"Ow. ow. ow." I punctuated each step with the word as we limped away from the corndog stand, laden down with pancake and sausage stick treats, as well as large cups of syrup. We staggered over to a picnic table nearby, slumping down onto the peeling and cracking wood with a groan as we let our food drop onto the table. We had paper plates, so I wasn't worried too much about it being dirty, and I was able to leave it there as I let my head slam into the wood, no longer strong enough to stay upright. "Ow."

Callie giggled, a sound which cut off with a whimper as the motion jostled her sore ribs. "Ow." She echoed. "Don't make me laugh. Or cry." she paused. "Wait, am I already crying? I can't tell." I cracked open an eye and looked up at her questioningly. But confirmed she wasn't and shook my head. I didn't raise it before shaking, so my face scraped across the surface of the table. I didn't care. She sighed in relief. "Oh, good. That would have been humiliating. Crying from just a little workout."

I snorted at that. "A little workout. I've been hit full force by a dullahan that was trying to kill me, and this was so much worse than that. Abel is a sadist." I forced myself to sit upright, since I had to eat anyway. "Still. I feel like it's getting results, don't you? Like, there's no way we would have lasted that long if we fought him a week ago. He would have crushed us. I never realized how lucky we were that the vision of him down in the labyrinth was so bored. Or maybe the years made him tougher? I have no idea."

Callie gave a vague nod as she dipped a corndog in syrup and took a hearty bite, moaning in joy at the taste. I decided that seemed like a good idea, and picked up one of mine, biting into it with gusto. I groaned in ecstasy as the sweet syrupy flavor melted into the fluffy pancakes and the steaming sausage. "Oh gods." I said through a mouthful of food. "How is this so good? What rank is this food?"

Having better manners than me despite eating much more voraciously, Callie finished chewing and swallowed with a groan. "G-rank of course. It just tastes better because we're both starving. Still, that is delicious." She continued eating, finishing the first corndog and starting on the second. Between bites, she resumed talking. "So, aside from insane hardcore training, what do you think we should do with our time until the tournament. Abel was right, downtime is a necessity."

I nodded, choosing to swallow before responding this time like she had. "Well." I said after a mouthful. "I was thinking we could do some bonding with the wolves. They've been kind of backburnered since we got back. We can go camping and take them with us, just enjoy the outdoors with puppies. Benny and I used to go camping in Valen, or at least nearby. It was always a lot of fun."

Callie bit her lip. "I mean...we could try it I guess. Especially if we invite Grimmengap. Their wolves would probably enjoy it, and having an elf along in the woods is bound to make things easier." I nodded enthusiastically at that. She seemed uncertain though. I didn't feel the need to push, just waited. Eventually she flushed and admitted in a low voice. "I've never really been camping. I don't count the hunt, because we had a building. Real camping though? Like with tents and stuff? I never had anyone to take me."

Her eyes were distant as she stared off into the crowd. She clearly had something she wanted to talk about, so I didn't interrupt. "My dad was never really around." She said without missing a beat. "You know about that. Spent all his time at the office or out on patrol. It was just me and mom, and she never had any abilities. The wilderness isn't ALL too dangerous for mortals, I think you and Benny were mortals when you went, but mom...my dad did a number on her."

"Not physically." She hurried to say. She sounded like that mattered to her. I was starting to get really pissed off, but obviously not at her, so I kept quiet as she continued. "It was more like...dismissal. He acted like she was less than he was. He was mostly patronizing about it, making comments about how mortals never understood us, or how her ideas were bad but it wasn't her fault, but looking back I see how completely toxic he was to her all the time."

I reached out and put my hand over hers. Her eyes snapped to mine and she coughed. "Oh. Sorry. Camping. Sounds fun. We should go. I was just thinking about that offer you made. About my mom. I just...gods Shane, I can't tell you what that would mean. How important it would be." I leaned over the table to give her a quick kiss and pulled back with a wide smile.

"It makes you happy." I said firmly. "It's worth it. Besides, it's not like I'm giving her something for free. My power doesn't work like that. She'll need to come up with some kind of payment. I can't really be involved, but I'm sure you can help her think of something that would work." I didn't want to make too big a deal about the gratitude. It was nice she was happy, but I didn't do things for her because I wanted her to be grateful.

She seemed to sense that, because she shifted to the subject I brought up. "Payment will be tricky for sure. I'm positive we can figure something out though. And it's a mortal wish, maybe she can pay in credits or something? Never mind, not involved. Point is, it's something I'm excited about. Maybe we can make our visit back before the tournament, provided we manage to get all our training done early."

She sounded excited about that, and I didn't mind. "If we get our goals met no reason not to take a break. Hell we can ask Abel to arrange it for us ahead of time if you want. I'm sure he could squeeze in some time between our training without messing up our schedule too much. He seems like he would be good at finding time to be lazy when he wants it." I said that last bit with a snicker.

When we finished eating, we decided to go for a walk. It wasn't as crazy as it sounded. The pain was worse when we were sitting still, and we figured a nice leisurely stroll would get the blood pumping. Well, leisurely in this case being an arctic crawl as we dragged our dead limbs across the grounds, but to be fair, we were both tough enough to hide the signs and make it at least look like we were walking casually.

As we strolled arm in arm around the circus, I took a long, deep breath. The smell of the food and the rides and sounds of excitement were everywhere, and I loved it. The lights burned in the darkness, creating a tapestry of emotion and sensation I had never seen anywhere else. I was just as poleaxed by this place as I had been the very first time I'd come here. Maybe more. "You know." I said. "I really love this place. Just being here makes me happy. Doesn't it just make you feel so...alive?"

Callie said her head on my shoulder. "Yeah. I've always felt comfortable in WCP honestly, but more than that this place is ours. At least part of it. I've never had anything like that before. Something permanent and mine. Like I know we won't be staying forever, but still, it's like we own our own house." She flushed a bit. "Or whatever. That sounds weird. But you know what I mean."

And I did. I'd lived with Zeke in our apartment in Valen for ages, and now we had the house in Rajak, but neither of those were mine. There was something really amazing about having a home that belonged only to you, about being able to do whatever you wanted to a place because you felt like it. Growing up I'd been able to decorate my room however I wanted, but it wasn't really mine completely. It was an apartment, and it was Zeke's. I could paint my walls, but I couldn't rip them out or install a nice shower in the bathroom.

Not that I wanted to do either of those things at the Pavilion. But I COULD do them. It was a heady feeling. Having a place that I controlled completely and that no one could take away from me. Once again Callie and I were on the same page here. I pulled her closer to me. I loved the atmosphere of our talk right now, but I'd been wondering about something and I thought talking about it would be good. "So, have you talked to your uncle lately? You never mentioned how things went there."

The two of us spent a ton of time together, but we weren't around each other twenty four hours a day. Well, not usually, the training had us bonding me. Still, she had tons of time to herself and I wasn't sure if she'd ever called her father's twin. She stiffened a bit before relaxing, letting out a long sigh. "I haven't been in touch. I've considered it a few times, but it's...hard. He looks like my dad, obviously, and there are so many issues there. I know that's not really fair to him, but I can't help it."

I blew out a breath. "I can't really claim to get how that feels. I'm not sure how I'd react if I met my dad's twin. Granted, the situation isn't the same anyway. Still, if you don't mind me giving my two cents I do have an opinion." I shot her a searching look, and she gave a solemn nod. "I think you should reach out. If it's too much you can always just cut contact, I'm sure he would understand, but if you don't at least try I think you'll regret it for a long time."

Looking down, I saw her glaring at me. There wasn't much heat in it, but she looked annoyed. "You know, you aren't always supposed to give me good advice. Sometimes you're just supposed to say 'yes dear, I think you have the right idea'. Just because I'm doing something dumb doesn't mean I want you to correct me." Her tone wasn't harsh or anything, just a little sulky, and I could tell she was half joking, though not completely.

"Yes dear." I said woodenly, my voice deadpan. "I think you have the right idea." I looked her right in the eyes as I said it, making sure to keep my voice as devoid of inflection as possible. Her glare intensified for a second, but I saw her lips twitching a bit at the edges for a second until she finally broke down and lost it, bursting out laughing so hard I had to actually hold her up.

She finally got control over herself with a marked effort, and still took a second of gasping to regain her ability to speak. "You're such an asshole sometimes. Fine, I'm being stupid, I'll call him and at least say hi, happy?" I grinned at her and leaned down for a kiss, which she accepted with an eye roll. "I have to admit, you're weirdly good at cheering me up. I'm already feeling better." Then she paused. "Although, not that much better." She stopped and looked up at me ponderingly before walking around behind me, and without any warning, jumping on my back. I caught her, hands under her knees as she forced me to carry her. "Ok NOW I feel all the way better."