Ships are fun, right? (Private Rackie & Lacey)

Once again, Dani let out another giggle, intrigued at how interested her boyfriend seemed to be in her native tongue. " That would be el puente. Puedes cruzar el río a través del puente. Aka, you can cross the river using the bridge," she replied.

Mark gave Dani a confused look. He'd tried his best to remember the entire sentence, but it was too difficult, even for him. Despite that, he tried to repeat after her anyway. "Uh... Pue-Puedes... cruz... cruzar el rio a tra... uh..." Mark mumbled, mixing up his accents completely. As his cheeks started turning red, he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment and chuckled somewhat nervously. "Yeah... I better focus on simple vocabulary for now." He admitted.

Standing up on her tip toes, Dani gave Mark a little kiss on the cheek. "I don't expect you to be able to pronounce, or even remember, a full sentence like that. It's sweet enough that you want to learn. I just wanted you to hear it in context," she told him supportively.

Mark could feel his whole face turning red at an instant. "Well, I'm definitely not going to stop trying until I'll be able to hold a proper conversation in Spanish." He concluded with a wide smile spread across his face. He seemed determined enough. Suddenly he stopped and pointed towards a gondola and its gondolier who looked like he was waiting to take someone on a trip. "Are you ready for a cruise, my dear" He asked.

Dani giggled and grabbed her boyfriend's hand. "Well, I'm glad to be able to teach you," she replied. Nodding, she started dragging them over to the open gondola.

Once they were over at the gondola, Mark quickly asked the gondolier whether he was free or not. Naturally, his gondola turned out to be available so Mark stepped into the boat and held Dani's hand tight to help her board the gondola safely.

Taking a shaky step onto the gondola, Dani's grip on Mark's hand tightened when she felt the boat rock beneath her. To be honest, she had never been on a boat, or anything even resembling a boat, before, so this was all new, and kinda nerve-racking, for her.

Meanwhile Mark, who had never been on a boat either, simply convinced himself that if anything bad happens, they'll just end up in the water together. Thus, there was nothing to be worried about. He used his strength to safely support Dani. "Relax, Dani, I've got you. I won't let you get soaked." He said and winked at her.

The weapon nodded and took a quick breath and used her other leg to completely step foot on the boat, a light blush coating her cheeks at Mark's words.

Mark smiled and nodded approvingly before sitting down on a bench. He patted a spot next to him and winked at Dani. When the two of them were on board of the gondola, the gondolier took his place in the front of the boat and took the paddle.
"I show you Venezia" Said the gondolier with broken English and Italian accent.
"Please do, sir." Mark replied. Soon they would start their cruise through the Venitian canals.

Taking a seat next to Mark, she smiled. Looking over at the gondolier she said "That would be wonderful, thank you."

Mark put his arm around Dani's shoulder and let out a relaxed sigh. "You know... I still cannot believe everything turned out the way it did." He started. "These are probably the most exciting two days a person can imagine. I mean... look at it this way - the two of us were born on two different continents and ended up meeting on another continent, many kilometers away from the places of our birth. On top of that, we've met thanks to a person who can literally go from one place of the planet to the other in seconds... On top of all that, we're basically having a two-day-long date far away from our current homes! I must admit, thinking about it makes my head spin a little bit..." Mark said in a completely random stream of thoughts. A part of him still couldn't believe that it all isn't just one big dream or some sort of a made-up story in which he's just a character and everything around him is being controlled by his and Dani's creato-

"Woah, woah, woah! Stop right there! That's too much madness for one post buddy! It makes my head hurt. Like, come one man, you're gonna infect poor Mark's head with my madness if you keep doing that, man!"

OOC: Yeah. Sorry...

Dani cuddled up to him, her smile turning into a wide grin. "Yeah... It's absolutely amazing. Along with the fact that we haven't known each other all that long but..." She turned her head to face him. "It was weird. The first time I saw you. I wouldn't say it was love at first sight, but it definitely wasn't a stranger danger thing. It was like... When we first met, I knew it wouldn't be the last time. That there was definitely something else there. And I'm glad. I'm happy I met you. It was one of the best days of my life," she replied.

In response to her words, Mark smiled widely and let out a relaxed sigh. He felt really, really warm in his heart for a moment. A great feeling of satisfaction mixed with lots of happiness filled his soul as he looked at Dani, his face turning red. His cuddled her a little tighter without really noticing it. It was a very precious moment and a part of him wouldn't mind it if lasted forever. "I'm... so... so happy to hear this... It was one of the best days of my life as well. Something tells me that thanks to you there will be even more best days to add to that list. I'm so happy we met." Mark told her and those were the words that came straight from his heart and soul. However, even when he allowed himself to be completely and fully honest, he still wasn't sure what to say. He couldn't put everything into words to properly convey his feelings. "I... well..." Mark mumbled before turning his head away for a second, feeling his face turning redder than it had been before. There was only one way to convey his feelings... "Dani..." Mark said to get her full attention. "Would you mind if I asked you to close your eyes for a second?" He finally asked, using what was left of his confidence at that point. He kept smiling, despite his cheeks being almost completely covered in a blush.

Dani wasn't so well with words herself, so she understand his lack of words. "I..." she said, looking up into his eyes. She nodded, a piece of hair falling in her face as she did so. Reaching up to brush the stray strand of hair behind her ear, she quietly obliged, closing her eyes and letting her body relax more than it already had. She was always relaxed around him. She trusted him. She trusted him with her life, and she would protect him with her life as well. Not only as her duty of being his weapon, but as his girlfriend.

Dani agreeing to his request made Mark feel a lot less nervous. Yet, he hesitated for a second. What if it wasn't the best moment? Luckily for him, he managed to dispose of such thoughts quickly, finding them too childish. He gently placed a hand on Dani's cheek as he leaned in towards her. His whole body started shaking and he knew that Dani would notice it. It didn't matter though. He was about to convey his feelings to her in the only way he deemed appropriate and he couldn't let cowardice stop him. Mark looked at her face up close, before closing his own eyes and when he felt his lips touching hers all the nervousness was gone. The kiss was his way of saying "I love you more than anything!" and "You're the most wonderful girl I've ever met!".

Getting worried when he started shaking, Dani reached out and gently placed her hand on Mark's chest to try and calm him down, keeping her eyes closed however to try and not ruin whatever he had planned. It was then that she gave a small, startled jump when she felt what seemed to be his lips press against hers. That moment was soon over, and she was leaning into him and brought her other hand up to wrap around the back of his neck as a smile appeared on her lips as they kissed.

Their kiss lasted for a moment, which for Mark felt like an eternity. He placed his free hand on her back as he kept prolonging the kiss to make it last for just a while longer. It was very clear for him that he would never forget that wonderful moment. There was a slight worry in his heart though - that no kiss will ever be as great as that one. Well, it wasn't too problematic though, since he was sure that it wouldn't be his last kiss with Dani and that thought alone was enough to make him content. Eventually, their kiss came to an end and Mark pulled away. His cheeks once again turned red, but he was looking at Dani with the happiest smile that had ever appeared on his face. Mark didn't say anything, for he believed his kiss said all that he wanted to say.

Her heart felt like it was going to pound out of her chest. When he finally pulled away, (too soon in her opinion, but if she had it her way, it never would've ended), she opened her eyes, and let out a content sigh. Her cheeks too, turned a bright red, but she refused to look away. "Mark..." She said, speechless. Indeed, what he had been trying to say, communicated fairly well with that kiss, and she could only hope that she conveyed the same feelings back.

Perhaps the kiss was too short, indeed. However, the feeling of wanting more was what would probably lead them to more kisses. So perhaps it was a good thing? "Dani..." Mark said as a smile grew on his face. It seemed like Dani conveyed her feelings back because Mark was beaming with happiness. He remained silent for one more moment before finally speaking. "One more time, shall we?" He said before leaning in for another kiss. It looked like the second one would turn out to be much longer than the first. Well, Mark simply wanted more. It was somewhat addicting. In a good way maybe?

Her smile only grew as he leaned in for another kiss. She happily leaned in as well, locking her lips with his, the hand that was wrapped around his neck, moving to settle on his cheek. It seemed that every day she spent with Mark, she added another day to her Best Day of My Life list. Not that she minded. It just helped her know that she had made the right choice when it came to him, and she wouldn't change that for anything.

This time Mark was prolonging the kiss, taking a really short breaks to take a breath. At that point he simply couldn't stop himself from continuing. It was a sweet and pleasant experience and he wanted more and more. It was so addicting and exciting and he wouldn't mind getting addicted to that kind of thing. His kisses were gentle and Mark was taking his time to enjoy every single second of each of their kiss before having to catch a breath. The whole time, one of his hand was placed on Dani's back while the other was on her shoulder.
Meanwhile the gondolier was whistling to himself while paddling through the canals. It wasn't clear whether he noticed what was going on or not. Though if he did, he was doing his best to give the two the privacy they needed.

After a little while longer, Dani finally pulled away, her smile even bigger. She brought the hand that rested on his chest up to his cheek so that both her hands framed his face. "Mark, I..." She took a deep breath. "Mark, I love you." There, she said. Normally she wouldn't have the guts to say that so soon in a relationship, or at least, she never thought she would, but she knew that's how she felt. She was sure he felt the same way, but there was still that little piece of doubt in the back of her mind.

Dani's timing to say those words was absolutely perfect. Mark felt his heart start beating so fast he could hear it. His smile grew wider as he felt overwhelmed with joy. "I love you too, Dani." He said before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a tight hug. "I love you too..." Mark repeated and chuckled happily. Suddenly, an idea popped up in his mind. "Uhm... How to say 'I love you' in Spanish, my dear?" He asked after a moment of pause.

She leaned into the embrace. Dani giggled. "Te amo mi amor," she replied sweetly.