𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 ➪ «𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛»

ch. XVI - 《stargazing》

oOo

After dinner, Diana decided to do something special for Glenn; he'd come to her with his insecurities regarding his first supply run the following day. So she'd told him to wait a minute and gathered some supplies she'd need herself.

"You wanna tell me where we're going? 'Cause you haven't said a word and this is feeling kinda psycho-ish to me. You're not planning on killing me with that lantern and rolling me up in the sleeping bag? Right?" Glenn pointed to things in her hold.

Diana grabbed his hand and gave him her creepiest smile, wide maniac eyes included. "You'll see."

"I'm gonna meet my end today." Glenn crossed himself and let himself be dragged away.

The path was pretty straightforward, but the surrounding darkness made it a trap of rocks to trip on and smash your face against, so it took twice the time to get there, even with the light from the lantern.

"Diana," Glenn dragged out, pulling on his hand to make her turn to him. "Really, what are we doing? I gotta leave at dawn, I need as much sleep as I can." He sighed at her silence. "It probably won't be much, though. Looks like it's gonna be one of those nights."

Diana held the lantern between the two of them, the yellow light reflected on Glenn's dark eyes like twin fireflies and made his complexion look sickly; contrasting moods. "I want you to feel good," she said simply.

He gasped, his hand flying to cover his mouth in disconcertment, then he pointed to the sleeping bag and murmured, "Diana, no."

"What?" She put the puzzle pieces together and frantically waved her hand in negation, her sore arm protesting the brusque movement, almost dropping everything in the process. "What? No, of course not, Glenn! Jesus! That what you think of me?"

"Hey, I'm not here to slut-shame anyone, you do you. Just letting you know that I could never, not with my new best friend."

All that Diana caught from that was, "Aww, I'm your best friend?" Her heart melted.

Glenn blinked at her. "Why are you kidnapping me?"

"Oh, right. Let's go."

They resumed their precarious trek, which didn't last much longer, and Diana led him by the hand to the middle of the plain where she and the kids were learning self-defense. She gave him the lantern to hold and spread her zipped open sleeping bag on the grass, flattening down some taller weeds.

"Ta-da." She gestured towards it like it was the eighth wonder of the world.

"You want me to sleep out here on the night before the most important day of my survival? I'm starting to think you don't like me that much after all."

While he was talking, Diana plopped down onto the bag and tightened her hoodie around her.

"Glenn, shut up and sit down."

"You're so bossy," Glenn whined playfully, kneeling next to her and sitting back on his legs. "Should never have told you the best friend thing, it's going to your head."

He set the lantern at the head of the bag, the light creating a theatre of shadows on their faces, exaggerating every feature into a gaunt look. Diana reached and dialed it down a bit for a less dramatic appearance.

"You did very well telling me that. You're mine too." Diana smiled bashfully and hid her face by hitting her forehead to Glenn's shoulder.

"Ouch, your big fat head injured my wide, manly shoulder."

"If it was that wide and manly it wouldn't have gotten injured in the first place, so hah." Diana laughed while rubbing her forehead, remembering the head-butting she and Felix had engaged in not long ago.