Chapter 49: He Was Giving Off Some Very Strange Signals Lately

In the morning Harmony woke up to find Castian already dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a short sleeve button-down shirt with sneakers. She hadn't thought he owned any! For him that was almost alarmingly casual. If he was wearing something casual, she probably should too since he wouldn't tell her what they were doing.

She ended up wearing jean shorts and a red off-shoulder crop top with some red sneakers. If he had condescended to wearing sneakers, they were probably doing something involving a lot of walking.

After breakfast they stopped by his apartment to get some things he had apparently prepared beforehand. Had he anticipated her being late and feeling like she owed him or had he been planning on asking her to do this with him anyway?

Harmony couldn't even see what they were because they were inside a big black backpack. What on earth were they going to do?

"Can you still not tell me where we're going?" she asked after they had been driving for about twenty minutes.

"You'll see when we get there," Castian said maddeningly.

She pouted. Why did he have to be all secretive? What was the point of that? Stupid elf! He knew that her curiosity was unending and that she needed to know everything!

"Castiaaaaaaaaaan."

Rather than replying to her plea, he simply smiled. One of those incredibly rare real smiles even if they were small. He was having fun leaving her hanging, curse him! She had no idea he was capable of teasing anyone before this.

When they finally arrived at their destination Harmony was confused. "Are we going hiking?"

Castian nodded. "Yes. I've been feeling nostalgic lately about the way things used to be. Probably because of talking with Brennan about conservation efforts. National parks are some of the few places left where the land is left mostly in its natural state."

"Hiking doesn't necessarily have to be a two-person activity though. I thought you needed me for something you couldn't do by yourself."

"I do need you though. It would be a lot more boring without you here."

Harmony's heart skipped a beat. He specifically said that rather than that it would be a lot more boring by himself. He wanted her company over anyone else's. How was she supposed to feel about that?

They ended up doing some pretty easy trails that were more walks than hikes since the terrain was relatively flat. Castian seemed rather relaxed and she was even more confused. Was it being out in nature for the first time in a while that was relaxing or the fact that he was doing it with her?

When they stopped for lunch and he pulled out some chicken salad sandwiches, apples, and cookies from that bakery she liked that she had introduced him to she was reminded of her earlier thought that he might have been planning this from the start and hadn't asked her to join him on a whim. That seemed a lot more likely now.

"Did you make these?" Harmony asked, gesturing to the sandwich.

"Yes. Don't be too impressed—you can't live as long as I have without knowing how to feed yourself," Castian said casually.

She wasn't so sure about that. Witches were notoriously terrible cooks. The younger generation at least. They couldn't be bothered because food was so readily available these days and there were so many better things to do.

"It's still better than I can do. This is really good," she replied between bites.

Castian seemed pleased. "Thanks. I'm afraid I can't bake though so I had to utilize someone else's skills for that."

"I'm not complaining. You know I love these cookies."

Harmony noticed that he had gotten mostly snickerdoodles. The kind she had previously told him was best. He had to have done that on purpose with how meticulous he was. He had a good memory for detail.

Why had he done all of this today? Why did this seem like a real date? It wasn't the first time one of their hangouts had felt this way but it hit her especially hard today.

A real date. That was an unfamiliar concept. Witches didn't date. They mated. That was simply the way things were and had been for hundreds of years. Before the witches and elves came up with this arrangement witches had tried to blend into human communities and that was how they had their children but it never ended well.

Witches were persecuted a lot back then. They closed themselves off from humanity and trifles such as love because of how many witches were betrayed by their human lovers. Their current arrangement was far more practical.

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All witches knew about this. Somebody's mother or aunt or grandmother had been involved with a human depending on how old they were. Harmony's own grandfather had been human and he was the reason her grandmother had to flee from the old country to the New World. Not that her family did much better there since her grandmother died in the Salem Witch Trials, resulting in her mother and aunt fleeing west.

Love was unreliable. Maintaining the fae world and the witch way was what mattered.

Harmony hadn't heard of any witch in more than two hundred years falling in love. Most of them didn't even bother with close friendships with anyone. They relied on other fae to survive or receive benefits of some sort but that was it. There weren't deep emotions involved.

Elves were largely the same way. You didn't often hear of elf families sticking together the way other races of fae did. They supposedly had real relationships with other elves but they never got married the way some other races of fae did from time to time. Neither race was very big on the concept of permanency. They were too pragmatic for such notions.

So why did it suddenly seem like Castian was trying to date her for real? It had to all be in her head.

They were friends. Friends hung out with each other and did things for each other without expecting things in return…for most races anyway. Not for witches or elves. So what was his deal?

Harmony couldn't deny that the thought was an appealing one. But she also knew it was a terrible idea. What would everyone think? They were already giving her a hard enough time about Castian as is!

Why was she even entertaining this? He wasn't interested in her like that and, more importantly, she wasn't interested in him like that. Even if he was oddly cute lately and she had fun with him. Even if she was worried about how things were eventually destined to end between them. That wasn't how this worked.

Harmony eyed him shrewdly after they finished their lunch and started walking again. He still seemed as relaxed as he had earlier.

What was going on in that elf's head? Did he even realize what this looked like? He was giving off some very strange signals lately and she didn't know what to make of them.

"This is nice," Castian said after a while. "Though the flora and fauna here are much different than the ones where I used to live. It gives off a similar feeling of tranquility though. Don't you agree?"

Harmony couldn't deny that. This was no redwood forest but the feeling the trees gave off were the same anywhere you went. Peaceful and relatively quiet. Compared to being in a big city at least. Even when noisy groups of hikers passed, that had nothing on Miami.

"Where DID you used to live?" she asked. He had never told her that.

"Originally I'm from what is now known as Pennsylvania. What about you? You're from somewhere out west, aren't you?"

"Yeah. I was born and raised in the Redwood Coven in northern California. My mom and aunt have been there for centuries but I needed a change of pace so I moved here as soon as I came of age."

"Don't we all, sooner or later?" Castian said with a shrug.

Harmony suddenly felt a prickle of apprehension. She would probably be here indefinitely because of the chance to work with merfolk that was coming her way but what about him? He had been here at least as long as she had if not longer.

What if he decided to leave the area before she did? She would likely never see him again.

"How long have you been here?"

"Since the 1950s. I got in on the Elite Financial Solutions branch here not long after its formation. You?" Castian asked.

"I had barely moved here when we met," Harmony admitted.

It was strange that they were only talking about this now considering how long they had known each other but at the same time why would they? They didn't talk about anything remotely personal. Or they hadn't. That had sort of gone out the window lately.

Though their talking about personal things pertained solely to the present until now. They would talk about what they were currently working on but not about their lives before they met each other.

Harmony was undeniably curious about Castian's life before they met but she was afraid to ask. That it would be seen as overstepping somehow. He had been the one to push for them hanging out more but they still weren't in a real relationship. She didn't have the rights a real girlfriend would and nothing was going to change that.

The thought was oddly unsettling. What was wrong with her today?

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