Page 34 of Mushy Stuff (Guardian Mates #1)

We make good time walking back home. The edge of my territory isn’t very far from the market grounds, so it doesn’t take us very long to reach it. As we near my territory, Lydia points to a tree ahead of us.

“That’s where your territory begins, right? I remember that tree,” she says. I notice Pampa perk up and look at it.

I nod. I can feel the borders of my territory, so I don’t need landmarks to note where it is, but I’m glad that she noticed this one.

We continue walking and cross into my territory. I feel it the moment I am on my land. I can’t describe it, but it just feels like I’m home. I let the land’s magic run through me, and I don’t feel that there is anything wrong in my territory. I sense no intruders .

I notice that Pampa has a curious look on her face. She’s clinging to her doll, and I can tell she is thinking deeply about something. I ask, “Pampa, is something wrong?”

She gives me a surprised look and says, “No, I just…it feels strange. It feels like home.”

I smile at her because I understand exactly what she means.

Nanni says, “It is because you two are siblings. This is your territory too, Pampa. Wold is the oldest, so he is bound to it, but you will still feel the lands magic because it also belongs to you.”

Pampa smiles, hugs her doll tightly, and whispers to herself. “It’s mine too.”

***

As we make our way back toward the mushroom cave, Lydia tells Pampa about all the things I’ve shown her here.

About the little burrow I slept in underneath the tree, and all the bioluminescent mushrooms that I took there so I wouldn’t be afraid of the dark.

About the mushroom cave itself. About the cliff, and even about how I plant some of the mushrooms from my cave around my territory.

The way that she describes everything, I can tell how much she really loves it here.

I’ve never imagined that I could find someone that loved my little slice of this world as much as I do. I want to make this a home for her.

I am lost in thought, planning the things I would need to make this a home for Lydia as I walk, so I do not notice the passing of time. Before I know it, I can see the entrance to the cave up ahead. I point it out to Pampa, and she lets out a little squeal and dashes up ahead.

When we reach the cave, she is peaking around the entrance trying to get a look inside. Lydia laughs. “Follow me, Pampa, I will show you around.”

I set down the tools I purchased, and look around at the outside of the cave where Lydia and I built a fire and ate the rabbits I caught. She has been here for such a short amount of time, and already she is making a huge mark on this place.

Nanni comes up beside me. “It is nice to be back here. I missed this place. I wanted to stay with you so badly, but your mother would never allow it. I dreamed about being here, though.” She sighs and looks around. “We will have much to teach Pampa.”

I say, “Yes, I guess her first lesson will come today when we hunt rabbits.”

Nanni smiles. “I remember how excited you were when you got your first rabbit. ”

From outside, we can hear Lydia and Pampa excitedly chattering.

We go in just in time to hear a splash as Pampa jumps into the pool of water. Lydia is watching her and laughing. I notice that Lydia is holding Pampa’s doll for her. When we walk up, she says, “Sorry, Wold, I hope you don’t mind…I told her that she could go swimming.”

Nanni says, “I think a swim sounds lovely.” Then she takes off both of the fabric pieces that she has wrapped around herself and wades out into the water too. Pampa happily splashes Nanni as soon as she gets the chance.

Lydia is standing at the edge of the water and laughing at them. I walk over to her and stroke her hair. “Are you going to swim?”

She says, “I don’t have anything to wear in the water.”

I’m confused, so I say, “You are not shy about being naked.”

She smirks. “Not around you…that’s different. Where I’m from, humans don’t really get naked around each other to bathe. We do it in private, or we have clothes for swimming that we wear.”

“But you took all of your clothes off to swim the day you met me.”

She sighs. “That was different. I thought you wouldn’t be back for a long time, so I thought I had time. Also…I th ought you were hot, so I didn’t mind if you came back and caught me naked.”

I’m confused again. “What does ‘hot’ mean?”

She giggles. “Attractive. I liked you. I was attracted to you. That’s what that means.”

I smile and hug her to me, wrapping my tail around her leg.

She lays her head against my chest and hugs me back.

We stay embraced like this for several minutes, just enjoying holding each other again.

Then I hear Nanni say, “Pampa, I think Lydia and Wold need some time to themselves, we can see them again tomorrow. Let’s see if we can find the tree with the burrow under it that Wold was using as a place to sleep.

It will be good scenting practice for you, and I think that would be a good place for you and me to sleep tonight.

After we find it, I can teach you how to hunt for rabbits. ”

Pampa giggles when Nanni says that Lydia and I need time alone, but she perks up at Nanni’s mention of hunting rabbits. “You will teach me to hunt? Really?!” Then she darts out of the water and bounces around doing her best to shake the water off, flinging water on us in the process.

As Lydia hands Pampa her doll back, she laughs and says, “I think we need to get some towels. ”

Nanni comes walking out of the water and uses the fabric she was wearing to dry off as much as she can. She then lays it out to dry. She stands back up and turns to Pampa. “Okay, we can go.”

Pampa gives her a wide-eyed surprised look, then says, “Nanni, you aren’t going to wear anything?”

Nanni laughs and says, “I only wore those because I spent so much time around the Elven. Guardians do not worry about such things.”

Pampa gives her a huge grin. “We don’t have to act proper here?”

Nanni smiles back. “Of course not. We can be ourselves here.”

Nanni follows as Pampa scurries out of the cave.