“Hey Little Rawr, are you okay?” he asks me, clearly concerned.

“Huh, oh yeah. I just got lost in my head for a moment there, nothing to worry about.”

“You get lost often, a lot of demons in your past?” he asks.

“Hmm, no more or less than anyone.” I say and flash him a bright smile.

*********************************************************************************************************

Luke enjoyed spending time outside with Aurora. She was cute and had an easy smile, when she wasn’t a thousand miles away that is. He also enjoyed teasing her. He picked up a mushroom and chased her around with it telling her that she must eat the mushroom to gain it’s amazing and shroomtastic powers.

“What does that even mean?” she had shouted at him.

“We will find out once you eat it. Bwahahahaha!’ he said and continued to run after her.

He saw her foot catch on a branch, and he quickly threw the mushroom and caught her in his arms. “Sorry about that Aurora.”

He says, so thrown off that he accidentally called her by her given name instead of the fantastic one he had come up with for her. A tragedy indeed, but It was definitely less of a tragedy than if she had twisted her ankle. He knew that he should let her go, but wanted to hold on for a few extra moments, after all he saved her so that made it only slightly creepy.

Not to mention she was weak on her feet at the moment, and he needed to check her over for a moment. It was for science! He had to make sure that she really was a human, being able to make physical contact was a good sign. With the few extra, not creepy moments, he bought himself he did his best to count fingers and toes. She could be some kind of cryptid.

She was short, warm, smelled really nice, was on the thin side, too thin if one were to ask him. He could also hear her breathing from what appeared to be a normal circulatory system. Her heart had been beating fast when he first caught her and was gradually slowing down.

He wondered if her hair colors were something that she chose, or if had some supernatural origin. Her hair was purple, blue and green, and with her wavy hair it looked like the aurora when she was moving around. Coincidence?

“Hey Luke, don’t you think that you should put me down now? Just a thought…” she said and he realized that he would seem like a creeper if he kept holding onto her, well more of a creeper.

He gently let go, making sure that she didn’t again. That would not be cool at all. “Are you named after your hair?”

“Thanks and no, how would that make any sense?” She says awkwardly. “It’s weird for you to call me my name. Which is odd because I have only known you for a few hours.”

“I know I know, and you feel like you have known me forever right? Alas for is me, too handsome am I, far too attractive and alluring.” Luke flashes her his best smile and wiggles his eyebrows. He sees the tension leave her shoulders that had been there since he caught her.

“You know what? Yeah that’s actually a bit true.” She pinches her thumb and forefinger together leaving the smallest of space. “Now let’s take those ferns and get back to the cabin.”

*********************************************************************************************************

Noah was feeling a tiny bit frustrated. This book had seemed promising at first, but now it was just becoming illogical. All it gave was vague phrases, like a fortune cookie. “No wonder you were shoved into the corner of that shelf, you annoying book you.” He said, attempting to threaten the book into giving up its secrets to him.

“If I read this right then it seems that I just need to have a strong relationship with someone living. But what exactly does that mean? What does that look like? Is this any kind of relationship?”

Groaning Noah re-opens the book and reads back through everything that he looked over earlier. “Do I need to do quests in order to get clearer instructions on how to physically manifest?” he says out loud to himself while secretly hoping the book would start glowing. Noah pauses for a moment to give it time, but alas a quest was not given.

He just wished that he had clear answers. Well, there was one thing that he had learned from the book, and that was that he needed to be around living people and create connections with them.

“It would be easier to just focus on one person, but maybe it would be better to develop a connection to multiple people? Is it the more the better or is it quality over quantity?” he had never been so frustrated with a book before.

He had a strong desire to lecture the book, or shame it into giving him answers. He would do it if he thought that it would work. Or, well, he would try it a second time. Surely a book about the supernatural would have secrets, that had to be unlocked with secret methods. Noah nodded to himself as he tried to assure himself his actions made sense and were not at all absurd.

“That’s it, I will stay around Aurora as much as possible, as well as observe Luke. I don’t know if I am going to want to talk to him right away or not.” He didn’t have a problem with Luke, but he felt like there was a connection with Aurora. He felt almost as if he has met her before.

*********************************************************************************************************

“Are you sure that your ankle is feeling alright? Did I catch you before you had the chance to twist it?” Luke asks me. Again.

“For the fifth time my ankle is fine. I appreciate you worrying about me but I really am okay.”

Luke gives me a side eye, trying to see through me. “I hear that dancers can be a little on the crazy side when it comes to practicing. You wouldn’t try dancing on an injured ankle would you? Let me see you rotate it, and then jump up and down!”

“No. Not this time at least. I have done that in the past for sure, but I don’t have any reason to hide an injury here. I have no shows coming up, no recitals, no grades. Nothing. I have a lot of time to rest if I felt that I needed to. Right now though, I really am fine. See” I say as I demonstrate the many uses for an ankle, rotate and flex, yeah that is about it.

“I have no choice but to… Follow you and keep an eye on you while you dance. This is absolutely mandatory with no other ulterior motives.”

“And making sure that I’m not hurt is your only reason for watching me dance?”

“Did you not hear my no other ulterior motives, that means it is totally the only reason. And not that I want to see you moving around in yoga pants why would I want that? Makes no sense, I tell you. I just need to keep an eye on you to make sure you aren’t hurt… and that you aren’t a ghost.”

I look at him, gauging him. He was honest, I would give him that. Many other girls would blush at the compliment, but I am not most other girls. Not anymore. Now it is almost as though I am gauging danger level when anyone compliments me.

‘And yet I was comfortably able to flirt with him earlier. And when he caught me he didn’t do an accidentally on purpose grope.’ I think to myself. I decide to trust him, for now, somewhat. Yes, a modicum amount of trust has been bestowed upon him. We would be living together for the foreseeable future after all.

“Alright. You can come along. I do have a question though. Do you want to watch, or do you want to learn?”

“I don’t doubt that you are a very good dance teacher, but unless you know any country dances then I don’t think that you will have much luck with me.”

“Are you talking about line dancing, square dancing or the country two-step?”

Luke stares at me without saying anything for a couple moments too long.

“Umm, hello? Luke?”

“I’m sorry. I just got a little startled. I know that you are a dancer, but I figured that meant you learned classical dances, with maybe some jazz or modern thrown in there. But country dancing?”

“Haha, there is a story behind knowing how to do country dancing. Well, I know them for two reasons actually. I learned some during high school as an extra elective. That was an interesting school, and I have no idea how that became an elective. I was one of only a handful in the class. It was fun though.

“I nearly forgot how to do it though until a drunken bet one night. I don’t remember why we were drinking or who started the bet. All I know was that I lost, woke up the next day with my first and last hang over, and a sticky note telling myself that I had to learn the country two-step well enough to do it in an upcoming dance competition.”

“Haha, how did that go, and did someone record it?”

“Surprisingly well, and no all evidence has been destroyed. My dance partner was an easy-going guy that was nice to everyone. I did make sure to introduce myself to his boyfriend before we started learning the dances together.”

“How could you destroy such a priceless treasure, but that was nice of you. The boyfriend thing, not the destruction of art!”

“I try to be courteous. I know that if I was in a relationship with someone, that’s something that I would have liked. Some dances can be rather intimate, so introducing yourself to your dance partner’s romantic partner was something that I learned to do early.”

“Was it a common practice at your school, or with your friends? And I’m sorry did you just say country dancing is intimate?”

I sigh and run my fingers through my hair. “Not as common as it should be, and that all depends on how you dance.” I had seen relationships ruined because of this. It is never fun.