Callum woke to a rhythmic tapping sound.
"What are you doing?, he asked into the hide-out's stifling darkness.
"Workin' out", Rayla huffed, "I can't let myself rot in here."
"Yeah that's not why I'm asking. Does it have to be at night?"
"Early mornin', actually. I thought about it and I think we should get out of here soon. Getting low on food and water. Plus, we're only two - well, three days in and that spot around the bend in the back is really startin' to stink."
"No kidding!", he replied dryly. "How does the smell explain your midnight madness?"
"We should travel at night! I'm trying to get used to a new sleep schedule.", she panted, slumping next to him, a waft of warm sweat hitting him in the nose.
He retched.
"No offense - but you need a bath!"
She shook her head and laughed, tepidly, "No kiddin'! So do you. You smell...", she tapped her finger against her lip, "...a bit musty. But, good news, it's almost a full moon now, I can feel it. Moon elf prime time!", she sing-songed, throwing up jazz hands.
"Well it's not really my prime time. How is your side feeling?"
"Feels like someone's poked a fishin' hook through and is pulling at it. It's a bit swollen but, eh. So, er, bearable? Honestly I'm about to lose my two remainin' marbles bein' stuck in here."
"Why, how could you not enjoy eating, sleeping and doing literally everything else in the same room with me?", he asked, sarcastically.
"Oh that part I've no problems with - if that room wasn't the bathroom, too", she gave a pained smirk and limply fanned her face.
"This was also my point."
"It's not all bad, I like talking, and playing games", she looked down at what remained of countless tic-tac-toe grids. "I also like posin' for you."
"Ah, the light was so bad all the time, I can't really say if I did a good job on all that pattern work you have on your armor or on your...", he smirked, pointing above his head where his horns would be.
"Horns?", she said with a chuckle, "Did you know we also call them 'Smooch-handles'?"
He seemed a bit uncomfortable. "Rayla, I thought we agreed…"
She cut him off by punching his shoulder, maybe a little harder than necessary.
The rising sun poked a first ray through the entrance.
"We did, we did! Don't get your knickers in a bunch, I was just talkin'. Good old goofy Rayla, talkin' about all the stuff in her head."
He grimaced. "Yeah, but, I guess the context is a bit different now."
She groaned. "Context, shmontext! I thought you got it when you gave me that whole spiel about `cliffs of friendship` or whatever. The reason I didn't wanna tell you how I was feelin' is because now it's makin' things awkward. That's decidedly free-fallin'!"
"Sure - yes - this is true", he enumerated, "but I'm not doing it to hurt you or anything. I just don't want to lead you on while I get my head on straight."
"And I appreciate that. I'm still gonna make an fool of myself from time to time."
He looked at her bright-eyed grin and felt better.
"How do you stay so positive?"
Her smug grin changed into a warm smile.
"Well, you've seen the alternative is bein' atrocious to people who mean a lot to me - as friends", she added hastily.
"Smooth", he intoned.
She shrugged.
"How are you so grumpy all the time? How come my excellent mood hasn't rubbed off on you, Mr. No-broken-bones?"
"So glad to have graduated from `stove-boy`."
He sat up a little straighter and looked up to the tiny strip of paling sky, twinkling in through the ceiling.
"Just a lot on my mind. Sitting here hasn't improved that."
"You're worried about Ezran?"
Zym looked up from his bored curl.
"Not really. I mean, yes, I'm worried about him but not worried that he's dead or something." He exhaled audibly. "I'm worried about what his advisers are telling him. What kind of king he's going to shape up to be while I'm not there."
Zym rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"He's a smart boy, Callum. You're giving yourself a bit too much credit.", she replied warmly.
The dragon whelp nodded and barked his assent.
"I'm sure he misses you and he'd be happier if you were there to help him out, but frankly...", she placed a hand on his shoulder, "Unlike you, he was good at all the princely things. He'll be fine."
"Golden words of comfort, Rayla, thank you", he limply patted her hand.
"If you've come looking for wisdom, I shall do my best to fake it", she quoted.
Azmondias snickered.
"What's up with you havin' a comment for everythin' this morn'?"
The whelp got up, stepped into the lazy ray of the morning sun and began to drag a single claw across the ground.
"No way", Callum said, scrambling to his feet.
A crude series of pictures showed Ezran wearing the Crown of Towers. In the background loomed the adviser Opeli. Next was a sick looking face that could be Viren's behind bars. Last, there was Soren in bandages with Claudia bent over his bed.
The whelp yawned.
"He's telling us about what Ez is doing!", Callum was aghast, running his hands over the drawings, "I wonder if we can send a message back!", he picked up the dragon in amazement. "Did you tell him what we were up to?"
Zym made a proud sound as Callum put him down, then curled back up.
"Well that's all good news as far as I'm concerned", Rayla said, surveying the pictures of Viren's kin.
Callum looked at her with controlled annoyance.
"We don't even know what really happened to them. Soren could be dead and Viren a hostage. All you have to go on is a bunch of dirt drawings."
"No, I have so much to go on that it boggles my mind to hear you still defend them! They tried to murder me. Three times! They tried to kidnap you, or worse! Twice! I'm sorta decided on the content of their character."
Her expression slackened and she crossed her arms.
"What's our plan for tonight?", he asked abruptly.
She rolled her eyes.
"Well, I was about done runnin' in place, so I vote for goin' to sleep for a few more hours. Do you mind proppin' me up again?"
"I can do that."
He sat down, trying to get comfortable against the rock. She sat between his legs and put the back of her head on his chest. They both closed their eyes.
Some time passed.
"What is it?", Rayla asked.
"What do you mean?"
"If I wanted to sleep on something hard I wouldn't be lyin' on you! Why are you so tense? You're leanin' here like a hot, grumpy, smelly plank!", she complained.
He laughed nervously, not sure whether she was joking or actually offended by the composition of his body.
"And I mean `hot` as in `temperature`, just to be completely clear", she groaned.
"Ah, I mean, we just argued, for one", he shifted uncomfortably, "but I'm excited that we still have a life line to Ez in some way. I'm looking forward to getting back on the road, but also worried about what's gonna greet us out there."
"Fresh air", she grumbled, "Tonight I'll go out ahead of you once the moon is up, have a look around. Maybe kick some heads. If there's no heads to kick we can go wash up in the river and then get goin'"
He still seemed uncomfortable.
"What is it?", she asked gruffly.
"I don't know if I feel okay with bathing… with you."
"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE...", she yelled, then paused, shocked at her own reaction, listening for any sounds from the outside. She grimaced and ran her hands over her face. When there was no movement, she continued in a frustrated whisper, "You have got to be kidding! `With me`? I'll be upstream, you'll be downstream! Plus, Callum? It's a full moon. I'll be utterly, completely, ab-so-lu-te-ly invisible, so there's no risk of my horrible outline upsettin' your sensibilities! You can't even see in the dark!"
"Rayla, this isn't about… Ugh! I think you're beautiful! I just don't want things to get more awkward. You sound hurt now, though, and I'm sorry about that", he said gently.
"Ah, good of you to pick up on that. I can't live with us smelling like a bunch of dumpsters, so I need to tell you that we're making plans to get a bath in! I told you, I can't tip-toe around everythin'! It puts me on edge! What happened, happened. First, I wasn't okay with it and you were not okay with it. Then, we were both sorta okay with it, then you weren't okay with it again and I was okay with you not bein' okay with it again - can we just drop it?"
"I didn't quite follow that but I think I get the idea. I'm sorry."
She sighed and adjusted her position, going from having her arms laid across his thighs to crossing them in front of her chest.
More silence followed.
"Good night", he said eventually. She just nodded quietly, which he could feel.
Some time later, Rayla could feel him breathing regularly, but she was no closer to sleeping. Not only did her rib pulse from the workout, she was also trying to deal with this new-found source of frustration.
Was he interested in her - or not? He said he thought she was beautiful, but did that mean more beautiful than, say, Claudia? Did appearances mean anything at all to humans?
She puffed up her cheeks, spread out her arms as though she was carrying two massive melons and thought,
"Claudia, oh, Claudia! It's always Claudia! With her bloody microscopic waist, stupid giant hips and massive... Bah."
Her expression changed to an angry pout. Anger at herself for even drawing the comparison, but her mind was taking her for a ride.
She was a trained athlete and intended to not carry a single pound of body weight around that she didn't need for warmth. Amongst the Moonshadow, she'd been envied for her subtle outline. Some of the other female assassins had to bind their chests quite seriously to be comfortable jumping around the way she did.
Her skin was criss-crossed with temporary bruises and more than just a few permanent scars. She was always slightly sunburnt and couldn't - no, refused to! - compete with Claudia's beauty regime.
Pinching herself, she felt her skin barely give way and snap back into place like a taut bow string.
She spent a good minute massaging her muscles in defiant self-adoration.
"Got'cha beat there, you squishy porcelain piglet!"
Her arms dropped limply to her sides. How could he still have feelings for that monster? After she tried to kidnap him and Ez? After she'd helped bring down a dragon?
Sure, she was human.
Sure, she was intelligent and probably funny, "And pretty, argh!"
He had known Claudia the better part of his life. They shared a culture, an upbringing. He wasn't even entirely revolted by the kind of magic she did since he'd grown up with it.
"`We don't have that yet`", she remembered him say it and the disbelief at his stubbornness she'd felt then welled back up.
Rayla exhaled slowly. Having him so close physically made the emotional alienation she felt so much worse.
"Gotta give him time." she thought, finally, "And me, too. This is still dangerous, all of it. Can't get distracted."
After a moment, she reached over to squeeze his lower thigh.
"Got'cha beat, too, stove-boy", she thought affectionately.