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Trinity sighs deeply. This is almost certainly a mistake, but it is so hard to say no to Yolanda, especially when she gives that pout. It's no wonder she's agreed to stay overnight here. Still, she's going to make the best of it. She glances over at Yolanda, who is setting up the lantern so it shines on them. It's probably not needed, given the brilliantly shining full moon overhead, but she lets her girlfriend set it up anyway. Really, the moon is the only reason she agreed to stay overnight. Her lips curve into a smile when Yolanda looks over her shoulder at her.
"You gonna help me here, Trin?"
"Nah," Trinity replies, "you're doing just fine without me."
Yolanda snorts. "Sure, baby, you keep chilling while I do all the work." She finishes setting the lantern up as she wants and joins Trinity in her little nest of a sleeping bag. Trinity tilts her head to accept the kiss her girlfriend lays on her.
"Come cuddle, at least we can be warm." At Trinity's words, Yolanda tucks her head onto Trinity's shoulder. They sit like that for a while, watching the shadows dance across the ground. Trinity starts to settle down. Maybe Yolanda was right, this was nice after all. She laces her fingers through Yolanda's. Her girlfriend smiles back at her.
"We should tell stories or something, make the time pass." Yolanda says.
"Well if this is meant to be a bonding trip, maybe we could talk about, well, ourselves?" Trinity chews her lip. "I can start?" Yolanda studies her for a moment before nodding. "Okay, well, uh, I guess we can start with the easier stuff. I went to college at UCLA, then Hopkins for med school."
Yolanda nods quietly before offering her own. "I went to Temple for undergrad, then Yale for medical school. I ended up in Pittsburgh for residency, but I do plan on moving back to Brooklyn, where my family lives, when this fellowship is done."
Trinity reaches over and grabs Yolanda's hand. "Am I going to have a chance to meet your family?"
"You want to?" Yolanda asks, making eye contact with Trinity. She nods firmly.
"I do. I want to meet them."
Yolanda studies her for a moment. "Then yes, you can meet them. I usually go home in early December, if I can. You can come then. December 5-9th this year."
"Then I will request the time off as soon as we get back." Yolanda's face is shadowed and hard to read in the dark, even with the light of the moon and the lantern, but Trinity thinks she looks pleased.
"Okay, I will tell my parents and siblings to expect you." Silence for a moment, then Yolanda gently asks, "What about you? Can I meet your family?"
Trinity looks away and buries her face in her hands for a moment before resurfacing. "You know that our relationship is contentious at best." Yolanda reaches out and grasps her hand, nodding but not speaking. "Well, the truth is that I left home at 18. Got a ticket out with a gymnastics scholarship and never came back. As far as I'm concerned, I have no biological family. I have Dennis."
Yolanda squeezes her hand. "And you have me."
Trinity squeezes back. "And I have you." She leans against Yolanda for a long moment until a long, loud howl sounds from the woods around them. Trinity sits bolt upright at that. "Oh shit!"
Yolanda's breath catches in her throat. "I think it sounds pretty far away," she says hesitantly.
Trinity scans the area and sees a decent sized stick. She slips out of the little nest to grab it, then hurries right back. It's not much, but it makes her feel better, and Yolanda too, based on the relieved look on her face when Trinity returns. Wordlessly, she settles back into the nest, her eyes carefully watching the surrounding area. She may not have been camping before, but she's extremely experienced in vigilance. She can and will protect herself and her girlfriend.
They sit in silence for several moments before Yolanda finally speaks. "Despite the scare, I don't know if I can stay up if we're going to sit in total silence. Could we maybe just, I don't know, talk? It doesn't have to be serious."
Trinity tilts her head, considering. "Okay," she says finally. "Okay, we can talk. What do you want to talk about?"
"Well, what about your college experience?" asks Yolanda. "You don't talk about it much."
Trinity shrugs. "There isn't that much to say, truthfully. It was fine. I made it through. I made some pretty fucking awful choices though."
"Like what?"
"Like going to a local music festival where me and all my friends were, well, not sober let's just say. One of my friends almost died, except that the paramedic on site recognized the signs of hyponatremia so she survived. And that wasn't the only incident, just the one I remember most clearly."
Yolanda reaches over and pulls Trinity close. She allows herself to be wrapped in Yolanda's arms, burying her face in her chest for a moment.
"Trin—" Yolanda's voice trails off for a moment before she summons her strength and continues. "Trinity, you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to. Especially right now, in the middle of the night in the woods." Trinity gives a wet laugh. "But I always want to know even the dumbest thing you did. I want to know you. All of you." Trinity gives a half sob and nods without moving her head from its place on Yolanda's chest, wrapped in her arms. She stays there a long moment before pulling away.
"I do want to tell you everything too. But, uh, maybe not in this particular context."
Yolanda cracks a smile and nods. "Fair enough." She pauses for a moment. "Well, how about I tell you the mischief I got into in my college days?"
Trinity smiles at her. "Sure, let's hear it."
"Well it probably won't surprise you that I was a nerd," begins Yolanda. Trinity settles in to listen to her girlfriend talk about her own life and experiences.
It's really a minor miracle that they are still awake when the first rays of sunlight start peeking through the trees. There were a few more howls through the night, but they sounded farther away, never getting closer, so there was that at least.
"Let's never do this again," says Trinity as she's packing up the strewn about pieces of the tent.
"At least if we do it again, we can practice pitching a tent, first," laughs Yolanda.
"I've had quite enough of the woods, thank you. I'm a city girl at heart. Let's stick to civilization from now on." Trinity wrinkles her nose.
"Sure Trin, we can stick to civilization." Yolanda pulls her in for a kiss before they embark on the long trip back home.