Where was he? I thought as I walked down the beach, having put away the supplies in the boat again before deciding I might as well see if I could find the strange man again. Surely he was still here on the island since there had been no boat to be seen yesterday besides my own. I could spend the day talking with him, trying to convince him to give me back my journal, if I could just find him!

Besides, I was already due to pay a fee for keeping the boat out all night. What difference would it make in keeping it out for the rest of the morning, too? I'd planned on coming back anyhow if I hadn't found the notebook yet, so it wasn't like I hadn't been ready to pay out serious money renting the boat anyhow.

I just wish I could remember how much the fine was for a late return. I know it mentioned something about a per day fee after a point but I had no idea how much a full day's fee was including overnight. I had only paid for the dawn to dusk rental plus deposit fees.

Sighing at the thought of my savings account being shrunk, even if just a bit, due to boat fees, I turned towards the now familiar path into the woods.

--------

I'd spent the morning hoping I could find where he was hiding, constantly scanning for any sign of habitation. It wasn't until my stomach was growling under the mid-day sun that I finally stopped searching, ready to turn and head back to the beach. I didn't have enough food left to keep going, leaving me no choice but to return to the town and buy something to eat.

After facing the boatsman and paying whatever overpriced fee he decided I owed him, not that I could complain since I had stayed of my own free will.

"Ah, here is you!" The joyful shout had me nearly screaming in fright at the unexpected sound, turning around to find the one person I had spent so much time searching for. How had he gotten there without me hearing him?

"You! You! Argh! Don't scare me like that!" I yelled before I could manage to calm myself down. Continuing in a more polite manner, I tried to use gestures here and there to show what I wanted to get across, although I am not sure how much he understood even then. "Please, try to get my attention before making so much noise. You scared me."

"Scared?" A quick look of sorrow flashed across his face before it was replaced with a small frown. "Sorry. I careful in next."

His hand raised up to cup my cheek, reminding me once again just how touchy-feely this young man seemed to be. It made me sad how obvious it was that he did not get much socializing if he was this starved for human contact.

"Yes, please be careful next time," I said slowly, watching him study me as I spoke to him.

I smiled at the small nod he gave before repeating my words back to me. I knew he likely wouldn't remember all of them, but every word was a chance for him to expand his vocabulary and if I was going to find out where my book was, I didn't have much choice. All I could do was hope he was a fast learner.

I blushed when my stomach gave a loud growl, telling everything in the area just how hungry I was. I blushed for a totally different reason when I heard his rough laughter filling the air, his eyes bright with joy by the time he finished and looked into my eyes.

"I dinner for you," he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me gently towards the trees behind him. "Me follow."

"Dinner? You mean lunch," I said, almost stumbling on a tree root as he pulled me gently against his side before I caught myself and pulled away to continue walking beside him. "The meal for mid-day is called lunch. The evening meal is called dinner. But thank you for offering lunch. Sas efkharisto."

Stopping for a moment, he looked at me intently before sounding out the words. "Lunch... Mid... Day... Mid-day? Lunch, no dinner, mid-day? Eímai berdeménos."

Seeing the confusion on his face, I patted his arm and gave in a little bit, not wanting to leave him feeling so lost.

"Meal. Just use meal. It is okay to say meal," I said slowly, resting my hand against his arm finally as I turned and mumbled to myself. "I wish I knew what those words meant. I need a language guide..."

"Meal," he said softly, still looking confused, but at least not so much. "I meal for you?"

Smiling at him again, I shook my head slightly and tried again, hoping I understood correctly myself. "You are offering a meal to me."

"Offering?" He seemed to be tasting the word, he spoke it so slowly, before turning his head and staring at me for a very long moment and opening his mouth once more. "I offering meal to you. Sas díno to gévma mou."

Following him again, I began contemplating bringing something to record him with so I could ask Stelios if he would be willing to translate some of his words for me. At the very least, I should try writing some of them down in a notebook. Of course, I would need to buy a new one if I planned to do so.

I missed my journal so much at that moment.

--------

With wide eyes, I looked at what lay almost hidden within the tiny clearing, the air filled with the smell of fish cooking slowly over the smoldering fire lying within the circle of stones. From the looks of it, he must have caught them early this morning and been slowly cooking them over the fire ever since then, similar to how I had seen once when I was a child watching a video showing how natives used to cook their catches so they lasted for days instead of just one simple meal.

This must be what he planned to eat over the next few days, if not longer. Just thinking that had me saddened for how limited his diet must be, solidifying the thought in my mind that I really needed to bring more food with me as soon as I had a chance to do so. Preferably things that would keep for a while, so he could enjoy them even if I was not there with him, but also simple treats he might not have had before.

Smiling at the young man as he handed me one of the fish, I sat down on the fallen log that appeared to have been dragged here for this very purpose and pulled a small bite of the delicate meat from the stick it had been cooking on. The flavor was amazing, smokey but still lush with the juices that had not yet been cooked out of the fish in the process of slow cooking it for storing. I could taste the saltiness of the ocean underneath the mild flavor of the fish itself.

"Thank you so much! This tastes so good," I smiled up at the young man across from me before frowning for a moment when I realized we still didn't know each others' names. Tapping myself on the chest, I spoke. "My name is (y/n). I am (y/n)."

Meeting his green and gold stare, I waited patiently for his reaction, hoping that he understood me and was willing to tell me his own name because, at this point, I was burning with curiosity. After a few minutes of hearing him mumble my name in his deeply accented voice, he finally turned to me and tapped me on the shoulder, my name once more coming from his mouth.

Hearing him speak it so clearly, however, had me blushing slightly at how exotic he made my name sound. I'd never heard it said like that, turning the simple word into something that flowed like honey from his lips. It took me a moment to realize he was staring at me, waiting to see if he had said it correctly, and all I could do was nod my head mutely while hoping he did not think me a fool for blushing over a simple word.

I blushed even more at the satisfied look he gave me upon finding he had said my name right, not needing any correction. Much like a cat that had caught a bird and now sat with a full belly under the sun's warmth.

Seeing him bring his hand to his own chest, I waiting in anticipation for him to open his mouth, the sun shining gently onto the same bracelet I'd seen him wearing yesterday.

"I am..."