IncuBUST

Kindling

"I hope it's okay that I brought Quetz. He loves camping and I thought it--" he glanced at me, "Would take some of the pressure off." I blinked in the total darkness of the heavily canopied jungle and replied, "It's more than okay." He smiled and waved his hand causing the fine droplets of moisture in the air to crystallize and coalesce into a brilliant shard of ice shining with a blue-white light. He let go of the ice and it floated up above our heads casting a ring of light upon the forest floor.

We spent several minutes scooping dead wood up off the ground. Finally, Barapha asked, "You're not angry at me, are you?" I straightened up with an armful of wood and replied, "About what?" He stared at me, his entire body seeming to shimmer in the bright blue light. He shifted the kindling he had gathered to one arm and stooped to pick up another piece mumbling, "I was really upset about you and the Empath. I could tell he was in love with you and I... well I don't want anyone else to be in love with you."

"Barapha," I murmured, and his face flushed barely visible in the eerie blue light. He shook his head and said, "I'm just making sure that you're okay with me and Quetz because I'm pretty sure that the boy is in love with me." I smiled and suppressed a laugh replying, "I've already told you how I feel about Quetz."

"Yeah, but that was a while ago and feelings change," Barapha said walking up to me and dumping the kindling he had gathered into my arms. We moved farther into the forest, the glowing crystal of ice bobbing along after us. Barapha picked up another piece of wood and continued, "I just want to make sure you aren't suppressing any negative emotions. I don't want you to accept Quetz because you think you have to, and I don't want you to feel like you aren't enough for me." I stared at him feeling tears burning suddenly in my nose.

He stepped closer and said, "I don't need you to be anything more or less than what you are." He bent down so that his face was level with mine and stared me in the eyes saying, "And what you are is amazing." My breath caught in my throat, and I dropped all the wood taking his face in my hands and kissing him long and hard right on the mouth.

I pulled away and said, "Quetz is wonderful. The fact that he is in love with you makes me love you even more and knowing that you have him makes me less worried about not being enough."

He stared at me, his eyes glistening with emotion, and he asked, "Did you just say you love me?" I blinked several times and laughed nervously removing my hands from his face and stepping back.

"Yeah, uh, I guess I did," I said bending to pick up the kindling I had dropped. My face went hot, and I babbled, "I mean you kind of said it first, so I figured...It's not a big deal. I love Quetz too and my sister and Octavia and lots of people really. I don't really see—"

I was suddenly tackled to the ground landing back first in the damp, sandy bracken. Barapha stared down at me saying, "But you don't want to make out with Octavia or your sister."

"I would, however, gladly make out with Quetz," I said trying to wriggle my arms out from under his hands. He laughed and said, "Most people would gladly make out with Quetz. He's warm and soft." His lips stretched into a salacious smirk, and he let go of my arms slipping his hand between my back and the ground. He pulled me up into a sitting position and murmured, "But not as warm and soft as you."

He wrapped his arms around me in a bone-crushing hug resting his cheek on the top of my head. He closed his eyes and sighed in a gust of ice crystals. I could hear his heart beating slow and steady in his chest, the only real sound in the world. I curled my arms around him and tucked my face into his neck whispering, "I think I'm falling in love with you."

He caressed the back of my head and murmured, "I started falling the moment I saw you fifty years ago." I pulled back and looked at him asking, "Why didn't you say anything?" His eyes widened and he said, "I did. When I wasn't busy fucking your sister, I was flirting with you, but you were never interested."

I blinked at him then mumbled, "I thought you were just being an ass." He laughed and said, "I mean yeah, but I also meant most of it." I laughed as well and touched his jaw saying, "You've changed a lot since then." He sighed and curled his fingers around my wrist replying, "I haven't really...I just like you."

"I don't believe that," I murmured leaning in and pressing my lips gently against his. We kissed for several seconds before Barapha pulled away and looked back at the kindling we had dropped.

"We should probably get this wood to Quetz before he decides to start his own fire," he said, and I nodded. We stood and I held out my arms so that Barapha could pile on as many sticks as would fit. He scooped up an armful of his own and we started back towards the beach.