An Outdoorsman's Guide To The Calls Of Common Thieves

On the edge

08/04/2024 

Blue Moon - Frank Sinatra

I wake up to the sound of my phone, a text from my mum saying they've shipped the instruments since they won't be able to visit until the summer. They said that they should come in two weeks.
"Huh, just in time to get in some practice for the festival."

I change, brush my teeth and get ready for work. A new page in my book for some new problems and/or solutions. With my office set up already, everything is ready.
"Let's see, Charlotte is today." I decide to go down to the bar to wait for Charlotte to come.

"Morning, Z!"
"Good morning Ryan!" Ryan is sitting on a barstool, facing away from the bar and drinking some water. "How'd you sleep?"
"Well, you?"
"Perfectly, thanks."

I had started to see signs of Ryan liking me, but it's always harder to tell when it's between others and yourself. I'm glad that Alex told me about her power, and I'm also glad that they think Ryan has some feelings for me. It's reassuring. But, not that they've told me about Ryan, who's to say they aren't going to tell Ryan about me? Who's to say they haven't already-

"What have you got planned today? Any clients yet?"
"One actually. I'm just waiting for them now. You?"
"I'm on superhero duty. Gotta check out some sparrows I saw the other day."
"Have you just not seen them around here before or do they stay usually?" 
"They're usually nesting around that area. They've just migrated actually, now that it's warming up."
"That is so cool."
"Just doing my job ... I've always wanted to say that."
We both laugh.

"Well I had-" "I think that-" 
"Sorry, you go." "No after you." "Please, I insist." "Ladies first."
"I think we both have to go."
"If you're looking for me, I'll probably be by the east side of the cliff." He adds on before I can reply "not that you would be looking for me particularly, but-"
"-I'll come find you when I'm done." I say, hoping to ease his panic.
"Y-yeah."
"See ya ranger."
"See you, doc."
As he leaves, Charlotte walks in.
"Hey!"
"Hey Z."
"Don't worry, you're not late or anything. I didn't know if you knew where to go, we're just upstairs."
"Oh, perfect."

...

"Thank you so much, I'll check when I'm next available."
"No problem at all, see you next time!"
She leaves my room, and I go over the notes that I took. I spend some time writing down some final conclusions and a few exercises that should help her.

I look out of the window. 
"It's still bright and early, I don't think we talked for that long." I check the time on my phone.
"Yup. Ryan said he'd be by some cliff? Let's go find him."

After walking around for a while, I see him on the cliff edge in the distance. I contemplate whether I should scare him, and the answer is definitely. 

As I creep up behind him, I notice that his head is facing slightly downward. Is he ... upset? I walk the rest of the way over to him.
"R-ryan? Are ... are you alright?"
I think I still scared him, as he jumps a bit with a gasp.
"You ok?"
"O-oh, yeah, I'm good."
"What's up?"
"Just ... remembering something."
"Alrighty."
He takes one final look over the edge of the cliff, and turns back to me.
"Wanna see the birds?"
"Sure."

Baby I'm Yours - Arctic Monkeys

We walk towards some trees and stop in front of one. He looks up towards the leaves and I follow.
"Do you see them?"
As the wind blows, the leaves rustle in the trees and I see a few twigs, carefully arranged into a bowl shape as its inhabitants chirp happily waiting for their eggs to hatch.
"They're so cute."

"What kind of bird are they?"
"What?"
"You know, from your bird call guides. Do they have these guys in there?"
"They're fox sparrows. See the reddish-brown colour?"
"I see."
"They're in some of these trees near this open area and the cliff edge where the stream continues. They're smart for finding water so soon."
"Birds sure are smart. I never noticed that the stream runs this far." I say, as we walk over and sit near the cliff edge. He starts to glance over again. I quickly lie down in an attempt to distract him. He looks at me before lying down as well. 

"Hmm, I spy ... a shark." He says, and I smile at my successful distraction.
"That one? Oh yeah, I see it! I think the one next to it looks like a star."
"Depends on what kind of star."
"You know, the 'twinkle twinkle' kind of star?"
"You're gonna have to be more specific."
"Patrick Star. Here." I move right, next to him to him, and point to it.
"Ohhh, yeah I  see what you mean. This one is kind of like a potato."
"I see a heart. Where are you getting a potato from?"
"Where are you getting a heart from?"
"Look." I sit up and take his right arm, straighten it and put it in front of him.
He looks at me, confused. "Don't worry, I won't break your finger." I gently shape his hand into half of a heart with his fingers and thumb, and shape my hand into the other half. I realign our heart with the cloud and his face is overcome with a look of realisation.
"I see where you're coming from, but I'm sticking with potato."
"Aww man." 

After laughing at more funky hand shapes, he stands up and offers his hand. I take it.
"Thank you, Z."
"Whatever for?"
"Lifting my spirits."
"No problem at all."
As we look down at them, we're both hesitant to let go of each other's hand.
"...should we head back?"
"Yeah, yeah sure." We awkwardly let go and walk back to the town together.