𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑾𝒂𝒓: 𝑬𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒔𝒕 (𝑹𝑬𝑾𝑹𝑰𝑻𝑬)

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧- 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞

(A/N: when I say "Tygren smiled" it is always a smug ass smirk. Sinister grin ahh shit if ykwim. It ain't ever mean genuine unless it says "softly" or "genuinely. Girl there are no exceptions. bitch.)

Silence set in as all eyes were on Apexis. Tygren specifically was making her nervous. "I didn't come up with anything. Uhh...Tygren was being annoying so I couldn't think properly." She crossed her arms. Tygren smiled, shaking his head. "Of course it was my fault."

"When is it not? You're a bitch sometimes."

"Thank you, dear sister."

"Don't even call me that."

"Did the 'bonding' help?" Azulis asked, taking a small step forwards. "We didn't bond for shit, so no." Apexis sighed irritably. "It was a good idea, to be fair. I just didn't work for us specifically," Tygren added, side-eyeing her. Azulis was briefly discouraged, but what Tygren added made him perk up slightly. Tygren pulled Apexis aside for a moment. "You do realize he's not going to like you if you're passive aggressive, right" You're ruining everything before it's even started. Be really polite, and nice and you'll have a better chance."

"What?"

"Oh my Rendor- AZULIS. He thought that you meant it was a bad idea on his part, so he was a bit sad. From what I can tell, Azulis is an overthinker. He takes everything literally. Don't say mean shit to him," He explained exasperatedly. "OH. Uhh, I keep forgetting that you know about that. I'll try. Also, who the hell are you to give dating advice?"

"I am an expert in reading people, as we discussed literally five minutes ago. And you're bad at this, so I'm being generous. Take it very lightly." Tygren frowned, eyes on Azulis. Azulis was always in a deep state of thought, even when there was nothing to think about. He suddenly looked up and made eye contact with Tygren, who raised his eyebrows and smiled.

"Let's do an experiment," He whispered as he kept eye contact with Azulis, "and see how seriously he takes you. I want you to now go and compliment Azulis and see how it affects his mood for the next day or two." Tygren explained, taking a step back and folding his arms behind his back. "Okay...then what?" Apexis asked, somewhat interested in his plan. "Then we wait. Then do it again differently until the results are concluded."

"Alright then. Do I just...go and do it now?"

Tygren nodded, face blank. "Why not? Unless you don't know what to compliment him on. Do you want some examples?" He offered. "Sure, but why do you have examples? I thought you disliked him." Apexis asked. "That is irrelevant. You can compliment his accent, hair, eyes, whatever. Actually, you probably shouldn't do it now because it'll look like I forced you, so just do it whenever to make it seem more natural."

Apexis thought for a moment, a frown spread across her face. "Now, stop being contemplative and read a book or something while you decide what to say to him." Tygren shooed her off, walking away to do whatever. Apexis sighed, for some reason following his directions. Azulis sat across from her, attempting to start a fire for the night. He just couldn't figure it out, and kept failing miserably.

"Azulis? Do you need help?" Apexis asked, walking over to him and sitting down as well. "Uhh, yeah. I never learned how to start a fire correctly." He smiled slightly. Apexis sighed and attempted to start the fire as well, but ended up failing. "Huh. That normally works- can you try again?" She looked at Azulis, who shrugged and tried as well. "Should we get Tygren? He can probably do it." He suggested. "If you want- he might be busy brooding, though."

Azulis stood up and went to find Tygren. He was gone for five minutes, which turned into ten, which turned into twenty, which turned into thirty. "What are they doing?" Apexis muttered to herself, setting off in the direction Azulis had gone. She eventually found Tygren's sword and picked it up. Which was weird, because no one else was there and he would never leave it alone like that. She investigated further, to find what seemed like signs of a struggle.