Chapter 23 Water is for Bathing. Right?
Chapter twenty-three
Water is for Bathing... Right?
Alaceandra
We walk for what seems like forever, Sorin helping me over any big pieces of debris in our paths, until night starts to fall.
Sorin starts scouting the woods looking for shelter.
The land, luckily, is dotted with caves.
Over the next few days, we find shelter in them and survive from the fruits of Sorin’s magick, some small animals we come across and little streams of water.
Although most of the land seems to be dead or decaying, the water sources have not caused us any sickness.
Sorin runs it through a makeshift filter before we drink it, and I assume that has been helping.
There also seems to be a notable lack of population here.
It looks like where we landed upon arrival was just an unfortunate stint of bad luck.
We have not seen anyone roaming the lands with us.
Sorin has been on high alert, constantly scanning our surroundings and pausing at any noises we encounter, but I can tell it is starting to take a toll on him.
As light makes its bed on the horizon marking a week of being in these desolate lands with no signs of Sam, we come upon a huge river.
“Here.” Sorin scoops water into a makeshift cup, running it through some kind of filter he made from the fabric of my dress, before adding a drop of something from one of the potion bottles and offering it to me.
I take a sip, noting a delicate floral flavor.
“Drink slowly,” he warns for the umpteenth time, “You don’t want to get sick.”
I nod, taking in slower gulps of the liquid before passing it back to him. He drinks and then gathers more, before setting the bottle down on the bank. I sit down and notice just how filthy I am. “Do you think it might be alright if I bathed here?” I ask Sorin.
He quirks a brow. “Dirt getting to you?”
“A little.”
He nods. “Sure, I’ll keep watch.”
I blush. “You should probably also rinse off.” His dimple appears. Making a show of sniffing himself, he contorts his face dramatically. I laugh.
“Someone needs to keep watch.”
“We can watch each other's backs; besides we have not seen anyone this whole journey.”
“Are you just trying to get me naked, Firefly? Who knew little Lace could be so--”
I splash water at him, and he splutters. My face is on fire. “Stop teasing who knows when we will see water again, we should make the best of it.”
Sorin
I laugh at Lace’s antics, but pull my shirt off, and smile as a little squeak escapes my Firefly.
I am glad we are getting an opportunity to find some kind of relaxation and fun.
These last couple of days searching for Sam have been hard.
We have not been able to get much rest, and we have had to fight against the sharp and abundant woods just to make it to our next destination.
I decided it might be best to walk towards the mountains as they are something unmoving in the distance and have a clear direction.
We have searched along the way for Sam, making sure to keep close to each other so we do not lose each other in the monotony of the dead lands.
Once night starts to fall, I scout for an area we can sleep in and cover it in vines so that I can be alerted if anyone gets near our encampment.
Then I leave Lace in the cave while I hunt for some kind of food in the woods, which although bereft of people, is full of tiny creatures.
Although they are unfamiliar to me and a little gamey, they taste better than no meat at all, so I am grateful for their abundance.
I come back and start a fire and skin and cook our meat before letting Lace know that it is safe to come out.
We both eat and I create a fruit vine to satisfy our desires for sweetness.
Lace’s favorite so far has been the raspberries.
She was so cute when she tasted them, her face brightening with delight as she downed as many as she could.
I have grown those vines the most over the last couple of days just so that I could see her smile when they appeared.
After we have consumed our fruits, we retire for the night and continue again the next day.
Lace has been amazing through it all. She has not complained.
Taking each day on with an admirable newfound determination.
Not many people would be able to be thrown into the dark lands and still have a smile on their face the next day, but Lace is not many people.
Her dirt covered radiance has been my inspiration to keep going and not allow the impossibility of getting out of this situation get to me.
I want to say the situation has brought us closer than we ever had been, but I am afraid that may be all in my head.
We have not kissed again, but she has been holding my hand through our travels and lingering in my arms every morning.
Probably because you are warm, dingus. I hold back a snort.
She has gained a bit of muscle. I did not think that her form could be any more attractive than it already was, but seeing her softness take shape has been a beautiful sight.
It means that when we finally do find Sam and we can get her training underway, she will struggle less in the beginning, her body already primed for work where it was not before.
I do worry about how this change will affect her mentally.
This visit to the dark lands has gained us more time, but once we find safety we will have to utilize it wisely.
Sam is going to want to train her relentlessly once we find him and truthfully, she will need his rigorous exercises for the coming days ahead of her.
I hope she embraces it as much as she has embraced looking for Sam.
As I continue to undress, I smile at her as she crouches behind a tree to do the same.
I have never seen Lace without some kind of clothing covering her and nor she I.
How will this all play out? I have my hopes, but I would hate myself if I pushed her in that direction.
She needs to be the one to choose. For now, I will take her lead and focus on getting the grime of the forest off of us.
Alaceandra
“Are you getting in or are you just going to hide behind that tree?” Sorin calls out.
“Sorry!” I call back pulling the rest of the clothing from my body before jumping into the river.
The water is cool but not unpleasant against my skin.
I dip completely under before resurfacing.
Clearing the water from my eyes, I open them only to find Sorin’s ass in clear view.
Holy shit. I blink extra hard and try not to ogle, but the man’s ass is better than mine.
I do a little self-conscious peek at my butt before wrinkling my nose in slight jealousy.
“You like the view?” he asks, pulling me back to myself.
“I...um...” I stumble over my words causing him to let out a low chuckle.
He gives me a little wiggle before calling out to me again. “One of the bottles I took from the caves should act as a decent soap. I would like to give it to you. All good if I turn around?”
“Um....” I sink lower into the water. “Sure.” The chilliness of the water is making me break out in goosebumps. Well, that along with being in such close proximity to a naked Sorin.
He sinks into the water before doing a little swim to get to me.
I do not know what to do with my hands. Should I cover myself?
It seems only proper; the water is mostly clear, and it would not be hard for him to see my entire body if he gets close enough to me.
Calm down, Alaceandra. So, what if he sees you naked?
I give myself a small pep talk. He has probably seen many women without clothing before.
A sour taste fills my mouth at that thought.
He approaches through the water and hands me a bottle and a strip of my dress.
I watch Sorin as I slowly grab the bottle from his hands.
His eyes are heated, curious but not roving.
He looks to be observing my actions as much as I am his.
Breaking eye contact, I dump some of the liquid on the cloth, I hand it back over to him.
He smiles and takes it from me before pouring some over his own cloth.
I rub the cloth together in my hands and smile as the liquid sudds up.
Turning away, I watch the trees and begin scrubbing my body with the liquid.
It has both an earthy and floral scent to it.
I diligently scrub away all the dirt and grime that has built up on my skin over the past couple days.
It is refreshing. The feeling of being filthy was starting to grate on me.
I touch my hair, dreading the knots I know are taking over.
“This is a long shot but, did you happen to grab anything that would detangle?” I call over my shoulder.
“You’re in luck.” I hear some splashing which I assume is Sorin grabbing the item from the shore before I hear him start to make his way back over to me.
I keep my back turned until he is right behind me.
When I spin around to retrieve whatever he brought over I notice Sorin has two things in his hands.
“I think this might work to loosen the knots, but I made this to help.” He hands me a brush-like object made of a spiky vine Sorin trimmed the tips off to make the edges blunt.