The Systems Challenge

The first thing Kim noticed was how her body ached all over and not in a good way, such as from a workout, but rather like she'd lost a fight with something that had left her bruised all over. Yet, when she opened her eyes, there wasn't anything that she could see about herself that would indicate what was wrong with her. She just ached.

With her eyes open, she was vaguely aware that she was able to see from the early morning light, before the sun had risen, yet couldn't say how she knew that. The last memory she had before waking up was that they were still debating on what to do in the village and who would do it. She knew that she was supposed to have been the one to secure their lodging, but as she looked around, she could tell someone else had taken care of that.

She wasn't even sure where they were. Was it an inn or were they able to negotiate with, if not flat out con, some villager to let them stay? She wanted to get up and look around, but with how her body ached, she didn't want to do more than just lay there for the time being.

Even moving to look at her body, under the blanket someone had placed over her had been painful enough. She was pretty sure she wouldn't want to see how she felt if she tried to actually stand. As she shifted her weight in the bed, she was fairly sure it was a bed that she was in, she could feel that she was still wearing her clothing, which meant that none of her team had tried taking advantage of her.

Although, the mischievous part of her brain suddenly imagined Elin taking advantage of her, which she wouldn't have minded. However, as soon as she had that thought, she wanted to slap herself until she blacked out. Her image of Elin was of someone who was too pure to do something like that. Not only that, but she wouldn't want Elin to do something that would make her any less pure in her eyes.

When she finished berating herself, she sighed and closed her eyes. If she felt this bad, she figured she might as well get some rest. That way she at least wouldn't have to be conscious while her body did its thing and healed whatever had caused her to start aching like this in the first place.

However, much to her irritation and annoyance, she felt herself becoming more and more alert the more she tried to go back to sleep. Almost as if her body was telling her, 'Sorry, I already got my quota of rest filled. You'll have to think of something else to do while I make your life miserable because whatever happened to me hasn't healed yet.'

Kim sighed, wondering if Elmo ad a spell that would put her to sleep from his system. At the moment she wouldn't mind if he did that, though she would need to talk with him about using that spell on her outside of that, if he did have a spell like that.

Kim slowly shook her head, not wanting to aggravate the headache she had at the moment. If Elmo did have a spell like that, she would make it clear to him that even if she asked him to, he would be well advised o not use it on her or Elin at any time. Even if it somehow would save their lives. She wasn't quite sure how it would potentially save their lives, but she always knew the universe had a sick sense of humor at times.

She turned her head slowly, trying to get an idea of what her surroundings were like. She was on the edge of the only bed in the room, and was a little surprised ot see that there were two others in the bed with her. While at first she was startled. She quickly realized that the others were Heather and Sonya. Neither seemed to have changed any since whatever happened to her, so she felt herself relax.

Then she heard some soft snoring coming from somewhere close by, but couldn't see anything. Not even someone sleeping in a chair nearby. So, she gingerly sat up, trying to keep from aggravating her body, not that she succeeded much.

When she was sitting up, she had a better vantage point of looking around and she saw that they were in a small room, which if it was just her, Sonya, and Heather, it would be too small of a room for all of them to live comfortably, at least for her she wouldn't be. The room felt like it was about twenty feet by six feet. Not that she was cery good at estimating sizes or distances with just a glance.

While her body ached so much more than she had ever had with a hangover, she couldn't help but be happy that she wasn't nauseous as well. Being that would really be adding insult to injury here. Though, she pushed that thought out of her mind, since it was distracting her and not helping her at all. While normally she'd be fine with distractions when waking up, right now she felt too disoriented to feel comfortable with them.

Looking around with her new vantage point, she noticed someone laying on the ground by the bed. Kim, Heather, and Sonya pretty much took up all the space in the bed, so she could understand the other person sleeping on the floor. Though, she sighed when she was it was Elin who had slept on the floor.

Elin hadn't used a blanket, so Kim couldn't help but wonder if she had been cold at any point during the night, though Elin still wore her magic, MP restoring, dress. Which probably helped keepat least part of her warm.

Kim slowly got out of the bed and lay down next to Elin, shifting Elin so she was using Kim as a pillow and mattress while holding they younger woman against her. Though, Kim couldn't help but find it interesting that having Elin's weight on her wasn't making her body ache any more than it wad.

Although, as she thought about it, she realized that the aches in her body were going away. Slowly, but there was already a noticeable difference. Just as there was a noticeable difference in the light in the room as it got close to sunrise.

Kim began stroking Elin's hair, Enjoying the feel of Elin against her. Part of her wondered how she'd handle it if after the competition was over, if they went back to their own worlds, would she no longer be able to see Elin? Would whatever they had here have to become just a memory?

If that's what would happen, Kim started to wonder if she should insist on Elin joining her in dropping out from seeking to complete more challenges. That way they could remain together.

However, at the same time, she felt guilty at her own desires. She knew that doing it wouldn't be fair to Elin. After all, Elin had her family there, one that she could tell meant a lot to the girl and Kim wouldn't want to make Elin choose between Kim and her family. She liked Elin too much to do that to her.

Kim kissed the top of Elin's head as she lay there, thinking about what their next move should be. Not that she had any clue as to what had happened while she was out, or more importantly, how long she had been out. As far as she knew, she'd been out a week, even though her body didn't feel like it.

For one thing, her body wasn't as hungry as she'd have expected it to be if she'd been out that long. After all, she'd had times when she'd skipped meals, and those generally only left her feeling as hungry as she did rigtht hen, but what she had learned from those times was that the longer she didn't eat, the more her stomach would complain about not having anything in it and currently her stomach wasn't being that loud. So, she suspected that she'd been out for less than a day. Although, she couldn't rule out the possibility that they'd somehow found a way to feed her while she was unconscious, but didn't want to think about how they'd have been able to accomplish that.

She was pulled out of her contemplations as she felt Elin begin to stir in her arms. She smiled at Elin as she opened her eyes and looked at Kim, clearly confused.

"Good morning, my gem," Kim said, pulling Elin forward to kiss her lips, enjoying the startled look Elin had on her face.

When the kiss was over, Elin slowly pulled away and looked at Kim, her expression one of wonder. "You're awake," Elin whispered, as if she was trying to convince herself.

"I'm awake," Kim echoed, pulling Elin against her.

Though, she was surprised as she felt Elin being to shake. Kim glanced at the woman in her arms and realized Elin was crying. "I was so worried you wouldn't wake up," Elin said through her tears.

Kim held Elin tighter then and whispered, "It's okay. It's okay. I'm not going anywhere."

Kim wasn't sure how she felt about Elin reacting this way. She'd never had anyone cry over her like this. Not that she'd ever done anything that caused those in her life before this to think that she was going to die. Yet, she couldn't help but feel like this whole situation was alien to her and wasn't sure how to react to it.