Chapter 274Dreams to Doubts

It was kind of odd waking up here naked. The last time that happened, it was with Nuru and against my will. Well, not completely, but quite unexpected. This was very different. I remembered the choice I made consciously. It wasn't so much the nudity that was important, but the closeness. I wanted to give something back to Faith.

And I did.

She woke up a little and she spoke a few words. "That was nice. I feel I haven't slept in eons." She sat up, rubbing her eyes.

I responded in surprise, sitting up as well. "Are you alright again?"

She shook her head. "No, just a moment of clarity."

This was weird. "Does it hurt?"

She paused for a moment. "No, it's just... everything is unfocused... I see everything at once and usually can do no more than stare in awe and being overwhelmed. Even when someone touches me, I hardly register it."

I had to ask. "And seeing the future?"

She smiled. "Not exactly, just ... possibilities. Like if you pick a card from a deck, you know it has to be one of the cards in the deck. You know all the possibilities. But somehow I see the most likely one as well."

I smiled. "Have you felt this before?"

She nodded sadly. "Yes... once."

I wanted to ask her another question but her expression was already starting to fade into the distant stare that marked her these past days. When she did, her and my own nudity became unbearably present. The moment of intimacy had passed and the lack of clothes felt wrong again.

I didn't rush it though. Slowly I got up, helped her up and dressed her first. It was quite a challenge, especially with the underwear, to get her to move as I wanted to. But patience and persistence are a beautiful combination, one that prevailed many a time before and proved itself once again.

Getting myself dressed was much less of a challenge, though it was funny to get used to pants again. I guided Faith back to the living-room, where Afentis sat patiently as we walked in. He smiled as he saw Faith's clothing. I wondered what he knew.

"You dressed her well." He said.

I blushed. "It took a while though. She spoke clearly this morning."

He looked a little surprise. "Did she say anything of importance?"

"That depends. She told me about how she felt, and that she slept better this time. There weren't any revelations or such." I tried to be honest and concise.

He nodded. "So, not a vision, but just a moment of clarity."

I nodded in return. "Yes, exactly that."

He smiled a little. "Thank you for giving her such a good day's sleep then." He looked to the windows, where apparently, rain was again or still reigning the sky. "Do you want to travel in this weather? Or shall I call a taxi again?"

I smiled. "A taxi, I don't want to get all wet again."

He nodded and walked to the kitchen, returning shortly after and sitting down in silence. For some reason we didn't speak the whole time, just listening to the rain that was tapping, gently rapping, rapping on the window panes.

The sound of the taxi's horn outside almost made me jump up a little. I couldn't withstand a giggle when I calmed down and Afentis just looked at me with an amused smile. When we reached the door, he quickly grabbed a large deep purple umbrella from behind the door. For some reason it suited him perfectly. We went outside and he held the door of the taxi open for me, keeping the umbrella in his other hand.

When he closed the door and walked back to the doorway, the taxi driver turned to me and asked me where I wanted to go.

That was a good question.