Chapter 27

Eight days later...

Earth time: 9:30 AM Sunday, September 20, 2015 (EST)

Aina time: 5:05 PM day 94 of 1414 (50 days before winter solstice)

"Mayoni, stop!"

"Why? Getting too dark to continue?"

"Even with Mahina, yes! The sun set a half hour ago. I'm starting to lose my footing on these rocks."

Mayoni glanced up at the clear starry sky overhead. "Weather looks good, but who knows what the future will bring? We can be through the pass and out of danger if we hike through the night."

"Not if I break an ankle. Please?"

"Okay." Mayoni reached over and gave Keona a quick kiss on his cheek before starting to unpack the tent. Keona dropped into his usual routine of gathering the evening meal. The darkness and the rocky ground provided few pickings, but he found some roots that he finally decided would have to do. Mayoni had the tent set up by the time he returned to the campsite.

They had spent the last eight days walking the three bikes across the last of the northern plateau. The weather had turned unseasonably warm, not going below freezing even at night, and they discovered it was easier to walk the bikes across the moist ground rather than try to ride. They kept the third bike between them, loaded with Orna's backpack and gear.

By unspoken agreement, the two had kept up sleeping with each other at night. Mayoni was very grateful that Keona had been so gentle with her, holding her at night but not pushing her to get sexy with him. For their last night on the great plateau, the two sat around in their nightshirts and relaxed in their familiar routine, sharing their evening meal and chatting for a bit before sacking out for the night.

Mayoni dimly noticed Keona seemed somewhat shy and quiet this night, more than usual. He then did something completely unexpected. He turned and plunked down his two bare feet firmly in front of Mayoni and gave her a beaming smile.

"You offering what I think your offering Keona!?"

"Yep, I guess I am!"

"Ah... A boy offering a girl his feet! What are your thoughts Keona?"

"Ha! You want my humorous thoughts or my honest thoughts?"

"Ah, good question... Humor is always appreciated, honesty always necessary. How about both, starting with the humor?"

"Okay! The humor is it's completely outrageous for a boy to offer his feet to a girl, to take the lead like this... If you want, you can laugh at my silliness, and I will laugh with you..."

"Ha! It does feel really different! I'm wondering if this is what it feels like to be a boy, deciding whether to pet a girl's feet... And what are your honest thoughts?"

"Well..." he said. Mayoni stared for a while and then smiled at how deeply Keona was blushing and struggling for words. "Well..." said Keona, "I guess I'm trying recognize all the intimacy we have between us... Even before Orna's death, you opened your heart to me. You were more like a close sister than my chaperone. I've been wondering how to talk with you about this. But I don't want you to feel awkward... wanting to reject me but still having to travel with me. I know this isn't the right setup for us to court each other. But my heart is bursting to tell you things! Perhaps I'm being too impatient, so I thought I'd try this, something outrageous. If you like, just laugh at me and I'll wait and perhaps ask you for a date when we get back to the village."

Mayoni sat quietly for a while, considering what Keona had said. Then she moved over and took one of Keona's feet into her hands. She stared at it for a moment, and then began to massage and caress it. She sighed and pressed her fingers into the ball of his foot, opening Keona's toes as she massaged and relaxed his muscles.

Although Keona smiled and looked calm, Mayoni felt his body shiver as she petted him. Eventually he closed his eyes and lay down on his back, his foot still in Mayoni's lap. He sighed and shuddered as she continued to massage him.

The time seemed to stretch forever. After petting both his feet, Mayoni lay flat on her back, closing her eyes and offering her bare feet to Keona. She gasped and felt herself wanting to cry as he began to caress her.

Keona spent a long time petting her, singing an ancient song of love and appreciation as he caressed her feet. He finally finished by caressing her ankles, gazing at this beautiful young woman before him. "Asleep?" he whispered.

"No." said Mayoni and she smiled, but she kept her eyes closed.

"Orna and I, when you dropped back and gave us time to be alone... we spent so much time talking about you, over these last few months... over the entire trip really..."

"You spent your dating time talking about me?" Mayoni continued to smile.

"Yes. We already had the two of us pretty much figured out. But you... Over the last few months, we talked a lot about how to invite you into our marriage, if you wanted us. But we figured it would be grossly inappropriate to ask while you were still our chaperone..."

"Oh yeah! That would have been embarrassing! But Orna wanted to be my wife... I'm glad. I think I felt the same attraction..." Mayoni sighed. "Earth would some major hang-ups with all this."

"Polygamy?"

"Yeah... Not just one guy having multiple wives... The fact that the wives tend to get sexy with each other... A lot of people there can't stand the thought of sexual expressions of love within a gender..."

"I wonder why. They don't like the competition? Do they see it as rejection?"

"I don't think so. Just immaturity I think. A childish phobia against something they don't understand. But answer truthfully Keona. If there were a lot more boys than girls in the tribe, would you mind sharing me with another man?"

Keona was silent for a long time, thinking and exploring his feeling while he caressed her feet. "You have me Mayoni. I would... I feel infinitely possessive about you now..."

"It's okay Keona. I'm glad you feel the way you do. Maybe it's part of the difference in the male mind, the desire for sole possession of his females. I wouldn't want more than one husband either. But I'll miss Orna... I would have loved her as a sister wife..."

Keona said nothing for a while, then kissed Mayoni's feet and beckoned her to join him in the sleeping bag. They were soon both cuddling with each other, exploring the feel of both each other's bodies and their new relationship. Eventually Keona muttered, "Mayoni?"