Her energy was like whitewater? That sounded kind of ominous, frankly. Who wanted to hook up with a flood? She thought they were going to say that her aura was ‘purple’ or ‘like a flower unfolding in the sun’ or some shit, but whitewater? “How so?”

“It’s ample, it’s powerful, it has irresistible momentum. It could carry someone along or it could drown them. When it hits an obstacle, sooner or later, the obstacle will disappear. It is powerful enough to move others and to shape the world around it. Honestly, it’s no surprise you’re planning to be a mother, you have so much creative force.”

Yuko stared and blinked and reddened. “Huh. I mean… I, uh, Yeah. I guess I’m a handful, or so I’m told.”

They’d stopped in the middle of the path. She reached up and brushed a tiny piece of leaf off of Raph’s sleeve, just for an excuse to touch them. Her fingers tingled from the contact. She pulled her hand back and looked up at them. 

“Prove it,” Raph challenged, a gleam in their eye. 

“What?” said Yuko, not following.

“Prove that you’re a handful, because I’d like to experience you being a handful. Or even two handfuls.”

Oh, so they did know how to flirt. So did she, though. She smiled winsomely. “I can’t tell if you’re being metaphorical again.”

“I’m not. I would love to get my hands on you.”

“Isn’t that what we’re deciding on as we walk, per our earlier conversation? Shouldn’t we start walking again, by the way?” 

Raph started moving with long strides, like they were in a bit of a hurry to get back. “It’s worth being clear once you know what you want. I know what I want. We’re waiting to see what you want, now.”

She broke into a light jog to keep up with them. Yeah, no, waiting was not really what they were doing. Yuko knew what she wanted. For today, at least. “So, I’m whitewater. What’s your energy like?”

“You’d have to tell me that, it’s subjective. I hope it’s calm, attuned to the natural world, open, that kind of thing. And to you, I hope it’s attractive.”

“I lack the ability to see energy, but I think you have the attraction thing down. You do seem to have all three of those other qualities. You’re everything I’m not. I really can’t believe we’ve been talking for this long, given how little we have in common,” she said, turning to jog backwards now so she could see their face as they responded. This way she didn’t have to worry about sneaky bears coming up from behind them, either. 

“I think we have a lot in common, and the most important thing we have in common is that we’re attracted to each other. Or, at least, I am very attracted to you both physically and metaphysically. I trust that attraction.”

“It’s mutual,” she sighed, not entirely thrilled about that fact. “There’s gotta be a catch. I guess it’s good to trust your instincts? Can we think about this for a little while, though? Just so we’re sure it’s not just that someone slipped some ayahuasca into the coffee in the break room at the lodge? Maybe, for like, I don’t know, two hours?”

“Only two? You can have as long as you need. I won’t change my mind.” 

That comment right there just about changed Yuko’s mind about the two hour waiting period. Raph was low key smooth as hell. Two hours wasn’t really all that much of a waiting period. Certainly not the one her parents’ Baptist preacher recommended. She’d waited longer than two hours for a cronut once.  Still, she thought a few more rounds of questions might not be a terrible idea. It would help her get the lay of the land before she got the Lay of the Year. Please let it be the Lay of the Year. 

They walked on companionably for a while, Raph pointing out a few things as they went, Yuko still looking for bears. Her next question came to her suddenly.

“On what percentage of these retreats do you hook up with someone, Raph? Roughly? Not judging, just curious.”

“Well, I’ve been doing workshops for about six years, and it’s happened twice, and both of the previous times were in the first two years I did it. I figured out pretty quickly that it was very disruptive for the other presenter’s practice and for my own. So I don’t do that anymore.”

“I was asking more about hookups with your students, I guess.”

“Those two times with other presenters were the only two times. I’ve never gotten together with a student or an acupuncture client. It’s not professional.”

“Well, what’s going on with me, then?” she questioned, her eyebrow arched.

“We don’t know yet, right? That’s what we’re trying to figure out? I don’t think I have to file you under ‘student’ since you act more like a hostage than a willing participant in this retreat.”

She laughed, but they’d brought up a point worth discussing. “So you know I don’t believe in any of this stuff, right? It’s not just the crystals? I don’t want you to think that I’m at all spiritual. That would be false advertising. I am a big, flaming skeptic.”

“Makes sense. Whitewater tests the durability of things by pushing against them or flowing over them. It also prefers the most direct path.” 

“Oh, crap. More metaphors. I’m a finance major, Raph. I specialize in filthy lucre, not poetry. You have to be literal with me. I think your point made sense to me, though? And I think it might be true of me? But still, since your whole livelihood is based on these metaphysical beliefs, I don’t want you to think I was pretending to care to impress you or something. I’m not someone who turns herself into whatever the other person wants her to be— far, far from it, actually Just ask my parents. I am probably not what you want me to be. I’m just telling you that up front, because I can’t be someone else, and I can’t really give a crap about how that makes you feel, and I won’t.” Why was she hitting them with a manifesto? Why did it matter if they were maybe going to hook up once or twice over the next couple of days and then never see each other again? This was a total Summer Camp romance. 

“That’s appealing. That you know who you are and that you refuse to change for me or anyone else. That’s really appealing, actually. How long have we been talking? Is it two hours yet? You said two hours, right?…” They checked their watch. “Thirty-two minutes? Damn. Why don’t you fill the next few minutes telling me how you know what I want you to be.”

Yuko opened her mouth like a little betta fish making a bubble nest and then closed it again. “People like to be with people who share their beliefs.”

“I like to be with people who share my values. You value honesty. So do I. You value directness. So do I. You value being true to yourself. So do I. I’m hoping you also find value in physical pleasure, because I certainly do. Should we compare a few more of our values? You see a turtle in the road, what do you do?”

“In Manhattan? I stare in amazement. If I saw one on a bike path in Central Park, I’d move it to the other side of the path in whatever direction it was going, and then I’d be really anxious to wash my hands as soon as possible, because who knows where that thing’s been.”

“So even though you think it’s yucky, you’d move the turtle. Okay. Your compassion supersedes your discomfort. That value aligns, too. Throw me one.” 

“I’m not sure it matters, really, if we’re never going to see each other again after this.”

“If you decide you like me, too, then we’re going to see each other again,” Raph said placidly. 

“How do you know?”

“Because I’m going to figure out your most direct path and stand in it.”

“Oh.” Now Yuko was nonplussed. She kind of liked that Raph’s plan revolved around them putting in the work to see her instead of expecting her to do everything. She’d run into that with one of the guys she’d briefly dated during her transition. He’d always acted like she was supposed to be grateful for scraps because he’d brought her on as a diversity hire or something. Fuck that. She was done with settling. Witness the dry spell she’d been in. “Are you?”

“I am. Unless you tell me not to. I’m going to try and make it so that you don’t want to tell me not to.”

“Oh.” Yuko was pretty sure they would succeed in that regard. What in the hell was going on with her? She was not a dreamer, she was not sentimental, she was not romantic, and she was definitely not impulsive. “Raph?”

“Mmm?”

“However long it’s been, it’s been long enough, I think. Close enough to two hours, I mean.”

“I agree.”

“My yurt or yours?”

“I’m not sharing mine with anyone else, so… mine, I think.”

“Wanna jog back?

“Race you.”

She was indeed faster than Raph was, and she’d have won the race if she’d known where their yurt was, but not knowing where the finish line proved to be an insurmountable obstacle to reaching it first. Laughing, she strayed from the unmarked course and they’d darted to the flap door and pulled it open for her before she could course-correct. She’d get them next time. They both ducked into the yurt laughing and panting and stood there with their hands braced on their knees catching their breaths for a moment, temporarily forgetting why they’d been in such a hurry to get there.

Raph straightened first. “Can I get you a glass of water?”

Yuko nodded her head. “Please.”  She took her shoes and socks off and parked them by the door…the flap… whatever.  Raph’s yurt was slightly larger than the one she was sharing with Nachelle. Must be a ‘staff yurt’. So elite. She was in with the cool crowd now. That reminded her… she shot off a quick text to Nachelle telling her where she was, both for the sake of courtesy and for safety, and then silenced her phone and slipped it into the thigh pocket of her leggings. Feeling a little warm after their run, she took her jacket off, draping it over a chair back and then found herself with nothing to do with her hands or any other part of her body. She stood awkwardly for a moment until Raph brought her a glass of water from a pitcher in the kitchen set-up that was in the… not corner… Segment? Arc? Wedge? What did you call a chunk of yurt? The kitchen area. The kitchen zone. 

She took a few big swallows of water and then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand grinning at them, eyes twinkling. “You beat me.”

“I did have the slight advantage of knowing where we were going.”

“True, but you’re also pretty fast.” She liked a touch of competitiveness and she liked good sportsmanship even more. Raph seemed to have both.

“I was motivated to get here in a hurry. You’re no slouch yourself. I don’t like my odds against you in a race where you know where the finish line is.” Raph guzzled their own glass of water. 

“Maybe I’ll let you win just so I can watch your ass while you run,” she proposed roguishly. 

Raph almost spat out their mouthful of water, but converted the impulse into a weird nasal cough-laugh. They mock-glared at her, green eyes watering, “I just got water up my nose! Yuko, you are not well-behaved.”

Yuko shrugged. “Would it shock you to know that you are not the first person to say so? Besides, did you lead me all the way back to your yurt just to point out the obvious?” She set down her glass and stepped right into Raph’s personal space, giving them a challenging look.