Day 8: so close (to mine)

Blake wakes to an impossibly bright sky. He groans as he shields his eyes and looks at his watch. It tells him it's not quite 9 am, but his bladder is telling him it is well past time to get up and pee. The issue here becomes Maka, whose limbs are tangled with his and the blanket that is twisted around their legs. She's got one arm vice-gripping his back and the other curled over her eyes to block out the light. Blake twitches, trying to extricate himself without waking her, but her fingers just dig deeper into his shirt.

"Mak, this is not the time for your clingy cuteness, okay?!" he mumbles, plucking blindly at her fingers behind his back. He's almost free of her clutches when a noise distracts him and he slips. Blake ends up with a face full of car door and tumbles off the seat entirely. The motion pulls the blanket and he's on his back awkwardly shoved between the seats on the car floor. Maka falls with it, yelping and suddenly awake but unaware. Her knee is in his gut and Blake groans. Maka hides her face in his shoulder, moaning about the sun's audacity to be bright in the morning.

"Listen, Mak, this is reeaaally nice, but I super have to piss..!" he whines as Maka writhes against his renewed attempts to push her off him.

By some lucky chance, the next noise Blake hears is a small child's voice. The young voice carries over their makeshift campsite and it causes Maka to bolt straight up in shock and embarrassment, drawing the blanket around herself, despite being fully clothed in a hoodie and long flannel pants. But the movement is enough and Blake squirms out from under her, leaping over the door without bothering to open it. He's barefoot and clutching his crotch as he rushes past the startled family for the bushes. Maka sheepishly waves at the family as they cover their child's eyes and pull him away from their jeep.


Their backpacks are full of water, breakfast bars and other random equipment as they set off to climb some of the nearby rock features. Unlike their hike in Great Basin, Blake insists he needs all the space for his gear and Maka will have to carry her own. She wonders what exactly is in there as they help each other up the boulders and across the loose rock. They take turns figuring out ways to scramble over rocks and spotting each other, offering a knee up or hand to pull on. When they reach a plateau, they find some pines to sit under. The tall trees provide welcome shade and smell amazing.

It's at the moment she's taking out some Gatorade and trail mix, contemplating the photos she could take from this vantage point, that Blake removes a large piece of fabric from his bag. Maka stares as the fabric becomes a trampoline-esque hammock that stretches between three of the pines. After tossing their bags on top, Blake flips up onto the hammock, stretching out in the shade.

She's a little irked as she hoists herself up on it, rolling onto her back as she kicks him.

"You mean to tell me we've been sleeping in your car when you had this the whole time?"

"Uhh… it's kinda cramped? Besides there weren't trees in Rhyolite, anyway."

"Great Basin, though? The back of your car is cramped, Star. This is just-" she cuts off as she rolls on her side to be face to face with him. "...cozy."

Blake's face twitches, before he swallows Maka up in a bear hug. "Time for a nap!"

"What-Star, no! It's the middle of the day-"

"Ahh the sun is making me sleepy-"

"-at least have something to eat first?"

"But I'm too cozy, Mak!"

Her arms are trapped between them and she drums a little on his collarbone as they fall silent. She breathes deep the scent of pine and iron and Blake and suddenly, she's asleep, weightless on the trampo-tent, secure in his arms.


Blake lays back and watches the clouds pass overhead through the breaks in the canopy. He wonders when he should wake Maka up. She's curled up into his side, a human furnace. He managed to pull out his iPod and has a headphone in one ear when Aerosmith comes on. Maka is shifting little by little in her sleep as he brushes her shoulder with his thumb absently. When she wakes, she pushes herself up a little and he laughs lightly, picking hair away from being stuck to her face by sweat. She's leaning on his chest and side, still wrapped up by his arm she'd fallen asleep on.

"Whatcha listening to?" she asks, voice a little slurred by grogginess. When Maka napped, she napped hard.

"Steve Tyler's sexy voice."

She laughs and leans further in towards him. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, wanna hear my impression?" The chords play in his ear, the bass drum as loud as his heart in his chest.

"Please." Her eyes are full of mirth, enjoying their mild banter. The orchestral background swells with his emotion.

"I just wanna be with you, right here with you," he speaks to the rhythm, softly, fingers still brushing against her shoulder and back. "Just like this."

Her green eyes widen as he brushes hair over her shoulder, grazing her neck with his knuckles. He really doesn't want to break the tension, but he's scared, terrified, of rejection so he wraps her up in a crushing hold, sticking fingers into her armpits and tickling her as he overacts the next refrain. "I just wanna hoooold you clooooose!"

"Star, oh my g- ahahaha! Stop-apahahah!"

He does and he sticks the other headphone in her ear as she comes down from the tickle endorphins. The song is coming to an end as she realizes Blake is still hovering over her, forearms caging in around her head. Her heart is racing from the implications of his actions when the next track starts. Rick Astley starts crooning and she shoves her palm into Blake's face, pushing him away as she groans and he laughs.

"Pizza?"

"Pizza. And showers."


They drive up to Reno and find the most hole in the wall pizzeria they can, ordering a large pie and gorging on it. The cheese stretches too much and they have to use at least ten napkins a piece and keep getting new paper plates because of the grease, but it is just so good- the perfect post hike food. They reach across the table in silence, mouths too full to talk anyway, as they pick off toppings the other doesn't like and put them on their own slices.

After Blake finishes the last of Maka's crust, they reach the hotel for the night. Inside the room, there are two double beds. Maka tries not to think about how she has zero excuse to fall asleep in Blake's arms as she puts her stuff on the bed near the window. They go about their nightly routines, seamlessly working around each other and bantering along the way. Maka breaks out the aloe again and Blake comments that he's thankful they aren't on the road this time. He applies it on her shoulders and the back of her neck as requested and she avoids touching his face, focusing only on the sections that he can't reach.

Afterward, they flop on their respective beds and Blake flips the TV on. He's got his feet up at the head of his bed while she sits up against her own headboard. The mere two feet feels like a chasm. The comedy on screen passes without her notice as she stares at the back of his head. He scratches his jaw and neck and the motion catches her eye.

"Star, did you shave?"

"Well, you were complaining so bad… Besides, I was starting to look like Sid with that five o'clock shadow."

"It was a bit past five o'clock…"

"Gimme a break, I'm on vacation, Mak…"

"Now I don't believe you did it."

"What, you wanna check?"

There it was- an opportunity. "...can I?"

His eyes flick back to face her for the first time during the conversation. "Duh."

She gets up and walks over, hesitating before touching his cheek as he looks up at her. Her hands smooth over his face and he can't help closing his eyes. It feels like a century but not long enough, when she removes them and Blake opens his eyes. Maka shifts her weight side to side, twisting her fingers together. He swallows and builds up his courage.

"Want to sit?"

Automatically, she sits on the edge of her own bed, across from him, and he bites his lip and tries again.

"Um… over here?"

She jumps up with an 'oh! Yeah…' as he scoots over. Maka lays on her stomach next to him. He bumps her shoulder and they smile a little at each other while they watch movies. Their positions shift as the films roll on and the night grows long. His arm is draped over her shoulder and his head on hers as they lean back against his headboard. They're both close to sleep, nodding off here and there. Eventually, Blake has the presence of mind to flip the television off. When the room goes silent, Maka moves to get up.

Blake's hand squeezes lightly around her shoulder once.

"You don't have to…"

"But, um… is this... Okay?" she whispers. Her heart is pounding as he pulls gently on her arm, grip easy to break if she wanted to. She follows his lead as he flips the light off and shuffles on the bed to lie down and make space for her.

"I even shaved, haha… um... Is it okay with you?"

She pulls the comforter around them and blushes hard as she hides her face in the pillow. She takes a breath when the nervous energy is basically rolling off of the man next to her. Maka tucks herself into his chest before she can take it back. "Maka?"

"...yeah."

His arms wrap around and hug her firmly. Blake's heart thumps hard in his chest against her palm.