Sliced Trees and Dead Words

28 - Her bark is worse than her bite.

- WOLFE -

"I'll send you the details of that job, and you can let me know what you think when you're ready," said Mason, sending Luna and I off at the door after cheesecake which was unbelievably delicious. Nella is a true magician in the kitchen. "No pressure, mate. It's just an option if you need it."

"Cheers, Mase. Really appreciate it," I replied, gripping his hand in both thanks and farewell. I didn't know what I was going to be doing, but I loved that he liked me enough to offer me work, just on the off chance I needed it. "And thank you, Nell, for that amazing meal. I'd almost forgotten what it was like to have a quality, home cooked meal, and you have made me feel like I need to be having more of them."

Nella smiled and said it was nothing, but that if I'm sticking around they should do it more often. "Wait until you try Luna's cooking though, Wolfe. You'll leave me high and dry on my offer in place of hers, trust me," Nella said very seriously without a doubt in her mind of whose cooking I'd prefer. She hugged me tightly, whispered "thank you" in my ear, presumably relating to Luna, and returned to stand in front of her husband.

I don't know if Luna's cooking was better than Nella's, but if it was I might be even more hard pressed to find myself ever leaving Byron Bay, because everything else here is already making me feel like hanging up my traveller's boots and settling down.

Luna had carried Medusa back to my car, and was now buckling herself into the front seat. I watched as she looked back up at me, wondering why I was taking so long. She's been restless all night, and I guess I have been too. I know we need to talk about so many things, but I don't really know how to even start those conversations.

"Her bark is worse than her bite, Wolfe," Nella said, nudging me in the lower back to get me finally moving in the direction of my car. "Luna, I mean. Not Medusa. Though, I think she's just as much of a major softie too, even without sedation."

Nella and Mason both laughed at me for being such a chickenshit, and I smiled as I rolled my eyes back in Luna's direction, not entirely convinced of their faith in her bark:bite ratios. I've already been on the receiving end of a few bites, and not the fun kinds.

"What were they laughing at just now?" Luna asked as I climbed into the driver's seat. She looked anxious, like she already knew whatever it was would embarrass her.

"How afraid of you I am," I replied as I turned the car on, which wasn't technically a lie. She scared the fuck out of me, only probably not in the way she was thinking of fear.

She looked at me curiously as I began driving home, not mentioning it or anything else again until we were safely inside her house, where the silence was so uncomfortable to her that she couldn't help but break it and say something.

"Why would you be afraid of me?" she blurted out once Medusa was safely resting in her room where she left her before returning to where I was waiting in the living room, though I wasn't exactly sure what for. This—Luna blindsiding me with her directness—was not what I expected, but I now have no choice but to roll with it.

"You're a terrifying woman, Lune," I admitted, leaning back on the back of the sofa and crossing my arms as I answered her. "Why wouldn't I be afraid?"

Her dimples appeared as she formed her reply. "I don't know whether I'm supposed to be insulted or proud of that."

I laughed, and her dimples deepened even more, and I wanted so bad to extend my index fingers out to poke them. "Could go either way at this stage," I joked, and she took a few seconds to take heed of the fake insult in what I'd said, and crossed her own arms over her chest from where she stood leaning against the kitchen island, placing us in yet another battle of wills. I pushed off the sofa and walked towards her, stopping just shy of where she stood, flustered and irritated in equal parts. "It was a joke, Lune. Praise, not insult. You scare the absolute shit about of me."