-Chapter 10-
The morning breeze blew softly as it made its way into the cave, drifting carelessly along the way and wafting over two bodies lying together in the cave's depths. Karith's nose twitched as a few strands of her bangs swayed by, tickling the tip. She slowly came to as she rubbed her nose and opened her eyes slightly, her vision still a tad blurry from waking up. Squinting as the morning sun's rays reflected into the cave, she yawned as she continued to adjust before getting up. Karith remained lying on her sleeping mat, smiling contently as she reveled in the reminiscence of a pleasant dream, one that she surely missed and regretted couldn't have lasted longer. She decided to lay there on her back for a few more moments, closing her eyes shut as she listened to the subtle ambiances of her surroundings. There wasn't much to listen to, other than her breathing and the birds chirping outside.
Then suddenly, she caught hint of another sound, a delicate and more subtle noise emanating from right beside her. Curious, she peeked open an eye as she turned her head, noticing a woman lying beside her as her vision focused on her features. After turning on her side, Karith opened both eyes and saw Kale's face just within a foot away from her own, breathing softly as she lay curled up in the fetal position. She was situated between Karith and the cave's entrance, so she experienced the brunt of the chilly, night air as they slept.
Kale's pitch black hair was still styled into a ponytail, the excess of hair sprawled out on her makeshift pillow. After noticing her black locks, Karith couldn't help but also spot the slight amount of drool dribbling out the corner of her friend's mouth. It left a wet stain on her jacket to which Karith thought was rather gross, yet amusing at the same time. As she chuckled slightly to herself on the inside, she caught glimpse of something else by Kale's mouth, something with a familiar hue. It was smeared at several points around her mouth and even observed to be directly on her lips. Upon further inspection, Karith deduced the substance was lipstick, but not just any old lipstick; it was hers. Aghast by her latest discovery, Karith wiped her own mouth with her white glove and witnessed a smear of red, the same shade as Kale's lipstick. She frantically sat up and wiped all around her lower face, seeing more smidgens of her lipstick on her gloves.
After putting two and two together, and remembering her lovely dream from the night before, she cried out in disgust. "Ew, sick! Gross!" she said, nearly gagging on her words.
The sudden outburst from Karith caused kale to stir awake as her voice echoed throughout the cave. Kale lifted her head to see what was going on, her eyes partially open as they had yet the opportunity to adjust. "Huh, Wha?" she asked, looking around as she wiped her mouth. She then saw Karith sitting beside her and smiled warmly. "Oh, good morning. How're you feeling?" she asked, whisking a few strands of hair from her face.
Karith wiped her mouth completely, removing as much of Kale's lipstick as she could in addition to her own. "I'm quite fine. Feeling better than ever actually," she said, trying not to sound disgusted. "Hey, do you remember anything… um, weird happening after we- I fell asleep?"
Kale took a moment to think it over, her eyes looking up in no particular direction as she sat up as well. She placed her arms behind her on the ground for support before looking back to Karith. "Uh, not that I can think of," she said before yawning.
With a slight look of skepticism, Karith continued to eye her carefully, waiting for any indication of doubt. "Are you sure?" she asked, attempting to remove any hint of an accusation or insinuation from her voice.
Smiling to herself, Kale glanced away momentarily then returned her gaze back to Karith. "Well… I did have this pretty awesome dream last night. I was-" She paused, unsure about sharing the intimacies of her nighttime fantasy with her fellow pilot. "Well, I'll just leave it to your imagination," she said with a suggestive wink.
Karith's eye twitched at that as she smiled uncomfortably, giving a slight nod. "Uh huh. Sounds wonderful… except for the fact that you have my lipstick on your face… and yours on mine," she said, holding up her hands so Kale could see the red on her gloves.
Upon seeing her lipstick on Karith's gloves, and remnants of it still on her face, Kale wiped around her own mouth and felt traces of lipstick on her cheek and mouth. "Oh. Ooooh. So that wasn't… a dream?" she asked as she began to redden in the cheeks.
"Yeah. I'm afraid so," said Karith, expecting the same outburst as she had.
To her surprise though, Kale didn't yell out in disgust or gag repulsively. Instead, all she did was blush as she got redder in her cheeks. She sat there speechless, remembering her dream and linking it with the new revelation that Karith had shared with her. She gulped nervously and looked away, unable to make eye contact with her. "Oh, well… sorry 'bout that," she said, still looking away as she fidgeted in her place beside her.
Confused about her sudden shyness, Karith decided to question her about it. "Hey, what's the matter? Why so quiet all of a sudden? I figured you'd be all grossed out about finding out we made out," she said, furrowing her brow.
Karith questioning her only made her blush harder as she choked on her words. Kale then took a moment to calm down and responded, slowly turning towards her. "It's not that bad. I mean, all we did was kiss, right?"
"Dude, I'm a chick. And as a chick, I like making out with guys, not girls. It's… weird," said Karith, shivering at the notion of kissing another woman.
Kale rolled her eyes, scoffing at her. "Pfft, have you even tried it? I mean, consciously though," she asked in a casual manner.
Karith raised an eyebrow, almost offended by the question. "What? Me? No way. I'd never," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and glancing away. "Why are you defending that so much all of a sudden? Unless…" She paused as it all started to come together, instances and memories from her school days flooding back into her brain. The notion clicked in her mind as she slowly looked back to Kale, hesitant to even open her mouth to speak. "…you fancy women?"
With a sigh of defeat, Kale gave a nod and smiled. "Was there ever any doubt?" she asked, slightly dismayed that her secret was out.
After receiving confirmation, Karith's head seemed to spin as her friend's image contorted itself in her mind. "It all makes sense no! How long have you, uh… been like that?"
Kale exhaled deeply, thinking her answer over in her head. "Uh, since entering the military academy? Or maybe shortly after? I don't know. It's been awhile," she said.
Karith sneered at her, remembering all the signs and clues that should have led her to that conclusion long ago. "It's no wonder you always wanted to take showers together in the locker rooms after practice. You didn't want to talk about class; you were just checking me out! I thought it was awkward at first, but I didn't think much of it back then. Now I see what you were up to!" she said, amazed she didn't realize it sooner. "And that one time I started dating Brent! You were like super pissed for a week! I thought it was just your time of the month or something, but nooo… I get it now."
"Oh no, you can see right through my devious plot. Whatever shall I do?" asked Kale sarcastically with a good-humored smirk.
"Then there was that one time. Oh, you sly dog you…" said Karith as she suddenly remembered probably the most obvious instance yet.
"Oh? And what time was that?" asked Kale as she grinned deviously at her friend's uneasiness.
"You know the one I'm talking about. Back in school? You wanted to compare breast sizes and felt me up for like, fifteen minutes straight. You didn't care about comparing sizes; you just wanted to grope me, you perv!" said Karith, smiling at the fact that she was duped so easily.
Kale chuckled at the memory, remembering the sweet, soft feeling in her hands. "Guilty as charged," she said, raising her hands up as she mimicked being arrested.
Karith laughed as well, but soon quieted down. There was a brief moment of awkward silence between them as they contemplated how to continue their relationship. It wasn't that Karith had a problem with Kale's preferences. Hardly. She couldn't care any less. Instead, it was more so her being unsure of how to approach and act around Kale, having to watch what she said and how she behaved.
"So… guess we can't cuddle to share body heat anymore, huh?" asked kale, breaking the silence as she looked to Karith with mild optimism.
Karith smiled, shaking her head. "Afraid not."
"Uh huh. And what about taking showers together? No go as well?" asked Kale, holding on to a shred of hope.
Letting out a sigh, Karith rolled her eyes at her friend's whims. "We can still take showers at the same time. All I ask is that you try your best not to check me out. It's weird and I'd rather not have my pervy best friend look at me that way, despite me alluring, curvy body," she said, teasing Kale as she used a sensual voice to emphasize the end of her sentence. She also accompanied her tone with a seductive facial expression, running her hands over her chest all the while.
Kale frowned at her then snickered. "Now that's not fair. You can't tell me not to look at you that way then pull that crap!" she said, playfully hitting Karith on the arm.
"You're right. I won't do it again. I just couldn't resist knowing you have the hots for me," said Karith with a chuckle. "But I'm serious about that shower thing. I just don't swing that way."
"Fair enough. I'll do my best to control myself in the presence of your bareness," said Kale with a smile, reassuring her that her intentions were genuine.
"Good," said Karith as she sat there, letting the news soak in. She let out a sigh as she looked around the cave's grim interior, realizing where they were and the dire situation they were in. "Guess we're still stuck in the mess, huh?"
Kale gave a solemn nod as reality seeped in as well. "Yeah. This sucks," she said, bringing her legs in as she held them close with her arms, resting her chin on her knees. "What are we going to do now?"
Karith took her jacket and stood up, shaking it out before putting it back on. "Not sure, but maybe we should go wake up Sleepy Head first. I doubt she came by to get us for watch dusty, so she's probably sleeping right now herself," she said, heading for the cave's entrance.
"Yo, hey! Wait up!" said Kale as she got up as well, taking her jacket and putting it on while commenting about the drool stain she left.
When they got to the entrance, they spotted Leena still fast asleep in her spot, oddly enough with an eerily content smile on her face. After exchanging vexed looks, they decided to wake her up.
"Hey, get up, Sleeping Beauty," said Karith as she kicked Leena's foot.
Having been jolted awake, Leena drew her sidearm and aimed it right between Karith's eyes as she stood up. Leena's eyes darted all around, and upon seeing only Karith and kale before her, she scoffed at them and holstered her pressgun. "What do you want?" she asked after a huge yawn. Suddenly, she realized the daylight from outside mid-stretch as her arms remained high above her head. "…it's morning, isn't it?"
Karith gave a nod, crossing her arms over her chest as she raised an eyebrow. "Uh huh."
Leena remained still then lowly brought her arms back down to her sides. "I guess… I guess I must've dozed off then, huh?" she asked, a feeling of embarrassment and humiliation filling her entire being.
Karith and Kale nodded together, their judgmental stares fixated on Leena. "Yup," said Karith as she refused to let her mouth turn into a smile, despite wanting to badly.
"Hmmm… seeing as how we're still alive, unscathed, and that our golems are still there, I'd say nothing bad happened while we all slept last night," said Leena as she turned her back to them, trying to hide her flushed cheeks as she fixed her glasses.
Karith finally smirked as she took a step towards Leena. "Guess you didn't have the self-discipline to stay awake after all. Well, I don't blame you. Even you deserved a good night's rest," she said.
"One of us had a spectacular night if you ask me," said Kale with a mischievous grin, glancing over at Karith. Karith snapped at her with a piercing glare, gesturing to her to keep everything that happened during the night and when they woke up to herself.
Fortunately, Leena had her back to them and was too focused beating herself up for failing her watch duty. After exhaling deeply, she turned back around, causing Karith and Kale to lock it up and put on their serious faces. "Well, since nothing bad happened, and now that we're all rested, I'd say we continue where we left off and figure out our next plan of action," she said after clearing her throat.
Karith and Kale watched as Leena made her way back into the cave, returning to their survival bag to eat some breakfast. Feeling their empty stomachs, they followed after her and went to their bags as well. While they snacked on some granola bars around the fire pit, they discussed their current situation.
Feeling one hundred percent better than the day before, Karith reclaimed her position as the leader and started them off. "Okay, so let's lay out the facts before we decide on what to do next," she said after taking a swig from her water bottle. "First, we can't exactly go back home to Alyeska. Surely by now word of Gen. Morrios' death has reached High Command and that we're 'traitors' wanted for murder."
"Well that's quite obvious," said Leena as she poked at the burnt sticks in the campfire with another stick.