The Lost

37- Calm

Azure

Despite the uneasy feeling my my stomach, I decided firmly that I was going wait in this camp like an adult; calmly. The two humans wouldn't take long. I just had to be patient and... rational. Sam wasn't here. We were all safe. There was need to panic. Be calm.

The way that Rosin was enthusiastically chasing Lyn around the huge blackberry bush only hardened my resolve. They don't mind being here. It was true; my two friends were smiling and shrieking like little children, as if it was irrelevant that we were in the camp of two certain humans. The heartache of leaving Wren had been softened by their game.
It's fine, I told myself firmly, remember that one of those humans is helping you now. It was true that as I swayed back and forth on my heels, remembering Mike's docility put me at ease.

Mike had certainly... changed? Was that the right way to put it? I had already given it so much thought, yet still, it was still hard to believe. However long ago it had been now, this human had been just as much of a nightmare as his friend.
My swaying stopped. Hold on- had Mike ever been as bad as his friend? I couldn't help but wonder... had this human ever actually been as cruel as I had accused him to be?

By no means had Mike been kind to me, or my friends- no way. He had tied Aspen and Rosin's wings with the same wire that had bound mine, not objecting to the fact that his friend was throwing innocent people into glass cases. Except... I realised that he had never actually tormented us like S... like a certain human had. Mike had been outside of the tents when I got there to rescue everyone, muttering to himself about something or other...
As I stood, pacing about and kicking up dry leaves pensively, I found myself remembering how he had promised not to hurt me, even back when I was still a prisoner. And he had actually meant that promise, unlike Sam. Then there was when he made his friend give little Micah to me after I begged for his help. At the time, I had been so sure that it was to force me into answering those impossible demands, not a mercy to Micah. But now... I couldn't help but wonder, what if? What if Mike had felt even then, somewhere within that strange human heart of his, that perhaps what they were doing was wrong?

"Zuri?"
Aspen's voice jolted me out of my trance. I turned to face him, blinking a little absently, "Hi Aspen."
When he chuckled in that fantastically soft sound at how absently I had answered him, I found the worry melting away. Maybe Mike had always been a bit good, maybe he hadn't— what did it matter now? He was helping us.
With a look that was somewhere between a pout and a grin, I crossed my arms, "What are you laughing at, huh?"
Aspen paced over to me from the huge tents, eyes pooling with warmth.

"Sorry," he said after a pause, "I interrupted you, didn't I? You were thinking about something."
Blinking, I followed him as he circled around me, eyes of green all sparkly on his face.
With a breath of laughter, I was shaking my head, "No. Well, I was thinking, but it was nothing important." I extended a hand in front of him, putting a stop to his constant circling, "Stop that."
He laughed.

"What's wrong, anyway? I thought you were with Lucius and Mike." I asked.
He shrugged, shook his head, then changed to nodding it, "I was. They're talking. Which is probably good, because Lucius still looks like he's ready to kill Mike."
We both smiled at that. Mike had insisted on giving Lucius some food and fresh clothes when he revealed to us that his backpack had finally been drained of his human supplies. We were stopping off here before going to find the Hollow, only briefly.
"Azure?" Aspen suddenly asked, "While they're talking... well, I was going to ask if you'd let me fix your hair for you..." his eyes darted away and he made a laughing sound. It was forced. Nervous?  "Not fix but uh, you..."
He's embarrassed, I realised.
With my own confused laugh, I shook my head and managed, "Sorry, what do you want to do?"
"Sorry, sorry," he waved his hands, "I'll start again. Your hair— it looks tangled. From the rain and everything. At the back. It's all..." after struggling to find the word, the boy clasped his hands together, then parted them as if he was imitating an explosion. I crossed my arms at him. Hastily, he moved on, "Yeah, anyway. You complain you can never brush the back, so, I don't know..."
Aww, Az. I couldn't help but uncross my arms. "How very sweet of you for thinking of me."
"Don't," he groaned at my teasing response, "I'm being serious."
"I know. I don't have a hairbrush though, so we have a problem."
That made him frown. Aspen thought hard for a moment, then offered, "I can... try to fix it? With my hands?" He was blushing even as he spoke.