“Look at these yucca.” Alexei pointed to the plant on the page, its sharp green blades surrounding large, creamy white blossoms. “And the yerba santa.” Alexei flipped to another page, the cups of the purple-blue flowers splashed there in bright color, drawn with a slightly dreamy hand. Ben was impressed with the color—a full palette of drawing pencils weren’t typical items found in a backpacker’s pack—and with the fact that Alexei knew it was calledyerba santa.
“Are you a botanist?” Alexei asked, looking back at Ruby. Who snorted a little, shook her head.
“I like plants,” she said simply.
Alexei looked back down at the page. “An artist, then.”
“It’s a hobby.”
Alexei’s head jerked up again, a sharp frown on his face. Ben was reminded of when he had been scolded after the rattlesnake. “This is not a hobby, Ruby. D&D is a hobby.”
“You play D&D?” Ben interrupted, fascinated.
Alexei glanced at him, ears pinkening. “Sometimes.”
And as if he’d revealed too much, he moved away, back toward Ruby’s log. Ben’s knee immediately felt lonely.
“Do you have any books of your art I could buy when I get home?”
Ruby laughed at that. “No.”
“Well.” Alexei handed her back the sketch pad. “You should publish these.”
Ben thought about how much Alexei had helped him back there on Fuller Ridge, how naturally he had talked Ben through it. How almost oddly sincere he was being to Ruby right now about her work.
He was a bit of a strange duck. Definitely a nerd.
But it was clear to Ben now. That mostly, Alexei was deeply kind.
Ruby studied him. After a moment, she said in a pained tone, “I have an Instagram.”
“Oh.” Alexei scratched at the back of his head. “I don’t have one of those.”
Ben bit his lip to hold back his smile.
Ruby only nodded. “Respect,” she said.
Alexei’s brow creased in thought before he marched over to his pack, still leaning against his abandoned log, and took out his journal. “Can you tell me your username?” he asked.
Ruby did. Alexei wrote it down.
“Thank you.”
“Sure,” Ruby said.
Alexei looked at the sky. The sun was beginning to stretch toward the horizon. “We should probably keep going,” he said with a hint of regret. “Try to make it a little farther before we camp.”
“Agreed.” To the protest of his knees, Ben stood. He felt a little awed, and delighted, at how little he had been part of this entire interaction. He turned toward Ruby. “Do you want to hike with us for a while? If that’s okay with you,” he added with a glance at Alexei.
“Okay with me,” Alexei said.
“No, thank you,” Ruby answered. Another shrug. “I sort of fly solo.”
“Respect.” Ben grinned.
And Alexei sounded like he truly meant it when he agreed, “Respect.”
They continued on, Ben in the lead. It was a pretty walk now, the wind calm, the path manageable, the late evening sun painting the desert hills in hues of ochre and rust. By the time they found a camping spot, a gem of a hidden clearing behind a small copse of pines, the sun had already disappeared behind those hills, the golden pastels at the horizon reaching toward a deeper blue at the top of the sky.
