Chapter 10: Hairy, Hairless, Harried
We spent the next day traveling along the canyon floor. Now that we were going in the correct direction, morale was slightly higher. The closer we reached the exit, the stronger a stream flowed beside us to cut the path. It had run off the plateau above us in a small waterfall.
While the waterfall was about a two hour hike from the valley, its stream ran through the ravine, beneath the canyon ledge, and out into the Steppe. Just as Lightning had anticipated, we were on the far end of the gorge.
So we set up a camp a few minutes from the exit, but not close enough for larger creatures to wander in and eat us. The days passed, and Rygdea seemed less enthusiastic. He wouldn't give us specifics, but he also wasn't sending anyone to pick us up. The man had led us to believe that once we had clear coordinates it'd be a matter of hours before pick up. Now that our rescue was possible, he remained silent on the matter.
One morning, Vanille took it upon herself to bother me after breakfast.
"Well that's definitely new," Vanille said as she approached me.
She lunged at me and slapped both of her hands to my face. She rubbed up and down, causing my entire face to begin itching furiously. I tried to wave her off, as Lightning had turned at the outburst. Vanille's wing-woman efforts were continuously backfiring.
"Lightning, he's covered in stubble!" she said as she rubbed despite my frantically brushing her hands away.
"Trust me, she knows. She drops in at all hours of the day. She's seen it before."
Though not admittedly this long, it'd been days since I'd shaved. I could only imagine how ridiculous I looked. Unlike Snow, I couldn't pull off the rugged look.
"Seriously, you need to feel. It's deliciously scratchy. Fang never gets like this. Mmm," she said as she tried to close in.
"Stop!" I said, before she managed to rub her face on mine.
"Control yourselves. I swear I'm the only one who remembers we might be in danger," Lightning said as she dragged Vanille off me by the strap of her shirt.
Before Lightning could get too far, I called out to her, "Did you want to?"
She looked at me quizzically. I guessed she didn't. Of course she wouldn't. Why on earth would she ever consider touching me like that? I knew I was throwing myself all over her recently, but that didn't mean she wanted to reciprocate. Vanille grinned deviously from behind Lightning's back.
"Here." Stepping toward her, I took her hand in mine.
I slipped off her glove and placed the supple skin of her palm to my cheek. When I let go, her hand remained there. She gently fingered the contours of my face. I was probably a million shades of embarrassed. A few sparks sputtered from her hand, probably unintentionally. All she was doing was observing me, yet it felt intoxicating. Not one to miss an opportunity, I lifted on my toes and rested my nose to her shoulder. This way my scruffy cheek lightly brushed her silken one. She gasped slightly, not loud enough for anyone but me to hear. She pushed herself into me, weaving her fingers into my hair. Oh thank heavens, she was into this. I wasn't just putting myself out there like an idiot. I rolled my neck so that I could experience different parts of her face with mine. Placing my hands on her waist for leverage, I ran my slightly open mouth along her jawline. This was not a kiss. It was merely…an exploration. What did she feel like, what did she taste like, and what did she want from me? I was close at this point, just a subtle adjustment. If she wanted it. If she'd let me. Her mouth was so damn close.
"What are you up to?" she said through her teeth.
Oops. I guessed I'd pushed things too far. Pulling back, I looked at her.
"What do you think?"
"Something that shouldn't be repeated when Vanille is watching."
There was a slight blush on her face. There was hope for me after all. I took back everything I said, Vanille was the greatest.
While the ladies went tromping around for the day, I was left behind. Where's Hope? Oh, you know, being domestic. We need our extra equipment cleaned, our camp tidied, our dinner prepared. Who should do it? Why the youngest and weakest of course.
Few things were more boring than watching jerky cure over a campfire. Even worse, was how many batches I had to make in an effort to preserve an adamanchelid. Vanille and I had been on reconnaissance at the ravine's exit when she'd spotted the creature moseying by. He'd been a juvenile and smaller than any I'd ever seen. She'd then scampered up the rock face and jumped on the giant's back. I'd been forced to get involved when it'd bucked her off and almost stomped her. Regardless, we'd killed it and the meat had been some of the most tender I'd ever tasted. There were only three of us though, and this thing could have fed everyone aboard the Lindblum.
Once Lightning and Vanille returned, we ate what was left of the cuts of steak. A relief, since I could go the rest of my life without having to butcher another oretoise.
I settled next to Vanille, so that Lightning could finally rest. I noted the way she extended her limbs and flexed her ankles. The woman was exhausted. She unstrapped her holster and set it next to her.
"As much as I adore you Hope, why don't Lightning and I take the first shift. I need some girl talk." Vanille said.
She waved me off, clearly wanting me to sleep as far away as possible. I glanced at Lightning; was she okay with this?
"What? You afraid I'm going to reveal some deep dark secret? That you have very little chest hair or something. She'll find out eventually. Sorry to burst your macho dreams, but some women like that." Lightning said, stropping her knife against her leather holster.
I felt my face blaze. There was no proper way to respond to her words. Was it an insult? She was basically calling me a hairless child. Was it a complement? She said women liked that. Did that mean she liked it? She liked me shirtless. It had never occurred to me to cover up when she visited.
A memory from last month surfaced. Lightning had spent the night, like she did 80% of the time when she had come to town. Calling the third bedroom a "guestroom" was merely a formality. The only one who ever used it was her, and she'd taken up filling the closet with her clothing. I'd walked down to breakfast when both her and my father had startled in their seats.
"Hope, you can't be walking around like that with guests in the house."
"Dad it's just Light. It's not like she hasn't seen me in my boxers before."
Lightning had almost spilled her coffee and had shaken her head at my father. He'd merely nodded.
"Son, you are almost an adult. Act like one. Be courteous to Ms. Farron and get changed."
I'd thought nothing of that morning, except that Lightning had been acting a little jumpy. But now I understood what happened. What I had insinuated to my father. Small noises seeped out of my mouth. They ranged from uh, urk, to gghhh. Any second now and I'd probably start frothing like a rabid animal.
"Awe, he's tongue tied," Vanille said, a smile spreading across her face.
I just kept wordlessly staring at Lightning. If there was even a remote possibility that she had actually felt the same way about me, I'd made her life a living hell. I was a worse person than I thought.
"I'm sorry," slipped out of my mouth.
"Sorry for what? Being hairless? Not much you can do about genetics."
"No." I bit my lip. "I'm just sorry."
I flopped onto my side and rolled away from the two of them. She'd been my best friend. I'd shared everything with her. Things I found hilarious. Things I found stupid. Activities I liked. Girls I had liked. She'd given me endless advice. I'd even shared my heartache with her. Of course none of those relationships lasted all that long. As much as I'd liked them, it just hadn't felt right. Like they weren't right for me. I'd stopped dating entirely.
Now here I was mad about her, and basically whining that she didn't want me right this damn second. No wonder she was suffering from whiplash. It was clear to me now that I didn't deserve her. Not in a thousand years. I lay there, willing myself to sleep. I was not successful. After some time passed, the women finally started talking.
"You think he's asleep yet?"
"No. He tends mumble in his sleep," Lightning answered. "You still up?"
"Uhmm…yes," I said quietly.
"Technically I can just show you, Lightning. But I need him to promise he won't look," Vanille said.
"Of course. I promise."
There was shuffling, and I felt someone approach me. I knew it was Lightning the second she kneeled behind me. Maybe it was the smell, or her movements, but her presence was as obvious as daylight to me. Her hands touched the base of my skull. Automatically I turned to look into her eyes.
"So much for keeping your promise," she said, smirking slightly.
She began to undo the knot on my bandana. I felt her slowly slide it across my neck. The corner fluttered along my nose. I watched as she spun it into a band and laid it across my eyes. I reached out and held my hand over hers.
"You aren't going to hurt me are you?" I wasn't sure where that thought came from.
"I could never hurt you. You heard Vanille, we just need you not to look." She retied the knot at the back of my head. "Here, a consolation prize." Her sparks drizzled across my face.
Blindly, I searched the air for the hand with the magic. Once I clasped it, I brought it to my cheek like last time. Every time I felt it, the intensity grew. I maneuvered her palm to rest on my lips. The second the sparks touched, it felt like they'd found their home. This feeling had always meant to touch my mouth. I licked cautiously at her skin, seeing if taste would affect anything.
"Gods, that was forward of you." She jerked out of my grasp.
I tried to regain a hold on her, but she was already leaving. Why couldn't I take my own advice and dial it down a notch? If I kept going at this pace I was going to drive her away.
"Heh. It's pretty clear to me now that I might not have to show you after all," Vanille said giggling.
"Show me anyway."
I heard gentle rustling, but that was all.
"This is mine. Do you understand now? This is part of a pair. Yours is too," Vanille said softly.
"So this is the same as mine? It looks different. Do you mind if I touch it?" Lightning asked.
"I wouldn't have showed you if I didn't."
Lightning gasped softly, taken aback by whatever Vanille had asked her to feel.
"Now do you see why I needed his eyes closed. I don't think he understands the implications quite the way we do," Vanille let out a gentle sigh.
What the heck were they talking about? For a second I thought it was something related to nudity, hence my blindfold. Whatever they were doing, they needed to stop before it got awkward for me. Which would then be awkward for everyone, darkness or not.
"How long have you known about this?" Lightning asked extremely quietly.
At this point their conversation turned to whispers. Drowsiness was overtaking me, but I felt like they were reaching a critical point. Like there was something that I should be getting, but wasn't.
I awoke to the sensation of someone lying next to me and tapping my arm gently.
"Yes, Light?" I mumbled still half asleep.
"It's time for your shift. Vanille is already asleep."
"You positive she's sleeping? It's just the two of us?"
"Take off your blindfold and see for yourself."
Instead, I rolled onto my side. I searched with my hand until I found Lightning's waist. Using that as a form of reference, I hoisted myself up and crawled on top of her. I steadied my hands beside her shoulders, and pressed my knees to the outside of her thighs. I leaned down and brushed my chin along hers.
"Do you want me to kill you?"
"I do believe you promised not to hurt me while I wore this. The Light I know would never go back on her word." I laughed into her skin.
"I never said I wouldn't punish you when you took it off."
I inched my way down her body until my face was level with her midrift. I folded the flaps of her jacket away from her stomach to expose more skin. I touched my stubble to her belly button and felt her shiver beneath me.
"I can tell you like this, and your only complaint was that Vanille was watching earlier. According to you, that's not the case anymore."
I alternated running my cheek and my lips across her skin, placing what I hoped were imperceptible kisses. She made a variety of humming noises that vibrated straight through her torso. I, for the most part, had no idea what to do with my hands. They just kind of sunk into the dirt beside her. If this was going to head anywhere, I probably needed to touch her.
I sat up, and adjusted her legs to lie on the outside of me. I was now kneeling against her, with her knees propped up and biting into my sides. Though she'd let me rearrange her to my will, she was silently reminding me that this would end the second she decided so. Ultimately, she was in control of the situation.
Wiping my hands off on my shirt, I decided on my next move. I slipped my hand up the back of one of her thighs. She tightly pinched my hand into her calf by tucking in her knees.
"Trust me," I said.
She relented and I felt the tension release from her muscles. I ran my hand along the back of leg, and rested on her calf. Then I did something I knew she'd never expect. I pushed her leg back towards her body. She let out a yelp of pain.
"That's what I thought. I haven't seen you stretch once. With you doing all of the heavy lifting in the monster department, you really need to take care of yourself."
I proceeded to stretch and massage the muscles in her legs. It even required that I remove her boots, which I was surprised she allowed. She let me touch her however I wished. Even if the entire thing ended up being chaste, I found it oddly stimulating. I wanted to feel every inch of her like this. Pliable and begging for my touch.
"I think that's enough for now," she said quietly.
I leaned back over her body and pulled off my bandana. Her eyes were heavily lidded and she was already falling asleep. She reached up and stroked my hair. I rolled my neck so that my cheek settled into her palm.
"As much as I'd love to keep playing with you, I can't keep my eyes open any longer," she said.
"Playing?"
This was playing to her? Wow, had I got the mood completely wrong. Yes, technically it ended with a cool down, but everything before that definitely wasn't playing. I wasn't a damn pet. The woman didn't even bother to answer me. Her eyes closed, breathing became shallow, and she began drifting into sleep. As I started to get up, she tentatively grabbed at my wrist.
"Do you think you could watch the site from here?" she said, pulling me back next to her.
When I sat back down, she scooted and rearranged herself. Her body was curled into a fetal position, with her head in my lap. She draped her cape across her arms. I stretched out my legs in front of me, and she immediately latched onto them with her own.
"Vanille kicks in her sleep. We don't have blankets."
"At least now I know your next present. One of the packable down kind that'll fit in your pouch."
She yawned into my thighs, causing all my hairs to stand on end. I wasn't particularly cold, so I removed my jacket and laid it across her bare legs. We remained silent, for a few moments. I thought she'd already fallen asleep.
"I love the ones at your house the best," she said absentmindedly on the cusp of sleep-talking.
"Is that so?" I said, rubbing at her back.
"They smell."
Well, that wasn't the answer I was expecting. I assumed it had been about how plush they were. My father claimed a good night's rest was the key to a clear mind in the morning. It could have been a load of crap, but I'd never slept uncomfortably until those first days on the run. Her body was already limp against mine from sleep.
"You want ones that stink?" I asked.
"Mmm, smells," her head lolled as she tried to answer me, "like you."
After that, she felt completely boneless in her sleep. Damn, Lightning was using every opportunity to confuse me. She'd nag me all day, and then when it's time to sleep she'd do a 180. If history were to repeat itself, she'd completely ignore every bit of this in the morning. Surely she'd remember it, but we would never discuss it. She'd probably even get mad.
As I kept watch on the campground, I found myself more lost than before. Even the simplest idiosyncrasies drove me crazy. She'd led me to believe that she liked me hairless. But then it was clear that she enjoyed my stubble. So did she or didn't she like hair. Which was it? She didn't want anything to do with me when Vanille was watching, and then suddenly she'd cling on to me. It was like an endless loop of nonsense. I kept myself miserable like this for hours.
Her dreams had become restless. She was fidgeting and digging her nails into my legs. Her brows knitted together and her eyes dashed to and fro beneath her lids. Holding out my hand, I tried to make the meteor shower appear. The old memory of the chocobos only resulted in a spark here or there. I needed something stronger. I brought up the image of her nervously biting her lip by her bunk. She'd been anticipating something from me that day. More sparks appeared this time. It wasn't the amazing fountain she'd produced for me, but it was at least consistent and full. I let them trickle onto her lips.
Instantly her expression changed. Her eyebrows lifted in surprise, she bit at her lips and made a soft moaning sound. Alarmed, I jerked my arm away. The second the sparks left her, she made a whimpering sound and her hands searched the air and ground trying to find them. It didn't take her long to locate my hand and bring it back to her mouth.
"Still n…" she mumbled incoherently. Her pitch had adjusted to something wistful.
She stretched her free hand to find my face and stroked her fingertips across my lips. She began to lean up towards me. She had always let me do as I pleased before eventually shutting me down. Whoever this dream person was, she was lusting after them.
This was the moment that I chose to freak the hell out.
I didn't actually hurt her. Standing up and letting her roll out of my lap couldn't have been comfortable though. Her face was full of disappointment as I scampered away. Healing magic washed over her body as I made sure that she wouldn't wake with any scuffs. Just in case.
I sat as far as I could from both her and Vanille. My knees pulled up to my chest, I dwelled on the reality. The woman could flirt with me all she wanted, but there was someone out there she actually wished to be intimate with. Briefly, I had narcissistically believed that I could have been that person.