Memories (1/4): The Most Perfect Kiss

Writers: Bree, Eimi
Date Posted: 17th September 2005

Characters: Carmora, Almonteo
Description: While cleaning out a box of keepsakes, Carmora remembers some of the most important moments of her life with Almonteo.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 7, day 22 of Turn 3

Almonteo

The worst thing about packing up rooms that had been lived in for so long, Carmora realized, was the memories one found while doing so. The clothing had been easy enough, and the trinkets and knicknacks, but at the bottom of a closet, buried under old music and long forgotten baby clothing, Carmora had found a box full of treasures.

She hadn't seen it in over twenty years, having shoved it in the closet when Artero started crawling to keep him from digging around in things she'd been saving so carefully. Somehow in the turns that had followed she'd simply forgotten about it. Pulling the box carefully out, Carmora brought it to the bed and pulled the cover off, spilling the contents out onto the bedspread. It might not look like much to anyone else, but she picked up a folded scrap of hide with shaky fingers, carefully opening it up even though she knew what it said as if she'd written it yesterday instead of forty turns ago.

~*~

Carmora couldn't quite believe she'd talked herself into this... or that her best friend had actually encouraged her and facilitated her escape. The woman in charge of the fostered girls at the hold had given them permission for a nice sedate walk close to the hold to pick wildflowers. The fact that Carmora was sitting alone at the edge of the meadow without Penalane would get them both in trouble for a month if they got caught.

Penalane _had_ picked wildflowers... and shoved most of them into Carmora's hair. Then Penalane had deserted her, leaving her to wait for Almonteo alone and nervous. She could think of all sorts of reasons he wouldn't come--because he'd changed his mind or hadn't liked her letter... maybe her letter hadn't even _reached_ him, or it had and he'd found it childish. Almonteo approached through the trees, hoping no one would have seen him.
The last thing he wanted was to cause trouble for the girl. If they were caught, she would not be allowed to attend a gather for a long time and she would always be watched after that. He crept up to the meadow and hid in the shade of an old tree. Scanning the meadow for any sign of her, his breath caught in his chest as he saw the light of the sun reflecting off of her lovely, cascading hair, wreathed in wildflowers. He almost didn't dare approach, yet he felt drawn to her. Part of him had believed she wouldn't be there, or that it had been some cruel joke the other journeymen were playing on him. Yet, there she was. He touched the pocket where her carefully folded letter rested and gained strength from it's assurance. This was no chance. She was waiting for _him_. He stepped out of the shadows, hoping she could not hear the beating of his heart.
"Carmora?"

She jumped, obviously startled, but when she saw him her eyes light up.
"Almonteo." She hadn't _meant_ for his name to come out in that soft, caressing tone of voice... she rather thought relief had made her a little giddy. Glancing over her shoulder in the direction of the hold, she smiled at him and rose to her feet. "Would you like to sit in the shade?" Unspoken was the fact that the shelter of the trees would give them a little privacy to talk.

He grinned and nodded. Offering her a hand up he replied, "Yes, it is a bit warm today. And it would be nice to be out of the sun."

She took his hand shyly and followed him towards the trees. "I'm glad you could come. It will be nice to spend a little time with you when you don't have to run away and perform."

"Yes," he said with a chuckle. The moments he spent with her at the gathers had seemed all to brief and playing music had suddenly become an unwelcome inturruption. "It's much quieter here too so we don't have to yell over the noise. And I'm far lest tempted to whisk you off for a dance and tire you out."

"Oh, I love to dance," Carmora replied with a wide smile. "And you're a wonderful dancer. But it's nice to have a chance to talk, too." "Well, maybe if we can get out all we want to say now, then at the next gather we can spend more time dancing." It was, after all, an acceptable way for a boy to hold a girl close in public without drawing unwanted attention to themselves. That was a feature of dancing that had become particulary enjoyable for him over the turns.

"Hopefully it will take a little longer than an afternoon to say all the things that need saying," she teased as they found a nice shaded place to sit at the trunk of a large tree. "I'm a harper, I can talk all day," Almonteo said with a grin. "But I would much rather listen to what _you_ have to say."

"Where should we start?" Carmora tucked a strand of hair back, her fingers tangling in one of the many flowers that had been twined into her braids.
She pulled it down and turned it over in her fingers. "My life has hardly been one of adventure. At least, not until recently."

"Well, where did you grow up and how did you end up here, in this adventurous life you now lead?" he asked as he watched the flower in her fingers.

"I grew up in a tiny cot in the middle of nowhere," she replied, looking up at him. Another flower fell into her lap, and she laughed and picked it up, pushing it behind his ear. "My parents eventually realized that if they wanted me to meet any young men who weren't related to me, I might need to go somewhere else." "And what would your parents think of the men you've met so far?" he asked as he brought his hand up to touch the flower. It was probably not his most masculine look, but she seemed pleased with it.

"Oh, I think they'd approve." Carmora smiled at him, wondering if she could be bold enough to kiss him--and wondering what he'd think if she did. The temptation had been there for a while now... sometimes when a dance ended she'd look up at him and see the same temptation in his eyes. He could see the uncertainty in her eyes, and his heart quickened a bit. She really was the most lovely creature he had ever laid eyes on. But they were finally talking. He needed to know that their relationship could survive off the dance floor and out of the bed chambers, because if it _could_...
"So what do you see your future as being, now that you have had a chance to meet some many new men?"

"Finding the right one. I want to marry a man I can make a life with." Her eyes narrowed slightly as she studied him. "With," she said again. "Not for.
I want my children to have a father who will be there to bandage their scraped knees from time to time..." Her look turned mischevious. "And maybe to sing them to sleep. If he happens to be good at singing." Almonteo smiled. He studied her for a moment. "If I found the right one, I would want a woman who would not be afraid to stand up to me from time to time. A woman with a bit of spirit of her own that didn't just follow me everywhere because I tell her to, but because she wants to."

"If you're doing your job right, you wouldn't _have_ to tell her to follow you to begin with," Carmora replied with an answering smile. "Of course, everyone gets off track from time to time... that's why it's good to have a partner who doesn't mind nudging you in the right direction." One light eyebrow shot up. "That's true. But it's also important for a partner to know the difference between a nudge and a push. No one likes to be pushed. I would certainly not want to push my wife into anything, nor would I want to be pushed by her."

"Sometimes people nudge too hard," Carmora replied candidly. "The important part is being honest about it and being willing to apologize when it happens. No one is perfect." "That's very true. And should your right man have a few flaws? Could you handle that?"

"That depends..." She tucked the second flower behind his ear, more so she could take advantage of the chance to touch him than for any other reason.
"Can he handle my flaws?" "Well, I don't know," he said as he leaned a little bit towards the touch of her fingers. "Why don't you tell me a few of your flaws and I will tell you if he can handle them."

She let her fingers trace down the side of his cheek lightly, delighting in the look in his eyes. "For one thing, I'm far too bold for a lady. I say what I think even when maybe I shouldn't..." "I think he could handle that," he said as he reached up to adjust one of the flowers in her hair. "What else?"

"I have a short temper," she admitted with a shy smile. "My mother said it was hopeless." "No one is ever hopeless." The harper forgot the flower completely as his fingers ran along her soft brown hair.

Carmora tilted her head to the side and let his fingers slide down one of her braids. "What about you? Do you have any flaws?" "Plenty," he said with a grin. "I can be very stubborn, for one."

"Stubborn isn't so bad..." She reached up and caught his hand in hers, twining her fingers with his. "What else?" "Sometimes I think about things too deeply." He lightly caressed her thumb with his.

The idea of a husband who thought about things deeply appealed to Carmora.
"What sort of things?" "Well, lately, I've been thinking about you," he said as he took her other hand in his.

Her smile turned warm. "You're not the only one who has been thinking lately..." That was all Almonteo needed to know. "Carmora, I know we've only met five times in our lives, but I truly can't think of anyone else I'd rather be with. And I just want to know if you might feel the same." He held his breath as he waited for her to say something. Anything.

She gave in to temptation and kissed him. A little off center, catching the side of his lips, but it didn't seem to matter that she didn't know what she was doing or that her father would have chased her around their cot for half a day for doing it. Touching him felt right in a way she never could have imagined--and not just because of the excited thrill in her stomach or the way she could feel goosebumps rise on her arms. It was comfortable and sweet, as if she'd done it a thousand times before and knew that she could do it every day for the rest of her life and never tire of it. He smiled as he pulled back slightly. It might have been off target, but it was sweet and trusting, the most perfect kiss he had ever been given. But now he could think of nothing but showing her how to do it right. He released her hand and brought it gently to her face, caressing and encouraging her to tilt it slightly. Slowly, he brought his lips to hers, lightly caressing at first, but perfectly on the mark.

Excitement overtook the comfortable feeling, and when Almonteo pulled back, she was flushed and wide-eyed and thinking she wouldn't mind spending a good part of her life kissing Almonteo. "Maybe you should meet my father."

"I think that is a great idea," he said, confident that he somehow he would convince the man that no other would ever do for his daughter, just as he was sure that no other would do for him now. "When can we arrange it?"

"Soon, I hope..." She reached up to let her fingers trail across his lips gently. "I'll write to my mother tonight. She'll convince him to come." He nodded and kissed the tips of her fingers lightly. "You might want your mother's council. This would be a big decision, you know."

Carmora smiled and traced her fingers up his cheek. "A good decision. Maybe the best decision of my life." The harper pulled her to him and kissed her once more, allowing this one to be a slightly deeper, almost teasingly hinting at what future kisses would be. Pulling himself back he got his feet. If he allowed himself to linger much longer he could do a serious damage to both their honors. "Don't forget to write her tonight, and send me a message soon. I will be waiting, my Carmora."

Last updated on the September 17th 2005

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Memories (1/4): The Most Perfect Kiss