Chapter 181. I Watched the Mechanics. She Noticed. Neither of Us Said Anything About It.

It took the entire afternoon to complete the shore survey, and Rex accompanied Talyra during the initial part of it.

Aisella had taken the northern perimeter to collect plant specimens along the volcanic rock shelf, and she did it with the focused independence of someone who worked well alone and preferred it for certain tasks.

This was a natural arrangement, not a planned one. Rex and Talyra walked south along the shore.

Talyra had her bow and was using the survey for two things: to find resources and to hunt for three days of independence from their field kit rations.

Talyra said, "The water visibility here is amazing."

She waded to her ankles at the edge of the shore and looked down through it. "I can see the bottom at six meters."

"Are you going to use a fishing line or a bow?" Rex asked.

"What kind of a stupid question is that?!" Talyra laughed.

"Of course, I’m going to use a bow! It’s more challenging and way more fun," she replied, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

Rex chuckled, shaking his head at her enthusiasm. "Just making sure you’re sticking to the plan," he replied, adjusting his grip on the bow slung across his back.

Rex watched how carefully she looked at the water below her. It was the same level of attention she gave to any other targeting problem, but it was adjusted for refraction.

Rex said, "At this angle, the refraction is about thirty percent."

"Nope... your calculation is off the charts by a bit there, buddy."

Rex glanced at her, where she was already locking on to her target. "I see... you’re really getting good at this."

"It’s twenty-eight," Talyra said. "The water here is clearer than normal, which makes it less likely to be at the higher end of the standard estimate."

Rex nodded, impressed by her precision. "I guess I should take notes from you next time," he replied, shifting his focus back to the shimmering surface of the water.

’He actually listened,’ Talyra thought, almost distracted by it. ’Most people just smile and nod when I explain the numbers...’

’He actually heard me.’

She smiled, her confidence shining through as she adjusted her stance. "Just remember, it’s all about patience and observation," she advised, her eyes glinting with determination.

With her bow poised and ready, the arrow was nocked and steady. Taking a deep breath, she scanned the surrounding area, her instincts sharp as she prepared for the perfect moment to release.

She fired. The arrow flew at an angle that initially seemed off until the fish it was aimed at suddenly stopped moving.

"Yikes," Rex watched the shot from the bank. "You moved three centimeters to the left."

’Three centimeters,’ she registered, pulling the arrow from the water. ’Not "nice shot" or "wow." Three centimeters to the left...’

’He was actually watching the mechanics.’

’I don’t think anyone has ever watched me that carefully before.’

"Twenty-eight percent refraction, and the fish was swimming at a slight angle upstream." She waded in to get the arrow and its cargo, not caring that her boots got wet. "It’s really just math when you look at it closely."

"It’s not just math." Rex said, "The math goes by so quickly that it doesn’t seem like math."

"Alright, let me try this again without any mistakes this time!"

Talyra considered this while she processed the fish with the clean efficiency of someone who had been doing it since they were a child and then looked up at him with the expression that was the one underneath the brightness.

"You know," she said, "when you say things like that, it sounds like the skill itself is the impressive part."

"Isn’t it?" Rex replied.

"People who watch me shoot say things like ’You’re so talented’ or ’You make it look easy,’" she said, and the way she said it wasn’t complaining, just honesty. "And then you say, ’The math goes by so quickly that it doesn’t seem like math.’"

She then laughed. "You’re a unique one, aren’t you?"

"Well..." Rex looked at her. "That’s what I really see, honestly."

Talyra was silent for a moment, holding the cleaned fish and gazing at him in the way she did when confronted with something that completely took her by surprise, as she processed what to do with it.

’He sees the work,’ she thought. ’Not the result... Not the performance, but the actual work underneath it.’

’That’s... a strange thing to notice about a person... and that’s a very Rex thing to notice.’

"That’s better than ’talented,’" she finally said.

"It’s more correct," Rex said. "Here, let me help you with it."

She turned away, and that’s when he reached past her to point at a second fish that was moving below the surface at a different angle. He was close enough that she could feel his warmth and the change in the air, but instead of stepping away, she stayed where she was and raised the bow with her arm almost touching his.

Talyra felt a slight blush rise on her face. ’H-he’s close... but I don’t mind it at all...’

’He smells so nice, even though he’s sweating a lot...’

’And his arm—how is he this steady just standing there? He’s not even the one holding the bow.’

’Oh no... I need to stop talking to myself about him.’ She shook her head and then asked. "That one?"

"That one," Rex said.

She shot from that spot, which was closer to him than it should have been for her draw, and she didn’t say anything about it. The arrow went straight again.

Rex took a step back to the right distance and didn’t say anything. The recent moment was unfolding on its own, and adding words to it would have been pointless.

[TALYRA SKYDANCER: DESIRE LEVEL — 58/100 → 68/100]

Rex thought. ’That do the trick...’

They fished for another hour, working the southern shoreline together in the calm silence that comes from two people doing something they are both good at. Rex held the catch while Talyra worked the water.

When she wanted a different angle, she told him what she wanted and he moved her, either by putting his hand on her bow arm, changing the angle of her elbow, or just standing where she needed him to be so she could use his presence as a reference point for the shot.

’He doesn’t overcorrect,’ Talyra noticed at some point during the third or fourth adjustment. ’When I tell him where I need him, he just goes there.’

’No questions... No suggestions... He trusts that I know what I’m doing.’

’That should be a normal thing, and why does it feel like such a rare thing?’

Talyra wasn’t talking as much when they got back to camp with enough fish for dinner tonight and tomorrow.

This wasn’t a sign that she was upset, but it was the opposite. She was in the specific quietness of someone who had run out of performance and was just there.

Rex saw this and didn’t do anything about it. He thought that the specific quietness of someone just being there was one of the most useful states he could put someone in, and messing with it would have made it worse.

...

Talyra was cleaning the last of the fish near the fire pit, and Rex was setting up the drying rack they’d need for tomorrow’s catch. Neither of them was in a hurry.

"Hey," Talyra said, without looking up from what she was doing.

"Hey," Rex replied.

"I mean—" She stopped, reconsidered, and tried again. "I mean thank you. For this afternoon."

"You don’t need to thank me at all." Rex glanced at her. "You did most of the work."

"You know what I mean." She set down the fish and turned to look at him properly. "You held the catch for an hour."

"You didn’t complain once about standing in wet sand."

"You didn’t try to take over or offer advice I didn’t ask for." She paused. "That’s not nothing."

"That’s just being useful," Rex said.

’He really doesn’t know how to take a compliment,’ Talyra thought. ’That’s either the most humble thing I’ve ever seen or the most frustrating.’

’Possibly both.’

"Okay, well," she said, "accept my gratitude anyway."

"I’m giving it to you whether you want it or not."

"Alright, accepted," Rex said, without making it a big thing.

’Yeah, I got her right off the bait...’ Rex smirks.

She watched him test the tension on the drying rack with two fingers, and something about the matter-of-factness of it made her chest do a small, inconvenient thing.

’Genuinely unfair,’ she thought. ’He’s not even trying.’

"You know what I was thinking?" she said, going back to the fish.

"What were you thinking?"

"That you’d make a pretty decent archer’s assistant." She glanced at him sideways, keeping her voice casual. "You’ve got the patience for it."

"The stillness, and even the good spatial awareness." She tilted her head. "Also decent enough arms."

There was a half-beat of silence.

"Decent, huh?" Rex said. "Ouch."

"I said what I said." Talyra smiled without quite meaning to. "Don’t let it go to your head."

’Why did I say that,’ she thought immediately. ’

Why THE FUCK did I say that out loud?!’

’I DIDN’T MEANT TO DISRESPECT HIM!’