Lucas nodded in agreement, but said nothing.

Rue resumed her trek along the park path, and Lucas fell into step alongside her once more.

"What time do you head out for your shift?" Rue asked after several minutes of companionable silence.

"Ah, well, I usually try to go pretty far up the mountain so I'm less likely to be spotted. So I usually leave home about an hour before sunset and drive an hour from home. There's a campsite there where I can park my car. Nobody uses it anymore, but it also wouldn't be that suspicious for a car to be there."

"Ok, I'll make sure I'm ready by then," Rue nodded.

"You sure?" Lucas looked at her with a bit of surprise. "I'll be up there for three days, effectively camping. I don't want to strand you up there the whole time. If you want to just come up tomorrow, I'm sure Claude would be happy to drive you up. He sometimes hangs out when I shift."

"No, it's fine. There's not really anything I need to do or prepare this weekend. A final camping trip before classes start sounds kinda fun. I also don't have any early morning classes, so there's no rush Monday morning," Rue shrugged.

"Ah, are you a night owl like Claude?" Lucas asked teasingly, bumping her shoulder with is companionably.

"Not like Claude, no," she chuckled. "While haunts are stronger and easier to locate at night, I can still perform my duties during the day. I suppose my kind was originally nocturnal, but there's been centuries of adapting to modern humans."

Lucas was quiet for a long moment after that, lost in thought. Finally, he looked at her and spoke.
"Sometimes when you talk, you sound very not-human," he observed quietly.

"Well, I'm not," she said simply.

"But your mom is, right?"

"Yeah. I was raised by a human, among humans, for most of my life. I wouldn't say I had a terribly normal human upbringing though, and the majority of my formative years..." she trailed off and shook her head. She wasn't quite ready to talk about that time in her life. Thankfully, Lucas only hummed and didn't pry.

When the two reached the part of the trail by the lake where Claude waited, Lucas separated from Rue to go sit with him for a while. Rue just did a second lap around the walking trail by herself. When she was done, it was after twelve, so the three trekked back to Lucas' car and he drove them into town for lunch.

They ended up at another one of the local supernatural-owned businesses in town. It was a tavern-style restaurant owned by a vampire and managed by a telepath who used his abilities to tell when someone was being over-served. There was a special menu for vampires that offered blood disguised as alcoholic drinks. In fact, some were cocktails of blood and alcohol.

Claude was visibly relieved that Lucas had selected this particular place, as his lack of breakfast was really catching up to him now.

Claude ordered a blood mocktail and a small salad, while Lucas ordered a blue sirloin with broccoli and potatoes. Rue simply got some roasted chicken with gravy alongside some asparagus and carrots.

The three chatted comfortably about trivial matters while they ate. There were too many humans in the restaurant to risk talking about anything supernatural. When the meal was over, Rue snatched the check before either of the boys could sneakily pay for the lunch in her place. She felt quite a bit of relief at feeling most of her debt to the boys clear as a result. She was pretty confident she could clear the rest of her debt to Lucas while he was shifted later. Claude was going to be more difficult, Rue felt.

On the drive home, Claude and Lucas had an animated discussion about college sports while Rue lounged in the backseat, listening to them in amusement. It was funny to listen to them just be bros, considering how pop culture portrayed their two species. But in truth, there were no 'natural enemies' among the supernatural categories. If anything could be called that, it would be fae versus the other eight types, she thought with amusement. Fae were just difficult to work with and didn't share the perspectives or ideals of the others. Even angels and demons weren't really enemies, though there was definitely a time many thousands of years ago when that was true.

The three split up to their individual houses once Lucas had parked his car.

Rue spent the rest of the afternoon reading the first chapter of each of her six textbooks, just to familiarize herself with the upcoming material. She ate leftover pizza for dinner and watched a little television while texting Lucia until her doorbell rang. She turned off the TV and meandered to the door where Lucas was waiting.

"Hey, you ready to go?" he asked.

"Yeah," Rue replied, pocketing her phone and stepping outside. She locked the door and put the key in her other pocket. Lucas was giving her a funny look.

"Um, aren't you missing something?" he asked.

"No?" she said, doublechecking she had her phone and key. "Why?"

"I mean... no bags? You're not gonna bring clothes or food or a tent or anything?"

"No," Rue scoffed. "I don't plan on spending much time in human form while we're out there, so it seems pointless."

Lucas gave her a doubtful look but shrugged and headed for his car.

"Hold on, hold on!" Claude hollered, dashing over to them. Lucas gave Claude a funny look.
"Rue, we should exchange numbers, so that if something happens up there you can reach me!"

Lucas' expression cleared.
"Good idea, Claude."

Claude beamed at Lucas and handed his unlocked phone to Rue. With a shrug and a slight shake of her head, she took the phone and entered her info into his contacts and handed it back. He promptly texted her.

Hi! :)

Rue snorted softly at the text and saved his number to her contacts and re-pocketed her phone. She waved goodbye to Claude as she got into Lucas' car.

The backseat had some camping gear thrown onto it. There was a tent and a tarp, a duffle bag and a backpack, plus a medium-sized cooler.

"Last chance to grab stuff," Lucas said, giving Rue a hopeful look. She just smiled and shook her head, drawing a resigned sigh from him. "Alright, but no complaining."

"Haha, that's not going to be a problem," Rue said, amused.

Lucas still looked very skeptical as he started the car and pulled out of the driveway. They drove in silence for the first ten or fifteen minutes.

"So, um, have you camped before?" Lucas finally asked, feeling a bit awkward at the extended silence. He was used to it with Claude, but not with Rue.

"Yeah. My mom and I camped sometimes, especially if we were between homes," Rue answered without looking away from the window.