Ryzen was currently enjoying a meal with Eric, who had been sure to reward him and Enanica for their actions against the goblins. Embarrassingly enough, Ryzen had forgotten to ask the man for his name and had barely figured out that it was indeed Eric. He wasn’t very good when it came to social skills.

Funnily enough, this also meant that Enancia was currently sitting in a corner, angrily munching on some sort of rabbit meat. It wasn’t exactly rabbit but it was close enough in Ryzen’s head for him to compare it to such.

He had tried apologizing but it seemed she wasn’t having it this time and stormed off away from him after he returned. He kind of understood but at the same time, he just didn’t want to see her get hurt. Sure, she had the insane buff that she could use from time to time but if something happened before she could get that off, what then?

Yet, Enancia didn’t seem to understand this and was lost in a world where she vehemently believed that couldn’t happen. Ryzen sighed just thinking about it.

“How is it?” Eric asked warmly.

Ryzen nodded, giving his approval to whatever meal they were eating. Ryzen and Eric both had bowls of rabbit stew chockfull of vegetables and mystery broth. However, Enancia was simply eating a piece of rabbit meat since she claimed to not like vegetables.

“Good,” Ryzen said, using no effort to portray his full thoughts.

Still, Eric looked pleased at the compliment and proceeded to enjoy his meal in silence. Ryzen decided to take this moment to move closer to Enancia who glared at him for doing so. He squinted his eyes at her until she looked away from him with a huff.

“Enancia,” he called out to her softly.

Yet, she didn’t look his way a single time. Instead, she turned her entire body to face the corner in an attempt to block him out.

Ryzen walked up to her and directly behind her. He didn’t touch her or anything as he figured that would probably make things worse. Instead, he just sat there and waited for her to do something.

“I’m sorry,” he stuttered out.

“Shut up,” Enancia hissed as she made no move to turn back around.

Ryzen gave up and walked back to his own seat. He soon finished his meal and watched as Enancia glanced at him.

“I’m going for a walk and you’re coming with me,” she commanded.

Ryzen sighed as he dragged himself out of his chair which was apparently not fast enough for Enancia.

“Hurry up, dumbass,” she said as she walked off.

Ryzen could see Eric smirking from the periphery of his vision, forcing a sigh to come out of his mouth. This shit was not funny.

Ryzen followed Enancia out of the house and closely behind her as she stormed off into a dirt path that led to the woods.

They went on like this for a while until Enancia finally came to a stop and turned towards Ryzen.

“So? What was the point in…” Ryzen started to ask but immediately got interrupted.

“Shut up! I was tired of being somewhere where everyone and their fucking mother can hear us!” Enancia yelled.

“Nobody would have heard us if we just whispered or something,” Ryzen said, clearly not helping the situation.

“Dumbass! I don’t want to whisper! I am tired of your dumb shit!” Enancia cried out.

“Enancia I just want to make sure nothing happens to you,” he said, trying to justify his actions.

“And what about me? Every time you go out, I’m worried you won’t come back! You just left me all alone again! What is wrong with you? Why are you so dumb!” Enancia said as she started to cry.

By now, Ryzen realized where he had messed up. She was comparing this to the last time he had left which ended up with her getting kidnapped. He hadn’t thought this was the same but now he felt really bad. He hated seeing Enancia cry.

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“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

“I don’t fucking care about your sorry! Just stop leaving!” Enancia said as she scrunched her face up from the tears.

“What if something happens to you?” he whispered. He felt horrible, in such a way he had never really felt before. He wasn’t trying to hurt her at all yet he did.

“I don’t care about myself! I don’t care if I live or die! I just don’t want to see anything happen to you!” she shouted.

“But I care…” Ryzen said as he felt a few tears run down his face. It was odd. He hadn’t even realized it but he was crying. He couldn’t remember the last time he had done so.

Upon seeing this, Enancia became quiet and stood there for a moment before saying, “Sorry.”

Ryzen failed to say anything back as he felt his emotions bubbling up. Almost as if everything he had ever suppressed came back all at once. He felt horrible and the tears flowing down his face represented that. He didn’t quite understand his own feelings or why he felt them but that didn’t change the fact that they were still there.

He tried to turn away from Enancia because he was embarrassed. He wasn’t supposed to act like this. He was supposed to be strong. Strong enough to get back home, protect her, and see his family again.

Yet, for once his psyche failed him and he fell to his knees. Why was Enancia mad at him? He was just trying to help. He wasn’t trying to make her mad.

He heard Enancia moving closer to him but he stuck his hand out, “Stop, I… don’t want you to see me like this. Please… don’t”

Yet, she didn’t stop and he felt her arms wrap around his body in a hug. He felt pathetic and weak. It didn’t matter if his life was horrible or stressful, he shouldn’t have been acting like this. He tried to wipe away his tears but they were just replaced by new ones.

“I’m sorry,” Enancia repeated.

“Stop… I’m just being a bitch right now,” Ryzen said.

“Don’t say that… I wasn’t being fair. That was fucked up of me so I’m sorry, okay?” Enancia said in an attempt to comfort Ryzen.

It only made him feel worse.

He pulled himself into a ball so that his face was fully hidden and stayed like that for a while. Enancia never once moved, ensuring she was hugging him the entire time.

Finally, after what seemed to be a long time, he pulled his head out of his lap and looked up to see Enancia’s crimson eyes staring right back into his.

“I’m sorry,” she said once again.

“No, it’s my fault. Sorry for being so weak.”

“That’s not fair... I was acting like a bitch whenever you apologized and now you just act like it’s all your fault.” Enancia whispered.

“It is,” Ryzen said.

“Please, stop,” Enancia said, nearly breaking out into tears again.

“Sorry,” Ryzen said after realizing that may not help the situation.

“Ryzen! I’m sorry too, okay! How about this, it’s both our faults!” Enancia said with a shout.

“Okay,” Ryzen said with a small smile. Even if he was starting to feel just a bit better, he still felt off. He didn’t like it at all.

“So, are we good?” Enancia asked.

“Yeah.”

“P… Prove it,” Enancia said with a stutter.

She closed her eyes and it was clear what she wanted Ryzen to do. He slowly moved towards her face and kissed her, closing his own eyes in the process.

After finishing their special moment, Enancia stood back with a smile. She looked to be in a completely different mood from before.

“Alright, now that we’re good, we should find a place to relax and enjoy the forest,” she said with a beam.

Ryzen chuckled although he still wasn’t feeling one-hundred percent.

“Alright, let’s go,” Ryzen said while nodding his head.

Together, they wandered the forest until they found a particularly beautiful scene. In front of them was a small creek, surrounded by beautiful, luscious trees. The creek itself was full of life and was a brilliant shade of blue.

Overtaken by its beauty, Ryzen didn’t realize how close he had gotten and was shocked when a slight push caused him to topple into the water. Ryzen turned back to see Enancia laughing her ass off.

He jumped out of the water and grabbed ahold of her arm. She tried to fight back but her lack of stats made her attempts futile. She was dragged into the water with a yelp.

“Ryzen!” she shouted although she was clearly having fun.

She proceeded to splash water and he returned fire with a splash of his own. They continued messing around until dusk. By then, they had finally left the creek to dry off.

“I am going to dry off… don’t turn around…” Enancia said behind Ryzen.

Ryzen felt his cheeks go red as he solidified his position. He would not be taking any risks.

Unfortunately, it was at this moment that he felt multiple people trying to track him and they weren’t from the village.