Noe's p.o.v
It has been a little over eight weeks since the day I first laid eyes upon Tallulah. Now, even without intent, she has become akin to a priority, an individual I must shield from the dangers of the lurking world that surrounds us. She is a strong woman. Determined. Headstrong at times and tender at others. And a curious one she also is. A real beauty. Lovely eyes of a mesmerizing Kashmir blue. Eyes brimming with queries unasked, unspoken, unanswered.
Even now as she dodges gleaming blade of the katana clutched in my palm, even as she moves with such graciousness, with such calculated steps, I have to battle to keep from standing and marvelling in awe. How long has she known the sword? How long has she known this art? Mastered it and worn it like a second skin? Yes, we have been practicing, training non-stop from the wee hours of morning all the way to now, eight o'clock.
She is quick in her movements, ducks and blocks and twists and turns and skips with a mastered fluidity. Spinning rapidly, the steels of our weapons clash. They clink and ping and ring up until I turn and draw her by the wrist in swift motions, resting the steel of my own sword by the flesh of her neck -right upon her jugular. Her back is pressed to my chest, her breathes uneven, unsteady, ragged.
"Still want to continue?" She taunts, Russian accent thick.
I drop sword to my side, allow her to pull away, turn and face upon me.
"Tomorrow, Tallulah. Right now, I am famished, fatigued too."
Though her chest heaves, she smiles sweetly. And that little gesture somewhat lightens my chest. It shouldn't but it does. Peculiar, really.
"Noe, you told me we would go to the surface sometime in the future. I am still eagerly anticipating said future. So, when will it be?"
Grabbing a clean set of towels from my bag, I toss her one then proceed to dub at the beads of perspiration that dribble down my forehead and temples and down the crook of my neck.
"Today seems fine. You've been patient, waited long enough."
"You mean that? You'll be taking me with you?"
Too quick for my brain to register, she lunges herself at me, slithers arms all about my neck. So, I do the only rational thing. I snake arms about her waist, draw her closer even though I have known myself to loath touch. Perhaps it's because she and I have inhabited the same home for so long. I do not know why she seems to be the exception to my repulsion for physical contact. And neither do I seek to know the truth of this.
She draws back, lifts on the very tip of her toes, plants chaste kiss upon my cheek -catching me entirely off guard. I want to be appalled. I want to loath that little kindly gesture. So why do I not?
"You'll take your bath while I prepare us a little something to eat before we leave," I clear my throat and say to her.
I grab hold of our bag, swing it atop my shoulder before we proceed to exit the training studio.
"I wonder what scent roses hold. What sweet peas and daffodils and bluebells smell like. What colour of birds we'll stumble upon today," she chirps akin to an excillerated little child as we stride down narrow halls side-by-side.
Her words strike me, they do. How should the same persons that moulded her, the same humans that granted upon her life, hinder her from experiencing the very loveliness of it firsthand?
Once we are back at the place we both call home, we each take to our different tasks. It takes us an hour and minutes to compose ourselves, to clean up and take breakfast, to clean platters and for me to tuck guns into my waistband. Finally, having made completion of our little commissions, we exit past the front doors and tread down corridors once again.
We come upon the elevators leading up to the surface and once inside I take notice through my peripheral vision as Tallulah's curiosity begins to stir and rear its head. Her eyes rake and travel, mark and memorize the interior of the chromium confinement space that transports us to the world above. Her head sways tenderly from side to side at the soft humming that resonates all about us.
Dinging noice infiltrates the solace of silentness and Tallulah is first to make her exit once doors glide open. Down a narrow corridor we tread and up a few steps we mount. I work to rotate the large metal handle attached to the camouflage door before shoving the door open to reveal the world above. We both climb to the surface -with me leading the way- and I am quick to shove the camouflage door below us shut, rotating the metal handle shut as well.
And as the freshly winds caress soothingly Tallulah's skin, she inhales a slow breath, exhales an even slower one. For the briefest of seconds she looks upon me as her eyes begin to tear and her lower lip begins to quiver. In this moment, I witness the little girl within, the little girl whose fears in this moment no longer seem like an inhibition.
"Everything's so beautiful, Noe," comes the gentleness in her cracking voice.
Grace, what did they do to her in those labs? What hells did she see? What darkly abyss did they drag her through? I clear my throat though my chest constricts a tad bit, clear my throat though the peculiar pang clings to my chest like a leech to flesh.
"It is," seems like the only befitting response.
She moves towards the firs, stares upon the spiky leaves with amazement etched strongly upon her face. Sapphire eyes turn to drink in the sight of greenly ferns and tiny dangling bluebells that sway and dance against gentle breeze. She plucks a bluebell and draws it closer to her vision, examines it as though her life depended on it. She gazes upon clear skies, smiles to herself even as a single rivulet dribbles from the corner of her eye and down her temple.
"Noe, is this heaven? I must be in heaven," her voice trembles.
It fills to the brim with emotion as she makes her way towards the trunk of yet another tree -a large yew. I pad over to where she leans, silently watching as she examines every nook and cranny, every tiny crevice of the barks. And as an ant struggles to mount the trunk, she yoinks at the little insect and examines that too.
"I must look silly," she voices as if it now dawns on her that she has company.
"Far from it, Tallulah."
She smiles, turns vision from me to look down upon the wriggling insect, rests it back from where she'd collected it.
"Is that moss?" She inquires, her accent now more prominent than ever.
Squatting, she reaches for the moss and feels it between thumb, index and middle finger.
"It is. Come, I'll show you where the river is."
Though it sounds impossible, her smile seemingly widens as I reach out a hand and intertwine our fingers. And again, I am brutally reminded that I can -in fact- somewhat tolerate human contact. Perhaps even enjoy it. We tread down forest floors, tread past thick cypresses and even more firs. Further and further we pad down sloppy earthen floors into the heart of the greenery until the glimmering surface of a stream comes to view.
"Wow," she speaks lowly from beside me and my head tilts to look upon her side profile.
"This is the scenery you'd been painting on the day you told me about the new insect species, Noe."
"It is. You want to test the waters? Swim a little?"
"I'd love that so much, Noe."
Our palms detach before she proceeds to carelessly unbutton one of the very many shirts she'd borrowed from me. Garment slips past her shoulders and pools all about her feet. Yes, the many slits and slashes of her back appear to have healed well. A good thing. Kicking her boots right off, woman struts her way towards the banks. Though the nudity of her is much like a glorious sculpture of some perfectionist artist, I do feel slight discomfort gazing upon her in the flesh.
The sight of her stirs a burning best kept on a leash, stirs a fire inside my loins best smothered. But much as I attempt to suppress the flames that ignite, I cannot help how my body responds. Primeval desire. A curse and a blessing. She streamlines her body, pours herself into and becomes one with the waters, chuckles in jolly and complete oblivion to just how terribly she affects my ability to reason rationally.
"Will you join me, Noe?" She offers once her head emerges from beneath the waters.
She gazes up upon me with that silly sweetly smile of hers, her eyes roaming with anticipation.
"I'd rather not, Tallulah. Enjoy yourself for now."
"Suit yourself, Noe. The waters are really warm."
I can only reciprocate her smile with a subtle one of my own. Then, I kick off my boots along with the pair of socks enfolding my feet, draw my cargo pants all the way up to my calves, sit myself by the banks and immerse my feet into the stream. Yes, the waters really are warm. Still...
It is only logical that I maintain my distance, it is the rational thing to do...
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Subject 3033...(BWAM, Sci-fi Romance, 18+)
Science Fiction'They raised her to be void of human emotion, he made her feel them...' The year is 3000 and technology on planet earth has immensely advanced. After the successful creation of robotic and test tube babies, scientists have teamed up to manufacture t...
