"Did you hear the news?" Creek asked as he sat down with his and my coffee at the stone table. It was becoming a stable that we'd all meet up here at the tuk-tuk with terrible coffee every morning, if we had early classes.
"What news?" I asked and took off the plastic lid on the paper cup, letting the hot beverage cool off a little before I was ready to more or less gulp down the whole thing in one sitting.
"There's been another murder."
I frowned. "Huh?"
"Yeah, out in the forest. They think it might be the same person who's behind this murder too."
"You alright?" I asked a little tentatively. I wasn't sure how deaths actually affected them and their family.
He rubbed his chest and grimaced, bopping their head from side to side. "It's like heartburns, you know? And it doesn't stop, even after the scream. My dad's the same way. It takes us a while to get over it. Like it's there under the surface and we've already screamed, but I feel the need to do it over and over."
"That doesn't sound very pleasant," I tried, in lack of something better to say.
It did bring a smile forth on Creek's face though. "It's not. Thanks for asking though."
"We could always go somewhere remote, if you need a good scream. I know of some places since I usually shift there."
"You know, I'd actually quite like a bit of a hike and scream into the void sounds nice. What're you doing this weekend?"
I felt giddy. I was still not used to having friends or even having to plan my weekends. And the fact that Creek was the one to bring it up? Like I desperately wanted to be their friend. He was cool and nice and really talented, and I had never had any other art friends.
"I'm free this weekend," I said after I had been silent for an awkwardly long time. "Wanna bring some watercolours as well? I've been itching to paint outside ever since getting here and it's so beautiful in the forest."
"You read my mind! We're doing backgrounds next semester and I absolutely suck at environments." They sighed dramatically. "Why can't I just draw portraits of people forever?"
I laughed and took a sip of my now slightly-cooled-off coffee. "And I just wanna paint pretty sceneries until I die. Can I just be that kind of painter, please?"
"Why are we even studying art. We've got this whole thing figured out."
"Because yous need a degree to get jobs," Fred said and dropped down next to me on the stone bench, seemingly coming out of nowhere. I wondered if she knew how to teleport or if I was just massively unaware of my surroundings. "What're we doing?"
"Creek and I are going hiking this weekend and we'll be bringing some painting materials to paint the scenery," I said all excitedly.
"You nerds. Can I come?"
"Naturally," Creek said softly and pushed their glasses further up the bridge of their nose.
"I bet Cal would love to come too." Fred smiled widely to a point where it could only be fake.
I snorted. "How about we just bring the whole group? Those who don't wanna paint, can sit and watch us paint."
"Yes, Abel and Cal would probably love that." Fred laughed. "Alright, we should go early though, so we can get some awesome lighting."
"Definitely agree there." I took another sip of my coffee. I had to drink this fast otherwise it'd be cold and boring.
We did leave early, everyone stuffed into Abel's car. Poor Cal had to sit behind me in the front passenger seat, me having pushed the seat all the way to the front, just to fit her legs in there somewhat comfortably. Fred sat in the middle in the back and Creek sat beside her. Fred had no issues fitting in. She was tiny compared to all of us, to be honest.
But we got on the road nonetheless with Abel confidently behind the wheel. We had the radio on, listening to his favourite jazz radio station, the scenery was flying past us outside the windows, and it was shaping up to be such a pleasant day.
We stopped in a parking lot inside the forest that was the beginning of a popular trail. We grabbed our backpacks, and we were off. I kind of intentionally ended up in the front with Cal. We hadn't spoken much before, and I wanted to get to know her better.
"Can I ask you a kind of weird question?" I started off, like the suave socialite I was.
"Sure." She glanced down at me, arching a blonde brow.
"Are you... Supernatural too?"
She made a loud 'hah' sound and looked relieved. "I thought you were gonna ask why I'm so tall for a second there. And yeah, I'm supernatural too. I'm a griffon. Which actually also answers the question about why I'm so tall. We're all tall."
"Can I ask another probably weird question?"
"Sure, Gael," she chuckled.
"What's a griffon?"
"A griffon is an eagle shifter. Kind of. Big ass bird humanoid." She shrugged a bit. "I'm not the one with the words, obviously."
"I'm not either, no worries," I said with a smile. "So, you can fly?"
"Yeah."
"That... Is so cool. Like ridiculously cool. How is it? Flying?"
"Honestly?" She smiled back. "It's the fucking best."
I could only imagine. I wish I could've been bitten by some bird rather than a dumbass wolf. Imagine turning into a bird every full moon and just fly around instead of chasing bunnies like an absolute maniac.
"There are downsides though. Like everything grows when I gotta shift. So, I gotta always be prepared to burst out of my clothes. Can't be wearing my favourite shirt or trousers if I think I need to shift quickly. Also, why I've got like twenty pairs Vans in my closet. Talons rip right through them."
"Ooph, I can actually relate. I didn't have time to get undressed during the last full moon and ripped right through a favourite pair of jeans. I'll never find another pair as comfortable as those." I sighed a little mournfully. They were really good jeans!
We stopped at the top of the hill, which in my opinion was more like a mountain, but apparently it wasn't according to Abel for some reason or another. But overlooking the valley our little town was located in was amazing. Trees spread as far as the eye could see, mountains were looming in the horizon, and the clouds let in spotlights from the still rising sun. It looked like a "wish you were here" post card.
I sat down on the tree trunk that seemed to have been placed there instead of a bench. It didn't ruin the environment at all, but it did offer something for tourists. I immediately started unpacking the little watercolour travel kit alongside the brush that could hold water in the handle.
The longer we stayed, the sunnier it got. The clouds slowly dispersed, letting the sun do its thing to the fullest. It got comfortably warm, and we could all drop out sweaters or jumpers within no time. Abel moved to the shadows under a tree, stretching out his legs on the ground and immediately falling asleep. I had to be impressed by that gift of being able to nap wherever and whenever.
Cal had brought a book and was comfortably reading next to her girlfriend, who kept accidentally pushing her with her elbow. Cal didn't seem to mind one bit though, just smiling a little every time it happened. I hoped me and Abel to get to that point sometime in the future. It seemed small but to me it seemed like the ultimate form of affection. Fred kept accidentally doing something that was bound to be a little annoying, but Cal wanted to sit beside her girlfriend, so she put up with the small interruption every now and again.
It also really solidified my image of Cal being the gentlest of giants. She always seemed so mellow, and I always found myself relaxing in her company. She was probably one of those people you could absolutely have comfortable silences with.
When the sun had passed its highest point, Abel woke up and sat down next to me on the trunk, leaning his head against my shoulder.
"Have a good nap?" I asked and patted his cheek.
"Yeah. The sun makes me tired though. Did you bring that thermo flask?"
"Yep, hold on." I rummaged through my backpack, Abel having to be without head support for a second. Much to his displeasure.
I handed him his thermo flask and he poured out some blood into the accompanying mug that also functioned as a lid. We couldn't go away for this long without Abel being able to feed. So, we had heated up some blood from home and now kept it in the thermo flask where it'd stay warm.
"You're the best." He placed a kiss on my cheek and then looked down at my painting. "In more ways than one. Holy shit, Gael, you're like... An artist."
"No, say it ain't so. The guy getting a degree in art is an artist," Fred said without looking up from her own painting.
Abel rolled his eyes and then looked down at my painting again. "Can I have it?"
"Sure, you can." I didn't care if his compliments were awkward, he made me feel awesome.
"I'll have it framed somewhere. It'll look awesome in my living room."
"I think you're a little too excited about a basic watercolour painting there, Abel."
He shook his head and took another sip from his mug. "I don't think so. I think it's a nice painting and I want it next to my telly. Then if there's something boring on the telly, I can just look at some beautiful nature."
"It's yours then," I said with a wide smile. I tried to be cool about it, but it was really hard. I sucked at getting compliments on my work and I had realised it was even harder when it came from Abel.