Kingston Academy

THIRTY-SEVEN

   Silas made sure to keep a distance between Niven and himself. He was always careful to glance back, checking up on the blond before quickening his pace. Niven didn't say anything, but the angel could guess he was uncomfortable with the way things were.

Silas understood it a little. They hardly ever hung out and they really only met up with one another when it came down to the training sessions. Other than that, there wasn't a reason for the two of them to called friends.

Still, Silas always muttered out to watch where Niven was going and if there was some sort of log they'd have to step over just in case the blond tripped from it. He didn't say anything else other than that, though Niven was grateful and tried walking closer to Silas every five minutes.

The angel would worriedly look back, telling Niven to take a couple of steps back, always having the excuse of some sort of animal jumping on the two of them so at the very least Niven would be out of harm's way, and Silas would take the brunt of it.

Yeah, Niven didn't believe that for a second. He wasn't stupid. He wasn't going to stay away just because Silas was a germaphobe.

"A bear could pop up and eat me, so you have a chance to get away. That's why you don't stand next to me," Silas stated without hesitation. "It'd be an unbearable situation."

For a second, Niven was about to turn around and walk the other way as soon as the angel made another pun. He almost abandoned the idea of sticking close to Silas.

The student sighed, frowning at Silas hurriedly walking across the dense forests and stepped a little closer to the angel. "I don't think there's any bears around, Silas."

"You don't know that... keep your distance, there's a rock coming up ahead and you could trip." Silas pointed over to the small pebble with a dark gaze. "Take ten steps back just to prepare yourself if you need to jump over it."

"I... I don't think-"

"There's an ominous looking squirrel over there. I can chase it away and you can go ahead without me." Silas almost made a dash for it when Niven came too close, but the blond quickly took a large step forward and spun around to face Silas, almost bumping into him.

"I'm going to ignore the fact you just pointed at a stick and called it a squirrel," Niven exasperated. "Silas, if this is about you having the fear of germs, I made sure to wash my hands before coming to Vasili's building. At the very least, I'm clean enough so you don't always have to stand so far away from me. You're literally disappearing before my eyes every time you make a turn from tree to tree."

"We... have to walk faster if we want to reach the end soon. Night will come," Silas replied, cautiously keeping his pace just as Niven kept walking backwards, miraculously not tripping and still following the trail. The angel looked at the blond in concern and muttered out, "You're lucky you haven't tripped yet. Turn around and face the pathway."

Niven frowned, realizing he isn't getting anywhere at this point and quickly backed off to avoid Silas getting uncomfortable. The angel seemed too nervous, always fidgeting about with his gloves to even notice Niven slipping away quietly.

Silas breathed a sigh of relief when he finally saw the blond putting distance between themselves. He had to admit, he felt a little bad for making Niven stand several feet away from him, but his hands couldn't stop trembling and he kept messing around with his gloves. It was for the better Niven didn't see him looking like a nervous wreck.

They traveled the forests for about an hour, the silence soon becoming unbearable for the two of them. It was more than awkward and Niven felt extremely uncomfortable. Though there were times Silas was kind enough to stop for small breaks, always scanning the area before taking out some fruits from the trees and handing them over to Niven carefully. The angel admitted he didn't know much about the wilderness like Mirren and Arien, but he spent enough time in class along with their alpha to study about the different wild fruits which were safe enough to consume.