The Survival of Two

To Warm Up

The rain picked up as they made their way down the hill, the soil of the well-worn path turning muddy and loose. In her haste, Osha's foot slid on a slick stone, and she felt her balance give way. Instinctively, she threw out her arms to steady herself, letting out a gasp of relief as she felt Qimir grab her arm and stop her fall. She looked back at him and smiled faintly; since the rain had begun, she hadn't been sure what was going on between them. They hadn't spoken a word, and she was at a loss on how to proceed. Once she'd regained her footing, he dropped her arm, and she turned back again, debating whether she should thank him. This thought quickly disappeared as her eyes raised to take him in; his loose gray shirt clung to his body and was slowly going translucent in the rain, highlighting every detail of his chest and arms as it soaked through. He must have seen her wandering thoughts written across her face, smirking as she stood transfixed.

"The rain is already pouring Osha, and the clouds are still rolling in over the sea. It'll only get harder. Personally, I'd like to get back and dry off, but if you'd like to get soaked, by all means, keep staring."

This shocked her out of her trance, and she fumbled forward, trying to navigate the slope without falling again. Reaching the bottom, they hurried across the beach, blinking away the sea spray as it mixed with the windswept rain. By the time they reached the mouth of the cave, Osha's garments were saturated with water, and she shivered against the biting wind. She stepped inside, wanting to find a change of clothes, when Qimir grabbed her shoulder. She looked back, confused.

"You're dripping. You'll just slip and fall again if you track water onto the floor."

He extended his other arm, summoning two large, worn towels that had sat on top of a crate in the corner. He passed one to her, and she ran her fingers over the soft material, tracing several neat lines of stitches, their dark, crimson thread standing out against the muted gray.

"Once you change, you can leave your clothes here to dry. When the sky clears, we can move them outside to hang."

He turned away from her, bringing the towel to his head and squeezing the water from his hair. Osha did the same, thankful that the towel obscured her view of him. She draped the towel over her arm and pushed her hair from her face, quickly looking away as she noticed Qimir shrug on a dry black shirt. She nearly jumped as he dropped the old one onto the ground with a wet thud. Taking a shaky breath, she reached to her waist, undoing her top's tie closure and peeling it from her skin, dropping it to the floor as Qimir had. She wrapped the towel around her shoulders to keep from shivering as her arms were exposed to the frigid air. The tight fabric of her tank top stuck to her like a second skin, and she thought longingly of the soft clothes she would soon slip into. She extended a hand toward her bed, flipping open the lid of a metal chest near it. Realizing she couldn't see the clothes that lay inside, she looked down at her pants, wondering if she'd dried off enough to walk inside and retrieve a change of clothes. Catching a glimpse of the water that pooled at her feet, she quickly abandoned that idea. She turned to Qimir, who was now fully changed and draping his clothes over a rock. Hoping he'd be occupied for a little longer, she shucked off her pants, leaving them crumpled in the puddle of water at her feet. She quickly pulled down the bottom of her tank top and wrapped the towel around her waist. She hurried to the open chest, fishing out the first change of clothes she laid eyes on and bringing them back to the front of the cave. She set the dry clothes aside, toweling off any remaining water that clung to her arms or dripped down her legs. Again, she draped the towel over her shoulders, turning to face the cave wall and stripping off her underclothes. Given how damp her skin still was, she didn't bother struggling with a new tank top, pulling the clean shirt on over her bare skin. She stepped into her underwear and a pair of loose black pants, pulling them up as quickly as she could. She turned back to the cave, folding her towel, when she saw Qimir approaching with a small mug of tea. He extended it to her, taking the towel from her hands in exchange.

"To warm up," he said nonchalantly as he grabbed the pile of clothes she'd left at her feet, carrying them over to where his were spread out to dry.

She clasped the warm ceramic between her hands, relishing in the heat it sent through her. She sat at their small table, quietly sipping her tea as Qimir spread her clothes out over a rock. Once done, he crossed back to her, prying the top off of the blue canister and setting a small lump of pressed sugar on the table beside her cup. She smiled up at him, still shivering slightly. He turned and pulled a blanket from her bed, facing her again as he wrapped it around her shoulders. His hand lingered over the blanket—she felt the weight of his hand against her heart, the blanket between them hardly dampening the tendrils of heat that spread across her chest beneath his fingers. She reached up to cover his hand in hers, looking longingly into his eyes.

"Thank you," she said softly, as if there was more she wanted to say, but didn't know how to proceed.

His hand slid up from her chest, fingers curving around the side of her neck and tenderly resting his thumb against her jaw. Osha's heart raced as his hand met her neck, stunned at how warm he already felt against her still-clammy skin. Heat spread through her veins, even stronger than it had when she'd clutched the steaming mug of tea.

"You were shivering," he stated, as though he needed to provide an explanation for their contact—for why he had reached out to feel the cold of her skin.

Her cheeks flamed, and she wanted to avert her gaze, but the slight pressure of his thumb against her jaw kept her face tilted toward him. He removed his hand, and she shuddered at the rushing chill of the cave air against her exposed neck. He caught her jolt, smirking as her eyes dropped down to his hands.

"The tea and the blanket will warm you up fine. I can pour you another once you've finished."

She looked down at the mug, knowing that by now it must be lukewarm. Even at its hottest, the warmth it brought her paled in comparison to the fire started by Qimir's touch.

"Is there nothing warmer?" She questioned, dipping a finger into her tea; it had in fact gone cold. She soaked the sugar cube in the liquid and dropped it into her mouth before sending the cup over to rest on the nearby shelf with a wave of her fingers.

Qimir circled her, pulling the blanket from her shoulders and tossing it back onto the bed. He leaned in, and she felt his hot breath against her ear.

"And what would you suggest?" he teased.