Angel ♡ Eyes

♡Chapter 46

The forest was quiet.

Butch kicked at a twig, sending it flying forward into a bush.

"So──"

"No." Buttercup was in front of him. Hiking the uneven ground at a quicker pace than Butch was.

He sighed. "Buttercu──"

"I said, no." She looked over her shoulder, sending him a glare. "I'm not having this conversation."

"You don't even know what I'm gonna say." Butch rolled his eyes. "For all you know I could be trying to have a conversation about... celery."

"Celery?" Buttercup quirked an eyebrow.

"Yes. Did you know that in Ancient Greece celery was used as a bouquet of flowers? Rewarding winners of athletic games."

"Fascinating." She rolled her eyes.

The forest surrounding them was large, murky, and thriving in colors of greens. The canopy above covered by alder, fir, and chestnut trees. Ample openings between the leaves and branches let enough beams of light through for other plants to claim the fertile soils below.

Quiet limbs grew and waved from many trees. A variety of flowers, which blossomed brightly against the whiskey-colord soil, speckled the ground and wrapped around trees in vines. A medley of animal sounds──insects and critters──brightened up the forest's stillness. The peaceful song of Earth broken by the occasional sound of breaking twigs beneath their feet.

They came across a dazzling array of wild flowers──each more strange than the other──that spanned the entirety of the land, broken up by a rapid flowing river with several branches on both ends of the vista. Buttercup frowned. How were they supposed to cross it? Buzzing flies of many different species and all sorts of crawling creatures crawled across her bare skin, biting down only to be swatted away by her annoyance.

"B-fl──"

"Damn it, Ivory." She groaned, spinning around to face him. "I literally cannot have this conversation right now. I am focusing on one shit-show at a time and I do not have the time to even think about this conversation. We are back to square-one in this fucked up game. And I might've just said goodbye to my sisters for the very last time yet again. There's so much hope stored away in my head that I'm begining to see a future where we all make it out alive, which is ridiculous because the odds of that are just...slip to zero. We've done mission after mission, task after task, and still we're all loosing. So no, Butch. I don't have the energy to talk. I don't have the energy to listen. I don't──"

"Breathe." Butch held out a hand to cover her mouth. "That's a lot of angry words all at once. You're not mad at me, remember?"

She swatted his hand away. "That's what you think."

"What have I done to make you mad at me? And don't say running after you, because that's a lie. When you break it down to the core, you're mad at the world. And that's perfectly okay because you have every right to be. But you aren't mad at me. And you know it. But by all means, if you wanna take it out on me, go right ahead."

Secretly, she couldn't help but admit he was right.

But she'd never admit it out loud.

He could see it, though. Behind her eyes.

They softened every so slightly.

"You're a pain in the ass." She muttered, turning around to look back at the river.

"Toots, I plan on being a pain in your ass every single day for the foreseeable future."

God, she could hear the grin in his voice. Didn't even have to look at him and she knew what kind of face he'd be making if she did.