Caleb gave her a curious glance, opening his mouth before closing it again. Kira wondered what he’d been going to say – she’d have to quiz him about it later. Right now, she thought she’d better just stay focused on what she wanted to say, before she lost her nerve.
“I mean… it’s been really special getting to know you over the past few days. And I’d – I’d really like the chance to keep getting to know you. I know you have your life back in the city, but – but I really think there’s something – um, something between us –”
Kira trailed off, blushing. I sound like something out of a corny movie! But she couldn’t help it – Caleb just made her feel like she was in a corny movie.
When she chanced a glance up at him, however, Caleb didn’t seem to be put off by her cheesy speech. If anything, his eyes had lit up, and he was looking at her with a kind of undisguised joy that made her heartbeat speed up.
“Then – you feel it too?” he asked, voice soft and hopeful. “You think we have a connection?”
“Um. I do, yeah,” Kira said, nodding. “I can’t really explain it. But…”
Stopping on the path next to her, Caleb caught her hand in his.
“I might be able to explain it though, Kira,” he said, looking deeply into her eyes. “There’s more to being a dragon than just breathing fire and having a hoard. It comes with… with other things too.”
Kira blinked, gazing up at him. Part of her wanted to make a saucy joke about these other things, but most of her thought she probably wouldn’t be able to pull it off without wanting to die of embarrassment.
“Um. What do you mean?”
“It’s a little complicated,” Caleb told her. “But I hope it’ll also be good.”
“Well… if it’s so complicated, how about we set up camp for the day, and you can tell me all about it after we cook dinner?” Kira suggested. “It’s afternoon, and night comes on pretty early at this time of year – and believe me, you don’t want to be trying to set up a tent in the dark.”
“Yeah – I in particular don’t want that,” Caleb laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever set up a tent before, period.”
“Never?” Kira laughed. “You never went camping?”
“Hey, I’m a city dragon,” Caleb said, holding up his hands. “And need I remind you, under a bad luck curse. You think a tent won’t find a way to blow away in the wind the minute I try to stake it to the ground? Or collapse in on me no matter how well I put it together? You’re underestimating the determination of a bad luck curse here, I think.”
Kira had to laugh. “Well, that’s not going to happen to us, is it?”
“It might,” Caleb said, suddenly sounding a little more somber. “The curse can be pretty inconsistent at times. I’ve gone weeks at a time without anything happening to me, then – bam! It’s back, and I’m getting drenched by an exploding garden hose, or a seagull is stealing my lunch sixty miles inland.” He shook his head. “That’s why what I’ve got to tell you is… a little bit complicated. I don’t want you to feel like you have any obligations to me, in case this mushroom thing turns out not to work.”
Kira frowned as she unfolded the tent from her pack. It was sturdy but compact, and folded down to a carriable size. She wanted to ask more questions, but she figured Caleb would explain himself in his own time. She had to admit, however, she was curious.
The tent, thankfully, went up in record time – Caleb’s curse must have tired itself out collapsing the stairs or something, and had decided to leave him alone for the time being. On inspecting it, however, one thing Kira realized she hadn’t taken into account was just how, uh, snug the tent would be with two grown adults inside it – especially one as tall as Caleb.
Well,she thought, not quite able to swallow her smile, that doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing.
She shouldn’t get ahead of herself, however. First, she needed to know what exactly it was Caleb wanted to tell her.
“I brought some canned soup with me,” Kira said as she crawled out of the tent. “Nothing fancy, but it’ll keep us going. But perhaps it would be better for me to be in charge of the fire and the cooking – no offense.”
“None taken,” Caleb told her with a smile.
It didn’t take long for Kira to have a little cooking fire going, and for the soup to be boiling merrily away on it. This was the kind of thing she’d done all the time as a kid, and it had been a little while since she’d had the chance. She patrolled the parklands and made sure other campers and hikers weren’t getting into trouble, but she rarely had the chance to camp or hike for her own relaxation anymore. She loved her job, but it was something she missed.
“Here you go,” she said, as she ladled some soup into a bowl for Caleb. “I can make you up some toast if you like as well – I brought some bread and a toasting fork.”
“This is fine for now,” Caleb said, blowing on the soup. “And it smells way better than canned soup has any right to smell.”
It wasn’t bad, Kira had to admit herself as she took a slurp. Or maybe she was just that hungry – they’d been hiking for a few hours, after all.
As they scraped out their bowls, she turned to Caleb. As much as she didn’t want to rush him, she really needed some answers.
“So – what was that complicated thing you wanted to tell me?”
Caleb set his bowl aside, licking his lips. “All right – I’ll tell you. But it might sound a little strange at first.”