Shortly after getting dressed, Nathan found himself sitting on one of Griffin's arms as they moved through the forest, heading to the lake. "Just how strong is he if can carry me with one arm?" Nathan was astounded.
[A lot stronger than you, that's for sure.]
"No shit," Nathan muttered.
Five minutes into their 30 minute walk, Nathan decided to fill the silence. "So… Griffin, how'd you find yourself at Red Peak Mountain?"
Griffin smiled at him. "Well, after my last relationship fell apart I decided I needed to get away from other people in general. I found a few places that would've worked but something about them just didn't seem right so I didn't stay and I ended up here. I'm glad I did though, otherwise we might never have met. What about you? How'd you end up here?"
Nathan felt his heart jump into his throat. "Um…" he cleared his throat. "You know what happened to my family. Well, after that I was just wandering from mountain to mountain. I'd usually spend a few years in one spot before something happened and I moved on."
"What kind of something?"
"Sigh. Usually vampires started showing up. I was afraid of being found out, so I'd move before they did. I think the longest I've been in one spot was actually here and I've been here about five or six years."
Griffin looked surprised. "Really? How have we never managed to cross paths before? I've been living here for about nine years."
Nathan just shrugged his shoulders. "I'm good at hiding and avoiding people. I think the only reason we even crossed paths is because I was hungry and found your rabbit bait when I was hunting."
Griffin didn't reply as he mulled over the idea.
As the silence stretched on, Nathan occupied himself by watching the scenery, not wanting to interrupt the man's thoughts. Shortly though, they broke through the tree line into a large clearing and in the center, a lake, about 500 feet across.
"Here we are!" Griffin exclaimed. "What do you think?"
Nathan stared, stunned. "It's huge!"
"Yeah, it's pretty big. Just big enough to hold my dragon form," Griffin said with a laugh.
Nathan turned his stunned expression back towards the dragon. "Just big enough? How big is your dragon form?"
Griffin hummed as he thought. "Mmm, I'd say about ¾ the size of this lake.
Nathan just gaped at him.
Ignoring the expression on his face, Griffin walked towards the edge of the water. "Let's get started!"
**********
As Griffin waded into the water, he adjusted Nathan to be sitting on his hip instead of his arm. He knew the water hit the boy's feet when he jerked at the cool sensation. "It's alright, we're just going to get used to the temp first."
Nathan let out a soft sigh. "Do we have to do this?"
"Yes. We have to start somewhere." Griffin looked at the boy. "Unless you're okay with being carried everywhere. I personally wouldn't mind." Griffin continued to grin as he watched the wolf's face turn beet red.
"No," he said quietly. "I want to learn."
"Then let's do this."
Griffin then dunked them both underwater.