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“That should about do it. Hey, Sunshine-” Theo brushed his hands against his thighs to get rid of the remaining dust off as he turned to look for Ghost. When he didn’t find the other where he left him not even ten minutes ago, he looked around slowly. “Uhh, Sunshine?” He called out to the other, confused and just the tiniest worried. He knew the other wasn’t exactly thrilled about having to spend another night in the open but they had gotten a late start that morning and hadn’t made it to the next town. But why was he suddenly not nearby?
Concern growing, Theo started walking away from their tent to start looking around for Ghost. The other’s things were still in a neat pile next to his own pile of things, which made him snort because he KNEW Ghost had organized his own things a bit, but this meant that the other wasn’t far if he had left everything behind. He was about to leave their camp when he heard rustling nearby, whipping around to face it with a hand to his dagger before he lowered it with a sigh of relief.
“There you are!”
Ghost raised an eyebrow, pausing in his stride before he continued walking towards where Theo was. “Here I am?” He looked up at the other questioningly before he deposited the small amount of wood in his arms into a pile. “Did something happen?”
“You disappeared!” Theo frowned. “And without telling me anything beforehand.”
“Ah, sorry. I figured you were busy setting the tent up so I went to go and find some kindling.” Ghost shrugged and reached his hands up to quickly throw all of his hair into one ponytail. “I take it the tent is secured?”
Theo let out a hum, watching Ghost’s hands closely before he was quite literally shaken out of it as the other pushed at him. “Right, sorry. Yeah. Yeah it’s secure. I’ll get the fire pit set up. Did you bring back just the kindling or did you find any larger pieces we could use?”
“I couldn’t carry all of it but I brought back some. I’ll go back and grab what I can in a minute.” Ghost replied, looking back towards where he had just been. “Am I cooking for us tonight?”
“I would love it if you did.” Theo sang out, grinning as he got to work digging into the ground to set up a small fire pit for the night. He got a hum in reply, making him grin wider as he continued on the fire pit.
It didn’t take long before they were both finished with their tasks and had gotten the fire going, deciding that an early dinner would be a good idea for them. Ghost had gotten set up with cooking a simple meal for them with what they still had left of their dried foods while Theo gone down to the river to catch them a couple of fish.
“Theo, do you still have those spices?” Ghost asked, carefully flipping one of the fish over to check on the char on it. There was a rustling of noises behind him before a small bag was set down next to him. “Thank you.” He didn’t hear anything else from Theo as the other returned to his seated position against their piled bags. Glancing over his shoulder to check on the other, Ghost was slightly startled to find Theo staring at him. “Can I help you?”
“Probably not in any way you want right now.” Theo said with a grin, winking at Ghost who immediately scoffed and turned back to the fire. Giving Theo his view of the other’s bared neck once more. “You don’t usually keep all of your hair up in one ponytail.”
“Not usually no. It causes too much of a headache keeping it all up like this. It’s fine for short periods of time while I’m doing stuff but not for hours at a time.” Ghost replied, flipping the other fish with one hand while he used the other to rifle through the bag to find what he wanted to sprinkle some of the seasoning over their food.
“There’s other times you put your hair up like this too.”
Ghost visibly tensed and Theo had a split second where he thought about running but the other suddenly relaxed. “Yes, there are other times. This is twice now you’ve sent a hint, Theodas.”
“Ooooh, full named.” Theo snickered, sitting upright as Ghost looked back at him with a small scowl. “I’m not hinting at anything I promise. I know you don’t like doing anything when we’re camping. Unless you’re VERY h-”
“Stop it!” Ghost tossed a stick at him, face turning bright red and he turned around again with a huff. “Fish are almost done.”
Theo, biting back a laugh, got up and moved over to their bags to grab their waterskins before moving to the fire just as Ghost pulled the skewered fish away from the flames. Trading one of the waterskins for a skewer, Theo settled down next to Ghost comfortably and started eating quietly. The silence was comfortable and Ghost wasn’t pulling away which made Theo happy, a smile settling on his lips.
“Thanks for cooking.” Theo nudged their shoulders together gently, careful not to jostle the other as he ate. He got a shove back in return, making him smile wider. “And I was trying to say that you look nice with your hair up like this.” He felt Ghost tense and relax in the span of a second, which he found instantly amusing. “That’s all I was trying to get at earlier.”
“You could have just said that you know.” Ghost muttered, frowning around his food.
“Where’s the fun in that though? You don’t get as flustered if it’s not an innuendo.”
Which was a lie and they both knew it. Ghost’s answering smile was as big of an answer as a verbal one.
“I know you dislike camping but what do you say about one more night tomorrow?” Theo asked quietly after a while, waiting for Ghost to finish eating to ask.
Ghost tipped his head to the side to rest it against Theo’s shoulder and hummed softly. “One more won’t hurt I guess.”
Theo had to press his face into the top of Ghost’s head, kissing the spot gently to hide the dopey look he had on his face.