The expression on her face was mildly smug as she smirked up at Sev. ”Sure…whatever you say.” The fact that he always had that darned helmet on was rather frustrating at times: It didn’t give her the satisfaction of seeing his expression when she tormented him…not that his expression was currently anything like what she expected. ”Talk is worthless unless you can back up what you say with action.” Still grinning, she added, ”and from what I saw, you did no better than I did out there just now.” Abruptly, he turned on his heel and tramped away from her, towards what she supposed he believed was the base. Her smirk widened slightly as she watched him for a few moments, then finally called, ”Base is that way, numbskull.” She jerked a thumb over her shoulder in the opposite direction.
As she waited for him to turn around and come back, her eyes remained trained on him, and she looked strangely thoughtful. She seemed to be weighing him with her gaze, her expression impassive. Her mind was currently on something that had occurred just the day before: Serissa herself had gotten in contact with the young woman, and through her, Aerowyn had learned that Sev didn’t work alone as he had led her to believe after all. It turned out that there was at least a squad at his back, if not more, and Serissa suspected that they were bent on destroying her “consortium”. She had told Aerowyn that there was no immediate danger, but to keep a close eye on her charge, if he were to try anything. This had been on the young woman’s mind ever since she got word from her superior, and she had spent a sleepless night turning the issue over in her head. Right now, she felt as if she were being pulled in two opposite directions, although she knew that just days ago, this wouldn’t even have been a matter of concern to her. The choice would have been as clear as day then, but somehow, in-between then and now, the situation seemed to have become hopelessly clouded.
On one hand, the one which logic sided with, said that she owed her loyalty to her mistress, and that the smart thing to do was simply to continue doing what she had been trained to do all these years. But one subversive part of her mind rebelled against the idea, a small, but infuriatingly obstinate part which told her that now was as bad a time as any to tear herself away from doing what was once easy. She didn’t understand it herself: It was more of an instinct which seemed to have been awoken that day when Sev had finally gotten her talking. Her unsettled gaze studied the armor-clad commando, and she had to resist the urge to scream, exasperated by his appearance in her life and the fact that since then, he seemed to have captured some part of her which had now changed her outlook on everything, from her mistress down to her own existence. She was furious at him, but at the same time, she felt hopelessly like she couldn’t be…as if it wasn’t him that she ought to be outraged with.
She had the overwhelming urge to go ‘ughhh’ and whack her head against the nearest tree which leant itself to her view. At this moment though, she had the chilling feeling that something wasn’t quite…right. At first, she had mistaken it simply for part of her own confusion, but as she turned her focus away from her own internal war, she noticed that the unsettling feeling that she was being watched still remained, and it was beginning to trouble her. ”Sev…” she began slowly, her gaze scouring the forest around them for any sign of life. Her expression was casual, but there was a soft intensity in her voice which betrayed her anxiousness. ”Do you sense anything…strange around here?”