken Caspian's heart with such profound sadness at the sight of Keir's tears, and that extreme and momentary emotion clouded all of his better judgement quite effectively. It might have been hilarious to see his alarmed expression at that moment, and how desperately pale he'd gone, but Caspian was on the wrong side of that joke. Right now he was a papercut away from turning tail and running in the other direction, but was still panicked beyond being able to move much... especially since he still hadn't breathed since Keir had started speaking. Every word he said tugged at his heartstrings, and at that point, Caspian was very much Keir's bitch.
But not for long.
He froze in a different way now, his body still wound up as tense as could be, but his lips twinged into a deep frown. Keir had played him, that whole time!? Caspian exhaled with the knowledge, his breath bleeding between his teeth in a long, exasperated sigh. 'He really is a bastard colt.' The older kelpie acknowledged internally, fighting the desire to fist his hand in Keir's hair and fling him into the water. And it was worse that Keir was grinning now, right in his face, and it made him fist his hand into a white-knuckled grip. It trembled ominously against his chest, and he had to close his eyes and furrow his brow to channel enough will power to keep from giving Keir something to really cry about. He gritted his teeth, even as Keir attempted to apologize and be all around playful again, Caspian was positively fuming. There wasn't much Keir could do to slay the beast once he'd gotten the older kelpie so upset, so embarrassed that he'd been so worried over someone so... so... 'Insolent! Damned... disrespectful! Snatched pranks! A kelpie or not, he's... he's...'
And then, against all odds, "Ha... Haha... Hahahaha! Hahahahaaa!" Caspian laughed. Darkly, twistedly, insanely laughed a laugh that could only be born from the very pits of hell, something tinged with dementia and lunacy and terrible, terrible thoughts of ill-intentions upon poor Keir. And as Caspian laughed, his lips pulled into an awful smile of death and destruction, eyes clenched shut with the effort... he lashed out swiftly, scooping up a handful of sand and promptly sprinkling it over the small cut on Keir's shoulder. Then, when his fingers were done nimbly depositing sand over the wound, he mussed the rest of the sediment into Keir's hair, digging his fingers into the poor kid's black tresses and working the sand all about.
It wasn't enough, it didn't quell Caspian's growing insanity and burning laughter, so he swept low, wrapped his arms about Keir' waist, hoisted the boy up like a sack of potatoes, and haphazardly flung him out into the pool of water just behind him. The satisfying splash... well, that was good enough. At least Caspian wasn't laughing anymore, instead he'd pushed himself to his feet and brushed the sand from his knees with steady and sane sweeps of his hand. "You're funny, Keir." He stated blankly, his face and voice void of any emotion that would back up such a compliment, "From where did you inherit that sense of humor? Pixies? Trolls? Humans?" Obviously still sore, Caspian huffed and waded out into the water himself, sinking deeper and off the shelf into the warm, comforting waters of the oasis. That was nice - like covering the eyes of a beast, returning to the water had the kelpie finally quelled. "You're an impressive liar. Even better than I."