Page 73 of Miles's Pact
Twenty-Seven
Miles
"This was a great idea," I said as I spread the blanket, placing the basket on the edge so it wouldn't blow away.
We were at the very edge of the Silent Creek Park, the part that butted up against the Silent Creek River. Whoever had named these places couldn't have been very creative, and I wondered if Raiden could change the name, at least for the park. It wouldn't hurt to ask. Or maybe I could wait until Cam was in charge…
Trees lined the earth, their roots reaching into the river and creating the perfect little hollows between them for us to sit, have a picnic, or hide away from the world for a while,
"Right? It's been a while since we shifted, and since the weather is rain-free today, I figured why not," Mateo said as he pulled his shirt over his head, then stepped out of his pants and underwear, completely unashamed of his nakedness.
"You going to shift?"
"Yeah, give me a minute," I said as I set the cooler on the other side, making sure the blanket was well-pinned.
Mateo shifted into his owl form, and I picked up his clothes, moving them to the blanket so they wouldn't get dirty.
"Ready?" I asked Duckie, and he nodded, then undressed and quickly shifted. I followed suit, leaving my clothes in a pile with theirs, and Mateo hooted at me from the branch he'd perched on.
I'm going to swim for a bit. Why don't you fly with Mateo? I'll join you once I'm done, Duckie suggested, and I chirped in agreement before taking off.
Mateo hooted, leaping into the air before I could get to him, and I raced after him, chasing him through the air as he flew higher and higher before diving straight down. I stopped short as he plunged into the water, then came up again, his wings dripping as he tried and failed to maintain his speed.
I knocked into him, then kept flying as he tried to chase after me, but his wings were too weighted down to match my speed, and he fell behind as I made a wide circle around the park, eyeing the houses nearby.
Got you!Mateo said in my mind as he knocked into me, sending me off-course as I tried to catch myself.
Flapping my wings as I turned around, I raced after him as he dived, then made a few spirals, zig-zags and anything he could think of to lose me. But I'd grown up playing this game with him, and I kept pace, avoiding the trees as he flew between the branches, determined to make me lose.
Just when I thought I might lose after all, a green, brown, and white blur smacked into Mateo, sending him flying into a tree.
Holy shit!Mateo exclaimed through the bond as Duckie squawked in satisfaction. I flew over to him, landed beside him, and nuzzled into his side as Mateo extricated himself from thetree and joined us.Hey, no fair. I didn't know you were playing, Duckie.
Start again?I suggested, and Mateo nodded as Duckie squawked again.
Every man for himself, Mateo decided,and the last one flying wins.
Sounds good.
We took off, and for the next hour, we knocked each other out of the sky again and again, and it was the most carefree I'd felt in ages. I'd forgotten how much fun it could be to shift and let loose. We needed to do this more often.
After we'd tired ourselves out, we shifted back and got dressed, then ate the lunch we'd packed as Mateo gave us a replay of the game as if we hadn't been right there with him, making everything sound far more dramatic than it'd been, as was his talent.
"Help me clean this up," I said once we were done eating, and together we gathered up the paper plates, plastic bags, and the empty Coke cans, putting everything back into the basket to dispose of later.
"Do you want to swim some more?" Mateo asked Duckie, and he hummed thoughtfully before shaking his head.
"I think I'm done for today, but I'd like to come back again sometime. It was weird, not shifting for so long. While I don't miss spending all my time as a duck, I do enjoy swimming, and flying. I'd like to do it more often."
"Yeah, I feel the same. Maybe we should make this a weekly thing," Mateo suggested.
"I like that idea. We don't have to do the picnic each time. We can go eat somewhere after," I said.
"Yeah, that's perfect."
Duckie smiled, excited by the prospect of shifting more often. I should've thought about that. It couldn't have been easy to go from being a duck all of the time to being a human.
Mateo
