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“I don't know, Val... I think about taking it easy this week and simply being lazy at home.”
She tried to persuade him, gently declining his offer.
But Valko shook his head, still confident that a day spent camping would help her way more than staying home. The fresh air, the nature, the barbecue, the starry night... he had already planned everything just to allow her to relax and enjoy a night spent in the wilderness.
“Trust me with this. I already covered everything... we'll have fun.”
He promised her, and his enthusiasm made her give in.
Once they were in the woods the next day?
Everything went wrong.
One accident after another ruined every plan Valko had made for them.
One of the tent’s poles was broken and they had to replace it with a tree branch. But the piece of wood ended up tearing the fabric apart and also offering its little guests a new place to build a colony -so many ants stole their sleeping spot right under their nose.
“It doesn’t matter… we can sleep in the car,” she reassured him as they focused on preparing something to eat instead.
“It’s not going to be the same thing, though…” Valko complained, still annoyed by the ordeal. But as she stood by his side, offering a big smile, the corner of his lips tugged up too.
After all, he had other activities in store, so everything wasn’t lost… yet.
The barbecue transformed into a mini-hell just for them.
He spent almost twenty minutes trying to start the fire with bare hands and rocks, only for her to find the lighter in the car.
“Where the hell was it?” He groaned as dusted his hands while he squinted at the small fire burning the branches and becoming stronger with each passing second.
“It probably slipped out of the outer pockets of the bag,” she offered as she unpacked the food and brought it to him.
“It was under the car seats.”
He let out a heavy huff and decided to let this slide too.
Food was the priority now.
He could still make up with her by preparing something good to eat.
And Valko thought that he was finally doing something right -the fire crackling and the smell of roasting meat wafting through the air made both of their stomachs growl.
But they weren’t the only hungry creatures in the woods.
“Valko!”
She gasped when she saw something brown launching onto the table all of a sudden.
His shoulders tensed up instinctively and he let go of the meat he was cooking to assist her.
“It’s a squirrel-”
“You little thief! Let the sausages go-”
With a couple of big steps, he reached the table and attempted to grab the little animal. But the squirrel didn’t get scared by his move and instead took its escape with the meaty trophy secured in its mouth.
Valko ran after it and kicked the thick trunk the little thief quickly climbed, low curses escaping from his mouth.
He was beginning to lose his patience.
All his efforts were going to the drain and-
“Oh, no no no!”
She lamented out loud as she rushed towards the fire and took off the burnt meat, trying to save whatever she could.
“Oh, c’mon…” he whined, going to give her a hand. “This is food robbery!”
They could only manage to fill two plates of black, charred steaks.
She was just as upset as him and hungry.
“Well… we can toast some bread? Wait… better not, we can just eat it as it is-”
“Nope. Definitely not.”
She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at his declination. Curiously, she watched Valko head into the car and rummage into the storage compartment.
“What are you doing…?”
“Bring the seats to the bonfire so we can be comfortable and warm!” He instructed her, his voice coming out muffled as he was crouched down, the upper half of his body inside the car.
She hesitated a moment before doing as she was told. She put the seats one beside the other and sat down in front of the fire, the smell of burnt meat mixed with wood still lingering in the air.
“Ta-da!”
She blinked in surprise when Valko returned to her with a victorious smile and a pack of marshmallows in hand.
She hadn’t expected that.
“Why do you have marshmallows in the car?” She chuckled, a mix of disbelief and amusement in her expression.
“It doesn’t matter. It wouldn’t let us starve at least,” he brushed the question off, the tip of his ears turning bright red as if admitting his sweet-tooth embarrassed him.
“But first… let’s get this charcoal away.”
She hummed in agreement and accepted the pack of marshmallows from his hand while he lifted the table and put it aside, removing the burnt meat from their sight.
“Hey, don’t eat them all! Roasted tastes better-”
He playfully scolded her when he caught her pop a soft, white marshmallow in her mouth behind his back.
As the sky began turning blue above their heads, they seemed to have found a moment of peace -sitting side by side and watching the marshmallows turn gold before daring to bite the hot sugary treat and have a taste.
Laughter filled the quietness surrounding them… though, they didn’t scare a brave mama fox from approaching their table. The animal didn’t care if the meat was burnt, there were three hungry cubs waiting for her to teach them how to hunt.
A thud made her and Valko still mid-banter, their gazes snapped toward the sound and widened when they realised that they had company.
“Better not disturb mama…”
“Yeah…”
With slow steps, they left their place in front of the bonfire and found refuge in the car.
The sky was covered by thick clouds that hid the stars, so Valko had to give up his plan of stargazing with her too.
Lying on the seats and staring at the tall, dark branches of trees through the car windshield, he sighed sadly.
“We should've stayed home… ”
Hearing the disappointment in his voice made her heart ache, and she turned to look at him in the driver seat. Reaching out, she took his hand in hers, their palms pressing against one another as their fingers intertwined together.
“It would've been less stressful…” she agreed but then chuckling, she couldn’t resist teasing him halfheartedly:
“Though, I would've missed the hilarious sight of a werewolf forgetting how to wolf in his natural habitat.”
He huffed in mock offence at that.
“I wolf perfectly.”
"...today wasn't representative."
She snorted in amusement and squeezed his hand gently when he glanced at her with a small smile.
“I wanted today to be perfect,” he confessed honestly, his voice echoing as quiet as a murmur in the car interior.
Her expression softened at that and her free hand left her lap to rest over their interlaced ones, her thumb stroking tenderly his knuckles.
“It was.”
She said, smiling at him fondly.
“...and you were right. We had fun.”