Bridging Destinies

Chapter 38: Into the Wild

When we arrived back at camp, we dug a small pit around the edge of the tent and strung a tarp over the dome of our shelter, between trees, to ward off the worst of the moisture. The tarp leaned over the edge near the front, giving the tent a kind of covered porch to the entrance. We pulled a log over close by and prepared to settle in for the coming night. The clouds were forming more thickly, but had not grown heavy enough to let loose their water to the earth. Together, Namjoon and I prepared a meal and sat down to enjoy it as the night fell. In truth, I did most of the work, but Namjoon was able to do some, minus the use of sharp objects. The man was a beautiful menace and so far we had avoided any severe accidents, but I was watchful to make sure he would be okay. In the time I'd spent with him over the past several months I found myself catching more than one dropped item, saving a coffee cup or three in those moments. I was very glad for my quick, inhuman reflexes when around the man.

After filling our bellies, we sat in companionable silence, enjoying the fire at the center of our camp and drinking hot cocoa, as the night had begun to grow more chill. The wind was also picking up and the rain I spoke of earlier in the afternoon was gathering around us to let loose upon our camp site. Namjoon looked up at the sky, speaking quietly, "I can't see any stars." He looked around at the trees that surrounded our campsite, as they blew with the wind, showing us the forefront of the building storm and spoke again, more loudly, "I guess you were right about the rain. It seems like it will start pouring at any time now."

I grinned faintly into my cup and finished off the cocoa, then rinsed my cup, pulling the jug of dhrohmta from its hiding spot, "Ready for more of this?" I asked him, holding the other hand that was not holding the jug out to him for his cup. He quickly finished off his own hot cocoa and handed me the cup, his eyes sparkling with anticipation.

"Hit me." He said, speaking English, as if we were in a movie and he was a character in it.

I chuckled and set the jug down, then rinsed his cup as well. I removed the seal from the jug and poured healthy libations of the liquid for both of us, then handed him his cup with a wink, "Go easy, Joon-ah. You still aren't used to it."

He viewed me over the edge of the mug as he took his first swallow of the night. "Are you sure you want me to go easy?" He teased me. "Last night was amazing after drinking this stuff."

I laughed, highly amused and licked my lips, "You were a beast, Joonie, but ya, please go carefully."

He blinked at me, having caught the movement of my tongue and said slowly, "I think it's already working a little." He took another swallow of the drink, as if testing it and closed his eyes, his face lowered, as if studying the liquid in the cup, but I could sense that he was, instead, focused on his internal workings.

I was silent as I watched him and took my own drink from my cup. I watched as he took another swallow of the liquid and closed his eyes again. I tilted my head and spoke quietly, "So what have you decided? Is it hitting you yet?"

Namjoon opened his eyes and looked at me carefully, then slowly blinked and continued to look at me, quietly nodding, "Yep. It's definitely working, but I think I'm just buzzed. You are glowing more than normal, though." I grinned at him and took another drink of the liquid.

Between the two of us, we finished the jar of dhrohmta with Namjoon having a little over half of a third cup, which was a bit more than the previous night. He seemed to see the colors around us as the evening storm gathered its furry, and he exclaimed at them, "Ya! Look at all the rainbows!" He said, "It's like watching magic!" He exclaimed. I smiled widely and nodded at his exclamation. He looked at me with surprise, "It's more than just a glow and why does it look like you have wings?" He asked me as he peered at me through the light of the campfire.

This time I laughed loudly, matching the sound of the wind, "Because I do, Joonah. They are wings of energy." I told him.

His surprise was more of awe as he continued to gaze at the energy flowing all around me, "They are so pretty, Lina." He told me as he continued to stare. I finished off my mug of the drink and set my cup aside, then as he watched, I stood and began to sway around the fire, allowing my energy to flow all around the light from the flames and to flow around him as well.

"This is a dance of my people." I told him as I moved, "It is a dance of love. A dance of connection. A dance of being and coming together and breaking apart. As the energy flows, and your mind is open to viewing it, it will enrapture you." As I spoke the last words, my voice grew closer to silence, only a breath of sound from my mouth, but clearly heard as I closed the distance between us. I moved closer to him, swaying sensually to the music of nature, and lightly pressed my lips to his. As I began to move away in the dance, he caught me and pulled me closer, taking my lips in a heady kiss, as his arms wrapped tightly around me. The moment wrapped us both within it as the clouds suddenly released their wet and began to pour down on us.

Namjoon pulled me towards the relative dryness of the tent through the open door, both of us barely noticing the rain, as he continued to kiss and caress me. I returned his fervent kisses and wrapped my wings of energy around the both of us. It wasn't the first time I had wrapped my wings around him, but it was the first time he was aware of it. He stopped and gazed around us, his face awed by the image of Light and colors swirling around us, then he gazed into my eyes and cupped my face speaking quietly, in almost a breath of a whisper, "You are amazing, Felina. I can't get enough of you."

I smiled softly at the man before me and whispered back, "Then kiss me again. Take me. I am yours."

He smiled with my encouragement, his expression roguish and his eyes hooded, "Yes, ma'am." He told me as he continued to cup my face, leaning into me. He took my lips with his own as he leaned into me, his fingers burying themselves deep into my hair, which I loved. As we lost ourselves in each other, the storm raged around our tent and added to the colors and energy in the air, invigorating our movements and leaving both of us speechless in the aftermath. As we lay there, Namjoon softly stroked my arm, running his fingers along its length, past my shoulder and along the back edge of my collar bone. After a time, his fingers stilled and his breathing turned steady as sleep took him. I found the sound meditative and slowly drifted into a kind of sleep of my own, the effects of our intimacies and the dhrohmta creating a bubble around us that I fell into softly.