Simone continued to stare into the fire as she and Shayn spoke. It was far more than she'd been intending to share, and yet… somehow, in the dark, she felt he might not abuse the confidences she was relaying. Wouldn't mock her for them later.
"Does your imagination often erase me from your adventures?" He asked softly, and she was grateful for the fire's closeness. Hopefully the heat creeping up her neck would be easily mistaken for the glow of the embers.
"Not anymore," She admitted without thinking. She chanced a look at his face, which registered surprise.
"Then it used to?" He pressed.
She ducked her head, giving him all the answer he needed.
"What changed?" Shayn seemed more serious than he should be. As if he were actually interested in what she would tell him.
"You did save my life, more than once," She hedged. "Don't you think that likely earned you a position in my imagined adventures?"
"Since when have you given me what I deserved?" His voice turned light. "I recall an occasion or two where I deserved a slap and you did not deliver one."
She chortled. "That is entirely true."
"And yet, it makes me more curious about my part in these pretend adventures. Am I the hero? The villain? The bumbling and incompetent sidekick?" His mouth twisted with irony as he provided the last option.
Simone froze, realizing she should not have let the conversation go this far. If she were honest, her daydreams more and more often painted him not as an aggravating opponent for her to best in verbal jousts, but as someone who cared for her, rescued her, and comforted her.
He had certainly been her savior in reality, but in her wild imagination, he was morphing into the role of romantic hero.
"What role would you have, given the choice?" She deflected, and he stared at her in the firelight while he considered.
"Faithful friend," He decided.
"That's all?" She blurted, then dropped her eyes to the fire. It came across as a criticism when really she was simply surprised, and maybe even a little disappointed.
"It's a start," He said cryptically. "Can you be more before you're at least that?"
Her eyes widened. "What 'more' do you aspire to?"
Simone's words were barely above a whisper, and perhaps he didn't hear her, for he laid his head back down on his pillow.
She didn't want to ask again. It was a presumptuous question. None of her business. The firelight had made her too bold, and she was glad he hadn't seemed to hear, or at least was politely pretending to. She laid her own head back down and stared at the stars, waiting for sleep to come and breathing so deeply and so evenly that she almost missed his words.
"Much more."
Her breath caught, and she looked over at him, but he was rolling to face away from her, his back to the fire. She didn't sleep for a long time after that, trying to decipher a hundred meanings behind the two words.
By the time morning came, she was tired and sore from tossing and turning on the hard ground. What had started off as a comfortable evening had ended with her puzzling out Shayn's cryptic comment.
She rose long before the sun, taking time to ready herself before cooking a simple breakfast for the two of them. Judah had a curious look on his expressive face, darting glances continually between the humans as if trying to work out a problem.
The thought made Simone uncomfortable, and she wondered how much he had heard in the night. Nothing inappropriate had been said, but the conversation had likely been confusing enough to a stranger to be a point of intrigue.
The large cat had already demonstrated that he had a firm grasp of human language, even if he couldn't produce it himself.
Shayn was pleasant enough while eating that Simone could have sworn he actually, truly enjoyed the food. She wanted badly to question him about his aspirations, but the light of day had driven away much of her boldness. She dared not risk his ire now, in front of the giants who were rising and getting ready to move further South.
Jarnsaxa took up the humans' belongings again while Simone braced herself for the experience of riding the great cat once more.
"Shall we arrive today, do you think?" She asked Shayn quietly. "They run very fast indeed."
He thought about the matter. "Tonight, perhaps, if we don't need to go all the way to the sea."
Simone nodded. On Judah, they could move faster than she had imagined one could go. It was nearly impossible for her to judge exactly, but she couldn't disagree with Shayn's assessment.
"Are you ready?" He asked. "Did you want to ride in front today?"
The offer surprised her, and she considered it for a moment. "Is the wind much worse in the front?"
He shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine. I've only ridden tandem on an otherworldly giant cat the one time, and you were there for it."
She pursed her lips in thought. "I'm not sure I can hang on as well as you can. If I fall from behind, I doom only myself. I'd hate to drag you down with me from the front."
"That's not a concern I have, but the decision is up to you. I'll make sure you don't fall off." He sounded as if he'd practiced a confident indifference, and her eyes narrowed slightly.
Judah chirped, and knelt on his front legs, signaling they should climb on for the next section of the journey.
"All right," Simone decided. "I'll give it a try."
It occurred to her that she hadn't even questioned Shayn's motives for suggesting the change. Was the front worse for some reason? Would the wind nearly blind her?
Judah chirped again, rousing her from her thoughts. Shayn stood beside the animal, one hand outstretched in an offer to aid her in climbing atop Judah's back.
She took it, and his warm, calloused hand enveloped hers in a way that struck her. Simone froze for a moment, captured by emotion, but Shayn was looking at her with mild concern.
"Are you all right?" He asked. "We don't have to switch."
Was he calling her bravery into question? She couldn't allow that! She clambered onto Judah's back and looked down at Shayn with triumph.
"I'm quite alright," She smiled. He gave her one in return and lifted himself up behind her. His arms came around on either side of her to entwine themselves in Judah's mane, effectively encapsulating her between the man and animal.
This was not something she had considered. It was almost like being embraced!
"Comfortable?" He asked, his voice next to her ear making her jump. Was he going to be this close the entire ride?
No! No, she was not comfortable! This was the opposite of calming! But she couldn't say that, could she?
"Hmm," She replied noncommittally, leaning forward to entangle her hands into Judah's soft fur.
He leaned with her, and the heat of his chest against her back permeated her. It was consuming, and she resented him for it.
And wished it would never stop.
"I will make sure you don't fall off. Rest if you need to, I could tell you didn't sleep well last night." His voice in her ear made her tremble, and she looked over her shoulder to tell him that her sleeping habits were none of his business, when she found out that her ear had not exaggerated his closeness.
He was, indeed, close up against her, so that when she turned her face, they were inches apart. Her words died in her throat.
"Thank you for your concern," She whispered instead. "I'm sure I'll be fine."
He said nothing, and the tension grew between them. It was Jarnsaxa's voice that finally broke the moment.
"LET'S GO, LITTLE ONES," She whisper-yelled. "BRING THEM ALONG, CREATURE."
Judah leapt forward, causing Simone to cry out in alarm. One of Shayn's hands kept its grip in Judah's mane, while the other released to curl protectively around Simone's waist and pull her closer against him, in case her cry of fear indicated she was falling off.
She was far from that. Sandwiched between Shayn's body, his arms, and Judah's mighty head, she could scarcely have been in a more secure position. However, the arm around her waist was driving her beyond distraction.
It was all she could do not to place her arm over his and hold it there, but she kept firm hold of Judah's mane instead. The sun was just peeking up on the horizon.
"You're fine," He assured her against her ear. "I won't let you fall."
She thought he must be referring to how tense she was, glad he seemed to have no idea that he, and not the giant cat they were riding, was the source of her heightened emotion. Well, a good portion of it, anyway.
Judah was going awfully quickly.