Chapter 242: Chapter Two Hundred Forty Three

"Ow. ow. ow." I punctuated each step with the word as we limped away  from the corndog stand, laden down with pancake and sausage stick  treats, as well as large cups of syrup. We staggered over to a picnic  table nearby, slumping down onto the peeling and cracking wood with a  groan as we let our food drop onto the table. We had paper plates, so I  wasn't worried too much about it being dirty, and I was able to leave it  there as I let my head slam into the wood, no longer strong enough to  stay upright. "Ow."

Callie giggled, a sound which cut off  with a whimper as the motion jostled her sore ribs. "Ow." She echoed.  "Don't make me laugh. Or cry." she paused. "Wait, am I already crying? I  can't tell." I cracked open an eye and looked up at her questioningly.  But confirmed she wasn't and shook my head. I didn't raise it before  shaking, so my face scraped across the surface of the table. I didn't  care. She sighed in relief. "Oh, good. That would have been humiliating.  Crying from just a little workout."

I snorted at that. "A  little workout. I've been hit full force by a dullahan that was trying  to kill me, and this was so much worse than that. Abel is a sadist." I  forced myself to sit upright, since I had to eat anyway. "Still. I feel  like it's getting results, don't you? Like, there's no way we would have  lasted that long if we fought him a week ago. He would have crushed us.  I never realized how lucky we were that the vision of him down in the  labyrinth was so bored. Or maybe the years made him tougher? I have no  idea."

Callie gave a vague nod as she dipped a corndog in  syrup and took a hearty bite, moaning in joy at the taste. I decided  that seemed like a good idea, and picked up one of mine, biting into it  with gusto. I groaned in ecstasy as the sweet syrupy flavor melted into  the fluffy pancakes and the steaming sausage. "Oh gods." I said through a  mouthful of food. "How is this so good? What rank is this food?"

Having  better manners than me despite eating much more voraciously, Callie  finished chewing and swallowed with a groan. "G-rank of course. It just  tastes better because we're both starving. Still, that is delicious."  She continued eating, finishing the first corndog and starting on the  second. Between bites, she resumed talking. "So, aside from insane  hardcore training, what do you think we should do with our time until  the tournament. Abel was right, downtime is a necessity."

I  nodded, choosing to swallow before responding this time like she had.  "Well." I said after a mouthful. "I was thinking we could do some  bonding with the wolves. They've been kind of backburnered since we got  back. We can go camping and take them with us, just enjoy the outdoors  with puppies. Benny and I used to go camping in Valen, or at least  nearby. It was always a lot of fun."

Callie bit her lip.  "I mean...we could try it I guess. Especially if we invite Grimmengap.  Their wolves would probably enjoy it, and having an elf along in the  woods is bound to make things easier." I nodded enthusiastically at  that. She seemed uncertain though. I didn't feel the need to push, just  waited. Eventually she flushed and admitted in a low voice. "I've never  really been camping. I don't count the hunt, because we had a building.  Real camping though? Like with tents and stuff? I never had anyone to  take me."

Her eyes were distant as she stared off into the  crowd. She clearly had something she wanted to talk about, so I didn't  interrupt. "My dad was never really around." She said without missing a  beat. "You know about that. Spent all his time at the office or out on  patrol. It was just me and mom, and she never had any abilities. The  wilderness isn't ALL too dangerous for mortals, I think you and Benny  were mortals when you went, but mom...my dad did a number on her."

"Not  physically." She hurried to say. She sounded like that mattered to her.  I was starting to get really pissed off, but obviously not at her, so I  kept quiet as she continued. "It was more like...dismissal. He acted  like she was less than he was. He was mostly patronizing about it,  making comments about how mortals never understood us, or how her ideas  were bad but it wasn't her fault, but looking back I see how completely  toxic he was to her all the time."

I reached out and put  my hand over hers. Her eyes snapped to mine and she coughed. "Oh. Sorry.  Camping. Sounds fun. We should go. I was just thinking about that offer  you made. ABout my mom. I just...gods Shane, I can't tell you what that  would mean. How important it would be." I leaned over the table to give  her a quick kiss and pulled back with a wide smile.

"It  makes you happy." I said firmly. "It's worth it. Besides, it's not like  I'm giving her something for free. My power doesn't work like that.  She'll need to come up with some kind of payment. I can't really be  involved, but I'm sure you can help her think of something that would  work." I didn't want to make too big a deal about the gratitude. It was  nice she was happy, but I didn't do things for her because I wanted her  to be grateful.

She seemed to sense that, because she  shifted to the subject I brought up. "Payment will be tricky for sure.  I'm positive we can figure something out though. And it's a mortal wish,  maybe she can pay in credits or something? Never mind, not involved.  Point is, it's something I'm excited about. Maybe we can make our visit  back before the tournament, provided we manage to get all our training  done early."

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She sounded excited about that, and I didn't  mind. "If we get our goals met no reason not to take a break. Hell we  can ask Abel to arrange it for us ahead of time if you want. I'm sure he  could squeeze in some time between our training without messing up our  schedule too much. He seems like he would be good at finding time to be  lazy when he wants it." I said that last bit with a snicker.

When  we finished eating, we decided to go for a walk. It wasn't as crazy as  it sounded. The pain was worse when we were sitting still, and we  figured a nice leisurely stroll would get the blood pumping. Well,  leisurely in this case being an arctic crawl as we dragged our dead  limbs across the grounds, but to be fair, we were both tough enough to  hide the signs and make it at least look like we were walking casually.

As  we strolled arm in arm around the circus, I took a long, deep breath.  The smell of the food and the rides and sounds of excitement were  everywhere, and I loved it. The lights burned in the darkness, creating a  tapestry of emotion and sensation I had never seen anywhere else. I was  just as poleaxed by this place as I had been the very first time I'd  come here. Maybe more. "You know." I said. "I really love this place.  Just being here makes me happy. Doesn't it just make you feel  so...alive?"

Callie  said her head on my shoulder. "Yeah. I've always felt comfortable in  WCP honestly, but more than that this place is ours. At least part of  it. I've never had anything like that before. Something permanent and  mine. Like I know we won't be staying forever, but still, it's like we  own our own house." She flushed a bit. "Or whatever. That sounds weird.  But you know what I mean."

And  I did. I'd lived with Zeke in our apartment in Valen for ages, and now  we had the house in Rajak, but neither of those were mine. There was  something really amazing about having a home that belonged only to you,  about being able to do whatever you wanted to a place because you felt  like it. Growing up I'd been able to decorate my room however I wanted,  but it wasn't really mine completely. It was an apartment, and it was  Zeke's. I could paint my walls, but I couldn't rip them out or install a  nice shower in the bathroom.

Not  that I wanted to do either of those things at the Pavilion. But I COULD  do them. It was a heady feeling. Having a place that I controlled  completely and that no one could take away from me. Once again Callie  and I were on the same page here. I pulled her closer to me. I loved the  atmosphere of our talk right now, but I'd been wondering about  something and I thought talking about it would be good. "So, have you  talked to your uncle lately? You never mentioned how things went there."

The  two of us spent a ton of time together, but we weren't around each  other twenty four hours a day. Well, not usually, the training had us  bonding me. Still, she had tons of time to herself and I wasn't sure if  she'd ever called her father's twin. She stiffened a bit before  relaxing, letting out a long sigh. "I haven't been in touch. I've  considered it a few times, but it's...hard. He looks like my dad,  obviously, and there are so many issues there. I know that's not really  fair to him, but I can't help it."

I  blew out a breath. "I can't really claim to get how that feels. I'm not  sure how I'd react if I met my dad's twin. Granted, the situation isn't  the same anyway. Still, if you don't mind me giving my two cents I do  have an opinion." I shot her a searching look, and she gave a solemn  nod. "I think you should reach out. If it's too much you can always just  cut contact, I'm sure he would understand, but if you don't at least  try I think you'll regret it for a long time."

Looking  down, I saw here glaring at me. There wasn't much heat in it, but she  looked annoyed. "You know, you aren't always supposed to give me good  advice. Sometimes you're just supposed to say 'yes dear, I think you  have the right idea'. Just because I'm doing something dumb doesn't mean  I want you to correct me." Her tone wasn't harsh or anything, just a  little sulky, and I could tell she was half joking, though not  completely.

"Yes  dear." I said woodenly, my voice deadpan. "I think you have the right  idea." I looked her right in the eyes as I said it, making sure to keep  my voice as devoid of inflection as possible. Her glare intensified for a  second, but I saw her lips twitching a bit at the edges for a second  until she finally broke down and lost it, bursting out laughing so hard I  had to actually hold her up.

She  finally got control over herself with a marked effort, and still took a  second of gasping to regain her ability to speak. "You're such an  asshole sometimes. Fine, I'm being stupid, I'll call him and at least  say hi, happy?" I grinned at hear and leaned down for a kiss, which she  accepted with an eye roll. "I have to admit, you're weirdly good at  cheering me up. I'm already feeling better." Then she paused. "Although,  not that much better." She stopped and looked up at me ponderingly  before walking around behind me, and without any warning, jumping on my  back. I caught her, hands under her knees as she forced me to carry her.  "Ok NOW I feel all the way better."

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