It's always disorienting to wake up in a bed that isn't yours. The bed is different, the ceiling looks different, the air feels different, and it makes for a slight feeling of insecurity. It's even more disconcerting when you sleep naked. I checked the bed next to me, found no one, and was oddly comforted.
I looked at Veru, "What time is it?"
Veru meowed in response, flicking his ear and rolling over. The motion was pure, unchecked laziness, but it left his nose pointed at the alarm clock. Smartass. "7:00 AM. Man, I slept in." Veru, evidently in disagreement, fell back to sleep. I got up, and wondered what sort of weird I had to be if I considered 7 AM as "sleeping in." Either way, I passed Aeryn's room, and stepped immediately into the shower. After my shower, I put on a cloth robe, and started on breakfast.
At 7:30 AM, I had some eggs and toast finished, and fished around for a tray. I walked into Aeryn's room to find a bare leg poking out of the side of the sheets. It was pretty clear there was nothing else on under it, but I didn't pay any attention to it. I set the tray down on the end-table. "Good morning, Aeryn."
She made a noise that sounded oddly like the growl of a cat, and rolled over. Her leg caught the comforter, and her bare back exposed to me. I didn't dwell on the thought, and shook her shoulder gently. "Aer, it's morning. Up."
She whined, "Stoooop. I don't like waking up."
"Deal with it," I said absently, shaking her more. She sat up, blinking blearily in the morning. I didn't at all notice her bare breasts at that moment. Scout's honor. "What is it, Nuke?" She asked, lifting the covers up to cover herself and glaring at me accusingly.
"I made you breakfast, sit up."
She sat up, and I set the tray on her lap. The silverware clinked. "Aww. You're too sweet, Nuke. She started to lift her arms, but the cover slipped an inch before she caught it. "Now get out."
"Huh?" I asked, not quite capable of focusing properly. Again, no staring.
"Out!" She pointed at the door.
"Oh, right. Well, g'morning none the less."
I left the room, and halfway down the hall, I heard, "Thanks Nuke."
"Sure," I replied, muttering bitterly, "No problem, I guess."
After breakfast, I set to laundering my clothes from the day before and the robe, in case Aeryn wanted to use it. Once the clothes and robe were cleaned and dried, I set across the cottage to hang the robe back in the bathroom. I started back to my room when I was stopped by Aer in the hall. She was blushing furiously.
"Nuke."
I blinked, and got out of my own mind. "Huh? What's up?"
"...You're naked."
I looked down, hey, what'd'ya know? "Seems to be the case."
Her blush deepened, her face now a cute shade of pink. "Why are you naked, it's embarrassing!"
It is? "I'm not embarrassed at all."
"It's embarrassing me!"
"Oh, well I'm about to go get dressed."
"Why're you walking around naked to begin with?"
"Aer, look." I pointed at my face. "This is naked all of the time, yes? Bare skin, exposed, unchecked by such paltry things as clothes." I pointed at my groin, "And this is also bare skin, exposed, unchecked by such paltry things as clothes. Either way it works, it's the same thing, it's just skin. Now if I were rubbing said exposed skin against your sex organs or playing with it, it wouldn't matter if it were my nose or my crotch. It's not about what's there, or what it can be used for, it's about what it's being used for presently. And presently, it's just out of the shower and seeing no need to get dressed."
I sighed, and shook my head, diverting into the nearby room. "It doesn't matter, I'll get dressed in here."
I got dressed, and left the cottage mildly irritated. As I walked from the door, I could've sworn I heard "But I liked you better naked." from inside. I decided I was just hearing things, and paused at the garage. I could end up anywhere if I just started driving, and instead decided to go hiking. There were acres and acres of trees and forest behind the cottage, and it would do me some good to go exploring. Especially since I hadn't done so yet.
The forest was several different kinds of cool, for several different reasons. It had been a while since I went through forests, just immersing myself in the trees and wildlife. Everything in nature is disarming in its... Sincerity? There's no synthetic order, or inherent organization. It's chaos in its most elemental form, with weeds growing wherever they can find purchase. It's beautiful in its disorder, and almost more at piece with the way life is. I sighed, and figured I should have lunch out here too. I wondered what I should make.
When I got back to the cabin, I was ambushed by Aer. "Nukey Nukey Nukey! Let's go have a picnic!"
Huh, that was a really good idea. "Picnic?"
"Picnic. Now take me to the store."
Huh? "Store?"
"Where you buy food, silly."
"This is the country, silly. We buy food at farmers markets, not stores."
"Do they have meat?"
"Chicken and steak usually. The cuts are really good, too."
"Cooked?"
"Obviously not."
"Well, it needs to be cooked."
"Alright, fine. I'll cook it, you go find a picnic area."
We got to the farmers market and tooled around for a while, shooting the breeze and laughing about random things. We finally settled down enough to sample the wares. She settled on a bunch of ingredients while I had conversations with the various venders. After about an hour, we grabbed bags of groceries and walked home. When we arrived, she stayed long enough to drop off the groceries, grab a bunch of picnic paraphernalia, and leave out of the back. I started cleaning the fruits and vegetables while starting the chicken to cook.
I wasn't sure what Aer had in mind, but I figured chicken breasts would be good enough to meet approval. After the chicken was cooked well enough - and a bit more just to be sure ? I got to working on getting the vegetables chopped up enough for a salad and a bit of shapes for proper use as toppings for various things like burgers, sandwiches, tacos, stews, and so on. I managed to get them bagged just as I heard the back door open. Aer came back in, handed me a piece of paper with directions, and smiled. "It's a scavenger hunt. Go follow this list, and collect everything."
"What?"
"C'mon Nukey!~ It'll be fun."
I sighed, "Alright, alright."
It was getting to be cool in the late afternoon, but the scenery was gorgeous. As I read the list and weaved around nature's hazards, I found a blanket stuffed in a tree. I collected that, and consulted the rest of the list for further directions. The list lead me up small hills, and back down them around twisting trees. There were flowers and tall grass here and there, and I couldn't help but pause occasionally to admire the scenery.
The next time was a basket, which went under my arm and I continued. At one point, deeper in the wooded area than usual, I had to climb a tree. This is no mean feat with a blanket and a basket, but I managed with enough effort and a lot of scrapes. It was a thermos of what smelled like juice, so I stowed it in the basket, and got back to the trail.
The twisting trail lead me to a beautiful clearing on the edge of a of cliff. The view was pretty astounding. I was even more surprised to find Aer waiting for me. "Nukey!~ You took so long."
"You gave me a very twisted route to take."
"Did you like it."
"Aside from the tree, yeah. It's hard to climb with that basket."
"You could've set them down, Nukey."
Crap... I told her as much.
"Silly Nuke."
She produced chicken sandwiches, and I produced the blanket, juice, and layout. We ate in relative silence, mine more out of the view. After a minute, we settled into drinks and conversation. We blathered about nothing in turns, talking about our younger experiences in the country, or things we did in the city, or inane topics. Just whatever came to mind at the time.
She kissed my cheek while I packed up, and whisked off into the woods. Overburdened by stuff, I couldn't keep up. I tried chasing her, but eventually gave up and focused on finding my way home. When I got there, it had gotten to be early evening, and I dumped the mess on the table and collapsed in the living room.
Aeryn and I flirted for a while in the living room, and ended up watching some terrible and cheesy kung-fu movie. The end of the movie came, a sundown duel with microphone whine, and the sword strike. I would explain who won, if it was the mustachioed swordsman or the back-problem laden female. But in all honesty, I fell asleep before someone won. Which wasn't too bad, since Aer was also passed out on my lap.
Some days I dream, but that day, I simply slept.
