Ashen found a spot near the cave entrance and lowered himself onto a cool stone.
Seraphine followed without hesitation, settling beside him. Her sudden closeness caught him off guard, but he didn't show it.
As they settled in, he noticed Chris watching him with a peculiar expression.
'What's with him now?'
Some might not understand the meaning of that gaze, but for Ashen, it was easy to discern it.
Determining the intention behind looks, gazes, and stares was a trait that he had had since he was young, and it never failed him.
'Resentment,' He noted. 'And annoyance? He's pissed I stole the spotlight. But why resent me?' He followed Chris's line of sight to Seraphine, now at his side.
'Ah.'
But this brings other questions.
'Is he still thinking with his lower half even in this situation?'
Ashen wondered.
'Or does he simply have the leeway to do so? He seems to know something more than the rest of us.'
What really ticked him off, though, was the fact that he didn't divulge any information to calm the others, even when the group was on the verge of breakdown, so he had given up questioning him or attempting to get any information out of him in a nice way before even trying.
Ash's mood turned gloomy. He lacked too much info to make sense of anything, and those who had it kept it to themselves.
It would have been normal for him to get angry by now, given his usual temper, but looming death kept him grounded.
Calm down.
He reminded himself.
One step at a time.
'Hopefully, that woman will explain everything clearly when I get out of here. For now, let's keep following this guy and see what gives.'
*
As time slowly ticked away, Ashen felt himself slowly settle, making his taut nerves finally relax.
Now that he had a moment to breathe, he allowed himself to study his companion more closely. She smiled warmly at him, but her demeanor didn't fool him.
'This woman might look like an airhead, but she's sharper than she lets on,' he thought.
In the middle of that chaos, she instinctively sought the safest place, avoided getting swept up in the panic, and stayed composed.
'If she weren't so conspicuous with those looks of hers, she'd make a damn good ally.'
His gaze lingered a moment too long, and Seraphine's cheeks flushed. She averted her eyes, a shy laugh escaping her lips. Breaking the awkward silence, she spoke.
"You weren't bluffing when you said you could stay calm under pressure, huh?"
Ashen chuckled softly, running a hand through his hair. "Well, even I'm discovering this about myself. This is a first for me, too."
He exhaled slowly, easing whatever lingering tension was still on his shoulders.
"Honestly, what I said earlier wasn't anything special. Anyone could have reasoned it out if they'd taken a second to think. But that's fear and anxiety for you, they mess with your head."
"That's true," she replied softly, nodding.
Ashen tilted his head slightly, a teasing edge slipping into his voice. "What about you, though? You kept a cool head back there and even knew where to hide. Not bad."
Seraphine's face turned a deeper shade of pink. She stammered, "S-some of those guys were giving me strange looks, and you… Well, you were the only one who seemed to keep your wits about you. Are you mad that I hid behind you?"
"Nah," he replied with a shrug. "Not mad. I just found it interesting that you decided to trust me, of all people. Or is it just your survival instincts guiding you?"
She offered him a thoughtful smile, her voice soft as she replied, "It wasn't really about trust… You were just the sanest person in there. I didn't have much of a choice. But more than that, you…" She paused, looking away briefly as if searching for the right words. "I can't really explain it, but I get this strange feeling that you'd never hurt me. It's weird, but it's there."
Ashen fell silent, her words catching him off guard. They echoed in his mind, lingering like a half-formed thought.
She was right. He'd never hurt her—or any woman, for that matter…as long as they weren't straight evil.
His ex-girlfriend had drilled that principle into him when they were teenagers, and it had stuck ever since.
But how could Seraphine sense that about him?
'Must be a coincidence.' He mentally shrugged.
The quiet between them stretched on, broken only by the faint sounds of the wind outside the cave.
Seraphine glanced at him curiously, but Ashen didn't answer her unspoken question.
His mind has already wandered, thinking about more pressing matters. There were bigger things to worry about, after all.