[PRP] Summer days (Camila & Kaleb)

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb couldn't help the smile that crossed his face, she definitely did enough talk for the both of them. He didn't think twice about her condition for bird-spotting sites, the place he had in mind was not even on the edge of the forest.

"If you run, I guess that's fair..." He replied, leading the way back out of the little park and down the street. "I'd be running too, and I'm sure you're faster than I am. I'll be your distraction."

For a second Kaleb wondered how he had gotten so comfortable talking to new people. Not that he was one hundred percent comfortable and in his element talking to Mila, but he was smiling and not worrying about every word that came out of his mouth for once.

"Do you know many of the local parks around here?" He asked quickly, not wanting to jinx himself by thinking about social interactions. "There's lots of green spaces, even without going into the forest."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Well sure!" She beamed, "There's a few within reasonable distance of my house, but obviously the best ones are a little more out of the way. Nothing like back home though." Mila grinned, "I used to be a lot more outdoorsy, really. I guess I still sort of am? It was really important to my parents though—that we did stuff as a family and spent time outside and yadda yadda..."

Mila blinked. "Oh, but listen to me! I definitely enjoyed it, don't doubt that for a second. We'd hike and camp a lot and spend tons of time around the Rockies. Colorado is a really pretty place if you can stomach the cost of living." Which, her parents definitely did. Mila never had to worry about a thing in her life when it was all said and done... as far as finances went anyway.

"But anyway. It'd be a hike all by itself to go out of the city, so we should probably stay local. Hmm..." She tapped her chin, "See, this is why I wish we could just go to Waite State forest! It's not that far and it has coast line and everything. I love to watch the plovers..." Sigh. "But weird stuff keeps happening every time I go there." So much for not elaborating. She clapped her hands together, "So. If you don't mind a little bit of a bus ride, I know a decent place!"

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

"Weird stuff?" Kaleb asked, glancing over curiously. When he thought about weird stuff in the forest it was accompanied by unpleasant memories of a giant gaping void in the ground, and being lost and alone and time repeating itself over and over again but worse every time...

He tried to shake it off. "My family was usually pretty busy, we never had much time together. It would have been too hard for my parents to arrange anything like camping, but I still like being outside a lot. It's peaceful." Kaleb hadn't said anything in a tone that would suggest he had regrets about his childhood, it was just sharing stories to him. He had always admired his parents and had never faulted them for their work.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Super weird! Like, I'm ninety percent sure I have a stalker." She said it so casually. "But I'm like one-hundred percent sure they're magic! It's a real doozey..." And then she sighed.

"But they only seem to follow me around my house. So out here I'm fine! It just sucks because I can't go on my afternoon walks now."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

"A magic stalker?" Kaleb blurted out, all thoughts of parks and birds and portals forgotten. He looked even more alarmed than Mila. "Have you told anyone about it? Like Temperence, or Mr. Mercer? I'm sure he would be able to help you, even if it's not magical..."

A moment later, Kaleb's nerves gave way to some rational thought. "Have you seen them? How do you know it's a magical stalker?"

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Oh sure, I mentioned it to Temperance." Her brow furrowed as she remembered her asking about her contacting the police too. But then she'd gone on to say she didn't trust them or like them. That was a bit of a conundrum too.

"It's really weird, that's how I know it's magic." She was whispering quietly as she explained herself, "I'll be standing in my room, and then I'll feel like I'm being watched. I know I'm being watched! And then it happens." She made a motion with her hands, "I'll be standing at the edge of the woods suddenly, watching myself! It doesn't make any sense... at first I thought I might've been hallucinating, but I couldn't find any records of things like that in my family's medical history, so..." She played with her hands uselessly.

"I've been thinking about going in there after whoever it is! I'm tired of not getting restful sleep." Mila puffed up, "But, I dunno how well that'd go. I mean, heck, I didn't even think I was magic when it started..."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

That description of events immediately clicked in Kaleb's mind, and the sense of alarm disappeared almost entirely. He had heard this sort of story before. Keeping his suspicions to himself for the time being might be best, because it still could be something else. He wanted to be sure first.

"It's always outside though, it doesn't ever come in?" He asked, still wanting to exercise caution, just in case it was something he hadn't expected. "Do you think it would still show up if someone else was there with you? To see what it was?"

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Yup, they've never tried to break in... I think they're just waiting for a good time. Like, they're learning." Mila sighed, "I always try to run outside to confront them, but I haven't been successful... ever since I learned about the other side though, I started thinking: maybe they can just slip away really fast? Or heck, if they are magic, who's to say they don't have some other crazy trick up their sleeve?"

"Anyway, I dunno. I figured if I had some people to help, maybe we could corner them! And especially if they were magic. Fight fire with fire or something, right?" She eeped, "Sorry, sorry, too soon, I wasn't even thinking..."

Grey Dragon

bringing the heat with these burning references

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb let the slip go with a forgiving smile and a wave of his hand. The shared experience back at the Court was probably why he was being so incredibly sociable. Not that he was bubbly and voluble like Mila, but neither was he thinking about ways to excuse himself from the conversation. That counted as social.

"If it would help, I could try and see if it's magic I recognize," Kaleb offered, glancing down at his feet as they walked and talked. Suggestions that would involve spending extra time with him were still hard to make, and he was as timid as ever. "Maybe get a photo or something too, while it's busy looking at you, so you know what it is... Then you could think about cornering it?"

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"You'd help me like that? Really?" Mila looked relieved, "I... I'd really appreciate that actually. I've been trying to act like it hasn't been bothering me so much, but I think it's really starting to mess with my complexion! What if I start breaking out again?" She fretted, "Oh but um, that's neither here nor there I guess... we'd probably have to really plan this out though, so I doubt we could do it today. Usually I have to be home for a while for it to happen—like I said, they don't like to follow me around otherwise!"

"That being said... maybe we should just stick to the easy stuff today?" For a second, her smile looked just a smidge more tired.

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb nodded, and gave Mila a reassuring smile. "I'm sure we'll be able to figure out what's going on, it must be really stressful always keeping up the brave face. It's pretty amazing, how well you've been keeping everything together."

He looked around them, a mostly useless gesture when it was that extra magical sense he was really reaching out with, but there were still no portals or anything within his range. "I'm still not feeling any doorways, but look, we're almost here!"

Leading the way, he turned the corner and headed into a small parkette that stretched between two streets, with a single bench next to the paved path and large trees bordering the green space. The singing of birds was clearly evident overhead.

Melancholies

town birbs

 

[Melancholies]

"That's okay! I don't mind walking around like this either. Also, I could say the same for you! I mean, anyone who made it past that deserves some real kudos, I'm tellin' you." She stopped when she heard the birds, "Oh! Shoot, I'm not very good at identifying purely from calls..." She squinted up at the trees. "Probably some kind of finch or sparrow though. They like big groups—jays and stuff are a little more territorial..."

Grey Dragons

 

[Grey Dragon]

"I... didn't handle it so well, really," Kaleb admitted, sheepishly nudging his glasses up on his nose. It was getting better, but he definitely could have done without the experience.

Leading Mila a little farther, he gestured towards the edge of the park where a chain-link fence separated it from one of the backyards that bordered it. The owner of the yard had decorated it with a ridiculous number of different styles of bird feeder, and judging by the number of birds in the vicinity, they were well stocked.

"The lady who lives here really likes birds," he said with a smile. "I can't figure out what they are just by their songs either, I've seen so many different types back here that I've never been able to figure it out."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Hmm, well..." Mila had fished her Sibley bird book back out, her fingers deftly flicking through the pages. The book was not very well kept; the edges were no longer sharp and some of the pages were dog-eared with creases. It didn't look old in terms of style, but it sure looked old in terms of use. "I'm sure we'll be able to figure it out. Sibley is really good for identifying birds so long as you know all the terminology and how to look for it..."

She paused for a moment, just to look wistful and reminiscent, "I really envy this lady! She has a good set up. I've always wanted to have something like this back home, but it really does seem like a lot of work... plus feed is really expensive..." She sighed. Also there was the weird woodstalker. What if they liked bird seed? She wasn't about to give them any ideas!

Just as her thoughts started to derail, a few birds—perhaps because the movement had ceased—were starting to flock back to the feeders. "Oh look Kaleb! Those are goldfinches." Easily recognizable because of the bright yellow, "And a nuthatch! Now, I can identify those by sound because they're so distinctive. They go—" Wait for it "—yank."

And then she giggled like she was a little embarrassed, but still overall having a good time.

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

"I sit on the bench across the way every now and then to read, it's especially nice first thing in the morning. I'm glad she takes such good care of the birds here, it means we can enjoy them too." His smile was practically glowing.

Following her gaze he spotted both the distinctive goldfinch, and the larger nuthatch hopping up the side of a tree. There was no need for her to be embarrassed, he was just as interested as she was eager.

"Yank?" Kaleb asked curiously, and then he heard the little bird. Then it was his turn to giggle. He tried to cover it with one hand, but it was no use.

Melancholies