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“Tell me what you want, Andie,” he said, holding my gaze.
I knew what answer he wanted me to give.That I only wanted him.And I opened my mouth to give it because, at that moment, it was true.But reason kicked in.He was giving me a choice because he knew this wasn’t the right time.We were in the middle of a questionably fenced-in zone.Dark was approaching.And he needed rest now since, once the sun set, he wouldn’t get any.
“You’re right,” I said.“I just scolded you for not thinking straight and then go and do the same thing.”And that wasn’t like me.Not at all.“I’m sorry.”
He exhaled heavily, closed his eyes, and rested his forehead against mine.
“No, Andie.I am sorry for stopping you.I like when you tease and test me.And I like it more when you embrace what you feel.”He lifted his head enough to kiss me gently.“Soon.”
He lifted himself off me and sat on the neighboring cot where Roni had tossed the MRE.Taking a moment to ground myself, I stared up at the ceiling before sitting up as well.He watched me as he tore open the MRE.
“What are you thinking when you look at me like that?”I asked.
“I wish we were somewhere else.That the world was different so we could focus on each other instead of this.”He glanced at the tent around us.
“And what would we be doing if the world was different?”I asked.
His gaze grew even more heated.“Andie, I only have so much restraint.”
“I didn’t mean that.I mean, what do you see our lives looking like?I’m assuming you working a nine-to-five isn’t what you’re seeing.”
“Explain.”
“Before the quakes, people had jobs.They would work for eight to twelve hours a day, three to five days a week.Commute for about an hour a day.Go home, spend a little bit of time with their families if they had them, then go to sleep and start it all again.It was a routine that people were comfortable with.
“Now, everything’s different.The jobs are minimal, and the pay is simply something to do to contribute to the safety and food everyone needs.But what happens if we actually find the solution and somehow not only end the plague but kill every last undead and hound?What are you and your brothers going to do as the humans try to pick up the pieces of the world they know?Where are couples like us going to fit in?”
“In the communities we make,” he said.
“Okay, but what are we going to be doing there?The fey and the humans?”
He nodded thoughtfully as he chewed.
“In the caves, we grew our food, hunted, and made things to make our tasks and lives easier.We had many jobs to fill our time.Do you think it will be any different for us here?”
I considered his question while he continued to eat.Would it be different?They’d obviously led simpler lives in those caves, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t live the same way when this was over.
“What was the community you made with the humans like when you left?”I asked.
“We would look for supplies like we are doing now.Only there would be more of my brothers and fewer humans willing to risk their lives.And we wouldn’t stay out after the sun set.We always returned to the safety of our homes.”
“What did the humans who stayed behind do while you were out getting supplies?”I asked.
He frowned slightly.“They visited each other.”
“So, no tasks?No jobs?”
He grunted.
“It’s a little ironic, really.Most humans grudgingly work and dream of a day when they don’t need to work.But the reality is that most of us lose our sense of purpose and self when we stop working.Typically, that happens when we’re older and retire, though.What was everyone’s mood like?”
“Either fearful or angry,” he said, sounding tired.
I reached across the space and set my hand on his forearm.
“That’s nothing that can’t be changed.We just need a better vision of what we want the future to look like.”
His gaze held mine as he nodded.
