I Will Always Have A Minute For You [Ereloy]

// 15 //

The two were so lucky that Meridian Village was small and quiet, with everyone going to do whatever their job was - whether it be working in the maizelands, hunting, or trading - so early in the morning; no one could really hear what they were talking about, especially everything about the 'rumors'. They didn't need it going any further than the main city... If they could keep their mouths shut outside of the city, anyway - then it wouldn't spread any further than Meridian and its other nearby cities.

They bump into a group of Erend's vanguard members/friends that were wandering around, and this group had an unknown set of names. Weird to think that, even though Erend was the captain of the vanguard, he didn't know half of his members' names. Not weird at all, dude. Not weird at all.

Aloy, at this point, was kind of uncomfortable around the new people; she's usually okay with maybe one or two after knowing who they are by name, but this was different. Not even knowing who these vanguardsmen are tends to bring her to a point of clinginess and feeling unsafe, which is totally unlike her. She sticks to Erend's side, trying to ease her way into the conversation between the vanguards. She had no idea what was going on.

"What, you just can't leave me alone today, huh, Aloy?"

One of the other members pipes up in the back. "I think she likes you, captain." He pauses, walking to the front, closer to Erend. Softly, seemingly as for Aloy to not hear what he wanted to say, he finishes his statement: "Are you gonna kiss her or what?"

He goes silent and looks to the ground. "Shut up." As the vanguardsman heads back toward where he was, Erend looks over at Aloy. "I don't know if you heard that or not, but let's just pretend that never happened."

"Whatever," was her response.

The vanguard talked for a little while, Aloy pulling away from Erend's side a little bit as she got a little more comfortable with the presence of the fully-armored vanguard. She started to show her true self more, even being polite and waving goodbye as they left. Finally.

Aloy puts more distance between them as they leave. "Sorry about that, I... tend to get a little uncomfortable around new people."

"I can tell. Don't worry about it. The vanguard's just a little stupid."

"I wouldn't say they're stupid... Okay, maybe drunk stupid, but definitely not normal stupid."

"No, seriously. If it weren't for me or the Sun-King they'd be running around like birds with their heads cut off."

Aloy gives a genuine laugh, rather than a sarcastic one, at his comment. "Okay, okay, I get it. You truly are a good captain - and I stand by what I said years ago."

Erend hums in response. "Thanks."

"I never say anything I don't mean to. I speak the truth, Erend."

"No, I know. I just don't expect you to ever really say something like that."
"What do you mean? I tell people they're doing a good job all the time. I'm not cruel."

"Considering the vanguard isn't all that smart, nor are they really all that good without me, you'd think they'd be worse... It'd be much better if they could hold their own."
"Well, yeah, that's one thing I'd personally work on with them if you ever get a chance to, but, if you don't... then that's the best they'll ever get. Do you get it now?"
"I guess I see it. I will have to see what I can do."
I'm not going to get anywhere with this...

Another half hour passes and they've basically grown tired of each other. They've run out of things to say to each other, and have nothing new to talk about. So this is where they take the time to head back toward town... And see if this plan works. They walk at different halves of the road, Aloy's arms crossed and no eye contact made with anyone. Erend, on the other hand, just had to pretend that she said something that hurt his feelings. It sounds childish, but it's the best he could do. He wasn't really a mean guy at all.

The passersby didn't seem to notice this sudden change in behavior from either of them. They weren't 100 percent sure why, but it surely seemed to drive Aloy mad, hearing more comments they were trying to prevent.

"Nothing's going to change in a single sunrise." She's said those same words to someone once. She is very aware of that, but she's trying to get rid of something that doesn't need to move any further. I guess all we can do is hope it works... and fast.