Kain's regret was imdiate and all-consuming.
He had stared down death more tis than he could count—confronting opponents far more powerful than him and even facing an army of Abyssals—but none of that compared to the sheer horror of watching the warmth drain from Serena's expression like a candle snuffed out in the wind.
It was as if the past few days had been nothing more than an illusion, a delicate bubble filled with kindness that he had now popped with his own stupidity.
He had miscalculated. Badly.
Serena did not speak again after her deadpan 'You misunderstood.'.
Instead, she went back to whatever she had been doing before he stupidly felt the need to 'clarify his intentions' with her—only now her movents were cool and impersonal, whereas they had previously been more relaxed and comfortable, almost like an old married couple—
'Nope! That's a very dangerous thought.'
It was the kind of cold detachnt he used to expect from her before they'd gone on several missions together. But now, after their relationship had ward up, it was painful to see their relationship regressing in real-ti.
If this was a video ga, Kain would certainly see the favourability score with Serena drop down to zero.
The air between them remained thick with unspoken tension, and the weight of his blunder pressed down on him like a stone. He needed to fix this. Sohow.
Clearing his throat, he decided to attempt damage control.
"Serena, listen—"
"You should get so rest." she interrupted, her tone even and unreadable.
Kain hesitated. That was it? No biting remark? No verbal lashing that would make him wish for a quick death? Just… cold dismissal?
That was sohow worse…
Still, he was not one to let a bad decision sit unresolved. He sucked in a breath. "Alright, I know I ssed up, but—"
"Kain."
His na, spoken coldly, shut him up instantly.
Serena finally turned to look at him, and while her expression remained neutral, there was an edge of finality in her gaze. "Drop it."
…Yeah, okay. Maybe he should drop it. For now. He'll bring it up again maybe when she'd a little less testy…
Letting out a quiet sigh, he muttered a reluctant, "Fine."
The next few hours were suffocating. The easy—well, easier—atmosphere they had managed to build was gone, replaced by an impenetrable wall of ice. Serena only spoke when necessary, answering in short, efficient sentences that left no room for further conversation.
Kain hated it.
And, more importantly, he hated that he cared. He knew there was a ti when he truly wouldn't have given a damn what she thought of him, and maybe even would have preferred that they don't talk—but he was finding it impossible to find that previous dislike he had for her again.
'Why did I dislike her?' He was sure he had a valid reason, but couldn't recall it even if a gun was placed to his head.
*…* anwhile, the System who had been silent recently, continued its pattern, not willing to refresh Kain's mories about its role in he and Serena getting off on the wrong foot.
And similarly Kain and Serena were also completely silent.
They ate in silence, each keeping to their respective sides of the cave. When Serena eventually laid out her mattress, she did so without offering him a spot this ti. Not that he blad her. He'd basically implied she was trying to seduce him as so form of repaynt—because he was, evidently, an idiot.
He lay back against the icy wall, staring at the ceiling, his mind restless. How could he have misread things so badly?
'I an, so of her actions were rather ambiguous…I can't be completely blad for misunderstanding.'
Kain groaned, dragging a hand down his face. He needed to break this unbearable tension before it beca permanent.
Taking a deep breath, he decided to try a different approach. Sothing casual. Lighthearted.
"So," he started, careful not to sound too stiff. "Rember when you ntioned missing Starfruits?"
A beat of silence. Then, flatly—
"No."
Kain almost choked on air. "You—you just did! Like, a few hours ago—"
"I don't recall."
She absolutely did. There was no way that a girl that was towards the top, if not the top, of most of their college classes could forget a conversation they had re hours ago. She was just refusing to acknowledge it.
Kain exhaled sharply, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Ahem, anyways. I thought I should ntion that I think I found a fruit that tastes similar to it in Pangea. If you'd like maybe I could…"
She ignored him, turning onto her side away from him as if fully intent on sleeping, despite the fact that he knew for a fact she wasn't actually tired yet.
Kain debated his next move. Clearly this small talk wasn't working. And she didn't seem to want to accept his olive branch. He could just let it go—cut his losses, pretend today never happened, and let ti do its work.
But that wasn't really his style, now, was it? Not to ntion he refused to believe that he was that clueless!
He smirked slightly, pushing himself up from where he leaned against the wall. "Fine. If you don't want to talk about that, then let's talk about sothing else."
No response. Predictable.
Kain leaned slightly forward, even resting his elbows on her mattress. Obviously, she'd be able to notice the shift in weight on her mattress, but she still seed intent on pretending to be asleep.
Kain leaned his head down, lowering his voice as if sharing a secret. "How about this—was it intentional?"
Silence.
"Look at my side. The falling asleep on my shoulder? The coat fixing? The heated stone? The—"
"Go to sleep, Kain."
'See! Not asleep!'
"The bath?" Kain finished, ignoring her.
There it was. The tiniest tensing of her muscles. Barely a flicker of hesitation—but he caught it.
'Well, well well… interesting.'
A victorious grin curled his lips. "Now that I think about it, it is strange that your contract would suddenly lose control at that ti."
"…You're unbearable."
Kain chuckled, leaning back off the mattress and going back against the wall with a satisfied sigh.
Serena, anwhile, simply let out a quiet breath and closed her eyes, but there was a noticeable redness crawling up her face—unfortunately, for Kain he was unable to see it.
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