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Kisses to the back of my neck are my personal alarm clock this morning. I curl into the warmth of his body for a moment or two before abruptly sitting up in bed and pulling away. I can't help but look down at him and peruse the tawny skin he has on display since he decided against wearing a shirt to bed last night and formulate a one word response to his actions. "No."
He shifts flat on his back against the mattress, his arms slung out beside him. "I've been defeated by simply a two letter word." Then he is crawling to his knees. "Baby, how about we instead flip that word upside down, or reverse it?"
It takes me a second to see where he is going. "I swear, Joonie, if you say, or worse yet sing, Marvin Gaye's Let's Get it On then the no will change into a 'Hell No!'"
He falls back on his haunches. "Aw, why's that?"
"Because, while the song has probably been the source of many conceptions in the mid seventies it embarrasses the crap out of me." I calmly explain to him.
Then I pick up my phone and frown at the fact that the temperature dropped a few degrees again before laying it back down. I pull out my white pants and blue and white striped smock top.
"Can I at least get a good morning kiss?" He requests.
I climb on the mattress and let him pull me close so I am straddling his lap. It's honestly a dangerous position, but I'm hoping he knows that a kiss is all he is getting. I should have expected that even I would get carried away despite my own intentions. I mean to leave a few sweet pecks on his lips, and of course that turns into very deep open mouth kisses in next to no time. When I find myself whimpering at the sensations he is evoking in me is when I finally begin to have enough sense to pull away. I give him a stern look, as if he is completely at fault, before standing up and turning away.
"Sorry, Baby." He calls from the bed as I head to the bathroom.
I turn around and shake my head at him. "No, you're not."
He gives me a devious, dimpled smile. "You're right. I'm not."
This morning breakfast is for once something on the savory side. It's called a rustico and is basically puff pastry with savory fillings. Beppe made smaller ones with an assortment of stuffings. I discovered one with spinach and ricotta, one with tomatoes and mozzarella, and the last one had sweet Italian sausages, tomato sauce, and mozzarella cheeses. They were delicious, and I added a note on my phone to replicate the idea for lunch or supper sometime once we got back home.
The plan of attack today was fairly straightforward. The first thing we would be doing is after we were done with breakfast we would be going topside to get a good look at the Protovenere's harbor. Many tourist websites suggested strolling along it, but from the pictures we had seen we knew that the harbor was fairly crowded so instead we would be mostly taking a gander at a distance.
"I know the view is not only about the water but also the long stretch of pastel colored buildings. I just personally can't get past the amount of boats in the water here. In my opinion that's a beauty in its own right." I muse aloud.
Jin comes over and whispers in my ear. "Perhaps we will have to invest in our own private getaway somewhere in the countryside on the water."
I arch an eyebrow. "A space with room for all of us? I am sure you had trouble finding the mansion."
He nods. "True, but there are always renovations."
"Sweet Jin, while the idea sounds amazing, I think it is something that can be put on the back burner for a while. After all, it's probably going to be a long stretch of time before you all will get time off again after this." I've been trying really hard not to think about the fact that once we get back I will be on my own again. After Jimin's special stage they will be thoroughly in the midst of Comeback season. That means practically round the clock performances several days a week. Not to mention interviews and such. Hell, they haven't talked about it but I bet there will be a week or two we have to travel to the United States for both interviews and probably working on the music videos.
We move on to decide what is next for this small stop. It turns out there isn't too much to see in Portovenere honestly. But we all do agree to visit the ruins of Castaello Doria and since it is overlooking the Chiesa di San Pietro we decide to stop there as well.
I don't know exactly what I expect of Castaello Doria, or Doria Castle, but I don't think it's what we find. "What is Doria Castle anyway?" I can't help but ask. "Because while it has the tower at top it doesn't exactly feel like a castle to me."
Yoongi answers. "It was probably more like a fort. Perhaps some kind of lookout point for the city. Soldiers probably took point here to protect the city."
We climb up the stairs leading to the top portion of the castle and while the view is breathtaking I find it also a bit disorienting. Hobi and I both decide to appreciate the view from a good distance away from the edge. Jin tries to encourage me to climb up the tower. "Sweet Jin, I'm sorry but I'm not climbing that." There simply isn't enough walk space and too many people. That's not what I say though. "This Princess of yours doesn't belong kept in a tower." I get the desired result and hope that when Army watches this later on that they will appreciate his windshield wiper laugh as much as I do.
We stop and spend a bit of time to appreciate the view before deciding to move on to the Chiesa di San Pietro. Before we even get to the church itself I find myself luxuriating in the salty sea breeze as we cross the long bridge to our destination. Once we get there it is quite obvious though that the site has gone through some renovations. To our right is a building made of the same materials as Doria Castle to the left is a more modern looking building. This makes me think that the building to the left probably didn't previously exist before the renovations that I imagine took place.
We head toward the more historic looking building and once again climb to the highest point. This time however as I look out at the view I don't feel quite as disoriented. Perhaps that's because this view is from a safe position behind a high wall and arched viewpoints. "Oh, that water out there is called the Gulf of Poets!" Jimin exclaims.
I look down at the water and can't help but admit that it fits. The view is most definitely awe inspiring.
"So? What next?" I ask after we leave the church.
"There is an archipelago of islands to the south." Jimin offers.
"I was thinking we might be able to go to the largest one after lunch." Yoongi offers.
Namjoon nods. "Yeah there is supposed to be a great walking path on Palmaria that supposedly takes two to three and half hours to complete."
Instead of going back to the ship like we were all considering doing we decide to meander around the streets of Portovenere first. We duck inside a few small shops, but nothing really catches our eye. Despite that our investigation of the town does make the time go by a bit faster and before we know it it is lunch time.
We decide once again to have pizza for lunch and stop at a restaurant that of course happens to have pizza in the name of it. We are surprised though that their menu is exceptionally extensive and isn't remotely limited to pizza although we do decide to limit our choices to that portion of the menu this time around. Their pizza menu is still extensive, but at least there aren't as many pizzas to choose from as the last place we had pizza at. This menu only has twenty-four pizzas to choose from.
I order the Castello as sort of a tribute to where we had been today. I do order it with only half the anchovies though since I am not sure whether I honestly like them or not. I am sure that someone will eat them if I don't. The rest of the ingredients are grilled eggplant, tomato, and both mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
Namjoon orders one called calzone exaggerated, which honestly the name kind of cracks me up a bit when I see it. However the ingredients tell me immediately that I will most definitely be stealing a slice. It has mozzarella, ham, sausage, peppers, and onion on it.
Yoongi orders one called a Piccantosa, which I honestly also looked at myself. The ingredients on it are tomato, mozzarella, spicy salami, and sausage. It was the word spicy that had me hesitant and refraining. I may not mind spicy food occasionally, but I am not sure I want to try a spicy pizza honestly.
Tae orders one called Pignone. Pignone is a very aromatic sounding sausage flavored with nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves. The thing that had me hesitant about that particular pizza was the fact that it had potatoes on it. I'm not surprised it was a factor that Tae appreciated though due to the fact that I know he loves sweet potato pizza. I will probably at least ask for a bite of the pizza just so I can try the sausage.
Jimin and Jk both order a wurstel pizza. The pizza is pretty normal except it has hot dogs on it. "You both are weird." I offer and give them a stink eye that I don't actually fully mean. They both act offended for a moment before laughing at me when I roll my eyes at their behavior.
Jin orders a Mareggia. It has tomato, mozzarella, zucchini (courgette), tuna, capers, and oregano. The tuna alone would have been a nope for me, but I also don't care for capers either.
Hobi orders a Neapolitan. It's quite similar to mine due to the tomato, mozzarella, and anchovies. His pizza of course doesn't have the grilled eggplant though. Instead his pizza has cooked ham and oregano seasonings.
After we get done eating we hand off whatever we don't finish to the production crew and sit back to enjoy each other's company for a bit. "Should we go back to the ship before finding a private boat to take us over to the island?" I look pointedly at my Vans since I didn't know we planned on potentially walking extended periods of time today. Perhaps I should start carrying my tennis shoes in my backpack also.
"It didn't mention it was a hike and the paths are referred to as 'walking paths' so I imagine the terrain won't be too rough. I'll let you decide if you would rather get your tennis shoes though." Yoongi informs me.
Tae then leans in to offer a suggestion. "If your feet end up hurting, Angel, I can always rub them for you tonight."
Inwardly I am literally swooning. Then I quietly add, "sometimes I feel like you might be the angel in this relationship, Tae."
His offer is what cinches my decision to not worry about going back to the ship to get my tennis shoes. Although, I do mentally add that I should put them in my backpack along with a pair of socks whenever I am not wearing them in case I do end up needing them.
I happen to catch the director out of the corner of my eye, lift up his cell phone and make a phone call. For a few moments I am curious what that was about, but then I get my answer when we arrive at the pier and there is already a private boat ready to take us over. "Just call us again when you are ready to come back." The captain states waving us off as we climb out of the boat and onto the island's pier.
It doesn't take terribly long after starting out on the paths that will take us around the entire circumference of the island I realize that 'walking paths' were an exceptional misnomer. Sure, part of the pathways are flat and smooth, but that's before we have to hike around the rocky beaches and climb up rocky uneven steps. I enjoy hiking, I honestly do, but my feet are really going to be regretting not grabbing my tennis shoes like I had considered after taking this long walk. This concern however doesn't stop me from fully appreciating the view surrounding us. Hell, I know my feet will be hurting later, but I don't notice it now due to my soulmates and our environment.
I do mutter aloud my intention to always have proper shoes on me at all times from here on out though. Which gets chuckles from all my soulmates.
Once we are done with the long trek around the island we all realize how hungry we have gotten. We settle in at a cozy restaurant with outdoor tables so we can enjoy the atmosphere of the hub of the small island. I didn't realize until we sat there people watching that there appeared to be no automobiles on the island. This particular part of the island is definitely the most inhabited, so I guess the locals probably don't tend to live far away from this area. Even if they did I suppose they could rely on bicycles or perhaps even boats if they lived near the water as their transportation. I relay my revelations to my soulmates.
"It almost feels like stepping back in time." Tae shares out loud.
"It's nice. Peaceful." Jin states.
The others all say something similar along those lines. "I think we should all think of this moment here on the Gulf of Poets whenever we are being weighed down by too many things on our minds. Too many concerns." Jimin states as he looks out onto the water. The daydreamer in him showing, and his beautiful face silhouette by the light.
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