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The campfire crackled merrily, occasionally a nearly invisible puff of smoke into the mountain air. Patrick scooted forward to the very edge of his log and held his hands out to the fire, reveling in the warmth through his mittens. “You build the best fire. It’s so warm!”
Jonny laughed from where he was getting their supper, freeze-dried bags of chicken cacciatore, ready. “It’s a fire, they’re all warm.”
“Don’t be modest; yours is definitely warmer.” He smiled and looked around at the fall foliage of the deciduous trees peppering the slopes of spruce around them. “But maybe it’s the mountain air or something.”
“That must be it.” Jonny passed him a bowl and Patrick dug into it hungrily.
They finished eating and washed their meager dishes before snuggling close next to the fire as the light around them failed. Patrick leaned his head against Jonny’s shoulder and watched the rare crackle of sparks arc into the crisp dark air.
“Go to bed.” Jonny nudged Patrick gently after they had been sitting that way long enough for the moon to have risen high overhead. “I’ll be in once I make sure the fire’s out.”
“All right,” Patrick agreed, covering his mouth as he yawned. “Don’t take too long.”
“Promise.”
Patrick kissed him lightly then stood up, stifling another yawn, and wandered the few hundred feet to their tent. It was cool away from Jonny and the fire and Patrick hurriedly unlaced his boots, leaving them outside, and slid into their double sleeping bag. The cold helped him stay awake and after a few minutes he heard Jonny in the tent’s vestibule taking off his boots and then the tent door zipping open and closed. He pressed his face into Jonny’s flannel jack shirt and breathed in the smell. “You smell like campfire,” he murmured sleepily.
“So do you,” Jonny pointed out snuggling closer in the sleeping bag.
“But it smells better on you.”
“Does that mean I can count on you coming with me on my next backpacking trip?”
Patrick admitted he had been hesitant when Jonny had asked him but now…“Try and stop me.” He took a final deep breath before drifting off to sleep.