About time, don'cha think!? Anyway, let's give our new found lovers a little room to explore the situation - after all, bodies may have merged, but minds need a little tiime to take it all in...
Chapter 9 – Closer and closer...
Finn struggled to rouse himself from the afterglow and raised his head from where it was buried against the crook of her neck. He regarded his lover, his emotions awhirl with feelings of tenderness, gratitude, appreciation and a fierce need to protect her. If the slightest thing threatened her, caused her to frown, made her cry he would attack them with his bare hands, bite and claw them to pieces. He instantly vowed to die for her, kill for her, live for her….love for her.
At the same time he was aware that she was the most amazing creature in all of Atmos. There was no one as beautiful, as smart, as daring, as perfect as she was. He could hardly believe that he had been so honored as to be chosen by her. Never again would he let her down, insult her, make fun of her, tease her unmercifully. He would stand beside her forever; do anything she wanted him to do – why he'd throw his guitar out the window if she said so. Break every record he owned so it wouldn't irritate her. He'd invade Cyclonia all by himself if she mentioned the need for it, bring her the head of every Talon and lay them at her feet. Then he'd go out and dig up every crystal there ever was and sit at her feet as she explained each and every property they contained. If she got sick of him and told him to go away (and please dear gods may it never be so) he'd jump headlong into the Black Gorge, dive straight into the waiting mouth of the tarbeast, just so she'd never be bothered by him again.
He was hers, body, mind and soul.
How could I have been so blind? So incredibly stupid. You complete and utter moron, here you've been going on and on about wanting some cheap babe-ette, when there was this right in front of you all the time. All I ever wanted was to be fawned over by a bunch of girls and completely disregarded what a wonder she is. I'm deeply, utterly, head-over-heels, run up to the top of the highest mountain on Atmos and shout it out to the world in love with her. Piper! I'm in love with Piper! Look at her! She's gorgeous! They say first times are supposed to be awesome, but this…Waaayyy more than I even dreamed of.
He grinned down at the drowsing girl, every inch of him aware of the slightest sensation emanating from her. He suddenly was conscious that he could make out her features and realized that it was morning, the sun's rays streaming into the ravine. He regarded the light with irritation. He had wanted the night to last forever, to lie with her, to join with her again and again. He heaved a huge sigh.
Piper was floating. She was deeply aware of both herself and the weight of her lover above her. Not for anything in the world did she want to disturb this, cause him to move, break the connection. She wanted to lay here forever, feel his skin against hers, the beat of his heart, the movement of his chest as he breathed. She was conscious that he was awake, knew instinctively that he was regarding her, memorizing her features.
Him. Of all the ones I could have possibly picked, it ended up being him. And now that it is, I can't imagine it being anyone else. For so long I only thought of him as an irritating child, disregarding his true nature. For someone who likes a puzzle, you sure overlooked this one. Here he's been right in front of you and you've never noticed him till now. Well I've noticed him now and I'm not going to let him out of my sight. Nobody's going to be more of a fan than I am. I'd die for him. Kill to protect him. I love him more than anything, even my crystals. Well, maybe…No. I do love him more. I don't need to impress him with my knowledge. I just have to love him. Be there for him. Just as I know he'll be there for me. Wow. I am never going to be alone. That's….so comforting. And talk about comforting; just feel how he's holding me. So tenderly as if I were the most fragile of things. How could I have been so dismissive of him? Sometimes I can be sooo dim.
Opening her eyes she smiled as she found him looking at her, studying her. He returned the smile, his intense azure irises brightening as he regarded her fondly. He felt her shift below him and realized that he had been lying fully upon her. He started to rise, stammering out an apology only to stop as both her arms and legs surrounded him. She shook her head no and gave him a slow smile.
"You're not heavy, you feel good. Really good."
He returned her look and jerked his head towards the entrance. "It's daylight outside." He stated.
Piper craned her head back. She stuck her tongue out at the world outside their sanctuary. "Good for it."
Finn started to grin, then laugh, his body bouncing up and down on her.
"Yeah, I don't want to go anywhere either."
They contemplated each other, both thinking the implications of staying where they were for the rest of their lives. They had plenty of food and water, and with a little work could make a real home out of the cave they were in. They could stay in this paradise forever, making love day, night, morning, afternoon, straight up noon, just before sunrise, during and right after as well. And not just in the cave either but down by the stream, under one of the bushes, climb up to the surface and do it right out in the open if they so desired. To heck with everything and everybody. Storm Hawks – who were they? Sky Knight – what was that and why should they care? The war with Cyclonia – let it rage on without them.
Even as they read the same thoughts in each other's eyes, they both knew it wouldn't be. They had too much of a sense of obligation to just run away, hide from the world. There was no way either of them could abandon their friends, allow them to face danger and not be there to help.
As attuned to each other as they were, their eyes opened wide as they realized that they had changed the makeup of their group.
"Oh man, what are we going to tell…." Finn began.
"What are we going to say to them…" Piper announced.
"Do we?"
"Maybe we shouldn't…"
"But how can we keep this to ourselves?"
"I don't know, I need you so bad."
"Me, too."
"Then we have to tell them."
Okaaayyyy" Finn sighed. "Let's think on this a bit. Um, Junko I think will be fine with this, if it makes us happy, then he'll be happy. Stork, heh, he'll think we've become infected with some kind of mind altering disease and try to spray us with some noxious chemical bath, but he'd eventually come around, though I'm sure he'll always mutter about some impending doom. He always does. Aerrow…."
They both gazed at each other, their expressions concerned.
Piper looked away, biting her lip. She had often wondered if the red-headed Sky Knight had liked her more than just a friend, but had either been afraid of approaching her, or had kept his feelings to himself so as to protect her. They were more alike and she both admired and respected the young leader. But now - now that she had found Finn, she realized that what she had felt for Aerrow had been a crush, much as one had on a friend's older brother. She realized that all though they would probably have ended up loving each other deeply, it never would be as intense as it was with Finn. Finn's very nature held the one element she realized she needed. Surprise. She who constantly craved intellectual stimulation had found a veritable well of it. Finn was never the same from one minute to the next. What she had once thought the most aggravating thing in the world had been turned one hundred and eighty degrees around, stood on end and inside out. He fascinated her, delighted her, made her delve into him with an intensity she had only given to books and maps. He had more facets to him than the most refined crystal. Every surface showed her something new.
As Finn studied her he at first frowned, but as he read the emotions flitting across her face he slowly began to relax, his confidence level rising to its normal height. He too thought that Aerrow probably unconsciously liked the attractive navigator and that if his best friend ever stopped his all encompassing mission to look at her, he'd take her as swiftly as he attacked a foe. Aerrow would've grabbed hold and never let go. Finn felt a stab of hurt as he contemplated what his and Piper's relationship might do to his buddy. The last thing in the world he wanted to do was cause his friend and leader any pain, but at the same time there was no way he'd ever let Piper go. Perhaps it would be better if they kept this to themselves, hide their new found passion from prying eyes. After all, this was theirs, not anybody else's. Why shouldn't they keep it secret?
He opened his mouth to tell her so. "Babe, why don't we just keep this under cover, feel the others out and see what their reaction would be if either one of us were to get, you know - romantically attached with someone."
"Finn." She sighed. "That's all well and good, but we're not talking about just any 'someone'. We're talking about each other. And no matter what we do, it is going to change things. It already has. I will never look at you the same way again, and not only do I not want to hide it, I don't think I can. They are bound to notice us. Even now, having a serious conversation, I can feel your body on mine and I'm really having a hard time keeping focus. How are we going to maintain even a semblance of normality if just being close to each other is going to set us off?"
Finn tried to answer her but his mind had seized on one sentence of her statement. As soon as she said it, he was instantly, deeply, incredibly, intimately aware of her lying beneath him. They stopped talking and used their mouths for other purposes. It wasn't long before hands and arms and legs and bodies bacame involved as well..
