Chapter 14

Giggling happily, Kristen led the way down the path to the pond. If Mark looked closely, he could see that her feet didn't quite touch the ground. She didn't seem to notice, though. Her hair also floated independent of her movement or wind.

Kayla grabbed a couple of towels and wrapped one around her before they went outside. Kristen just happily strolled down the path totally nude, lighting up the trail more than adequately.

Mark looked at Kayla. "Come on, why the towel?"

She shrugged. "We're outside, y'know?"

"And? We're equally screwed whether you have the towel or not, if someone's around."

"Okay, it's not logical, I know. We all have our hangups."

He stopped and kissed her. "You are beautiful too, you know."

Kayla grinned, kissing him back quickly. "Yeah, sure. You're a sweetheart. Now c'mon before our nightlight drowns her giggly little self."

He looked at her, frowning. "I'm serious, Kayla. You are."

"Sure, Mark." She shrugged uncomfortably, "If you say so." She turned away and followed Kristen down the trail to the edge of the pond, and Mark followed her, still frowning thoughtfully.

Kristen turned, already knee deep, and smiled at them. The water glowed from where her legs were underneath it. "It's warm. C'mon. Come play."

Mark stopped Kayla, tugging at the towel gently.

"I wasn't going to swim in it, Mark," Kayla said, laughing, "I'm not a total dweeb." She dropped the towel and walked towards the water.

Mark stopped her again before she reached the water. "Kristen, what do you think of Kayla's body?"

"Pretty. Soft and firm all at the same time. I wish I had nice, round tits."

"Would you say she's beautiful?"

"Well, duh? Of course."

"See, Kayla?" he asked.

Kayla smiled. "Girls don't count, Mark. Don't worry about it, I don't really care, honestly."

Mark stared at her, dumbfounded. "Don't care about what?"

"I don't care what I look like. It's no big deal. So I'll never be a supermodel, so what? Looks aren't everything."

He kept staring at her. "Kayla ... damnit, look at me. From the first time we met, I have always been honest with you, even when it could have gotten me arrested or killed. I have always been straight with you, haven't I?" He waited for an answer.

"Mmmm ... not entirely, you did try to pretend you didn't know what I was asking a couple of times, but yeah, you have."

"Ok. Look at me. Look me in the eyes." He tried to show that he was telling the truth, looking straight at her. "You. Are. Beautiful."

Kayla's face softened, and she stood on tiptoe to kiss him. "Thank you for thinking so, Mark."

He kissed her back, then nodded towards Kristen. "Look, I think I've already shown I've got good taste."

Kristen floated on her back, a slowly drifting island of light in the placid pond.

"Mark, dear heart, no one could possibly think that Kristen was anything but divinely beautiful."

"She is. And next to her, you still look pretty good. You are beautiful, Kayla, and you're just going to have to deal with it. Denial won't help."

Kayla laughed. "Oh, Mark! You just can't stand for anyone to feel bad about anything."

He looked at her, fighting the urge to shake her. "Damnit, Kayla, I'm telling the truth. You are beautiful. I've never lied to you, and I'm not just saying this to make you feel good. You are. I think so. She thinks so. And girls do count -- at least when you are in love with them."

She sighed. "Mark, look darlin' ... I believe that you think I'm beautiful. And that Kristen does ... hell, she's the kind of person who thinks that everyone is beautiful. And that is enough for me. It makes me happy, okay? But it does not make me beautiful to anyone else."

Mark raised an eyebrow. "Really. Wanna bet?"

"Mark, I have a mirror. And I have ears. I know what people think of me."

He snorted. "Kayla, dear, most people have never seen your body.,

"Mark, dear, it's not my body that I wish were more attractive."

"What is it, then?" he asked, confused.

Kayla looked at him in frustration.

He looked her over, closely, trying to figure out what she was dissatisfied with. He didn't see anything. With her hair down and the glasses she hid behind left in the bedroom, she was lovely, in a delicate, pixie-like fashion, with high cheekbones and huge grey eyes.

Mark shook his head. "You're going to have to tell me, dear, because I can't see anything to be dissatisfied with.

She sighed. "Honey, that's a good thing. If you can't see it, I don't want you to."

He rested his hands on her shoulder. "Kayla, please, tell me. I don't think there is anything."

"Fine. I am just plain. Brown hair that looks like a fright wig if I let it loose, boring grey eyes ... grey, not even blue ... a pointy face that makes me look like a reject from the Keebler company, and I can either wear coke-bottle bottoms on my face or keep running into trees and adding a nifty blue and purple coloration to my already pasty pale complexion. Satisfied?" She stood there, glaring at him, hands on her hips.

He stared at her for a moment, then burst out laughing. "My gods, Kayla, you have the wrong side of the stick! I'd call your face pixie-like, and it's beautiful, by the way, your eyes are gorgeous, big grey eyes. You've got lovely high cheekbones, and your hair has the kind of spirals my friends in college used to pay large sums of money to get."

She shook her head, smiling. "You're impossible, darlin'."

Mark shook his head right back. "Hey. I've been around enough, I know what guys like. You are beautiful, and I'll bet you I'm right. Want to bet?"

"You can't prove something that's subjective opinion, Mark."

"Yes, I can. I pick someone that I know will give us an honest answer, and we ask them. All I ask is that you have your hair down, and not be wearing clothes designed to hide your body. You can have your glasses on or not, your choice.

"Um. No. No thanks. I don't have a humiliation kink, sorry."

Mark threw up his hands. "I give up. You aren't even considering the possibility that I could be right. I don't know why you are so determined not to believe you are beautiful!" He paused, thoughtfully. "Then again, as long as you keep dressing the way you have been, Kristen and I won't have any competition, so maybe it's not all bad."

Kayla kissed him on the cheek. "c'mon, let's swim."

Mark kissed her back, and they headed for the water, swimming towards Kristen. She was lying with her arms and head on a flat rock on the opposite shore, the rest of her body floating, and she appeared to be asleep.

Mark kissed her gently on the lips.

"Awwww ... see what you did? She's asleep," Kayla whispered.

Kristen smiled and murmured dreamily, but didn't open her eyes.

Mark looked over at Kayla inquisitively. "Let her rest? That's probably incredibly comfortable, come to think of it. I think I'm jealous."

"What if she slips off and drowns?"

"She's floating, remember? And I don't think she's so asleep that she'd not wake up. Besides, we can stay right here, near her." He looked at Kayla. "And I kinda wanted to get some time to talk to you alone, anyway."

"You just did."

He shook his head. "I didn't know she was asleep, so I didn't bring up what I wanted to talk about." He treaded water in front of Kayla. "Y'all talked last night. Are you ok?"

She moved closer to the bank, where there were underwater boulders to sit on. "Yeah. Everything's fine."

He studied her face, finally decided she was being honest, if a bit guardedly so. He nodded. "Ok. Did y'all talk about the lifebond thing at all?"

"Not really."

"Well, I think you should know this. There is a possibility that she has more than one lifebond. She thinks maybe she feels several other places like our lifebond, but it's hard for her to tell."

Kayla shook her head. "I don't think that's possible, Mark."

Mark glanced over at the glowing figure. "I didn't think that was possible either. And it would make sense for her kind to have multiple lifebonds, potentially. And, well, remember what you told me?"

"What what that I told you?"

"You told me you fell in love with her the first time you saw her. And that you weren't gay, or even bi."

"So? She's special Mark, always has been."

He smiled. "Yeah, she is, isn't she?" He glanced over at her, fondly. "But that's also exactly what I'd expect if you have a lifebond." He sighed. "I almost didn't tell you this. I don't want to get your hopes up if it's not the case, but I also don't want you to think it's not possible if it is."

"I'm not going to get my hopes up, Mark. I'll be happy with anything she'll give me. I just want to see her happy, and I think she is."

He smiled again, reaching out to touch her face. "Yes, she is. And you've been with us. I don't know what will happen, Kayla, but ... don't give up hope, okay?"

"It's okay, Mark. I'm having a wonderful time. I'm ecstatically happy. Don't worry so much."

He glanced off to the side, almost as if embarrassed.

"What?" she asked.

Mark sighed. "Nothi -- oh, hell. I've never lied to you, I won't start now. I like having you around, ok? I like seeing you with her, and I don't mean just the sex. Y'all seem ... right together."

Kayla raised an eyebrow. "Even though it means you're still not safe even after you marry her?"

He nodded. "Yeah." Just that. The single, affirmative word.