Psychic

42. Morning After

They had fallen asleep together at the foot of the tree. Rai woke slowly, unsure why she was sitting up, until she realized she was lying against Reno's chest. She pushed herself back to find that he was already awake.

"Morning, beautiful," he sighed with a sweet, satisfied smile.

"Hey," she answered casually, rubbing her left eye. "Anyone else awake yet?" Her voice was quiet as though she expected someone to be eavesdropping.

"Nope. Still asleep." Rai started to stand, taking a few steps back from him. Reno stood up as well. She turned her body away from him, looked down at the ground and rubbed her arm nervously. He was amused by her sudden awkwardness. "You're so shy today," he spoke quietly. "Come here." He held his hand out to her.

"I just thought that maybe you might want to change your mind."

"About what?"

"I don't know. Me. Don't I look uglier close-up or something?"

Reno's eyebrows went up and his mouth dropped slightly. "Oh wow..." He held his right hand to the side of his head and started laughing. He took her blushing face in both hands, making her smile. "You're my queen. I want you to be happy with me. I did everything I could to get to this point with you and I wish everyone knew it." He took her hands in his as he considered his statement.

"Why does it matter?"

"If people don't know, they might put their hands on you." He caressed the side of her face. Rai felt comfortable enough to lean her face into his hand. "And then I'd have to cut their hands off," he said flatly. He was relieved to see Rai smile at his confession. "I'd rather avoid that."

"I think that's best."

"You know, I hope my past doesn't upset you. If I had known I'd find such a perfect woman, I wouldn't have-"

"Don't. Nothing can be done about that." She waved him off quickly, looking agitated. "I think I'll learn to trust you with time just don't feel bad if it doesn't happen right away."

They heard the zipper of the tent opening and they stepped away from each other quickly. Isaac squeezed himself out of the tent flap on all fours and Jericho followed him. He looked up at Rai once he was out.

"I woke early," she told Isaac before he could say anything.

Rai led Isaac and Jericho to the creek for water while Reno cooked the remaining fish for them. When they returned, Rai spoke to her brother as he ate, telling him to be aware of the bones while he kept nodding. Reno was standing beside her and all he could think about was how much he wanted to touch her again.

Reno realized that knowing Rai liked him was not going to make things easier. He was more frustrated now than he had ever been. They both wanted the same intimacy but could not openly act on it. Now that he had gotten to hold and kiss her, he could not believe that he still had to curb that desire.

As Rai was telling Isaac what could happen if he did swallow a bone, Reno caught her hand in the middle of a gesture, making her stop. She turned to him then wiggled her hand free, only saying, "no."

"He's not going to say anything," Reno gestured down to Isaac as he spoke, reaching for her hand again. She pulled it out of his reach and he sighed, looking irritated.

Isaac looked up, asking, "about what?"

"I told you, you can't."

"No, you said not to tell anyone." He threw up his hands with an obnoxious toothy grin. "I haven't told anyone, have I?"

Rai closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. "You're an idiot." She turned back to her brother.

"Okay then. How about," Reno brought his mouth to her ear to whisper, "we go get clean in that creek and I can have you all to myself?"

Rai gasped and elbowed him in the stomach. He could have dodged it but he knew it was not going to hurt. He stepped back from her with a laugh. She turned to him holding back a smile. "I don't do water. How about you go wake them up instead of bothering me?" She pointed at the tent behind him. "You need to stay busy. I'd hate to think of what you do when your hands are idle."

"I'll show you one day," he said as he walked to the tent.

"No thanks."

"Fine. My hands will stay idle and you can do it for me."

"No."

* * *

After packing the tent up and forcing Reno to carry it, they proceeded on their way through the jungle to Mount Khoa. Again, Reno was made to travel at the very end. He had no reason to object, since from there, he had every reason to be watching Rai, who remained a few feet ahead of him with Isaac.

Aila flew onto Reno's shoulder, sitting there and pulling her legs to her chest. She patted her feet against him softly for his attention. "What?" He raised an eyebrow as he smiled, amused by her persistence.

"I assume you want to tell me how things went last night. You seem unusually content." Her statement made his smile grow, which made Aila more eager to hear his answer.

"It was... perfect," he admitted, with a contented sigh. "I love her, Aila. She's perfect." He covered his eyes and leaned his head back but his smile never left him.

Aila stood up and sounded stern as she crossed her arms and nodded, "yeah, it's about time something went well for you for a change."

Reno was watching Rai as he reminisced about her scent. He noticed her open a small bag of crackers and take one before giving the bag to Isaac. "She hasn't eaten..." he mumbled to himself. "Not since we left her uncle's house."

"Why don't you give her that great fruit?"

"You mean the grapefruit?"

"Yeah, that thing."

Reno ran up beside Rai, surprising her and making her jump slightly. "Hey." He greeted her with the usual toothy smile he reserved for her. She pretended to be annoyed with his presence but she could not restrain her smile either. Reno held his index finger to his lips then pointed at Roxanne a short way ahead of them. If they were not quiet and Roxanne saw them together, she would separate them. He held the large orange fruit out to her.

"What's that?" She examined it in his hand.

"A fruit. I bought it when I bought your clothes."

She took it and studied it briefly in her hands before biting into the rind. She held it back out to Reno. "No, I don't like it." Reno took it from her with an amused smile. He kept his eyes fixed on hers as he dug his finger into the rind and pulled it open. "Oh." She watched him peel open the whole grapefruit, dropping the rind on the ground. "You eat it like that?" she asked him when he finished. Without answering, he split the fruit nearly in half. He gave her the larger half. He showed her as he peeled one carpel off his half and held it out to her to take. "That one has your germs on it." She peeled a carpel off the piece in her own hand.

Reno nudged her with his elbow as he ate his. "As though you haven't had a mouthful of my germs already?" She threw the carpel into her mouth and shoved him away playfully. He stepped aside to maintain his balance then came back.

The sound of a sudden impact on flesh made Roxanne and Ken whip around. "The hell was that?" Ken wondered.

Rai turned around too, pretending to look for a source then shrugging back at them. "Didn't see anything."

As soon as Ken and Roxanne turned their backs, Reno doubled over in silent laughter. Rai handed her grapefruit to Isaac. She punched Reno's arm once with each of her little fists. She stopped to rub away the stinging pain on the left side of her butt.

"Did it hurt?" he asked with a gentle chuckle.

"You're an ass."

"I know." He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. He whispered against the side of her head, "I'm sorry. Don't be mad at me."

"Okay, okay." She patted his arm and he kissed her head before releasing her.