Elements of the Mountains

Sewing

We work on the boat until nightfall and Marlow is kind enough to invite us to stay with him. He had made the hallows on the ship into a makeshift apartment. Once we are there, we go about looking around and outside, the sky is beautiful out here. Slivko takes it upon himself to play one the records he has packed. I'm not sure why or how he got it this far, but I'm not going to question a taste of life back home. Marlow, who has gotten ready to cut his beard, looks over to Slivko, "what kind of music is that? What happened to swing? Benny Goodman?"

Slivko tosses the spare he found back and forth in his hands, "you're like a time-traveler, man. I'm telling you, this is the new sound."

I shake my head and chuckle, "don't worry, they still make swing music and it's very popular."

"Is it through?" Slivko looks over to me and tilts his head, I pinch him and he yelps slightly, "no, yeah, she's right. Very popular still." I look around the area Marlow has made into his home and there are numbers written on the wall and tally marks from where he's kept track of the years. There are pictures of Kong that either Marlow or the Iwis have painted. There are notes around the pictures and pictures that Marlow and Gunpei would likely have had in their planes when they crashed.

"I don't know if I'm gonna like whoever's under this beard." Marlow begins to shave off his beard with his knife.

Nieves walks around Marlow, "I really hope that thing you call a boat can get us upriver in 36 hours. Because if we miss that window, we're literally, up a creek."

I move to walk outside and see that Weaver is with Slivko, him showing off his skills with the spear and Brooks is with Sau, talking about I don't know what. But I'm willing to bet my head would hurt after listening to them. I notice that I have a small rip in my shirt, luckily I have my tank top on underneath and a needle and thread in the first aid kit. I step outside and look up at the sky, before I start, it doesn't take long for James, who had been in one of the small side rooms, to come out and join me. "I didn't know you brought a sewing kit."

I shake my head, "I didn't, but you know, you make do." I smile up to James.

He nods and looks up at the sky, "isn't it odd the most dangerous places are always the most beautiful?"

"I was thinking the same thing."

"Well, did you know, the same rule applies to beautiful women."

"I did not," I chuckle before going back to fixing my shirt, when I do I poke myself with the needle, yelping softly when I do. "Ouch!"

"You alright?" James looks over to me.

I sigh, "sewing isn't exactly easy when your flashlight is broken." I shake my head.

"Try this." James kneels down and holds out his lighter. "I'll even hold it for you."

"Thank you." I smile to him and look over the lighter, "Royal Air Force. It was your father's wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was."

I take a deep breath, "you know, even though we lived together and we both basically abandoned our countries to do that, you've never told me about your father."

James sighs, "he threw it to me from the train as he rolled off to fight the Nazis. He was like John Wayne to me. Some kind of mythic hero."

"What happened to him?"

"His plane went down near Hamburg. They searched for him for months but... I suppose no man comes home from war." James looks down and away from me, "not really."

I nod and smile down to him, placing a hand on his cheek, "sometimes they find a new home."

James nods, "maybe." He takes a deep breath and sits next to me, "and maybe sometimes home isn't a place, but a person."

I chuckle, "sometimes it is." I smile over to James.

He chuckles and smiles, "come on, I'm only gonna hold this thing for so long, so you'd better get sewing." I laugh softly, quickly leaning in and kissing James on the cheek. I finish sewing rather quickly, James and I settle outside with a blanket barely big enough for one of us, but we make it work. I don't sleep well, not because of the strange noises or the thought of those creatures out there, but at the thought that Kong, even though he is the biggest thing here, is also alone. I didn't have much before I met James, but I couldn't imagine a world without him by my side and I don't want to. With any luck, I won't have to either.