Big Yellow Taxi

Away from the fire

As soon as Rowan pulled him to his feet, Daniel knew the green liquid he had consumed was having an effect on him.  Not only did he not know how to dance at all, he hated dancing and thought people looked stupid while they were doing it.  Dancing was an activity to be avoided at all costs.  And now he was about to try it.  He hadn’t even tried to object.  Rowan led him a few feet away, close to where the other people were frolicking around.  There was an awkward shuffle of hands as Daniel realized he wasn't even sure of the proper way to hold her in his arms.  

Rowan took Daniel's hands and positioned them on the tops of her hips.  She wrapped her own arms around him, resting her hands on his shoulders.  He held her stiffly, not moving at all despite the easy beat of the music.  It hit her then.  Daniel either didn't like to dance, or more likely he didn't know how to dance.  Rowan had never met anyone before that didn't know how to dance.  She felt a momentary pang of pity for the man whose fingers were radiating warmth through the fabric of her flowy skirt.  What a sad and joyless life this man must have lived thus far, void of dancing and wonder and magic.

There wasn't a time in her life that Rowan could remember that didn't include dancing.  Even before she learned to walk, her mother sang and danced with her in the kitchen.  And once she was old enough to dance along on her own small feet, Rowan remembered her tiny hands in her mother's larger ones as her mother showed her how to bounce from one foot the other in time to the song she was singing, both of their hands covered in the same pale freckles.  Even Rowan's father danced.  She had a very distinct memory of waking up alone in her mother's big comfy bed one night.  Being ever curious, Rowan padded quietly down the hall and peeked around the corner to spy on her parents.  

Her father was there for one of his yearly visits at the time.  He and her mother were in the communal area of the house, locked in each other's arms, swaying to the sound of some soft soulful music that was drifting out of an old record player.  They were both barefoot.  One of his arms was around her mother’s waist, holding her close while his other hand was holding hers.  Their fingers were intertwined.  Her father's raven hair was down, hanging loose and glorious around his face.  Rowan's mother was stroking it, twining the silky strands between her tattooed fingers as her head rested on his broad chest.  All her life the one thing Rowan could never understand was how two people that danced together like that could stand to ever be apart.  

An ocean of different life experiences separated them, but in Daniel's arms Rowan felt the distance might be shorter and easier to cross than she originally expected.  He couldn't dance but still he was holding her in his arms, willing to try.  And that’s what mattered. Rowan moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her body against him.  She moved slower than the music really allowed, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.  

One of her hands was stroking over the sensitive skin on the back of his neck while the other was resting between his shoulder blades.  Her hips were moving in a rhythmic circle and Daniel couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like if she was still moving that way once he had her under him without any clothing blocking his skin from touching hers.  He tried to clear his head and assess how much of the intoxication he was feeling was due to that horrible slime Eron fed him and how much of it was just a result of having Rowan in his arms again.  

The flames in the pit were brighter and more colorful than any fire Daniel had seen before.  He felt like if he stared at it long enough he might start to see shapes and images dancing there.  The music from the drums felt like it was coming from inside him.  It wasn't as hard as he thought it would be to sway slowly to the rhythm of it and let it guide his movements as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other and turned Rowan around in a tight little circle.  With everything that was going on around him, Rowan's touch was almost enough to drive him into sensory overload.  Every part of his body that was in contact with hers felt like it was on fire.  Each time she stroked her hand over the soft hairs on the base of his neck it tingled all the way down to his toes.  

He didn't just want to kiss her.  It was a need as basic as water or air.  As he turned her around, his hands moved from her hips so that his arms could wrap around her and crush her body against his.  His mouth found hers, lips pressing against lips softly at first before the heat caught between them.  Daniel didn't open his eyes or stop kissing her, but he moved his feet where Rowan led him.  The change in the level of heat from the fire told him that she was leading him away from the center of activity and into the murky area on the outskirts of the festivities where the darkness could shield them from prying eyes.  

Time stopped.  Daniel wasn't sure how long he kissed her before Rowan finally broke away to gasp for air.  He did the same, resting his hand on a nearby tree to steady himself.  His lips felt funny and Daniel raised his other hand to touch them, almost laughing when he realized how puffy they were.  He hadn't made out that hard with anyone since he was a teenager groping at some random girl in the backseat of her mother's old buick while his brother f****d her cousin in the front seat.  

Daniel didn't even realize Rowan had left his side until she was back, handing him something to drink.  He was so thirsty he would have even been willing to drink more of that horrible green slop from earlier but was relieved to find the cup Rowan had given him contained only water.  He gulped it down and smiled at her.  Rowan took the cup back, leaning down to set it against the trunk of the tree where she would be able to find and retrieve it later.  She lifted her hand up and pressed her palm flush against Daniel's cheek.

"You hot?," she asked, her voice sweet with her concern for him.  Daniel hadn't given it much thought, but now that she mentioned it he supposed he was feeling a little warm.  He nodded his head affirmatively.  "Let's stay out here a while, away from the fire," Rowan suggested.  Daniel nodded again and let Rowan position him so he was leaning back with the strong trunk of the tree behind him.  She adjusted her long fringed scarf, wrapping it around her shoulders like a blanket.  Rowan stood in front of him, leaning back against his chest and letting him wrap his arms around her.

From this new vantage point Daniel could watch the fun that was being had by the bonfire without being directly involved, which he preferred.  Rowan's hair still smelled like the small piney flowers she had tucked behind her ear earlier.  After the passionate kissing they had done, thoughts of taking her somewhere to consummate what they had begun were inevitable.  But Daniel was still sober enough to know how uninhibited he was feeling and to guess that since Rowan had drunk as much of that lover's potion as he had that she must be feeling the same way.  He didn't want to do anything with her that either of them would regret.  For the present she seemed content to be held in his arms.  So he held her and hoped that come morning she wouldn't have disappeared into thin air like some sort of magical apparition that he had only imagined.