Forest for the Trees – 6 – Hazel

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25 Minutes

Chapter Six:

Derek was tired.  As a shifter, he could go without sleep more so than a human, but he’d ended up filling in for Deputy Miller who’d come down with the flu, and had been on shift since 9:00 Tuesday morning.  Since that was nearly sixteen hours ago, he was tired, and anxious to leave.  He wanted to go home and sleep, but even more he wanted to run.

He paused on his trek to the breakroom, the fourth time he’d left his desk in the last hour.  He may have been working on his paperwork for the last few hours, but he had gone on several patrols, the last having ended around 10pm.  He hadn’t been confined to the station or anything, so why did he feel the urge to run as fast as possible, preferably on all four legs.

“You okay there, Hale?”

Derek turned, surprised to see his boss only a few feet away, staring at him in concern.

“Yes sir.  I’m just tired.”  His eyes started to burn, so he rubbed them with his thumb and forefinger and started to say something about getting a cup of coffee but was suddenly fighting the urge to shift.  He could feel his canines pressing at his gums, could feel the burning itch of his claws at his fingertips.  Derek gritted his teeth and forced back the wolf inside him.

Some of the struggle must have shown, because Noah was coming closer, asking if something was wrong, asking what he needed.  Derek clenched his hands into fists and shook his head.

“Sorry sir, I don’t know what’s wrong.  I need to go,” he shook his head again and fought against the pull, “I don’t know where.  I just really have to go.”

He managed to meet the sheriff’s gaze, the older man staring seriously at him for a moment before nodding.  “Go do another patrol.  Radio if you need to deviate from your normal route.”

Derek didn’t question, didn’t hesitate, just grabbed his keys and left.  He pulled out of the lot and started to turn left but ended up turning right.  He knew immediately that he was heading to the preserve, which was usually at the end of his patrol route.

He went ahead and radio’d the change, pushing a little harder on the gas once dispatch acknowledged his intentions.  Faster than he would have expected, he was pulling into the parking lot at the east edge of the preserve and getting out of his cruiser.

He searched the darkness with glowing eyes as he thumbed his radio and let the station know he’d arrived and was heading in.  Derek rolled his shoulders, inexplicably on edge as he walked further into the trees.  He’d been walking for about ten minutes when he heard footsteps tromping loudly towards him.  One hand rested on his holstered weapon and the other flexed, ready to let his claws form at any moment.

Then the familiar scent of berries and lightening reached him.  “Stiles?” he called.

The footsteps faltered, then stomped faster.  “Derek?”

“What are you doing here?” they both asked at the same time.

Derek took a deep breath but still had the overwhelming need to keep going.  “I’m working, what are you doing all the way out here so late?”

Stiles waved both hands rather wildly and kept walking in the same direction he had been going before.  “I have no freakin’ clue, dude.  I was trying to sleep and then I was bolting out the door like my magic was a lit fuse.  What are you doing here?  This isn’t on your route.  This deep in the preserve isn’t on any BHSD route.”

He easily kept pace with the anxious magical, and strangely enough felt the edgy sensation under his skin ease just a little as they continued on together.  “I’m not sure either, I just really had to come out here.”

Stiles gave him a narrowed eyed glance but didn’t say anything more, just kept walking until he came to a sudden top several minutes later.  “I think,” he looked left and then right, then stared straight at Derek.  “I think it’s close.”

Derek held out an arm, trying to get Stiles to at least stay behind him as they continued slowly forward.  Stiles let out a huff.  “Yeah, I don’t think so.  If this is magic then you need me up there so don’t even.”

He took a deep breath, sighed, and lowered his arm so Stiles could walk beside him.  “If it’s anything else you get behind me immediately.”

“Yeah, sure, totally.”

He was very much not convinced of the other man’s sincerity, but he let it go as they stepped out into a small clearing.  The reason they were there was obvious.  And familiar.  “Damn,” he muttered quietly.

“You don’t sound terribly surprised.  Get a lot of ritual sacrifices in the middle of the preserve, do you?”

“Lately?  A least one other that we are sure of.”

Stiles crossed his arms and just stared at the three dead snakes arranged in a single large circle.  The he raised the small flashlight he’d been carrying and shone it at the site.  He hummed under his breath, walking very slowly and carefully around the perimeter of the clearing, tilting his head one way, then the other as he made unintelligible noises under his breath.

Derek took the time to photograph the scene the best he could with his phone.  He finished before Stiles did.

“Is this what the other one looked like?” Stiles asked as he came back to stand beside Derek, still staring intently at the scene before them.

“Not exactly.  There were snakes before, three of them.  But they were each making a small circle of their own.  There might have been something carved in the dirt inside those circles but nothing as clear as this.”  He waved at the deep lines gouged into the dirt, encircled by the three snakes, then pointed at the things sitting on top of the lines. “There weren’t any feathers, and no sticks either,” he continued with a wave towards the four thin pieces of wood stuck in the ground.

“We found a yellow stone buried under the other circles with runes of some kind carved in them.  There were a few of those in other places a few years back but they showed up after several days of rain so we don’t know where they were originally, and only one of them was yellow.  The symbols were all different too.”

Stiles nodded, slowly, silently.

“What do you think?”

Stiles turned to look at him briefly, then went back to looking at the snakes.  “About what it means?”

“Yes.”

Stiles took a deep breath.  “The rune carved in the ground looks like wunjo, which is most often translated as harmony.  The feathers probably symbolize the element of air, and these are black.  I’d take a guess that they might be raven, which are symbols of wisdom and intellect, both of which are associated with the air element.

The number three is often linked to fire, as are snakes, and the circle they’re forming could mean protection or the closed ritual circle.  The four sticks.  Well, they might be the four elements or directions, but I can’t really give a good guess on that without knowing what kind of wood or if they have any runes or anything.  Four is linked to the element of earth though, so there’s that.”

He shrugged, then moved the beam of his flashlight slowly up the trunk of the nearby oak, stopping when he illuminated several symbols carved into the tree.  “As for that, well…”

Derek waited for him to say more, but he shook his head and stayed silent for several long seconds.

“Well, I have a few guesses but I’d rather look into it more.  You said there was at least one other sacrificial site?”

“One we’re sure of.  There have been other weird stuff the past few years.  I’ve kept records, but the first thing that was clearly some kind of magical working as you called it was found the night we met at the bar.”

Stiles dropped the beam, pointing the flashlight at the ground.  “Really?  Interesting.  But you have a file with all of it, right?  You said you’d been recording stuff?”

“I have.”

“And do you have pictures?”

“Yes.  And the other rocks and things with runes in them.”

Stiles hummed again, then nodded.  “Why don’t I head back and call the station once I have a signal.  I assume you’ll want to stay here, contain the scene and whatnot.”

Derek crossed his arms.  “I’m not letting you traipse off into the woods in the dark.  I’ll walk you back to your car and radio dispatch.”

Stiles didn’t say anything for a moment, then let out a long, heavy sigh.  “Yeah, fine.  Let’s go, then.”

With one last look over the scene, he turned and led them both back to the parking lot.  Neither spoke, but the silence wasn’t uncomfortable.  It was almost reassuring to walk through the dark trees with Stiles only a few feet away.  It was a little disappointing to reach the cars and know that Stiles would be leaving and he would be staying to supervise the processing of the scene.

They stood next to one another for a bit after dispatch acknowledged his request for assistance with the scene.  After a moment, and before Derek could figure out how to ask why Stiles thought his magic had led him there that night, Stiles fished his keys of his pocket and turned to him with a frown.

“This is your case, right?  I mean the supernatural unit.”

“Yes,” he agreed almost hesitantly.

“So you’re the one that would like arrange or authorize a consultant or whatever, right?”

Derek nodded slowly, then tipped his head to the side.  “For the most part.  Though if it’s someone outside the force who isn’t certified to work with us, then it’d require the sheriff to give the final say.”

Stiles nodded quickly, then crossed his arms.  “So if my dad says it’s fine, can I look at the file?  Interpret the runes and whatnot.”

Derek fixed his boyfriend with an assessing stare.  “You want to consult on my case?”

Stiles nodded again, this time more confidently.  “Runes are my jam, and there seem to be a lot of them with this whole thing.  Plus, I did study other aspects of magic, ritual and stuff, even if I didn’t decide to go into business for that kind of thing.  I’m qualified, is what I’m saying.  And it’s not like I don’t already know what’s going on.”  He waved back at the woods.

It was tempting on several levels, but their personal connection made him unsure if it was really that good of an idea.  “If the sheriff thinks it’s a good idea, I’m not going to argue with him.”

Stiles grinned.  “Great.  I’ll just give him a call on the way back and if it’s cool I’ll take a look at the files and stuff and let you know my learned opinion.”

Derek wasn’t sure if that was the best or worst idea, but figured Noah would have the level head and insider knowledge to be able to make that call for him.

It wasn’t a decision that his boss seemed to struggle with.

The first thing Noah said when he finally returned from the preserve was that Stiles had arranged to come by the station to view the case file while the shop was closed for lunch that day.  The second was that he’d been on the clock for more than 24 hours and he needed to go home and get some damn sleep.

He thought about arguing with his boss, but between the look on the man’s face and his own exhaustion, Derek decided to give in gracefully and go home.  He wasn’t particularly thrilled with it, but he could understand the need.  He was even less thrilled and not quite so understanding when he finally made it back to the station that afternoon and learned he’d missed Stiles by only a few minutes.

Being the professional that he was, he swallowed his disappointment and got to work, promising himself that he would check in with his sorcerer as soon as Epigraphy was closed for the day.  To make sure that he did, Derek texted Stiles, asking him to let him know what he wanted for dinner so he could come by with take out again.

From Stiles: A double cheeseburger, curly fries, and a chocolate shake, if you please.  Give me about half an hour to wrap things up after closing and I’ll meet you at the apartment.

To Stiles: Files?

From Stiles: Just the new stuff, my wolfy dude.  As far as the older ones, I’ve got plenty of my own notes.

To Stiles:  Don’t call me dude.

From Stiles:  LOL.  Don’t be such a sourwolf.

Derek read the last message, sighed, and pulled up the next form he needed to log the feathers into evidence.  With the evening planned, he lost a few hours to the paperwork drudgery of policework.  Thankfully, he wasn’t technically on duty that day so once he’d filled everything regarding the scene, he was able to slip out and head to the diner to pick up his and Stiles’ dinner.

He must have timed it well because Stiles pulled open the door as soon as he knocked, proclaiming his desperate need for curly fries.  Derek handed over one of the two greasy paper bags with small laugh and made his way to the dinning table with the two burgers and small order of fries he’d gotten for himself.

He debated how long he should wait to bring up the case but again, he was beaten to it when Stiles swallowed his first bite and made grabby hands.  “New file,” he said before taking another large bite.

Derek handed over the folder containing copies of what they’d documented the night before, then started setting out his own food.  Stiles flipped from one page to the next, nodding and humming and scrunching his noise at the papers as he ate.

That lasted for about fifteen minutes before they’d both finished their food and Derek had cleared the table.  Stiles barely seemed to notice him gathering up the napkins and bags and paper wrappers as he launched into his findings.

“Cliff notes version.  The sites and things listed in the previous files had several things in common.  The rune stones and the tree carvings mostly dealt with protection, strength, or the element of fire.  The talismans mostly looked to bind the elements of fire and earth and to create harmony with the element of air.  The last full on ritual working followed the same theme.  The same runes were used, tying to protection, the element of fire, defense, strength, and either stability or harmony depending on how you interpret a few of them.”

Derek nodded, but other than the fact that the same intentions or meanings or whatever they were, kept showing up, the recitation made little to no sense as far motive or suspects were concerned.  He waited for more since Stiles waved his hand as if to say but enough about that.

“The site from last night was similar but not exactly the same.  It called on the elements of fire and air, and possibly earth.  It also called for harmony.  There weren’t the same themes of protection and strength, however.  Is that because it isn’t needed this time?  Or not needed anymore?”

Stiles rubbed a hand down his face, looking as tired as Derek had felt when he’d finished in the preserve that morning.  “If it’s a continuation of the previous stuff, it would indicate that the harmony that is being sought is between the elements of fire and air, and possibly earth.  Now normally this would be too broad an intention to actually help us figure out what someone is trying to do here.  Except the trees.”

Derek frowned.  “What trees?”

“In the photos there are several trees near or at the spot where either animals were found or the talismans were hung.  And last night the working was conducted at the base of a tree.  All of them were large, older oak trees, and all of them had runes carved into them.  Now, this could be the person trying to harness the oak itself which is associated with energy, protection, and stability.  Especially since there are two runes used.  Thurisaz for defensive force, and uruz for strength, energy and physical power.  But.”  Stiles crossed his arms on the table and leaned forward.  “These aren’t the first times that someone has used these specific trees for a magical purpose.”

Derek frowned harder.  “How can you tell?”

“The runes I was talking about are near the base of the tree.  They’re sharp and clear and fresh.  But in several of the pictures, including the ones you guys took of last night’s scene there are another set of runes higher up the trunk.  The edges are smoother, worn.  Older.  They’re also a little different.  There’s thurisaz, but there’s also a celtic shield knot for protection, thor’s hammer for protection and power.  And most telling, there’s othala for legacy, belonging, home and foundation.  And there’s a triskele.”

“The Hale Pack.”

Stiles nodded.  “My best guess is that those trees are some of the anchor points for the territory wards, the magical protection that surrounds the Hale territory.  And if the anchors are involved, we have to ask if whatever this person is trying to do, is it related to the wards?  In the ritual binding a guardian pack to its Nemeton and territory, the ward is associated with protection and the element of fire.  And we do see that coming up a lot at these sites.”

He held out both hands, tilting his head one way, then the other.  “If that’s the case, is the person trying to tap the wards?  Strengthen them?  Disrupt them?”  Stiles sat back in his chair and fell silent for a moment.  “And while there are a lot of commonalities between the various workings, they clearly have increased in frequency and intricacy over the last year at least.”

Stiles fell silent again, mumbling as if to himself.  “Is that because whatever they’re trying to do has become more important?  Were the previous workings less complex because they didn’t need to be or because the person doing it wasn’t able to?  Does the change indicate the caster’s advancing skills or a growing problem that they’re still trying to fix?  Or maybe the objectives have changed?  If so, is it a shifting problem or a different one all together?”

Derek just sat back and watched him work through the various options, a little fascinated by the way his brain broke down the problem and then spun outwards on the possibilities.  It wasn’t completely unlike the way he worked through a case.  A small smile tugged his lips while Stiles continued to mutter and hum, his fingers tapping an odd rhythm against the tabletop.  He could absolutely see how little Stiles had made his way through the station’s open cases when he was bored.

He was still smiling just a little when Stiles seemed to come back to himself and look over at him, an almost sheepish expression on his face.

“Sorry about that, my brain tends to meander a bit.”

Derek laughed softly.  “That’s fine.  Is there anything you could see regarding the kind of magic?  Between Beacon Hills and the neighboring counties I’m looking at a list of about four druids and five sorcerers and that’s just the magic users we know about for sure.  I’m going to need to start interviewing them so anything that might pare down the possibilities would be helpful.”

“Well most of it was runes and any magical can use those.  I didn’t detect any core magic on any of them, which could mean it was either used up, faded, or wasn’t there to start with.”

“Which means any magical could have done it.”

“Technically.  There’s a lot of symbolism and such in the use of numbers and materials.  Even the snakes in particular and the more elaborate positioning of things is often indicative of natural magics being used to augment the working.”

“Natural magics,” Derek repeated, trying to remember their discussion on the different magic users the week before.  “That’s external sources, right?  Does that mean druid?”

“It is external and usually a sorcerer wouldn’t go to that much trouble to design a working that incorporates aspects of magic that they can’t access.  I mean they could, they just don’t usually bother and unless they’ve had extensive formal education they don’t usually even know how.”

“So a druid is probably more likely, but you can’t rule out sorcerer based on the evidence.”

“Right.  Sorry.  And even if I could, unless it’s something specific to druids like alchemy, that doesn’t rule out a mage either.  I mean, there isn’t a known mage in the area, but it’s not like there’s a registration requirement or anything.”  Stiles shrugged, then covered a yawn.

He felt guilty keeping Stiles up, sure that the man was probably eager to get to bed, but it was hard to give up such a knowledgeable source on a topic he had no expertise in himself.  “Is there anything that would tell you one way or another?”

Stiles leaned his head back and stretched with a thoughtful hum.  “I could take a closer look at the other sites in person.  See if there’s any signs of elemental or core magic on anything that wasn’t collected at the scene.  If nothing else, I should check to see if the other sites were near a ward anchor.  And confirm that the trees are in fact anchors.  For that it would be most helpful to know where the boundary line is for the territory.”

Derek bit his lip.  “The exact location is really only known to the alpha, emissary, and left hand.  So I couldn’t show you but Peter could.  In fact, it might be good for you to talk to him anyway.  He runs a lot of patrols through the preserve and honestly, he’s the one that found several of the sites to start with.”

Stiles nodded along.  “So he might have seen something at the time that might have some magical significance that neither of you would have recognized.  That would be good.  I don’t suppose he’d be available to take me walkabout over lunch tomorrow?”

Derek shook his head, pulling out his phone to send off a quick message to his uncle.  “No.  My mom sent him out of town early yesterday and he’s not scheduled to return until Sunday or Monday.”  His phone chimed with an incoming text almost immediately.  “But it looks like he might be able to finish up early and be back by Friday or Saturday.”

“Convenient.”

“Not exactly,” he said with a shrug.  “I texted him first thing this morning about what we found.  My mom doesn’t always see the necessity of a left hand’s duties but I know how important they are and I know he’d be furious if there was a potential threat in the territory and no one told him about it.”

Stiles started to respond, but broke out in a huge yawn that had his jaw popping under his hand.

Derek smiled.  “Why don’t you go to bed?  I’ll talk to Peter tonight and send you a text when I know what day he’ll be available to take you around and let you quiz him on the area and stuff.”

He gave a slow nod.  “Walking interrogation pending, then.”

“Sure.”  Derek stood and briefly helped him to his feet before heading to the door.  “I’ll see myself out.”

“Wait.”

He stopped and turned as Stiles intercepted him.

“I need a goodnight kiss.”  The other man’s smile was shy and sleepy and Derek couldn’t help but grin as he closed the distance between them.

“Of course.”  He leaned forward, pressing a slow but mostly chaste kiss on his boyfriend’s tempting mouth, cupping the side of his face and rubbing under his shadowed eyes gently with a thumb.  “Good night, Stiles.”

Stiles hummed, his eyes falling shut briefly as if admitting he was tired had sapped all his remaining energy.

Derek chuckled and turned him gently towards his bedroom.  “Go to bed before you fall asleep on your feet.”

“M’Kay.  Night.”

“Good night.  We’ll talk tomorrow.”

Stiles waved over his shoulder as he shuffled into the bedroom, and based on the sound, fell immediately onto the bed.  Shaking his head, Derek made sure the door would look behind him and left to get some sleep himself.

—  —

Stiles took a deep breath as the knock sounded on his apartment door.  It had been a long two days since he’d last seen Derek and he was a little worried that he wouldn’t be up to the verbal minefield he knew Peter Hale to be capable of planting into their excursion.  Maybe he would take it easy on him since he knew that between his first week running the shop and the ongoing investigation that he was tired and on edge.

Based on stories he’d heard from Derek and his own limited interactions with the older man, Stiles was rather doubtful that he would be that lucky.  He sincerely wished he’d been able to see Derek for more than an hour at lunch time on Thursday and Friday, he was sure that he’d be much more even tempered if he had.  But, as the saying went, if wishes were horses, blah blah blah.

Peter knocked again.  It practically sounded like a smirk.  Ugh.  It was going to be a long day.

Stiles rolled his eyes at his own hesitation, grabbed his keys and stepped into the hallway.  The action brought him uncomfortably close to Peter who was still standing outside the door.  Like the asshole he was, the wolf waited a moment before he took a step back and gave Stiles the room to lock his door.

“I do hope that our scheduled tryst did not interrupt your morning, Stiles.”

He rolled his eyes at the wording and headed towards the stairs that would take them out to the parking lot behind the shop.  He wished he could fire back about a tryst with Derek but the deputy had been on overnight shifts the last two days and all they’d managed were a good hundred or so text messages.

“I highly doubt that your interruption will last long enough to have any real impact on my day, but I appreciate the concern for my ability to multitask.”

The default smirk Peter had been wearing widened briefly and he incline his head as they approached the only two cars in the lot.  He was strongly tempted to insist on taking Roscoe.  The way Peter glanced over at the jeep made it clear what his opinion of that would be.  Stiles could feel his lips twitch at the thought.  Peter’s narrowed eyes said he had at least some idea what he was thinking.

Stiles just smiled and tipped his head towards Roscoe briefly before heading towards the flashy vintage sports car Peter had clearly driven.  Peter exhaled loudly before unlocking the car and pulling open the passenger door with a dramatic flourish.

He laughed softly and made himself comfortable in the car as Peter got in and started it up.  Getting comfortable was not difficult at all given the luxurious interior.  He reveled in the experience for the few minutes it took them to leave the town center and head towards the preserve.

When he was done wallowing, Stiles sat up and glanced over to find his chauffer with an unmistakably smug look on his face.  Probably at the way he’d been openly enjoying the pricy ride.  Stiles rolled his eyes.  “Yours might be prettier, dude, but sometimes size really is everything.”

Peter laughed out loud as he drove.  “I really do like you, Stiles.”

“Gee, thanks.  All my dreams come true.”

“If you wanted your dreams met, sweetheart, you only had to say so.”

“Oh shut up.”

Peter laughed again, then grew more serious.  “For the sake of expediency, my nephew briefed me on the areas you wanted me to show you.  He also said that you might have some questions regarding my previous experiences and observations of the more suspicious activities I’ve detected within the preserve.”

“Yeah.  Derek said you noticed stuff quite a ways back.”

Peter hummed as he shifted gears and sped up as they hit the long stretch of road alongside the woods.  “Indeed.  The dead animals started showing up at the end of last year.  Squirrels, small birds, rats, a couple racoons.  It wasn’t until they were left in groups of threes and nines that I realized it was anything other than very odd.”

“Were the animals the first weird thing?  Any changes to trees or rocks or open ground that looked off in some way?  Maybe plants that changed or ones that weren’t there before?”

Peter looked over at him briefly, his expression thoughtful.  “Yes, actually.  There was an unusual discoloration in the ground early last year.  Like a line in the dirt that was just a few shades off.  There had been something like that the year before in a few other spots but they eventually went away.  The longer line never did.”

Stiles nodded, trying to picture what he was saying.  There were a few different things that could cause that kind of thing, but most of them probably wouldn’t leave him detectable trace this long after the fact.  Still, it was worth looking at.  “And the plants?”

Peter tilted his head to the side and was silent for a few moments.  “Actually, now that I think about it.  About three years ago I started noticing unusual growth in a few different places.  Sometimes it was bushes or plants that I didn’t remember ever seeing in the area before.  A few times it was just an unexplained surge of growth but at a time of year that wouldn’t normally see such a thing.”

“Right.”  Stiles bit his lip, his fingers drumming restlessly on his knee.  “And you can remember where this stuff happened?  Can take me to those spots?”

“I believe my memory is up to the task, yes.”

His leg jiggled, foot bouncing as he stared straight ahead out of the windshield.  “I’m going to ask something kinda shitty and I need you to take it seriously.”  He waited for Peter to agree, which he did after a heavy silence that lasted like a full minute.

“All right.  I’ll endeavor to accommodate any inappropriate interest on your part.”

“Great.  Thanks.  So when you started noticing the weird shit in the woods, do you remember feeling anything different in the pack bonds?  At any point when craziness was going down among the flora and fauna, was there a change in your connection to Talia or other members of the pack, or any fluctuations in your tie to the territory?”

He could see a muscle jump in Peter’s jaw and the man’s hands flexed on the steering wheel but after a few seconds, he did answer.  “The bonds have at times felt weaker over the last couple years.  But I would be hard pressed to pinpoint if that was a problem with the bonds themselves or simply a byproduct of interpersonal… fluctuations within the pack.”

Stiles chewed that over for a minute and figured what the guy probably meant was that his sister and several others in the pack were judgmental twats who were pushing him to the sidelines because they were shitty people and shitty packmates.  He just nodded his silent thanks for the answer and waited for them to get where they were going.

Peter sat stiff and silent in the driver’s seat, clearly uncomfortable as they slowed to pull into the parking lot.  The path into the preserve that they were using was probably the most remote of all the publicly accessible entrances.  It almost never had cars in it.  But today it did.

The flashy car rolled smoothly to a stop and Peter’s earlier discomfort vanished as he parked and flashed a large grin at Derek who was waiting beside his cruiser.  “Nephew!  What an unexpected surprise.  Did you not trust me to take good enough care of your delightful young man?”

Derek crossed his arms and sighed.  “Peter.”

Stiles he got out of the car and joined the wolves, huffing at the way the two were eyeing each other in what might be mistaken for distrust.  “This is going to be a long damn morning if the two of you keep getting sidetracked trying to play who has the longer measuring tape.”

Uncle and nephew turned to stare at him incredulously for a moment before they both shook their heads and started down the path into the trees.