A/N: Finally getting to post something for one of my favorite fandoms.
Your Light, My Light
On our first day together, I felt like a kid again. The world took on a new vibrancy that I'd nearly forgotten was there, a saturation of color, a lightness of weight, a sweetness of breath. I smiled until my face hurt and still couldn't stop. I giggled more in twenty-four hours than in all my cumulative memory. We did anything and everything we could think of and still there was so much more. Neither of us wanted to waste time sleeping, so instead I drove Christmas through the city after dark and together we marveled at the brilliance of the night on fire.
I sped as fast as I dared so we could feel the bite of wind on our faces and the rush of blood in our cheeks. Christmas could barely remain seated, hopping up and down, twisting this way and that to point wide-eyed at every sign that blurred past like neon shooting stars. While she drank in every sight and sound the city had to offer, I had eyes only for her and the boundless enthusiasm she exuded. As I watched her thriving in this world of innumerable treasures, my breast swelled with some long forgotten emotion, the phantom of a memory in which I felt complete. For the first time in a decade, I was truly home.
Hours later, we burst into the apartment carrying shopping bags piled nearly over our heads. There were a lot of things I hadn't expected we'd need once she showed up - new clothes for her to wear, a toothbrush and other toiletries, books... so many books! She was a fast learner, so I went a little overboard on guide books and basically anything she might find interesting. We could have made multiple trips throughout the day to make it easier on ourselves, but every time we thought to take everything home, we would get sidetracked by something new to do together. I was both relieved and disappointed to finally drop everything in the entryway and slip out of my shoes.
"Shouldn't we put these away soon?" Christmas asked.
I waved dismissively with one hand while massaging my sore feet with the other. "None of it is perishable, so it can wait."
Shrugging, Christmas stepped over the heap and joined me on the floor, our backs against the wall with an oscillating fan facing us, eyes closed against the soothing breeze. Her left hand found my right, limp on the floor by my thigh. The touch was a different kind of warmth than the summer heat. The kind that makes you shiver like winter and feel like you're glowing. Even as I thought this, the darkness behind my eyelids changed and I opened them to see an actual glow coming from between our interlaced fingers. Christmas's eyes flew open at the same time, this the first display of her own Rynax energy since emerging with a body of her own. The light seemed to radiate from our very skin, a soft golden illumination accompanied by a faint whine-hum reminiscent of mains lines.
"Are you doing that?" she asked in a small, awestruck voice.
"We're doing it," I said. "Do you remember - before all this - how we would…"
I trailed off, for there was no accurate way to describe the feeling in physical terms. Rynax were impossibly different from humans, the particles and wavelengths of their forms free to commingle. It was one of the more difficult parts of transitioning into having a body made of solid matter. But Christmas seemed to remember all the same, her eyes closing again as a perfect little smile formed on her lips. It felt so good to mingle our energies again that it got me thinking…
"This would be a good time to give you your first bath."
"Bath?"
"Mm! You'll love it."
As the tub filled with water and the bathroom filled with steam, I helped Christmas out of the new clothes we picked up today. The fashion was... interesting, but they were as complicated to take off as they had been to put on. Once we got the thing strapped onto her body - not without help from a changing room attendant - it had appeared to defy gravity. I suppose that was the theme of the outfit?
It wasn't something I'd ever wear, but Christmas liked the avant-garde style and seemed to revel in the complex process of dressing up. For sure, shopping has never been a hobby of mine, but that had been when I only shopped for myself. Now that I had someone to spoil, I was starting to see the appeal; the way Christmas's face lit up seeing all the pretty and baffling products, from wardrobes to makeup I'd never touch myself, I just had to get them for her.
"Is this something we do-" she asked, pausing to slip the top off over her head, "-every day?"
"Bathing? Ideally, but sometimes more. It's a good way to relax after a busy day."
Christmas's interest doubled and she stripped out of her skirt with haste. Strangely, neither of us felt modest in front of the other. Maybe I found that strange after growing up in a body-conscious culture, but Rynax have no such notion of propriety. No, if anything, the contours of our bodily shells was something new and exciting to explore. No longer able to mingle our energies as fluidly as we once were capable, we now found ourselves studying this new facet with fresh senses and awareness.
For me, it was like looking into a mirror from my childhood. I recognized my own adolescent body, caught just in that stage where androgyny begins to shift toward subtle signs of femininity. I'm not the most feminine woman even now - the shift was by inches rather than miles - but I could see the signs in her all the same. A tightening of the face around the cheekbones. A gentle concavity separating hips from bust. A nascent sense of womanly poise.
But her eyes. The same arctic blue as my own, round with the innocence of youth, they held a part of my soul I couldn't find anywhere else.
Her curiosity, too, I recognized from my own wondrous entry into this world. Her eyes traced the lines of my toned physique, so very different from her slender, girlish frame. She reached out to outline muscle and flesh with her fingertips, and I let her, awed in my own childlike fascination by her touch. It was fleeting at first, feather-light and hesitant, but she quickly grew more adventurous. Her fingers followed the grooves of my abs before splaying flat against my steam-moistening skin. Her lips perked into a curious 'o' shape and, rising onto her tiptoes, she stretched to encompass my shoulders within an embrace.
I instantly hugged her to my breast, burying my face in her cascade of hair as her hands traveled my back, innocent, exploring. One finger outlined the ridge of my right shoulder blade; a palm slid down to my left elbow, mapping traceries of veins and muscles. I felt her presence in the warmth of her between my arms, the whisper of breath against my neck, the thoughtful commitment of every scar and imperfection to memory. My head grew fuzzy and light with the feeling, and as much as I wanted it to continue, I knew that we would have ample time to study each other.
"The water will get cold if we wait," I murmured against Christmas's skin, though I still held her as if letting go would release her again from this world. She nodded and pulled away with a contented sigh, which changed to a gasp as I swept her legs out from under her and lifted her easily into my arms.
"Wai- Kurau!"
I laughed merrily over her protest, spinning her around once and grinning like a fool. As the shock quickly wore off, she relaxed into my arms and I settled us into the warm bath water. Her spine arched at first; another gasp, followed by a long, slow exhale as she went limp in my embrace.
"Nice, isn't it?"
"Mmmmm..."
I laughed again and stretched my toes out to the end of the tub until they poked up past the water's surface. Christmas was still curled against me, her breathing even and slow as the day's excitement finally ebbed. Echoes swirled around us in the tiled space as I hummed an upbeat tune. We soaked that way until the water grew tepid and Christmas let out a giant yawn.
"Time for bed?" I asked, nuzzling her face. She nodded sleepily and I helped her out of the bath, into night clothes, and finally into bed.
The physical plane offers many delights to a fledgling Rynasapien - so many that other Rynax were willing to risk everything just to come here. I had waited so many long years to share them with my pair. And as we curled up to sleep with our hearts beating as one, the light of our souls finally reunited, I couldn't wait to share with her every single experience this world has to offer.