An Eventful Mission

19- Tension

The following morning was... incredibly awkward. The air was filled with awkward tension between the two as they walked in solemn silence beside eachother through the last island they'd been on not that long ago, and not a word would come out of their mouths.

Neither of them could shake the memories of their heated moment from the night before, though it was just a simple kiss. The feel of each other's lips still lingered, yet neither of them could muster the courage to speak—not even Madeleine.

With each step, Espresso stressed over and over whether Madeleine was actually attracted to him or their actions were just in the heat of the moment. All of the built up tension over the past weeks left him anxious whether Madeleine felt it too or not.

Madeleine could feel the weight of the silence, and it was crushing. "So..." Madeleine began, his voide trembling slightly and interrupting Espresso's thoughts. "Do you just think that the big king snake thing is still out there, or something else..?"

With a deep sigh, Espresso turned his head away and cleared his throat.
"...I'm unsure."

"Okay." Madeleine replied as the tension grew. The awkwardness only furthered as his gaze grew heavy, unsure of what he should say next.

They continued trudging through the tropical, humid forest, alert and looking for whatever sought harm after them and their kingdom.

Espresso looked back at Madeleine, a tinge of anxiety lacing his words.
"Madeleine?"

"Hm?" Madeleine hummed in response.

Espresso looked down and tried to be careful with his words. "What if we don't defeat it this time? What if we don't actually make it out alive?
I mean..." Espresso swallowed, struggling to bring to mind the worst case scenario.
"You know how we thought we defeated whatever we had to defeat but now whatever it is... put its little servants in the kingdom now like we saw?"

"I'm sure we'll defeat it this time." Madeleine replied with a subdued voice, his eyes scanning the overgrown greenery ahead.
Espresso sighed and rolled his eyes, frustrated at Madeleine's laconic response, knowing it wasn't typical of him at all.

"You know..." Espresso began, softly nudging Madeleine, "I think we do make a good duo, like the others said." The faint smile on his face begging for Madeleine to go back to his usual self. He wanted him to say something—anything—to take away the uncomfortable silence.

All they could hear were the crunching of branches below and the calling of tropical birds. That was, until Madeleine finally broke the silence with a soft, "Yeah?"

Espresso turned his head to face Madeleine, their eyes once again locking in a moment of brief, intense intimacy. Madeleine was peering down at Espresso with a look that was both confused and slightly amused. The silence hung in the air for another awkward moment, until Espresso decided to turn his head to face forwards again. However, despite his best efforts, he couldn't hide the heat rising to his face. He had made eye contact, and it was much more than accidental this time around.

The two of them continued to walk in the humid, tropical forest, silently contemplating their awkward moment of eye-contact. Espresso knew he had to say something, anything, to break the tension. Yet he couldn't find the words.
The silence stretched on, as the two continued their trudge through the dense, overgrown jungle.

Madeleine kept looking at him, and neither of them could look away until Espresso couldn't bare his flusteredness. It seemed unlike him and everything about him seemed incredibly different. The atmosphere around him had completely changed that morning.

Suddenly, Espresso's voice broke the stasis, trying to deter the silence. "So... I was thinking about last night..."

Madeleine's footsteps stopped, so Espresso stopped aswell, and he prepared himself for the worst. His mind raced as he tried to comprehend Madeleine's response.