Camping Out (Genet)

[Alsivor]

It had taken a few days before Silvio had found the right spot for the camp out, before he'd felt it was discreet enough for another meeting. He was being careful not to get caught in spite of the fact that he was pretty much going slowly insane from the waiting. His distraction made his uncle yell when the polishing tools slipped and he marred a stone and had to file down to try to recover the mistake. At least most of what Silvio was working with was the cheap stuff. Rightfully, his uncle didn't trust him yet with true gems.

Finally he had a day off cart duty and his uncle only had some wire for him to twist into links. Easy enough to do before the midday meal. At lunch he'd gone to the lower caverns with a couple of sacks of the family laundry, carefully dodging the Headwoman and her staff as best he could and sought out Genet. Purely by happenstance of course. In between scrubbing his brother's trousers he'd told her to meet him at one of the places they'd met up before a while back. They could go from there.

Back at the camp, he told his father he was getting restless and needed some time outside the Weyr. Favio understood and gave his permission. It didn't seem odd therefore to anyone, when Silvio slipped away with a backpack of supplies and his bedroll a couple of hours later. There were plenty other young Caminar who'd been going for hikes in the hills and mountains around the Weyr all summer, his own sister included. Even the older folk needed the walks sometimes.

So it was that Silvio sat perched on a low, flat-topped rock, waiting, with the sunset peeking through the tops of the trees at the end of the day. Outwardly, he presented the picture of calm, just one of the Caminar out for a hike, as he bent wire into more links, the pliers held easily in his hand. His uncle would think well of him for getting work done even while he was away.

Betraying: he looked up every time a woodland creature snapped a twig or rustled the underbrush. In the back of his mind the thought niggled that she might not come, after all.

He told that thought to go shove itself in a closet and never come back out again.

[Invisible]

She had changed her mind a hundred times since that day when she showed Silvio the star and suggested they finally do more than share kisses that were obviously not enough for either of them anymore. It was a bad idea she’d told herself thousands of times as she went about impatiently doing chores. Laundry and pan scrubbing and just the other day the headwoman had kept her all day helping her run messages. Maybe she had finally decided Genet was useful for more than filling in for someone out sick or hurt? Truth be told she loved running messages. She got to talk to people and be moving and get out all over the Weyr. It was a job to consider doing.

Mostly what Genet did was plan. If she was not in her cot she could just say she’d spent the night in G’tet’s weyr. A little finagling had gotten her a morning free of chores so she would not have to rush back in the morning. The only thing she could not arrange was for a cessation of butterflies in her stomach. Nervous energy kept her up and going until she forced herself to sleep and it only got worse the closer it came to the day she was to meet Silvio. Again she wished her brother back to give her advice as there was no one she wanted to talk to about such things among the rest of the population.

It was not usual for at all for Genet to take a walk so late in the day and especially not carrying a small sack with her. Inside she had masterfully folded down the next day’s clothes and a couple of thin blankets along with a few foodstuffs she could expect to not be squished too much. The only thing that would not fit was the half-full skin of wine she’d liberated from G’tet’s weyr. Well, so what she decided as she ignored a few knowing looks as she made her way from the bowl to the outside. She was an adult and if she wanted to meet someone out late she could. It was only the old holdergirl part of her that wanted to run and hide from embarrassment.

The embarrassment faded as she got father away and her steps quickened as something else took over as the dominant feeling that made her stomach do flip flops and her heart beat loud enough, she thought, to be heard by the whole world. When she finally saw him she stopped in her tracks and stared. There he was. She couldn’t keep him as hers she knew, but that knowledge didn’t make wanting him go away. Genet did not call out to him as she started moving again. Instead she raced to where he sat and skidded to a stop in front of him with a wide grin in place. He would get time to set down what he was working on before she would kiss him.

[Alsivor]

The sun dipped a little lower and Silvio bent wire back too hard, snapping the link he'd been working on as another twig snapped and his head jerked up to look. It took a second for him to realize that this time it was for real. Genet was hurtling towards him at a rapid pace and his eyes widened with both surprise, sudden panic and delight. The pliers were set aside quickly, the links dropped into the box and he half-slid off the rock, arms reaching out for her. His head bent to claim that kiss she offered immediately, passionate, more uncontrolled than he'd intended. Both of his hands balled up the fabric of her top and for once he was the one who broke first.

"Genet. You're here," he whispered, happiness and longing mixed up in his voice. He stood still for a moment struggling for breath then laughed a little. "You're really here." Silvio indulged in a few more moments of holding her then shifted his hands to her shoulders, leaned back to look down into her face. "We should go before the sun goes down," he said, trying to be responsible and clear-headed. They were still far too close to the Weyr here. "And it's more comfortable where I'm thinking of going," he told her, eyes searching her face for any signs of a change of heart.

[Invisible]

Any concerns that she was the only one anxious to be together again evaporated in the kiss they shared. He was here and she was here and they were together. For now was whispered only in the darkest corners of her heart. “I’m here,” she answered when the kiss ended. Her words were accompanied by a laugh that chased away even the worries in the small corners of mind and heart. Who cares about tomorrow when tonight is happening right now?

“I find it hard to imagine you get stood up often,” was teased as she stepped back so he might put his things up. “What woman can resist you?” Thank goodness they still teased like friends. It gave her hope for the future. If their friendship could survive this more physical showing of affection then it would all be ok. If her breath caught in her throat when he looked at her and she stepped closer like she might kiss him again that would have to do as sign she was not changing her mind about anything because she was out of words to say for now.

[Alsivor]

Silvio smiled broadly as she answered him so and he turned to tidy his tools up, slip them back into the case, tuck the box of links carefully into his pack. A moment of buckling and he looked up at her grin lopsided. "Not often," he had to concede, though a teasing twinkle popped up in his eyes. "You have. So far," he noted with a wicked edge to his smile and he slung the pack onto his back, reached for her hand. He made that second kiss quick, just a fleeting thing before he led the way onward through the woods.

It wasn't a difficult walk, or terribly long either, but it followed a game trail far back into the woods and down a slope. There a different stream, bigger than the little creek where he'd first kissed her ran fast and wild over a series of stepping stones, cascading further down and diving out of sight through a gradually deepening gorge. Across the stream, a clearing opened up, backing onto the sudden upthrust of several hulking shoulders of rock. There was a shallow cave there, just deep enough to provide shelter from a passing shower, but not so profound that anything more threatening than a few spinners had taken up residence inside.

He didn't aim for the cave though, once they'd crossed the stream, but the middle of the clearing's circle where they had a clear view of the stars just peeking out as the sunset turned the sky pink shot through with crimson and gold and the faint edges of periwinkle twilight encroached from the edges of the clouds. "Here we are," he announced needlessly and shrugged the backpack off, letting it down gently to the ground.

[Invisible]

His teasing earned him a glee filled laugh as she winked at him. “You forget, I am not like any other woman. You cannot make assumptions about us based on past experiences.” It was a slip of the tongue that she used ‘us’ and not ‘me’ but it went unnoticed by her and did not leave her a worried wreck because of it. Suddenly with what might happen us seemed a more charged word than when it was just used to describe their friendship.

All of Genet’s self-control went into not wanting to run explore some sound or sight on their walk. A hundred options for exploration were opened up before her and she consoled herself with the knowledge that she could come back some day. She might not be able to come back with him however so she didn’t try to pull away. So busy exploring with her eyes she didn’t even speak as they walked. Bright hazel eyes peered into the coming darkness expecting to see amazing things around every tree or rock.

When they did reach the clearing she came to a sudden stop and stared. Just a little one cause they had to keep moving to the center and there, heedlessly letting her own bag fall to the ground, she spun around slowly to look at everything. The view even had her forgetting her companion so she had no reply for his words. “I want to look around before it gets all dark,” she finally said and darted off to peer into the almost cave first. Apparently she’s decided he’s an expert camp setter-upper and so the job is left to him.

[Alsivor]

"No, no you are not," Silvio replied to that glee-filled declaration and the way he said it, it wasn't a tease but a compliment. "I only assume what I feel, and hope for the best," he continued, hand squeezing hers lightly as they walked through the darkening woods towards the clearing, but then he fell silent, letting her take it all in, grinning to see that look on her face as he made sure they didn't get lost.

In the clearing, he laughed, nodded as she went running off to look at everything, watched her fondly as she ducked into the cave then hunkered down to unclip buckles and straps. He cleared some grass away first, to make a spot for the fire, went to get stones from the bank of the stream to line it. Then he carefully picked up branches and pebbles from within the grass before laying out the mat from his bedroll. It was going to be a little cozy sharing it, but given how close he thought they might get, it would be comfortable enough. Better than just a blanket on the ground at any rate. He arranged the rest of the linens from the roll neatly enough, flicked a clinging bit of grass from the blanket and laid out the flint and tinder near the fire circle. Hazel eyes lifted to check for Genet and he cleared his throat, called out to her. "Pick up some firewood, Genet? Dry branches." Then he moved to do the same himself, found a good stout branch on the ground to serve as a main log and started to set up the fire.

[Invisible]

There was so much to see and with night coming so fast little time to see it all. Genet tried to console herself with the knowledge there would be other days, but this was the first day and that made it so hard to not keep exploring. Eventually though she forced her brain to remind the rest of her she was here with someone and if she wandered off she’d never get to spend time with him.

When Silvio hollered she stopped creeping further away and turned around to smile at him even if she was too far away for it to be seen. “Aye, aye!” she hollered back with a laugh that would reach far enough to be heard. With a mission she set out to explore not for new places, but for one thing in particular. Once she’d loaded up her arms to the point she had trouble carrying it all she headed back for the camp.

Once back at the campsite she dumped her wood in a heap near where the fire would be and stretched as she rubbed her back. As if it was such a chore! Seeing the proposed sleeping arrangement made her a little nervous and she shifted her weight from one foot to the next before just taking up her bag and pulling both blankets out of it. These she spread across the bedroll as if to announce her decision.

[Alsivor]

Hunkered over the fire circle, Silvio was putting together an impromptu spit, anchoring branches firmly in the ground before he started making the fire. He started stacking up the tinder next, arranging the little branches and striking the flint. He blew gently, fed the sparks little tidbits of dry wood to keep their energy going, watched as flames blossomed and he added more fuel to the incipient fire. The clatter of Genet's wood falling to the ground lifted his head and he smiled up at her warmly. "Thanks, that should see us through the night," he told her and stuck another dry twig into his mini-blaze. He waited a moment or two then reached for larger branches, arranging them just so and then let the fire build itself up under his watchful eye. Slowly it caught, flames dancing from branch to branch, building up a warm heart of coals. Somewhere in there his eyes slid to the side, noting what she did with her blankets. Apparently neither one of them intended turning back now.

As the fire blossomed into full life, the last of the flame in the sky faded out, leaving only blue twilight behind with the indigo of night encroaching fast. Silvio pulled out the lone pot he'd brought, went to fill it with water and returned to hang it over the flames, careful not to burn himself. There was food in his pack, things to cook and things just to share cold, but he found that he couldn't take his eyes off of Genet. He made himself unpack the rest of what he'd brought, leaving only the things not needed for setting up and eating and so on in the backpack. He made himself set it all out, ready to go on the flat stone he'd brought up from the stream.

And then he ran out of things to do to set up camp. So he stood and moved around towards and held his hand out, palm up. "Dance with me?" As he'd offered before, but he did mean it. he did.

[Invisible]

With much less to do Genet was done well before Silvio. She pulled out a loaf of bread and a small wheel of cheese the first taken and the second traded for. There were sweet rolls saved for breakfast that remained in the bag as well as her clothes for the next day. The wineskin got set down carefully away from the flames and she was done.

This allowed her to sit down and just watch everything he did. This was him she thought to herself. What he was like when he was not stuck in one place. It seemed different somehow. The same man and someone different as well. Her mind wandered as it meandered down different paths but her eyes stayed on him as if by studying every little movement she might finally figure him all out.

When he spoke she blushed into the darkness at being caught staring. But it wasn’t enough to make her not take his hand. Genet placed her hand in his and got to her feet. “I’m never going to forget this,” she said quietly with her voice giving away the way the night sky and her company dazzled her.

[Alsivor]

"Neither will I," Silvio answered readily, quite serious as her hand settled into his palm and his fingers closed around hers. He hoped she didn't think him so cavalier that this meant nothing to him, this night, her here with him. It was a glimpse of possibility, what life could be like without the rules they both lived with every day. Hold rules. Weyr rules. Caminar rules. Something wild and unfettered inside him wanted to just dump all the rules, leave them far behind. The rational part of his mind knew better.

The Caminar drew Genet close to him, feet stepping lightly away from the fire a pace and he hummed a few bars of one of the songs that was playing that other night by that other fire with the shadows dancing on the Bowl wall. Here, tonight, other shadows lifted up their heads against the hunched shoulders of the rock behind them as he swung Genet around into a slow dance, formal style at first, then easing down into little more than a rhythmic sway.

The water hit boiling point while they danced, steam drifting up from the pot. Silvio was either ignoring it or oblivious to it as it continued to bubble away merrily.

[Invisible]

It was the sort of night that could make a woman say all sorts of wrong things. Words that would dampen the mood or create sadness without meaning to so Genet was content to only think those words while she danced in the darkness. If things were different… Unfortunately things were not different and they couldn’t change them. Not for themselves.

She smiled when he hummed and moved a little closer to hold him a little tighter. When the dancing slowed to almost nothing there was no objection on her part. This sway with him was almost instinctual like her feet knew just how to keep pace with his. “If this moment could never end,” she whispered more to the night sky than to him.

But the truth escaped in a bubble of laughter as she smiled gaily at Silvio. “If this moment could never end I suppose I’d grow dull with it. So thankfully it won’t so I won’t grow tired.” Truth was she couldn’t imagine growing tired of anything to do with the Caminar man. Her hand tightened in his and for a moment she felt a flood of panic. He’d be leaving and she wouldn’t have these nights. He’d share them with someone else instead. Kicking the panic out she tipped her head to glance at the fire. “Your water is boiling,” she said in what she hoped was a calm tone.

[Alsivor]

It was the sort of night that could make Silvio say all sorts of things he'd never wanted to say to any woman before. Things that would upend their lives and the worlds they lived in. If things were different ... but they weren't and it made his chest constrict, his throat close with unspoken words and feelings.

His arms slid around Genet, no longer a proper dance hold at all, head bowed towards hers. "You could never grow dull to me," he answered her fervently though his smile resurfaced for her laughter. They were leaving eventually. He would be leaving her behind, losing even these small stolen moments that had become the single greatest thing he looked forward to every day. He'd always been something of a player, easy on the eyes, easy with the charm, taking opportunities that came his way without much thought to consequences. That was all changing inside though, he didn't want to leave her, didn't want to give her up to someone else, didn't want to be with anyone else himself.

She mentioned the water. He blinked and snapped out of that train of thought, cleared his throat. "Klah?" he offered.

[Invisible]

What a mess it all was. With someone else it might have turned into any number of bad situations. Genet was quite sure she could make do with what she was given. Oh, she’d not be content with it, but along with everything else in her life nothing was ever good enough. There was always something more that could be added to make it perfect. More time. If she had more time. If she’d met him sooner. But nothing could be done about running out of time so she had to grab what she had and be happy.

This was why, historically, she had never given the charming ones the time of day. It was too easy to be lured into a trap. With Silvio she’d been caught unawares seeing him as just a friend. Someone in the same situation as her with a missing sibling. She could blame no one but herself for now since she’d been the one to kiss him first. She’d suggested they come out here. This was all her fault!

“Klah would be good,” she said after giving her head a little shake to clear away some of the thoughts crowded in there. “I have no chores until lunch tomorrow, by the way. So there’s no need to worry about rushing back.” For her anyway. Genet didn’t know about his schedule. “It’s so quiet out here.” Safe inane conversation starter. Hurrah.

[Alsivor]

"It would," Silvio said though what he was really thinking about was how amazing her eyes looked in the starlight and how nice her hair smelled and how badly he wanted to just -- okay. Klah. He took a step back, let his hands brush down her shoulders lightly, stepped back again and moved back to the fire to swing the pot away from the flame, get out the powdered bark into the mugs to infuse once water had been poured in.

"I'll be staying out here for a couple of days," he told her conversationally as he finished preparing the klah, stripped two longer branches of bark and poked bread and cheese onto the sticks, held them out towards the flame to make melty cheese sandwiches. "It is and it isn't. If you sit quietly and listen, you'll hear all sorts of things, the songs of the wind and the insects, the stream speaking to itself, life, everywhere," he told her softly.