Crash

28: Mine

Nathan-

"Ow! Son of a-"

"Nathan c'mon, it's not that bad," Lyra chuckled.

"It still hurts!" I groaned in annoyance.

"Hold still! I need to see it," she demanded. I let her grab my hand and observe whatever was piercing it.

"So about elk hunting-"

"That's a lot of work Nathan," Lyra sighed and glanced up at me briefly.

Ever since we'd seen the bull elk and his herd yesterday, I been set on hunting them down. Can you imagine it? That big boy would set us for for a long time.  

And what a trophy those antlers would be! I was very exited and wanted Lyra to jump on board with me. Of course, I couldn't tell if she was being a sort of pacifist or just plain stubborn.

"But we'll be set for winter. We'll use all of it and everything. I'll tan the whole thing," I whined, begging now.

"Ouch!" I hissed when she found the tender spot.

"I found it. I think it's a thorn or something."

"Jay.." I sighed, this stupid thing was painful.

"Oh hush, it's not that bad," she chuckled, waving her hand.

"One last big hunt before winter. Please."

"I don't know if we really need all that meat..." She bit her lip. I thought she was all about killing things but if she thought it was going to waste then she wasn't for it at all.

"We do, you know how much I eat," I winced as she used her nails to try to dig the thorn out. Of course, I just had to go grabbing something in the woods. Now I had something sharp stuck in the fleshy part below my thumb and it was deep in there.

She sighed and looked at me. I pulled my big green eyes routine and stuck my bottom lip out just a smidge. It was Lyra's ultimate weakness. I knew she had something for me if she couldn't deny my puppy face.

"Alright, one more big hunt. I've noticed the clouds and the wind patterns, it's going to snow soon I think," she grinned at me defeatedly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, science, science, hunting!" I cheered.

"Wow that's a big thorn," Lyra mumbled and pulled some of my skin back. It stung awfully.

"Just get it out," I groaned and laid back in her lap. This was so painful and boring.

She rolled her eyes and flicked out her knife. My eyes got huge and I jerked my hand away.

"Woah, no, no, no! No cutting a chunk out of my hand!"

Lyra scowled at me, "Nathan I have to get it out and I'm not going to cut your hand."

I shrank back, "No!"

"It's going to get infected and your thumb will fall off," she growled.

"I don't care, I'll wash it every day. It'll fall out on its own," I declared and tried to scoot away from her. I didn't expect Lyra to lunge at me, knife in hand, and pin me to the dirt. I clutched my hand and tried to keep it out of her reach.

She straddled me and got a hold of my wrist somehow.

"I'm not going to hurt you, just sit still!"

"It is too going to hurt! You'll be sticking a knife into my hand," I hissed. I wasn't a fan of pain at all.

"Nate, I would never hurt you. Matter a fact, I don't think I could if I wanted to," she sat back and crossed her arms, knife glinting in the sun.