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 Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2025 8:15 am
Orin leaned back against a sun-warmed stone, squinting at the glare bouncing off the sand. "You know," he said, tossing a pebble toward Betoto’s foot, "I don’t think my boots have recovered from your last bright idea. Who walks straight into a mud spring thinking it's a shortcut?" He smirked, watching her unravel her scarf like she was about to duel the heat itself.
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Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2025 8:15 am
Betoto huffed, flapping her scarf like a flag of surrender. "It looked firm from a distance! And anyway, I saved us at least fifteen minutes if we hadn’t gotten stuck for twenty." Her smile curved mischievously. “I’d like to see you do better with your tragic sense of direction. Remember when you thought that cactus was a signpost?”
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Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2025 8:15 am
Orin groaned, rubbing his face. "That was one time! It was very symmetrical." He stood, brushing sand off his back like a dramatic performer shedding a costume. “This place is an oven with ambition. Next time we take the coast trail, where the worst we have to worry about is angry gulls and your never-ending commentary on shell colors.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2025 8:16 am
"Excuse you, my commentary is educational," Betoto said, lifting her chin proudly. "You’re just bitter because you can’t tell the difference between coral pink and flamingo blush." She plopped down cross-legged on the patchy grass near the spring’s edge, tugging off her sandals. "Also, your feet smell like boiled disappointment."
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Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2025 8:16 am
Orin gave her a long, slow blink. "You want me to say something nice or start a campaign of petty revenge?" He plopped beside her, purposefully scooting closer so his dusty foot nudged hers. "I’ve got time. And material." He pulled a scrap of dried grass and pretended to write on the sand. “Let’s start with: Betoto’s cooking, a list of crimes against flavor.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2025 8:16 am
"Oh that’s rich coming from the boy who thinks salt is a spice!" Betoto laughed, nudging him back. “Besides, you ate three bowls last time I cooked. That’s on you.” She squinted out across the water, watching the shimmering heat bend the air like glass. “Still weird not seeing trees everywhere.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2025 8:16 am
Orin tilted his head, watching her face soften. “It’s all sand and sky here, I’ll admit. But there’s something charming about being able to see your enemy from ten miles away.” He leaned back on his elbows. “You miss Tale, don’t you?”
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Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2025 8:17 am
She hesitated, then nodded slowly. “Yeah. The green. The noise. The way the rain smelled in the morning. People there didn’t need convincing to slow down once in a while.” She tried to smile. “But I guess the company here’s not bad.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2025 8:17 am
“Damn right it’s not,” Orin said. “You’ve got me, after all. The desert’s favorite guide-slash-torturer of overly nice people.” He reached over and gave her a light shove. “Besides, we’ll make it back there. Probably just in time for Tale’s annual festival of dripping humidity.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2025 8:17 am
Betoto giggled, the homesickness lifting just a bit. “I’m going to drag you to every market stall and make you try every single dish. Even the ones that smell like overripe fruit.” She pointed a stern finger. “No complaints.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2025 8:17 am
He threw his head back in mock agony. “This is the price of friendship.” Then with a grin, “I’m writing you into my will. You can inherit my sandal collection. Just know they’re all left-footed now thanks to the heat warping them.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2025 8:17 am
“Perfect! I’ve always wanted a collection of cursed footwear,” Betoto said, standing and stretching toward the sun like a cat. “Think if I wear them with confidence, I’ll become a local legend?”
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Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2025 8:17 am
Orin looked her up and down, squinting. “More like a desert cryptid. The Stumbler of Sandhollow.” He mimed holding binoculars. “Spotted again at sunrise, trailing half a palm tree in her hair and asking if anyone’s seen her left sandal.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2025 8:17 am
Betoto stuck her tongue out at him, then broke into a grin. “At least I’d be famous. And probably get free fruit. The desert owes me that much after all the blisters.” She picked up a pebble and lobbed it into the spring. “I do like the sunsets, though. Almost makes the heat worth it.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2025 8:18 am
“They’re better when you shut up for five minutes,” Orin said, but he was already smiling. “I guess there’s something to be said for watching the sky burn while sitting next to someone who talks more than birds at dawn.”
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