The Strays: Volume 1

Chapter 23: Another Hotel

I wake up in the same position as when I fell asleep, and it comes as a relief to know that Blaize never bothered to move me or push me away. He still rests quietly, though he appears to have been awake for quite some time, and despite his laid-back exterior I can sense him getting restless, for daylight means freedom of flight and we move best when we can see—when the sun is out.

If my joints are not going to cooperate, though, we may have to stay here longer than he wants. I know we're on someone else's property and that's mainly what makes him uncomfortable, but this place does not seem to be used often and we should be pretty safe.

"Hi," he mutters groggily as I push myself up a bit to look at him. "Ya' sleep good?"

"Mhmm," I nod, lying back down. "Thanks for being my pillow, Fido."

He chuckles, wrapping his arms around me and holding me tight. "No problem. You haven't called me Fido in awhile."

"I sort of forgot about it. Did you sleep good?" I wonder, fingers crossed beneath the blanket.

He shrugs. "I rested. Had a couple weird dreams and kept waking up, but I'm okay."

"Were your dreams scary?"

"Not quite. Creepy in some ways, but really, after all we've been through, I'm not surprised. I'm just confused that they haven't started until now."

"Welcome to my world."

He smiles at this. "It's an honor to be part of your world."

"Really? I find that hard to believe. My world's in pieces, and has been for a long time. It's a mess."

"Yeah," he shrugs. "But so is mine. Actually, your world's not a mess. Just creepy and weird."

"Aside from that... Do our pieces fit? The ones we have left?"

"I dunno, you tell me."

"What does that even mean?" I make a face.

"Well, sometimes we fight. So...."

"That has nothing to do with our pieces fitting, Blaize. We can still be allies even if we fight sometimes."

"In that case, I think our pieces do fit. For the most part." Then, he sits up and rests a hand on the floor between my arm and waist, leaning over me. "Think you'll be able to walk? We should probably get going."

"But I've been here for three whole days and nothing happened."

"Never say never," he warns seriously, eyebrows raised. Then, he takes my hand and pulls me into a sitting position. "Come on. We need to go someplace else or we'll freeze to death."

He's right, but if my joints don't want to behave, we have no choice but to stay unless he wants to carry me, and I'd really rather not do that to him. Forcing myself to get up and work those joints, I manage to stand and lean against the wall for full stability. I'm a bit wobbly, but that's to be expected. The past few days haven't exactly been gentle on either of us. As Blaize gathers everything and swings on his pack, I notice that he is dragging his bad leg again. Trying to mask my concern, I stumble out of the shed with him and wait patiently as he gets rid of anything that may serve as evidence of us being here, apart from our footprints. It is snowing again, albeit lightly, so we're not too worried about leaving tracks right now.

"You know, even though you're not quite fit to be seen, I might just take you into town if you can hold out that long," he mutters as we trudge through the thick snow.

"I think I'll be fine," I answer breathlessly, fighting my own body to lift my feet in stomping motions to keep me moving. He gives me a funny look, then shrugs it off and lifts his hands to blow on them. I watch his feet as they lightly step through the snow; he has a way of moving that is so brisk and yet not hurried at all. Almost like a dancer.