07-11-2025, 09:46 AM
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Finally, Kavya pulled the shawl from the side, her fingers trailing along the fabric as she spread it across the ground. She glanced at him, her smile soft, but her eyes held a teasing spark, a glint of mischief. "You should lie down too, Doctor," she said, her voice low, almost a whisper. "The fire will keep us warm... but not if you stay awake all night."
He chuckled softly, the sound breathy, as if it had been held back for too long. "Alright. You win."
As the night deepened and the wind began to settle, the little hut became something more than just a shelter. It felt almost like a home now. The cracks in the walls had been sealed with palm leaves, and the door they’d fixed earlier that afternoon now closed firmly, keeping out the chill. The space had transformed, as though it had been touched by something more than just effort.
Kavya laid the cleaned gunnysack bags over the sand, layering them carefully, making sure each piece was aligned just so. The softness beneath them was a comfort, an illusion of luxury amidst their makeshift surroundings. She wanted this to be more than mere survival; she wanted it to feel like a refuge, a sanctuary, for both of them.
They had spent the entire day together, working side by side, finding food, mending walls, gathering firewood. And now, at last, they could rest. For the first time since they’d been stranded, there was a sense of safety, of peace.
They lay side by side, the firelight flickering between them. The warmth of the flames wrapped around them, drawing them closer, as if the heat itself sought to pull them into each other's space. Everything about the night felt more intimate, softer, calmer, as though they had finally found a rhythm in this strange, uncertain life they now shared.
When Naveen finally settled beside her, Kavya had already turned to face him, her hair spilling over her arm, soft strands tangled with the warmth of the shawl that had been their companion since the very first night.
Naveen tugged the shawl gently, drawing it over both of them, his fingers grazing the skin of her shoulder as he settled the fabric around them. The touch was brief, but it sent a ripple of warmth through him. Her body didn’t shift away. Instead, she sank deeper into the space between them, the space that had silently become theirs.
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