I started brushing my own, trying to understand why they would ever get on each other’s nerves.
They were close.
Maybe not as close as Fen and I, but still…they never had a fight.
At least none that I knew of.
Once we were done, I took a sip of the water and spat out the charcoal, then reached for the other jar filled with peppermint leaves in their own juices to wash out my mouth.
“Nothing you need to know about. It was just a stupid fallout and he’s still not over it.”
Although Fennec was talking silently, Papa heard every word he was saying.
With an obvious upset frown on his face, he did the same with his plate and bones as we did before he headed straight to his tent without saying a word.
I hated this, and I wasn’t going to take sides, so I placed my toothbrush back into the silver box I brought from home before walking over to Papa’s tent and crawling inside right behind him.
“Talk to me, Papa,” I said as he turned around on his knees.
“I’m sorry you have to see us this way, but it’s nothing you need to be worried about, okay? Fennec and I don’t agree on certain things but that’s not a reason for you to get upset.”
I knew not everyone could have the same opinion on things, but it seemed strange that two men who were so similar disagreed so much that they had to be mad at each other for weeks.
“I don’t like you like this. You’re the adult here, Papa. You should go talk to him.”
He looked at me with his frown getting deeper, but it eased after only a few seconds.
“You’re right. I will talk to him in the morning,” he said with a smile.
“Promise?” I asked, holding out my pinky toward him.
He hooked his own around mine. “Promise, Vespyr. I’m sorry we made you feel uncomfortable this evening.”
I smiled at him and shrugged. “I know you two very well, Papa. And neither of you ever acted this way.”
I moved closer to him on my knees and wrapped my arms around his body, leaning against him while he rubbed my back.
“I know. I’m sorry. I’m happy you’re here, you know?”
“Yes, I know. I’m happy to be here too. It took a lot to convince Mama.”
“I can only imagine. She’s doing okay, right? She didn’t tell you to say she’s okay even though she’s not?”
I turned my head to look up at him. “Of course not. She’s well. No need to worry about her.”
He smiled. “You’re right. She’s always known how to take care of herself. I miss her, you know?”
Of course, I knew.
They were high school sweethearts and made it despite their differences.
Papa was meant to live here, but Mama hated the idea of it.
“Go get some sleep. Tomorrow’s a new day.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead before letting go of me so I could crawl back out of the tent.
“Goodnight, Papa,” I said, then I got back up on my feet to walk back to Fennec who was leaning against the tree, picking leaves off a small tree branch that had fallen to the ground.
“It’s not on you to make us talk to each other again,” he pointed out.
I frowned. “I was just trying to help. I don’t like seeing you like this.”
I reached for the first plank on the tree to climb up into the treehouse where our bed was already waiting for us.
Fennec followed close behind me, and when I was inside, I crawled to the big, inflatable mattress on top of a thick wool blanket so there was no way for the wood underneath to poke holes in it.
Papa had one of these too, and it was the most comfortable option to sleep on.
“It gets cozier the older we get, huh?” Fennec said, and I looked around with a smile and a nod to agree with him.
We had less space than when we were little, but I liked knowing he was right next to me, protecting me with his arms around me at night.
I didn’t think it was unusual, because it’s all we’ve ever known, so I got under my thick blanket and placed my head on the pillow filled with duck feathers, and waited for Fennec to come lay down next to me.
“What’s your favorite memory of when we were little?” he asked.
There were many things I remembered, but I went with one that I remembered as clear as day.
“The day Papa took us to the mountain top where we had the best view. It was so calm and serene there, and I wished we could’ve built a new camp up there.”
We couldn’t, as it wasn’t Papa’s land anymore, but we would go up there all the time.
“We can go back there someday. Hunters roam around most days, and Papa said not to mess with them or their territory.”
I sighed, knowing how much hunters in this area disliked us and our way of living.
We took their meat away, which they would sell to other people for a lot of money.
But hey…we needed to survive somehow, right?
I reached over to grab Fennec’s hand and squeezed it tightly in mine with a soft smile on my face.
“We have so much time to explore and find new amazing places. I can’t wait for tomorrow.”
Fennec brushed his thumb along my skin, smiling back at me. “Me neither. Sweet dreams, Ves. If you need anything, wake me, okay?”
I nodded and pulled his hand closer to me, tugging it underneath my jaw and not letting go of it.
Fennec has always been my safe place, and being back with him filled the void in my chest I had felt for the past year.
6
She didn’t remember the things we did.
None of them, and maybe she was just suppressing it all, but how could she have forgotten about the twisted things that happened?
I wasn’t going to mention them, just in case she would feel grossed out and uneasy about it all.
It was possible for people to forget about things they experienced when they were kids, but for Vespyr, it wasn’t so long ago.
And that worried me.
We had a special bond which could never break, and even at eighteen and nineteen, there was nothing that could ever come between us.
I looked at her face as the birds sang early in the morning.
The sun was already shining, and I heard Papa walking around camp.
With Vespyr back next to me, I slept much better than without her, and although she made those voices come back, I couldn’t deny that as much as she needed me, I needed her too.
I never told her about the things running through my head when I was with her, and it made me feel sick that my brain would tell me the most disgusting and warped things in relation to her.
You want to do all those things to her.
My body tensed at those words, and I closed my eyes tightly as I continued to hold Vespyr’s hand in mine.
She hadn’t let go of it since last night, and even deep in her sleep, she wasn’t going to.
I was her safe place, but I had to be careful not to let those voices get the best of me.
I didn’t want the same thing that happened with Papa to happen with Vespyr, and at first, I had thought that keeping my distance would solve all of it.
It wouldn’t have and I knew that.
“Morning,” her soft voice croaked as she opened her eyes to look straight into mine.
“Good morning, sweet girl. Sleep well?” I asked, pulling her hand toward me and kissing the back of it.