Page 26 of Trees Take the Long View

We sat on the bed next to each other and ate, careful not to drip. The stew was good, and it was gratifying to see him eat so much of it with obvious pleasure. I'd cooked carrots, potatoes, onions, peas, and a little beef in with a homemade gravy, and by hotel room cooking standards, it had turned out really well. The berries went nicely with it, but then they'd have gone nicely with anything.

"Mm. I feel very spoiled by that. Thank you. I didn't know a cut of skirt steak could make such a nice stew."

"So polite," I teased, and gave him a naughty wink. "Are you implying I'm good at handling meat?"

He laughed, and rewarded me with a quick kiss on the cheek. He was keeping things awfully close to platonic, but I could deal with that. I could be patient with the best of them. He needed to feel comfortable about anything that happened, and I might tease him and hug him a lot, but I wasn't actually going to push for more.

He reached up and squeezed my shoulder in a kind of hand massage that wasn't quite platonic, but not quite sexy, either. Still, it felt so damned good I could barely concentrate on what he was saying now.

"Hm?" I managed, and he laughed, flattered once again. Why was the guy so flattered by me? He was amazing and should know it.

"Do you want to watch another movie tonight, after I get my shower? I've got a little more work to do, so I'll be distracted again, I'm sorry to say."

"Mm. I'll probably just doze next to you, if that's all right. I got a lot of walking in and I'm ready for bed."

"Okay, well, don't let me keep you up if you need to get to sleep."

"Sure, sure." I waved him on, and then met his eyes for an intense moment of shared eye contact that I think caught us both by surprise. "I don't mind you working. I hope you know that."

He very much didn't know what to say; I could actually see him searching around for another topic. "Oh! The food. You keep buying it. I should contribute."

"You bought the tickets, rented the car, paid for gas." I stretched out beside him, resting my head on my folded arms. I liked watching him talk. He had such expressive eyes.

"You quit your job for me. You're following me around without any source of income. I can't let you spend all you have just to feed me." He dug out some money and handed it to me without quite being able to look me in the eye. And then he did, sudden and fierce. "And you should know, if this does go the way you want—I'll be supporting us both, for a long time. If you're travelling around with me, if we're in this together—how are you going to work at any sort of job? You'll have to get willing to accept me taking care of you."

He seemed to think that was a downside. I shrugged again, feeling relaxed. "You know you're pretty when you get intense?"

"Thanks." His voice was sarcastic, but his blush told the truth. "You just think about that, okay?"

"I'll think about it. I don't mind you taking care of me, as long as I can take care of you in some ways, too."

"Okay. Well." He smoothed the crumpled bedspread. He clearly had no idea how to respond to that, either. Did he think it was all one way, somehow?

"Look, don't worry about it. We'll figure everything out. You go ahead and do what you gotta do. I'm going to take a nap."

I got up and started taking my clothes off, and he looked at me, surprised.

"As a wolf," I clarified. "I haven't been able to shift in the woods these last two days. I don't know where it's safe to shift. So you'll have to put up with me doing it here." I gave him another wink as I unzipped my trousers. He didn't have to watch...but I hoped he would.

In the end, he couldn't turn his eyes from me until after I'd shifted, and licked him on the face, and regally accepted an ear-scratching from him. Even then, he seemed reluctant to go. But he finally went off to take a quick shower, and soon, he was back by my side, typing fast, then alternating between tablet and phone, running a bunch of things in his head all at the same time, utterly absorbed. I watched him for a bit, thinking how smart he was, how dedicated. And the way his hair curled just so around his ears when it was damp.

It would be different if I thought he was being bullied into working this hard, driving himself into the ground to avoid being fired, but I could almost feel his passion for his job, riding off him in waves. There was no doubt in me that he did this because he really cared. I could only hope I would be a help and not a hindrance to him in his life's work of troubleshooting and fixing things for shifters in need.

I fell asleep with my chin resting on his thigh. It was a light doze; I was still aware of our surroundings, almost feeling as if I was floating. Everything was okay: I was at peace with the world, safe here, and nothing at all was wrong.

Even though it was a very light sleep, I dreamed.

I was one of three birds, flying very high and silent over a darkened landscape made of farms, houses, and woods shading into town spaces and a familiar golf course. We were owls, I realized: nothing as quietly fierce as us three. Feather-silent killers, deceptively soft and big-eyed. We were on the way, on the move, on a mission—

I woke with a start as he was putting away his phone. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

I gave him a lick to show there were no hard feelings, and shifted back, then pulled on some shorts so he wouldn't feel uncomfortably distracted by me. I didn't bother with anything more. It was a warm night; how much did I need? "It's fine. How did it go?"

"Great. I think I've got everything I can do sorted out. Fingers crossed. The legal team is hard at work, they've got all the information now, and I feel confident the case is in good hands. An investigator is digging into the judge in case that proves helpful at any point. He'll be able to sift through rumors and find anything real and helpful. He's building a dossier on the judge as we speak. If the man has a habit of oppressing shifters, we need all we can discover. As well, I've managed to convince some owls to come here and support our wounded vet. He's always been a bit of a loner, and he'd never ask for it himself, but he needs some folks around for support. He can't fly anymore, you know, with his disabilities. That has to be tough."

"I'm glad owls are coming to help. Is it by any chance three of them?" I spoke before really thinking it through, and covered a yawn as I did so. I was still pleasantly relaxed and sleepy.

He looked at me sharply, rather amazed. "Yes. How did you guess? Did I say something and you heard it in your sleep?"