The camouflage tarp had many uses besides protecting Lero and Keru from the elements but also helped blend within the environment itself. At least during the daytime, as the night's stars were hard to see due to the heavy rain the area had experienced the last three days. It was miserable, and a lot of work to prevent much of it from entering the dry space, but Keru's abilities were helpful in that aspect. At the same time, he established borders around the tarp's edge earlier in the day. At least now, he was finishing up their small meal of cooked venison and a bit of vegetable that the hunters had stocked with them.
"Smells good." Keru was sitting on her sleeping bag, watching the man flip over the meat one last time over the small fireplace and checking to make sure it was fully cooked.
"They at least had some seasoning, which helped me out a lot there." Lero had to be thankful for, before handing her a plate of food.
She didn't even wait for another second, as the woman began to dig into her meal like never before. Lero himself was taking his time cleaning up the area around him before even getting the chance to settle down by his own sleeping bag. By the time that even happened, the woman was already scrapping the remains on her plate into her mouth and completely satisfied.
"That was so good." Keru sighed in delight, "I wish we had dessert."
"Sooner than later, it'll happen. Just got to be patient."
As Lero continued to eat, he could just feel the presence of her eyes laying on him, as if in need of an answer. What answer he would have no idea about, but it was simply a thought that one had and perhaps needed to be answered. But it was up to her to ask for the information, which Lero did soon enough.
"Hey, can I ask you a question?" Keru moved her sleeping bag a bit closer to his.
"Uh, sure?" Lero raised a brow.
"Why did you end up in Suginur Prison for? Like, what did you do exactly?"
"Ah," Lero couldn't help but laugh for a second, "They bloody claimed I was tryna kill em' guards back by those northern mountains when I was looking for Jamal to fix my machine. I knew that it was a sham in the first place, but I didn't expect this to happen."
Keru's eyes lit up with interest in his story, as she quickly connected the dots about how he really got locked up. Of course, it was a sham trial in the first place, but it appeared that something of that severity dealing with Jamal would be brutal.
"I knew you claimed to know Jamal, but I really didn't think so." Keru rubbed her hand on his shoulder. "That's pretty bad."
"Well, it's no big deal now, since we escaped it quicker than a hunting jen-lam. Those things are fast," Lero joked about, causing the woman to chuckle a bit at the phrasing, "But I suppose I ask you what you did?"
"Oh, yeah." Keru rubbed her head in thought for a moment, "I formed a large protest against Youden last year with over seven thousand supporters."
"Wait, really? Was it to bring back Saputa?" Lero was surprised to hear how she got locked up for that.
"I mean, probably for a few of them, but the main message I wanted to bring about was Youden's authority over the citizens. Lately, he had been restricting our rights and resources for his latest war campaign and not worrying about the effects it would have on the everyday folk. I guess they didn't like it, 'cause would you look at what happened to me. Ended up in the worst prison on the planet."
"You had ended up in the world's worst prison." Lero couldn't help but correct. "Until you met me."
"I know, and I'm forever grateful. That man is sick." Keru moved nearer to him. "I can't wait for something to happen."
"I'm sure of it, once I make it to Jamal and wherever he's at. Then this nonsense will really end." Lero didn't budge, just as Keru started to make out with him again.
For some reason, instead of wanting to push her off of him, he didn't even move from his seat, as she started wrapping her arms around his. She was getting really comfortable, Lero couldn't actually help but laugh at the situation, causing her to pull back a bit. Was he really enjoying what was happening between them or was this filling some void for him that he couldn't quite pinpoint?
"I think you like me, you just haven't said so yet." Keru muttered under her breath, "You can say so if you want to."
"Do I?" Lero started messing with her, "Or do I not?"
"Can I find out?"
"If you can." Lero managed to grin before they started to make out with each other again.
The downpour continued to roar around them for minutes on end, as Keru managed to lay Lero onto his sleeping bag, the man already feeling a bit intimate with the woman. She looked deep into his eyes, before giving him one final kiss. Thinking he was about to get more, Lero was already holding onto her sides until she had pulled them away.
"So?" Keru moved closer for him to hear in a playful manner, "You want to do it?"
"Do wha-, oh." Lero had quickly established once it was clear, "Uh, I mean, well-."
"If you don't want to, we don't have to. I'm not forcing you." Keru replied, slowly pulling back.
This really did not have to be a hard choice, but yet even Lero knew better. As interesting as the mood was really, perhaps common sense would prevail in the obvious predicament that they were placed in.
"Anything else you can do, for now?" Lero finally let out, with Keru thinking about any other options, "At least not in this environment."
"I think I have an idea, but I wouldn't say I'm very experienced in it." Keru said, before pressing him down, "Stay still."
"Wait, what's going on?" Lero wanted to implore more before Keru used her powers to keep him in place, "Alright, if you insist."
Lero propped up the small pillow the hunters had with the sleeping bags, just as Keru managed to unzip his entire prisoner outfit. Lero had no idea why he hadn't bothered changing out of it yet, while Keru already did in a much more camouflage attire for the woods.
"Okay, you ready?" the woman managed to slip off the outfit and discarded it to the corner, leaving him with a plain t-shirt and underwear on.
"I guess, I'll be bloody ready for whatever you got." Lero's final words were before Keru pulled back his undergarments and attempted to get to work.
...
The bright light of the sun made its way to the moist floor of the forest itself, as the birds and fauna called out in joy. Even with the abundance of rain from the night prior, the tarp held strong and didn't leak or break off, protecting it's occupants from the elements as intended.
Those occupants underneath it's reach were currently cuddled up with each, as Lero kept his arms around Keru, both still out from the night prior. Who knew how deep the Shadow Realm really was, although Lero himself transcended into its depths thanks to the work Keru put in. Although she claimed her "abilities" weren't that good, it didn't necessarily feel as so, as the man managed to still last several minutes regardless.
Just as those thoughts continued to press him into the night, the morning birds loud shrieks worked wonders in waking up Lero first, as he was slow to adjust to his surroundings. Feeling something, he noticed that he was holding onto Keru still in her slumber, as he was quick to let go. Knowing that things got carried away a bit the night before, would they have to, unfortunately, continue their journey to the nearest town miles ahead.
Getting up was no hard task, as Lero was making progress in packing up most of the cooking supplies before hearing a grunt. Turning toward the sound, he could see Keru staring at him from the sleeping bag below, her camouflage shirt half-buttoned up, revealing more than what he wanted to see at the moment.
"Good morning to you." she let out a quick stretch, before making her way towards him.
Just as he started to open his mouth to inform her about herself, she planted her lips onto his for a good second or two, preventing him.
"Did you like what I did?" she stared straight at him.
"You took me out, I can tell you that much." Lero managed to let out a quick chuckle, as he buttoned up her shirt for her. "Go get ready to move, we still got plenty of miles to cover."
Simply nodding, Keru moved towards the open space outside their camp to clean herself up, as Lero stayed focused on the tasks at hand. Even when having a little bit of fun, much more goals needed to be completed and solved before any more problems arose between them and the outside world. Because for all they knew, it would be more than likely that they were wanted and actively being searched by the nation's police force. And with that, would the situation not end in friendlier terms for the pair, as time was ticking for all sides.