Who: Brennan & Shiloh Where: The Devil's Punch Bowl Park, Pearblossom, CA When: Saturday, Feb. 27th
On their movie date last week, as he was taking Shiloh home, the lycan had tentatively asked her if she liked to hike. The blond had admitted that she'd never been hiking and Brennan had, somehow, convinced her to go hiking with him on Saturday. But he did warn her that she'd need to be up early. It took an hour and a half to get to the park he had in mind and hiking was pretty much an almost all day event.
Dressed in a white, lightweight long sleeved shirt that had a wolf's head patch on the arm of one of the sleeves, jeans, and hiking boots, Brennan had knocked on Shiloh's door at around 7 AM that morning, handed her a cup of coffee from the Sugar Shack and they were on their way. The lycan had packed a backpack with lunch and any possible supplies they might need while they were out. Once they'd both gotten coffee in them, they chatted almost non-stop until they got to the park and underway.
Shiloh was similarly dressed to Brennan with the blonde wearing a pair of slightly worn jeans, a tye dyed short sleeve t-shirt of various shades of blue, over which was worn a gray hoodie left unzipped, and a pair of hiking boots that Shiloh had purchased earlier in the week just for the occasion as this would be her first hiking experience and she wanted to be dressed properly. At least she hoped she was outfitted properly for their little hiking excursion.
"You've hiked here before?" Shi asked when the pair started out onto one of the hiking trails.
"Once," Brennan replied as he easily climbed over a boulder despite the fact he could've just kept going on the trail. The inner beast was howling to get out and run, but obviously the lycan couldn't let that happen in front of a seemingly normal woman. So Brennan let it indulge in other things like the climbing and extending his senses; He could hear a trio of deer miles away along with other prey.
Jumping down from the boulder, the lycan grinned, "There's a nice spot a couple of miles ahead that overlooks a small valley. We can stop there if you need to. Scenery is great." Brennan studied Shiloh and then asked, "You doing okay?" He tried picking a trail that wouldn't be too hard on first timer.
"I didn't think hiking included climbing over large rocks." Shiloh commented with a smile after having climbed over the boulder after Brennan. Was she going to complain or make it appear like she wasn't going to be able to keep up with the guy. Hell no. "I'm doing fine." The blonde acknowledged, glad though that there was a possible resting place a couple miles ahead of them. One that apparently had a nice view which Shi could use as an excuse to stop for a few minutes and maybe take a few snapshots with the camera she had tucked into the side pocket of her hoodie.
The lycan grinned, "Clearly, you need to go hiking with me more. This is nothing." Brennan chuckled, ducking under a tree branch and said over his shoulder, "Besides, you have to do a little climbing now and then to find the good spots."
"You're one of those outdoor enthusiast, aren't you?" Shiloh questioned with a smirk when she ducked under the tree branch after Brennan. If this was nothing but a walk in the park for the guy, Shiloh was wondering what the guy might consider actual hiking to be like.
"Enthusiast isn't quite the term I'd use," Brennan admitted. While he thoroughly enjoyed his time outdoors, he was also a creature who liked his comforts. He didn't mind camping out, but give him a working toilet and electricity any day. The lycan then turned to face Shiloh, walking backward on the trail, "I like the challenge more than anything. Of...letting my senses expand and...be free." It would sound strange to her, but that was all he could say without revealing what he was.
"Okay. If you climb the next tree we come to and then start swinging through them like Tarzan, I'm outta here." Shi teased with a grin as she kept on walking to follow the back-stepping Brennan. He might be insisting that he wasn't anywhere near an enthusiast, but Shiloh could tell the guy liked the outdoors, especially with his talk of allowing his senses to expand and be free. Not that she was having a bad time herself, quite the opposite. Shiloh was actually liking this hiking thing. Was kind of like walking through the city except without the noise and mass of people.
The lycan let out a hearty laugh at the Tarzan reference and shook his head, “Uh, I don’t think you’ll need to worry about that. I won’t be swinging from any trees anytime soon.” Brennan joked back, seemingly a lot more relaxed out in the wild.
"It's quite reassuring to know that." Smiled pleasantly to the man. And it hadn't escaped her notice that Brennan seemed to be more comfortable in the less populated surroundings then he did back in the city it's self. He also seemed to be more open and relaxed around Shiloh herself, which she also was attributing to being out in the great outdoors.
Brennan paused briefly to pull out one of the two water bottles he’d brought along from the pack and took a few swigs of water. He took the time to close his eyes and listened, hearing a group of timber wolves going after the trio of deer he’d heard a bit ago. The lycan screwed the cap back on the bottle of water and turned to Shiloh, “So? What do you think so far?” He asked with a grin.
"Not something I'd thought I'd find myself doing, not that I'm complaining or anything," cause really she wasn't, "let's just go with it being an experience. One that I'm kind of enjoying." Shiloh added quickly, and with a smile, so Brennan wouldn't think she was having a bad time out here in the wilderness. And unlike Brennan who could hear the wolves and deer in the distance, Shiloh was quite unaware of their presence in the area.