Title: Alone
Words: 520
Rating: G
Summary: Not everything about the jungle in Thailand is bad...
Notes: Inspired by what is literally a two-second moment in "Beast of the Temple"...
Also, WTF, FFN? Sort yourself out, please! I have fic to post!
Thanks to everyone leaving me reviews/messages/favs/subscriptions/alerts! :)
She has never been alone with him before. There has always been something between them – something a little deeper. Something fun and serious, something warm and deliberate. But there has always been a crowd around them, until now.
The jungle is hot and moist. Insects settle on her skin and she waves at them and slaps them away. There is nothing about this experience she is enjoying.
Well – almost nothing.
His hand brushes hers in the dark and she glances up at him, but his eyes are fixed upon the dark and difficult path in front of them. She knows he is afraid of the dragon beast – more than he is letting on. He was never very good at hiding things and she can read him better than anyone, even now, here in the dark.
The ground begins to rise steeply. He goes first, slipping slightly on the muddy slopes, digging his fingers into the earth and hauling himself to the top of the ridge. He turns and offers his hand to her. She can feel mud and leaves between their palms as she accepts his help and lifts herself up to the ledge beside him.
The jungle is thick with silence. She can sense it and taste it and feel it pressing in around her. It speaks of things unnatural and frightening and she edges a little closer to him without realising it.
"I don't like this," she whispers loudly. "It's too quiet."
"Nothing will happen to you while you are with me," he promises quietly, squeezing her hand and leading her forward.
She smiles and keeps her eyes on his back, following him along the ridge. Creatures scurry and shift in the branches above and the leaf litter below. The trees above them block out the bright moon, though it shines through in glittering patches when it can.
He can see better than she can. When she snags her toe on a raised tree root and trips, he catches her and grins at her in the shadowy light.
"All right?" he asks.
"Uh-huh." She blinks up at him, her muddy fingers clutching the front of his t-shirt. She looks up at him and she feels like she's known him forever.
She remembers how childish she felt when she first laid eyes on him and thought how good looking he was. She grins at the memory and he smiles back at her, though can't know exactly why she looks so breathless and excited.
They are alone. After all this time, after all these years, this is the first time she has been truly, truly alone with him.
She leans up on her tiptoes and presses her mouth softly to his. The jungle falls quiet for long seconds as they kiss.
Her stomach swoops and her knees tremble. She breathes a quiet, pleasant sigh when they break apart.
"We should keep going, Gi," he whispers, smiling down at her. "We have a job to do."
Gi smiles and follows Nuok through the jungle, her hand in his.
Dragon beast or no dragon beast, the jungle suddenly doesn't seem so bad.
