Chapter 15
A Meeting/ Yet ANOTHER Fight
Kit woke slowly to the sound of ocean waves pounding far below him and the skreee of the seagulls wheeling overhead. He yawned, stretched luxuriously, enjoying the cool ocean breeze, and relaxed. This vacation's doing me some good he thought. Love this place…oceans do that to me…
He sighed, stretched again, and slipped on a T-shirt and jeans. He leaned over and shook the slumbering Nita gently.
"Hey, Nita."
She groaned and rolled over, taking her pillow with her. She brought it down on top of her head, muttering something. Kit sighed.
"Alright. Nita, I'm going down t'Two Harbors. Okay? I'll be back in a few."
Nita grunted sleepily in acknowledgement. Kit smiled wryly and slipped out of the tent.
Fog covered the main part of the island as Kit walked downhill to the small town. Merely fog being a major understatement. Kit felt like he needed to blowtorch his way through the thick blanket of fog. He sighed, shivered in the cool air, and jogged down the dirt path leading back to the tiny town.
Kit, jolted awake by the freezing cold water he experienced in the shower stall, sat on the beach of Two Harbors, merely letting his mind drift off into nowhere. The wintry air swirled around him, carrying varied noises past his ears. Over the constant whoosh of the ocean surf crashing onto the rocky beach, he heard, very distantly, a bottlenose dolphin chattering angrily at a fishing boat. A seagull let out its cry of triumph as it dived toward the waves in a major hurry, eager for a quick meal of an unfortunate rock crab that vainly tried to scurry back under its rock. And speaking of meals…
Kit's stomach growled loudly. He sighed and watched his breath freeze into the visible spectrum before floating off. He shook his head in exasperation and started his trek back up to camp.
Kit trudged up the second to last hill when he heard the voice in his head.
Hey, you. What you doin' on mah land?
Kit looked up and around wildly and found himself facing a 2-ton American bison.
"Oh…crap…"
Kit backed away, his heart pounding wildly in his chest, speaking softly to the curious and slightly upset animal.
Oh…sorry…I didn't realize this was your land…'scuse me…
The bison snorted.
Fine. A wizard. Well, go on. You're pardoned.
Kit, still a bit wary, kept his eyes on the bison as he slowly backed up the path. When he was sure it was not going to attack him, he turned and slipped on a rock. The bison sneezed and laughed behind him.
Watch yer step, laddie…
Kit sprang to his feet and sprinted up the path. He didn't stop until he dashed into camp five minutes later. Nita poked her head out of the tent, looking a bit tired.
"There you are. I've been looking for you…"
Kit sat down, breathing hard. Nita raised an eyebrow at him.
"Kit? You okay?"
"Nita? Do me a huge favor."
"What?"
"Don't ever make me talk to a bison."
Nita stared, then shook her head.
"I'm not going to ask."
Three hours later
Nita came out of the showers feeling a lot more conscious than she had been. Kit looked at his watch impatiently from his position on the low branch fence.
"Come on, Nita. We don't have much time…"
She punched him lightly.
"Shuttup. Let's go, if you're so concerned about it."
He poked her in the back of the neck.
"Alright, Are we just gonna sit here doing nothing, or are we gonna go?"
"Fine! Let's go."
"Alright…"
"Kit!"
"Going…"
The fog was gone. Completely gone. Which was not necessarily a good thing. The hot sun beat down on the two small figures walking along a wide, red dirt road, raising the temperature to a very humid, oh, 82 degrees. Kit felt like he was being tortured. Stuffing his sweater in his backpack as he walked, he moaned,
"Remind me to never, ever think the weather out here is going to stay like this."
Nita laughed wearily.
"I thought you knew that already. Kit, we're out in the middle of the ocean. Whaddya expect?"
"Something cooler, more constant."
"Well, guess what. You aren't gonna get that here."
Kit rolled his eyes.
"I kinda figured."
"Well then why'd you just say that?"
"Huh?"
"What?"
"What?"
"Wait…"
"Huh?"
"Um…"
"What?"
"Uh…"
"Huh."
"What?"
"Huh?"
"Kit…"
Kit sighed and kept walking.
Half an hour later
"You're lost, aren't you?" Nita inquired
"No I'm not…"
"See, that's the problem with guys. You don't stop and ask for directions. I can't figure that out…"
"Shuttup, Nita."
"What?"
"Uh…"
Kit thought fast, failed.
"Huh?"
"What was that?"
"What?"
"You know what…"
"Huh?"
"Kit, don't try that on me…"
"What?"
Nita rolled her eyes, exasperated.
"Look, why don't we just retrace our route and go back to camp. Sound good?"
Kit sighed.
"Uh…"
"Fine. Let's go."
Nita seized Kit firmly by the hand and hauled him off.
One hour later
"Doubt my tracking skills now?" Nita challenged a sulking Kit.
He frowned up at her.
"Luck…" he muttered. "Nothing but luck…"
Nita cuffed him on the back of the head.
"Oh, stop whining. Where to next? I'm getting sick of letting you drive…"
"Somewhere calm…but a bit warm…quiet…I need to relax…"
"Uhh…there's a hot-water vent on the floor of the Pacific that's currently open…"
"Ni-ta…"
"Fine, fine…Los Gatos?"
"The Cats?"
"Yeah. Nice, peaceful little community in Northern California."
"Hmmm…maybe…"
"Fine. Let's go. Contact Carl, I'll pack up."
Kit sighed and turned away, massaging his temples as he attempted to find Carl.
Nita watched him for a while, then groaned and kicked the support poles for the tent from under it in a sudden fit of exasperation. She folded the tent, tossed it into her claudication, and started gathering everything from the campsite. She took off her visitor's pass and placed it on the camp number post, and took Kit's off, purposely smacking his ear in the process. She looped it around the post and turned back to Kit. He blinked once, nodded, and broke the connection.
"Alright. We're good to go," he sighed.
Nita rolled her eyes and jumped as the Volvo popped out of nowhere. She stared at it like an idiot for a moment, then grabbed her keys, unlocked it, and slid inside. Kit tossed a transit circle on the ground, programmed their destination into it, and slid in beside Nita. With a sudden spray of dirt, the Volvo lunged forward and, with another whipcrack, vanished.
The silver S70 rolled down Interstate 5, Kit on his cell phone, trying to make it clear to the desk clerk that they were 'not making prank calls, ma'am. We'd like to stay at your hotel for three days…no, ma'am, three days. Yes. Uh-huh. No, ma'am. Yes. Okay. We'll pay when we get there. Alright. Okay. Thank you. G'bye."
Kit turned the phone off and shoved it in his backpack. Nita irritably inquired, "Why three? You didn't even ask if three would be alright…"
Kit gave her a look that she knew all too well: a furrowed brow and a twisted frown on his face. He was exasperated and more than a bit irritated.
"What is up with you?"
Nita blew him off and kept driving.
"Nita…"
"What?"
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing!"
"Hey, I told you, why won't you tell me?"
"Look, Kit…I…oh, what the heck…I was talking to Ronan last night. Via mindspeak, you idiot," she groaned at the look on Kit's face.
"…and he was mad at me for some reason. He was being really stupid. Saying stuff like 'Kit's not gonna give you anything… why not dump him?"
Kit frowned.
"Ronan?"
"Yeah. I don't know what was up with him. So anyway, we got in this huge fight, he got really mad, and he just cut me off. I got so worked up at him…"
"Oh."
"Yeah. So there."
Kit was quiet, staring blankly at the speedometer needle, which was currently reading at 5 miles above the limit. He sighed, started to say something, then thought better of it and shut up. Nita almost bashed herself on the head with the steering wheel, then realized where she was and steered the car back in between the lines. In a voice twisted with stress, anger, and fatigue, she managed to choke out, "We…broke up last night. If you heard me swearing a lot last night…that's what it was about."
Kit shook his head slightly and sighed.
"Nita…I wish I could help you a bit with this…but I just…can't. Unless you want one of my all-time favorite proverbs."
"Huh?"
"They say that there are few problems in life…that cannot be solved with major explosives."
Nita choked on her own laughter.
After a few minutes or regaining self-control, she snickered, "Are you implying that I ought to blow Ronan up?"
"Nooooo…I'm implying that this is one of the few problems that can't be solved with major explosives. A few choice swearwords, maybe…"
Nita cracked up again. Kit gave her a mock frown.
"What is it with you? So easy to crack up…"
Nita shook her head and forced herself to stop laughing.
"Kit, I'm gonna lose control of the car. Shut up before I push you out."
Kit rolled his eyes but kept quiet.
After a short transport spell and a brief argument on which lane to take, the silver S70 was parked in the Pruneyard Inn's parking lot, and Nita propelled Kit into the double doors of the small hotel energetically.
"C'mon, Kit…"
She let go of his arm and pushed him up to the check in desk.
"Hi…"
"Name?"
"Uh…Christopher Rodriguez…"
"Christopher…here you are. ID?"
Kit handed the clerk his New York driver's license. She scrutinized it carefully, then, satisfied, took his MasterCard and swiped it.
"Nonsmoking upgraded…twin beds…ah, Room 214. Here're the keys. Third floor. Have a good stay."
"Thank you."
Kit grabbed his duffel bag and, with a groan, hoisted Nita's onto his back as well. He staggered toward the elevators, muttering, "You know, Nita, you don't have to empty your whole bedroom into the bag…ow!"
Nita smacked him on the back of the head.
"Keep going, slave," she grinned.
Kit carefully pushed her into the elevator door.
"Oops. Sorry."
She rubbed her shoulder, then sighed and leaned against the wall, waiting for the elevator to come down.
Two days later
A/N: Whoa! Yeah, I know that's a really abrupt transition, but it all plays out. I guess..
Nita sat on her bed after some early morning shopping: namely, 3 to 5 in the morning. A lot of shops were open, surprisingly.
"You know, Kit, it probably would've been faster if we'd walked."
Kit flung Nita's beach towel at her. It hit her in the face and wrapped itself around her head.
As she divested herself of the towel, he retorted, "Yeah, well, you wouldn't have had to carry eight tons of clothes and other stuff up to a room."
He almost dodged the eraser Nita bounced off his forehead. Note the almost. It bounced off his head and almost hit the window.
"Lazy," she muttered.
"Hey, were you carrying up the bags? Noooo. So don't complain."
"Well, did you ever stop to think that it might have been nice to let me carry my own bags? You don't have to be my bellhop, you know."
While Kit struggled to find an answer for that, Nita calmly took out a book and began to leaf through it. In a strangled voice, Kit inquired, "Hey, is it all right to be nice once in a while, or is that against your law, your Royal Highness?"
Nita's temper flared again.
"Kit, will you just shuttup?"
"Well hey, you started this."
"Well, if you hadn't spent eight days waiting for the elevator, I wouldn't have had anything to say."
"Oh, so it's my fault now, huh?"
"Was it ever mine?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, when?"
"When you never asked to carry your own bags."
"Well, I thought you would catch on."
"Oh yeah?" Kit demanded hotly. "Well, I didn't."
"Well, there's a lesson to be learned in that."
"Oh, shut up, Nita. You sound like my mom…"
Oops.
Nita's face grew tight with fury and pain.
"Well now," she said in an equally tight voice, "I don't have a mom anymore. Thi…think about that, Kit."
Kit slammed his fist down onto the bed.
"Look, Nita," he shouted. "I'm just trying to help! Don't start this…"
Nita angrily stood up.
In a high-pitched voice, she screamed back into his face, "No, you look, Kit. I am going through a very rough time in my life right now, if it hasn't slipped your damn mind! You don't seem to understand that! How much intelligence does it take to understand what I am going through?"
Tears were openly pouring down Nita's face now. In a frustrated motion, she reached out and slapped Kit across the face.
*******************
(The asterisks characterize a rather lengthy war of the words between Kit and Nita, which includes quite a bit of very choice language. In short, Nita went through the roof, Kit likewise, and the dispute ended with Kit leaving the building. This is where we pick up the story again.)
Kit stalked down the sidewalk of the tree-lined residential area, eyes narrowed in anger, fists clenched inside his pockets as he kicked a rock out in front of him. Stupid, stupid, stupid. The words echoed inside of his head with every step he took.
Stupid…stupid…stupid…
He tripped on a tree root, stumbled, but managed to keep his balance. He stomped on, furious. In a fit of randomness, he whipped his transport spell out, altered a few coordinates to random numbers, and stepped on it with a short, barked syllable. He vanished with no more than a slight breeze to ruffle the tree leaves.