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Mark S lies with Helly draped across his chest, sated, dazed, happy. Disbelief still pulses through him alongside joy — and something else he can't yet name. The glow from the heater bathes their skin in a reddish-orange tint, their shadows flickering against the walls of the tent like faint, amber firelight.
He hadn’t known it was possible to feel this much happiness. He only hoped she felt the same. She seemed to. He smiles to himself, bends his head, and presses a light kiss into Helly's hair, breathing in her scent — smoky from the fire, threaded with sex and sweat and something heavier, sweeter, maybe vanilla.
"Helly?" Mark whispers suddenly, into the dark.
She makes a soft grunt against his chest, hovering at the edge of sleep.
"Hm?"
"That was amazing,” he murmurs reverently. "You are ... amazing."
Mark feels her smile against his collarbone before she shifts, rolling over slightly to meet his eyes.
"Yes," Helly agrees, her voice steady but fond. "It was."
“Um, I just—” he begins.
“What?” she asks, her eyebrows lifting in gentle curiosity.
“I just think maybe…” Mark swallows, watching her expression sharpen. He clears his throat. “I don't know, I feel like, I need to say something.”
Her face stills, the warmth in her eyes tempered.
“You don’t have to say it back, or anything,” he says quickly, his words tumbling. “If you’re not like, ready, or—just. Um. I think ..."
Helly is quiet, her expression inscrutable as she watches his face.
“I’m just… really glad I met you,” he finishes, more firmly, in that sweet, vulnerable way of his. "Like, for real."
She smiles at him.
“I’m glad I met you too, Mark,” she says, her voice soft, low. Affectionate.
Relief breaks over him in a smile. Helly leans up, then, and kisses him. Her mouth is soft, slow, warm; unhurried at first, then deepening until Mark forgets the cold of the night outside the tent. He cups her jaw, thumb tracing her cheek, and lets himself melt into the kiss, tender, real.
When they part, Helly gives him a tender smile, then tucks her head into the curve of his neck with a soft, contented sigh. For a while, they lie in silence, warmth and breath mingling, until—
"Hey," Mark says suddenly, "what do you think dreaming is like?"
Helly shifts against him.
"What do you mean?"
"Dreaming," Mark repeats. "I mean, this is our first time going to sleep," he continues, eyebrows raised. "I know Irv has like, fallen asleep before, but not like this. And he wouldn't talk about it, so. I wonder if it's scary."
Helly pulls back to look at his face, and gives him a slightly bemused expression.
"It's not scary," she says, a little too matter-of-factly. "Or, um, I think. Well, it can be. But sometimes it's nice."
Mark just nods.
"Yeah," he says. "I hope so."
She smiles fondly at him again, and lays her head back against his shoulder, about to drift off, when —
"What do you think we'll dream about?" Mark asks her.
"Um," she says, voice muffled against him. "I-I don't know. I've heard that when you dream, it's usually about like, the day you had, your mind trying to make sense of everything you've been through. So for us, maybe marshmallows, the snow, fire —"
"— Dieter's penis," they finish together, and suddenly dissolve into fits of laughter.
"God, I hope not," Helly giggles, and Mark chuckles.
"Yikes," he says, and Helly snorts, doubling over slightly. Mark grins and lightly nudges her side with his elbow, making her giggle again.
“You’re funny,” Helly breathes between laughs, and Mark pulls her in, arms snug around her.
"No, you are," Mark teases. Helly sticks her tongue out at him. He raises his eyebrows at her, then —
"Oh, okay," he says, "I see," and makes a mock-grimace back at her, before pressing a soft, victorious kiss to her forehead.
"Hey!" she squirms against him, but laughs as he continues to pepper her face with kisses. Their laughter softens into sighs as they pull each other close, lapsing into a comfortable silence. The only sounds after a while are the electric hum of the heater and the gentle shifting of their bodies beneath the comforter.
Blissful, peaceful quiet settles around them for a while. Helly curls her body into Mark, and he holds her close as she breathes into the quiet around them.
A beat.
Then:
"Hey, what if we dream about that seal?"
Helly groans.
"Mark—"
"What? It could happen. Like. Okay, forget the dreams altogether. My question is: what really happened to the seal, anyway? Why was it all gross like that? And how did it even get there? Do seals live in the woods? Or that river? I've never seen one before, obviously, but it doesn't make sense to me."
Helly sits up just enough to meet his eyes, voice soft but firm. “I have an idea.”
“Tell me,” he says, leaning in, curious and wide-eyed.
“Let’s see who can fall asleep first,” she says, a mischievous glint in her eye.
“Oh,” he says, nodding slowly. “Yeah… okay. Good idea.”
She gives him one last, lingering kiss, her gaze warm and tender.
“Good night, Mark,” she whispers.
“Good night, Helly,” he whispers back.
A hush falls over the tent for a few minutes, the stillness broken only once, by a quiet voice:
"Bet I can beat you."
"In your dreams," Helly mumbles. "Good night."
He grins into the softness of her hair, watching her relax into sleep. The heater hums steadily, the comforter rising and falling with her breaths. Mark gently traces a finger along her shoulder, savoring the warmth, the closeness, the quiet intimacy of the night as they drift off together.
He’s not sure how much time has passed — maybe a few minutes, maybe a couple of hours — but Helly definitely beat him to sleep almost immediately, her head resting lightly against his chest, snoring adorably. Mark feels a warmth in his chest that has nothing to do with the heater, a quiet awe at being this close to someone he cares about. His Helly. He could linger in this moment forever, tracing the gentle rise and fall of her shoulders, letting the silence and closeness speak for them.
"I lied before," Mark whispers softly to Helly's sleeping form, chin resting against the top of her head.
"About what I said. I think, actually ... I think I might be falling in love with you."