beneath the milky twilight

The afternoon was warm, but not horribly so. Yeonaixho had been in the South Loucari for a few years now, and he was used to the wet, hot heat of the summer months. But summer was not here yet. The early months of spring were pleasant and warm, the air rich with the aromas of life.

It was rare he and Jymaiyri got any chance to rest. Their life together was a constantly busy one- perpetually travelling from one place to another, speaking with dignitaties and begging them to help. Preaching to the common folk. Getting caught in battles. Though he was still to much of a coward to tell her about it, Yeonaixho dreamed of a life he could share with Jymaiyri in peacetime- a life that could last time for now, until forever. He wanted to run away with her- to have her and never have to let go. He wanted to spend long, lazy afternoons under a shade of a tree and feed her ripe fruit. He wanted to go out dancing with her and spin until they got dizzy. He wanted to make love to her until dawn peaked over the crests of the hills, then make tea for her in the morning.

The lazy days he dreamed of might not ever come to reality, but at least he could savor the moment they had now.

They were briefly on leave, in a small camp in the western parts of the Ke Lowlands, where the war had not yet reached. The air here was hot and humid, rich with the scent of farms and flora. The land was not as rocky as the islands to the west, the buildings less concentrated into large cities and more spread out. This was where the elite of Lunaria resided- in their courtyard houses, among their lush, fragrant gardens. It was where Jymaiyri herself had grown up- but, of course, they were in no splendour-filled courtyard house or aromatic, floral garden.

He and Jymaiyri sat in their shared officer's tent (though technically she was the only one of them who even held a military role, they were married, and even rebel soldiers agreed there were certain rules of propriety regarding the sleeping conditions alloted to a married couple). They had just shared a simple meal of rice porrige and red bean paste, with fresh scallions that Jymaiyri had grown herself chopped up on top. Now, they rested. In only two hours, they would be expected to rise again and attend a meeting with a Lunarian dignitary who was supposedly thinking of finacing weapons for them. But for now, they could rest.

Yeonaixho sat cross-legged on their bedroll, leaning against the crate that housed their extra clothes. Jymaiyri lay over him, resting her head in his lap. Yeonaixho ran his fingers through her hair, braiding small plaits and letting them unravel in his hand. Her hair was so silky, so smooth. It was perfect, just like everything else about her.

Jymaiyri giggled as he ran his fingers close to the nape of her neck. "What is it?" Yeonaixho asked.

"That tickles." Jymaiyri said. Yeonaixho could hear the smile in her voice.

"Sorry," He smiled back, and didn't move his hands away just yet. "I thought you were sleeping."

"Maybe, I just wanted to make you think that." Jymaiyri replied. She sat up, and re-adjsuted herself, but did not move an inch further from him.

"And why would you do that?" Yeonaixho leaned forward. He ran his hand up to Jymaiyri's clavicle, twirling his fingers around the cords of her pendant.

"I don't know." Jymaiyri replied. She closed the gap between them with a brief kiss, that so quickly morphed into a more passionate one. Yeonaixho pushed towards to her, satisfyied with the breathy, airy gasps she made when he did so. She slipped her tongue into his mouth, and he let her. Yeonaixho repositioned his hands, so they were at her waist. He slipped one under her shirt, pulling it up.

At that, Jymaiyri broke briefly away. "Yeonai." She made a soft, lightly dissaproving sound in her throat.

"Are my hands cold?" He asked. Her skin was warm- always so beautifully warm- and he didn't want to have made her uncomfortable with his touch.

"It's not that," Jymaiyri pulled her shirt back down, the fabric brushing against Yeonaixho's knuckles. "We're meeting Kemeydrie Ta Sheidah in only two hours. He's not the kind of man you want to meet looking like you rolled right out of bed."

"Or right out of the bed of your lover." Yeonaixho completed. "You're right. Practicality rules the day, once more." He sighed.

Jymaiyri moved to sit by him, and put her hand on his shoulder. "Tonight, love. Once this deal is negotiated and we don't have to look presentable for anyone."

"Tonight." He repeated, like an affirmation. "We'll have something worth celebrating, then."

"We will." Jymaiyri laughed.

They fell into comfortable silence together, simply enjoying each others company. Yeonaixho rested his head against Jymaiyri's, and let her trace patterns up and down his bare arm. His eyes fluttered closed, blotting away the fields of shadow and light that made up his vision. The room was quiet, except for the sound of their breath. If Yeonaixho was not careful, he might fall asleep soon.

"Lilybud," He said after a moment, using his favorite pet name for her.

"Yeah?" Jymaiyri shifted slightly. There was a tiredness to her voice- perhaps, she'd been close to contented sleep as well.

"Do you ever think about… what things would be like, if the war hadn't happened?"

"We wouldn't know each other." Jymaiyri answered easily. "You'd be at the Round Temple, training to be a priest, and I'd be a wife to a wealthy man, pregnant with my fifth child. Doesn't sound very fun to me."

"I don't mean like that." Yeonaixho sighed. "I mean… if it all, miracuously, ended tommorow… where would we go? What would we do?"

Jymaiyri made a low humming sound in the back of her throat. It was the sound she always made when she was deep in focus- whether she was weighing the risks of a strategy, conjuring up a forest of trees, or pondering a question about their future. "I don't know. I don't really know… what we could do."

Yeonaixho tilted his head back. "Well, I think it would be nice to settle down for a while, somewhere peaceful. Someplace like this. We could dance, and swim in the river, and take naps under trees when the weather is nice like this. We could sing songs by the campfire and you'd tell me all about all the stars in the night sky."

Jymaiyri laughed. It was a beautiful, rare sound- so often reserved, for just him. "That sounds nice. A quiet life, just for the two of us." She sighed, and leaned into him. "You really want to do all that, with me?"

Yeonaixho's next words were some of the truest he had ever spoken. "I want to do everything with you."