Marc woke up the next morning. The tent was stuffy and hot, as late morning sun had had hours to bake the tent. He and Elora had been so exhausted they had not woken up at their usual early hour. His cousin's face was right above his. She was swishing water around her mouth, and proffering the canteen to him.
"
Dragon breath,
" she said. He swished too, and then they kissed.
"
Was that the best,
" she started.
"
Night, or the best night ever?
" he completed.
They got up, still wearing long underwear, and made a cup of coffee and a mug of oatmeal on the portable stove. Marc, sitting on a conveniently-sized rock, exchanged a glance with Elora. They both nodded. Elora came over and sat on his lap, straddling his waist with her thighs, wrapping her legs around his lower back, and looking straight at him. They proceeded to alternate taking sips of coffee out of the mug, with feeding each other the oatmeal. Between bites, they usually kissed, unable to keep their mouths apart for long. Elora felt his penis stiffen, putting a pleasant pressure on her pubic bone. Neither said anything for a while, they simply enjoyed feeding each other, smooching, and being as close as physically possible. Marc was in a daze, enjoying his cousin's presence, yet still marveling, distractedly, at the events of the previous night.
"
It's like fondue,
" he murmured idly, more to himself than to his cousin. Elora's eyes went wide with shock.
"
No fuckin' way!
" she exclaimed. "
That's weird, even for us!
"
"
Wait, are you sayin' ...
" Marc trailed off. "
The Swiss Table?
" he asked. He was referring to a restaurant their parents had taken them to a year earlier.
"
Blind question!
" she said. She got off of him, went over to the tent, and pulled out a small, spiral-bound notepad and two pens. She came back and sat on the ground, sitting near him without looking at his face.
Elora wrote, on a blank piece of paper, "What were you thinking at The Swiss Table?" She then tore it off and handed it to Marc, along with one of the pens. She then wrote down her own answer -- to the same question -- on the next sheet in the notepad. Once they'd both finished scribbling, they swapped pieces of paper with each other. The close cousins had developed this ritual many years before, when they'd realized that they influenced each other too much if they could see or hear each other. Although normally a good thing, their ability to almost read each other's minds made it difficult to resolve questions where their true opinions on something mattered, or, as in this case, they were trying to recall, accurately, a shared experience.
Marc read Elora's note: "When the waitress came over and mixed the cheeses together in the pot, I thought how much I wanted to be fondue with you."
Elora read Marc's note: "Being as close to you as the two melting cheeses."
"
Wow,
" they said, in unison.
"
That is so,
" Elora started.
"
Random, and weird!
" Marc completed. Like Elora, he was shocked that they had the same unusual reaction, and had both remembered it, as well.
"
Do you think we maybe spend too much time together?
" Elora wondered.
Marc looked pained. "
I guess maybe. We were just talking about Alyssa and Danny yesterday. But where I struggle is, there's just nothing better than being,
" he said.
"
With you,
" she completed. She looked thoughtful for a while. "
Like, how long do you think we could be apart?
" she asked, at last.
"
I dunno,
" he replied, "
I can't remember the last time we were separated for more than a couple of hours. I mean unless we were sleeping. It was mostly 'cuz we didn't hang out at school.
" The cousins had instinctively, and correctly, realized their close relationship would subject them to endless teasing, and worse, if word got around. So, starting in grade school, they maintained the fiction of a polite but distant relationship. Only their closest friends knew how much time they spent together outside an academic setting.
"
Maybe we should test it out when we got time,
" she said. "
Right now, we gotta boogie!
" The cousins had a twelve-mile hike ahead of them, mostly uphill.
X X X X
The cousins made surprisingly good time to their next camp, taking around six hours. This segment of the trail was in better shape than the first day's had been, and was easy to follow.
'Some crew must've put a lotta time into this,' Elora thought. It was about an hour into the hike, and while she was pleased by the condition of the trail, she was feeling uncomfortable.
"
Hold up a sec,
" she said. The cousins came to a halt. Marc looked at her with a worried expression, able to pick up on the subtle tones of discomfort only he could discern behind her neutral tone.
"
You okay?
" he asked.
"
I'm fine,
" she said, grunting slightly as she shrugged off her heavy pack. Like him, her arm were covered in a glistening sheen of perspiration. "
Or at least I will be, once I get this damn thing off.
"
"
Did we load your pack wrong? Or d'you wanna have me carry more stuff?
" he asked.
"
No, silly!
" she said. She was staring at him with an unreadable expression, eyes locked on his. In a swift motion, she reached down to either hem of her tank top and removed the garment, tossing it onto her pack so that it would not get dirty. "
This fuckin' thing's too small,
" she said, as she squeezed out of her sports bra. Her boobs flopped out, bouncing once before settling. He could see why she wanted to ditch the bra, there were red marks all around the edges of her breasts.
'Fuck, I'm staring!' Mark said, as he realized he had been captivated by the beauty of his cousin's torso. Despite their closeness -- they had lived in the same house most of their lives, and had adjacent bedrooms -- he had never seen her naked. The closest he'd ever come was when they went to the swimming pool or the beach, where Elora preferred a modest, unrevealing one-piece bathing suit, the same one she used for swim team. Turning crimson with embarrassment, he shifted his gaze to meet her eyes. The blue orbs were sparkling with mirth.
Affecting an exasperated voice, Elora said, "
Marc, my tits are down there!
" Her cousin barely took in what she was saying, instead focusing on her tone of voice. When he didn't seem to get the message, Elora raised her index fingers to either side of her face and pointed downward. "
Dude, it's okay to look! Remember, we're not gonna be embarrassed about our bodies anymore?
"
"
Oh, right!
" he said, still not lowering his gaze. Elora impatiently gestured downward with both fingers, and he finally looked at her breasts again. Marc heard a rushing down in his ears, similar to what he'd hear if he held a seashell up to his ear. Her pale, teardrop-shaped breasts were fuller than he had expected, and looked especially large relative to her narrow rib cage. For most of their adolescence, Elora had complained about being flat-chested. That had, obviously, changed. Marc didn't think one of her breasts would now even fit in one of his hands. Her nipples were thick, and surrounded by large, dark pink areolae, about the size of half-dollars. They faced forward, like two, widely-spaced eyes. Marc was mesmerized, and did not even notice the bulge forming in his shorts.
"
That's better,
" she said, glancing down briefly. "
What do you think?
"
"
B-beautiful!
" Marc stammered. After a moment, he added, "
How come your bra doesn't fit?
"
