you are in the universe.
Blazing Trails, W.H. Jackson
Gabriel leaped up,his chair crashing to the floor, as Elodie screamed. A second later she was grabbing hold of him, attempting to climb his body.
This was not as romantic as one may suppose.
“What’s wrong?” he demanded, pulse thundering in response to her panic and, moreover, her proximity to parts of him that had only just recovered from their excitement earlier in the day.
“Mouse!”she wailed.
“Mouse,” Gabriel echoed in bemusement. From her reaction, he’d been expecting something truly dire, along the lines offire!orthere’s mold on these peaches!He put his arms around her, embracing her firmly in the hope this would stop her writhing. “A mouse won’t hurt you, Elodie.”
To which she replied with singular eloquence: “Aaaaghhhh!”
“You’re a geographer,” he pointed out, albeit with some difficulty as her hair was covering his face. “You must have seen hundreds of mice over your lifetime.”
“Field mice!” she retorted as if this made all clear. Tightening her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, she clung to him desperately. “Outside! Hurry! Now!”
“It’s still raining. Let me just set you down on this—”
“Aaaaagghhhh!”
Thus persuaded, Gabriel walked them to the front door and, with some angling, some painful twisting of his arm, managed to open it. The rain had eased, but still they were going to get wet. Torn between delight at her seeking his protection and an equal dismay at the miserable discomfort of the night outside, he hesitated. “Are you sure you—”
“Oh God, it’s looking at me!” Elodie wailed. “Hurry! Go!”
So Gabriel took his coat from the hook beside the door, glanced at the fireplace to ensure it was completely cold, and stepped into the night. At this point he expected Elodie to get down, but she continued clinging with a tenacity that really was quite endearing. It made him feel strong, heroic, and just a little strained, but he wasn’t about to admit that. Indeed, he found himself having to wrestle a rather foolish smile into his more habitual frown. Draping the coat over her, he headed for a nearby oak tree as quickly as possible under the circumstances.
But as soon as they reached its shelter, Elodie declared it was too close to the mouse. And so Gabriel continued on through the sodden darkness, risking possible tripping hazards, pneumonia, and worst of all, a hopeless lovesickness creating havoc in his stomach, as if he’d swallowed a swarm of magical vampire butterflies. At last an elm tree was pronounced safe, and with a rather tired exhalation he stopped.
Elodie loosened her grip on him and slid down until shewas standing. This had the unfortunate consequence of shifting Gabriel’s internal havoc several inches below his stomach, and he’d have immediately stepped back were not Elodie still holding him captive. Oh, she’d removed her arms from around him—but hereyes, they were merciless. In the dark Gabriel could not see the sea green shade of their beauty, but he didn’t need to. It had long ago colored his soul.
“Sorry,” she said, the word a tremble that might have been laughter or the precursor to tears. “I know, ‘girl who catches lightning is scared of mice’—it’s ridiculous.”
“It’s a relief,” Gabriel answered. “At least now I know you have some sense of caution within you, which hopefully can one day be applied to such things as, well, catching lightning.”
Elodie was quiet as she tried to work through whether he’d just insulted her, and Gabriel took the opportunity to brush a strand of hair away from her face, his fingers warming with exultation as they glided across her skin.
The air seemed to gasp excitedly and clamp a hand over its mouth. Elodie went very still. He brushed a raindrop from her cheek next, then another from her temple. He could not seem to stop touching her, taking care of her in this small way. He would do more—he would do anything she asked of him. He was at her service forever. And he wished with all his heart that she’d cling to him once more, for he knew now he was physically incomplete without her.
But he also knew that if they stood there staring at each other, they’d catch a chill and end up in separate graves. So he stepped back, although it hurt all through his body to do so.
“Sit down,” he said gruffly. And once she had done so, making herself comfortable in the soft, red-gold leaves fallenfrom the tree, he added, “Have this,” handing her his coat. She took it automatically. With a brisk nod, Gabriel turned to leave.
“Wait!” Elodie said with some alarm. “Where are you going?”
He looked down at her dispassionately, never mind the butterflies now fluttering around his heart. “To sleep under another tree, so you’ll have privacy.”
“Oh.” She sounded forlorn, and Gabriel hesitated, not sure what she wanted. “You’ll freeze without your coat,” she said. “Stay here, we can share it.”
“Under only one tree?” He looked around as if faculty secretaries were lurking in the darkness, hoping to witness something they could gossip about.
“It’s a logical solution,” Elodie said.
She had him there. With an inarticulate grumble as his nerves trembled, he sat beside her, keeping a polite and safe fifteen inches’ gap between them.
(Thirteen inches, after he shifted to avoid a stone, then shifted again to avoid an itchy leaf.)
