"Yeah, I think I'll call it New New York," Clarisse answers without hesitation. She hikes her pack up tighter on her shoulders, grins over at Abby, and sets off up the mountain.
It's more a deer trail than a walking path—sometimes they have to walk single file to avoid getting scratched by bushes, and a couple times there are larger boulders they need to climb up and over to keep going. After about fifteen minutes they reach the bank of a river and Clarisse gets visibly pleased about it, rubbing her hands together in a very self-satisfied way.
"Bad," Abby says immediately, and laughs. And then they're off, following Clarisse's path through the woods, not talking much. They don't need to, the silence — the one between them, the forest is incredibly active — is comfortable and Abby finds herself slowly settling into their pace in time, enjoying the stretch in her legs. Clarisse seems to enjoy going in a straight line no matter what, even if this means pushing between trees or dense foliage, or clambering up rocks. It's funny.
Abby privately thinks she could keep doing this for hours, actually, following Clarisse around wherever she thinks they both should go.
"You're so excited about it," she notes, hauling herself down the other side of a bank. Affection is making her tone playful. "It's pretty cute."
Clarisse rolls her eyes. "Shut up, no it isn't." But she's pleased that Abby thinks she's cute. She isn't above being cute in this situation.
"Mostly I'm excited that I remembered how to get here," she admits, as they begin to make their way upstream. She takes them back into the woods a little, keeping the river close enough to hear it but choosing a pathway that doesn't keep it in direct sight. "Imagine if I'd taken you the wrong fucking way."
She knows Abby would have pretended to like wherever they ended up, even if it was just some field or weirdly shaped rock. Because Abby likes to get out and move, to climb and explore just like she does, so it would be the whole journey rather than the destination thing. And because Abby likes her, too.
But Clarisse still wants something worth it at the end of this. Payoff.
That she's pleased with herself for correctly remembering the way is pretty cute too but Abby decides she's gonna keep her mouth shut about it this time; she's smiling while she follows Clarisse upstream. The sound of the river is nice, the smooth rush of water over stones. This reminds her of travelling with Lev. It's easy and she's able to enjoy all of it, the breeze rustling all the foliage and Clarisse walking a little ahead of her to direct them both, the sun punching through the canopy every so often to shower them in warmth. Before she came here she was only ever aware of her environment to keep herself from getting hurt by it.
"Then we would have gone the wrong way," she says. "I don't care."
The journey is good. She rumples her braid to get it off the back of her sweaty neck and grins, extending her arms up over her head in a good stretch. When she tilts her head to one side she feels the stretch extend up the side of her neck into her jaw. "This is really nice. Doing this with you, I mean."
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no subject
It's more a deer trail than a walking path—sometimes they have to walk single file to avoid getting scratched by bushes, and a couple times there are larger boulders they need to climb up and over to keep going. After about fifteen minutes they reach the bank of a river and Clarisse gets visibly pleased about it, rubbing her hands together in a very self-satisfied way.
"It's not far now."
no subject
Abby privately thinks she could keep doing this for hours, actually, following Clarisse around wherever she thinks they both should go.
"You're so excited about it," she notes, hauling herself down the other side of a bank. Affection is making her tone playful. "It's pretty cute."
no subject
"Mostly I'm excited that I remembered how to get here," she admits, as they begin to make their way upstream. She takes them back into the woods a little, keeping the river close enough to hear it but choosing a pathway that doesn't keep it in direct sight. "Imagine if I'd taken you the wrong fucking way."
She knows Abby would have pretended to like wherever they ended up, even if it was just some field or weirdly shaped rock. Because Abby likes to get out and move, to climb and explore just like she does, so it would be the whole journey rather than the destination thing. And because Abby likes her, too.
But Clarisse still wants something worth it at the end of this. Payoff.
no subject
"Then we would have gone the wrong way," she says. "I don't care."
The journey is good. She rumples her braid to get it off the back of her sweaty neck and grins, extending her arms up over her head in a good stretch. When she tilts her head to one side she feels the stretch extend up the side of her neck into her jaw. "This is really nice. Doing this with you, I mean."