Asame – Their Sundown

Hunter felt so warm he could melt any second. But not the sweet, sugary feeling of love, more like the heat of the desperate anticipation that came from the awkward situation he found himself in right now. He hated it, to see - not to mention feel - his love’s torn spirit digging into his very soul. She faced him straight, her beautiful, blue gems wet with tears of grief.

     Nobody expressed themselves in words; their faces said it all. At least hers came through to him before she stormed out of the locale.

     Another waitress came by and gracefully offered him a second round of refreshments, but he thanked no with a denying gesture of his hand. She went away and he sank down on a conveniently placed chair, head in his hands. He sat there for a long time as the party went on ignorantly around him.

 

Thirty minutes later the music had changed its tune dramatically and what now played sounded so tragic to Hunter that he simply couldn’t just stay and listen to it. He got up and started making his way through the massive crowd of intersected teenagers, doing anything from fast to slow dancing.

     As he passed the smorgasbord, it inviting him with all sorts of vigorous deliciousness, three persons divided him from the door. They blocked all ways of escape, making a triangle around him.

     Hunter knew the one in front well. It was Miley, kind of his ex from middle school. She was a very well-shaped young woman with long, blond hair, gorgeous eyes and small but full lips, pink and glittering just for the occasion. She wore a black dress - a bit too short for Hunter’s taste, but he’d never told her that - which tightened around her delicate curves.

     “What’s up, Hunter?” She sounded annoyingly cheerful. “Having fun?”

     “Sure, Miley, but I kinda gotta go. Excuse me.” He tried to get past her, but Miley was immovable. He tried to find another way out, but it seemed like the other two girls were tightening the grip on him.

     “Aw, you gotta go now? But the party hasn’t even started! C’mon, stay. I’ll make it worth your while,” she winked seductively at him. Then she nodded at her girls to get back into the party - they left.

     “Miley, look, I just gotta go now. There are things I need to work out and places I gotta be, you know?” Hunter explained, but the black Barbie looked eyed him, amused, with a smile playing her lips.

     “At 23:30? C’mon, Hun’ - you’ve always been a terrible liar. Ok, then, tell me: what will you be doing so late?” She raised an expectant eyebrow while a flirty grin revealed her white teeth.

     “Save the city,” Hunter joked carelessly, then laid an casual hand on her bare shoulder as he brushed past her.

     She at once turned around and pushed him a bit too hard into the corridor wall. She pressed her blond mane against his pressed black suit jacket and looked up at him like a puppy.

     “You know, I’ve always liked men who’d sacrifice their dream night to save town,” she purred seductively.

     “You do realise I was only kidding?” Hunter asked and raised a worried eyebrow, just in case she was one of those persons that blonde-jokes would actually catch on to.

     She giggled twice. “I also like men with a sense of humour,” she added, circling her index around on his white shirt. He flinched as sparks went through his body all the way down through his torso.

     He tried to keep his cool nevertheless, but the light had come up for him that it all was probably some sort of trick.

     “Ok, now you’re just scaring me,” he said with an indecisive look on his face.

     Miley now had full eye-contact with him, and she seemed humoured. “Am I scaring you? Oh, I’m sorry, I’m just trying to keep you company and calm your nerves. You seem a little distracted - a little down, you know?” she tried.

     “Well, your therapy of touchy-feely isn’t working on my nerves,” Hunter stated as he felt his body starting to shake weakly. “And I am a little down in terms of you not letting me do about my business. I really don’t think this is the come-between answer.”

     The girl seemed a little put off by his harsh words in a friendly tone, but she laid an arm around his waist while the other planted itself entirely on his chest. It started sliding down towards his lower section, but only halfway as she’d apparently rather feel his abs through the thick fabric of the jacket.

     “What’s wrong, Hunter? Don’t you want this? Don’t you want me? I could be yours entirely...”

     The guy hesitated. “How to say this so we can both walk away peaceful with each other... We’ve already had this before, remember? It didn’t really work out.”

     “At the time, but I’d have to admit, I wasn’t fully committed myself.” She lowered her head in shame before it shot up again. “But I can change that now. This time I can be all you’ve ever desired. Don’t you want that? ‘Take your chance on me’?” she smiled charmingly.

     “...I really gotta go,” Hunter hurried and started walking, but Miley shoved him up against the wall again. A glimmer in her eyes told him something, but he couldn’t really tell if it was passion or lust.

     “I know I really want to change for you. Don’t you trust me?”

     Hunter didn’t know how to answer that. He’d wasted a whole load of time just getting over this girl, but somehow his feelings started to return. After all, he had been the one to take the fall and the impacts of letting her go.

     Miley smiled. “I can see you don’t fully trust me after what happened between us. Let me seal my devotion with a kiss,” she winked at him flirtingly, and without even waiting for his consent her lips drew closer to his.

     Hunter’s heart raced. The sweat trickled up in the roots of his short, recently cut hair and a new kind of warmth now spread throughout his body. This was something he couldn’t explain - love, desire, shame? Paralysed, Hunter stood without a chance against this new and powerful force.

     Just in time to prevent the reuniting of the old and disengaged couple, a sob was heard from further down the corridor. Both Hunter and Miley looked toward the sound, surprised to see Asa stand fully facing them. The light from the lamps hanging in the ceiling was reflected in her blue silk dress and her long, neatly made ruby hair stood in clear contrast to her blank sapphire eyes; even from this distance Hunter could clearly see they were about to shatter.

     “Oh! I’m sorry, Hunter and I were just renewing our friendship after our little ... incident,” Miley explained half-heartedly, but her act was almost flawless even to Hunter, who probably knew her better than anybody.

     He looked at Asa, tried to get contect with her, but he couldn’t make it through the tears.

     This time he didn’t hesitate or wait to reach her before she would emotionally kill herself. As she once again darted out of the corridor, Hunter almost threw Miley aside as he chased after the girl.

     Miley was forced off-balance and fell onto her bum with a small shriek, but she soon was up on her feet again, brushing her clothes off and looking around to see if anyone had noticed her little failure. When she understood that her secret was safe, the blonde set her eyes in the direction where first Asa then Hunter had disappeared. She smiled innocently before returning to the party. To every other person, that kind of behaviour would seem completely natural...

Hunter looked around for Asa. She couldn’t just disappear like that. Not that he thought it wasn’t possible - obviously a bummer on his part - but he’d not considered she’d pull a trick like that on him. Having eventually searched everywhere for her for the last twenty minutes, nearly turning the premises up-side down, he came to pass by the lavatories.

     Of course! He slapped his forehead for being so ignorant: If there was one place that women would go at any given time on such an evening - the bathroom - they’d do it solely for three reasons (aside from actually using the toilets, like that one commonly normal reason wasn’t enough): to powder their nose, washing their hands or to cry.

     Hunter backed off; he had no desire of any. He didn’t even need to go right now, and he assumed that Asa had disappeared so quickly into the ladies’ room.

     All of a sudden he started feeling bad. Maybe he’d had too much to eat and just needed to relax a bit instead of running around just to get a lockdown of his upper muscles. Besides, he was exhausted. Leaving the two doors alone, he went along the directions shown on on the signs set up around. They told him the way out to the balcony. ‘Lead, well-shaped, red light’, he thought as taking the twists and turns that the signs told him.

One staircase and three corridors later he could see the exit to the balcony, but in the doorway it he stopped. Someone was already out here. She seemed to have taken the same downfall as Asa; she sobbed just as horribly.

     Great, and here I was hoping to be alone, Hunter sighed, but he made sure as to not let the miserable one let him know he was there. Instead he took a look around on his surroundings.

     It was an outside area in every way, though it had a roof that seemed to break out from the building’s wall, supported by two big poles. The interior was all white. Tables and chairs were placed on both sides of the entrance as well as one couches both facing the ocean a few tens’ meters down the beach. The orange gleam of the setting sun painted the horizon towards the dark evening clouds, and even though Hunter did not consider himself overly sensitive or sentimental towards colours, he couldn’t come to any other conclusion than that this was beautiful.

     A quiet sob sounded from the poor person in front of him, and Hunter woke up from his infatuated sun-gaze. He could at least talk to her, whom he now recognised as his Valentine’s prom date. Quiet as a cat he approached her, but she was too down to notice even him being there. Not until he sat down next to her, acting out on his deep sigh and the exhale.

     He could see her look at him in the corner of his eye. She was probably a little startled, but mostly confused with nothing on her mind to share with him. He didn’t reply with his eyes, though; he didn’t reply at all. He waited until she had withdrawn the look before he set his eyes on her.

     Then she gazed up at him. Her face was the most beautiful of messes: makeup ran; eyes ran and her upper lip and cheeks had indications of she trying to wipe of what came from the nose.

     She hurried to hide her face behind her bangs of shiny red hair, staring down into her lap. “Did ... you have fun tonight?” she finally asked timidly, but straight to the point. That was Asa - always straight to the point. It was almost the question that Hunter was most uncomfortable to answer, but he had to; now she had asked him.

     “Yes,” he said, trying a small smile when she looked up to see if he lied. Then she returned to her to her conscious slumber of creepiness.

     “What did you like the best with tonight?” she continued. This was definitely starting to move out of Hunter’s most distinct comfort zone - if he could see where this was going.

     “The best...? What do you-“

     “Who was she?” Asa’s voice had now gone past the semi-friendly, half-hearted tone and moved on to something that reminded more of demand. To make matters worse, she had started interrupting the answers to her own questions. Hunter didn’t like this at all. He had to be crazy to even still be here!

     “Who was who?”

     “Don’t play dumb with me. You know,” she hinted in an ominously sweet tone. “Just answer me.”

     “Miley Sanders. We kind of had a thing in high school that didn’t really work out-”

     “I got that; doesn’t help me understand why she was all over you,” Asa muttered with a slight reminder of snorting.

     “Yeah, I don’t really get it either. We were supposed to stay away from each other. At least that’s what the general impression was after we’d separated.” Hunter scratched his head. He hadn’t really thought about his past relationship since it passed, but having reunited - more physically, at least - with his former love had definitely made him think about things.

     “Did you like it?”

     This was probably the climax of what Hunter believed would be the borderline between a conversation and a fight, but like so many times before, he tried to resolve the matter reasonably; he didn’t want any quarrel, least of all with Asa. Not because she was a hot-tempered opponent, but mostly because of the feelings he had for her. He did not want it to end like this.

     “Asa, come on, this has nothing to do with-“

     “Did you. Like it?”

     He would guess her face to show a mutual or no expression at all - that was if he could have seen it through the crimson bangs - but despair and disgust was etching through the dead chime of her voice so clearly that he wanted to run away from the consequences. The warm, uncomfortable feeling returned; he had no way of knowing the outcome of this conversation.

     “No, that’s long past us and she knows-“

     “Be honest.”

     Hunter hesitated. That was enough to get Asa up from the bench. She made her way past him and headed for the door. Hunter jumped into action.

     “Asa, please...” He grabbed her hand, but when she turned to him there was no forgiving smile or inviting eyes. Wait, yes - inviting to a world of pain as her knee suddenly had a date with his crutch. An immense pain exploded and swelled up in his pelvis before it left him on his knees in obscene torment, gasping and gagging. He tried to breathe but his body was shut down except for the tears that he now tried to prevent from spouting from his eyes.

     “Don’t touch me.” Asa's voice was still, low and stone-cold as she turned away from him.

     He could only hear an inconsiderate blaring - like the sound inside an underwater cave; the sound from the rippling of the water towards the acoustics of the cave - that was Asa’s words from standing over him. But then he heard another sound. It was lighter, more high-pitched, but he had no idea what was going on.

     “Well, well, look at that. The hot-tempered virgin couldn’t take her dreams being reached by a woman!”

     Asa turned toward the mocking voice and noticed the blonde standing in the doorway. She had company by two girls; one brunette and one black-haired. They seemed to have fun watching the other girl’s anguish turn into hatred: she wasn’t gonna do nothing.

     “You *****!” Asa yelled furiously.

     The girl in the lead didn’t seem to take it personally. She put up an amused grin. “Really, you think so?” She bent forward, at once more serious, as her face looked like it was about to reveal something apparently very interesting. “Then what does that make you?”

     Asa flared with rage. She yelled violently as she sprang at the enemy as fast as a dress would allow her, but when her hand was a single centimetre from smashing into the Barbie doll face, she was restrained from behind.

     “Let me go! I’ll break her neck!” Asa yelled and she struggled to get free, but it was in vain; Hunter had a hold of her.

     “Gee! Thanks, Hun', I almost thought she’d poke me with a stick for a second.”

     Hunter had slight problems with the struggling girl; he still tried to recover from the unpleasant encounter with Asa’s knee, but he managed to speak up. “I didn’t do it for you, Miley.” He backed up a few meters for safety’s sake.

     “That’s too bad,” Miley shrugged carelessly. “At least I know how to control myself, unlike that thing.” She emphasised 'that' as she pointed accusatorily at Asa, who had gotten a little calmer, her anger having gone from physical struggling to tightly clenched fists. Hunter wouldn’t let her go just yet, however, in case of sudden breakouts.

     “I never really got why you wouldn’t choose me before her?” Miley continued. She did a puzzling face, but the stench of mockery poked Asa’s emotional nostrils.

     “We’ve been over this before,” Hunter sighed and his arms around Asa’s upper body loosened a little. “We tried that, remember? You’re too vain for my taste.”

     This comment left Miley standing with less to say. She hesitated, then said, nodding, “O-o-oh, I see...” But her face still showed signs of her mind working like crazy to determine Hunter’s judgment.

     “Besides,” he continued, “You should ask yourself who you’re really dressing up for: Is it your friends, family, your boyfriend or you? If he likes you - if anyone likes you - just for your looks, then you should find yourself new friends. They aren’t real that way, not your boyfriend either.”

     “That’s such a silly thing to say.” Miley clearly wasn’t in the mood for a morality sermon. “If your god had intended that we humans should only act morally and not care about our appearance, he should have created us all equally ugly!” She glared at Asa, who in return gunned at her in utter disgust.

     “Aren’t you able to choose for yourself? Doesn’t the fact that you use so much makeupevery day say something about your opinion of your face? As I said before; you should really consider who you’re doing this for.”

     Asa didn’t say anything on the outside, but her inner self was practically dancing around, yelling, HAH! You got’er, Hunter! Keep turning that rail gun!

     Miley moaned and rolled her eyes. “Fine, whatever,” she waved off sloppily. “I’ll tell you what: You keep track of your things and I do mine.” She turned, ready to go, but then she stopped. “Oh, and you should keep a leach on that pet of yours " doesn’t seem like she can control herself.”

     By now Hunter had fully released Asa from her captivity. He should have kept her a little longer. By hearing those last words from Miley, Hunter noticed the flames of hell relighting in the red-head’s dark pits of her eyes.

     This time he couldn’t stop her.

     Transformed into a fearless brawler she charged forward with such a bellow it made the blonde whirled around and her face stretched into a terrified yell.

     That was another bad idea, starting with her having turned around at all.

     Now you’ve done it, Hunter sighed worriedly. He hadn’t bothered to move since he couldn’t stop Asa the first time: If she wanted to kill someone at this point, he was completely neutral to the matter.

     But the thing was, he thought Asa would only deliver one seemingly deadly blow into the other girl’s teeth - which she did, so far - but when she tore the black dress open as she flung poor, defenceless Miley into the ground, he started reconsidering the morality of his stand - literally.

     Wails of shock, pain and desperation sounded and arms and legs contracted as Asa, with one knee driven into the side of the victim on the ground, smashed fist after fist into something that Hunter didn’t even want to guess would look like at the end ... if she would still be alive.

     The girls on the side, Miley’s friends, stood watching the human frenzy at first, paralysed either with fear or just overcome by the enormous pressure of what to do. Eventually one of them ran off, bailing at the top of her throat for help.

     The one left standing to see the fight, the brunette, seemed to finally freak. Regaining control, if so a little static, and without warning she fired a kick right in Asa’s face. The powerful impact knocked Asa back and she rolled around on the ground.

     The brunette was helping Miley on her legs. From this distance, truth be told, he actually didn’t think the face now framed by the blonde, partly blood-stained hair looked that bad. There had been a lot of people he’d met that were uglier by nature - or at least not his taste. But probably no one had ever been scarier except from Asa.

     Asa was now getting up. Maybe she just needed a moment’s resting. Maybe she meant to take the fight to its fullest. Maybe the two girls would clash into each other and rip at each other like raging wildcats, but this had to stop without vital bloodshed. As Hunter sensed the two getting ready to go for each other’s throats once and for all, he sprang into action, just in time to prevent a lethal breakout from the two parts. Getting in between them, he separated them by the move of his hands to either side.

     “Enough! Back off, both of you, now!” he ordered as setting serious eyes into both the girls. There were no further signs, except for unsatisfied, angry faces, that the fight would continue. The heat was actually about to cool down as the two gladiators let down their weapons.

     Hunter breathed relieved. He took a look at Miley. “What’s the matter with you? You never could handle another girl, could you?” he chastised. “Can’t you just accept that we’ve both moved on? We had our time, now it’s past. That is it. If that’s what this is about - that I’ve chosen another one legally, then I got no faith that you still love me. You know, that’s not even important. Nobody likes a girl who chases off other, especially not with words. I know your story after there was no longer an us. Don’t let yourself go through the same embarrassment and pain by seeking revenge!”

     He drew a deep breath and then turned to Asa. “And you - control your temper. Right now, you’re just like her, only you’re hurting with actions. We got to have a talk when everything has settled.

     “Girls, I don’t want nor do I like being harsh. In fact, I hate it, but someone has to put an end to the madness. I supposed it’s in a woman’s nature to pick up arms against their rival, but you should rather control yourselves. For goodness sake, take it like the decent women you are!”

     He cast one last look at Miley’s bloody face and pointed at the door behind her. “Miley, get outta here and get cleaned up. Nobody likes a dirty face, probably you least of all.”

     Miley didn’t need to be asked twice. That is, her friend got busy helping her get away.

     Hunter pulled a large sigh as he rubbed his forehead where he stood. He was exhausted; this was way too much excitement on a night like this. And on Valentine’s Eve, for crying out loud!

     Asa carefully tried to get a glimpse of his face, but he stood with his back towards her. Then he moved to sit down on the second bench to rest. He brushed past her, but didn’t as much as offer her a glance. He dumped down heavily on the bench.

     It creaked.

     It took a little while before Asa came over and seated with the greatest caution: She didn’t want to disturb him in his own personal time 0of reflection.

     She then noticed he’d folded his hands in his lap. She had seen him do that only once before ... and that was when she had spied on him. His mouth moved almost unnoticeable, and though he never uttered a word aloud, Asa knew he was praying. She couldn’t hear or understand from the minimal movement of his lips, but she didn’t need to in order to understand that he needed this time alone. Instead she looked at the setting sun; it had almost gone down past the horizon.

     When it seemed as if Hunter had finished his necessary time alone, he didn’t give any sign except that his mouth had stopped moving. Asa carefully touched his shoulder, and he reacted immediately, making her jump lightly. He didn’t smile, but there were no signs of displeasure in his face. His eyes rested calmly on her gems.

     Asa didn’t know what to say. Should she smile, talk, be quiet? Should she leave him alone and just gaze off at the sundown? She now felt the same worry and sickening feeling that he had had before everything within the last five minutes, had started.

     Ashamed, she glanced down at her hands in her lap. “Did ... you want to talk?” she peeped weakly, eyes occasionally going over at him through the bangs.

     Hunter looked at her, and their eyes met. He looked like he was about to say something, his mouth half open, but lost it and sighed. “I don’t need to. You already know what I’m about to say.”

     She didn’t release him from the visual bond tied to his eyes, drawing gradually closer to him. “Yeah,” she said drowsily. She was tired and out of strength as she had to sit back on the bench. She inhaled deeply.

     Hunter pulled off his jacket. “Here - bend forward a little.” She did and he placed the jacket around her small body.

     “Mm, thank you, Hunter,” she leaned into his shoulder and circled her index finger on his chest.

     He chuckled. “Sorry, Asa, this isn’t what you think.”

     She giggled and moved her hand to hold around him as her head slid down to a more comfortable position on his chest. “I’d give you my dress...?” She looked up at him; he smiled and acted like he considered it.

     “Yeah... No. No, I don’t think you’d do that. But thanks.”

     She got back to looking at the sunset again. “Your loss,” she said casually.

     Hunter chuckled. “Yeah, you’d like that, wouldn’t you: Me in a dress... I‘d have to take the pain, though. You realize that, don’t you? Of course you do. How could I even ask.”

     “Yeah...” The casual tone was still present, like this was something everyday-like.

     “Oh crap, mental images! Aw-ha-ha-ha!” Hunter suddenly exclaimed, and Asa burst into laughter.

     “Yeah, aren’t you adorable!”

     “I look like an oversized blue larva on steroids that suffers from trans-sexuality problems! Asa! How could you plant such an idea in my head?”

     “You were ... the one complaining ... about mental images,” Asa pressed out between the roars of laughter. She laughed so hard her chest was bouncing rapidly as her whole body shook. “Oh no, now I see it, too! And I see what you mean, hahaha!”

     “Quiet, you. This is your fault and you’ll pay,” Hunter smiled, amused, and Asa yelped and jumped lightly as he carefully pinched her waist with the hand behind her back.

     “Oh, you did not just do that!” Hunter grinned humoured and pinched her again.

     “No?”

     “Don’t do that!” Asa hit his stomach; it was just a small blow, but he felt it. Nothing serious, though.

     He pinched her again, this time further down. She yelped and jumped again, moving around a little in her seat. She had lain her legs up on the bench and pulled her dress up to just underneath her knees to feel the refreshing summer breeze.

     “Wow, wow. Hunter? That’s a little too far down,” she said when he a bit more subtly pinched the lowest part of her waist. “I know you want me,” she smiled cutely, “but this isn’t that place for that kind of behaviour and this,” she pressed his hand flat on her hip, and his friendly expression changed slightly, “is a little low for your standards. I don’t mind, but in your case, I’ll respect and uphold what you believe. But I hope we can still snuggle?” She took his hand around and stroked her cheek with it.

     She was so soft, so gentle. And the touch of her body... it was so ensnaring in an enticing way. The mysterious buzzing returned. He felt dizzy and tired. Eyes becoming heavy, he felt like he could drift away to the sunset at any moment. His head kept dipping and resurfacing in the waves between dreamland and reality. He tried to manage an action or even a small sound, but his body had drowned in dizziness.

     “Hunter?”

     Her voice was enough to get him up from the deep. He regained consciousness and realised he’d fallen asleep, eyes closed and his head hanging loosely. Asa looked slightly worried up at him, but he reassured her with a smile, one of which she returned.

     “Are you tired?” she asked with a small laugh. “You know what, that’s a good idea. Let’s sleep here tonight.” She pleased his heart with the touch of her body again as she leaned onto his chest, putting her weight on him.

     Hunter sighed once again, and wrapped his arms around her little body. His mouth not far from her ear, he said lowly, “You know what?”

     “Hnh?” She was as low-voiced as he.

     “It really surprises me rarely we express how we love each other.”

     “But isn’t that what we’re doing right now?”

     She had a point, but that wasn’t really what Hunter was looking for.

     “No, I mean... Have you ever heard me tell you I love you lately?”

     “No " you really should,” Asa replied cravingly.

     “Yes, I know I should, but if I do it now it would just seem planned.” There was a short pause on Asa’s part - he could sense it.

     “What’s that got to with anything?” He could picture her confused face in his mind.

     “Nothing. Know what, screw it, I can’t sleep. Sit up.” They both did, and Hunter places his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes. She didn’t look like she knew what was going on at full, but she smiled because it was him. Anything he was about to do at this hour would either be hilarious or ridiculously retarded. She could only guess which one tonight would bring.

     “Asa, I know it’s very late and we also missed the climax of the sunset...”

     Asa laughed, humoured. She reminded of a little girl watching the Santa Claus trying to get up the chimney. A more ridiculous version of the myth, actually, because this time he must’ve been twice as fat to get stuck on the way up when he’d already broadened the pipe on his way down.

     “Just get to the point already,” she giggled. She had no idea why she was giggling but she just did. Maybe she found him so attractive in the dark that she couldn’t help but ruin the mood...

     “The point, yes, right,” Hunter hurried. “Um, Asa...”

     “Yeeees...?” she smiled, calmly excited, almost impatient.

     “Do you want ... to dance? Just a little bit?”

     “Ok,” she agreed. “But I feel I gotta say this: When I fall asleep " which I’m almost definitely gonna do, ‘cause I. Am. Drained! Unless that shirt is Gore-Tex or something, you don’t wanna be anywhere close to me. I drool.” And with THIS BODY it only gets worse, she added in her quiet little mind.

     “Fair enough. I just about got strenght to spare myself,” Hunter nodded.

 

The teenagers stood in a calmly embracing clench. Hunter had tangled the girl in his loving arms as she rested her head on his chest. Her hands were carefully on his back. The touch of their forms were intoxicatingly soothening on both parts. The dance had finished with a roaring applause from the imaginary stage and they now stood admiring the last rays of the bloody sun greet them good bye over the horizon.

     “This is nice,” Hunter said as he packed his arms tighter around Asa. “You ok?”

     Asa breathed content. She could barely stay awake; her consciousness fought bravely against the cool summer night and his warm, comfortable body.

     He squeezed her body tighter to his. Stroking her delicate, thick hair, he could feel something on his shirt. She wasn’t kidding, he smiled. I wonder if that means to return the statement...

     He picked his princess up in his arms and carried her over to the bench. He sat down and carefully laid her body down with her head in his lap, fully buttoning his jacket which she still wore. Then he leaned back and watched the gradually disappearing horizon as it emerged into darkness...