Page 67 of Hummingbird and Kraken

Declan

Declan wandered back to the rock Geir had been sitting on, since it was the most likely place to start.

Geir wasn’t there, but that wasn’t too worrisome. He might have seen something interesting, or even gone for a swim.

He was pretty certain they hadn’t crossed paths near the house, so he moved his investigation to the lake.

Mystery solved. Geir’s jeans were crumpled on the dock and his shirt was wrapped around one of the poles. Usually he left his clothes folded behind one of the larger rocks, but maybe he’d had an extra urge to swim today.

Declan tidied up Geir’s clothes, squeezing the water from the cuff of one sleeve that had dangled in the water.

Now that he knew where Geir was, he didn’t feel any need to hurry. It wasn’t like he could do anything while Geir was in the water, though maybe swimming naked above would tempt him out?

Geir had spent long hours before at the bottom of the lake, so today maybe he could collect more data.

Declan went back to the cabin, grabbed some snacks for later and packed his sketchbook. He’d started a second one now, since the first one was mostly for Operation: Geir. Maybe he could make it into a comic series or something later.

Time slipped away as he sat by the water and drew a few ducks and a gull. He’d have to ask Geir what kinds they all were later. He wouldn’t remember it all, but Geir’s stories often had unexpectedly interesting details. He added a mermaid for good measure.

Eventually he couldn’t sit still for any longer and his snacks were gone, so he headed back to the house. When he checked the clock, Geir had been gone for about four hours. So far, Day 6 mission status: total fail.

But at least he wasn’t totally bored and lonely, liked he’d been on some other days when Geir took off.

He planted most of the seedlings, hoping that he’d gotten it right. Now would be a really good time to have internet. There had to be YouTube videos on “how to put a seedling in the dirt” right? He’d listened to Ro, and Geir, a bit, so he thought he had it pretty much figured out.

He planted about half of them, because he still wanted to do some with Geir, and he wasn’t sure if he was messing it up.

Then, he was hot and sweaty, so he took a dip in the lake.

Information on target: Swimming naked was not an effective strategy for bringing Geir to the surface.

Well, time to make dinner, then. He’d been experimenting with cooking the whole fish that Geir caught, and there were four fat trout waiting in the fridge from yesterday. He still couldn’t tell the difference between varieties of fish from the lake, since they were all silvery scaled on the outside and white and flaky when cooked, so he was taking Geir’s word for it. Maybe he’d eventually figure them out.

For now, he loved the idea of cooking meals that Geir had provided for him.

He tucked sprigs of rosemary and oregano inside and covered them with foil, then tossed them in the oven with the potatoes that were already going. He started work on a blueberry cobbler for dessert, but he could put that in the oven after they sat down to dinner.

He puttered around for a bit, dancing to some of the songs he’d saved on his phone. He took his time cleaning things up and rearranging his treasures on the windowsill until the timer went off.

Now all he needed was Geir.

He hadn’t seen the man since their teasing moment on the rock this morning, but he was used to Geir disappearing for hours at a time. Usually he came home for dinner, though, even if Declan didn’t go after him. It was possible that he wasn’t even in the water anymore but had wandered off somewhere else.

“Geir?” he called out the back door. He turned the other way and repeated the call, his voice echoing over the water.

Maybe he should get a dinner bell. One of those thick metal triangles like the cowboys had. He would need to dress up for it, though. Maybe he could get a whole cowboy outfit with pistols on his hips. Or a tight dress that buttoned up to his neck with a corset underneath with a little white apron over it.

The back porch would be perfect for a Western. Or better yet… a kraken-Western crossover. He could imagine Geir in a bolo tie and cowboy boots, his tentacles waving. His life just kept getting better every day.

A few minutes later, Geir still hadn’t come home, so he wandered out to look for him. The fish might get cold, but they could be reheated. And it was a beautiful evening.

He went back to the lake where Geir’s clothes were still folded on the dock.

Ugh. Day 6 mission status was a total fail.

He covered up dinner and grabbed his sketchbook from the house, but now he switched to colored pencils as the sun set, capturing the golds and purples as they danced together behind the tree line.

It was only when the sun fully set that he realized how hungry he was and just how long he’d been waiting.