Two days had passed since the meeting with Reina, but their familiarity seemed to be the result of years of daily interaction. Both seemed to be becoming more and more synchronized, when one woke up the other did the same within a few seconds, as if they didn't want to waste even a few seconds together.
Something about that relationship seemed to attract them in a way that was difficult to put into words.
When the morning of the second day came, I opened my eyes and found those honey-colored jewels that adorned Reina's face.
"We need to eat something and although our time here is great, I need to find out if there is anything left at my house." – I said in a comfortable whisper.
She looked at me for a few moments and felt her own belly growl.
"The food here is not good, let's find some street stalls on the way to your house." – she replied, rubbing her face against my chest one last time before getting up.
We were practically the same height, I was just a few inches taller than her. Which meant that in order for her to have her head on my chest, she needed to position herself with her feet outside the blanket.
Noticing this, I made an effort to engrave in my mind the need to acquire a bigger blanket so that she wouldn't get cold when winter arrived.
I really couldn't say what our relationship was at that moment. We had never been friends, but the feeling of wanting to be with her had already taken over me. I didn't want to end my illusions too soon, so I decided to just probe what she was thinking when we got to my house.
Leaving the inn, it didn't take long to find a stall selling pochas, a bread stuffed with meat or roasted vegetables. I ordered two pochas, one with chicken and one with pork and Reina ordered one with vegetables.
The way to my house was pleasant, we walked while we ate and Reina never stopped holding my arm.
The door to my house was still open and there was no sign of life inside.
All the metal in the house had been taken, but the wooden furniture and bed appeared intact despite having been vigorously turned over. I didn't have many things of value, I had taken the money with me and the only things that could have any value were the pans and the cutlery.
As I looked at all that, I saw Reinar give a small laugh as she hid her mouth.
"What did you think of my humble home?" – I asked, starting the probe.
She looked like she was seriously analyzing the situation.
"I thought that not even the furniture would be here after two days abandoned with the door open." – she replied, finding the situation amusing.
"Even with some things missing, it's more comfortable than my room at the inn." – she was completely satisfied.
My eyebrows rose when I realized the possibility that phrase opened up.
"Any ideas on how we can make it even cozier?" – I asked curiously, looking for more signs that my thoughts aligned with hers.
Reina sat on the bed and put her hand on her chin thoughtfully.
"We need pots and cutlery obviously, but I think to make it more cozy we need a bigger bed." – she declared with an enigmatic smile.
My heart fluttered, that was it. She seemed to be thinking the same thing as me.
Taking courage, I approached her until we were face to face, me standing and her still sitting on the bed.
I brought my hand to her face and she nuzzled there.
My heart pounded even harder.
I moved my other hand and held her face from both sides.
"I don't ever want to be away from you again." – I said, letting my emotions take control of me.
Reina's eyes were filled with surprise, they sparkled so much that I had trouble reading what was really going through her head. Only when surprise gave way to satisfaction and a smile appeared on her lips could I relax.
I brought my face close to hers with the intention of kissing her forehead, but at this moment she lifted her head and leaned her body back, making our lips align.
The softness of Reina's lips was the only thing that filled my mind at that moment. Even though it was just a simple kiss, something inside me seemed to come alive and before I knew it we were rolling on the bed without letting go of our lips.
Minutes later, already out of breath, we finally separated our mouths, panting.
"I don't know about you, but for me, that was… out of this world." – she said, still breathless.
A smile took over my face and I felt like laughing.
"For me it was like I was feeling alive for the first time." – I said, trying to put the feeling into words.
Reina let out an abrupt laugh through the fingers that now covered her mouth. And while I was enjoying that sound I felt a nudge on my waist.
"Dramatic." – she said, pretending to roll her eyes.
After this decisive moment for our near future we didn't waste much time, we cleaned and tidied the house as best as possible, writing down everything we needed to buy on a piece of paper.
At the end the list had a dozen items, double bed, mattress, pillows, bed linen, blankets, pans, frying pan, cutlery, bathroom necessities, shampoo, soap and finally food.
Locking the door, we didn't waste time and went shopping. Some items were too big to carry around the city, so we needed to make at least three trips to the house to store them.
After the lunch break we went to the inn to pick up Reina's things and tell the owner that the room would be vacant, she had already paid for the week in advance so there was no problem in vacating the room.
When everything was finally in its right place, we fell onto the bed. Unlike the bed at the inn and even my previous one, Reina convinced me to invest in a quality mattress, neither too soft nor too hard.
"We need to think about how to make money, what's left is enough to eat for the next week." – I said without worrying too much.
In reality, that amount of money was enough for me to survive almost a whole month, but apparently my eating habits cannot be considered healthy.
"We'll think about it tomorrow." – Reina replied as she snuggled into my chest.