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22-Tales of the past

It was early in the morning and we were exhausted, but we kept walking until we reached a park.

It occurred to me that the tent was still in my backpack, so we could camp, and I told Chishiya.

"Agreed." He answered me. "The other blimps are far away and we're outside the King of Spades territory, so I'd say it's a safe area."

"And there's a fountain too!" I exclaimed happily.

Chishiya laughed at my enthusiasm for finding places where to wash.

"Sorry, but it's a basic thing." I laughed too.

"There are other things that are also basic." And he kissed me, catching me off guard.

I still had to get used to that feeling of inebriation and pure joy that pervaded my body every time our lips touched.

"I'd say first, let's start putting up the tent." I told him when we pulled away.

"Okay." He looked around. "How about we camp there?" He pointed to a tree which cast a fair amount of shade, with a bench beside it.

"All right."

I took the tent out of my backpack and threw it at Chishiya. "It's all yours, logic wizard."

"You've never put up a tent?" He looked at me in amazement, as he opened it and began sorting the pieces.

"Nope."

"Then why do you have it in your backpack?" He asked me laughing.

"Because the easier ones ran out when I got it, so I took this one." I explained, smiling. "I used to keep it for emergencies, but now you're here so you can assemble it without my help." I made the tongue at him.

I took the microfibre bathrobe, the kind that took up very little space, which had ended up at the bottom of the backpack.

"In the meantime, I'm going to freshen up."

"I'm seriously starting to think this backpack is a variant of the Mary Poppins' bag." He said smiling, and going on with the assembly of the tent, while I walked towards the fountain.

My hair was still clean, so I plunged down just to my neck.

For a moment, I thought about how ridiculous the scene of me washing in the fountain must have been and I burst out laughing.

The park was fortunately deserted, since well, I took a proper bath and left all my clothes on the ground; I had the foresight to go behind the column and immediately put on my bathrobe as soon as I went out. Chishiya had almost finished setting up the tent, and I was grateful that he was distracted, while I took the opportunity to get dressed.

I returned to him, shoes in hand. I had forgotten how pleasant it was to walk on the grass with bare feet.

"All done?" He asked me.

"Yes, now I feel much better."

He shook his head, then unzipped the tent. "Home Sweet Home."

"What an idiot!" I laughed.

"Well, now, if you don't mind, I think I'll go try our bathtub."

I started laughing harder as I threw a small towel at him.

Meanwhile, I gathered some branches for the fire; it took me a while and when I got back Chishiya was standing in front of the tent in only his sweatpants, no shirt.

I almost choked and let go of all the branches, then I tripped over my shoes and some of them fell anyway.

Chishiya helped me pick them up and we placed them in a spot not too close to the tent.