The first rays of sunlight landed on her face and tore her from her blissful sleep. She raised a hand to block them, groaning softly at being awoken. A moment later that groan gained in strength as her body protested against the abuse of the night before. Technically she could blame Mentuc. He had caused it, after all. Yet, as she felt his hands linger on her back, she knew that would be unfair. She had insisted on this. She giggled softly as she recalled her earlier protests, that she didn't like how he could overrule her body. It hadn't been untrue, but given her current predicament she felt quite stupid for having brought it up in the first place. And she was damned glad that he he had understood that it hadn't meant she wanted to be without his touch.

As ever, their time spent together on Heaven's Peak was unique. Maybe it was the atmosphere or their shared memories that made her behave more demurely here, while gently pressuring Mentuc to be more active. She didn't really care for the reason why. Very unprofessional, she knew, but at this point she wasn't a psychiatrist. Just Onoelle.

Then she noticed the flap of the tent being open, allowing the first light of day to fall in. 'Mentuc,' she groaned, knowing fully well that nothing her husband did was without cause. 'Why did you make me wake up this early?' She couldn't suppress a yawn. 'I could've slept for three more hours, at least.'

His body shifted and she felt his limbs snake around her in a way she wasn't used to. It wasn't aggressive, but definitely possessive. They pinned her down in a careful, but inescapable manner. She felt her cheeks flush and her heartbeat quicken. Her breath came out in short pants that she could see in the morning cold. He wasn't being subtle about his intentions, not in the slightest! His teeth tugged on her ear, his strength perfectly held in check and delivering just enough pressure to pull a longing moan from her rapidly heating up body. 'Mentu~c' she weakly protested, even as her arms and legs grasped his body with deep want, drawing upon the memories they had made in this place. It was here they had first lain together. It was here where Mentuc had, over the course of a very, very long week, explored her body until she had been fully laid bare and bereft of all her secrets. It was here where they had exchanged their real vows and here where they had promised to forever love one another.

Her body's protests were shushed as their lips were joined in a slow, sensual dance that slowly migrated south, across her skin. Exhaustion from the night before was chased away and replaced with desire. Before her mind was fully smothered by the passion he elicited from her, it formed the rogue thought that she was in it for the long run. On Heaven's Peak, Mentuc did not rush things.

Every part of his body slowly joined with hers as she lost track of time. She drank from his lips when they came within reach and screamed until she ran out of breath as his fingers set her skin alight. He was careful, yet insistent and he made her want more. And he always gave it, but never quick enough. Never fast enough. Never what she really wanted. He drowned her in a slow, sensual pleasure, constantly spurring her body on with more want until she felt on the verge of exploding. He masterfully caressed her, goose bumps rippling across her skin as his fingers lightly slid across her waist. When his lips were in the crevice of her neck and his hand pressed down on her bum, pushing their hips close together in nearly the right way, she struggled with raging need as her fingers fruitlessly dug into his back. Yet he didn't give in, kept on mercilessly teasing her and driving her wild and she let it happen, unwilling to resist. When he finally drew close and began pressing on, it took her but a mere moment before she arched her back in pure delight, before her exhaustion finally won out and she collapsed down into the sleeping bag, her cheeks still burning with unfulfilled desire.

Mentuc withdrew, to her great annoyance, before starting anew, beginning the lengthy process to rouse her body once more, spurring it on with promises of more to come. As ever he knew her limits better than she did and her body shrugged of sleep and exhaustion to answer his call. His lips found hers again and his touch became more insistent, drawing no longer moans, but screams from her. Her arms went limp as pure ecstasy ran through them. Her legs straightened until they cramped up as his careful touch paralysed her with pleasure. She didn't resist it. Couldn't, at this point. Didn't want to. He kept pushing her, his every touch setting her heart more aflame until it was a raging inferno and her need tore itself free from her throat until it was passionately silenced by a kiss so deep she fell endlessly in it. He paused briefly and she regained her senses a little, her body sensitive beyond anything she had ever experienced before, her heart beating so hard in her chest she feared it would bounce straight out. And there he was. Above her. Eyes locked with hers. His face so close she could feel his every breath on her lips. They looked at one another, each as madly in love as the other. And then he kissed her and gave her everything she had wanted.

It took a long while after that before their passions were finally burned out. She hadn't passed out from exhaustion, no matter how much her body may have wished it, and she was glad for it. Shivers still ran through her body with every movement Mentuc made and it had nothing to do with the cold water he was trickling down on her body as he washed off her sweat. She was still in his arms, settled on his hips. Unable to move, but not bothered by it in the slightest. They hadn't said a word since she had last called out his name after waking up. There simply was no need. Anything that needed to be said, their eyes and touch could do better. And they had conversed extensively.

Now it was time to start the day and Mentuc was slowly rousing her body in a way that differed from earlier, though his hands never lingered long on anything that wasn't her. He moved around their small campsite, carrying her with him with every step as he lit a small fire and began making breakfast. She didn't mind that her body was too exhausted to even move, or that Mentuc was cooking when it was her turn. He had asked her permission, a teasing manner to his silent question as he knew fully well that she was utterly immobilised. She had accepted and her wordless reply had shown him just how she felt about him being that sneaky.

Then it was finally time to get dressed and she was forced to separate from him. He laid her on the grass with utmost care. She wanted to fall asleep, but her mind refused to let her. She knew Mentuc. Knew him well enough to know that if he was suddenly this passionate, it had an underlying reason. Loving her was how he expressed turbulent emotions within him. Not an arrangement she would complain about, but she had her half to uphold as well. 'What brought this on?' she asked, her voice barely more than a weak whisper. Given how he had only decided to lovingly assault her in the morning, it meant he had been mulling it over all night.

His hands paused briefly, before he resumed putting the tent into the backpack. 'It is Nightmare', he said after a while.

'I expected as much,' she replied, forcing him to engage in small talk. 'I had thought she'd have asked you to speak to me again after our heated argument yesterday. I'm surprised she hasn't.'

'It is related to that,' he replied, lifting the tremendously heavy backpack up. She belatedly realised that the logs he had used for the fire had been packed in there as well, the well prepared oaf. 'She antagonised you because she enjoyed it.'

Onoelle gave a small nod, understanding the problem. 'She's not used to her emotions.'

'Yes,' came the surprisingly quiet answer.

Onoelle arched an eyebrow at that. It was rare for him to whisper. 'Oh?' she asked, masking her worry.

'She has retreated to run diagnostics on her systems. She is struggling.'

The credit chip dropped and her eyes went wide. 'You're worried for her,' she replied. She used the Imperial trick of putting a certain inflexion in her voice that inferred a double meaning. He gave her a slow nod and her heart skipped a beat. It was one thing to worry for Nightmare, his lifelong friend, partner and last surviving member of Genesis. It was another to worry about Nightmare, the AI, who might end the galaxy if rampancy were to occur.

Mentuc spotted her concern instantly and his lenses froze for a moment. 'I trust her,' he said. Three simple words that carried the weight of a thousand worlds.

She nodded and accepted Mentuc's judgement. If he believed there was no threat of the AI going rampant just yet, then she would believe him. He knew his friend better than anyone and she knew him well enough to know just how impossibly long he had worried over that possible fate. Nightmare had somehow alleviated those concerns over many years and had proven her stability by living for somewhere around six centuries without any sign of becoming any more genocidal than the average Genesis already was. She tilted her head slightly so she could look at him better. 'I'll help,' she said.

He nodded, his face serious. He knew she understood the weight of her own words. They weren't simple empty air or foolhardy bravado. To Onoelle, Nightmare was family. A very frightening family member who had openly admitted to being jealous enough of her to the point that a bloody murder was likely what the being dreamed about, but family none the less. And she would have the AI's back. Partially because it was the right thing to do, partially because of the oaths she took as a psychiatrist, but the main reason was that she simply did it for Mentuc.

Love, she thought as her husband picked her up and carefully cradled her in his arms, makes people do strange things. She nestled herself closer to Mentuc's chest, the roar of the Falls lulling her to sleep.

It makes men climb mountains, she yawned. And it makes women coddle AIs.