Droplets On Heliotropes [Wanderer x Reader]

V

The morning after was only slightly awkward. Wanderer awoke first and upon realizing he was not only fully naked, but being entangled in a hug by you, he panicked momentarily. His brain had to work for a second before the events of the evening before came rushing back into his mind.

You, inspecting his body with such interest, but tenderness at the same time, that he didn't know how to deal with it.
You, silently asking for his consent every step of the way.
You, eliciting all those raw emotions in him that he rarely felt before, by merely touching him.
You, taking care of him, of his needs, in a such a carnal way.

And him, feeling overwhelmed, but silently begging you not to stop.

A deep blush fought its way onto his cheeks as he remembered and he knew he needed to get away and clear his head. Carefully, with slow movements, he separated himself from you, crawled out from under the blanket and put his clothes back on.

The movement obviously stirred you awake, but after watching with half-open eyes, seeing how embarrassed he seemed to be by the whole ordeal, you pretended to be asleep for a bit longer, to give him time to recollect and sort his thoughts out. But a small smile was sat on your lips until he left the tent. Then you got up yourself, getting ready.

A bit later, all of you met for breakfast and to discuss what the plan for the day was. Outside of the cave, separated from you by a blanket that it constantly tore on, the sandstorm was still ravaging the desert. Since there was nothing to be done about the current situation, you took your time to enjoy the bread, small pieces of dried meat and some fruit you had picked on your way. Wanderer and you both ignored each other, neither him nor you acted like anything had happened in any way. But Gulabgir, with his sharp eyes, noticed the unusual distance between the two of you. He decided not to say anything, just observe.

It took the storm a few more hours to settle down, but when it finally did, all traces of any tracks to follow Illium were gone. There was nothing you could do except sending your people out to look for something, anything that could be taken as a hint, everyone in a different direction. Everybody set out, equipped with a compass and the order to return should they find something. You too set out. You waked for hours and hours, always keeping your eyes wide open for anything unusual, but you were forced to returned empty-handed, as in the east, there was nothing but sand to be found.

One by one they returned, first Gulabgir, then Safiyya, Farid and Wanderer, none with anything to show for. Again morale was low, but you had the feeling that you were close. That was confirmed when Rana came back, later than everybody else, but with positive news to share.

"There is a small temple north-west from here, about three hours by foot," she said. "We can't be sure it's really him but I definitely felt a strange energy radiating from there. And a bright, blue light as well."

You patted her shoulder to congratulate her for the good work. "It definitely sounds suspicious. Do we have any other leads?"

Everybody shook their heads. None of them had found anything noteworthy.

"Then I guess we will check this temple out," you decided. "And if it turns out that it's not Illium after all, we will have to go back to Aaru Village to restock our equipment and set out to search again."

Your team nodded and started getting ready. The camp was quickly packed up and you set out.

You were lead by Rana who knew exactly how to get to the temple the fastest. On the way, Gulabgir fell back a bit until he was walking next to you, a few meters behind the others.

"Milady, I made an observation today."

"You always make observations, Gulabgir, that is what you're good at and why you are here," you complimented him. "What did you see?"