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"Aim the bow carefully," he whispered in your ear, barely audible. "Take your time."
You breathed slowly, trying to keep the bow still. Ahead of you was a female Elk, grazing in the grass. You steadied the bow, and readied yourself to fire the arrow.
At that precise moment, a flock of crows erupted from a tree, startling her. The elk heard them, and began to sprint away. Panicking, you shoot the arrow, missing it by a long shot.
Hanging your head in shame, Connor pats your back.
"Don't worry about it, there will be others," he reassured you.
Connor was always so patient with you. You couldn't understand why. To you, you seemed like the most annoying, unteachable person in all of the Americas.
Setting snares and baiting were easy, but taking down game with blades and arrows had you stumped. Connor made it seem so easy.
"We will try once more before we return home," he said. You nodded, as you both picked a new hiding spot.
You had started to doze off when Connor shook you awake. It was now dark, and stars dotted the sky. He held a finger to his mouth and pointed out from the bush.
A stag with a gorgeous set of antlers had wandered close. This time there was no way she could miss it.
Unless that tickle in her nose escalated any further. Connor was focused on the deer when he heard your tiny whimper. You were trying to hold it in as best you could, but you could feel it coming.
Connor had already put his face in one palm before you sneezed violently, scaring the deer off.
"Damn!" you shouted. Connor furrowed his eyebrows, but remained patient with you.
"We'll try again tomorrow."
"...fine."
---
The forest was eerily silent at night. Not even crickets chirped.
You headed back to your temporary camp in the forest and lay down on your bed roll.
"I'm starting to think I'll never get the hang of this hunting thing, Connor," you said sadly.
"I'm sure you will soon," he said, nodding his head. "Not everything comes as easily as it does to others."
"I suppose."
"Remember when you had to teach me how to tie knots for hours when we were younger?"
You laughed at the memory.
"And somehow you ended up tying your fingers together!" You laughed giddily from exhaustion. He laughed as well, happy that you had taken your mind from your failure.
He sighed, staring at the stars with you. You rolled closer, placing your head on his muscled chest. He went rigid at first, but relaxed as you curled up next to him.
You considered yourself lucky. Connor wasn't one to let people touch him often.
"You know," you said with a yawn, "you make hunting sexy."
His eyebrows raised higher than you'd ever seen them go before. He blushed furiously, placing his hand on your forehead. You scoffed and pushed his hand away.
"I'm not feverish, Connor," you said. Placing your ear on his chest, you could hear his heart beating wildly. You planted a small kiss on his shoulder before settling back down with your head resting on him.
He immediately sputtered, completely surprised, and not entirely sure how he felt.
On one hand he liked you very, very much. On the other, this could complicate everything.
But all thoughts disappeared when you placed your lips on his. He kissed back after a moment. You smiled into the kiss.
It seemed you weren't returning home completely empty handed.