The Journey To Acre

Chapter 16

There is a small window of time between sleeping and waking where the brain is not with the program and the body runs on autopilot.

So... if in this small interval, the body finds itself tangled with that of another and recognising the glorious scent of one's beloved, decides to pull them closer and indulge in a tender kiss... can one blame the person for it? And... if the person being kissed, sighs and kisses back... what then? What can one say about that? What, if anything, does it mean? What if, when our sleepy couple wake and reality rushes in, they're not sure it happened at all?

The sound of the door closing has Marian jolt out of the last remnants of slumber and into a cold sweat. Her fingers fly instantly to her lips. Up on deck, Guy is doing the same. Both blink confusedly and try to piece together what just happened. Adrenaline has the body hyper-alert, hyper-awake and both can feel the traces of where their bodies touched, but the brain is miles behind; foggy, sluggish, unable to distinguish between a construction of the mind and an event that actually happened.

Frustration kicks in because there's only one way to know for sure, but stubborn as they both are, neither is prepared to have that conversation. Guilt is not an emotion that delights in soul-baring. Guy has never concealed his desire for Marian but he'll be damned if he's going to discuss it and Marian can barely admit to herself that she wants this, so they end up pretending it didn't happen at all.

Just as they've already pretended countless times that sleeping together (and we're talking about lying beside each other in repose here and not the carnal act), is merely an act of comfort and has nothing to do with wanting, yearning or craving one another. Or how both have secretly come to enjoy certain intimate gestures and routines that have established themselves over time, such as how Marian places a hand on Guy's forearm when she fusses over Archie, or looks at him when she finds something amusing, or teases him about his grumpiness, or lets him carry her to bed, or a million other things that could be interpreted as more than acts of friendship that they do not talk about because god forbid they should open that can of worms and find themselves back to how things were when they first embarked upon this journey together.

It is this that keeps the fragile balance on an even keel. Formerly, he would not have had the patience, but now they've come so far and he might be sexually frustrated to the nth degree, but he won't push her because he's seen her cry and held her in his arms and knows he is no longer able to hurt her, not if he has any say in the matter.

Those who do hurt her, however, are a different story.

Which brings him to Vaisey.

She didn't have to tell him what happened - he just knew. Who else could it have been? The spark of anger quickly caught fire and had he not been busy consoling her, who knows what he might have done. It was better he'd had a night to think on it and though he was not feeling much calmer now, at least he'd had chance to collect his thoughts and come to the conclusion that an angry reaction was exactly what Vaisey wanted. Still, he never had been good when it came to impulse control so despite knowing he was playing into Vaisey's hands, he finds himself at the sheriff's door with temper so tightly wound, he's not sure he'll be able to keep a handle on it.

Imagine his surprise then, that when the door swings open, Vaisey is already sporting a black eye.

.*.

It was a miracle it hadn't happened sooner.

The sheriff might've been a paying passenger, but he was a difficult character (to put it mildly) and never had been one for keeping his comments or predilections in check. It was the latter in this instance that got him in hot water with the Mary Peel's newest recruits.