.

.

.

'This much, I can do.'

Something that didn't involve blood, pain and death.

Something simple.

Something warm.

I could even enjoy the moment.

There wasn't a nagging need to finish something. To hunt down a target.

I could just stare up at the stars... and relax.

"Anything else?" I enquired carefully.

"Sorry, I believe I misheard the... quest.... Buck – Hahahahaha! Sorry. Sorry. I dozed off there. What were you saying?"

"Is there anything else I can help with?" I repeated. "...I might not have graduated college.... I'm not even sure about having finished high school.... But I can do the grunt work. I read fast."

"Hmmm... I guess I could use some help evaluating security stuff? When we get to our destination. Nothing we can do at the moment.... As for schooling, would you be interested in finishing all that?"

"...I can't go to school. I'd... I'd put the students in danger."

"Well, we do have a few schools. You can take the courses virtually, go at your own pace and Eve will just supervise the exams and stuff?"

'I can finish school...?'

"So the question is mostly if you want to and which accent you feel like listening to? I'd recommend the British or Canadian schools. They're the most established campuses."

'I can finish school.'

"Australian is fun if you're actually there. The rest are in other languages. Which you can take too if you want to do the whole language immersion thing."

"English sounds good," I responded. I needed to get used to writing in English.

"You can take classes from different campuses too," Valeriy added excitedly. "I'll study with you. I have about five years' worth of stuff to catch up on... if I'll be working with Amber and... Gramps again. Maybe I'll take a class with you. Depends on what you pick. Oh! Oh! We can take knitting together!"

"Knitting? When would we ever use knitting?"

"Probably never? But that's the whole point," she said excitedly, grinning from ear to ear.

"...The sun's coming up," I noted at the sky turning lighter and a few stars fading out of sight.

"Time to find the totem poles," she said, searching it up on her phone.

"...It's 5.9 kilometers away, Val."

"...I don't believe my ankle's going to love me after that.... Shall we steal a car?"

"...."

"You really disapprove, huh? 'Kay then, Let's just head off to Kamloops... where we'll be trading this big thing... for a stolen car...."

I could only sigh before scooping her up and snatching the blanket on my way to the ground. "Go steal a damn car. We're going to the totem poles."

A tiny excited cheer escaped from her as Valeriy scampered happily into the parking lot. With my hand clasp in hers.

When she tried to swing me towards the passenger side of a dirt caked sedan, I followed her instead. "I'll drive."

'I'll have to ask her how to pick a lock sometime.'

Would be better to have another option rather than breaking into everything.

A car with the door ripped off wouldn't blend in.

Nobody else was awake, so nobody would notice us speeding down the road. Got us there in less than half the time. 4 minutes and 26 seconds.

"This is a big one," Valeriy laughed, leaning against the dashboard with her face turned skywards.

13.74 meters tall. Red, black and turquoise painted over wood. 9 faces. Topped by a bird. Lit up by the rising sun.

"Let's take a picture with it," she said, setting up the phone gutted camera on the dashboard. She snapped a photo and fiddled with the settings. "We got a minute after I press this button to get into position. Going to count on you for a 5 second countdown."

"I can do that."

A beep sounded the press of the button and we both rushed out of the dirty car.

41 seconds.

We stood side by side next to the totem pole.

"We could make this a little more interesting," she said, leaning against the side of my arm.

"What do you suggest?"

34 seconds.

"How opposed would you be to me sitting on your shoulders?"

Easy enough to lift her over my head.

26 seconds.

"Oh, we're going to look tiny next to this. Move closer to the car."

"Here?"

"Probably more.... Oh! Oh! Better yet! We can cover the totem so when we put the glass on it, it's us!"

'That would be... here.'

"10 seconds."

Valeriy giggled excitedly, fiddling with my hair. Pulling it back and out of my face.

"5. 4. 3. 2. 1."

"CHEESE!!!"

I scrambled to hang onto her left leg when her right slipped off behind me with a downwards push against my shoulder. "Val, your ankle."

"You worry too much, Bucky. Landing on my working leg. Just hold still for a couple of seconds."

With that, her weight dropped off me. Hands braced against my back as support. Two taps on the way down.

Elbow to the side of the head. Target incapacitated.

"See? All good. Let's check the photo. If either of us looks derpy, we're retaking the photo again," she explained, pulling me along behind her.

Her hand still wrapped up in that damn sleeve.

"Did I blink?"

"Nope," she chirped, showing me the screen. "Even managed to capture that beautiful smile of yours."

'I was... smiling...?'

Not as widely as Valeriy in the photo or currently. But it was a smile.

"Holy shit.... We're the exact same height as the totem pole...."

'...I smiled...?'

"Here. Your turn."

"Huh...?"

"For your copy?" Valeriy offered, holding out the phone gutted camera while fanning her face with a photo.

'I was smiling....'

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Author's Note:

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