He smiled softly at her as she explained her easy dismissal of his earlier actions. Honestly, if they weren't having the conversation they were now, he would have been fine with using those excuses. ”Yeah, the red face from the exercise makes sense.” he nodded in agreement. ”But I’m glad you didn't mind the hug. I don't really have an excuse for it, I was just really happy that you said I could stay.”
"Yeah, the hug didn't bother me," She said, understanding his explanation for it and figuring she probably would've done the same in his position. Selina thought back to the hug, replaying it and realizing that she sort of wanted to hug him again, even if it was a slightly random feeling and thought. "Today was pretty fun, and quite the workout, wasn't it?"
Frankie smiled, a bit more relaxed at her acceptance and nodded at the change of topic. ”Yeah, it was. But definitely worth it.” he agreed as he looked back at the sky and watching the stars start to come out. He briefly considered placing his arm around Selina’s shoulders but decided against it for now. If she didn't mind holding hands like this, then he was content with it.
She nodded, silent for a minute before a question popped into her mind and she turned to look at him, "I should probably ask you this before it gets late…do you want to head back tonight? Or just stay here and head back in the morning? Either works with me, Alpha gave me permission for an overnight trip if needed."
He blinked a little at the question before realizing what time it most likely was. ”Uhh… I think it might already be a little too late for me to try heading back.” he chuckled softly. ”I can't see that well in the dark to climb those rocks. Unless there's a short-cut down this, that doesn't involve a running jump, I’ll probably have to stay up here for the night.” he told her.
Selina nodded again, thinking for a moment before answering, "I don't think you could make the trip down alone, but if I shifted..I could help you down." She didn't know if he would want to go with that option, but she would be fine with it, mostly because she trusted him and wanted to help him.
Frankie turned to look at her, a light blush on his face. ”What, you mean like carrying me on your back?” he asked. ”I appreciate the offer but… You don't have to. I think it's supposed to be a warm night so I’ll be alright until morning.” he smiled.
"Alright, but know the offer stands, I have better vision than you so I would be able to navigate the path." She said, knowing that whatever choice he made she was going to stay at least nearby, "If we're staying until morning, maybe we should make a fire? If you have any matches with that is."
”Thank you, Selina, but really I think I'll be fine up here for a night.” he smiled at her, nodding as he got out a matchbox to start a small fire. ”Can you help me gather some firewood and rocks for a fire ring? About the size of your hand is a good average.” he suggested, needing to be able to contain the fire before he got it started.
She nodded, standing up and walking around the rock top, gathering loose stones and as many of the broken sticks as she could from the ground. After just a few armfuls of sticks and enough rocks to make a fire ring, she decided to take a break, "That enough? Or do you need more?"
He stood up with her and started gathering some rocks, sticks and a couple handfuls of dry grass and some dead leaves. As she came over with her supply, he started placing the rocks in a rough circle. ”Yeah, this should be good.” Frankie nodded. ”Thanks for helping.” he smiled.
"No problem." She said, helping him place the rocks in a circle and then putting some of the smaller sticks inside the ring to get the fire going along with a little bit of the dry grass. Selina always started her fires like that, so she assumed he did too, or some way similar to what she was doing.
Frankie lit a match and held it up to a small handful of the grass and leaves until it caught fire and carefully placed it in the center of the ring before slowly putting some of the smaller sticks on top.
She watched intently as he started the fire, crouched down and resting on the balls of her feet. "Do you need any more wood for now? I know fires burn through a lot of it very quickly." The fire gave off a warm glow, one that was quite comforting in the darkening night.
He nodded. ”Just add them slowly. We don't need too much yet. We don't want to smother the flame.” he instructed, carefully watching the flames. ”Yeah, fires tend to go through wood pretty fast. Especially the smaller pieces.” he agreed.
She nodded, watching the fire for a long moment before standing up and looking around for more wood to bring back to the fire. There were quite a few large pieces scattered down in the rock field she knew, but getting them in this dark of light, even for her would be a little challenging.
Frankie followed her with his eyes as she stood up. It took him a moment to realize what she had meant and what she was doing before he opened his backpack. The fire barely providing enough light for his little search until his fingers brushed against the right object. ”Here. Do you need any help?” he asked, holding a flashlight that his family insisted he take with him and right now he was glad he did.
"Thank you." She said, taking the flashlight and shrugging, "If you want to help me, otherwise you don't have to. Climbing up the rocks again in the dark is pretty dangerous, and I don't want you to get hurt." Selina wouldn't mind the help, but she also didn't want him getting hurt if he fell or tripped.
He nodded, understanding her warning but he still wanted to try to help. ”I could come, like halfway over and you can hand me the wood.” he suggested. ”I know you can see in the dark better than I can, but I don't want you to get hurt either.”
She nodded, thinking that would be a good idea as she handed the flashlight back, "That would work, and you could shine this where I am, at least then my hands would be open and with the light, I could see slightly better."
”Sure.” he agreed, accepting the flashlight and keeping it pointed ahead of them. He glanced at their small fire and saw it was still burning, fortunately. ”We should probably get started.” he suggested, looking back at Selina.
"Yea, how big of pieces do you want me to hand up?" She asked, walking down to the start of the rock pile and starting to pick her way down, searching for any spare pieces of wood to hand up.
He followed her to the edge of the rocky terrain and kept the flashlight so she could see. ”They don't have to be very big. Maybe a little bigger than what we got the first time.” he suggested.
Selina nodded, soon finding a small dip in the rocks and pulling out quite a lot of branches and what looked like part of a tree limb before climbing back up towards where Frankie was to hand them back. "Will things like this work?" She asked, handing them up from a rock 'step' a foot or two below him.
”Yeah, these are great.” he smiled, pulling the wood up and setting them into a pile beside him. ”Need a hand getting up?” he offered.