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I couldn’t say how long we trudged along, both of us lost in our own thoughts, but it was when the forest changed from a verdant green to a deeper emerald of pines and spruce trees that Kai broke the quiet.
“Fuck it,” he said before leaning toward me. The next thing I knew, he was placing the tiniest little kiss right against my cheek. “I don’t want us to be upset anymore right now.”
“I don’t want that either,” I said with a sigh. “But that doesn’t mean I can make the emotions go away.”
“I know. I just…I don’t know. I thought it was important to say that out loud.”
“Thank you. It does make me feel better, I think.”
“Good. I still am hurt, both that you cursed me, and you refuse to tell why, but I’m going to give you time, rather than just stew and be miserable.”
“I…” I took a deep breath. He really was extending me a lot of grace, but things would be so much easier if he could just be an asshole for once. “I appreciate that.”
“Good.”
We were quiet again as we trudged along, one foot in front of the other, but after another short while, Kai reached over to hold my hand.
There was something so wonderfully chaste and innocent to it. I knew that I shouldn’t take it, that I should start the painful process of separation one cut at a time, but I just couldn’t bring myself to.
So, I took it, letting our fingers intertwine together, and despite everything else in my life, I felt at peace.
“Is that what I think it is?” I asked as we crested a hill. We’d been walking for hours, only pausing to relieve ourselves and occasionally carve the Fort Canid symbols into trees, and I felt like my feet were going to fall right off.
“I’m pretty sure that’s Dewsbury,” Kai said with a nod, looking as happy as I was about the small town sitting below us, tucked between the thinning edge of the forest and a lush meadow. “I think it’s a human town.”
“They’re probably not gonna be thrilled about cryptids there, are they?”
“Probably not.”
Well, I just couldn’t bring myself to find the fuck I’d lost somewhere between Fort Canid and their town. “Huh. Sucks to suck, I guess.”
Kai let out a soft chuckle at my words as we both headed down the hill. I was so attuned to things going as badly as possible that I almost expected the ground to open up below, or a pack of shifters to fall from the sky and battle us.
“That look like a tavern to you?” Kai said, pointing to a lit sign farther away from the entrance of the town.
“It sure does,” I said, grinning. Although I’d eaten plenty that morning, that'd been ages ago after hours walking, so I wasstarving.The idea of a home cooked meal was mighty appealing, so I was eager to get anywhere we could sit and stuff our faces silly.
When we entered, it felt an awful lot like all eyes were on us. I half-expected someone to come up and tell us we weren’t welcome, but either the dirt and debris on us, or the dried blood spattering our clothing, kept them away. I didn’t let it bother me, however, and just plopped right down in the closest seat.
Getting off my feet felt so good I may have groaned. It was hard to tell since most people looked quite displeased to even see me. I’d made sure to choose the only table that was both emptyand had empty seats all around it except for one side, but one would have thought that I decided to park my ass right in the middle of the floor.
Oh well, there were worse things. Kai went to the bar to order food and drink, while I sat, vowing to myself that I wouldn’t move until my stomach was so full that I'd have to set a due date for my food baby.
Kai returned, and I thought he’d want to chit chat while we waited, but he seemed quite drained. Not that I blamed him for that. We’d had quite an intense day, both emotionally and physically
Once our food arrived, we devoured it like, well, animals. At that point I didn’t really blame people for staring, because it was alotof food.
It was while we were in the middle of eating that a little girl came over to us, blinking the world’s biggest green eyes at me.
“Um… can I help you?” I asked after a pause. I didn’t dislike children by any means, but I didn’t really know what to do around them unless they had a booboo. I’d never really gotten a chance to play with anyone my own age.
“Sorry, she’s ours,” a voice said from behind us. A moment later, a pleasant looking couple approached the table. At first I was all smiles, but after a beat, I could tell they were nervous.
I reached for my magic as subtly as I could, preparing for a surprise attack or assassination attempt. They had no reason to be this nervous unless they were planning something.
“We don’t mean to bother you, but you don’t happen to know someone called ‘The Hermit Healer’, do you?”
Oh, or maybe they were just sending a message from a psychic who thought she was justhilarious.
