| Phase 52 I remembered that I�d promised Bart a treat and got up. I went to the north wall and opened the passage, then went through and opened the wall there. The room was empty, but I knocked on the closed door beside me anyhow. � Enter.� � Are you sure?� � I knew it was you, Kris.� I opened the door and peered in. � O~oh, bubble bath.� � Hey, you said to take a long, hot bath and that�s exactly what I�m doing. The bubbles came with it.� I shut the door and went to kneel beside the edge of the bathing basin. All that I could see was his head and neck. � You actually fit?� He snorted, causing a small storm of bubbles to kick up. � It seems my whole family line is tall. My father was at least as tall as Sig and he could fit in them. And comfortably at that, so there�s some extra space at the end.� I put my hand in the nearly scorching water and started a small whirlpool. He smiled and I watched him warily. � What?� He laughed. � Nothing, really. It�s just that some people would say you had no scruples.� � Why?� � Think about it for a second, Kris. I�m lying in a basin covered only by bubbles and you�re playing in the water. Like you don�t care.� I shrugged carelessly. � I don�t. You�re sufficiently �shielded� . . . What do I have to be worried about?� He grinned. � Oh . . . nothing.� I narrowed my eyes. � I know that look.� He laughed again. � I was just thinking about what you�d do if I pulled you in here with me.� � I�d kick your ass and then go find a change of clothes.� He suddenly grew serious. � What if I asked you to get in with me?� I hesitated. What would I do? � . . . I don�t know.� � Then get in with me.� Without even thinking, I took off my vest and the pack and began unbuttoning my shirt. I felt his fingers on the back of my jaw near my ear and looked at him, pausing in my movements. He blinked slowly. � You�re trembling. You�re exhausted too.� I realized that I was. Almost unnoticeably, but I was. � Kris, maybe you should just go to bed and not worry about what you wanted to give me.� � What are you so nervous about?� He shook his head slowly. � I . . . I�m really not sure if I could keep myself away from you if you got in with me.� ~� Lyn! You surprised me!� � Sorry.� He waved the apology off. � No, it�s all right.� He smiled and patted the water gently. � Get in with me?� Lyn blinked. � Do you want me to?� � . . . Yes, I do.� So Lyn undressed and got in the basin with him. She looked over at him and said with a grin, � You can open your eyes now.� He did so cautiously, making sure she wasn�t pulling a joke on him. Then he relaxed and tilted his head back. � I like this.� Lyn rolled onto her side and stroked his chest. He was quiet for a total of three minutes and then he sat up. � Tomorrow is . . .� Lyn nodded unhappily. � Yes.� He looked at her. � Lyn, what if . . .� She sat up as well and shook her head. � No. Don�t think like that. You�ll be just fine.� � Lyn, I have to be planning for this. Truly, I should have thought of this before now. It�s rather late to be worrying about it, but one doesn�t realize their own mortality until they�re looking death in the face.� Lyn watched him. � . . . Roni, I will . . . if you want.� He smiled gratefully and cupped her face in his hand. � Thank you, Lyn. This means very much to me.� � Don�t thank me too much. I�m going to be out there tomorrow as well. Anything could happen to me too and it will all go straight to hell.� � I hope not.� She leaned forward and nuzzled his cheek. � I love you.� He eased her back down into the warm water. � I love you too, my queen.�~ � . . . Kris? . . . Kris?� I leapt to my feet, but slipped on a small puddle of water and went crashing back to the floor. � . . . Ow! Damn!� He sat up and looked over the edge of the basin at me, concerned. � Kris? Are you okay?� I sat up as well and rubbed my head. � . . . Yeah.� I noticed that he was shaking and couldn�t understand why. � What�s wrong?� � W . . . What was that? It was like . . . like a memory . . .� � You saw it?� He looked at me as if I�d lost my mind. � Of course I saw it! How could I not have?!� � How?� � I have no idea! You just quit moving all of the sudden and then you blinked and I was . . . somewhere else!� I bent over the wide edge of the basin to stroke his throat. He calmed a bit and relaxed, then closed his eyes. � I�m losing my mind. I knew it was going to happen one day but I never thought . . .� I let him go on for the next five minutes, just making vain attempts to soothe him and keep him from getting hysterical. � . . . I mean, the last thing I needed to see was Lyn and Roni . . .� . . . Not working very well, is it? � . . . Because technically, that would be you and me, right? So what I�d like to know is just exactly how familiar we�re supposed to be with each other and . . .� I decided to simply put him out of his misery and ask him something which he couldn�t possibly know now because I�ve never even told him about it or shown it to him. � Where�s my birthmark?� � . . . On your left hip. And then there�re the Gears acting mushy . . .� He trailed off slowly and looked at me, eyes wide. � . . . You have a birthmark?� � What is it?� � . . . I don�t know.� � Yes you do. Tell me.� � How am I supposed to know what it looks like when I didn�t even know you had one?!� I shook my head. � Don�t ask yourself.� � . . . Oh yeah. Thanks for the tip.� � Seriously . . . Ask.� � How?� � I can�t tell you. Everyone has a different way.� He closed his eyes and let his head fall back. He was quiet for a short moment, then he lifted his head and looked at me. � . . . It�s like the silhouette of the bird thing on Axyl.� I nodded. He shook his head. � . . . Kris . . . Why didn�t you ever mention this before?� I looked down at the floor uncomfortably. � I didn�t start seeing them until recently. At first I thought they were just products of my imagination, but . . . when I told Lyn about the first one I had, she told me it had really happened.� � When was that?� � After we tried to take back the castle the first time. When you found the burn from the beam cannon. I fell asleep once you left . . . I thought it was just a dream at first.� He relaxed back into the water. � Oh man . . .� � Bart, I�m sorry. If you want me to go---� � No!� He lunged toward me and grabbed my hands, accidentally spilling water over the side and onto me and the floor. � Stay! Please!� In my surprise, I flopped back into a sit. � . . . Okay.� Then I felt the water chilling my skin and looked down to see my whole front soaked. Bart blushed. � Sorry.� There was really nothing else to do but take the shirts off and hang them somewhere to dry. So I did that and found that my bra was soaked also. Well, couldn�t take that off. � Look, Kris . . . You�re wet anyway. Why don�t you just hang the rest of it up too and get in here?� I watched him, but his face betrayed no signs of any cruel ideas. So I did as he said. He waited until I had settled down before opening his eyes and drawing me against him. I think we fell asleep, because the next thing I knew, the water was cold and I was beginning to shiver. He noticed and woke. � You okay?� � Just cold.� He looked across the room. � Four a.m.?!� � We�ve been asleep for three and a half hours?� � What the clock says.� � . . . I don�t want to get up.� � Me either,� he sympathized. � But if somebody catches us in here like this, there�ll be trouble.� � Ah, who cares?� He kissed my cheek. � Everybody but you, apparently.� I pouted. � I don�t want to get up.� � I don�t either. � He held me a few minutes more, then said, � You go ahead and get out. Let me know when you�re done.� So I got out and put on my now dry clothes. � All right.� I turned my back and went out to his room and stood by the bed. When he came out, I wordlessly pointed at it. � Don�t have to tell me twice.� He fell onto it with a tired humph. I pulled the covers up to his neck, then folded them back down to his waist. I got up and straddled his hips, sitting right on his butt. � O~oh, Kris. I didn�t know you were one of those types.� I snorted and dug my fingernails into his sides. He let out a quiet yelp. � Hey! Get your talons out of me, if you don�t mind!� I complied and began to give him his treat; a massage. As I�d expected, his muscles were still tense from the previous day�s work and needed to be relaxed. The hot bath had helped, but it hadn�t been able to do it all and that was where I came in. He moaned gratefully and all but melted into the bed. I urged his ridged muscles into a more at ease position. Once I was done and had gotten off him, he rolled onto his back. � Could you do my front too?� I touched his chest and stomach; the muscles were pretty tense . . . � Okay.� I straddled his hips again, but remained on my knees this time. Once I was done, he opened his eyes. � Hey, would you do this for me every night? Please?� � No promises.� He sat up and kissed me in thanks, running his hands down over me, across my ribs, and up my back. I settled into his lap and returned the kiss, stroking his throat lightly. He smiled and pulled away slowly, drawing the kiss out as long as possible. � Thanks, Kris. It was exactly what I needed.� I nodded once and got up. � Lie down.� He did so and I drew the covers up to his chin and gave him a short kiss. � Good night, Princeling.� He chuckled. � How about �Good morning�?� � That too.� I turned out the light and moved to the wall, then returned to my room and went to bed. But I couldn�t fall asleep. Thinking it might be because I was in a strange place (that has happened before), I got up and went down to the docking bay and got on the Yggdrasil. It was totally devoid of life--besides me--because even the Gears had been temporarily moved into the castle�s Gear bay for repairs and any necessary upgrades. I automatically went to the bridge and did some quick checks on everything, then went to the engine room and made sure the engines were okay, then checked on Maison�s supplies and wrote down a few extra things that he forgot, and lastly I went down to the Gear bay and checked the supplies list to be sure nothing more had been forgotten. I went down to my room and laid on my bed, but I was still restless. So I went to Bart�s room and crawled into his bed on a hunch. Sure enough, I started to feel very sleepy right away. It wasn�t really Bart, but it was close enough and my tired head compromised and decided that it would do for the time being, but next time I would have to really be with him. <--Phase 51 Phase 53--> |