Page 14 of Homesick, Lovesick
Match seemed sad."That's your favorite.You and Benny get so ridiculous at the country fair when you do it with any visiting paladins.Wonder if they'll go through with making it an actual exhibition next year.Though that means a whole lot more people would be admiring your lovely arms, and I don't know if I'm about that."
Ronan grinned and kissed him."Dork.I'm gonna go shower, then maybe take a fucking nap before dinner."
"I would offer to join you in the shower, but we'd probably die," Match said with a sigh."Guess I'll just give you the blowjob after our nap."
"After?"Ronan pouted.
Match rolled his eyes and gave him a shove."Get going."
Ronan bowed ostentatiously, and then got.
"I would like it stated for the record that starting off in the rain is bullshit," Ronan said sourly.
To be fair, a good part of his attitude problem this morning was that nobody had seemed to give a fuck about Fuckhead slicing his arm.We're so sorryandwe'll look into itanda terrible, strange accidentand other similar bullshit.Clearly Lynwood was the favored child who could do no wrong.Even Minerva hadn't seemed overly concerned, mostly just confused, and apologized profusely and promised it wouldn't happen again.
Also, they were stuck with Lynwood.The team consisted of their guide, a mage, and two paladins.Common sense would have dictated that a golden paladin be in their group to balance Ronan, but somehow it hadn't worked out that way.Whatever.They'd just be driving off bears and shit, anyway.He'd be too busy and exhausted most of the time to give a shit about Lynwood, and could mostly ignore him the rest of the time.
Their guide was the son of Diamond, whose name was apparently Carmen.The son, Marvin, was…fine.Kind of snotty, clearly thought he was special because he knew the woods so well, but at least he wouldn't do something shitty like hurt Ronan and then act like it wasn't a big deal he'd broken one of the biggest rules of sparring.
Whatever.Nothing Ronan could do about it while they were in the middle of the stupid woods.He'd just get through this, and then they could go home and this nightmare would be over.It was just a stupid cut, already healed, he shouldn't be so hung up on it.
They wouldn't reach the first node to start the warding until tomorrow, though it might be late tomorrow with this shitty ass weather.Ronan trudged onward, keeping to the path they thankfully were following for now.That wouldn't last, but he'd enjoy it while he could.
Right ahead of him, in the middle of the pack was Lynwood, who of course wasn't interested in taking the rear, since that was one of the most dangerous places to be.He was yammering on incessantly about how wonderful and perfect his Guard and the general area were.He and the others had spent all fucking night doing the same thing, talking it up to Match to a truly ridiculous degree.
The only thing that bothered Ronan about it all was that they seemed sincere in wanting Match with them.They probably wouldn't cave to lame ass attempts at blackmail and leave Match to suffer when he needed them most.No, they'd give him full, unhesitating support.He'd never be at odds with so much of the town because they'd stabbed him in the back in the worst possible way.
If he did decide to move here, would he want Ronan to come with him, or would he prefer a clean break?Would a clean break be better?Could Ronan leave his uncles and the life he'd worked so hard to build?For Match he would do literally anything, but that one would fucking hurt.
On the other hand, Match so far hadn't seemed interested in anything they'd had to say.He also hadn't talked about it, even the couple of times Ronan had brought it up, he'd just moved the conversation to other matters.Like he didn't want to talk about it with him.
Ronan didn't know if that was a good thing, a bad thing, or not a thing at all.
When they finally stopped for a break at a little campsite, the rain was still going, so they couldn't even make a fire to get warm.They just huddled under a little shelter that someone had installed, some wooden and metal thing that was probably meant to sleep under for anyone staying the night, and munched on trail mix and jerky for a quick snack.
Then they were off again, trudging through the cold, dreary mess.If this was the first day, he wanted nothing to do with the rest of the trip, but there were a hell of a lot of days to go, so he mustered up as good a mood as he could and kept his snarking to the texts he sent to Benny and Traci.
Finally, the rain let up about an hour before they were due to stop for the night.By the time they did, he was almost dried off.When they reached the spot where they'd be staying for the night, a cute little clearing that wasn't as formal a stop as where they'd taken a break but still showed signs of use, like logs to sit on and a cleared space in the middle for a fire, Ronan set to work, despite exhaustion and soreness.
He started by clearing debris, making certain to do so for both tents.Then he got the tent he'd carried all day set up, got the little heater and its propane tank set up, and got the tent warming.
With all that done, he changed into sleep clothes, slipped on his favorite fleece pullover, and set his still-damp clothes out to dry.If they dried suitably overnight, they'd be good for another day of wear.After that was a short, miserable bathroom break, and then he could finally sit the fuck down.
Match of course had a beautiful fire going, and Marvin was at work preparing their dinner.
"Man, I hope the rain gives us a break for a few days," he said around a yawn.
"No kidding."Match tossed the match he'd been sucking on into the fire."Thanks for setting up the tent and everything."
Ronan smiled and kissed the corner of his mouth."What I'm here for, yeah?And to fight great and terrible evil, but let's be real, my biggest threat is the giant ass spiders that will attack me in the night."
Match giggled against his metal coffee cup."You're more likely to be struck by a meteor than dangerously bit by a spider."
"I don't believe you.That one in the mailbox almost got me."
Lynwood dropped down on Match's other side."Are you seriously scared of spiders?"
"Everyone gets the heebie-jeebies around something, and their little legs freak me out."Ronan shrugged, refusing to be bothered."It's not like I murder them.Ain't their fault they scare me.Live and let live, so long as they don't touch me."
