Crimson

Midnight Snacks

JUNO

Ali was as paranoid as a mother hen that had just laid chicks .

He could only sleep for a short while before he was awake and about , walking about their small space .

If they had been at The Haze , he would have gone down to his office to work or walked around to survey what was needed .

In the absence of The Haze , he walked around the small clearing , every of his footfall resounding deeply in Juno's ears .

When Juno could no longer take it , he sat up .

Ali was with the wolves , Whale and Fluff were asleep while Star and Ali kept watch .

The fire had slowly become a quiet flicker .

He mostly likely would stay up through the night and then through the day too but , they were going to have a long , unpredictable day , everyone needed to be well rested .

" Did I wake you ? "

Juno looked up , Ali had turned and was watching him , most probably with an apologetic expression .

" Yes , you did wake me ".

I stood up , I could tell it was almost dawn from how cold the morning air was .

Vita lay still as a rock , he hardly moved in his sleep .

Nero on the other hand was lost under Keanu and his hair , Keanu had lain on him , only his feet were slightly visible .

I smiled as I recalled the conversation I had with Nero just a while ago about his relationship with Keanu .

I moved towards where Ali and Star sat to join them .

Star scooted a little to give me enough space to sit between them .

I sat , one arm on Star and the other on Ali's thighs .

I leaned back to watch the sky like they were doing , there was nothing to watch on it but something about the clear sky calmed me .

Ali's head slowly came to rest on my shoulders , I sniffed , breathing in the faint smell of his shampoo .

" You should sleep on the blanket ".

He did not reply , I watched his chest rise and fall slowly .

" Are you uncomfortable with the crowd ?"

Three was honestly a great amount of people to Ali .

He moved his head to my thighs , I watched his lashes flutter for a while before I put my hand over his eyes .

I moved my hand to his hair slowly and began to stroke his hair .

" Sing to me " , he said .

I smiled at his request .

" Do you mean a sleep chant ?"

He tried to nod .

His eyes opened slowly , he was looking straight at me .

" You sang the fire song yesterday ".

I nodded slowly , the last time I had done that was before we came to Agrippa , that was almost half a decade ago .

" I did not think I still knew the words of the song , it just came to me like I could read it . What did you think ?"

His eyelashes fluttered softly , I suddenly wished I could see his eyes in the night light .

He smiled , not his usual faint , ghostly smile .

He was smiling a full blown smile , I could even catch glimpses of his teeth .

He looked like he was remembering eating his favourite meal .

" It was beautiful ".

I was caught off guard , I laughed out .

I turned immediately , they were still sleeping soundly .

Ali raised his head off my thighs and stood to his feet , he held his hand out to me .

" Come on , Star and I found something on one of my walks , You'll like it ".

I took his hand , Star got up too , we all turned as one , Keanu and Nero were on their feet staring at us .

" Did my laughing wake you up ?"

Keanu yawned while nodding .

Nero stretched ," I am a brigadier , even the littlest of sounds is enough to wake me ".

We all turned simultaneously to face a certain brigadier who did not get woken up by the slightest sound .

Nero chuckled , " He just needs a slight prompt " .

He moved towards Vita's form , I watched him lift his leg ready to kick Vita .

" Leave him be ".

They all turned to me , I shrugged .

He could sleep if he wanted to .

Ali and Star began to walk off , I took a running start after them .

After walking for a while , I turned around , Nero and Keanu were following us , they were acting out their own version of discretion .

We finally reached an opening in the forest , a stream was beyond the opening .

Above the stream , a rock that the water poured out from sat .

The little light from the sky reflected from the stream , it was all so beautiful .

Star sat and went back to her lying position .

While Ali grabbed my hand and headed towards the rock .

Like I had trusted Mama , I trusted Ali , I did not ask why we were going towards the rock .

I saw it then , the rock had some sort of opening .

We went through it , receiving a little shower in the process .

Behind the rock was just like the outside , except it was more serene .Steam rose up out of the water , the water was also hotter .

I took off my clothes and my boots , the wrappings I had used on my feet also came off , I jumped into the warm water .

I laughed out for the second time that night or was it morning ? I was not too sure .