The morning felt dreamy and unreal. The summer light was like hot amber drifting through the pine trees, every rustling leaf a whisper of things to come. Elio barely believed that Daiman was really there when he woke up next to him in the tent. He'd pressed his fingertips to the arch of his cheekbone and marvelled at how solid he felt before Daiman had woken up, made a face and rolled away. He wasn't sure what Daiman thought he had been about to do, but he was thankful he didn't mention it.

Breakfast was worse. His pancakes kept growing wheat seedlings and his sausage kept trying to go back to being raw, going so far as to occasionally grow teeth and fur. Moira noticed his distress and passed him an extra, sympathetic, cup of tea. Despite his efforts to seem normal and eat his breakfast without being totally disgusted by what he was putting in his mouth, Daiman shot him confused, worried looks.

When breakfast was done and campfire cocoa had been made and finished, Moira had set a small, fancy, bakery cake in his hands and set them off. Daiman let Elio choose the direction, and Elio let his legs carry him to wherever they needed to be.

They set camp high up a hill, shadowed by a few large maples overlooking a large creek. It was inviting and clear, deep enough to submerge them if they decided to swim. Elio wouldn't. He'd never been able to get his lungs clear of all of the lake water last time he had swum and sunk.

He sighed and tossed an acorn down the hill. It made the faintest little plip when it hit the water. The ground was surprisingly soft underneath his back, cushioned by a large blanket and cushioned even more by flattened, thickly grown grass. Daiman was smoking, which he tried to be irritated about but it was his life.

“You know it's bad for you, right?” Elio rolled his head to look at him, unable to keep his tongue controlled.

Daiman shrugged and blew out a long stream of smoke. “So is cake.” He gestured at the mostly eaten cake between them.

“I don't think they're comparable.” A stiff breeze hissed the branches above them and Elio watched the branches sway and rock above them.

“Diabetes sucks almost as much as cancer.”