Blank Slates

Chapter 22

"You alright? Do you need anything else?" he asked, pausing by the door before he left, his coat slung over his arm and the heavy boots in his hand.

She frowned, her eyes rising cautiously to meet his. "No, I'm fine. Thank you for asking though."

He nodded. "Okay, good night then." He made a move to step out, but she quickly reached out a hand to stop him, feeling guilty about what she did.

"Wait," she called, biting her lip worriedly when he looked back at her. "I'm really sorry for scaring you like that. You put your trust in me, by taking me out there and giving me some freedom even though you didn't have to, and I betrayed that. I understand if you're mad or if you'd want to punish me for it because I should have known better and acted accordingly."

His gaze softened as he listened to her words. He sighed. "Look, I'm not gonna lie and say that it didn't scare the hell out of me, but at the same time, you just stayed within the house and I freaked out over nothing."

She raised her eyebrows slightly, her expression mirroring that of shock. "You're...you're not angry?"

"No. Maybe I was annoyed at first, but it's fine. Don't worry about it too much. Just let me know where you're going next time and try not to wander so much."

She paused. "Next time?"

A small smile came to his face. "We'll see. I still haven't entirely gotten away with this yet."

She smiled softly back. "Thank you. It...really means a lot to me that you did this."

"Of course, darling. Anyway, I gotta run soon. Is that all?"

"Yes. Have a good night, Kairo."

"You too. I'll see you tomorrow. Or later today I guess. That is, if I haven't been caught and expelled," he joked lightheartedly. He detected a bit of concern on her face, but she quickly covered it up with a small smile. Slipping out completely, he shut the door and locked it, letting out a puff of air. He met up with Calix on his way back up, and they both quietly and quickly made their way back to their room.

"I'd say our mission was a success," Calix chuckled, lightly punching his friend's arm.

Kairo smirked. "Was there ever any doubt?"

"Says the person who nearly died of a heart attack just because she disappeared for like, 2 seconds."

"Yeah yeah, we don't need to talk about that. But hey, I was the right in the end. She knows better than to run off."

"I guess so. Never expected her to be good with animals though."

Kairo hummed. "Yeah, but she always did seem like the gentle type. Say, are we gonna take care of Blue?"

"I mean, if he's still there next time we come up, I don't see why not. Plus, it would be nice to have a little furry fella running around. Spices things up, ya know?"

"Yeah. I don't think anyone would be against it. Unless grumpy Clovis makes an issue again just because it's me." He paused, suddenly remembering something. "Yo, I did see something fishy up there though."

"How'd a fish get all the way out here?"

He snorted. "Shut up, you idiot. I'm serious."

"What then?"

"Tire tracks leading out of the vehicle shed. And they were recent."

Even in the dark, he could see Calix's eyebrow furrow. "Someone else was there?"

He nodded grimly. "That's what I was thinking. But there was no signs of a break in, which means whoever it was was allowed in, by Clovis I'm assuming."