Chapter Twenty-One #2
“So I’ve noticed.” I called back to Mara before the trees swallowed most of the station behind me and the generator began fading beneath the forest. The overnight pack felt awkward for the first few minutes, heavier than the gear I normally carried on a day route but familiar enough that my body found the rhythm quickly.
Moisture still clung to the vegetation beside the trail, brushing cold against my pants whenever the path narrowed, while birds called somewhere high above me and unseen insects buzzed among leaves still glittering with leftover water.
I had made it less than five minutes before Luca appeared.
Unlike Tavian, he didn’t jump out from behind anything, make a dramatic entrance, or pretend he had been invisible.
He simply stepped onto the trail from a narrow side path, dressed in a loose dark shirt with the sleeves rolled to his forearms, lightweight pants, and worn boots better suited to the damp ground than the sandals he preferred around the temple.
His shoulder-length hair was tied at the nape of his neck, although several strands had already escaped in the humidity, and his green-gold eyes went immediately to the oversized pack on my shoulders.
“That’s new.” Luca observed as he slowed beside me, his gaze traveling over the pack before returning to my face.
“Apparently I’m staying out tonight.” I told Luca as I continued walking, enjoying the way he stopped for half a second before catching up.
“Tonight?” Luca repeated, surprise breaking through his usual calm as he looked at the overnight pack again.
“Mara suggested it.” I explained to Luca as we moved beneath a section of canopy thick enough to block most of the direct morning light.
“I’m missing dusk and early-morning coverage from the upper stream.
Hiking all the way back to the station tonight just to turn around before sunrise would be stupid. ”
“You’re sleeping out here.” Luca said the words more slowly, and the pleased note underneath them was impossible to miss.
“That is generally how overnight assignments work.” I told Luca as I stepped around a shallow patch of mud, unable to keep the amusement from my voice.
“Where?” Luca asked immediately, scanning the route ahead as though the answer might be visible between the trees.
“The same field shelter I used before.” I adjusted the strap pulling across the top of my shoulder. “Mara already knows it, I know the radio works there, and it’s close enough to the upper stream.”
“Close enough.” Luca repeated, and the emphasis made me turn toward him.
“What?” I asked Luca as he stepped over a broad root and waited on the other side while I crossed.
“You could stay at the temple.” Luca offered, keeping his tone casual even though the brief hope in his face gave away how much he wanted me to consider it.
I raised my eyebrows at him.
“I could also stay at the field shelter.” I reminded Luca as I stepped over the root and adjusted my camera bag against my hip.
“You could.” Luca agreed immediately, falling into step beside me again instead of trying to argue. “If that’s where you want to stay.”
“But?” I prompted Luca when the crease between his brows made it obvious there was more coming.
“The temple is closer to the northern part of the upper stream.” Luca began, lifting one hand before I could accuse him of turning this into a sales pitch. “You’d lose less morning light. It’s still inside the zone you gave Mara, so you wouldn’t be going somewhere she doesn’t expect you to be.”
I kept walking and waited.
“You’d have filtered water, somewhere dry for your camera, a bed instead of a field cot, and you wouldn’t have to carry all those batteries back to a shelter that can’t charge them.
” Luca continued, glancing toward the heavy pack as if it were helping make his case.
“And if the weather does move in tonight, the roof doesn’t leak. ”
“The field shelter barely leaks.” I defended it, mostly because the thoroughness of his argument made me want to resist on principle.
“Barely.” Luca repeated as one eyebrow rose.
“It has character.” I informed Luca while stepping around a fern that had grown halfway across the trail.
“It has a tarp.” Luca corrected me, amusement finally appearing around his eyes.
“That tarp has successfully kept me alive.” I reminded Luca as I looked over at him.
“I’m not criticizing the tarp.” Luca assured me, although his face said otherwise. “I’m saying you have another option.” I studied him for several steps while our boots sank lightly into damp soil and something small rustled through the leaf litter somewhere off the trail.
“You’re making a very strong case for your option.” I told Luca as I shifted the overnight pack again.
“I want you there.” Luca admitted without pretending otherwise, and the simple honesty took some of the teasing out of me.
His voice softened when he continued. “But if you’d rather use the field shelter, I’ll take you there tonight.
You asked us to court you. That doesn’t mean you have to sleep in our home because I want you to. ”
“Is the radio signal good at the temple?” I asked Luca after a moment, already working through the advantages in my head.
“There are two places where Malek and Tavian use theirs.” Luca nodded toward the route ahead. “The western wall is usually best. Higher terrace too, depending on the weather.”
“You have charging.” I said to Luca, thinking aloud now.
“Solar.” Luca confirmed with a nod.
“Dry storage.” I continued.
“Yes.” Luca answered.
“Filtered water.”
“Yes.” Luca confirmed again, and I saw him trying not to look too hopeful.
“A bed.” I finished as I glanced toward him.
“Several.” Luca answered, managing to keep his face neutral for almost two seconds.
“And no leaking tarp.” I conceded.
“I was trying not to insult the tarp again.” Luca replied, and the humor in his voice pulled a smile from me.
I pictured the distance between the upper stream, the familiar field shelter, and the temple.
Luca was right about the morning route. Staying at the temple would cut out a section of backtracking and put me much closer to the area I wanted before the light changed.
More importantly, Mara knew my entire working zone.
I wasn’t abandoning the field plan or disappearing somewhere unrelated to the assignment.
At six, I could simply tell her I was staying closer to the old stonework instead of the shelter.
And Luca had asked for today.
He hadn’t asked for tonight.
That decision was still mine.
“I’ll stay at the temple.” I finally told Luca, watching his face brighten for one unguarded second before he tried to pull it back under control.
“Okay.” Luca answered, and that one word sounded far too happy for someone pretending this was merely the most practical sleeping arrangement.
“Try not to look so pleased with yourself.” I told Luca as I stepped around another muddy patch.
“I’m not pleased with myself.” Luca replied, although his smile betrayed him almost immediately. “I’m pleased with you.”
“That is somehow worse.” I muttered to Luca, shaking my head as we continued.
“I thought it was better.” Luca answered, his quiet laugh following us down the trail. We walked for another few minutes before his gaze drifted toward my equipment again.
“How many batteries did you bring?” Luca asked as the trail narrowed between thick vegetation.
“Camera or everything?” I asked Luca, already suspicious after the extremely thorough argument he had just made for the temple.
“Everything.” Luca answered without hesitation, carefully moving a hanging vine aside so it wouldn’t catch across my camera bag as I passed.
“Six camera batteries. Two for the radio. Power bank for my phone even though it’s mostly useless out here. Laptop is staying at the station because I’m not carrying it through the jungle just to prove I can.” I stepped past Luca and let the vine swing gently back into place behind us.
“How long do the camera batteries usually last?” Luca asked as he moved beside me again.
“Depends on what I’m doing. Heavy burst shooting drains them faster. So does reviewing a lot of images. Humidity and heat don’t help.” I answered Luca as I adjusted the strap pressing into my shoulder, catching him nodding as though he were filing each answer somewhere.
“What?” I asked Luca when the thoughtful silence stretched.
“Nothing.” Luca replied before immediately reconsidering. “Actually, not nothing. We have solar. It isn’t enough for anything huge, but we use it for lights, charging radios, small equipment.” Luca explained as he stepped around a fallen branch and offered me his hand over the slick trunk.
“You’re thinking about my batteries.” I accused Luca as I accepted his hand, his palm warm and callused around mine while I crossed.
“And the laptop you left behind.” Luca kept hold of me until both of my boots were secure on the other side, then released me. “And whatever you use to back up photographs.”
“External solid-state drives.” I answered Luca as I adjusted my camera bag again.
“Those need charging?” Luca asked, genuinely curious rather than pretending he already knew.
“The drives themselves usually don’t, but the laptop does.” I explained to Luca as we continued. “Why?”
“You said you work while you travel.” Luca stepped around a patch of mud and waited until I was beside him. “If you’re spending time at the temple and there’s something you need to edit or back up, I want to know what it takes.”
“You’re planning a workstation.” I accused Luca, already imagining him quietly rearranging part of the temple the second I wasn’t looking.
“I’m thinking about what you need.” Luca corrected me, amusement slipping into his voice.
“That still sounds like planning.” I pointed out to Luca as we crossed a shallow section of trail darkened by runoff.
“Maybe a little.” Luca admitted.
“And you’re doing this because?” I asked Luca, already expecting an annoyingly sensible answer.