From: Date: Sat, 1 Aug 1998 22:28:08 EDT Subject: Campfire Title: campfire posters: teri Teri hadn't been sleeping, really. Not even dozing so much as half-lying in the firelight, on top of the sparse blanket that passed for ground cover in this part of the world. There had been a tug-- she thought. A small, split- second blink of disorientation where she had thought Stana had called her name. Apparently not. And Stana didn't talk in her sleep like Teri did. Teri let the copper-gold warmth flick against her skin as she, glaze-eyed, wrapped herself in the heaviness of Emotion. Without realizing it, she had immersed herself so completely in the fiercely pure struggle of Clip's unconscious, and let it rinse over her, blotting out all awareness of rocky ground, aching muscles, and strange night name-calling. She felt the urgency in him, a tight-wrapped second skin that covered all about him, pulling him even as he seemed unaware. And further beneath that, a thick charred rage that smelt in her mind of burning blood. She had been overcome with these multiple times through the hours and days Clip had been in their small, weary traveling troupe, but had never before sought out willing the battlefields that so uncontrollably bruised her mind and heart. She was no longer conscious of the hot breeze, or the soft sound of kadids, but only of a dark, dimensionless, ill defined space of color and temperature, texture and smell. And dark, this slice of Clip was, all around her-- through her. She ran thought-fingers through the static-charged black air of his anger-- and her fingertips flared moon bright, extended. Drawing her hand close to her face in the darkness, she once again saw nothing more than shadowed flesh. Teri trailed her fingers forward once more, and saw the thin film ripple around them as they passed from charged darkness to a soft, pearly light. Almost like translucent, watery pearl, the watery air cooled her fingertips and soothed skin sore from the passage through an angry night. *What is this place--* She thought-breathed, stepping forward slowly, looking at the invisible film... she could see no end to the fury-field, save when her fingers or she herself would pass from it. She reached both arms out, and the pearl enveloped them to the elbows in cool, silken-wetness. She felt so serene, so pure and timeless-- so full of patient wonder and content... The split-second journey back to consciousness as a pile of sticks clattered to the ground near her brought fire-glittering tears unbidden, and thankfully, unshed. She sat up, pressing nearly-numb fingertips to her forehead, and watched Clip in the near darkness as he restocked the fire. His muscles corded against the heavy logs, but he tossed them effortlessly, if a little loudly, one by one to the ebbing fire. Clip dusted his hands on his breeches and sat on a remaining log before the fire. "Did I wake you?" he asked, eyes seeming to watch each spark and all sparks simultaneously. Teri smiled as she stuffed the Jiy away from sight. Clip's tone had been more flat than curious, more purely for conversation than containing any concern. And she was fairly sure he knew she hadnt' been asleep. "No.. i was awake." And there the conversation seemed to end. Teri examined her fingers in the fitful light as the fire re-caught. Clip, too, sat absorbed in himself, staring at the firelight. "I wish we had some marshmallows," she said, looking to Clip's face with an awkward smile. She never had been good at starting conversations. Especially when she didn't know how to say what she thought she might really want to say.. He looked up, confused. "marshmallows?" Teri's eyes widened. "Of course.. i'm just being dumb. They're from my world..." it was probably the first time she'd verbally admitted her understanding that she wasn't on Earth anymore.. "Sugar and something gooey.. it tastes really good roasted." Clip looked almost interested, much to her surprise. "I don't understand human's obsession with cooking things.." he flushed, as if he'd said something he shouldn't have, but Teri just smiled. "I have friends who feel that way.. sort of. They don't eat any meat or anything from an animal... I guess it's not the same after all.." She grinned at herself, and found a small smile on Clip's mouth before he became aware of it, and it dissapeared. Donning an *I'm saying this ultra-casually* tone of voice, she said, "You know, you've got a great smile.. you should smile more often." Teri thought he blushed, but couldn't tell in the reddish glow of flame. She smiled to herself as she felt a rush of confusion spill over her body from across the fire. She tried to concentrate on forcing the confusion from her, and pushing her own inexplainable good mood back to him. She doubted it would work, but continued to shyly watch the fire crackle. "I'll take first watch. You should sleep," clip said brusquely and turned his back to the flames. He could hear her slip under her blanket, and watched the night for a long time, waiting for Shinji to return. The cold night air on his face did nothing to hide the inexplicable flush of feeling he had felt waft over him. An ill- defined feeling he'd never felt before.