Page 31 of Finding Her
“That sounds lovely,” I breathed softly, wishing with every ounce of my soul that I was curled up on his couch. It had been a comforting refuge after my last traumatic life experience. Maybe that could become my new self-soothing technique. After every disturbing, confusing, life-altering event, I’d request that Graysen create some wisps of flame to soothe my aching soul.
Nearby leaves rustled, and Graysen swiftly moved the torch in their direction. The large eyes of a small, skinny dragon locked on us. It shrank into itself submissively. Thin, webbywings pressed tight to its back before it scampered in the opposite direction.
“It’s a nocturnal species,” he said. “They’re harmless. In fact, pretty much everything here iscompletely and utterly harmless!” he called out into the forest with frustration, the sound of fleeing dragons rustling the nearby trees.
I ran a hand down his bicep, offering unspoken reassurance. I knew he hadn’t intended to take us somewhere dangerous. I knew as soon as the two brightest stars rose in the sky, we would be reminded how innocuous Eitrea was.
“Does creating fire make you tired?” I asked, trying to pull his attention from the internal war he was fighting with himself.
He scowled as if reluctant to abandon his quest of self-punishment. “Only in large amounts. It’s like how you can walk without tiring, but if you have to walk a long time, or sprint very intensely, it’ll exhaust you. One could say that I’m out of shape. I typically only use fire when I’m igniting the logs in my fireplace for others. It’s been a while since I’ve used so much, so intensely. I try to avoid it.”
“When was the last time you used that much fire?”
“We can talk about that another time.” He pointed ahead. “We’ll be back in a matter of a few steps. Recognize the waterfall?”
The familiar trickling was music to my ears, and suddenly the magic of the woods sparked just enough to dull my waking nightmare. As soon as we reached camp, he dropped what was left of the torch into a large pile of brush he had prepared before we left. He wasted no time digging into the nearby sack to pull out fresh clothing. A pile consisting of sweatpants, a sweater,undergarments, and thick, knitted socks was pushed towards me.
I stood and looked around, my eyes peering into the dimly lit trees. “Would you, uh, turn around?” I asked shyly. “I don’t think I want to walk off to change.”
“Would you feel more comfortable ifIwalked off?” He respectfully held his hands up as if to display his guileless intentions.
Don’t you dare leave me. “No, turning around is fine. Thanks.”
My dress had dried mostly on the walk back but still had to be peeled from my body. The thin fabric hadn’t been providing much protection from the elements, but being naked absolutely felt worse. My nipples could cut diamonds, sensitive to the chilled breeze brushing past us. I tugged on the sweatshirt first, before slipping into the panties, sweats, and socks. I seriously considered skipping underwear to get to wearing dry pantsthatmuch faster. I resisted the temptation; I’d hate for him to notice me sneaking them back into the bag or holding them to my side awkwardly.
“Alright, I’m done.” I tucked my hands into the ends of the sleeves, immediately feeling some relief.
He turned and smiled sympathetically at me. “Feel better?” His eyebrows slanted up into a sympathetic arch.
“Much.” I made my way to the fire.
“I need to change, would you like me to—”
I wouldn’t let him finish that ridiculous offer again. “I won’t look, I promise. Your modesty is safe,” I teased, too fixated on my recovery to care about staring at his statuesque torso… for the time being. Right now, I was busy enjoying the simple things like air, heat, and safety. Biological stability was sexy enough.
I was vaguely aware of the sounds of shuffling fabric in the background. My eyes closed, and I allowed my heavy head to rest on my shoulder. A thick blanket was laid over my back, and I eagerly pulled the ends into a knot around my throat.
“Wait here, I’ll be right back,” Graysen whispered, as if to avoid waking me from my contented doze.
I didn’t think much time had passed before a hand cupped my shoulder. “Let’s get you off the ground for the season change.”
He helped me up, resting a supportive hand on the small of my back. My eyes wouldn’t open fully, desperate to stay in half-asleep bliss. My feet padded their way over to the trees, where he instructed me to use the vines to step my way up. They were attached in convenient bundles of loops, making decent enough steps and handles to get to the lowest branch, where a thick fur pelt draped over the sides.
The branch formed a sunken divot against the trunk large enough to curl up in. I rested my head on the far end of the nest and brought my knees to my chest so that Graysen could climb in behind me. It wasn’t a lot of space for two people, not quite as wide as your average bathtub, but I was just as happy to make myself small.
He seated himself upright against the trunk, his legs crossing. He had brought a third blanket, much thinner than the one wrapped around me and the one cushioning the branch. With a flick of his wrist, the blanket fell over both of our legs. A second layer for me. With a relaxed sigh, Graysen tucked his hands into his armpits and let his head topple to the side, eyes gazing at me beneath his dark lashes. “Comfortable?” he asked.
“Very.” I rubbed my feet together, self-soothing. “Do you want to lie down? I can move over more.” I wasn’t sure I could, but I would certainly try. Surely we could find a way for us bothto lie down. It felt so soothing to bury my face in the soft pelt, I felt bad he wasn’t experiencing it.
“I don’t think I’m ready to lie down yet. You go ahead to sleep, I’ll make myself comfortable.”
He didn’t have to ask me twice; my eyes were too heavy to resist much longer. In my final peek at the world, I looked through a break in the branches large enough to watch the sparkling galaxy swirl in the night sky. The clouds were gone. It was as if somebody had taken a bucket of liquid glitter, spilled it on a large glass pane over the world, and sat up there with a giant paintbrush, dragging the glimmering mix in soothing circular movements for the therapy of those who were unable to sleep at night.
I, for one, would sleep just fine.
Faeryn
When I woke up the next morning, the air was crisp and nipped at my cheeks. Despite knowing better, I opened my eyes expecting to see the same painting of greens, pinks, and lavenders that I last witnessed in the light of day. After all, I had never experienced waking up to a totally different season than what I had last closed my eyes to. But sure enough, everything had changed.
