Flux

8

Thankfully the trip to the outcrop, which did exist to Aiya's chagrin, was uneventful. As a matter of fact, the rest of the entire trip to the train station and the armoured train awaiting them turned out to be pretty dull.

Errend drove his tank in complete silence while Aiya dozed behind him. Well, it wasn't his tank exactly as Marvin had found it left unattended in an abandoned base, and Errend turned out to be the only one who had a clue how to drive it. Yet, he spent enough time inside the thing. He felt it was more or less his home.

Aiya hadn't been able to sleep during their night on the rock, being anxious and needing to join each team who was on watch. Now she slept with her head leaning on her rolled-up coat, mouth slightly ajar, dark hair falling out of her usually pristine ponytail to hang slightly in her open mouth.

Errend felt a strange feeling tugging at his cheeks and the corner of his mouth. It had been a very long time since he'd smiled.

Thankfully Aiya didn't snore and if anything seeing her sleeping with such abandon was a compliment. She didn't trust many people and definitely didn't let her guard down around them. She must trust him.

Inwardly Errend winced. She had no business trusting him. He knew everyone wondered if he had actual feelings, and he did. He just ignored them. Yet, knowing, seeing, how much Aiya trusted him made his guts turn. Errend prayed to Vishnu that he wouldn't let her down.

If Vishnu was real and hadn't completely abandoned him, he would make sure Errend couldn't fail her like had so many others.

They bumped over the train tracks as they lined themselves up for loading. Eyeing the flatbed train car, Errend surmised he didn't have a lot of room for error. He'd better line the tank up just right, or they'd be leaving the beast behind, most likely on its side.

Aiya groaned as they bumped into place.

"Dude. What the hell? Why is it so damn bumpy?"

"We are loading up on the rail cars."

"Oh." was her only reply.

Errend managed to get the tank parked without issue and turned it off. Climbing from his seat, he made ready to exit, but he suddenly stopped.

Aiya had olive skin with dark brown hair, and usually, her shocking ice blue eyes held a person's attention because of their contrast to her warm tones - not because they glowed in the dark.

She was looking at him with a funny look, and he realized he was staring. He knew his face held no expression, so she was probably confused as to why he had frozen.

After a quick mental debate, Errend decided now wasn't the time.

"Yes? Did you finally want to finish that conversation we had been in the middle of before the Skullets decided to frenzy?" Aiya raised an eyebrow, unfazed by his lack of expression or his staring.

Shit! I owe her the truth. Yesterday had been a right off after they finally made it to safety. Everyone had been too tired to think.

Errend had utterly forgotten about the conversation he'd started with her. He did want to tell her. Felt he owed her the whole truth. Out of respect for her faith and trust in him but also because he valued her friendship. Now wasn't the time.

"I think we better round up the team and find spots in the passenger cars before we get stuck riding the whole way to Mount Elbert in a tank without food or a toilet."

Aiya's mouth quirked. "I second that. I have pissed in cups and dusty ditches enough to last me until the day I die. Give me a toilet and a sandwich."

Aiya had a notorious obsession with food in sandwich form. She made almost every meal a sandwich. Errend had seen her put mashed potatoes, creamed corn, gravy, ham and oddly lettuce from her salad between two halves of a bun and eat it.

It hadn't been precisely how the grateful farmer's wife had expected the meal to be eaten, but thankfully they didn't take offence. Probably due to the never-ending praise Aiya had poured on the woman after she ate. That had been Aiya's favourite meal of the year, according to Marvin.

Errend felt that weird feeling on his face again. What was it about this eccentric high strung woman that solicited reactions from him that he'd long ago forgotten were even possible?

This was the second small smile in less than an hour. He wasn't sure if it was visible or not, but he could feel it.

What in the name of Vishnu is going on? He wondered.

----------------------

"So I think we better keep an eye on Errend."

Aiya spoke over a mouthful of beans. She'd been miffed that there had been almost nothing to eat when she and Errend had finally boarded the passenger car. Grayson said meals would be available but not until the cook said so. She had then attempted to take matters into her own hands, as was her way.

However, the cook, an older man the size of tank with white hair that made his almost black skin look darker than it was, had warned her she wasn't too old to have her ass paddled if she didn't mind her manners and wait for supper politely like everyone else.

He had a grandfatherly look about him. One that would whoop your ass if you swore in front of him or box your ears for stealing food mind you, but kindness and a big heart could be seen behind his stern expression.

Aiya instantly loved him. So with head hanging low, feeling adequately shamed for acting like a pouty brat and not the fighting woman she was, she had turned to go, tail between her legs.

However, Burton, the cook, softened, seeing she had been rightly chastised, and said, "Here. No need to get motion sickness cuz you were too foolish to eat a proper breakfast."

With his final rebuke, he'd given Aiya the can of beans she was now shovelling into her mouth in the most unladylike fashion. Thankfully Marvin was far beyond used to his sister and her lack of understanding towards eating etiquette.

"What do you mean?"

Marvin was only half paying attention to what she was saying. Mind still deep in contemplation over the events of the day before and the weapon Grayson had used.

"He's off, bro. I mean, wouldn't it mess with you to be heading back to people who kept you prisoner and experimented on you?"

Marvin was staring out the window of their roomette. He'd wanted to bunk with Derek, but Aiya didn't play well with others, and he'd have felt too guilty abandoning her to bunk with someone she wouldn't be able to sleep around, which was everyone but him as far as he knew.

"Yo!! Dude!" Aiya raised her voice, snapping her fingers in front of his face. "Earth to Marvin! This is serious!"

Her half whine, half complaint caught him off guard and shook him from his lalaland state of mind. She was genuinely upset.

"Aiya, the man has never been right. At least not by normal people's standards. How is he any different than his usual strange unapproachable self?"

"When we were getting ready to leave the tank he... I dunno. It was like he saw a ghost or something." Aiya's face scrunched in worry and confusion as she continued. "You know his face never seems to change expression. Freaking king of stoicism. But he froze mid-step and stared at me unblinking for a solid few minutes."

Shaking her head and looking out the window across from Marvin, he got the feeling she was more worried than seemed necessary. But what she said next gave him goosebumps.

Turning to look right at him, her ice-blue eyes so severe you'd think she was informing him of her imminent demise, she said, "Marvin, he smiled at me. He fucking smiled!"