Drift Away Together

As he stood in the shallow water, casually watching Bowen from the corner of his eye, Artorias was acutely aware of how she was no longer looking his way. His expression dropped along with his heart into his stomach. Oh no... had she caught on to him? Did she know what he was grappling with and was she trying to avoid him because of it? Panic immediately started twisting his insides up as the young brute scrambled for an apology, an excuse, something—anything—he could use to make himself seem like less of a perverted deviant. But as he was having a mini crisis, Bowen just gave a cynical chuckle and made a comment about being called Little Fish instead of Little Bird instead. He blinked in surprise, realizing after a moment that maybe she hadn't caught on if she was still talking to him.

Artorias gave a weak chuckle and looked away, gazing off to the side as he murmured under his breath, "You've always been pretty. You'd be attractive in any form." With the distance between them and the white noise of the waves, he doubted she'd heard him at all, and he meant for that. He didn't need Bowen hearing her own brother speaking like that about her. His heart was still racing in his chest with a cocktail of anxiety and adrenaline. He felt the nervous jitters in his belly running rampant throughout his body now. This was getting out of hand. At this rate, he'd be acting like a fool in no time, and he couldn't trust himself to be near Bowen without doing something they'd both end up regretting. No, he couldn't betray his little sister's trust like that, especially not when she'd opened up to him about her traumas.

Bowen began to head back to the shore again, looking distracted and positively uncomfortable. All of Artorias' inner turmoil was forgotten the second he saw her expression, now only concerned for her wellbeing. He followed her back to the shore, about to ask if she was okay when she said she didn't feel well and asked to go home. Her back hunched, and he wondered at first if she was about to vomit or if this had to do with the headache she'd felt earlier. "Yeah, of course," he said, shaking out his coat and starting back in the direction of home. "Cmon, let's get you back. I'll ask Gwyn to bring you something for... whatever's going on."

As the two wolves headed back toward the castle, Artorias followed close beside Bowen, offering his side to lean on if she needed it along the way. He was very conscious of how close he stood by her though, making sure their sides didn't touch unless absolutely necessary. There was no reason to make this walk home any more difficult than it already was.

"Artorias" | "Corbin" | "Argent"