Wash jerked around, eyes wide, and Peri had to hide his snicker behind his hand, because his poor boyfriend just realized he couldn’t get out of the pairing unless he wanted to give up his fun time later. Which would be unfortunate for the both of them. Taron tugged his arm, dragging him to the starting line, and Wash’s defeated groan made everyone around them laugh.
Tony chuckled, shaking his head. “He’s not that bad. He only gets squirrely because Wash is his friend, but doesn’t like to acknowledge it.”
“I’ll work on it,” Peri promised. Wash deserved to have friends, and Taron was a good one. He brought life to the party, and Wash needed people like that around him.
After Tony wandered away to the other groups so they could find their partners, Peri flitted over to Elijah, landing next to him, and Alistair, who looked pensive, his eyes scanning the forest. Elijah had his hand on Alistair’s arm, rubbing it gently. “It’s okay, Alistair. I won’t be far.”
“Is something wrong?” Peri asked, looking between the two of them.
Alistair drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, shaking his head. “No. It’s fine.”
From the look on his face, it really wasn’t, but he didn’t want to share, and Peri wasn’t going to push. He waved the little paper at Elijah, giving him an uncertain smile. “We’re going to be partners for this game. Is that okay?”
Alistair’s eyes cut to Peri, and to Peri’s surprise, his shoulders came down a little more. “He’s partnering with you?”
Peri offered him the paper, his wings fluttering a little as he explained, “I picked Elijah’s name out of the hat. I’m really glad, I was hoping to get to know him better.”
Alistair nodded slowly, and when Zephyr came over to tell him they were partners, he squeezed Elijah’s hand and stepped away, his movements a little stiff, but more relaxed than before.
Sidling closer, Peri lowered his voice to not be overheard by the groups closer to them. “Is he going to be okay? I can make sure we’re close to those two if that makes things easier on him.”
“Can you?” Elijah asked hopefully. “I think it might help.”
Peri nodded, whispering a spell and snapping his fingers. Two sprites popped in front of his nose, both chittering a mile a minute until Peri put his fingers to his lips, a smile on his face.
“I’ve got a game for you. See that man over there?” He pointed to Alistair, and the sprites started chittering again. “We want to stick close to him, but not so close that he’d see us. One of you go with him. If either of us goes off course, you get to nudge us in the right direction. But remember, you can’t be seen. Can you do it?”
The little sprites bobbed up and down, glad to be part of the game, and the little blue one darted off to hover near Alistair’s back. It moved when he did, remaining out of sight, while the other bounced along near Peri’s head. He gave Elijah a bright smile.
“Sprites are the guides of the forest. They’ll tell us if we stray too far.”
It was Elijah’s turn to relax, his smile less strained as he said, “Thank you. Our anchor bond is still new. He doesn’t like it when he can’t have eyes on me. That urge should settle with time, but…” He lifted a shoulder awkwardly.
“But you like it,” Peri finished for him with a wink. When Elijah blushed and grinned, Peri knew he got it right. “I’m glad I could help. We won’t stick too close, that’s cheating, but the things we need to find shouldn’t be that spaced out, right?”
Looking around, Elijah pursed his lips thoughtfully. “I doubt it. Tony set it up with the help of the staff. He’s a sweet man. I don’t think he’d make things overly difficult. If it was Kian setting things up, I’d be more worried.”
“I resemble that remark,” Kian commented as he passed with Avery at his side. His grin said he wasn’t offended, and Elijah’s smile said he hadn’t meant it that way either. Kian pointed at Peri, his eyes narrowed in challenge. “Fairies have a connection to the forest. So do I. Let’s see who finds what we’re looking for first.”
Peri lifted his chin, latching onto Elijah’s arm. “You’re on.”
With a chuckle, Kian waved Avery on, joining the rest of the groups near the trailhead where the game would start. Peri released his grip on Elijah, bouncing as he followed behind them. “This will be fun. I like treasure hunts.”
Elijah hummed, taking the list that Tony handed out as they passed him and headed into the forest. “I’ve never done one before. You’ll have to help me.”
“You’ve never done a treasure hunt before? Not even as a kid?”
Elijah shook his head, taking the path Alistair and Zephyr had gone down a minute before. “I didn’t have many friends as a kid. My magic makes people uncomfortable.”
“You didn’t have friends before your powers came in?” He was fishing, he knew that, but he needed more information. There had to be something going on that would drive the two brothers apart for so long.
“Not really. I mostly spent time with my brother. He was my friend.”
“Not now?” Peri asked, poking Elijah down another path when the sprite gave a chitter to redirect them.
Letting out a long breath, Elijah’s shoulders slumped. “Not for lack of trying. We… we had a falling out when we were younger. I don’t think he’s interested in connecting with me again. It might be that I waited too long.”
Peri’s heart twinged at the pain in Elijah’s voice. He picked up the little trinket hiding in a tree knot without really thinking about it, a little briefcase about the size of his palm nestled in with half a dozen others, dropping it into the bag they were given to collect their prizes. When he turned around to look at Elijah again, the telepath looked surprised, tipping his head to look around Peri at the half hidden treasures.