In the Wake of Giants

After Janine’s question, Raban smiled at her before getting to his feet. She pouted a little as he approached her, wondering what was so amusing. Her eyes watched the older man as he walked behind her, and when he stopped to put his hands on her shoulders, she was going to ask what he was doing. But her answer came right away, and while she didn’t expect the massage, she didn’t dislike it. Janine never had this sort of thing happen to her before, so she enjoyed it rather immensely. As much as Janine wanted to melt into Raban’s massage, his words penetrated her ears, so she had to listen to what he said.

Him saying that predators didn’t really relax while hunting did ring true, unfortunately. But even so, she took a side glance at Raban and stuck her tongue out at him a little when he mentioned his wolfish tendencies.

“Okay, you’re a wolf, but I’m a snake…. Or at least a part of me is….” Janine said as her voice trailed off a bit. She shook her head to refocus on the conversation. “B-but I can be patient. I’m just more used to seeing my prey, you know? You look for prey, you eventually find it. Then when you find it, you chase the prey. And you see the prey the entire chase. I’m not used to not being able to see what I’m hunting until the very end,” Janine said with a sigh.

Raban continued his advice, and Janine tried to think about calming methods while he kept up his massage. So… All she had to do was to calm down and be more patient than she currently was, and she’d be able to wait out her fish. How did she make herself relax? Lately, all she seemed to be was high-strung and alert. It took a moment before Janine thought about her normally reading a book or walking in the forest. But she couldn’t do any of those things while waiting on a fish. Janine thought harder about possible ways, looking down at her hands while she searched her mind for a solution.

But… It was a smidge difficult to think when someone was massaging your shoulders. She felt herself get distracted for the last few seconds of Raban’s massage, and mentally whined at the lack of touch. But he stepped to the side and encouraged her with a smile, which she greatly appreciated.

“O-okay. Thanks.” Janine said as she reeled in the hook. As much as she hated the fact that the massage was over, she supposed it was for the best. She felt so much more relaxed, but she knew that if he kept going a while longer, her mind would’ve blanked out and…. Janine blinked a few times as realization hit her.

Ohhh…. Maybe that’s how she could help herself relax! She could clear her mind. As many times as she’d accidentally let herself sink into her thoughts and tune out the world, Janine could surely do this on her own account. With a small grunt of effort, Janine cast her line out into the river, and watched as it plopped into the water. As soon as the hook went in the river, Janine took multiple breaths to make herself less tense and anxious. Her mind slowly stilled as the woman blankly stared out at the river and bobbing hook, generally focused on movement, but not too much as to become anxious over time. Janine’s eyes even lidded a little as she ignored her surroundings, though they shifted here and there while her body was as still as a log. Even her breathing quieted and slowed down a bit.

In such a state, Janine was much more patient, yet focused - perhaps this was what Raban was talking about? No, no time to question phrases. Only the river had her attention.

Several minutes went by since Janine tried again, and nothing had happened yet. She shifted her body for comfort here and there, but it was light movement, and she didn’t pull on her line. After a few more minutes, the hook showed signs of movement other than the river water. A slight bob caught Janine’s eye. The previously droopy eyelids perked up, and Janine blinked curiously - was this a fish? Maybe she was going to catch a fish this time? To prevent messing up, Janine kept any kind of excitement at bay, until she was sure that she was about to get her fish.

The ball floated some more amicably for a few seconds before it was jerked underwater. It quickly came back up, but it was obvious that something had taken the hook underneath the water. Janine felt her heart pound with anxiety and excitement - she wanted to see what she was fighting against, but because her prey wasn’t a land animal, she couldn’t do what she was normally taught to do. It was hard, but soon all of Raban’s words snuck their way to the forefront of her mind. She shouldn’t pull too hard, she should wait for the fish to tire out, and she had to be patient.

Ugh, so much to remember! But she was able to retain it enough to play the game of tug-o-war with the fish. She let it go, then pulled it in. She repeated the motions multiple times, each time her excitement growing stronger and stronger than moments before. Maybe she was actually going to catch her fish for the first time! At one point, Janine felt a yank that was harder than the other ones she felt. Was the fish mad? Did fish even get angry? But considering how she never fished before, Jaine chalked it up to her ignorance towards the events of fishing, and kept reeling the fish in. And the closer it got to the surface of the water, the more Janine noticed something was off about the fish. It was giving up fairly quickly, and it hadn’t touched the surface of the water yet. Puzzled, Janine let the line slack off for a moment. The fish was still moving, just not as much as she expected.

“Oookay…. I guess the fish gave up?” Janine absently questioned. She reeled the fish in the rest of the way without stopping, and within seconds, the reason for the fish’s lack of movement was revealed: the fish had been wrapped up in the coils of a snake, who was still squeezing the life out of her catch. A surge of surprise made Janine drop the fishing pole, which in turn dropped the two creatures onto the ground. The snake tightened around the fish, who was flopping around as much as it could outside of the water, which wasn’t much. For some reason, Janine wanted to get the snake off the fish, but she couldn’t tell where to begin. Another part of her wanted to watch the snake do what it intended on doing: eating the fish. But she reminded herself that it was her first catch ever, and Janine wanted to enjoy it! Surprise and awe was quickly replaced by irritation and ire.

“Oh damn you serpent, that’s my fish, not yours!” Janine hissed as she reached out for the occupied reptile.
 
She spoke of the differences betwen wolves and snakes and Raban shook his head, not really seeing the different. If anything, snakes would be best kinds of fishermen over that of wolves. Snakes were notorious in the art of ambushing their prey, much as cats were. He did appreciate her childish act of sticking her tongue out however. She was starting to relax, alongside his aid through his hands. He could feel her respond positively to the massage and he was content to keep doing it knowing that the tension was being worked out of her muscle.

"Ah, but you have it on the nail, Janine. I don't know that many snakes that actively chase their prey. They wait for the prey to come to them, do they not?" he looked at her like an impish boy who knew he was right. In waiting for prey to come to them, it was a perfect example of the ability of patience. Raban had long learned that patience oft did not have a singular form that it took. For him, it came in the endurance. For others, in the perserverence or in the ambush.

He eventually resumed his earlier spot and watched her with his rod with a speculative expression. Her stance had ease, her shoulders were less rigid and seemed more comfortable than before. Good, that would help the physical aspect of fishing. Tension often gave the game away through small indistinct tremors that the fisher would not always pick up whereas the fish would. She was doing it and Raban felt proud of her. She had just done something she had questioned in herself. He knew she had a lot of potential and he wondered if this was how Cadfael had felt when he had been the man's squire.

Raban peered at the ground between his feet at the line of thought, so much so that he was momentarily distracted from what Janine was doing. He knew he had more of a father figure in Cadfael than in his own biological one. He never had understood why it was his father left him and his mother. The act had broken his mother's heart and left him with tasks that a boy couldn't really quite manage on a farm. Cadfael had seen him trying painfully to keep a plough to the correct angle whilst simaltaneously getting a plough horse to pull the damned thing. The seasoned knight had strode over in an instant and for the boy, as young as he had been back then, it was a sight seeing someone like a Knight do something so below his station such as ploughing a field through hard earth. Now, he knew it was a part of the man's nature but back then, it was a marvel to behold.

His reverie was broken at the sound of water splashing and he glanced up as Janine reeled in her catch, "Oh, there we go!" he said, grinning as he watched and then tilted his head when it came free from the water's surface and on to the bank. What he saw was a surprise even to him and as soon as he recognised what he saw, he gave a laugh. It was a first for him too.

He rose and joined Janine's side, "Well... would you look at that?" It was a rhetorical question and he glanced as she seemed to finalise the question to her features. It was not common to see snakes in rivers and he supposed the snake had just taken an opportunie moment in the fish's struggle on the line. He guessed the snake had not realised the fish, another trout by the look of it and bigger than what Raban had caught, was attached to something else.
 
Janine got down to her knees to grab at the two animals, but stopped and pulled her hand back. What should she do first? Pry the snake from the fish, pull the hook from the fish’s mouth, or just leave them be? No, she couldn’t leave the fish like this. She looked back at Raban for a second before finally reaching out towards the intertwined creatures.

“Oh, you’ve never seen this before? It’s kinda cool…. But it’s wrapped around my first ever catch, so….” Janine trailed off as she touched the snake’s cold body. The serpent’s body tightened and the snake hissed a warning at Janine. Incredulous, Janine hissed back with her own warning, and forced the coiled body off the limp fish’s body.

“Come on now, I’m trying to be nice here. You need to get off,” Janine said to the snake, despite knowing that it wouldn’t respond. Thankfully, it wasn’t so hard due to how slippery the scales were from being wet, and the snake flailed a little on the floor as the woman moved her hands towards the snake’s head. But the snake had other plans, and let go of its perceived prey to lunge at Janine’s body.

A surprised gasp escaped her mouth as she made a small leap back, hissing a bit louder at the snake. It wasn’t willing to let her have the fish, but Janine wasn’t willing to let the snake have the fish either. With a quick motion, the snake lunged again, but when the snake missed, Janine snapped her hand down and clamped her grip around the back of the snake’s neck. It wrapped itself around her arm in a desperate attempt to escape, but Janine wasn’t having it. The snake’s mouth was open, wide jaws displayed as the snake hissed loudly. Without thought, Janine instinctively hissed back at the snake, asserting her dominance as she flashed her own fangs. The snake stopped hissing so loud, but still gave off irritated hisses that were softer in volume.

Janine panted a little before sighing and looking towards Raban. “What? I tried to be nice to it. I know it was just protecting what it wanted to be its meal, but I fished it out. It’s mine,” Janine said with a huff. She walked off into the forest with the serpent in hand. “Just going to put this thing somewhere safe - away from us… Or more appropriately, me,” Janine said as she walked away.

A short while later, Janine came back from her relocation mission. “Um… I’m back…! Sorry for going off. I just wanted to keep it away from the river,” Janine said with a sheepish sigh.
 
Raban blinked at her catch, still not quite sure how to react to it, but he made no move to help her. Not unless she asked for it. he did not think it venomous since snakes that squeezed and coiled around their prey were typically constrictors and he could not recall one to be venomous. He could have been wrong in this, he knew. Snakes were not something he knew more about other than types and what their typical traits were.

"Never. Not even with Cadfael," he replied, a level of admiration towards the strange chance of it all reflected in the timbre of his inflections. Even as the snake reacted to her intruding on apparently what it perceived to be its own prey, Raban did not offer aid. He knew what she was and had no fear that she lacked the skill or attitude to deal with it.

Instead, he seemed entirely content to watch her with the serpent wrapped around the hapless fish. It was just a really bad day for the trout in question, all things told. He sympathisesd a little.

His head tilted much in the manner of a wolf, or a dog; so mujchso that one could even just imagine the ears flopping sideways had he been in form. It was in some ways a good source of entertainment and he did acknowledged that immediate thought. There were several immediate thoughts he dealt with ona daily basis being what he was and much of them had to be ingored since no human would be found getting up to the behaviours a wolf would have no shame about.

He could readily admit that there were times he was happier in his wolf state over that of his human one. After all,he was stronger and his senses were even better but there were drawbacks to his lupine state. He couldn't talk nor socialise with much else than Janine or others of his kin. Even then, most of his kin didn't like him at all for the nature of his peculiarity.

Raban wore a slight smile to his ordinarily rugged features that earned a loud snort from Chestnut who grazed nearby to Janine's horse. The sight was amusing in the least but she was dealing with it rather well all told. He wasn't worried about her safety, she was more than capable and it allowed him to relax knowing that.

She spoke and he looked to her, realising she had caught his bemused expression. "Oh, I'm not stopping you. Claim away," he grinned with a nod. He nodded, watching her go for a moment before he set about putting her fish with his. They'd likely find a clearing better suited for campfire with which to cook the fish over.

He glanced as she returned, his ears picking up on the fact more quickly than his eyes did. "Oh, no worries. Guess it was trying something new," he replied, nodding.

"Did you want to fish some more or find that clearing, hm?"
 
Raban’s amused tone in his voice made Janine smirk a little. She was happy that she didn’t rub him the wrong way in some strange way with how she handled the snake. The smirk soon became a pleased smile when she reminded herself that she caught her fish. She caught a fish for the first time! Excitement filled her body, and she hopped a little where she stood. Was this the feeling that Raban was talking about? Was this how he felt when he caught his first ever fish? She spun around when Raban asked her about fishing again.

“I want to catch another one! I didn’t think that it would be this fun!” Janine exclaimed. “Just one more.” Janine added, bouncing around like a kid almost. She then caught herself and cleared her throat. “I mean…. Fishing for another one would be cool,” Janine added with a sheepish chuckle and smile.

Janine grabbed the pole and reeled in the line and hook. She wanted to catch another fish like her first one. With her barely contained excitement, the young woman leaned her body and arms into her desired throw, and let the hook fly….

Or so she thought. There was no telltale splash of the hook and ball in the water, but she did feel a small impact on her back. She turned around quickly, thinking it was Raban. “What? I was just throwing it. But it… isn’t in the water.” Janine said slowly. Suddenly, she looked worried.

“Oh no! Did I lose the hook?! I… It was on the line, I swear. I’m so, so, so sorry Raban! I… I just… I’ll look for it,” Janine said as she looked around the forest floor, searching hard for the missing hook.
 
There was something to be said for watching someone else experience something for the first time in their lives that Raban found quite pleasing. See her excitement and joy replacing her self doubt in her own ability proved it enough for him that she was someone who was very capable and full of potential. It was a little frustrating that she seemed to doubt herself so much in what she could do. He understood her fears since he had them too. They were both beings that if lacked any sense of control could do a huge amount of damage to the society in which they inhabited.

However, fears were necessary and they had to be faced, to be accepted and to be learned. She knew what she could do, she knew what she was capable of doing and in that knew more of herself than before. Just as he had many, many moons ago.

"Except you never experienced a Blood Moon that bad before"

He glanced towards where Chestnut and Venus were grazing before he returned to gaze at Janine. That statement was true enough. He never had it that bad before as far as he had been told. There was always a lack of control in his moonlust, as it he sometimes called it, but it was somewhat garnered by instincts. It seemed a Blood Moon turned everything much, much worse and not for the last time did he give thanks that Janine had been there to stop him. He would rather suffer the injuries she inflicted upon him than to come back to himself learning he had killed an innocent or made another. There was always that chance.

However, he had accepted what he was and that it was not something he could ever hope to change. He was born this way and he knew he would quite likely die as such too. He counted himself fortunate to have survived this long without discovery and he was grateful he had lived long enough to have met someone in whom he could talk to and confide.

Her excitement was easy to read and he grinned in easy response to her energy. What was that expression? Happy as a pig in clover? He chuckled softly as she seemed to try and keep her excitement in check and he nodded, "Go for it, Janine. Fishing is an art, and practice never hurts."

Raban watched her in his usual way and instantly could see her excitement was getting the better of her control. There was no shame in that, only that it... He grunted as his musings realised themselves as the line caught where it should not but Janine didn't seem to realise that.

He opened his mouth to say that the hook was on her back but she then realised it hadn't gone where she had initially aimed it and he raised a brow when she searched the ground around them. He scratched through his hair a moment, rather bemused and pondering how to tell her.

"Don't suppose you ever did that?"
"No... Cadfael was too good a teacher. I need more practice too, I think," he replied to Chestnut. The thought made him laugh because he knew Cadfael would have found this amusing too. The sound of his laughter was in good nature and he struggled a moment before he collected himself.

"Oh... Oh d-dear, Janine. No... No... you didn't lose it. Not at all... Here," he chuckled away the remnants of his good cheer as he rose and stilled her gently with hands to her shoulders before he carefully plucked the hook from her back. He was carefully to ensure the line was not entangled with anything before he showed her the hook with a boyish grin.

"Happens to the best sometimes. Landed mine in a willow once. That was annoying to retrieve," he grinned, hoping that she didn't take it too deeply with embarrassment. He felt bad about laughing insofar that she might have thought he was laughing about her but that was not the case.

"At least, it wasn't big enoujgh to do you damage," he nodded. A bigger hook might have done a little more damage, and if had been one of the barbed ones then they were not fun to get out.
 
Janine tried her hardest to find the hook that she thought she lost. But she couldn’t find it anywhere. She just chalked it up to the forest floor being so dense and filled with different colored leaf litter and organic material. But surely it wouldn’t be that hard to find a shiny silvery hook right? Anxiety filled her chest as she tightly clutched the fishing pole in her hands, preparing to set it down to look for it more closely.

But as she began the motions, she heard Raban… laughing? Her eyes were quick to see that her companion was surely laughing, and it made her face and chest burn with heat as she stood still. A new emotion filled her, and she didn’t like it - embarrassment. Oh, she hated that feeling. Sure, he wasn’t angry at her, but something about being laughed at made her blood boil. But this was Raban, and surely, he wouldn’t be laughing at her to make fun of her, right?

“...”

Still, Janine didn’t like it. It reminded her of when she was younger. She stopped moving and blinked, wondering what he was laughing at.

“... What’s so damn funny?” Janine asked with as much self control as she could muster. Raban spoke finally, saying that she didn’t lose the hook. Confused, she stood still as he approached her, and went behind her to do something. Suddenly, something came out of her back, making her hiss slightly with discomfort. What did…? She turned around to see Raban holding the hook she thought she lost, and tilted her head with slight confusion. So…. She ended up hooking herself?

The sight of the hook made Janine want to shrink in a tiny ball somewhere. How did she not feel that when it happened?

… Wait… Was that what she felt when she felt something hit her back? It wasn’t Raban at all?

Even as she felt anger rising within her, seeing Raban grinning made her feel something else. He wasn’t laughing at her per se, just the situation. Apparently, he got a hook stuck in a tree. She tried to hide her irritation with a smile, and gave a sheepish chuckle.

“Oops… I guess I was too excitable. Sorry?” Janine said with a small sigh. Even so, she had no idea why she was apologizing. She often tried to not make a fool of herself, but when she got excited, it got the better of her. It was why she tried not to show so much emotion among other people except for her mother - she was always comfortable being silly around her mother. She supposed she didn’t mind it too much around Raban, but there was still a lot of negativity around the idea of making mistakes around other people.

“.... But… I guess it’s… funny? I ended up making myself a catch?” Janine said with an awkward rub to the back of her head. Ack, that sounded even worse aloud than it was in her head. Now she was even more embarrassed than before. “Sorry, that was stupid. I’m not good at making jokes I suppose,” Janine said as she backed away a few feet.
 
Chestnut peered at her human. The sound of his laughter was not something she was all too accustomed to. He laughed before but rarely had it been so honest and genuine. There was a kindness too it. None of the cruel amusement she took out of the scene Janine had provided them in entertainment but he had simply found the joy in the situation. She could see Janine was not handling it well but maybe the woman was just seeing it in the wrong light. Chestnut snickered and resumed her grazing.

Raban looked towards her as he carefully removed the hook from the line. She was so clueless as to it whereabouts up until the point he showed her. If he were Cadfael, he'd be making a lesson about spacial awareness and keeping the eye on the ball but what they were doing was pure rest and relaxation, to unwind and just talk. He smiled at her gently, spinning the hook a little between his forefingers and thumb. it was such a little thing that could have landed such a bigger fish.

His smile dropped when he saw her expression. She seemed upset by something. He did not immediately grasp at what it was that could have angered her but Chestnut was more perceptive.

"Your laughter. Not sure she's used to it from you..."
"Oh"
"Yes 'Oh'."

He hoped his attempt to explain and soften things had been accepted. He really didn't want her to think he was laughing at her. He knew how cruel that would have been of him to do given how others had bullied her. He had no interest in being the bully. Course, his interception in front of them quite likely made them think that Janine and himself were a couple and undoubtedly they'd find a mockery in that too.

It handed him some relief when she gave him a chuckle. He smiled back and shook his head. "No need to apologise. It happens. You never know what can happen when fishing. It has a way of keeping you on your toes. It's nice... Cadfael called it a kind of subconscious training practice when he taught me."

It was good to talk of Cadfael. The man had lived a long time in the Order and was up there with the other great names that everyone knew about. He missed the man but found that fishing was one way to connect. To remember.

He grinned as she spoke of being the catch, "Damned good one, if you ask me." He ignored the snicker in his head from Chestnut nearby knowing she found the lines of context in what he had said funny.

"Don't be. I'm not great at them either," he said understandingly and his feeling was genuine. He was exactly a social butterfly. He was usually just business when it came to other Knights but he had a genuine wish to try with Janine and with her mother to some extent to get out of a shell. To relax. After all, they had seen him at his worst and Janine had to watch him undergo the weirdest case of willing torture that the Order had experienced nor were likely to again. Raban did not want to go back in that chair again. Even the thought of it made him give an involuntary shiver.

He tried to shrug it away, unsure if she had seen it or not. He had plenty to worry about but they were here for relaxation and to escape it even for a small amount of time given to them. Raban looked to her after he packed their gear, tying what fish they had caught together at their tails. They would do very nicely indeed.

"Shall we, uh, find that clearing?"
 
Janine looked down as Raban as he mentioned her joke. She couldn’t exactly tell if he was telling the truth, or if he was saying that just to make her feel better, but she didn’t like the uncertainty. She just forced herself to believe it was the more innocent suggestion, and not the more inconspicuous one. She figured Raban to be a man who told the truth, so why couldn’t she just assume it was innocent? Were her insecurities that bad? Even so, she didn’t want to make Raban feel as if he was in the wrong, or feel as if he couldn’t do anything around her.

She liked how he sounded when he laughed - she couldn’t recall a time when he laughed as such in the weeks before when they were together. But she wanted to remember this day as it was filled with laughs - especially his. She had to learn to get over her inner aggression if she wanted to enjoy today with Raban. With that in mind, she felt the wash of guilt and something else within her. Why was she feeling so…. Regretful? No, that didn’t seem it. As Raban packed the fishing stuff, she put her hands in front of her, keeping quiet as she dug deeper into her head.

Thankfully, Raban’s voice cut her off.

“Um…. Yes. Let’s go.” Janine said with a small nod. She walked over to Chestnut and Venus, petting her horse for a moment before turning to Raban’s horse. She smiled a little and pet the equine’s neck, only to sense something warm. Janine didn’t take much of it, until something clicked in her head. It was sudden, and it was something that she might’ve felt a long while ago. But it was something that she couldn’t quite tell. She looked to her hand with a puzzled look, but Venus nickered and nudged her softly, as if telling her to hurry up. With a quick curious blink into Chestnut’s eyes, Janine pushed the curious feeling aside and got up on her horse. She waited for Raban to settle while she re-positioned everything she had, while also reminding herself of where they needed to be.

Hopefully they were going in the right direction.

~~~~~~​

A short while after setting off again, Janine just kept getting more and more solemn. Her reaction to her little accident wasn’t the best one, but she couldn’t help it. She never liked feeling the need to be so defensive, but she never saw a reason to be less defensive, when everyone acted the same for years on end.

But Raban was different from everyone else. In so many ways. He didn’t deserve to be treated the same way as everyone else. And while he would most likely understand, she felt like she should tell him why she acted the way she did. So he wouldn’t be in the dark.

“Raban…. About earlier… I’m sorry for how I behaved.” Janine started. “I… Know you wouldn’t laugh at me to be mean, but I just never liked it when others laughed at me. It just… brought up bad memories,” Janine said with a small sigh. “I hope you don’t think you did anything wrong, cause I don’t want you to feel that. I just have to practice being more… friendlier I suppose. I want you to laugh at silly things, and I want to laugh too. But trying to keep up this… Professional soldier stance is just… constantly in my head. And some of the older soldiers from our training days say that showing anything less than strength and dignity means showing weakness... Does that make sense?” Janine asked.
 
Raban could see she was second-guessing herself again. It seemed a part of her overall psysche as an individual and Raban knew how that could get one killed when one least expected. The moment you doubted yourself and doubted those you trusted, things could get cagey. It was an uneasy path to walk. He hoped she did trust him. He certainly knew he would die before revealing her secret to the world as much as he hoped she would do the same.

After all, she had watched him undergo physical torture and had not said anything that revealed to others around them what he was. He was aware the hunter probably had his suspicions and likely knew what to look for to get the feeling for what he trully was. Why else would he have asked for a specific person out of a whole room of those who would have answered that call? Raban was aware that it had put him on the spot, caught between an oath of duty to the Order and an instinctive need to hide what he trully was. The world was not yet ready to understand the nuances of the supernatural and would fear his kind too much to let him live.

It was a reminder that his days serving the Order, an Order than had given his life meaning and structure, were soon to be at an end. Either by his own making or that of others. In some ways, perhaps, Janine had been a catalyst for that end. He didn't mind, it was something he had accepted, however he had feared it. Perhaps there was a chance he didn't have to do it alone.

Chestnut raised her neck as Janine came over and she peered at the women making no attempt to hide her intelligence. She didn't let her true heat rise since they were in a forest that up untill now had not proven fortunate for either pair and she saw no need to attract undue attention from things that could be attracted to such demonic heat but she was still generally warmer than a horse should be.

"Think she's even guessed yet?"
"Hm?"
"You know...?"

Raban looked up blandly looking between Chestnut and Janine before her meaning clicked and he gave a small smile of bemusement as he finished up collecting their gear.

"Maybe."

He moved and put it all away before he launched himself into the saddle with a familiarity to the saddle more than the horse. Chestnut was a different breed now, one matching her name much better in terms of the sorrel coat but the Punch did not have the height or the broad back of the Shire in which Chestnut had previously inhabited. With a shift of a heel that in reality meant nothing despite its intended appearance, Chestnut followed Venus in a feathery picking plod of hooves.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&​

They travelled in collective silence. Had he been alone, he might have struck conversation with Chestnut but he had the feeling Chestnut wanted to surprise the woman with that knowledge and he would give that away if he began talking. Still, he had to let Janine arrive at her own pace. She would reach it in time. The only part of that problem however was the length of time involved. He really didn't want to push her too hard should she feel the heat or pressure.

He kinda hoped this clearing wasn't too far away. Who knew when something was going to raise its head and threaten them all. Course, it could be argued that threat was already waiting for them back in Amastad. That hunter had shown a hand what with working with the Order, arousing suspicions of werewolf activity in the area. Raban was not sure how the man had achieved that truth in the first place at all. There had to be something that had lured him all the way from wherever it came from to seek aid of the Order. This realisation worried him.

Raban knew he was not the only werewolf out there nor did he think himself above them or unique in that he was different. However, he had been around Amastad for all of his life except for the couple of times he had left for someplace else by Cadfael's side. Another werewolf in the area during a Full Moon would have found him and argued territory. At least to his understanding and knowledge. He had scoured all the texts in the archives about his kind and what else he had known he had learned from himself. Even he could not deny there was a base instinct to assert dominance and it occured even with normal every day wolves.

He was so much into his own headspace that he didn't initially hear Janine when she spoke. It took a sharp mental slap from Chestnut to pull him out and he looked towards Janine blinking a little as his companion repeated Janine's words. It appeared she had come around a bit sooner than he had hoped.
He tilted his head slightly before he pulled up alongside her.

"Training ingrained is hard to shift... even to forget for a day. I understand," he nodded, his words gentle and soft spoken. "I know you've had it hard dealing with who you are, what you are and how people react and treat you. There's perhaps a lot we both have to learn about the human part of ourselves and learning how to be at ease, relaxing."

Raban was honest and genuine in what he said. Sometimes, being human was a lot more stressful and taxing that he gave credit for. It was a struggle, there was a lot more dynamics going on in an everyday world of a human than there was in the world of a high functioning beast. As a werewolf, it was simpler. Hunt, chase, eat, assert dominance and life was good. Humans had a different shift of politics.

"I don't remember when I last laughed at anything, not as carefree as that had been at least. It was something I've never encountered before and yet the moment was so... So, hm, I am unsure how to even describe it. I was not laughing at you, but I was at the moment of what happened. To hook yourself... I just found that funny," he offered her a boyish smile.

"But yes, it does make sense. We've been soldiers for so long that we don't know how to act in anything like this. I mean, I've never gone and had a picnic before much in the same way you've never fished. I don't know what to do, how to act... It's all very strange to me this point on," he nodded. That was true enough, he really didn't know how one behaved at a picnic or if there were social protocols he had to be aware of but he was tiring of so much shit flying about that he wanted the time off and to try it. He wanted to try something new that didn't involve orders or teeth or running.
 
Janine nodded her head at Raban’s response. She was happy that she was able to talk to him without the worry of others eavesdropping on their conversation. The quiet and solitude calmed her while she consciously opened up about herself.

“Well, yeah, that might be true. I thought relaxing would be easy, but I guess it’s harder than I thought. But our job doesn’t make it easy either - being a girl often means you’re weak and unable to defend yourself, even if it’s not the case. I’ve had to prove myself worthy of doing a job like this, and that often meant that I couldn’t let them see that I might be hurting. I just hold all this…. Aggression inside me. I thought it was because of my other half, and it might still be because of that, but the more I think about it, I think this job makes me even more… On edge. I always find myself trying to find something to be alert to. It is tiring, really. Trying to keep up with everyone else who doesn't have to work as hard as someone else just because they aren’t the same gender,” Janine said with a huff. It was hard being a woman, whether Raban saw it or not. Not that she doubted it - she always saw him looking at something, taking in information and storing it, whether he knew it or not. He was just the observational type.

Her thoughts shifted to what happened with the fishing rod.

“But…. I also do like it when you laugh. And I can see why the fishing thing was funny. If I’m honest, I’d laugh at you if you did it to yourself too. But I just don’t know how to do it - laugh at myself, that is,” Janine said with a small sigh.

“I mean, I could do it in my house. But outside it? I’m instantly on guard. I suppose it’s because of when I was teased a lot. I could never laugh at myself when I was too busy running away from everyone else. But it isn’t fair to you. I want to laugh at myself in the comfort of family - and friends. But I just don’t know how. I think my life would be better if I could do that every once in a while,” Janine said as she looked down at her fingers. She turned to Raban with a small smile. “Do you laugh at yourself? Have you done anything silly? I can’t recall you doing anything silly…. Besides when you almost fell off the smaller horse the other horse earlier today,” Janine offered.
 
He allowed his frame to pick up on the natural rhythm that riding a horse gave. It wasn't as if he needed to steer at all. Chestnut was taking care of that by herself althought his hand was still habitually holding the reins. Raban listened to the birds twittering high above the trees around them and found a calming solance in their titular little sounds. That he was human enough to enjoy the sound birds made was something he valued and was grateful for.

The wolf listened as he always did. He had good ears for listening and taking in what people said even as the cogs of his mind churned in thought. Raban wanted to just let his mind clear and relax, but even in this relaxed setting, he could not hold off the thoughts and concerns with the Order, the Bounty Hunter, the dragon... it was a list that was growing in bullet points. He wasn't fond of that much. He also had yet to discover how to free Chestnut from her fleshy, equine prison.

He glanced towards her as she spoke of the difficulties she routinely faced and he could accept them to be truth. He had no doubts that it was a lot harder for her as a woman even without her fiery side. Women had not originally been allowed to be a part of the Order but as with all things, it had been an economical and military force that had changed minds and let women sign up. In Raban's mind, having women part of the Order had been one of the best decisions the Order had made. Sometimes, women had the right touch to a situation that a man would not achieve as well. Besides, they were capable of fighting just as much as men and more often than not excelled at handling multiple tasks to an optimum efficiency.

He offered her a reassuring smile when she looked at him, "I understand... There's more pressure involved. Doesn't help that some of those in the Order have yet to grow up mentally and seem women as more than what they think they are. I am sad to know that rings true."

She said she liked his laughter and his smile deepened, his skin flushing slightly in response. He was not ashamed of it but it was not an emotion he was entirely used to expressing let alone having another like it. He was happy though. Maybe it would help encourage her to laugh more to, and perhaps of himself as well.

"Humility of the self is not an easy thing... I've had help from Chestnut in not taking myself to seriously... to know life is precious and worth fighting for. My own life included. If I can get there, I don't doubt you'll follow suit. You have it in you," he nodded, smiling, his expression and words genuine in their intent. He had been a lot more serious before Chestnut had worked her stamp on him, forced him to rethink things. It was a challenge but one he had accepted and welcomed.

"I'm really not used to smaller horses... that threw me. Heh, literally," he grinned, taking mirth in that. "I'm getting better at it... I do laugh. There have been times I've not watched where I've been walking, lost to my thoughts... Too much a thinker at times... but yeah, I've walked into a tree or wall once or twice" he chuckled.
 
Raban’s encouragement made Janine smile - she seemed to believe him a little more when he said something. Whether she knew it or not, the encouragement was something that she appreciated very much. Perhaps she could learn to laugh at herself; if Raban could do it, so could she. Or, so he says. Even so, she shouldn’t doubt herself so hard. Again, easier said than done. She giggled when Raban explained when he accidentally bumped into a tree or two, finding it most amusing when she thought about it. It was hard in a sense, but knowing how deep in thought he tended to be, it wasn’t that difficult.

She chuckled again at the thought and nodded her head in agreement. “Yes, I can see it to be rather amusing. You bumping into a tree? Heh, I hope you don’t hurt anything too much,” Janine said with a teasing smile.

She talked a little while longer with Raban, bringing up small amazing and mischievous moments of her childhood, such as the moment when she finally found out which cat was making noise by her house late at night; when the time was right, she tied a long feather on the tail of the cat when it was sleeping, and waited for it to be woken up by other cats as they played with the cat’s tail feather despite the cat’s vehement protests.

The two riders kept going until Janine noticed the water being calmer than before. She looked at the water and studied it for a moment. Did this mean that the river was leading somewhere… Smaller? The wind blew against her face and she immediately scented flowers in the air. Flowers? They must be getting close to the field!

“You smell that, Raban?” Janine said rather excitedly. Slapping the reins, Janine had Venus continue down the river, where the river began to narrow and the trees began to cluster. After a minute or two, the water widened out into a pond that was pooled in a small area surrounded by trees. A Weeping Willow drooped several feet from the bank of the small body of water, and many little flowers decorated a small area under a tree. Janine saw the slope of land, and realized that the tree and flowers were on the slight incline of a hill.

“Wooow,” Janine softly exclaimed as she led her horse a little further out in the open. This area was so pretty. Was this the field that was rumored to be here in the forest? No… It wasn’t a huge field of flowers, Just a small bed of what looked like lavender.

“This is a pretty spot. Nice and quiet,” Janine said as she looked back at Raban. “What do you think about it?”
 
Raban felt more at ease with himself and others than he had done for a long time and he knew he had Janine largely to tahk for this feeling. She was fairly younger than himself but she had shown that friedship was worth the chase, was worth the time and effort placed into it and because of that, he could, in part, lay his own fears to rest. He hoped she felt the same and could relax too just as much as he was trying to. Being what he was, he had grown with certain rules for self preservation but he had ignored so many in keeping his friendship with Janine. He had no regrets. He had to admit, he liked watching her grow and learn.

All told, the friendship made it easier to share his experiences and what he had learned through his years alone, with Cadfael and with Chestnut. Might have proved a laugh but not taking oneself too seriously was something he knew helped in the grand scheme of things despite the fact it seemed and felt count intuitive at times. He could understand that wall.

He listened attentively as they rode and smiled at the story of tying a feather to cat and with him replying that cats usually had adverse reactions to him. They always had. Cats knew without needing to be told what he was. They were more intuitive than canines about the supernatural at times. It was sad really, he liked cats. He'd have one for a companion too if they liked him back, which more often than was a case of no likes at all. Lots of hissing, yowls and arched backs.

All the while his senses, which never stopped, fed him information. Smells, sounds, scents... it was block of infomation that often assaulted him and he had to sift through, feel for what was important at the time. He could hear the songbirds from the canopies above, their sweet little songs flitting about. He heard buzzing from a bee nearby followed by the passing of tranquil waters. There was a freshness here that had not existed before where the forest seemed to breathe with open contentment and luxury. Everything seemed greener too but he wondered how much of it was a perception over reality. He could take in the scents of lavender, bluebells, hyacinths and other flowers that permeated the air and he smiled. He liked flowers. Little spots of colour in an otherwise green and brown world. It was something he appreciated more in human form than he did when in the other. A canid's view changed entirely from that of a primate.

"Oh yes," he grinned, not afraid to be in touch with a subject some people may have reserved as a womanly pursuit but he seemed equally as keen to follow in Janine's wake as CHestnut seemed to take him. The demon knew that it was oft the simple things Raban liked and there was nothing more simple than grass and flowers. Even she had to admit at the wonder of the place as they entered. A little patch of tranqulity in a dense world of trees and offered them a respite.

Raban nodded, "I think this would suit us perfectly."

Chestnut brought herself alongside and Raban had let go of the reins entirely by this point as he closed his eyes, taking all of it by his other senses. There were rabbits here, hedgehogs, a few badgers too alongside the pondlife. It was idyllic.

He opened his eyes again and nodded, "We could set up here quite nicely. Kinda wish I learned of this place sooner... but it's nice actually to find it with a friend." He smiled before he dismounted, patting Chestnut's broad neck. She butted his face with a velvety muzzle in response.
 
The scenery of the forest before the two Knights had Janine staring in awe. Such a beautiful territory full of peaceful energy. She almost wanted to stay here. Her head drifted towards Raban as he spoke, a smile gracing her face as she nodded in agreement.

“Yes… A friend,” the young woman mirrored. How wonderful it was to find it with a friend. Finding it alone would be boring and lonely.

“It makes me even more excited to have our picnic. I’ll get the stuff ready,” Janine said as she began to dismount Venus. Carefully making sure that she didn’t knock her basket over, Janine stepped onto the forest floor, taking the blanket and basket in hand as she grabbed the reins. She then paused, wondering where to place the basket. She wanted it to be idyllic - not too low, not too high. With a nod of her head, Janine moved forward towards the top of the hill. When she got to it, she sat the basket onto the grass and prepared the blanket. Her eyes caught the other side of the hill, and she sighed with glee. But before she got too distracted, Janine spread the blanket, then looked over to Raban and motioned him over.

“Come look at the other side!” Janine called out.

The other side of the hill led to a large pond that the little stream flowed into. Lily pads and cattails and dragonflies filled that large pond, and Janine saw the side banks leading somewhere.

“Looks like it could lead to another place in the forest. Looks like you can fish here too. So many things to do today,” Janine said with a childish giggle.
 
Raban listened to the birdsong and the other noises that were native to a forest coupled with the breezes that rustled leaves and blades of grass. it was as peaceful as it was beautiful. There was no way he could even begin to deny the truth of that thinking. This was a place he could easily return to. Just to get away from things and he knew he would be happier to share this with his friend. It still felt odd to have someone other than Chestnut to call a friend who he didn't have to hide anything from. She understood him in ways most others would never do. Not even their Commander of whom Raban had known for practically most of his childhood. Cadfael had made sure he had understood how important it was for what he was to remain a secret from the Order.

His mood dulled somewhat in that reminder. Back in Amastad there was one man who could and lilely would change Raban's life forever. Raban wasn't going to fool himself into thinking that the hunter hadn't recognised the signs of discomfort he had tried so very hard to hide. Not if he was well versed in his vocation, which, by all appearances thus far, he appeared to be. He shook his head. No, he had no wish to think of that right now. Right now, he just wanted to enjoy this day out because this was entirely new to him. He had not been lying in saying he had no idea what a picnic was about. He just knew it was a thing friends or family did and thus was never inclined to have thought of doing it before since he had no friends other than a fire demon nor had he family left to share it with.

That had now changed with Janine. She had come to mean a lot more to him within so quick a time that it often befuddled his mind thinking about it.

He looked to her and simply took a moment to watch her. He read her excitement and equal joy in the place. He smiled before he collected the fish they had caught. A little fire and they would cook up quite nicely, he mused. Fresh fish like this was a treat he enjoyed even if he often enjoyed the act of fishing more than the reward. He followed in her wake, Chestnut plodding casually behind him with no need of leading as Venus did. Though, Raban suspected the mare would have done so anyway. The grass would be good for them here too even without the apples they had brought.

"Amazing nothing else has found this place... It would be twitterpated central"

Raban turned and looked at Chestnut in the sorrel's face and grinned at her before he turned back to see Janine beckoning him over with a wave of a hand. He nodded and increased the length of his stride before he stopped and marvelled at the view with a soft gasp. He had lived quite a long life now but it seemed there were still sights that could surprise and amaze him. He nodded, "It's beautiful, Janine. A secret garden, no less, hm?"

He looked at her when she giggled and he chuckled, the sound was so carefree and wanton that he quite forgot the troubles of his mind. "I think, we have found a good go-to-place, Janine," he breathed before settling the fish they had caught thus far down on a fresh patch of grass. He turned and moved to remove Chestnut's saddle knowing this was much a rest for the horses as it was for them. Venus and Chestnut deserved this just as much. "Like me to do the same for Venus?" he asked, placing the saddle carefully on the ground and then patted Chestnut's shoulder before gesturing to the other mare with a smile.

Chestnut turned and walked off a few paces before she reared, forehooves striking air with powerful limbs. She landed with a happy thud and a toss of her head, sending sorrel locks every which way. Raban chuckled and spoke aloud, but it was too Chestnut in its intent of direction, "Showoff."

"The best!"
 
The scenery was wonderful to look at, so much so that Janine almost didn’t hear Raban’s offer to take Venus’ saddle off. But she turned and nodded her head.

“Oh, thank you so much. Venus will love the weight off her back.” she said with a smile. She hoped that Venus would take this time to roam around and graze on the luscious grass that surrounded them. She deserved some peace and relaxation as well. Maybe she would take the time to get to know Chestnut better? Probably not, but the idea is amusing.

When Raban mentioned the possibility of meeting here again, she couldn't help but turn to him and smile wider. “Oh, like a hide-out? Yes, that would be very fun! We can have our secret hiding spot to escape from everyone else. Only us and the forest around us! So much to explore!” Janine said with excitement. Oh how happy she was to be in this moment with Raban. It had been so long since she had done anything like this. Hearing a hard thudding sound made Janine turn to see Chestnut moving around more than usual.

“Looks like Chestnut is happy to be here too,” Janine commented. Sniffing the fresh air made Janine smile as she stared off into the pond in front of her. So many ideas ran through her mind, but she didn’t know what she wanted to do first. Eat? Run around and explore? Fishing? Talk? She thought about it, and decided to sit down on the blanket before she ran off on her own.

“Before we rush off, I think we should eat first. I realized that I haven’t eaten all day, and probably you haven’t either? I brought us some snacks before I came to get you,” Janine offered as she reached into her basket. She pulled out a small variation of food items: Sweet bread, cookies, normal bread, a couple of canteens filled with water, some carved meat and a few napkins from home.

“I didn’t know what else to bring to a picnic, so I brought this along. Sorry,” Janine said with a flush of embarrassment. She couldn't for the life of her remember what her mother and father brought with them when they had picnics. Nor could she recall anything else from other picnics she might’ve seen in the past. But she hoped that this would suffice for this time around. Then she felt something else at the bottom of the basket. With a curious sound, Janie reached in and pulled out the mysterious items in the basket…

And pulled out a couple of carrots. Strange, she didn’t remember grabbing anything like this.

“That’s weird…. I never packed this in the basket. Why would I….” She stopped when a thought popped in her head, and her eyes narrowed as she gave a playful scoff.

“Damnit, Mom!” Janine said with a small chuckle, “She must've snuck this into the basket somehow while I was packing. She’s always trying to force feed me vegetables,” Janine said with a huff. She looked up to Raban with a tilt of her head.

“I may have brought this stuff, but we don’t have to eat if you don’t want to right now. Oh, but you have the fish, I forgot. Do you want to eat now? You did say something about freshness and whatnot,” Janine mentioned as she crossed her legs.
 
Raban nodded and moved to Venus' side where the buckle lay for the girth strap. He petted her neck a moment, Venus was a god horse and he knew Janine could never have asked for a more loyal beast. There was something to be said for the loyalty of horses and animals in general. They knew more about a person than most else could within the first five minutes of meeting them. "Hello girl... Let's get this off you, hm?" he breathed and lifted the stirrup to get to the buckle beneath and loosened the strap free. Once he'd goten that free, he gently lifted the saddle from her back. He placed it neatly next to Chestnut's saddle. He looked back at Venus a moment and smiled before he moved to join Janine letting the horses enjoy the green space for themselves.

He paused for a moment before he sat down. He was nervous still, still not entirely knowing wehat one did or was supposed to do at picnics. He had only heard about them from other people. This was his first. It seemed sad to realise this now that he thought about it.

"Yes... A space to just get away from things," he nodded. The forest had been his usual haunt but with the recent events and the dragon, it felt more like an anxious cat waiting to get free from its cage. This place, however, was bright and colourful and tranquil. He couldn't think of any other places that were like this. "And explore," he agreed, he wanted to do that. Who knew what else was here waiting for them to discover. He felt oddly young again.

He smirked, "It's a chance for her to put the new body to the test." Chestnut pranced and frolicked, rearing and bucking and tossing her head with a sprayh of sorrel mane. She snickered and then went to coax Venus into a run with her, gently nipping at the mare's wither and snickering. Perhaps, Raban mused, he wasn't the only one feeling young again, but then Chestnut had never alluded to her demonic age. He knew age worked differently for true demons. He wasn't sure about Janine's, but he suspected she would too enjoy a longer than average lifespan as he had. The thought of forced retirement entered his mind again and he was quick to shove that back int the box. He wanted to enjoy today.

Janine spoke again and he looked back to her pulling things out of the basket she had brought with her. HE watched her a moment and smiled, this was all very new but the items she had brought did look tasty. "It's quite all right. This is my first ever picnic... I'm happy either way," he nodded, looking the items over.

He glanced up as she exclaiomed something about carrots and sure enough she was holding a couple of carrots. He chuckled, "Well, tehy are healthy... Maybe she packed them for the horses?" he shrugged, but he knew her mother was an insightful woman who thought of things either of them hadn't really paid mind to.

"Well, we can eat now... The fish are best eaten fresh. We could have them in the bread," he offered before he moved to prepare a small fire over which to cook the fish. If he was in his true form, he wouldn't have concerned himself over a fire but to a human palette, they tasted better cooked. Once the fire was prepped and crackling away, he prepped the fish using a knife to cut off the main fins and remove the guts before he stuck them on sticks, placing the sticks next to the fire so the fish would cook off the heat.
 
Janine watched as Venus turned her head towards the sounds of Chestnut’s whinnying. Her ears perked as she took a few steps aside, then bobbed her head a few times as she whinnied back. It seemed as if the mare accepted Chestnut’s offer and reared for a few seconds before reciprocating Chestnut’s actions and running off.

“How nice. Venus is finally playing nice, it seems. I’ve always wanted Venus to be near other horses that could take her high spirits. What better than a demon I suppose?” Janine chuckled. She watched the two horses play for a moment longer before turning her head to pay attention to Raban.

“Perhaps they are for the horses… And even if they weren’t, I’m giving it to them anyway,” Janine said with a huff. She reached for her meat and bread before handing some pieces to Raban. She bit into her sandwich as she watched Raban, wondering how one prepared fish. She hoped she liked it for his sake. “Here. And sure, if fish is better fresh, then we should be quick to cook and eat it.” Then after we snack on a few bits of food, we can go and explore. Surely, there is something for us to find out here,” Janine said with a smile.

As Raban prepared the fire, Janine sighed and closed her eyes, her body soaking up every lick of heat that emanated from the fire. As Raban prepped the fish, Janine watched like an attentive kitten, even past what would most likely be considered the grossest part. As the fish were stuck with sticks and placed into the father, Janine gave a small smile as she thought about eating it.

“So, how long does it take for the fish to cook?” Janine asked.
 
Raban watched the horses play and frolick, despite knowing was just a demon within a trapped state of affairs but it was important for both of them to get some fun time. He knew horses were a social animal. There was safety in numbers. More eyes to spot dangers and to protect the herd. It was not natural for a horse to be alone. Raban smiled, happy and content, also more relaxed than he had been for a while and for once he could just be himself around a friend. A friend he had come to respect and be very grateful for. It wasn't everyday he ran across someone who could protect others from his darker side better than Chestnut could.

"As much as I hate to admit that!"

He snickered at her bitter retort to his inner musings and nodded lightly. Chestnut was a proud demon, unashamedly proud, so far her to admit such a thing was a high honour. He glanced at Janine as she voiced her concerns with her own equally high-spririted and proud mare and he grinned, chuckling.

"The pair have a lot in common, you know," he agreed in the midst of prepping the fish for eating.

"Likely, but there's good grazing here too," he added, gesturing to the grass. The grass wasn't all fresh, he could see older tufts that wouldn't be an upset on a horse's stomach. Chestnut had learned that the hard way. Still, the spot they had found provided for them all. After a while he turned the fish, the skin crisping nicely. He took the offered pieces.

"Not long. Fish... crustaceans... It's all quick eating. Quicker if you're not choosy about taste, I suppose. These fish though, I find them better cooked when human," he replied, aware she was watching him work like a hawk. Her eyes were incredibly attentive, but that was good. She was young enough to jumpo into things, but old enough to value looking before she leapt. Raban didn't have to worry about her safety in that. If anything, she was likely going to catch what he missed, especially if they kept each other's company for the foreseeable future. He wouldn't mind that if that was their path, but he equally held himself under no illusion she had her own life to live. There could well be one she would fall for and seek a life with.

"See how the skin curls back, crisping up at the edges? Browning?" he pointed this out as the skin began to curl outwards away from where he had cut to remove the fish's innards. "That tells you it's just about ready. Here, open your bread out," he said, taking the stick and carefuly flaked the flesh onto the waiting bread with a knife. "You might feel the odd bone, and the residual heat will cook the rest out. You don't want to leave a fish too long on the fire... dry fish is repulsive."

He did the same with his own fish, tossing the skin into the heart of the fire. It spat angrily in return before resuming its usual outlook. He didn't like fire all that much but over the many years he had simply grown accustomed to heat. After all, his long standing companion was a fire demon. And now, his new friend was also one who found warmth from a fire's embrace. He supposed the only odd one out of all of them was Venus in the end.
 
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