Bonded

Chapter Sixteen

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Kavya

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It seems like no matter how hard we try Ronin and I cannot seem to actually stay asleep... Both of us to sing and turning in each other's arms as though we could not get comfortable... Even laying with my head on his chest as we do when the two of us are truly exhausted has not helped... Our slumber is constantly interrupted by our beast's restlessness... Our minds constantly wondering about the state of our lovely scholar and what he might be doing...

Both of us feeling so very defeated when I raise my eyes up to Ronin's just as I feel his hand start to stroke its way through my hair signaling to me that I am no longer the only one of us awake at the moment... And with the lingering gaze, we share I almost find myself afraid to say the words for fear of disrupting our shared silence, "R-Ronin... Do you think maybe... Maybe we might take a stroll? To soothe ourselves?"

I redirect myself at the last possible moment before suggesting what I would actually like to do... Which is to head straight for the far library to find the stunning creature that is our India to see that he finds himself undisturbed by any other possible suitors... Just the implantation of the thought into my mind earlier too much to bear with how much I already feel like we already care...

I am a man infatuated and I wish for is to truly enchant him and win his hand...

As common as it is for three soulmates to find each other I never thought that Ronin and I would find ourselves both pining after another... Especially someone so effeminate and delicate as India... His graceful features still burning so very brightly in my mind every time I close my eyes...

I did not think we would ever wish that someone else was squeezed into this narrow cot with us, held so very closely between our bodies and sheltered from the rest of the world...

I just wish to know that he is safe... At least that is what I keep telling myself in my head... Not that it isn't true... Just... That maybe there is more to it than that that I do not wish to admit to myself just yet for we have only known him for such a short time... The next fourteen days ahead of us so very important... The most traditional courting a fortnight-long... The bonding that needs to happen so that he might make up his mind as to whether or not to bind himself to us permanently so very important... And not likely to happen if the two of us are spending the day sleeping while he is cooped up in that library all by himself...

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Ronin

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"A stroll?" Strolling together aimlessly is something that my Love rarely suggests... His heart and mind seemingly just as troubled as mine is... Our next few days are not occupied by shifts in light of our new situation according to Commander Cho who apparently was spoken to by Master Qiao last night... So it is not as though we necessarily need to try and continue resting even though it seems so very impossible.

"Would that be alright? We would not have to go as far as our spot by the river... But we could meander through one of the rose gardens for a while in order to clear our minds?" My beloved Kavya seems so very ill at ease at the moment... The worry lines on his face so very telling to me... My guess on where his thoughts are at most likely correct if they are anything like mine...

I can hardly deny that a walk would be lovely at the moment... The fresh air needed in order to free our minds and put us more at peace with the fact that we seem so very taken with the lovely scholar that we had spent the morning with... And how hard it had been to walk away from him when it was time for him to start his studies for the day... The look that he had had on his face when we had announced it was time to take our leave still haunting me even now... "I think a walk is a wonderful idea, my little Bonfire... Wherever you lead me I shall follow."

The pet name that I only use when it is the two of us as always never fails to bring a smile to my life partner's lips, his naturally flaming red hair having consistently been mistaken for actual fire during the seasonal dances in the village... Kavya having been doused with several buckets of water, and once even a pint of ale by the villagers who had had just enough drink in them to not realize that his flailing was meant to be dancing instead of an attempt to put out his hair.

"Does it have to be one of the gardens though?" I ask the question simply because I know there is one way to soothe us both... And that is to go and see that India is alright... That he is safe and content tucked away with his scrolls, even if Kavya might be too careful of himself to admit it.

The look he gives me tells me he already knows the answer to his question as the two of us sit up, "Do you have another place in mind?"

The sly devil already knows exactly where I have in mind... And I can hardly believe that he is actually going to make me say it, heat rising to my cheeks from the very center of my core as I muster the effort to say it loudly enough for him to hear, "I was thinking a trip to the library and back would make for a decent stroll... And while we're there we might find ourselves taking a moment to check on India?"