Bridging Destinies

Chapter 33: The Unveiling of Details

It didn't take long for Sejin to make arrangements so that I could join the staff. I knew, from listening to his thoughts, that the head of security for the tour was not immediately pleased with my edition, but after meeting and talking with me, he seemed more inclined to be willing to hire me as part of his team. The company would even provide me with a salary, which I did not exactly expect. I was given forms to fill out as a formality, which included the request of my personal information and my human identity. It was not so much false information, as a persona I used while living in the human world. So it was valid, even if not my true identity.

I wondered privately. 'Had it really been that long since filling out one of these? What?' I thought, '1972? Was that my last job in the human world?' I nibbled on the end of the pen I held in my hand as I stared at the form. I sat in-between Namjoon's legs on the bed of his hotel room, going over the forms and filling them out. I used a book as a makeshift table, as he watched curiously over my shoulder. His arms were around me, and I felt cocooned, relaxing there, while struggling over the forms. I wrote down the next bit of information, murmuring out loud, "Birth date?"

I wrote the birth date of my human identity, which caused Namjoon to laugh softly, "Not noona, after all." He said into my ear, and kissed my neck, "Not by the birth date, anyway."

I half looked over my shoulder at him and settled further into his lap, intentionally rubbing my posterior against his groin, which caused him to groan slightly, "In the way that counts, I am to all of you. But you are right, only Jin and Yoongi would not call me noona if I were truly born in early 1992."

Namjoon nibbled my neck, tracing his mouth against the skin, down to the curve along my shoulder and whispered huskily against my skin, "You are the sexiest, most beautiful noona, though." He told me. I grinned softly at his words and sighed from deep in my chest, letting the air out roughly. I set the forms aside and turned in his arms. I faced him and maneuvered so that I was straddling his legs, half pinning him down and slowly moved in to kiss him, my lips just barely grazing his.

"Thank you." I breathed against his lips as I deepened the kiss between us. He followed suit and pulled me closer to him, falling into the kiss fully. He sucked my bottom lip and pulled away, looking into my eyes.

"You're welcome." He responded and continued with a suggestion, "Finish filling the forms out later, okay?" He gazed into the depths of my eyes, appearing mesmerized by their color and the Light he could see in them. I nodded and with my knee pushed the forms further out of the way, moving back into the energy of the man in front of me, and losing myself in him for the next several hours.

~~~

The next morning, Namjoon woke to the sound of the shower and the sound of singing as it melded with the ping of water hitting the shower basin. As Felina was not beside him, he knew it must be her, both for her lack of presence and the strange language he did not recognize. He'd heard it once before from her while half asleep. 'Her native language?' He asked himself, remembering the soft words of the first morning they had spent together. He smiled gently as he stretched and sunk into the covers for a moment more, then threw them to the side, sitting at the edge of the bed. He stood and walked to the curtains, then pulled them to the side, looking out over the city. He was contemplative for a moment, then turned back towards the room as he heard the shower turn off. He caught sight of the forms Felina was filling out the night before and peered at them, looking over the information he knew was false, yet he was still curious. "Venice, Italy." He said to himself, "Born in Italy, 1992." He chuckled at the information and in the same moment heard the door open. Felina stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body and another in her hand, working to carefully dry her hair. They smiled at each other and he approached her holding his hand out for the towel. She wordlessly handed it to him and he pulled her to sit in a chair, while he hand-dried her hair for her, moving the towel gently over her hair and scalp. He sifted the strands through the fabric as he worked, and spoke softly into the companionable silence, "So, you know, all the information on the forms. It's mostly false, right?" He asked her carefully as he continued to dry her hair.

Her lips turned up in a half smile and she nodded with a soft, "Yes." There was a moment of heavy silence as his unspoken questions filled the air, but remained unspoken, and she responded further, "But you want to know more."

Nodding, though he knew she could not see him, he responded, "I would like to know everything, but I guess I cannot."

The silence stretched between them as he worked carefully, threading her hair through the towel. When she spoke again, he had almost forgotten he had asked, but he still had questions as they circled inside his mind. "Well, I am single, except for you proclaiming me as your girlfriend." She teased, "But I have been married for a time. My mate passed a time ago, though."

Namjoon was surprised and yet not. For someone who had lived as long as she claimed to have lived, he would imagine that she would get married at some point. He asked quietly, "Do you have children?"

"I do." She responded simply. "A son. He has been grown for a good while now." She told him.

"Uh, how old is he?" He asked, to which she did not respond immediately.

Several moments passed as the silence settled between them and she finally answered, "He just passed his 337th winter, I believe. After a time we stop counting." She looked up at him, tilting her head back to catch his eyes.

When their eyes met, the surprise in them melted and warmth returned to his dark orbs, "Oh." He responded, staring back at her.

Smiling briefly, she looked back down, to gaze at the sky through the window, "He never ventures from our home. He's never been here in the human world." She explained, "Sometimes I miss him, but we are never far in spirit."

"So can you hear each other even when you are continents away?" He asked, curious.

Felina smiled indulgently, "Yes. Especially, if a connection is strong. And it is between all my people. And even more so between family." She told him.

Namjoon continued to ask question after question, some of which remained unanswered, but most were deemed safe enough. She did not give out precise details but answered what she could. At the end of the questions, and with her hair relatively dry, she stood and moved to get dressed, asking, "So tell me of Yoongi? How is it that he knows?" She grabbed fresh clothing from her bags, busying herself with getting ready for the day, while she waited for his response.

"Well, uh. He kind of cornered me." He smoothed his palm over the back of his neck, looking sheepish.

She glanced up at him and smirked at his expression, "Cornered you, huh?" She asked, still amused, "And you just had to tell him all?" She quirked her brow at the end of her question.

Namjoon half shrugged, "I'm sorry. He knew something was off and wouldn't leave it alone." He picked up a shirt from the night before and began to fold it, as if distracting himself, then continued, "But it felt good to talk to him about it too." He looked at her, "I felt, I don't know, a little out of sorts after you left. I didn't really know what to do with myself. Yoongi was there and willing to listen."

Shaking her head, Felina dropped the towel and turned away from him as she pulled her clothes on, "I understand, Namjoon." She told him, "But it's not something you can do, go around telling people about me, you see? It can be dangerous for me and perhaps even for you or others you tell. Yoongi is..." She paused, then continued, "probably a safer choice to unburden yourself to, but what I am must be a secret as much as possible." She turned and looked at him with a serious expression, "Do you understand?"

"Of course." He said, embarrassed and a little frustrated, though more at himself than with her, "And Yoongi won't say anything." He assured her.

Felina smirked at him, which fell immediately as she turned her attention back to her her bag to account for the older, discarded clothes from the previous night, "I know he won't." She murmured, gazing down at her task, "I just need to be certain nobody else will be told." She looked up at him, pinning him with her stare, "I need to be careful of my safety, but if many people know, I would have to leave, and I do not want to. I want to remain with you."

He stared back at her for several moments, before he approached her and took her into his arms, "I get it, Lina. I do. I will be careful." He assured her.

Turning back to him, she wrapped her arms around him, returning his embrace, "I know, Joonah." She answered softly, "I know."